Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

[Shawn Zipay]

DICE has kindly passed along word about their plans for remote administration of servers for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

A little background
Since the Frostbite engine had not yet been used for any PC titles, there had been no need for advanced server administration tools. BFBC2 PC changed that however.

There was a sort of "server console" thing, but it was intended for developer use only. Something easier to use and more stable was necessary when we came closer to release it to the PC users.

So what are we doing?
We are creating a separate command console, which is stable, and where the commands will not change. This will be the Remote Administration interface for BFBC2 PC. BF2 console commands have been a good source of inspiration :)
The Remote Administration interface is accessible over a network port on the game server.

While we ensure that there is a solid administration interface, we are not creating any fancy tools. Why not? Because the community will do a much better job! RSPs have already been using the interface for weeks, and several people are working on user friendly tools. We will continue to improve the protocol with functions that are necessary to make good tools.

When Closed Beta Server R5 (yes, we have already patched the game servers 3 times. I love our new patching system) is released, the RSPs will be allowed to expose the Remote Administration interface on their servers to the public... and we will publish the FULL protocol specification. You have my word on that.

At the rate the patches seem to be flowing forth, it may not be long now before you can get the first glimpse of the Remote Administration interface.

[[ptg]chef_uk]

Re: Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

Nice. Would love to see a G15/G19 element to basic admin commands. Having to alt tab all the time was frustrating as it interrupted the concentration of gameplay. Seeing how they have spent time on the LCD intergration of these keyboards it would be really nice to be able to kick/ban/restart server from it.

[=MNKY=Frosty]

Re: Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

You have my word on that.

And my bow.

[ShadowX8001]

Re: Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

So Dice is on a mission to win back every Bf player and win the hearts of pissed off MW2. I hope they understand why some PC people are hesitant of pre orders though.

[[UN]TA|Pierre]

Re: Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

Sounds great, now they just need to release the game and start working on map tools

[ShadowX8001]

Re: Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

Sounds great, now they just need to release the game and start working on map tools

+1

[Kingkat54]

Re: Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

IF all this IS true....................then I can STOP worrying about World Peace!!!!


Maybe they have been listening to us PC Gamers. Apologies to the Console Players, but us PC'ers have lost too much lately. Looks like EA does want the PC gamer niche.

[Rambo]

Re: Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

proof is releasing a proper PC title and not just a port

[bigbossmatt]

Re: Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

and my axe

[troybob]

Re: Remote Administration Interface for Bad Company 2 (PC)

Translation:

"We are aware of the talent in the server-tools community and will be with you fully. We were too lazy to stabilize a console - so we cheated".

I'm sure the last part is exaggerated, but did they just admit that a "console" existed (i suppose it would have to exist in development) and was not included because it wasn't "stable". I'd ask DICE what the definition of "stable" means in this context. It's their stuff so maybe it was beyond repair for public use, but the very first console in a game was an accident.

That tiny bit aside (BFBC2 was not a PC game to start with - I get it - it probably explains a lot but I don't know the info).

Great support for server tools it seems. This is a step in the right direction (but this and a console for the users are not mutually exclusive. Modders like to debug too ya know :p)