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Developer Talks VOIP, Bullet Damage, Squad Control, and More.
From gamespy.com:
Who better to speak to about the issues arising from the recent Battlefield 3 beta than the game's Lead Multiplayer Designer, Lars Gustavsson. After pumping dozens of hours into the beta we had plenty of questions for him during yesterday's Australian Battlefield 3 event. Where's the VOIP and joystick support? Will bullet damage be altered? Can we set up our own squads? Why are jet campers such douchebags? Lars answered all of these, and more.
GameSpy: The beta didn't work well with joysticks or control pads. What level of support for these devices will the game ship with? Will pilots be able to fly with a stick or pad?
Lars: It's something we're looking into. It looks like we will be able to ship with joystick support, but I've been on the road for quite some time so I can't guarantee it. But yes, if it doesn't turn up at launch, it will definitely be a high priority as soon as possible after shipping. The work being done to support joysticks is more or less the same as control pads, if you get one, you get the other. It's something we're aware of now that we've brought back the jets. It's on the list.
GameSpy: The beta didn't support in-game VOIP; players had to form a party through battlelog to be able to chat just to their party. Will Battlefield 3 include in-game VOIP – be it squad or team based – at launch?
Lars: No, on PC this (battlelog) is what we're going to ship with. Then we're going to evaluate how we move forward with this. It's something we've heard from the community, it's something we understand. At the same time, building a game of this size, you can't win all of the battles. The convenience of going in with friends with your party VOIP channel and keep it even after the game, is definitely a strength. That's just the start – we can definitely evolve from there down the road.
GameSpy: We've heard there's going to be a command rose at launch for PC. Is that still going to be ready for launch? What sort of functionality might it include?
Lars: It is on our list for trying to get in there at launch. It is the usual things that you can really miss on the battlefield. Bail out is a typical one; you're sitting in a helicopter and you realize that you want to attack the flag, and there's no way to tell you're buddy that you're going to bail out.
GameSpy: What about ammo, medpacks, that sort of stuff?
Lars: We have the context system today, but it was buggy in the open beta. We've been hammering it to get it right.
GameSpy: There's been some feedback that some people found bullet damage too strong in the beta. Any plans to tweak it?
Lars: We've done a lot of tweaking and tuning, everyone needs to understand that the beta was early code. Everything from hit detection to damage, flashlights that people have been mentioning – a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed.
GameSpy: What level of squad control will the release have? In the beta you couldn't form a squad, join a specific squad or lock a squad so it's just you and friends – will the final release be different?
Lars: At release you'll be able to invite friends, join squads, all the stuff that you need to be able to play with your friends. Getting into the server and seeing your friend, but not being able to play with them, is nothing but frustrating.
GameSpy: A lot of the oldschool, hardcore Battlefield players are asking for an advanced flight model option for choppers and jets – any chance you'll consider this requests?
Lars: For now we're leaving them the way they are, and will let the game live for a little while, then start the communication with the community to see where we stand.
GameSpy: The PC version looks quite different to the console versions. Do you think there will be any critical backlash from console gamers? Most of the marketing material is very PC focused, so they might be expecting something different to what they end up getting?
Lars: I don't think so. Most gamers do realize that the consoles are five years old, and if someone buys new SLI cards for their monster PC, there will be something extra for the PC. If we kept everything on console level for those PC players, then they would rightfully strangle us! I do think we have managed to push the boundaries of the consoles to a level where I feel we've passed the competition. That's all you can ask out of the team at this point.
GameSpy: Do you think building for PC first and foremost will give DICE a headstart when it comes to developing an engine for the next gen consoles? You'll be adept at multicore, multi-GPU and DirectX 11, where many other companies won't?
Lars: The main focus has been to build a game. Of course we have the technical thinking behind it, but we've been leading with console for quite some time now and it was time to turn it around to refresh all of our knowledge on previous titles. But yeah, the Frostbite 2.0 engine has been built to – as far as we possibly can – prepare for a modular approach to whatever may come in the future.
You can read the rest of the interview from the source link below. So now that the beta is over and there are a number of tweets and posts about how most of the issues have already been resolved prior to the beta, what are your thoughts in how Battlefield 3 stands? Can it stand? Do you think the game is ready to go or is it feeling like some things are being dropped to be picked up later?
Source
Who better to speak to about the issues arising from the recent Battlefield 3 beta than the game's Lead Multiplayer Designer, Lars Gustavsson. After pumping dozens of hours into the beta we had plenty of questions for him during yesterday's Australian Battlefield 3 event. Where's the VOIP and joystick support? Will bullet damage be altered? Can we set up our own squads? Why are jet campers such douchebags? Lars answered all of these, and more.
GameSpy: The beta didn't work well with joysticks or control pads. What level of support for these devices will the game ship with? Will pilots be able to fly with a stick or pad?
Lars: It's something we're looking into. It looks like we will be able to ship with joystick support, but I've been on the road for quite some time so I can't guarantee it. But yes, if it doesn't turn up at launch, it will definitely be a high priority as soon as possible after shipping. The work being done to support joysticks is more or less the same as control pads, if you get one, you get the other. It's something we're aware of now that we've brought back the jets. It's on the list.
GameSpy: The beta didn't support in-game VOIP; players had to form a party through battlelog to be able to chat just to their party. Will Battlefield 3 include in-game VOIP – be it squad or team based – at launch?
Lars: No, on PC this (battlelog) is what we're going to ship with. Then we're going to evaluate how we move forward with this. It's something we've heard from the community, it's something we understand. At the same time, building a game of this size, you can't win all of the battles. The convenience of going in with friends with your party VOIP channel and keep it even after the game, is definitely a strength. That's just the start – we can definitely evolve from there down the road.
GameSpy: We've heard there's going to be a command rose at launch for PC. Is that still going to be ready for launch? What sort of functionality might it include?
Lars: It is on our list for trying to get in there at launch. It is the usual things that you can really miss on the battlefield. Bail out is a typical one; you're sitting in a helicopter and you realize that you want to attack the flag, and there's no way to tell you're buddy that you're going to bail out.
GameSpy: What about ammo, medpacks, that sort of stuff?
Lars: We have the context system today, but it was buggy in the open beta. We've been hammering it to get it right.
GameSpy: There's been some feedback that some people found bullet damage too strong in the beta. Any plans to tweak it?
Lars: We've done a lot of tweaking and tuning, everyone needs to understand that the beta was early code. Everything from hit detection to damage, flashlights that people have been mentioning – a lot of the issues that people have raised have already been fixed.
GameSpy: What level of squad control will the release have? In the beta you couldn't form a squad, join a specific squad or lock a squad so it's just you and friends – will the final release be different?
Lars: At release you'll be able to invite friends, join squads, all the stuff that you need to be able to play with your friends. Getting into the server and seeing your friend, but not being able to play with them, is nothing but frustrating.
GameSpy: A lot of the oldschool, hardcore Battlefield players are asking for an advanced flight model option for choppers and jets – any chance you'll consider this requests?
Lars: For now we're leaving them the way they are, and will let the game live for a little while, then start the communication with the community to see where we stand.
GameSpy: The PC version looks quite different to the console versions. Do you think there will be any critical backlash from console gamers? Most of the marketing material is very PC focused, so they might be expecting something different to what they end up getting?
Lars: I don't think so. Most gamers do realize that the consoles are five years old, and if someone buys new SLI cards for their monster PC, there will be something extra for the PC. If we kept everything on console level for those PC players, then they would rightfully strangle us! I do think we have managed to push the boundaries of the consoles to a level where I feel we've passed the competition. That's all you can ask out of the team at this point.
GameSpy: Do you think building for PC first and foremost will give DICE a headstart when it comes to developing an engine for the next gen consoles? You'll be adept at multicore, multi-GPU and DirectX 11, where many other companies won't?
Lars: The main focus has been to build a game. Of course we have the technical thinking behind it, but we've been leading with console for quite some time now and it was time to turn it around to refresh all of our knowledge on previous titles. But yeah, the Frostbite 2.0 engine has been built to – as far as we possibly can – prepare for a modular approach to whatever may come in the future.
You can read the rest of the interview from the source link below. So now that the beta is over and there are a number of tweets and posts about how most of the issues have already been resolved prior to the beta, what are your thoughts in how Battlefield 3 stands? Can it stand? Do you think the game is ready to go or is it feeling like some things are being dropped to be picked up later?
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