Ah wow, so yeah, this blog post is massive and it's difficult to pick and choose what to share with you. I'll share just a tiny sample from their post but if you're a fan of Battlefield (and you probably are if you're reading this) then you should check out the full blog post for yourself.
Angry Seas: Dynamic Water-based Combat
With Battlefield 4, we’ve put a lot of effort into giving Naval Combat the magnitude it deserves – and with the dynamic weather changes, fighting at sea becomes a constantly changing experience. At sea you get to control both attack craft like the Patrol Boats, and water transport vehicles like the Personal Water Craft, each with their own benefits. The bigger naval units are now basically “tanks on water”, suitable for both attacking targets defending themselves with powerful guns and countermeasures.
There were many challenges with designing the naval units in Battlefield 4. A big one was finding the right loadout for weapons, unlocks and other features for the attack boats. Naval units are unique on the Battlefield due to limited mobility, and that you are physically separated by the shoreline from both teammates and enemies. This is also true for the RHIB and Personal Water Craft, but transport vehicles are sort of disposable as you don’t spend as much time in them. We wanted the attack boats to hold value and have the same gameplay depth as a tank or a helicopter.
Let’s say you’re battling it out for bomb possession in Obliteration Mode and you want to take your team to victory by mastering the sea. One idea is to enter a fast attack craft like the RCB-90 and patrol the coasts of the most intense islands. Heavily armed, these things allow you to deal with light vehicles, infantry and other boats, but also give armored vehicles, jets and helicopters a fight. Now you have the choice of maneuvering the craft, trying to find the most strategic places based on what’s happening in the round, or man the fast 30mm cannon and take out enemy infantry as they rush with the bomb on the mainland. In Conquest, you can also use these mobile gun platforms to support the capturing of bases near the water.
If you want to speed things up at sea, the PWC (Personal Water Craft) is back for Battlefield 4. You might recognize this rapid ride from Battlefield 2: Special Forces and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and those familiar with the Siege of Shanghai and Paracel Storm maps know the strength of it – swift movements from A to B in naval environments. Also: if you find yourself aboard an RCB patrol boat that’s close to exploding, two PWCs can come to the rescue by acting as escape vehicles. In other words, there’s no need to swim all the way to shore, which makes for non-stop action on the Battlefield.
With Battlefield 4, we’ve put a lot of effort into giving Naval Combat the magnitude it deserves – and with the dynamic weather changes, fighting at sea becomes a constantly changing experience. At sea you get to control both attack craft like the Patrol Boats, and water transport vehicles like the Personal Water Craft, each with their own benefits. The bigger naval units are now basically “tanks on water”, suitable for both attacking targets defending themselves with powerful guns and countermeasures.
There were many challenges with designing the naval units in Battlefield 4. A big one was finding the right loadout for weapons, unlocks and other features for the attack boats. Naval units are unique on the Battlefield due to limited mobility, and that you are physically separated by the shoreline from both teammates and enemies. This is also true for the RHIB and Personal Water Craft, but transport vehicles are sort of disposable as you don’t spend as much time in them. We wanted the attack boats to hold value and have the same gameplay depth as a tank or a helicopter.
Let’s say you’re battling it out for bomb possession in Obliteration Mode and you want to take your team to victory by mastering the sea. One idea is to enter a fast attack craft like the RCB-90 and patrol the coasts of the most intense islands. Heavily armed, these things allow you to deal with light vehicles, infantry and other boats, but also give armored vehicles, jets and helicopters a fight. Now you have the choice of maneuvering the craft, trying to find the most strategic places based on what’s happening in the round, or man the fast 30mm cannon and take out enemy infantry as they rush with the bomb on the mainland. In Conquest, you can also use these mobile gun platforms to support the capturing of bases near the water.
If you want to speed things up at sea, the PWC (Personal Water Craft) is back for Battlefield 4. You might recognize this rapid ride from Battlefield 2: Special Forces and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and those familiar with the Siege of Shanghai and Paracel Storm maps know the strength of it – swift movements from A to B in naval environments. Also: if you find yourself aboard an RCB patrol boat that’s close to exploding, two PWCs can come to the rescue by acting as escape vehicles. In other words, there’s no need to swim all the way to shore, which makes for non-stop action on the Battlefield.