Significant Update Headed Battlefield's Way

http://www.digitalspy.com.au/gaming/news/a351971/battlefield-3-to-receive-significant-update-on-pc.html

Battlefield 3 will receive a "significant" update on the PC later this week, DICE has confirmed.

The imminent update will see "improved polish, stability, weapons balancing, squad control functionality, user interface enhancements, and several feature enhancements that address feedback the community has provided to date".

DICE will also remove the "negative mouse acceleration" that some users have experienced, and is likely to tone down tactical lighting.

The update will be made available to console users shortly after the PC patch goes live and once certification requirements have been met.

Battlefield 3 was released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in October. The game sold almost 2 million copies in its first month in the US alone.

About damn time! I dont even bother trying to play bf3 any more as I was having so many issues with it maybe this will take care of a them.

About damn time. Game was almost unplayable with everyone running around with IRNVs or camping with infinite ammo mortars. Never experienced random disconnects myself, but I realise it must have been annoying for many people. Also hoping they finally fix the AN-94 and make it work as it should.

About damn time. Game was almost unplayable with everyone running around with IRNVs or camping with infinite ammo mortars. Never experienced random disconnects myself, but I realise it must have been annoying for many people. Also hoping they finally fix the AN-94 and make it work as it should.

QQabitmoar

I'm hoping this patch will correct some of my performance issues so I can actually play the game again without getting annoyed. We shall see... :)

[QUOTE="QQabitmoar"]

About damn time. Game was almost unplayable with everyone running around with IRNVs or camping with infinite ammo mortars. Never experienced random disconnects myself, but I realise it must have been annoying for many people. Also hoping they finally fix the AN-94 and make it work as it should.

Elann2008

Any dates? Having a lan party with friends on Friday, with BF3 being the main focus... Hope it comes out by then.trastamad03

Oh nice I hope it adresses lag when in a game with a high number of players. I wish they kept the NV overpowered though =D .

good stuff. :)

Is anyone else annoyed about the announcement of 4? I mean, you'd want this thing to be supported for a couple of years at least. biggest_loser

I would be annoyed if they turned the main BF series into yearly crap...

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Is anyone else annoyed about the announcement of 4? I mean, you'd want this thing to be supported for a couple of years at least. PcGamingRig

I would be annoyed if they turned the main BF series into yearly crap...

Is anyone else annoyed about the announcement of 4? I mean, you'd want this thing to be supported for a couple of years at least. biggest_loser

Nice one! :) I wish there was an option to get rid of the killcam as it's an annoyance and useless.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Is anyone else annoyed about the announcement of 4? I mean, you'd want this thing to be supported for a couple of years at least. DanielDust

Are you really going to split those hairs with me?

[QUOTE="DanielDust"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Is anyone else annoyed about the announcement of 4? I mean, you'd want this thing to be supported for a couple of years at least. biggest_loser

Are you really going to split those hairs with me?

Yes, because you're already talking like it's coming next year, comparing it with CoD milking and such, do you not like BF 3?

DanielDust

Right so now you're "interpreting" my responses - you really need more to worry about Dusty.

I didn't say anything about next year. I said that if you line up all the DICE/BF games they're extremely frequent, *almost* as much as COD.

I'm enjoying BF3 and I want them to keep supporting it for some time. I'm not keen to fork out yet again, whether its BF4 or BC3.

They will support it, just like BC 2, safe to say the game won't get any better than it already is, which isn't much, maybe they'll stay away from the knife this game, went from functional to broken and in the end to CoD like but still broken (stabbing people from several meters away, teleporting you right into their neck).

No matter what they make next, it won't be worth it, unless they change how they develop games, BC 2 and BF 3 are extremely similar, not so much in the scope of the game, but various game choices and crucial game functionality, in short, they're extremely similar with the bad choices they make. CoD might not try to change much, but it certainly doesn't pretend to offer more (except MW 2 -sp and a little mp- which is why I can't stand it).

[QUOTE="PcGamingRig"]

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]Is anyone else annoyed about the announcement of 4? I mean, you'd want this thing to be supported for a couple of years at least. biggest_loser

I would be annoyed if they turned the main BF series into yearly crap...

BF does not MILK as you say nearly as much as COD, I honestly find this comment hilarious.

GO play the last three COD games and then the last two BF games, there is a huge difference between the BF games while the COD games seem like a new expansion pack when they get released. BF3 made HUGE improvements over what BC2 was imo.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"][QUOTE="PcGamingRig"]depends if it is coming next year, did they say it was?

I would be annoyed if they turned the main BF series into yearly crap...

kozzy1234

BF does not MILK as you say nearly as much as COD, I honestly find this comment hilarious.

GO play the last three COD games and then the last two BF games, there is a huge difference between the BF games while the COD games seem like a new expansion pack when they get released. BF3 made HUGE improvements over what BC2 was imo.

I just hope the patch doesn't break the knifenutcrackr

Hit detection better be fixed.

I hope it does, COD knife is stupid. It hasn't given me any grief, yet, but you should have to wield the knife before you attack. So, if you do have your knife out, and you want to knife someone, it should require two actions.C_Rule

[QUOTE="nutcrackr"]I just hope the patch doesn't break the knifeC_Rule

Taken from BattleLog:

Today (Tue Nov 22nd, 2011) we have updated most components of BF3 PC:
* We have released an update to the BF3 PC game client via Origin. It is ~500MB large. Everyone will be prompted to install the update.
* We have updated the master servers - mainly stability fixes.
* We have updated Battlelog - see the blog post for details.
* We have sent out a new game server build to all PC RSPs.

The new server is R9, build ID 886605.
Manual here:http://static.cdn.ea.com/dice/u/f/bfbc2/tmp/BF3_PC_Server_R9_886605_Docs_ServerAdministrator_v2.zip

Battlelog will only show Server R9 or newer. This is because the new game client is no longer compatible with the older game servers. The RSPs are gradually updating their servers. As they complete the update you will see more and more servers in the browser.

Here is a near-complete changelist for the game servers:

* Support for unranked servers (vars.ranked)
* Ranked servers have a few settings as read-only (see documentation)
* Unranked servers allow changing of all settings
* Reintroduced vars.allUnlocksUnlocked for unranked servers
* The game server will parse all of Startup.txt even if an error is encountered
* vars.roundStartPlayerCount / vars.roundRestartPlayerCount handling rewritten to be more natural
* vars.maxPlayers cannot be used to go past the server's max number of slots any more
* Security updates to the game server
* Fixed several server crashes, hangs, and a 10-second stall - all of which which would make the server drop every player
* vars.gamePassword can only be invoked during server startup, not while the server is already running
* vars.teamKillCountForKick 0 will disable team kicking instead of kicking people frivolously
* banList.add would sometimes crash; fixed now
* EOD bot scoring exploit fix

If you are a server administrator that run ranked servers, then you should take note that a few settings are no longer changeable for ranked servers.
The most notable example here is that you are no longer able to set the min # of players to start a round to less than 4. This is to prevent statspadding.
Secondly, the idle timeout mechanism is always on, and set at 300 seconds on ranked servers. This is to prevent people idling for long swathes of time on ranked servers. Having idle kick at 5 minutes is harsh, and we will revisit the max timeout for Server R10 - however, we do not plan to allow for turning of the idle kick altogether.

If you are a server administrator that run unranked servers, notice that you should set the server to unranked by having a 'vars.ranked false' at the top of your Startup.txt. You must set it to unranked during the server startup; once the server is present on Battlelog, it can no longer be switched between ranked and unranked status. Once it is set to unranked, all other settings can be controlled. And yes, the setting for unlocking all weapons & gadgets (vars.allUnlocksUnlocked) is back.

...and continuation:

Patch notes for Nov 22 patch

Major client update for the PC version Battlefield 3 as well as a server-side update for all platforms.

The update will be made on Nov. 22nd 7:00 AM UTC / Nov. 21st 11:00 PM PST.

We'll share release timing on the console patches as soon as we are clear on the timing, these take a bit longer due to console certification process.


---- Client-Side Changes:

-- Visuals, Stability and Performance Fixes:

• General performance and loading time improvements
• "Black Screen" fix for an issue occurring on some PC Configurations
• Stereo and Rendering Support for Nvidia and AMD Graphics Cards
• Adjusted the "stuttering" encountered on some PC configurations.
• Fixed several Crashes when joining MP and Co-Op sessions
• Fixed multiple problems when using multiple monitors (Eyefinity / Surround).
• Fixed visual corruption issues on certain Nvidia Cards
• Improved loading times for certain textures
• Added console command "GameTime.MaxVariableFps" to limit max FPS

-- Balance and Gameplay Adjustments (PC)

• Fixed a problem with high speed mouse movement
• Added back some missing Growlers on Kharg Island Conquest Large
• Added back EOR sound for SQDM and TDM
• You should no longer be able to damage a friendly vehicle when sitting in an open position
• Grenades now drop to ground if you get killed while attempting to throw it(note the affect this will have on Hardcore mode!)
• Spawn protection now should work in Conquest. You should no longer spawn on points too close to enemies
• You should no longer spawn too close to enemies in TDM and SQDM
• Combat areas on Kharg Rush tweaked in order to disallow defenders to access the carrier ship after 1st base is taken and being able to enter the AA gun
• Fixed a problem with revived players not suffering suppression
• Fixed a problem with the camera when being revived in COOP
• Added joystick deadzone setting
• Fixed sound for when climbing ladders
• Fixed an issue with some weapon sounds in first person
• Fixed a swim sound loop error
• Increased the damage of Helicopter Miniguns, AA guns, and Jet Cannons against infantry
• Increased the damage of Helicopter Miniguns against jeeps.
• Reduced the physics impact of AA guns and Jet Cannons, players under attack from these weapons should no longer lose control.
• Increased the damage of the 44 Magnum slightly.
• Increased the range and minimum damage of the .357 Round from the MP412 Rex.
• Increased the range of all .45cal and 9mm weapons.
• Slightly increased the range of the P90 and MP7 and PDW-R.
• Slightly increased the range of the 5.56mm PDW-R and decreased the minimum damage at long range.
• Slightly increased the minimum range of the Mk11, SVD, and M39 EMR 7.62mm rifles.
• Decreased the maximum damage and maximum range of the G3 and SCAR-H 7.62mm weapons.
• Reduced the damage from FIM-92 and SA-18 IGLA missiles against aircraft.
• Increased the damage and range of the 40mm BUCK rounds.
• Reduced the damage .50cal weapons do against Helicopters.
• Updated T90 canister shell tweaks to match Abrams canister shells
UI Changes (PC)
• Added round duration and ticket summary at EOR
• Advanced squad polish – should be more intuitive
• Significant changes to the Join Squad functionality (see below)
• Fixed a problem regarding keybindings while playing
• You should now get a better error message when being disconnected via Battlelog

---- Server Update Highlights

• EOD Bot exploit fix
• Several crash fixes
• Anti-stat padding measures taken, disallowing ranked servers to run obscure settings
• Improved team kill kick configuration
• Support for unranked servers. Unranked servers do not report players' scores to Battlelog, but server administrators can freely control all settings


-- Share your profile and stats with new Battlelog functionality

• Ability to share your Profile and Stats pages to Facebook, Google+, and Twitter
• User Profile and Stats pages on Battlelog can now be accessed without being signed in to Battlelog if you know a user's URL
• Single sign on from Battlelog to Origin. If you're not logged in to Origin and join a game server, Battlelog will automatically sign you in to Origin in the background and join the game server


-- Quick notes on Squad changes in the Nov 22 update

• Removed FIND ME A SQUAD option
• Allow players to join empty Squads alone, thus having 1/4 squad members
• Change order of options to LEAVE SQUAD, INV A FRIEND, SWITCH TEAM
• Disable Privacy flag when 1 man squad
• Reset Privacy flag from Private to Public when squad drops to 1 player
• All occupied Squads will now show up colored blue on the Squad Selection screen
• Players who choose not to join squads will also show up as Blue in the "Not in a Squad" line
• Squads that are currently empty will display as white -- if you wish to join an empty Squad, you can choose the first one marked with white text


-- A detailed look at Squad refinements

A detailed look at Squad refinements

Today's PC client patch features numerous tweaks to Squad functionality and is part of our ongoing efforts to make it easier to play with friends and Platoon mates. These changes will also be implemented for consoles when we release the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 updates shortly. Stay tuned for the exact date of the console updates.

First, we need to look at how joining with Squads and Platoons affects the balance of teams. Initially, servers are commanded to equal out each side, so joining with friends can impact that balance while joining with Platoons further hinders this. As a result we have made some adjustments to the in-game Squad management screen.

For PC, you are now able to highlight the various Squads and select which one you wish to join by selecting a Squad and then clicking the Join Squad button. Please note that the Squad Privacy option still allows 2 man Squads which, during 64 player sessions, can lead to players with no squad position –- the number of people with no Squads will be shown at the bottom of the Squad selection list.

After the patch is applied to consoles (in the near future) you will be able to join Squads by cycling through the list and selecting which Squad you wish to join.

Nice, might start playing again, especially because of this "• Ability to share your Profile and Stats pages to Facebook, Google+, and Twitter", but I do like the client fixes.

The exact size is 483.7 for anyone worried about their cap or something.

This is the big update we have all been waiting for for weapons balancing too. How much do you wanna bet there will still be a lot of problems after it

Gonna check out the performance sometime to see if this patch actually fixed my issues.. would be great if it did.

• Increased the damage of Helicopter Miniguns, AA guns, and Jet Cannons against infantry

LOL. Are they not even listening? Everyone complains about the AA vehicle. It's great against infantry, other vehicles, and it's the fastest way to level a building. And then they decided to increase the damage the guns do to infantry. Awesome ;)

Did they nerf the IR scope, Flashlight and AA power against jets?? I don't see those on the changelog

Gonna check out the performance sometime to see if this patch actually fixed my issues.. would be great if it did.

• Increased the damage of Helicopter Miniguns, AA guns, and Jet Cannons against infantry

LOL. Are they not even listening? Everyone complains about the AA vehicle. It's great against infantry, other vehicles, and it's the fastest way to level a building. And then they decided to increase the damage the guns do to infantry. Awesome ;)

MyopicCanadian

Exactly. My god they are stupid. I would love for them to just take it out all together because it unbalances everything. You can tear through anything with it.

Also no M249 nerf? wtf

Gonna check out the performance sometime to see if this patch actually fixed my issues.. would be great if it did.

• Increased the damage of Helicopter Miniguns, AA guns, and Jet Cannons against infantry

LOL. Are they not even listening? Everyone complains about the AA vehicle. It's great against infantry, other vehicles, and it's the fastest way to level a building. And then they decided to increase the damage the guns do to infantry. Awesome ;)

MyopicCanadian

That's pretty stupid, AA gun is really OP against infantry. Hell, I have an easier time destroying tanks with the AA than with a tank myself.

Has anyone played with the update yet to see if its different?

Has anyone played with the update yet to see if its different?

seanmcloughlin

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

Has anyone played with the update yet to see if its different?

Elann2008

I just got 1 shotted by a SCAR and I got a black screen loading up a server. Load times are still huge on first startup. The patch so far did nothing in my eyes

[QUOTE="Elann2008"]

[QUOTE="seanmcloughlin"]

Has anyone played with the update yet to see if its different?

seanmcloughlin

I just got 1 shotted by a SCAR and I got a black screen loading up a server. Load times are still huge on first startup. The patch so far did nothing in my eyes

I'm getting really awkward effects with the hit registration (i'm not sure how does that works). The hit-boxes seens to be the size of a tank, in a server that's supposed to be of 20-29 ms of ping, i swear i'm shooting 3 meters away from a guy and I still hit them and kill. I wasn't so obvious before.

praise jesus, theyre toning down the tactical lighting. Honestly, it is not realistic at all; a flashlight will not make your whole FoV go white lol. Its not a flashbang equivelent

"RAWR! TAKE MY FLASHLIGHT OF DOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Now die!"
"Ahhhhhh MY EYES! I CANT SEE! blargh, i is dead"