Hello everyone, I’m Nadab Göksu, Senior VFX Artist at DICE. I have been doing visual effects for Battlefield games since Battlefield 2 [released 2005]. My role includes everything from creating particle effects to post filters, lens flares, and bullet decals. I also hook stuff up to the right gameplay effect — so there’s a metal kind of explosion (and not a wooden one) when you fire your RPG at a vehicle, for example.

Visual effects is a constantly evolving field. No game is like the last one, and that’s one reason I still enjoy working on them. As hardware and code is constantly evolving, we can get more and better-looking visual effects into the games, and I always try to push the limits of what we can do.

HD Destruction on display in the upcoming expansion pack Battlefield 3: Close Quarters.

For Battlefield 3: Close Quarters I approached the visual effects with two things in mind. Firstly, that particle effects should not block a player’s view. We have a lot more destruction than in previous games, so if we were to use the set of FX from the base game, the rooms and corridors in Close Quarters would be literally filled with smoke for long periods of time, potentially ruining the gameplay.

Secondly, the whole art direction for this expansion pack centers around destruction. I wanted to emphasize this by having a lot of debris and very violent dust explosions that burst and dissipate quickly so that they don’t take over the scene. The focus here should be on debris rather than smoke. Combined, these two tenets governed a lot of the FX work for Close Quarters.

You create the chaos
One important aim for me with Close Quarters is to let players generate ambient environmental chaos. All HD Destruction leaves behind a big and very long-lived dust particle cloud that shows the trace of war and turns the surrounding dusty.

On the “Skybar” level [our internal title for Ziba Tower] for example, you have the sprinklers that will trigger if someone shoots at them or if an explosion goes off nearby. We also have gas stoves that burst into flames during the entire round. Showers start to leak water and steam, TV’s are buzzing with static, lights are flashing, and so on. The experience I want to convey is that you generate the chaos, and you can track were the action is by following the signs of destruction. Put simply, at the end of a round, a Close Quarters map should look and feel completely different from when the round started.

“At the end of a round, a Close Quarters map

should look and feel completely different

from when the round started”

So what we did was create a lot of new surface materials for “XP2” [our internal designation for this second expansion pack] and a new set of gameplay/destruction effects for all of the different props and objects. This way it would be easier to control the new effects and to give this expansion pack a unique look.

Basically, all impact effects from bullets in Close Quarters are new. They are also rapid, more violent and contain a lot more debris than earlier. Every bullet fired will now spawn ~50 particles upon impact, from the previous ~10. How can we afford this from a performance standpoint? That’s where our optimization work comes into play, making sure that all the extra debris will only spawn if it’s close you to, with a cap on how much debris can exist in the world at any one time.

Apart from these new impact effects, I also created new destruction effects in various sizes for different materials to fit all of the objects we have, such as wood, furniture, concrete, marble, and so on. For each part that can be chipped away from an object, we spawn ~6 small cluster objects that the prop artists include when they’re building their props (such as chairs, lamps, and walls). Normal clusters can collide and have proper physics, while the small clusters are not networked and are relatively cheap from a performance standpoint. The rest is mesh particles — they don’t have any sort of collision, but mixing the two types still gives a strong visual experience to the player.

Randomly shooting at stuff
Above you can see a demo montage that I put together, just randomly shooting at stuff to showcase the destruction internally here at DICE. I just added a slow motion effect in post-production because I wanted to see all the details in our HD Destruction.

Besides what has already been discussed in this post, a lot of work went into tweaking existing effects. The RPG explosion has been remade, for example, and now has a very unique look. Players should now be able to see a distinct difference between an RPG explosion versus a hand grenade explosion, especially since the latter also has seen a revamp with Close Quarters. These changes not only look pretty – they were absolutely necessary from a gameplay perspective as well, since the base game FX would effectively block visibility in two entire rooms inside the Ziba Tower map!

Other explosive items that have been revamped for Close Quarters are the C4 and Claymores. The C4 explosion radius should now match its actual gameplay area more closely, and the Claymore now has a directional based cone of mayhem, also modified to fit its actual gameplay range. These are all changes that were essential in bringing the Battlefield indoors, where space is much tighter than on a traditional Battlefield map (like Caspian Border, for example).

It’s been a blast working on Close Quarters, and the June release is coming up. I hope you will have as much fun with it as we have had during our play tests. I tend to favor TDM, so you can probably find me in some Noshahr Canals TDM server, at least until this expansion pack gets released. Thanks for reading, and let me know in the comments section below if you have any questions on our VFX work and I’ll try to answer them.

Nadab Göksu
Senior VFX Artist

Keep the questions coming here on the blog (or send them to @battlefield) and we’ll do more round-ups like this. Now let’s dig into the questions and some answers we think you will find illuminating.

1. Where did you start before working for DICE?
(Asked by @minikanelive)
Alan answers: “I was actually quite lucky to enter the industry directly working for DICE on Battlefield 2142. Of course, I didn’t just start cold turkey, I’d previously been a member of the Battlefield 1942 modding community where I developed tools, levels, and mods. Some of my work was featured in mods like Eve of Destruction, Desert Combat, and Point of Existence. Scholastically my background is a Computer Science degree from a university in the US where I grew up. While the CS degree wasn’t a real influence on me getting the job, I do find that understanding the concepts of coding is a definitive edge when working as a game designer.”

2. SKS bullet drop is very pronounced. Bug or intended? It ruins my immersion whenever i see it.
(Asked by @shimme01)
Alan answers: “The SKS has a relatively low velocity round when compared to other DMR and Sniper weapons. Over the same distances the SKS round will drop further and lose more energy since it’s a smaller caliber round. The SKS is range limited, though it makes up for this by being mobile, fast firing, and deadly in mid-range. For longer range engagements I would step up to something like the M39 EMR or the QBU-88 sniper from Back to Karkand.”

3. In comparison to the P90, the MP7 is a bit outclassed. Maybe consider reducing the MP7′s first shot recoil and increasing the P90′s?
(Asked by @kryptikspaniard)
Alan answers: “The MP7 has a lower overall muzzle climb, a faster reload (especially from empty), and a higher rate of fire than the P90. Finally, the MP7 is rather easily obtained via COOP play, while the P90 comes later on at Rank40. Obviously they’re both similar weapons, and I feel the subtle differences between the two weapons makes it an interesting choice for players. Some players clearly prefer the P90, others prefer the MP7.“

4. Do scopes have an effect on vertical recoil? Didn’t know if the weight of the scope factored in? It’s not in the descriptions.
(Asked by @friedpixels)
Alan answers: “Another great question. Scopes only change two variables: how much zoom they provide and how fast the weapon aims down the sights. A high zoom scope, like a 6x rifle scope, will be slow, and a low zoom sight, like a red dot sight, will be fast. There are no additionally effects on the weapons’ handling, no changes to recoil or accuracy.”

5. So a gun that has just a suppressor and a sight has better aimed accuracy than one with a foregrip & suppressor?
(Asked by @KILLAnthonyMan)
Alan answers: “The short answer is Yes. The long answer is Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssss. The explanation though, is more interesting. A foregrip carries a small aimed accuracy penalty, if you’re trying to get the best absolute accuracy you can with the weapon, a suppressor will give you better aimed accuracy. However, combining the Suppressor and the Foregrip will give the weapon the same accuracy as if you had no accessories, while also reducing recoil. It’s my recommendation that you only forgo a foregrip (see what I did there?) if you demand the absolute best accuracy you can obtain. Generally, inside 100m a weapon with a foregrip is still plenty accurate to hit consistently on target, and it will be easier to control.”

That’s it for now! We hope you enjoyed this Q&A session. Once again, if you want similar questions answered right here on the blog, ask them below in the comments section. See you in the next episode of “Inside DICE”.

Hi everyone! We hope you enjoyed yesterday’s new Close Quarters gameplay trailer. On that note, we just released a new cool litho for pre-order in the DICE Store. It’s a signed and numbered lithograph from DICE Concept Artist Eric Persson, showing the Donya Fortress map from Close Quarters. It’s available now in the EU DICE Store here, or the US store here.

We also have the winning T-shirt that you voted for earlier available in both the EU and US DICE Store right now. Visit the DICE Store for even more great Battlefield gear straight from us at DICE.

Having recently held a European and U.S. media event, we are proud to present the second of four maps included in Close Quarters, dubbed Donya Fortress (internally called simply “Palace” after its working name). In today’s new gameplay trailer, you’ll see more of the gameplay changing HD Destruction, plus a glimpse of the new game mode Conquest Domination. Conquest Domination is basically a clever mix of the tactical Conquest mode and the instant action gameplay approach in Close Quarters, tailored to the tight level design and frantic close quarters combat.

Check out the trailer below, and look out for media coverage from Donya Fortress starting to hit the web today.

Seek and destroy on the Donya Fortress map from the upcoming Close Quarters expansion pack.

Battlefield™ is a big game. Balancing a game as diverse as Battlefield 3 requires constant attention, multiple iterations, and both a detailed approach as well as a broad vision. To start, we begin with the broad vision: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Tank, Jet, Infantry, Boat, Helicopter. At the heart of “Battlefield Balance” is the idea that no single soldier can be all powerful. We believe this makes the choices presented in Battlefield more interesting, as the player is not simply advancing an ever steeper power curve, but rather the player is consistently presented with new choices. The choices a player makes, whether before spawn, at spawn, or when playing will determine which role he plays and what abilities he possesses.

No silver bullets
For example, on a vehicle level a jet can destroy a tank, but an AA vehicle can destroy a jet, but the tank can destroy the AA. Only through teamwork can the tank be protected from the AA and the AA protected from another tank. Each of the vehicles is powerful within its role, but no one vehicle can master everything. Teamwork though, trumps all. The attack helicopter is a great example of a situation where two players, cooperating in the same vehicle can greatly increase the power of the vehicle. With a gunner and a pilot the attack helicopter can engage both ground vehicles and infantry, as well as defend itself against other helicopters. However, even the attack helicopter is vulnerable to the jet, or an AA vehicle, or even infantry with a SAM launcher. It is when players find all powerful combinations that we need to do a balance update.

Battlefield 3 made some major additions to game balance: vehicle disable, suppression, and deeper weapon customization all have a major impact on how Battlefield 3 is balanced. Suppression is an addition generally unique to Battlefield, as we felt that shooters really didn’t represent the unnerving fear that comes from being truly shot at in an authentic way. Suppression allowed us to better represent this psychological effect of being shot, while also adding to the gameplay. Being able to pin down and suppress a player so he cannot accurately return fire opens up new tactics and strategies for dealing with threats. A player with an SMG might not be able to put effective lethal fire on a sniper, but he can put enough rounds near the sniper to suppress him and get into cover.

A Delicate Balancing Act
Of course all of this is a delicate balancing act, and based on community feedback in the last update we made some tweaks to how suppression is calculated. We increased the size of the suppression sphere (bullets going through or impacting in this sphere cause suppression) in order to allow better suppression of targets in windows or behind some kinds of cover. Previously players would have to shoot over the cover, and this change allows the bullets that hit the cover to provide some suppressive effect. Of course, the closer a bullet passes to the player the more suppression he receives, and some tweaks were made to how close a bullet must be to fully suppress. I’m generally happy with the larger sphere, as it makes suppression clearer (and was a small adjustment), though community sentiment is clear that while divided a significant number of players dislike the changes made to suppression. We look forward to continued community feedback on how these changes are affecting Battlefield 3. Based on that feedback we may make additional adjustments in the future.

Finding the Perfect Accessory Combo for YOU
For weapon customization, we did an in-depth analysis of how players were customizing their weapons and found that players, especially high level players who have many unlocks, were generally gravitating to a single combo: Foregrip and Suppressor. When we see many players gravitating towards a single setup, as game designers we can conclude that the other choices are not interesting enough to give players reason to try them out. We want players to experience the width of the game, and for this reason we concluded it was time to make a change. I think it’s been an overall improvement for the game. There’s some confusion that comes when a system wide change comes, as players find their go to combo suddenly is not as good as it was. It’s time to try out some new combinations! Which playstyle do you want to go for below?

Jack of All Trades
Primary accessory: Foregrip
Secondary accessory: Flash Suppressor

Kertz’ Comments: To be blunt, previously the Flash Suppressor was worthless. Post update it has received a huge buff: It now substantially reduces the muzzle climb of a weapon, making it much more controllable. Pairing the Foregrip and the Flash Suppressor together will give your weapon a huge boost in controllability, and this will especially help with high rate of fire weapons like the F2000, AEK-971, A-91 and FAMAS.

Short Range Stealth
Primary accessory: Foregrip
Secondary accessory: Suppressor

Kertz’ Comments: The Foregrip’s muzzle drift reduction works well at short range and pairs well with the Suppressor’s minor muzzle climb reduction. You’ll be invisible on the minimap, you’ll have a significantly reduced muzzle signature, and your weapon will be more controllable. Finally by pairing the Suppressor and the Foregrip together the Suppressor’s minor accuracy bonus fully offsets the accuracy penalty of the Foregrip — your gun will be just as accurate as if you had no accessories at all.

Hip Fire Run and Gun
Primary accessory: Foregrip
Secondary accessory: Laser Sight

Kertz’ Comments: The Laser Sight gives a massive bonus to accuracy from the hip and will allow you to be much more accurate while mobile. Since most of your fire will be from the hip, adding a Foregrip will reduce muzzle drift and make your fire more controllable without feeling any of the downsides of the Foregrip. You can also toggle your laser sight on and off to afford a bit more stealth if the situation requires. Remember, the laser sight only helps from the hip, so turn it off when you’re aiming down the sights to increase your stealth!

Medium Range Marksman
Primary accessory: Foregrip
Secondary accessory: Heavy Barrel

Kertz’ Comments: This has been a clear source of confusion in the community. Should I pair a Foregrip with my Heavy Barrel after the update? My answer is a definite yes. Although the Foregrip decreases Aimed Accuracy, the Heavy Barrel’s Aimed Accuracy bonus has been increased to offset the Foregrip’s penalty. Pairing the two will still give you much greater Aimed Accuracy than a stock weapon, as well as reducing your muzzle drift. You will see some increased muzzle climb, however you’ll also be getting increased range out of the Heavy Barrel so your hits will have more impact at Medium Range.

Long Range Marksman
Primary accessory: Bipod
Secondary accessory: Heavy Barrel

Kertz’ Comments: If you want to get the absolute best accuracy out of your weapon, this is the setup for you. The bipod has absolutely no downsides when undeployed, and when deployed it gives a huge boost to accuracy both aimed and from the hip as well as substantially reducing muzzle climb and drift. You’ll also get the increased range of the heavy barrel making you a threat to even snipers when using your deployed bipod and a high zoom optic.

These are my recommendations. There are several combinations that haven’t been covered here, so experiment to find your best post update accessory combo. There’s at least one combo that’s perfect for your unique playstyle, so try a few and you’ll likely find not just a new accessory combo, but a whole new playstyle. You can find a handy guide below so you always know what to expect when experimenting with the different accessories discussed above. Have fun, and let me know in the poll below how you like to play!

Alan Kertz
Core Gameplay Designer

Medal of Honor Warfighter tells a unique single player story written by Tier 1 Operators while deployed overseas and introduces global multiplayer competition based on real military units from around the world, from the renowned SAS and Navy SEALs to the less familiar Swedish SOG and Polish GROM.

Missions in Medal of Honor Warfighter will take players to locales as diverse as the tropical climate of the Philippines, the rough waters surrounding Somalia, and other far flung locations around the world. The first Medal of Honor Warfighter gameplay trailer shows a rescue operation of hostages taken by the Abu Sayyaf, a real terrorist group based in the Philippines.

DICE and Danger Close are working together to combine the revolutionary technology of Frostbite 2 with real-world detail to deliver a truly authentic action experience in Medal of Honor Warfighter.

Medal of Honor Warfighter is available October 23. Visit www.medalofhonor.com  for more information.

“As a kid of roughly eight years old, one of the most mind-blowing realizations I had was that you can actually make games for a living. Since that day, more or less all of my planning for the future was with game development in mind.

My experience as a Quality Assurance Tester (or just “QA Tester” or “QA” for short) here at DICE has really given me an understanding of what working in the games industry is really like. I got this job by a combination of luck and dedication, I guess. It all started with my high school through which I managed to get a three week internship at DICE where I got to do very basic QA stuff on Battlefield 1943.

During this time I got to know a couple of people, luckily also the man who is my boss today. Some time passed without any real connection to DICE, but after a while I started to contact them quite fiercely. I signed up for every focus test, I signed up for every video shoot and more or less did everything in my power to spend as much time as possible in the DICE office. After a while I also yet again on sheer luck started to run in to my current boss out in my free time and started to really bug him about giving me any job within my field of knowledge when I graduated.

In the end it turned that all those hours of free work and time spent yelling “I don’t care what it is, I can clean the office or whatever!” had paid off. About three months after my graduation I received a phone call telling me I had a job. And thus my time as a QA Tester had started, starting as a tester on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam.

A Hunter of Bugs
As a Quality Assurance Tester, my goal is basically to together with our team of testers make sure the game provides proper quality compared to our plans. This mostly comes down to hunting down and reporting bugs to the right people in order to keep the game functional. However, it also includes having a good view of our project plan and being able to provide feedback to the development team both when asked for specifics and on a whim. How does a recently added feature play? Or what’s simply my general experience playing the game as a whole? As such, QA are without a doubt the ones who spend the most time in our games pre-launch”.

“QA work is based around finding flaws

and reporting them to the right people

so they can fix it”

The general flow of functional QA work is based around finding flaws and then reporting them to the right people so they can fix it. When I just had been hired, I thought that being a QA
Tester would be considered the very bottom of the game dev food chain. Spending time here at DICE, I have however realized that QA truly is a vital part of the development process, even though there is no actual development going on.

The most general (and still very common) misconception is that testing a game is the same as playing it. Surely some of our work resembles actual play, but in order to be an effective tester one has to obtain a certain view and mindset and get an understanding of how the game actually is built.

When I launch a build (basically a version of the game) that I need to test I have a general idea of what may be broken. I would know this considering which state the project is currently in and what has been fixed or added since my last go at it. Early on in a project it might be a challenge to even be able to play the game for one minute without the game crashing or freezing. In this case it is our duty to gather all the data needed so that the programmers may analyze it, find the source of the problem, and fix it.

I think working with QA in general is a great way to get a better understanding for how games are built. Having constant interaction with all the different disciplines that make up a development team, as well as having access to the development tools means you learn new things almost on a daily basis. Over time, this helps you grow as a tester and can prepare you for other areas of game development.

A Juggler of Tasks
There are always a whole lot of different things to keep track of during one day, as we currently have three different main platforms (PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3) as well as multiple project branches to attend. An essential ability within QA is to be able to juggle several tasks. I need to organize and communicate properly within the team, as it can be quite challenging making sure that all the correct info gets sent to the right people. All the while, I need to test all the different fixes as soon as possible, and I also schedule and gather the people needed for those urgent play tests. Getting organized is a valuable skill I have developed entirely here on the job, and I am sure it will come in handy in any future employment.

A regular day for me could have one of the designers coming to QA saying ”Hey, I would like to try this new spawn layout for TDM on Kharg Island, could we try this out today?” (Diego asked this???), in which case it would be up to me to find a suitable build of the game containing the new layout, give it a test run to make sure it’s not broken in any way, and then send out an invite to the dev team and make sure that we get a full server so that we can test the new layout properly.

Another recent example would be the audio team trying out some potential tweaks in the way audio is streamed in the game. The way all the different sounds in the game stack are prioritized to create the right feel, and they wanted to try out some new ideas. In this case we organized a play testing session on Caspian Border where all fighting was to take place in one particular area (we picked the Checkpoint base for this purpose). With the server full and the team running around playing as if an actual match was going, this allowed for the audio team to check whether all their tweaks were properly in place or if they had to tweak it further. During development of a game, we run several hundred play tests.

A Slayer of Accidental Monsters
When testing early content hilarious stuff will occur. If you were in the Battlefield 3™ beta you might remember the “long-necks” — disturbing looking characters indeed. They were nothing compared to the first time I encountered something similar in Battlefield 3.

We killed it with fire.

It all happened pretty quickly. I was running fearlessly across the streets of Seine Crossing, turned around and saw a creature looking much like a praying mantis: About twice my size with a freakishly long neck, crooked back and distorted arms, and it came charging at me holding a knife! I was quite startled and quickly ended its miserable life with a panicky SV-98 bullet to the neck and saw it fall. Let’s just say that when we found out what triggered soldiers to take that shape, we had some good fun with that during the next play test before the fix for it had been checked in. ;)

My personal goal at work is that our games should be as enjoyable as possible with as few hiccups as possible. It’s probably impossible to ship a game with zero bugs, but I still silently curse myself when I hear about things that have slipped by during testing — even if it’s a real long-shot bug. I want to help bring our games to a state of near perfection in terms of functionality.

A lot of people ask me how to get into the industry. On a QA level it is sort of hard to give any straight-up tips in how to get here. Unlike programming, modeling or design, I don’t think there is a general line of education for the work. I do however think that the best way to go about it is to go for education that is generally required for the line of work you think you’d like to do after a few years in the business.

I know that one of my current colleagues simply saw that we were looking for new QA on Twitter and applied and got the job! I think the best way to go about is simply to push good and push hard when opportunities arise and show the company you want to work for that you are the one they would want, not necessarily by past QA knowledge but by a general interest for game development and an urge to learn. Again, there are few things other than QA that actually teaches you how to do QA. At any rate, it is a great way to take a first step into the industry.

I must however admit that my work has ruined my personal enjoyment of playing games just a bit. I now find myself challenging a lot of the games I play on my spare time. I want to see if I can  see if I can break them or trigger some funky issues.”

Zeke Lugmair
QA Tester

You can read other stories from people here at DICE on the official DICE site. Check it out at http://dice.se/about

The official Battlelog application ties directly into the Battlelog social platform bringing the best features and information to your phone.

Features in v1.0.0

Battle Feed: See what awards and weapons your friends are unlocking and get notification. Comment and “Hooah!” on their posts.

Com Center: Thinking about logging in to play? See which of your friends are online and playing. Plan for tonight’s session by leaving wall messages.

Stats & Unlocks: Keep track of your persona stats and progress. Everything from dog tags to weapons, gadgets, vehicle upgrades, and specializations is tracked and available for your perusal.

Leaderboards: View worldwide, global leaderboards or compare your standing among friends.

News: Get the latest information on Battlefield 3 direct from DICE, the developers of Battlefield 3.

And best of all? The app is free! There’s no excuse not to be connected to the Battlefield wherever you are. Download the Battlelog app for iPhone now:

North America

All Other Territories

Hi all. My name is Gustav Halling, 26 years old, also known by my nickname “cmd” or “cmd85” on Battlelog.

I have worked at DICE since 2006 as Gameplay Designer and have been involved in designing Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield 1943, Medal of Honor, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. My latest project is Battlefield 3, and most of my time is put into the expansion packs such as Back to Karkand, Close Quarters, and now most recently turning Lead Designer for Battlefield 3: Armored Kill that launches this autumn (which I’m very excited about!)

In this “Inside DICE” post, I’ll explain the reasoning behind adding the new 5-flag layout to Wake Island on consoles. I hope you like the new layout and that you find this post interesting.

Why didn’t we have 5 flags from the start?
So why didn’t we have a 5-flag layout for Wake Island Conquest on consoles to begin with? There is no simple straight answer, but it was a mix of design decisions and technical challenges. When we decided to make a remake of the classic Wake Island map, we wanted it to be the same scale as it was back in Battlefield 2, not the 30% smaller variant that I designed for Battlefield 1943. The reason Battlefield 1943 shipped with 5 flags was because the game was a standalone game where all air and land vehicles and distances could be tweaked specifically for those distances.

This time, we wanted to keep the epic scale that Wake Island is on all platforms, and we play tested the map a lot with 24 players and found that the gameplay was suffering by the big spread of players that occurred over 5 flags. It easily turned into us just going around capturing the bases in a circular pattern, without really seeing any enemies – that was not very fun.

That was when I designed the new variant instead, where the US started on the two capes instead of on the carrier — and at the same time focusing the gameplay down to 3 flags. The gameplay based on this flag layout turned out much better with a lot more action and awesome tank battles.

An excellent byproduct of our latest patches is that we found a way to fit even more content into console memory – primarily vehicles — which made it possible to look into the original 5-flag layout again. So we did!

Designing the new 5-flag Wake Island
After the release of Back to Karkand, we received a lot of feedback from you, our community, that you wanted to have a 5-flag variant on Wake Island. The feedback was very much focused on that it wasn’t a true Wake Island without 5 flags and also that it worked in Battlefield 1943 on consoles already. It wasn’t a big surprise for me but I also felt that many players didn’t see the whole picture on why this happened and why it provided a more intense battlefield so I did a big post on reddit about my design decisions behind Wake Island 3 flag and got a good response from that.

I was actually already looking at the possibilities how a 5-flag Wake Island on consoles would work, both from a gameplay perspective and the technical challenges it would present. I knew that we had a big patch coming out at the end of March/beginning of April. This would give  us the time needed to add the new design layout, playtest it on consoles, and make sure it was to quality and get it into the patch before heading into the certification process with first party.

So I set the project up and started to look at it from a technical angle to make sure it was possible to do in the first place. Next step was to playtest the new layout with 24 players and adjust the experience to make sure each base had a valuable asset that the team wanted to own.

After play testing, the in-house feedback at DICE was clearly that the best layout was the same as the one we use on PC. I went with that as a basis, but made some tweaks to both the PC and console layout. Perhaps the most important change being that we moved the mobile anti-air to the Beach capture point instead of having it at Airfield – this makes Beach a more strategic base to own.

Two layouts – two experiences
I personally like both variants of Wake Island on console, and having the two to choose from, you can make sure you get the experience you want for each session:

3-flag Wake Island provides the more action orientated experience for when you want to get into the action fast! It’s less about travelling and more about fighting, with a good mix of infantry and vehicles.

5-flag Wake Island is the more strategic choice and the more vehicle focused experience! It will give you more choices on how to tackle the battlefield – making a head on assault on airfield or slowly working towards it from the bases surrounding it, one flag at a time.

With the Spring game update being live on all platforms, PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 players alike can finally enjoy a 5 flag variant of Wake Island. We hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think in the poll below!

Gustav Halling
Designer

As you are reading this, the Battlefield 3 game update for Xbox 360 should be rolling out. This update is identical to the PlayStation 3 update that went live the other week. That means you get a lot of fixes, balancing tweaks, and some new functionality – including the addition of horns in all jeeps! You can find the change list in this previous blog post.

Below are some of the highlights in this massive game update. If you have studied the update on PS3 or PC previously, a lot of this information will be familiar to you.

Your server, your rules!
Like the PlayStation 3 update, this also marks the start of the Rent a Server functionality on Xbox 360. This means you can rent your own server and create your personal gaming experience. Check out the trailer below for an idea of the possibilities of this program. To ensure a robust experience, we are launching this feature at a limited capacity and ramping up in the coming days. If you are unable to rent a server, try again at a later date.

Beep beep! We have horns!
Yes! We have added horns to all jeeps in the game! Nothing says “Get in and man the machine gun so we can take back the airfield!” like three short beeps of the horn. Just press [LB] to make your presence known to friendly forces. Warning: Beeping also heard by opposition. Suggest limiting beeping when in enemy territory to keep vehicle in working order. This feature is also present in the PC and PlayStation 3 updates that are live.

Giving all players IR flares
To balance the battlefield and give budding pilots a fighting chance from day 1, we are now giving IR flares to all players. These will be automatically available to you in all air vehicles in the game. So if you’ve had a hard time staying up in the air previously, it should be easier to dodge incoming threats from now on. We hope this small but significant change will mean more players take to the skies and mix up their play style. This feature is also present in the PC and PlayStation 3 updates that are live.

More awards for skillful heli flying
One of the balancing items we have done in this game update is to better reward skillful heli pilots. To do this, we have increased the pilot’s score for transporting passengers who make kills from the heli. The assist score for heli pilots is now 50 points/kill. In a fully loaded transport, four passengers who make 1 kill each will give the pilot a sum total of 200 points. This balancing change is also present in the PC and PlayStation 3 updates that are live.

Making the SOFLAM a passive income gadget
The Recon gadget SOFLAM (laser target painter) has been given a new feature. Now, when a Recon player places it and then leaves it, it will continue to paint targets entering its area of control, continuously giving the Recon player a passive points income. This means a Recon player can place a SOFLAM in a strategic position, then leave it to find a good sniping spot. Combined with fixing a few scoring error in the SOFLAM, it should now be a much more viable source of experience points for Recons. This balancing change is also present in the PC and PlayStation 3 update that are live.

Suppressing is team play, too!
Another balancing change that reflects how we want every player to be able to contribute to the overall effort is the lowered threshold for achieving the Suppression Ribbon. From a previous requirement of 7, players now only need to perform 3 suppressions in a game to be rewarded the Suppression Ribbon. This means the Support Kit player can rack up scores by skillful use of his LMG. We’ve always know suppression helps  – now we are more generously rewarding those team players who help disorient the enemy so we can move in for the kill. This balancing change is also present in the PC and PlayStation 3 update that are live.