Battlefield 2 Patch Beta
Sep 08, 2009 Download Battlefield 2 Patch v1.5 now from the world s largest gaming download site, FilePlanet.
Today we are announcing that Battlefield Hardline s open multiplayer beta will be active between February 3 and February 8.
Apr 07, 2012 Thank you for watching, if you comment about it being too long I am going to make a rude comment about your mother : Table of Contents: Intro.
Get the BATTLEFIELD 2 PATCH V1.5 right here, right now. BATTLEFIELD 2 PATCH V1.5 is available for immediate download.
Revisit Fan-Favorite Battlefield 3 Maps or Infiltrate Naval Bases in the South China Sea with Upcoming Battlefield 4 Expansion Packs.
In a week, you ll take a step back in time with Battlefield 4 Second Assault, featuring four fan-favorite maps from Battlefield 3 – Operation Metro, Caspian Border, Gulf of Oman, and Operation Firestorm. Reimagined with Frostbite 3 graphics and Battlefield 4 gameplay, Battlefield 4 Second Assault will be released on February 18 for Battlefield 4 Premium members on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC, and for all Battlefield 4 players two weeks later on March 4.
Following Battlefield 4 Second Assault will be the third expansion pack, Battlefield 4 Naval Strike, launching in late March for Battlefield 4 Premium members. Stay tuned for the exact date and find all expansion pack information on Battlefield.com. In this expansion, you ll experience intense water-based combat as the Chinese armada takes the fight to the sea. You ll have access to new weapons, gadgets, and amphibious vehicles, and four all-new maps – Lost Island, Nansha Strike, Wave Breaker, and Operation Mortar.
Learn more about Battlefield 4 Second Assault
And don t forget, every day you log into the game in February, you ll get a free Battlepack as part of Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month.
The new game update for Battlefield 4 brings the Mantle renderer that DICE has developed in conjunction with AMD. With this first release of Mantle, you can expect performance increases in the game if you have the hardware to support it. In this blog post, the Technical Director for Frostbite details this exciting new step for the Battlefield series.
Hi,
My name is Johan Andersson and I m one of the Technical Directors in the Frostbite team and I have something very exciting to share with all Battlefield players: the latest Battlefield 4 update on PC includes the long-awaited new renderer in Frostbite that is using AMD s Mantle.
Mantle is a new low-level graphics API that we ve been working very closely with AMD on over the last 2 years and it is a major change improvement to how we are able to program use modern GPUs in order to get the most out of them.
Battlefield 4 on PC is already quite heavily optimized using DirectX 11 and DirectX 11.1, but with Mantle we are able to go even further: we ve significantly reduced CPU cost in our rendering, efficiently parallelized it over multiple CPU cores and reduced overhead in many areas.
The biggest performance gains can be seen when the game is bottlenecked by the CPU which can be quite common even on high-end machines and this was main goal to improve on with Mantle. We ve also been able to streamline and optimize some of the GPU workload. The end result is that game performance is improved in virtually all scenarios in Battlefield 4 on both Windows 7 and Windows 8 when running with Mantle.
This update is the first release of our new Mantle renderer, and we will continue to provide more tuning for different types of configurations in future updates. Still, we are really happy with the performance improvements that we are seeing with this update and we believe you will be as well.
Read on for the full details on how to enable Mantle, and some information on the kind of performance gains you can expect.
How to enable Mantle
In order to use Mantle you will need the following:
-AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta drivers. AMD will post them here.
-AMD Radeon GPU with Graphics Core Next
-64-bit Windows 7, 8 or 8.1
If you have the above you will see a new Graphics API option in the in-game Graphics Options settings after starting the game, here you can switch between using DirectX 11 and Mantle remember to restart the game after changing.
If the Graphics API option is missing, that means you do not have a compatible GPU and driver and the game will use the standard DirectX 11 graphics API instead.
Performance tests
To compare performance with Mantle vs DX11 we in Frostbite have done a couple of benchmarks with Battlefield 4 on 3 different configurations test scenes:
Test case 1: Low-end single-player
CPU/GPU: AMD A10-7850K Kaveri APU, 4 cores 3.7 GHz
Settings: 720p MEDIUM settings.
OS: Windows 7 64-bit
Level: Singapore Beach
This area is heavy on the CPU as it is quite a lot of action going on, but the game is primarily GPU-bound both on DX and with Mantle but thanks to GPU optimizations with Mantle we get a good performance improvement.
Result: 26.6 ms/f - 23.3 ms/f 14 faster
Test case 2: Standard 64-player multiplayer
CPU: AMD FX-8350, 8 cores 4 GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon 7970 3 GB
Settings: 1080p ULTRA 1x MSAA
OS: Windows 8 64-bit
Level: Siege of Shanghai
Level was tested with 64 pseudo players that we have for our own internal testing that simulates heavy game workload that we have in multiplayer in order to get more deterministic results compared to full real multiplayer. 64 players on the large Battlefield levels is really demanding of the CPU so this test case is primarily CPU-bound.
Result: 18.87 ms/f - 15.08 ms/f 25.1 faster
Test case 3: High-end single-player with multiple GPUs
CPU: Intel Core i7-3970x Extreme, 12 logical cores 3.5 GHz
GPU: 2x AMD Radeon R9 290x 4 GB
Settings: 1080p ULTRA 4x MSAA
Level: South China Sea Broken Flight Deck
This single-player scene is heavy on both the CPU and GPU with lots of action going on. Test was done on the highest end Intel CPU on Windows 8, which is the fastest option before Mantle thanks to DirectX 11.1. Still this CPU is not fast enough to keep the 2 290x GPUs fed at 1080p on Ultra settings so we get a significant CPU performance bottleneck which results in major performance improvement when enabling Mantle.
Result: 13.24 ms/f - 8.38 ms/f 58 faster
Here is a summary of the test cases:
Test case
1: Low-end single-player
2: 64-player multi-player
3: Multi-GPU single-player
CPU
AMD A10-7850K Kaveri APU, 4 cores 3.7 GHz
AMD FX-8350, 8 cores 4 GHz
Intel Core i7-3970x Extreme, 12 logical cores 3.5 GHz
GPU
N/A
AMD Radeon 7970 3 GB
2x AMD Radeon R9 290x 4 GB
Settings
720p Medium
Ultra 1080p
Ultra 1080p 4x MSAA
OS
Windows 7 64-bit
Windows 8 64-bit
Level
Singapore
Siege of Shanghai
South China Sea
DX11 avg
26.6 ms/f 37.6 fps
18.87 ms/f 52.9 fps
13.24 ms/f 78.4 fps
Mantle avg
23.3 ms/f 43 fps
15.08 ms/f 66.3 fps
8.38 ms/f 121.5 fps
Improvement
14 faster
25.1 faster
58 faster
These results are concrete examples of what we have seen in heavy scenarios. But it is important to point out that on PC there are of course many different types of CPU, GPU and OS configurations as well as the workload in the game is highly varying throughout both single-player and in multi-player, so one can t say say a single fixed number of how much faster it is.
Fortunately there are a quite a few PC hardware review sites that are planning to do their own benchmarks of Battlefield 4 running with Mantle to compare a much wider set of PC configurations and gameplay situations, and I m sure a lot of Battlefield players will do the same and share.
Performance tools
To simplify measuring performance in the game we ve added a new tool to the in-game console to record frame times for later analysis. Simply run PerfOverlay.FrameFileLogEnable 1 to start saving frame times and PerfOverlay.FrameFileLogEnable 0 to stop. The resulting. csv file will be located in Documents/Battlefield 4 which can be opened graphed by Excel or other applications for viewing.Another in-game tool that is useful to use is Render.DrawScreenInfo 1 that will now show additional on-screen information about your CPU GPU config, resolution and as well as if Mantle or DirectX 11 is used for rendering.
Feedback
If you try out Mantle in BF4 we would really like to hear your feedback about it. If you have any feedback about performance or your experience in general with Mantle in Battlefield 4, please post on the Battlelog forums or in the comments section below.
If you are having any technical problems when running with Mantle, please let us know by posting on answers.ea.com and we ll look into it. It is still possible to switch back to the existing DirectX 11 rendering.
This patch is the first release of our Mantle renderer. We will continue to add improvements, based on your feedback, in upcoming Battlefield 4 updates as well. In particular we plan to focus next on adding multi-GPU frame pacing and a few additional GPU performance and memory optimizations.
I hope you are as excited as we are about the release of the new Mantle renderer. If you have any questions, ask them below and we ll do our best to answer them.
Today we are rolling out a new PC update for Battlefield 4. This patch will address several stability and balancing issues, graphical glitches, repair rate speeds, and more. You will find the full patch notes below, and as always, in the Control Room.
Jan 13 PC Game Update Notes
Various fixes for improving general stability
Fixed a memory leak issue occurring after level shutdowns, which could result in a out-of-memory crash in longer play sessions
Additional fix for the sound loop deadlock when running High/Ultra graphics settings
Added a warning for using Legacy AMD drivers that were out of date
Fixed a player feedback timing issue where blood was appearing before other damage indicators, and before damage was actually done
Fixed a bug where players rank icons on the scoreboard would not be updated
Fix for Asian users unable to start Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4 on Windows 8.1
Normalized repair rates across all vehicles. Vehicles with lower health points, like aircraft and transport vehicles, now repair more slowly than before
Fixed problem with killer health in kill card not being correctly updated showing 100 health even though the soldier was hurt
Fix for friendly marker not always showing when needed to, resulting in players shooting team members
Fixed a bug where a M1 Abrams Coaxial HMG ammo box was occasionally blocking the driver s camera
Increased damage by 25 for the Stealth Jet 20mm cannons.
Stealth Jets now have more similar handling attributes to each other. F35 J-20 are slightly more agile, Su-50 is less agile.
Attack Jets now have more similar handling attributes to each other, and all 3 are now slightly less agile than earlier
Fixed camera glitch when switching weapons while moving in crouch
Fixed an occasional bug where players could experience intermittent engine sound dropouts when driving wheeled IFVs
Fix for player spawning under the map when deploying on Lancang Dam
Fixed flickering in map and minimap on Rogue Transmission and Operation Locker
Do you want to up your game and maximise your sniping skills in Battlefield 4. If so, you should check out Battlefield 4 streamer Famous_T_Nasty, who will share his best BF4 tips and tricks in a special Twitch live stream today.
Battlefield 4 Tips Tricks with Famous_T_Nasty will air today at 10AM PDT / 7PM CET. The live stream can be reached by hitting the link below, and will go on for one hour. Apart from getting valuable sniping tips, you can also take part of a Q A session where you can ask Famous_T_Nasty questions about Battlefield 4 tactics.
Famous_T_Nasty describes himself as a ten year Army veteran who loves video games, and his mission is to bring great Battlefield 4 gameplay through his streams. For this stream, he is playing on Playstation 4.
BF4 Tips Tricks with Famous_T_Nasty
The premiere of Battlefield 4 China Rising is now upon us, releasing for a two-week time-exclusive period for Premium Battlefield 4 members. All-new maps and gadgets, plus a new game mode and a very special vehicle await fans in this thrilling expansion.
Battlefield 4 China Rising sees you fighting on the Chinese mainland on four new maps. In Silk Road, you will find yourself at a military outpost surrounded by desert, battling both among man-made structures and on the sand dunes. The lush Guilin Peaks focuses on infantry-based combat; so the heaviest vehicles here are transport helicopters. Dragon Pass is a more vehicle-based map where rivers iconically steep mountains make for a spectacular view, and finally we have the sniper-friendly Altai Range with its vast, open spaces and snowy mountain peaks.
Air Superiority and the New Bombers
China Rising is also adding a new game mode to Battlefield 4 called Air Superiority. Here, you fight for control points on the map, using air units only. This mode is ideal for players who really love and want to focus on their dog fights, without the need to worry about units on the ground.
Altai Range is based on the beautiful mountain range Altai Mountains, located in East-Central Asia.
New Toys and a Fan-Favorite Vehicle
There are two new gadgets in China Rising, the SUAV and UCAV. The SUAV Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle is a Recon exclusive and is basically a remote-controlled plane that you can pilot around the map, in order to spot enemies and laser-designate enemy vehicles. It can also be used to kill enemies. The UCAV Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle is a new toy for the Support class and can be described as a pocket TOW missile. After deployment, this can be guided like a missile and is very effective against vehicles.
The dirt bike is back. Make sure to try out this speedy fan-favorite to move swiftly between control points or just to do crazy stunts.
And of course, there is the triumphant return of the dirt bike. Fans loved this speedy vehicle in the Battlefield 3 expansion End Game, so that s why we chose to bring it back for China Rising.
Starting today, China Rising will be available for Battlefield 4 Premium members for a two-week time-exclusive period. Make sure to get Premium to get a head start for all Battlefield 4 expansions, 12 Battlepacks, exclusive new content on a weekly basis, and much more.
Get Battlefield 4 Premium now to play China Rising immediately
Today we launched Battlefield 4 on Xbox One. With that console, we will have brought Battlefield 4 to no less than five platforms. It is amazing to see such a complex universe come to life across so many advanced hardware systems. Millions of people around the world are playing the game and seeing the tip of the iceberg of what the next generation has to offer. At DICE, we are committed to you, the fans, and view the game as a live service. I am extremely proud of the people at DICE and everyone across EA that contributed to the development of Battlefield 4. However, I am less proud to see that the game has experienced some turbulence during the launch period. While some platforms have had only minor problems, others have had more than their fair share of issues. Resolving the launch issues is our 1 priority. In fact, we are so serious that we have the entire team working to stabilize the game and we will not move on to other projects until we are sure that Battlefield 4 meets – and exceeds – your expectations. It is the right thing to do.
To show our appreciation for your patience as we work through these issues, we are announcing that from November 28 through December 5, we will reward all players with Double XP for every multiplayer match they complete. We understand that the launch issues may have impacted your progression, and we want to do everything we can to help you get back the XP that you may have lost. Also, to cap off the week, on December 5 we will give all players that log in to Battlefield 4 multiplayer a M1911 pistol scope. This special sidearm scope, previously reserved for our DICE developers, has a 3X zoom and is available for all classes in Battlefield 4.
You are the heart and soul of Battlefield. We thank you for your support in these early days of the launch, and will continue to show our appreciation as time goes on. To stay informed about the latest game updates, please visit us at Battlefield 4 Control Room or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Thank you,
Karl Magnus Troedsson
A while back, we asked you to design your own Dog Tags and submit them to us for a chance to get them featured in Battlefield 4. You might already have seen the Dog Tags that made it in-game, but now we want to present their creators. So with no further ado, we hand over to three awesome Dog Tag designers and Battlefield 4 fans.
Name: hollandje
Location: Bodegraven, The Netherlands
Hobby: Volleyball, 2D/3D design and gaming
Preferred class in Battlefield 4: Engineer
My favorite map and mode in Battlefield 4: Obliteration on Golmud Railway
How I got the idea for my dog tag: In Battlefield 3, I had the DICE Friends Dog Tag unlocked for creating custom dog tags which eventually ended up in the actual game. That Dog Tag was a collector s item, so I had people hunting me in lobbies and following me throughout my playing session. There were also people who were trying to protect me from losing my tags and those people became my bodyguards. After a long time helping me I decided to draw this dog tag and give it to them as a reward for their awesome work. Now they can wear it with honor in Battlefield 4.
My reaction when I realised my dog tag would be featured in BF4: This is a pretty funny story. I was at school when I recieved the email that stated my Dog Tag would be featured. I was overwhelmed by the news and didn t know what to say. The guy sitting next to me knew what I ve been doing for quite some time, and he noticed my reaction and asked what was happening. I told him about the mail and he was very happy for me that I got this opportunity. A lot of kids in my class and our professor noticed my reaction aswell. They were all very happy for me. To make a long story short: I was overwhelmed and didn t know what to think or say. I was euphoric that my hard work paid off.
Name: shad0wkr
Location: Krasnozavodsk, Russia
Hobby: Active Sports, Football, Gaming
Preferred class in Battlefield 4: Support
My favorite map and game mode in Battlefield 4: Golmud Railway / Conquest Large
How I got the idea for my dog tag: As a player who likes a knife fight I was really impressed by new counter-knife system during E3 streams. That s why I decided to create a dog tag based on this new feature.
My reaction when I realised my dog tag would be featured in BF4: That was absolutely unbelievable. I couldn t imagine that my tag now can be seen by millions of others, so it feels like you got a lucky ticket and hit the jackpot. It s a honor to create something for my favourite game series and I m sincerely happy to see my own little creation in Battlefield 4.
Name: Avengineer
Location: Selinsgrove Pennsylvania, United States
Hobby: Illustration, design and of course playing Battlefield.
Preferred class in Battlefield 4: Well of course, given my name, the engineer class.
My favorite map and game mode in Battlefield 4: My favorite map and mode would have to be Team Deathmatch on Rogue Transmission. Its the fastest way to get knife kills. I always love a game of Conquest on any map too much fun not to.
How I got the idea for my dog tag: I ve always loved hunting people down and taking their dog tags. So I thought we need more dog tags for the knifing fans. I took the tally mark idea from Battlefield 3, from there it all just came together easily.
My reaction when I realised my dog tag would be featured in BF4: I was very excited and honored and couldn t wait to see my work in one of my favorite games.
Share your passion for Battlefield 4 for a chance to receive one of fifty Battlefield 4 hoodies.
With the new Social Sharing feature, your Facebook friends will be able to see your progression in Battlefield 4 multiplayer. Ranking up, earning new medals, or winning a game of explosive Obliteration, are some examples of occurrences that can be made visible in these Facebook posts. Your Facebook friends can also see when you join a server, so they in turn can join you on the Battlefield.
Not only does Social Sharing let your friends find you in the game, it also enables Facebook friends who doesn t own Battlefield 4 to discover what the game is all about. These people can navigate to Battlefield 4 Boot Camp through your Facebook post, to learn the ropes of Battlefield 4.
Brag about your wins, make people find you in the game, or just let your Facebook friends learn the basics of Battlefield 4 – all thanks to the Social Sharing feature.
If you activate Social Sharing before December 1, 2013 you may be selected to receive 1 of 50 available Battlefield 4 hoodies over at the new DICE Store, courtesy of Jinx. All you need to do for a chance to own a Battlefield 4 hoodie is to activate Social Sharing on Battlelog and have it active on December 1, 2013.
How to activate Social Sharing
It s quick and easy, and you can always change back if you like. Just hover over your portrait here on Battlelog and click the Facebook Sharing button so it lights up green to indicate Social Sharing is activated. Click again to instantly turn the feature off.
We recently turned on the ability for you to enable Facebook Sharing about your progress in Battlefield 4 multiplayer.
You can enable this feature in the menu under your profile picture see image. Facebook Sharing lets you brag about earned ranks, ribbons, and medals. It also lets your friends know when you join a new game, win a round, or get awarded Top Player Awards. These stories will by default be published in your Facebook Activity Feed, encouraging your friends to join your game and outcompete you.
Through your shared stories, your friends will be able to see what server you re playing on, join your game if you re still playing, access the Battlefield 4 Beta, or analyze your performance post-game through the Battle Report.
That s it. Let your friends know about Battlefield 4 by enabling Facebook Sharing you can always turn it off if you change your mind.
This is our first iteration of Facebook Sharing from Battlefield, and like always we appreciate your feedback. What kind of stories from Battlefield 4 would you like to see on Facebook. Let us know in the comments section below.
Join the Battlefield 4 Open Beta and help us make the game better. The Beta runs until October 15 at 10 UTC/3 PDT.
First of all: thank you for joining the Open Battlefield 4 Beta. By participating, you are helping us to get Battlefield 4 ready for launch.
The Beta is the first opportunity that we at DICE get to test how well our infrastructure holds up in a scenario where millions of players join to play the game. We have a very complex system of services and hardware, that all need to work together.
This includes our back-end, game servers, Battlelog, game client, Origin – and the list goes on. Here at the DICE office in Stockholm, we ve set up a war room where you ll find people from different teams that are monitoring and taking care of issues as they arise. As we continue working on ironing out some of these, we expect to have a few hiccups along the way. However, rest assured that we are committed to making sure that you have a great experience playing the Battlefield 4 Beta.
The second part of the Beta is the game client itself. To get a taste of what you can expect from playing the Battlefield 4 Beta, watch this video:
Now, let s be bluntly honest. You will experience bugs. This is a Beta, and not the final game. But, this is also where you come in. We ask you, and your friends, to help us find and report bugs on the Battlefield 4 Beta Battlelog forums: The forums are monitored, and we re making sure to handle your findings.
Some of you may wonder if we ll have time to fix some of the issues that you ve reported before launch. The short answer is: yes. The version of the game that you are playing is several weeks old, and many of the problems that you may have encountered are already fixed for the final game, while others are being worked on.
Currently, players may experience game breaking bugs, meaning you might have a hard time playing. Here are some of the worst offenders, and we are working on fixing them as soon as possible:
Stuck on loading screen
We have identified and fixed two issues that we think should resolve this problem that affects mainly PC players. More info to come shortly.
Low frame rate/stuttering
We believe we are close to fixing this too. We will release more info as we know more. Meanwhile, please make sure that you have the Beta drivers for your graphics card. Also, please try changing servers to see if your performance increases.
Radeon 13.10 Beta Drivers
Geforce 331.40 Beta Drivers
Once again, thank you. And please do not hesitate to contact us on the forums.
Yours,
Aleksander Grøndal and the Battlefield 4 team
UPDATE 6/4: The Netcode patch has been released and is now available on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Please proceed to start your respective console and download the latest update.
We re happy to announce that we ve released an update for PC, PS3, and X360 today containing the new improved Netcode for Battlefield 4. The update will be released later this week on PS4 and Xbox One.
This update has been developed using the CTE Community Test Environment on PC you can sign up if you haven t done so already at and is the first update being deployed using your gameplay feedback.
The number of changes possible in this update would be difficult to pull off without the continued support from our community, both through direct constructive feedback and telemetry data gathered on the CTE.
High Frequency Network Update
For the PC, PS4, and Xbox One platforms, we are adding something we nicknamed the High Frequency Bubble. Within a certain radius of the player, we add the possibility to update the clients at a higher rate from the server. What this essentially means is that the server will update the client on what is happening more often than before. This normally results in a smoother, more correct player experience.
The High Frequency Update is by default turned OFF in this release. You will have to enable this setting to take advantage of the improved networking. To support players with a limited bandwidth connection, we support three different levels: LOW, MEDIUM and HIGH. Most players with a connection faster than 1Mbit upload and 1Mbit download should be fine using the HIGH setting. If you experience any issues, lower or turn off the setting completely.
Playstation 4 and Xbox One Server Performance
The High Frequency Update will be rolled out to all 48 player servers and on a small set of 64 player servers immediately. We will then keep a close eye on the larger servers to make sure server performance stays good in the live environment. If all goes well, all servers will be supporting the high frequency update after 24 hours or rollout and testing.
PC Server Performance
On PC the RSPs are responsible for enabling the feature at their discretion, we expect most to do so as soon as possible.
Video Comparison
When testing our High Frequency Bubble changes to the network layer in Battlefield 4, we made sure to employ a measurable end-user experience metric. To do this, we have been using a 60fps video camera to capture two clients connected over the internet, and counting frames to get before and after results:
Future Plans
This is the first release to contain CTE-tested Netcode fixes and improvements. We are still hard at work with additional improvements and tweaks to better our network experience that did not make this release.
We hope to utilize the Community Test Environment for future release to ensure quality and stability across all platforms. If you wish to take part in this testing, the CTE still has slots open. The current requirement is to own a PC copy of Battlefield 4 with a Premium memebership to sign up at
Update Details
PC
Improved/reduced explosion induced camera shake
Character collision improvements
Fix to reduce object damage mismatch between client/server.
Fix explosion packs not being able to be shot sometimes
Improvements for client side packet loss
Client crash fixes
AMD Mantle multi-GPU improvements
Carrier Assault game mode reports bug fix
High Frequency Network update
- Added High frequency bubble updating player movement, stance, rotation, damage and projectiles at a separate rate on foot and in vehicles
- Added option to control client side update rate setting
PlayStation 3
Rental server bug fixes
Reduced object damage mismatch between client/server.
Fix for explosion pack not being able to be shot sometimes
Added controller option to swap functionality of the bumper and trigger buttons
Carrier – Invisible walls stopping bullets fix
Xbox 360
Rent A Server bug fixes
Physics optimization for Naval Strike Wave Breaker rocks
Fix for issue where clients with low bandwidth would not be able to enter squad menu.
PlayStation 4
Xbox One
Fixed issue when using standby in Campaign
Fixed issue when using standby and reconnecting to game servers
Fixed issue with snapped application and matchmaking
Playgroup Matchmaking fix for Xbox One
Fixed incorrect error message for lost Xbox Live connection
Fixed issue for user name mismatch in rental server, ingame scoreboard and Squad Join menus
Connecting and playing with your friends has always been a central aspect of the Battlefield multiplayer experience. To help make this easier, we are now releasing Squad Join Beta for Battlefield 4. This is something we know our fans have been asking for – and something we wish we could have provided at launch – so we are now happy to present the first iteration of Squad Join.
Squad Up Before Battle
Squad Join Beta allows you to set up a squad for up to 5 people before joining a multiplayer server. This means that you and 4 of your friends can join a Battlefield 4 match as a squad, and deploy directly in the game together. Once in-game, you and your squad mates are guaranteed to stick together over rounds.
We would like to add that Squad Join Beta is the first iteration of the feature. We will continue to add features and tweaks based on your feedback and comments, and are aiming to release the next version of Squad Join when Battlefield 4 Dragon s Teeth arrives this summer. Also note that Squad Join Beta is available for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
Before digging into the details, check out this Squad Join Beta tutorial video note that this clip shows a work in progress.
How It s Done
To join Battlefield 4 as part of a squad, simply choose Squad Join Beta in the game s multiplayer menu. Here you will be able to see a list of active squads, or create your own. A list of the five slots will appear, with the squad leader indicated by a star. When you re good to go, just initiate quickmatch to join a game, and you ll be in-game with your squad mates, ready to bring your team to victory.
Also, if you ve left your squad and want to re-join it, you can do so – if the squad has a free slot. Joining this way will enable you to both join the squad and the match at the same time.
Other Squad Join Features
As mentioned, this is the first iteration of Squad Join and other features for it are planned, with the first major update coming within the next months a more exact date will be communicated later. In this multi-release process, we are working on features like managing party members, and making Squad Join available for all game modes.
Initially, Squad Join Beta will be available in the Battlefield 4 base game maps in the Conquest, Team Deathmatch, Obliteration, Rush, and Domination game modes. All the other Battlefield 4 maps and more game modes will be supported in later iterations of Squad Join.
Give us Your Feedback
Your comments and feedback are valuable to us. We d really like to hear your input about Squad Join Beta and make you a part of improving this feature. Please leave your comments below. We hope you will enjoy trying out Squad Join Beta, and that it will make your time in Battlefield 4 even more enjoyable.
Going into battle prepared is key to succeeding in Battlefield 4. With the new Loadout Presets, we ve made it easier for you to quickly hit the Battlefield with the exact kit and vehicle Loadout of your choice.
Prepared 4 Battle – Every Time
Loadout Presets are a way to save kit or vehicle setups so that you can easily switch between them when going into a Battlefield 4 multiplayer match. With this time-saving feature, you no longer have to edit each slot individually in the Customize screen when you want to change your Loadout. Note that Loadout Presets will only be available on Battlelog in Battlefield 4, and not be reflected in-game. You apply Presets to your Loadout, which then follows you in-game when you save it.
For example, those who want quick access to a field engineer Preset can create one of these with the MX4, SRAW, Repair Tool, and Mechanic specialization – or any other combination of the player s choice. If you are more of a combat engineer, you might want to create a Preset with the M1014 shotgun, RPG, M2 SLAM, and Offensive specialization – it s all up to you.
You can have two presets per kit and vehicle, or four if you re a Battlefield 4 Premium member.
This allows you to quickly switch between setups based off the map or game mode you re loading into without wasting time going through the Customize screens in-game.
Creating and Managing Loadout Presets
Your Loadout Presets can be accessed through Battlelog as well as its mobile and tablet applications. Simply head to the Loadout section on Battlelog, and hit the Presets button that appears upon hovering over a kit or vehicle. Here you ll be able to choose to save your existing kit/vehicle Loadout as a new Preset, or load an existing Preset. Additionally, Presets are accessible from a kit or vehicle page, next to the Save and Reset buttons
You can have 2 Presets per kit and vehicle or 4 if you re a Premium user. The Preset you last chose will stay until you apply a new Preset or change your Loadout from Battlelog or in-game and will display the Preset name in the place of the kit or vehicle name.
Loadouts are available on Battlelog as well as on the mobile and tablet applications.
If you head to the Presets Management page, accessible by clicking Manage from the Presets dropdown, you ll get an overview of all the Presets you have created. Here, you can browse through your Presets, delete them, or apply a bunch of them before you save your Loadout.
Rolling out on April 8
The Loadout Presets are rolling out with the Battlelog update on April 8. We will continue to tweak and add functions to the feature, based on your feedback and comments. Don t hesitate to tell us what you think about the Loadout Presets, and we hope you will enjoy going into battle using the feature.
As the release of Battlefield 4 Naval Strike approaches, we have received several questions from the Battlefield community about the expansion. To answer these questions, we hand over to lead gameplay designer Gustav Halling.
What was the main design goal you set out with Battlefield 4 Naval Strike.
The design philosophy behind Battlefield 4 Naval Strike was to expand on what makes naval warfare and water-based vehicles fun in Battlefield 4. We know that there are many fans of Paracel Storm in our community, and with this expansion we wanted to give players who love that map more variations in the naval gameplay.
What s the biggest challenge when designing naval-focused maps.
As always when working with water-based maps the challenge is to give naval units a prominent role on the Battlefield, and at the same time give infantry players enough areas to fight around – and also create space for fast transport vehicles. That is why we focused on making a wide variation of vehicle- and infantry-focused bases on all the maps in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike.
What are the four new maps of Battlefield 4 Naval Strike.
You will get to wage war in the tropical Lost Islands map, in the massive level Wave Breaker, through the stormy weather of Nansha Strike, and by the breathtaking vistas in Operation Mortar. Stay tuned for an in-depth breakdown of all four maps here on Battlelog.
What kind of Levolution can we expect in Naval Strike. Will there be storms like the one in Paracel Storm.
In Naval Strike we have been focusing on how the player can interact within the levels to create and block paths for vehicles, or make other strategic use of the environments. For example, you will be able to close flood doors to stop vehicles from entering a submarine base and capturing the objective inside. You can also blow up part of a crashed airplane to create new cover for infantry.
As for storms, instead of copying what has already been done in Paracel Storm, you can expect different visual styles and weather on all four Naval Strike maps. There ll be calm seas, stormy weather and many other weather effects. For instance, on the Mortar Strike map, you ll start fighting at dawn and the map will be lit up by the resort lights. As the fight rages on, the sunrise will drench the tropical island in beautiful sunlight.
What can we expect for the new Hovercraft and how will the vehicle affect gameplay.
The new hovercraft, or ACV, is a very fast transport vehicle with a driver and a passenger position that travels seamless between water and land. This unique ability has many advantages; you can for instance maneuver away from boats by short cutting through an island instead of going around it. These new abilities are exciting for us to bring to our players and I can t wait to see what crazy stuff we will see from this vehicle in the game.
What new gadgets will there be in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike.
First off, we have the new M320 3GL gadget that will give the players the possibility to fire three grenades without reloading. With smaller explosives, the M320 3GL will be great for tight corridors, but it will also require accurate shots to get the kill.
If you play as Engineer, you will be able to use the new Anti-Heli Mine, an aircraft disabling projectile. This will provide a way to block off small paths for air vehicles and could for example be used to cover a certain area behind the player in order to avoid surprises from low flying helicopters. It is however a challenge to get kills with the Anti-Heli Mines, since pilots can use countermeasures and flare them off, like with any other lock-on weapon.
With naval maps only, how do you balance the gameplay so that, for instance, land units still are important.
Battlefield 4 Naval Strike is focusing on naval warfare. Some land vehicles will be there, but they are very limited to give way for vehicles like attack boats, PWC s, and the new ACV. There will of course also be air vehicles. But as mentioned: with Naval Strike focusing on water-based fights, there will be a limited pool of land vehicles.
What is the Carrier Assault game mode.
Carrier Assault is our homage to the classic Titan mode in Battlefield 2142, where two teams fight over control over each other s massive aircraft carriers, by using missiles and infantry attacks. Learn more about Carrier Assault in this Battlefield Blog post.
What will make Battlefield 4 Naval Strike an awesome expansion.
All that you ve come to love with naval warfare in Battlefield 4 will be even more intense and fast-paced in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike. Whether you ll be taking insane shortcuts with your Hovercraft or securing a narrow win in Carrier Assault, it s our ambition that you ll truly enjoy the all-out war in the South China Sea.
Battlefield 4 Naval Strike is releasing first for Battlefield 4 Premium members late March. Get Battlefield 4 Premium.
We at DICE are committed to improving the overall Battlefield 4 multiplayer experience for our players. Some issues, commonly referenced in conjunction to netcode are preventing Battlefield 4 from performing optimally for everyone, and with this post we would like to explain what we are doing to address these problems.
Fixing the commonly nicknamed netcode issues – problems ranging between faulty networking latency compensation and glitches in the gameplay simulation itself – is one of the top priorities for DICE. We d like to take a moment to discuss how we are addressing these issues, as this is a very hot topic for many of our fans.
We are working on fixing glitches in your immediate interactions with the game world: the way you move and shoot, the feedback when you re hit, and the way other players actions are shown on your screen.
The game receives updates from the game server and displays these to the player using a system called latency compensation – this system makes sure players move around naturally on your screen when network updates arrive. We have found and fixed several issues with latency compensation, and thereby decreased the impressions of one hit kills in the game.
We have also fixed several issues that could lead to rubber banding, and we are working on fixing several more. Below you ll find a detailed list of the issues we are focusing on, or have already adjusted in-game. We hope this gives you more insight into the netcode issues and we will continue to keep you updated on top issues.
What we are Fixing or Investigating
Rubber banding
We have made several server optimizations that have decreased rubber banding for some players. To further address the issue, there are upcoming fixes for packet loss and a customize screen bug, both connected to the rubber banding issue. Furthermore, we will continue to collect data to pinpoint exactly when and why rubber banding is occurring.
Kill camera delay / Player death sync
On some occasions, the kill camera would trigger before the game client displayed the last portion of damage being dealt, giving players the impression that they died too early. There were also issues with blood effects, damage indicators, and the health bar in the HUD being out of sync. A fix for this will be included in the next game update.
Tickrate
Players have been asking whether the tickrate – how often the server will update the game world – in Battlefield 4 will be higher in the future. Though we haven t got any immediate plans to increase the tickrate at this moment, we are exploring the possibilities of raising the tickrate on specific servers.
No registered damage
We are aware of the bug where players have been firing at their opponent and not doing damage. In the February 13 game update for PC, we added a piece of code that enables us to specifically track instances where this would occur. We are currently looking at when this issue is triggered, and what causes it. The data that we receive will help us to further improve the firefights in the future.
Instant death while sprinting
At certain occasions while walking or sprinting, a player could get catapulted at high speed which would cause death if any object was standing in the way. This was caused by a mathematical error in the character physics code, and we have a fix prepared for an upcoming patch.
Various Items
In addition to these items, there are also fixes coming for issues with Levolution being out of sync, shots appearing to be fired in the wrong direction, and vehicles outside the infantry area not taking damage when fired at. Also, we have introduced new in-game icons that will help you, and us, to troubleshoot network related problems that could cause an inconsistent multiplayer experience.
Network Troubleshooting Icons
With the January 30-31 game updates, we ve introduced two new icons to the Battlefield 4 HUD head-up display. These were added to the game as a way for us, and the players, to more easily troubleshoot common network-related issues that may have negative effects on the multiplayer experience.
The first icon, seen at the top in the shape of a clock, indicates that your connection to the server is lagging. There can be several reasons for this. For example, it could mean that someone else is using your connection while you are playing, but it could also mean that there is a network problem that occurred somewhere between you and the server. The effect of such lag is that it will take a bit longer for you to see what is happening in the game world. If this icon is frequently blinking, you might want to try a different server or see if you can decrease the load on your Internet connection.
The second icon, at the bottom, shows four squares that indicate packet loss. When you see this icon, your connection to the server is experiencing lost packets, which means that information is failing to reach its destination, either when your game client sends it to the server or when the server sends the information to you. Please keep in mind that packets always get lost on the Internet and that you should not be alarmed if you re seeing this icon blinking once or twice. If you have a large amount of packet loss and see the icon often, you will probably experience game hiccups sometimes – action will stop for a moment, then speed ahead to catch up.
What we have Fixed
Kill card shows 0 health
Kill card sometimes incorrectly displays 0 health, despite the enemy being alive. This could happen when a portion of damage dealt was rejected by the server, since the bullets that caused it were fired after the point of death for the firing player – the kill card would show the health as predicted by your game client, rather than the health confirmed by the server. An improvement that decreased the rate at which this happens went live for PC on Feb 13, and will be included in the next game update for all the platforms.
Broken collision
We have fixed instances of broken collision that made it impossible for players to shoot past broken objects, such as the collapsed chimney on Zavod 311.
Crosshair disappearing, resulting in hit markers disappearing
In firefights, players on PC could experience their crosshair disappearing, resulting in hit markers also disappearing. This would happen when certain gadgets were deployed by other players. A fix for this is now live.
Hit impact sounds
Impact sounds did not match the number of bullet impacts, causing players to feel that they died too quickly. An improvement to this went live for PC on February 13, and will be included in the next update for all the other platforms. The cooldown time for letting bullet hits trigger the sound has been decreased considerably, so players will now hear every bullet that hits them.
Headshot icon
We have re-introduced the headshot icon to help players understand when they get killed by a headshot, something that usually results in an instant death. The headshot icon went live in the January 30-31 game update for all platforms.
We want to assure you that we are constantly investigating, or already in the process of updating, all these items and several more that you ve had concerns with – and that we will continue to do so with your help. Please continue to send us your feedback, and thank you for your continued support.
Remember to visit the Battlefield 4 Control Room regularly for all intel on game updates.
With Battlefield 4 Second Assault arriving on all platforms, you ll be taking the battle to four classic Battlefield 3 maps, redesigned with the power of Frostbite 3. Operation Firestorm, Caspian Border, Gulf of Oman, and Operation Metro await you, more stunning and entertaining than ever.
Battlefield 4 Second Assault is now rolling out today for Battlefield 4 Premium Members arriving March 4 for everyone else, taking the battle to four classic Battlefield 3 maps, redesigned with the power of Frostbite 3. Experience the reimagined Operation Firestorm, Caspian Border, Gulf of Oman, and Operation Metro, now more stunning and entertaining than ever.
Whether you are triggering the epic collapse of Caspian Border s radio tower or adapting to battle when a sand storm hits Gulf of Oman, Battlefield 4 Second Assault will give both veterans and newcomers a new taste of timeless all-out war. You can also expect new weapons, and the return of a classic Battlefield vehicle.
Battlefield 4 Second Assault features:
- 4 fan-favorite BF3 maps reimagined through Frostbite 3
- Redesigned levels with player-triggered Levolution moments
- 5 weapons re-mastered for Battlefield 4
- Dune Buggy DPV vehicle makes its return to the Battlefield
- Capture the Flag game mode
- 10 new assignments with their own unlocks
- Available to Battlefield 4 Premium members 2 weeks early
With all these features and the updated visuals, Battlefield 4 Second Assault pushes the fan-favorites to their limits, and it is our hope that you will truly enjoy the expansion. See you on the Battlefield, and make sure to share your experiences from Battlefield 4 Second Assault in the comments below.
Become a Battlefield 4 Premium member to get a head start with Battlefield 4 Second Assault.
As part of the Player Appreciation Month we present another issue of Ask DICE, where you have the chance to submit questions to Battlefield 4 developers about their specific fields of expertise. This time, level designer Linnea Harrison wants your questions on level design in Battlefield 4. Linnea describes her role at DICE:
LINNEA HARRISON: As level artist on Battlefield 4 s multiplayer, I m responsible for working with a team of people to make the multiplayer levels come to life. I work with artists and designers to ensure the levels are both gorgeous and fun to play. I have been in the industry for 6 years now and have worked on several action games, before landing my dream job at DICE working on Battlefield. I m looking forward to your questions about how we create levels in Battlefield.
Just hit the link below and give us your questions in the forum thread. The answers will be published on the Battlefield Blog by the end of this week.
Submit your level design questions on the forum
The award-winning Battlefield franchise invades the high tech frontlines of modern warfare in the new sequel, Battlefield 2. Engage in battle with over 64 players in.
With Battlefield 4 Legacy Operations, we set out to create a modernized version of the original Dragon Valley map from Battlefield 2, both visually and gameplay alike.
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