Battlefield 3: the features DICE may tweak

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 11 November, 2011

Tactical light! Controller lag! Jets!

DICE has revealed the aspects of Battlefield 3 it is investigating as it prepares an update.

In a podcast with Don't Revive Me Bro (via mp1st.com), Battlefield 3 senior gameplay designer Alan Kertz said DICE will tweak the tactical light attachment - used to blind enemy players.

The brightness of the light will remain untouched, but its range will be reduced. Up close, the light will continue to be as effective as it is, but at a distance it will be less effective.

Kertz also addressed the issue over controller input lag, which some players have complained about. Apparently this aspect of the game was not changed from beta to launch. Issues may be the result of certain TV set-ups. Either way, Kertz said DICE is looking into the problem.

DICE is also looking into the mobile AA vehicles, which some players believe are too effective against jets and helicopters because they easily knock flying vehicles off their flight path and force a crash. The jets may see a change to help balance them better against ground vehicles, which can be easily repaired. This, according to Kertz, is unfair.

Meanwhile, Kertz confirmed that weapons in Battlefield 3 do have more recoil when burst fired than the weapons in previous games in the series. Kertz said once players overcome the initial kick of firing in full-auto, the weapon is fairly steady, though extremely inaccurate. When burst firing, you need to deal with that initial kick every time you pull the trigger, making it harder to keep steady. However, your shots will be more accurate since the first bullet of each burst will always hit dead on.

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (63) Latest comment 6 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • sjmlondon #1 7 months ago

    Keep going....

  • iamtheoneneo #2 7 months ago

    people still play this?

  • zegerman1942 #3 7 months ago

    One thing i would like to see: have tactical lights and laser sights default to OFF when spawning. reducing range is cool but it's a bit annoying to have to remember switching it off everytime i spawn :)

  • Collymilad #4 7 months ago

    @iamtheoneneo Obviously considering it's 2nd in the chart for XBL activity.

    Good fixes, not exactly keen on the jet vs ground crap though, let's not forget that the Tanks etc are dealing with all the other stuff on the ground, Tanks, AT soldiers etc. Hardly seems a fair to make them even more vulnerable to Jets.

  • kinky_mong #5 7 months ago

    @zegerman1942: Definitely agree with you there, it annoys me when teammates blind me and it irks me to think I've done the same thing without realising because I forgot to switch it off when I spawned.

  • Daddy-Doom-Bar #6 7 months ago

    AA guns take out jets complaint - shocker. It's an Anti Aircraft gun, ffs. The only one that's placed effectively is on one map, anyway. Just make them destructible, don't nerf them!
    As for recoil on burst fire, that does need tweaking. As does jet health. Plus the fact that it's incredible difficult to score points with until you've unlocked rockets. Which means an xp grind to get anywhere with them.

  • coojam #7 7 months ago

    How about having it so that only enemy torches and laser sights dazzle you. Seems like such an obvious decision.

  • OllyJ #8 7 months ago

    Well....if anything the stationary AA emplacements need to be MORE effective over jets, I'm currently number 43 on the world leaderboard for AA kills....

    with 22 kills. something tells me that's a tad wrong, it's well tough to destroy a plane, let alone disable one.
    Edited by OllyJ at 11/11/11 @ 10:41

  • CaptainQuint #9 7 months ago

    The burst fire recoil is doing my bloody nut in. Are they or are they not going to tone it down? Honestly, I'm no military shooter fan in general, but having rented MW3 for the hell of it, I'm finding it far less annoying that BF3.

    As it is, I can see me trading in my copy.

  • asphaltcowboy #10 7 months ago

    As I keen jet pilot, I applaud anything that let's me engage ground forces more effectively (at the moment jets are only really used to control the effectiveness of helis and for fighting other jets). The AA change isn't particularly necessary, but I guess will make things easier. Good news!

    /Maverick

    ps. I hope at some point we'll get some DLC planes that two people can fly in - one piloting and the other doing bombing runs... would be awesome!

  • asphaltcowboy #11 7 months ago

    @OllyJ There's a difference between the mobile AA (Tunguska etc) and the AA emplacements. The emplacements are purely to defend bases from enemy aircraft that try to strafe your runway.

    The mobile AA (in Canals for example) is crazy effective against helis and jets and there's very little you can do as a pilot to deal with that.

  • OllyJ #12 7 months ago

    @asphaltcowboy yeah I know, I haven't ever even been in the Mobile AA.

    I'm so lazy, I just sit in the fixed one, chat shite on the phone and try to shoot planes down.

    It would be nice if they were a tad more effective but it is great when you get into total mind games with some elite pilot.

  • arcam #13 7 months ago

    In mobile AA you also get to unlock homing missiles, which can make things a bit easier. Dunno if that unlock carries through to the static emplacements.

  • OllyJ #14 7 months ago

    @arcam no it doesn't. I basically have a stinger equipped.

    there's been times where it's felt like i've drilled a whole belt into a jet and it's still flying around, just seems a bit unbalanced.

    But to be honest I should get out more, I mean get out of the static AA more, not in real life.

  • revan8 #15 7 months ago

    Before launch was looking forward to jets but now after 30 odd hours I can happily say they are pointless. Like a separate battle that has little effect on the rest of the match. Plus on console all they do is make the battles quieter as there are always 4 of 24 in jets. Just remove them, helicopters are still fantastic and really add to the game.

  • Pokeyhat #16 7 months ago

    I just want them to give us the option to turn off those massive icons at the flags, the amount of info on the screens at any one time is ridiculous.

  • arcam #17 7 months ago

    Jets could be more useful against ground targets if people did some laser designating. Likewise, I'm hoping the Javelin missile launcher I unlocked will be useful when people start laser designating targets.

    I should say I have no idea how laser designating works, or who can actually do it :/

  • IronGiant #18 7 months ago

    I agree that removing jets altogether wouldn't be a bad thing, most games I've just seen them flying around doing bugger all.

  • M_of_the_sys #19 7 months ago

    @OllyJ

    It's a scary world out there.

  • asphaltcowboy #20 7 months ago

    I dunno, I've found the static AA effective for aircraft flying over your base - it is very difficult to lead the target when they're a very long way away. The mobile AA (which I've yet to get into since it only seems to appear on one map in one mode on 360) seems to be incredibly powerful, mostly because of the 'mobile' bit.

    I have been hit by it in a heli and it blitzes you so fast you don't have time to react, you're just dead.

  • Hog-lumps #21 7 months ago

    I hope they make the tac-lights less effective in DAYLIGHT too! It makes no sense to be blinded by a torch on a sunny day.

    I think I must be playing CQ too much as I didn't know there were any mobile AA guns :)

  • Collymilad #22 7 months ago

    @EddieMink I don't know what to say to you except I've been destroyed utterly (as in within 5 seconds) by Jets on a few occasions now whilst sat in a tank.

    Like I said, Tanks have enough shit to deal with when on the ground. I hope they don't go to far with this because it's difficult enough maintaining a tank for a long period in battle as it is.

    @arcam - the last upgrade you get on the MBT is a 3rd seat that can laser target stuff.
    Edited by Collymilad at 11/11/11 @ 11:45

  • dsmx #23 7 months ago

    I wish EA would fix the old server bug that was in BC, BC2 and now this game that doesn't let me play for longer than 21 minutes or so.

  • asphaltcowboy #24 7 months ago

    @arcam Recons need to plant SOFLAMs - auto-spotting devices. They can be quite effective as spotters, but I haven't had too much success with the laser-designation yet - the Javelins seem to miss a lot!

    There is a late unlock for the helis that also laser-paints targets - that could be pretty cool.

    I've nearly unlocked the guided missiles for my jets, which apparently target ground vehicles and become even more accurate if the target has been lazed.

  • revan8 #25 7 months ago

    At hog lumps...it is on canals map in rush. Called something like tunguska.. too good been in it twice. One match finished 18-0 in it, the other got 9 kills quick.

  • Porko_Rossi #26 7 months ago

    Attack helicopters need more defense. Once you unlock laser targeting seats in tanks they can use guided shells to shoot down air vehicles ! You don't have a chance one hit your dead in a helicopter.

  • wtc0771 #27 7 months ago

    @asphaltcowboy not to ruin your parade, but the guided missiles do as much damage as a light fart to a tank. To get a disable on a tank with them you need to fly in from behind, and pray that they arent an engineer, and that it actually impacts.
    Useless in my opinion they are.

  • ShineDog #28 7 months ago

    @Daddy-Doom-Bar It's not the static AA guns that are the problem, the mobile AA tanks are absolutely ridiculous. They will slaughter jets in seconds while jets have negligable impact on the ground battle, and they can even kill an MBT in a single clip if they get behind it (which they can do easily since particularly the US LAVAD is incredibly fast)

  • dragerboy #29 7 months ago

    The tactical light is rubbish. On the Xbox when your up close and personal it looks like a big white flower on the tv, it actually looks like a bad sprite. Surely if torches are that effective in combat we would be having wars in the dark with big torches.

  • Porko_Rossi #30 7 months ago

    @dragerboy sas and swat use torches for close encounters. The lag is definitely an issue for me, and I have a 3.5 mb connection, guess I need to move down from Scotland to London and get a 100 mb connection.

  • asphaltcowboy #31 7 months ago

    @wtc0771 Oh dear :(

    Well, if they're designated, they ought to be slightly more effective as the missile should strike the tank on the top, rather than on one of the better sides.

    It's incredibly difficult to strafe tanks (and destroy them) with the jets' machineguns (although I managed it twice yesterday for the first time) - Perhaps I will be able to combine a guided missile (to do some initial damage), then follow it up with some machineguns to finish it off?

  • dadrester #32 7 months ago

    can someone explain to me what exactly the recon SOFLAM does?!

  • cw- #33 7 months ago

    Flashlights should have NO EFFECT outside ffs!

    @OllyJ I disabled a plane with one shot from a tank the other day! BOOM! Was rather pleased with myself (even if it was a lucky, but aimed for, hit :D)

  • Porko_Rossi #34 7 months ago

    @dadrester the soflam is a laser designator. Target a vehicle, get a lock on, then any team mates with a guided missile or guided tank shell can launch while you are licked on. You can unlock a 3rd seat in tanks to use just for laser targeting vehicles.
    Be warned, I've only played 2 games where anyone has made use of my laser targeting. I guess we gave to wait until more people unlock weapons and learn the game ! Like spotting and providing health / ammo !
    Edited by Porko_Rossi at 11/11/11 @ 12:47

  • asphaltcowboy #35 7 months ago

    @dadrester In addition to what Porko said, it also causes the Javelin/other missiles to fly vertically upwards for a bit in order to come down directly on top of the target (where it is weakest). The problem is finding a good place to set them up to auto-laze.

    I do hope they increase the accuracy of SOFLAMed Javelins - they haven't been that good when I've made use of them.

  • dadrester #36 7 months ago

    righto, cheers guys. I didn't seem to be getting much benefit from designating targets so I just skipped using it and went straight onto the MAV, but to be honest the first gadget seems to be the most useful.

  • dadrester #37 7 months ago

    [edit]to the guys who dislike the jets [/edit] I tend to jump in a jet, fly towards the second furthest target and fly up high then bail out and open my parachute at the last minute right by the control point, but only at the start of the game
    Edited by dadrester at 11/11/11 @ 13:10

  • tankboi #38 7 months ago

    This guys is a f****** joker. Just read the forums mate, for the correct things to fix, there are about 2,000,000 people all asking for the same things (y'know all the features from BF2, that game you made 7 years ago, that you ripped out and watered down). This is an insult when there needs to be things like proper VOIP and squad selection added to the bloody game. Not to mention the GIANT FUCKING TEXT BOX that sits over half the screen, or the totally unusable minimap or spawn selection, or EVERY SINGLE GREAT FEATURE from BF2 that they ripped out for no apparent reason other than to cater more for casual twitch gamers. Did I also mention how the maps are appalling? I mean, how did they not see those blatant rocket choke-points in the metro or tunnel maps? Worst level design I have ever seen.

    Honestly so many people are so angry. I can't believe this guy still has a job. What a mess of what should have been a totally awesome sequel to my favourite game.

    The artist deserve a medal for creating the best looking game in history.

    The designers need a medal for totally shafting the one true online shooter I held dear to me.
    Edited by tankboi at 11/11/11 @ 13:09

  • BiffTanner #39 7 months ago

    I hope that when they say Jets they just mean the ones in conquest. I have used the ground attack jets in rush and it doesn't seem too hard to destroy tanks if you have rocket pods in one run, or just disable it if not so they don't really need tweaking in my mind.

  • Wyrm #40 7 months ago

    What about audio lag? I frequently get sounds falling behind the action, so I shoot and hear it a few seconds later and then it catches up. I'm on the PS3 version. Anyone else get this?

  • asphaltcowboy #41 7 months ago

    @dadrester Please don't do that.

    Signed,
    The people that are actually useful/proficient with jets

  • riz23 #42 7 months ago

    I'd say DICE do need to be wary of over-reaction to early feedback. The unlocks do make a big difference to your ability to succeed with various weapons. The more you play, the more powerful you become. I don't think enough people have advanced enough yet to get these unlocks, understand what they can do and use them effectively. Witness the confusion in this thread over the SOFLAM.

    As for recoil on weapons, I definitely noticed the difference as soon as I started playing. It's taken a while to get used to it, but I like it. I like the fact that each weapon is different and that add-ons like foregrips, bipods and barrels make a huge difference to gameplay.

    I do agree that the tactical light needs toning down though. If it is for short range only then fine. It is annoying not being able to see in any CQC.

  • MattyD #43 7 months ago

    @Wyrm Are you sure it's actual lag and not just the sound modelling? Bullets travel faster than sound and this is reflected somewhat in the game. Seeing an explosion before the sound is also perfectly normal at distance. Battlefield is one of the only games that does this.

  • arcam #44 7 months ago

    A DICE dev posted a before and after screenshot for the tactical light on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/Demize99/status/133891163617898497

  • OllyJ #45 7 months ago

    @cw- I did the same, but it must have been already fucked as I destroyed it, since BF1942 that's been my main aim in the game :D

  • OllyJ #46 7 months ago

    @Wyrm I get this on respawn for something like 10 seconds or so.

    It doesn't happen too often and really it's the audio equivilent to the textures popping in.

    They might fix it, but it doesn't seem to broken.

  • mcreddie #47 7 months ago

    VSYNC FOR XBOX PLEASE

  • MattRobson #48 7 months ago

    can i add 'cooking' grenades to the 'want' list. as it is i lob a grenade in the general direction of the enemy and they have a good few minutes to merrily skip away into the sunset.

    Not a gripe just a question, are flares unlimited for the Air Craft? as i have merrily shot all my lock on rockets while they just shoot flairs all over making my lock on launcher utterly pointless. im talking about the 2nd unlock launcher in the Engineer class. I have JUST got the stinger... is that any different?

  • asphaltcowboy #49 7 months ago

    @MattRobson You do get unlimited flares, but they take a lot longer to reload flares than it does to reload the Stinger, so assuming they don't get far enough away from you, you should be able to hit them easily.

    Another nice tip - many pilots panic when you get a lock-on (or when you're locked for a long time) and will often release flares before you've even fired - that way you'll basically get a free hit - so don't fire as soon as you get tone!
    Edited by asphaltcowboy at 11/11/11 @ 14:50

  • dadrester #50 7 months ago

    @asphaltcowboy fair enough. I do use helicopters properly if that's any consolation.

  • OllyJ #51 7 months ago

    @asphaltcowboy hahaha can't keep the wolf from the door.

  • figgis #52 7 months ago

    Leaked changes

    Buffed Engineer, as no one plays them ATM.
    Made the SCAR more powerful.
    Engineers have more rockets.
    Made Jets harder to start off with, removed guns from starting loadout.

  • cw- #53 7 months ago

    @figgis Thought you were serious for a second there :p

  • asphaltcowboy #54 7 months ago

    @figgis Haha! Nice one.

    They could do with buffing the Support class fully (no one plays them and when they do NO ONE gives out ammo) and buffing bits of the Recon class ie. major points for spotting, spotting with T-UGS, and laser designation!

    ps. Has someone gone through all these comments and negged them?
    Edited by asphaltcowboy at 11/11/11 @ 17:22

  • gallow #55 7 months ago

    Just remove the tactical light as in its current form is just a cheat.

  • VillanCaustic #56 7 months ago

    @dsmx this bug only affects you? do DiCE hate you?

  • KimboDice #57 7 months ago

    @iamtheoneneo Not only still playing it but loving it Troll boy.

  • PatTheMav #58 6 months ago

    @riz23 +1 to your comment. Lots of feedback from feedback who just can't accept the "way the game is meant to be played"..

  • ruisranne #59 6 months ago

    Does anyone else have the problem, while laying on the ground and starting to shoot someone your character decides to rise from the ground (and obviously get killed in the process)? I have this all the time, and I've tried with another controller and it still keeps doing it time to time... Really starts to annoy the shit out of me.

  • Al_Swearengen #60 6 months ago

    @ruisranne

    Yeah I get this a lot, particularly with the recon classs it seems. I thought it was me doing something stupid but I guess not if others are experiencing the same thing.

    The major tweaks I would be interested in seeing revolve mainly around the tactical light. I'd like it do be set to the off position upon respawn. There's nothing worse than having a squad member spawn on you then lighting the place up like a Christmas tree.

    Also I would prefer it if a tactical light and/or laser sight belonging to one of my team members have no effect on my screen, or at least have a diminished effect.
    Several times I have been blinded by a member of my own team and ended up getting killed for it. I have even had a couple of douche bags stand in front of my whilst I am trying to defend an M-COM or a choke-point and just constantly switch their tac-light off and on just to p*ss me off. I get killed, M-COM gets taken, we lose the match. Yeah, thanks d-bags!

  • ruisranne #61 6 months ago

    @Al_Swearengen Thanks for your reply! My friend doesn't get this, so don't know why this happens to me.

  • dirtysteve #62 6 months ago

    I remember the jets in BF2, they were fucking ridiculous. The way you could get raped by them, I'm not surprised there's more AA options/ I agree with balancing them though, static AA is gash, and mobile is harsh.
    It seems to to me that static-base AA would be better off with perhaps a separate gun/missile station?

  • cheeky_BILLY #63 6 months ago

    Get rid of the jets and put more helos in the game. Maybe a troop carrying Chinook would be fun. It's almost criminal that a battlefield game doesn't have a Blackhawk or Apache featured. I do hope EA aren't holding them back for some overpriced DLC at a later date.