Armory Staff

Take a unique first glimpse at the gameplay of Battlefield 4 Naval Strike. Prepare for the ultimate sea-to-sea warfare as you’ll be taking the intense and dramatic water-based combat introduced in Battlefield 4 to the next level. Pilot the new amphibious hovercraft vehicle through four all-new maps set in the South China Sea including Lost Islands, Nansha Strike, Wave Breaker and Operation Mortar. Gear up for battle with 5 all-new weapons and 2 additional gadgets, the 3GL (3 grenade launcher) and the Anti-Heli Mine. You’re going to need all the firepower you can harness if you seek to master the Carrier Assault game mode – a re-imagining of the classic Battlefield 1941 Titan Mode. Battlefield 4 Naval Strike is releasing two weeks early for Premium members on March 25th. Get Battlefield 4 Premium. View the full article

10 years have now passed since the DICE classic Battlefield Vietnam saw the light of day. To celebrate this very special 10-year-old, join us for a trip down memory lane, fueled by “Ride of the Valkyries†and reminiscence from some of our developer veterans… http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Vietnamboys_Logo-6401.png Roland Smedberg, Björn Hedberg, Patrik O’Shaughnessy, and Oscar Carlén: four of the many DICE vets behind Battlefield Vietnam. A decade ago, the Battlefield franchise was in its cradle – but the impact of the groundbreaking Battlefield 1942 and its expansions had been heard clearly around the world. Naturally, fans of the game was eager to see what was on the horizon. Development duties for the next Battlefield fell upon the newly opened DICE Canada who on March 14, 2004, released the game that now is hitting the big 1-0: Battlefield Vietnam. Battlefield Vietnam stayed true to the formula of its predecessor, featuring rock-paper-scissors gameplay, vast maps, and battles at land, sea, and air. This time, players found themselves in the middle of the Vietnam War, playing for either the US (Green Beret) or North Vietnam (NVA) side. Lots of care and fine-tuning went into conceptual design of these new environments, resulting in multiplayer maps like the verdant Ho Chi Minh Trail or the vast Operation Hastings. Mikael Rudberg, producer on Battlefield Vietnam at the time, remembers the foundations of the concept: “Our so called ‘X’ for the game was ‘The Hollywood Vietnam experience in Battlefield’ – something we believe we managed to meet very well. There were many things that made Battlefield Vietnam stand out; the chance to play 70’s music in vehicles, the tunnels, the procedural under- and overgrowth, and of course the asymmetric factions – e.g. napalm versus punji sticks.†http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/BFNAMpcSCRNreclaiminghue004.jpg-640x480.jpg In Battlefield Vietnam the four classes to choose from were Assault, Heavy Assault, Engineer, and Scout. The kit of each class was equipped with two different loadouts. This asymmetry between the two factions, based on the actual war in Vietnam, gave players vastly different conditions when playing for either the Green Beret or NVA side. Even though the US had access to heavy artillery, their enemies had potent counter-measures and other advantages designed to balance the gameplay. For instance, players who preferred the Vietnam side will remember the spawning advantages of the Sipi Holes. Asymmetrical gameplay was not the only example of how DICE Canada tried out many creative design ideas for Battlefield Vietnam. Patrick O’Shaughnessy, QA Lead at the time, reveals a game mode that was intended for the game: “There was actually an entirely new game mode that was cut late in the project. It was called Challenge Mode and let you play by yourself to try to complete small missions, like defending a flag against AI attackers for 3 minutes with only a pistol, or capturing all the flags on this map using a helicopter. It was a lot of fun, even when it was unfinished.†As the trailer above demonstrates, one other unique and iconic aspect of Battlefield Vietnam was the licensed soundtrack. Among others, bands like Deep Purple, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and The Trashmen all contributed to the special atmosphere of the game, and for Battlefield fans it’s hard to hear “The Ride of the Valkyries†without thinking about their clashes in Battlefield Vietnam. “The iconic music really set the tone for me,†says DICE veteran Roland Smedberg, director/editor on Battlefield Vietnam. “Getting to show off the game to those awesome tracks was a great feeling, having grown up watching all those Vietnam movies like Apocalypse Now and Platoon. There is actually a nod to Platoon and the death of Elias in one of the trailers. And of course, we loved using ‘The Ride of the Valkyries’ with tons of choppers, like in Apocalypse Now.†http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/BFNAMpcSCRNscreenshot005.jpg-640x480.jpg “I got so great at flying attack choppers that I was unstoppable when the game launched. For a week. Then everyone was shooting me out of the sky instantly.†– Roland Smedberg, Director/Editor, on being brought down to earth. With addictive gameplay, great map design, exciting vehicles and weapons, and iconic presentation, Battlefield Vietnam has aged well and we hope you share our excitement for this anniversary. Looking back, producer Mikael Rudberg is also proud as a peacock of the final game:“We were around 35 people that created Battlefield Vietnam in only 11 months, but the final game turned out really well. That is probably my fondest memory from development; to succeed in making a really compelling product that extended the Battlefield universe.†We hope you have enjoyed this post. Share your best Battlefield Vietnam memories with us in the comments below, and make sure to take the poll. Thank you for reading! Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. View the full article

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. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Attackboat_WM1-640x360.png 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 the Battlefield Blog! http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Heli_WM1-640x360.png 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! http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Hovercraft_WM.png 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 all kinds of vehicles 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. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Carrier-Assault_WM.png 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 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. View the full article

One exciting feature of the upcoming Battlefield 4 Naval Strike expansion is the Carrier Assault game mode, where two opposing teams launch attacks on each others aircraft carriers. To explain the ins and outs of Carrier Assault, we hand over to lead gameplay designer Gustav Halling. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Carrier-Assault_WM.png Carrier Assault is an homage to the Titan game mode of Battlefield 2142, but this time the all-out war rages in the South Chinese Sea, and your objective is to destroy the enemy team’s carrier before they infiltrate and destroy yours. Our goal has been to make Carrier Assault a really engaging game mode, and we truly believe the amount of variety present each round will assure this. You start out fighting a big-scale war with sea, land, and air vehicles controlling the map, and then everything evolves into an infantry-focused, close quarter fight inside both carriers at the same time! Carrier Assault ExplainedSo how is a match of Carrier Assault played out? There are two ways of destroying the enemy carrier: either by full map control or assaulting the carrier as infantry. Each round is divided into 2 stages, starting with map control and ending with carrier attack. Both teams start on their own carrier and race to control the missile launchers placed on the map, by capturing the control points near them. This will automatically launch missiles towards the enemy carrier throughout the round, eventually destroying its hull and making it open for infantry attacks. When this happens for one or both teams, the carrier assault state is started. The team can then either drive a boat out to the carrier and climb aboard, or use the parachute spawn points above it. Once inside, the team must destroy two M-COM stations, which will open up new areas to the carrier, with the engine room being the final one. Destroying the two M-COM’s, or bringing down the carrier hull’s health to 0%, will win the match for your team. An Hommage to a Classic Game ModeBattlefield 2142 and Titan mode veterans will feel right at home with Carrier Assault, with the unique focus of giving players several options to win the match – either through map control or close quarter fighting inside the enemy HQ. The differences in setting and time period do however  make Carrier Assault a fresh experience, and we hope you will get the same thrill out of parachute-spawning down to a carrier as you did when blasting off in a rocket pod towards a Titan. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Hovercraft_WM.png Challenges Along the WayCarrier Assault has been a fun challenge to develop, with many important aspects to be aware of. As fans of the old Titan mode, we really wanted to nail the end game part of the game mode, where both teams are attacking each other’s carriers. From a design point of view, it was important to create that special feeling of excitement that the potential different outcomes of a match generates. We also wanted to keep control of the map important, so a team which is having trouble pushing through inside the enemies’ carrier can still win the level by defending their own carrier while controlling the missile launchers. Coming Late MarchWe hope you will have fun with Carrier Assault when it launches later this month. Please share your thoughts on this game mode in the comments below, and make sure to keep Battlefield 4 Naval Strike on your radar the following weeks. Thanks for reading! Carrier Assault will be playable in Battlefield 4 Naval Strike, releasing first for Battlefield 4 Premium members late March. Get Battlefield 4 Premium. View the full article

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. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/BF4-Weapon-Balancing.jpg What we are Fixing or InvestigatingRubber 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. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Connection_HighLatency_64x64.png 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. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Connection_PacketLoss_64x64.png 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. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/BF4-Second-Assault-Firestorm-Heli.png What we have FixedKill 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. View the full article

Battlefield 4 Naval Strike takes the dramatic water-based combat introduced in Battlefield 4 to four all-new maps set in the South China Sea. Take control over new weapons and gadgets, pilot the new hovercraft vehicle, and experience the Carrier Assault game mode in this intense expansion pack. Read on for details and the first official screenshots. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Hovercraft_WM.png Take the Fight to the SeaWater-based combat has always been a vital part of the all-out war of Battlefield 4, and with Battlefield 4 Naval Strike the fights at sea are more intense than ever. With the introduction of the amphibious hovercraft vehicle, your possibilities to dominate the sea will be even greater. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Heli_WM.png Four All-New Multiplayer MapsBlow open a crashed passenger plane and capture fishing villages across the tropical Lost Islands. Drop a submarine on your foes as you infiltrate a naval base or rush between shipping docks and rocky islands on the massive Wave Breaker map. Wage war across stormy seas in the largest ocean stretch in a Battlefield map yet with Nansha Strike. Storm an abandoned cliff-side resort, or get lost in the breathtaking vistas in Operation Mortar. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Carrier-Assault_WM.png A Classic Game Mode Re-ImaginedBattlefield 4 Naval Strike lets you re-live the classic Titan Mode of Battlefield 2142, with the introduction of the Carrier Assault game mode. Stay tuned to the Battlefield Blog for more details on this re-imagining of a classic. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Battlefield-4-Naval-Strike-Attackboat_WM.png Battlefield 4 Naval Strike will be released late March for Battlefield 4 Premium members. To get a two-week head start with Battlefield 4 Naval Strike and other upcoming Battlefield 4 expansion packs, secure a Battlefield 4 Premium membership. View the full article

Soon, fans of Battlefield 4 will be able to come together as one persistent unit and show the world where they belong. Rolling out starting February 27 as part of the Player Appreciation Month, the first iteration of Platoons is coming to Battlefield 4. Show the World Where You BelongPlatoons in Battlefield 4 is a way for you and your friends to get together, organize yourselves, communicate, and fight together to improve your Platoon. Whether you want to share experiences in a more private space, or show the world who has the most skilled, most awesome Battlefield 4 team around, Platoons is the way to go. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/dice-platoon-640.png Platoons in a NutshellSo what can you expect when Platoons launches during this and next week? Let’s look at the main features you will have access to in the first iteration of Platoons: • The ability to create and join a Platoon for up to 100 members. • Basic Platoon management such as inviting, applying, and promoting/demoting members. • A private and public Platoon feed, where you can communicate and coordinate. • A Platoon emblem and tag that all members can easily apply. • The ability to earn stats for your Platoon and rank it up, and see all the matches you played together. Our goal is to make it both fun and easy for you to get organized and be part of the best Battlefield 4 Platoon ever created. Whether you want to discuss your past games and plan the next, or get competitive and see who your Platoon is up against, the feature will be as powerful and intuitive as possible. Make Your Platoon Stand OutThere will be several different customization options for your Platoon. Apart from setting a Platoon name and 4-character tag, you will of course also be able to design your very own Platoon emblem, which all members can easily use as their own. If the emblem gets updated, for example, you don’t need to worry; the changes will automatically be applied and your Platoon tag and emblem will without extra effort follow you in-game. Besides that, you can write a presentation text for your Platoon and set the address for your website, if your Platoon has one. Earn Stats for your Platoon and Rank UpPlatoons for Battlefield 4 also feature a brand new progression and stats system. In order to earn stats, four players from the same active Platoon must play together in the same round of Battlefield 4, and then your core stats will be either averaged or accumulated and applied to the Platoon. Best of all, you will earn score for your Platoon, so you can rank it up (initially, ranks 1-10 will be available, with more ranks to come). Other stats such as Kill/Death Ratio, Score per Minute, and Skill will also be shown for your Platoon. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/dice-platoon-reports-640.jpg Discuss your Matches and Have Fun in the FeedThe core way to communicate within your Platoon is through the feed, which has both a public and a private section. In the public section, you can allow anyone to leave a message, whereas the private area is for members only. All messages can be commented on, leaders will be able to sticky messages to the top of the feed, and perhaps best of all, you can subscribe to messages, so that every time someone comments on it, you will receive a notification, so you can return to follow up. Rolling out on February 27We will begin to open up for Platoons on Battlelog on February 27, with some players getting access slightly before others in order to ensure proper feature stability. When it is launched during this week and next, everyone will be able to join a Platoon, but Battlefield 4 Premium and a soldier with at least rank 10 will be required to create your own Platoon. The system is also completely platform agnostic, so anyone can join a Platoon no matter where they play Battlefield 4. It is important for us to clarify that this is the first iteration of Platoons. We will continue to work on the feature to refine and expand it, but now we will finally have the opportunity to see it in action and get some real-world feedback. Now is the time for all our players to tell us what they like, what they want improved, and what they want to see next. Don’t hesitate to tell us what you expect from the upcoming feature, and what can be improved once it’s live. We appreciate your questions and feedback! THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIODâ€). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCTâ€) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

Our “Ask DICE†series continues as we let audio director Bence Pajor answer your questions on sound design. Read on for behind-the-scenes intel on the process of making Battlefield 4 sound epic. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/bence-640x351.png Q: Thank you for a fun game and an awesome “sound image”. Is the sound team split up in smaller groups, one team focusing on vehicles and another on guns/ambient etc.? A: You’re welcome! The sound team is usually split up in small groups that handle specific parts of the soundscape, but we all touch pretty much everything during the full course of a project. Q: What is the most challenging thing to do from a sound perspective? A: The most challenging thing is to make all the parts fit together as one coherent experience. Q: How does DICE create weapon, vehicle and environment sound effects in the game? Do you use actual weapons and vehicles or create the FX via software? A: We make our own recordings of the real stuff. If you want to learn more about the work process behind the Battlefield 4 sound, check out this “The Road to Battlefield 4†post. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Battlefield-4-Operation-Locker-TDM-640x360.jpgMaking sure the “hierarchy of sounds” is correct in the heat of battle is a crucial task for the DICE audio team. Q: Why do the DMR’s have such a drastic increase in their sound as compared to Battlefield 3? And would it be possible to turn down their sound? As is, they sound pretty annoying. By all means, do not make them sound like an assault rifle, but intermediate between the bolt action sniper rifles and an assault rifle. A: This has already been addressed, the bullet fly-by sound is now somewhere in between an assault rifle and a sniper rifle. This will be out in a patch soon. Q: What kind of equipment do you use for recording all the different sounds and what software is used for the finalizing? A: We use a wide array of recording devices, everything from handheld integrated recorders to professional recording gear and microphones. Q: Is there a chance that Battlefield will ever incorporate a HRTF-enhanced sound system? I have always enjoyed the sound in the Battlefield series, but a more powerful sense of spatial orientation through sound would be incredible, “wrapping up the package”, so to speak. A: We currently have a really rough version of HRTF in the headphones setting. There are currently no plans for a proper HRTF setting, but we are investigating better spatial awareness. Q: First, I LOVE the audio in Battlefield 4. The question I have is this: since Bad Company 2 there have been many complaints about your soldier saying something to interact with the game, and the players themselves not hearing it. An example is throwing a grenade and they yell “grenadeâ€, or when someone is killed and someone across the map yells “friendly downâ€. Has it ever been considered to remove that option in the game, or allow the player to hear it so that they are aware of actually making noise? A: Glad that you love our work. We are looking into refining the design you mention for future games. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF4-Second-Assault-Caspian-Border_WM-640.pngThe Battlefield 4 audio is not just there for your listening pleasure, it also gives information of the surroundings in-game. Listen carefully to up your game! Q: Have you ever talked about an idea of going deaf (or a “weeeeee” noise in your ears) for a few seconds when standing next to a tank that just fired a round? I understand this could be annoying for some people but it’s can also be a trade off from using a tank as a cover. A: Yes, we’ve discussed that and it actually works like that in Battlefield 3. In Battlefield 4 we just have different way of portraying going temporarily deaf. Q: Great work with the sound in-game, really atmospheric! But I have to ask, why were multi-character voice-overs dropped from the Battlefield series? Bad Company 2 had them as every class character had its own unique voice, and it worked wonderfully and sounded diverse. Also, why don’t you offer original localized voice-over in the options menu anymore? Battlefield 2 and Bad Company 2 allowed us to switch between English and original (Chinese/Arab/Russian) voice-overs. A: The player’s own voice is always the same (and has been for all Battlefield titles) but other characters voices are recorded with up to 15 different actors. They are not class/kit or rank specific as in Battlefield 2, Bad Company 1 and 2 as you point out. We made this decision because we wanted a wide variety of different voices. As for original languages, we chose to use English with an accent for game important messages as opposed to Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 2, and Battlefield: Bad Company that only had original languages. This way both sides are equal as far as understandability goes. Q: Can we have an increase in the sound of enemy players footsteps? Why should they be quieter than my team mates’ footsteps? A: All other players except yourself, friend or foe, have the same volume attenuation for their footsteps. We must maintain a hierarchy of loudness for different sounds, and since we depict such a vast range of loudness it’s quite natural that footsteps are a lot quieter than vehicles, guns and explosions. Q: I have to say, I’m a huge fan of how the LMGs sound in the game, they’re fantastic with the War Tapes audio setting enabled and a set of good monitor headphones. Is there a real difference in the approach to sound design for the War Tapes option, or is it just a different sort of equalisation between the different sounds? A: War Tapes is just a different master setting of the game, very compressed and distorted. From the start, it was made out of pure curiosity. The game sounded like something recorded with a handy-cam. We just thought it was cool. It’s a very extreme setting. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Screenshot_logoChina_Rising-640.jpgTons of various field recordings have been done to secure the sounds of the many vehicles and weapons in Battlefield 4. Q: Will you change it so that when someone pulls their knife out you can hear it come out of the holster, to give you a warning that someone is behind you? A: There’s always a sound when someone pulls a knife out. There’s just little time for you to react to it. Q: How does the game know that when you’re in a tunnel, the audio should echo, and that when you’re outside it should travel through the city? A: We manually tag every area of a map to tell the game what sounds to play there. So the sounds are not processed, we just use other sounds. Q: Are there any sounds in Battlefield 4 that the Battlefield community has yet to hear, i.e. easter egg audio? A: Well, maybe there is… We advice you to keep your ears open. Thank you for submitting your questions to us, and we hope you have enjoyed this post. Make sure to read all previous “Ask DICE†posts if you haven’t done so already, and stay tuned for more Q&A’s like this. View the full article

It is time for a new DICE Community Mission where we once again challenge the Battlefield 4 players to collectively achieve great deeds on the Battlefield. This time, we are putting your team play skills in Conquest and Domination to the test. We want you to participate in the capture of 100 million objectives in 5 days. This community mission is active between February 21, 7AM PST/4PM CET and February 26, 7AM PST/4PM CET. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/CQ_Screen-8_640x360.png If the Community Mission is completed in time, all participating players across all formats will be rewarded with a Gold Battlepack (entitled to players’ Origin accounts on February 27). Note that the Capture the Flag game mode isn’t part of this mission. You will be able to track the progress of this mission on Battlelog under the “Missions” tab. The results will be presented here on the Battlefield Blog on February 26. Now, go get those control points! THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIODâ€). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCTâ€) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

Celebrating the Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month, DICE and J!NX announce a Battlefield 4 T-shirt Design Contest together with a sale on DICE-store.com. This is a chance to get your very own design featured on an official Battlefield 4 T-shirt and to win great prizes by being creative – as well as getting great deals on Battlefield 4 apparel. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BF_PA_Blurb_v3.jpg T-Shirt Design ContestTime to get creative! If you want to see your design on an official Battlefield 4 T-shirt at DICE-Store.com, enter the T-shirt design contest centered around the theme “Most Memorable Battlefield Moment”. If your design is selected, you will win one of three prize packs including $500 and some great prizes from J!NX, EA DICE, and Razer. Your shirt design will also be available for sale on DICE-Store.com. All the rules, conditions, and restrictions can be found by hitting the link below. T-Shirt Design Contest DICE Store SaleUntil February 28, you can find some great deals on DICE-Store.com where all Battlefield 4 apparel will be 20% off. Orders over $30 will get free domestic economy shipping (US only). Find all great deals and full details through the link below. DICE Store Sale View the full article

The DICE Community Missions during the Player Appreciation Month have been great examples of cooperation in the Battlefield 4 community. The first Mission, where we challenged you to grab 10,000,000 dog tags in just six days, was a success. As a reward, all participating players across all formats will receive a Gold Battlepack entitled to their Origin account on February 20. We salute you. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Battlefield-4-Dog-tag-grab-640.png We would also like to applaud your efforts in the DICE Community Mission where we challenged you to destroy 50 million vehicles in six days. With an end result of 46 190 615 million land, air, and sea units blown to bits, you came extremely close to succeeding. It seems like the Battlefield is also full of drivers skilled at using counter-measures! http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/community-icon-with-TM.png Going forward, the third DICE Community Mission will start this Friday, February 21. We’re holding off with the details for that one just a little bit longer, but stay tuned to the Battlefield Blog for all the intel. This time we urge you all: Go for Gold! Learn more about the DICE Community Missions THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIODâ€). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCTâ€) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

One of the many giveaways during the Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month are the Shortcut Kits, voluntary bundles that will unlock various weapons for Battlefield 4 (the base game), allowing you to make up for lost time, or just catch up if you’re new to the game. The Shortcut Kits are now available for download at no cost for a limited time. Battlefield 4 Premium members will get access to two special Shortcut Kits, on top of two other Shortcut Kits accessible to all Battlefield 4 owners. See below for the handout schedule. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Premium-Shortkit_560x316_weaponBundle_PAM_ONLY1.png February 18 to February 24 Shortcut Kit: Hand Guns Battlefield 4 Premium Shortcut Kit: DMR’s February 25 to March 4 Shortcut Kit: Grenades Battlefield 4 Premium Shortcut Kit: Shotguns How to claim your Shortcut KitsConsole Owner Go to the in-game Store. Either click on the Shortcut Kit banner or proceed to view “All Items†Find the Shortcut Kit priced at $0 Premium users will also see a second Shortcut Kit priced at $0 Download each item to be granted your Shortcut Kit(s). PC Owner Login to Battlelog Go to the “Store” section. Find the Shortcut Kit priced at $0. Click “Downloadâ€. Proceed through the Origin checkout flow to be granted your Shortcut Kit. PC Owner (Battlefield 4 Premium Member) Login to Battlelog. Look in the “News†section for info on the Shortcut Giveaway. Click on the “PREMIUM GIVEAWAY†button within the news story. A success message will display in green at the top of Battlelog if successful. You have now been granted the Shortcut Kit. Click here for full conditions and restrictions. THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIODâ€). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCTâ€) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

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 rolling out today for Battlefield 4 Premium Members (arriving March 4 for everyone else) and the expansion features four fan-favorite maps from Battlefield 3, updated with breath-taking Frostbite 3 graphics and thrilling Battlefield 4 gameplay. 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. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF4-Second-Assault-Caspian-Border_WM-640.pngThanks to the power of Frostbite 3 and a seasonal change, Caspian Border features a new look in several ways. 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 http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BF4-Second-Assault-Screen-640x360.pngBattlefield 3 fans may recognize the DPV (Desert Patrol Vehicle), making its return in Battlefield 4 Second Assault. With all these features and the updated visuals, Battlefield 4 Second Assault pushes the fan-favorites to their limits, and it is our hope you truly will 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. View the full article

Our “Ask DICE†series continues as we let level artist Linnea Harrison answer questions on level design, sent in by the Battlefield 4 community. Read on for behind-the-scenes intel on the process of creating memorable maps for Battlefield 4. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/linnea-640x351.png Q: Can you explain the whole process of map design from start? First you must have an idea of location… and then? How do you test the gameplay of a new level design? A: After the main setting of a game is decided, everyone at DICE sends in their awesome ideas for locations and interesting gameplay hooks. We had hundreds of ideas submitted for levels in Battlefield 4. The level designer/artists then starts blocking in some spaces for the level based on neat locations near the reference. The larger spaces (bases) are shifted around, reworked, reworked, and reworked until they are as fun as possible. We also have destruction in at this point, so that when we are playtesting the game, we do so with destruction in mind. Then we go about making the level look awesome. Set dressing the level, adding really good lighting and effects, and polishing often takes a while but it is well worth the effort. Usually a lot of our testing is done here at the studio by our team. We take an hour or two each day to sit down and playtest levels and give feedback. This helps us get suggestions and ideas from everyone in the studio, rather than being stuck with just our own ideas. Q: Will you be introducing any night maps or night variations? These maps don’t need to be pitch dark but I think a number of players would like to see a setting where IRNV and FLIR scopes, along with flares, would be useful to blind enemies better. A: Good question! In general, we tend to think that night maps look pretty darn cool. You can implement some really neat lighting effects and encourage use of gadgets that generally aren’t used as much, with some really fun results. But there are a few things we considered with creating night maps. Statistically speaking, most people don’t play night maps – maps set during the day get played more. We know this from tracking the numbers of maps played through on Battlefield 3 and Bad Company 2. Even if the map is really well-designed, players tend to gravitate more towards day-time maps. Furthermore, players that crouch, take cover and wait forever to shoot someone running by in most maps gets even more common on night maps, where it’s tough to differentiate between objects and people. This has proved to be quite annoying in playtests. It’s possible to balance this – better heat vision, better spotting and so on – but for Battlefield 4 we focused on day-time maps. Future nighttime maps are absolutely something we’re always considering, though. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/paracel-storm.jpgThe iconic Paracel Storm map went through several changes before being finalized. Q: How do you design a map to work well with multiple game modes and what are your biggest challenges when doing so? A: Given that Battlefield is a vast game with many vehicles and open areas, we first try to make sure that the level is overall balanced for Conquest (this means working on symmetry in terms of base location, perfecting infantry routes and cover, vehicle routes, main routes, flank routes, and visibility). Conquest is our most basic game mode, and designing levels with that in mind tends to create a fairly balanced map. The greatest challenge is to determine what sort of balance we want in the maps. We aim to have awesome infantry, vehicle, air, and naval gameplay on all maps, but some game modes will be more popular on certain maps. Take Operation Locker for example, where we wanted to focus on infantry combat and Rush. We decided to make that map more linear in nature to allow for better Rush gameplay. With that in mind, we created side routes and flanks for each base, and made sure the distances allowed for a variety of weapons used (outdoor versus indoor distances are very different), but would focus on shorter range combat. Q: Why didn’t you include a random weather and Time of Day system in Battlefield 4? Making it randomly generated, wind, sun, storm, dust, and dawn would really increase the replay value of the game. A: Even though each Battlefield game is unscripted in many ways, we wanted the experience to still have an emotional impact and match the adrenaline arc of a normal gameplay round. That way, as more buildings get destroyed, the tickets count down and the gameplay gets more tense, so does the level. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/operation-locker.jpgOperation Locker was designed with infantry combat in mind and had a more linear layout than all other Battlefield 4 maps. Q: I was wondering if it is possible to add maps that take full advantage of the Rush game mode more? I feel the maps at the moment seem to suffer in this mode because of all the other game types. A: Rush is a game mode that is really fun to play on many of the Battlefield 4 maps, and it’s also one of our favorite game modes in the Multiplayer team. However, our maps are generally built for Conquest, as this is a game mode that is played by the majority (around 70%) of our players. This means that we always need to make sure that the map is 100% awesome in Conquest first-hand, but that being said, we also work hard to make Rush a good option on every map. Q: How many people are involved in the creation of a map? How long does it take to complete a map like Paracel Storm? Do you use greyboxing to playtest the level before its fully ‘painted’? A: It depends on the map – some maps only take 2-3 people to create. Others take around 8-10 people, like Siege of Shanghai. Paracel Storm took a whopping 6 months to complete – but that was partly because it also got redone a few times before being finalized. That being said, some maps are created in just under 2 months. And yes, we often do greybox when we start playtesting, just to make sure the larger spaces and shapes will work. Q: Say I wanted to get a job at DICE as a level designer, what sort of requirements would I need? A: Usually we look more at skills than requirements. If you want to design levels, you should have a website/portfolio that shows some levels you have designed. Grab a copy of UDK or Unity and start making levels and playing them with friends. Read about level design and game design. Learn about game theory and hardware specifications. Try doing a map remake on one of your favorite Battlefield maps – how would you change the layout? Do a sketch or top down design. Ideas are great, but if you can explain them and back them up with an understanding of why the idea is a good one, that is even more impressive! Then it’s just a matter of applying (we actually have a position open for a level designer in Los Angeles right now, so get to it!) Thank you for reading and submitting your questions to us. Stay tuned for more Q&A’s with our developers, and remember to read the previous editions of “Ask DICE” if you haven’t done so already. View the full article

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. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/12483844523_783eab1c5b_o-640x360.png 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. View the full article

The first DICE Community Mission where you managed to grab over 10 million dog tags was a success. Now we have a new challenge for the Battlefield 4 community, where you’d better bring out the big guns. We want you to collectively destroy 50 million vehicles in six days. This community mission is active between February 13, 7AM PST/4PM CET and February 19, 7AM PST/4PM CET. If the objective is completed in time, all participating players across all formats will be rewarded with a Gold Battlepack (handed out on February 27). So, jump in a game and get busy. You will be able to track the progress of this mission on Battlelog under the “Missions” tab. The results will be presented here on the Battlefield Blog on February 19. Good luck! http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/BlogParacel.jpg THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIODâ€). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCTâ€) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

The first DICE Community Mission is now over and we can happily declare it a success! We challenged you to collectively grab 10,000,000 dog tags over the course of six days, and on the fifth day you reached the magic number. All in all, you managed to grab 11,462,858Â dog tags using melee attacks. We are all officially impressed. Your reward for this will be a Gold Battlepack, which will be handed out on February 20. As Player Appreciation Month continues, stay tuned for more DICE community missions coming soon. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Battlefield-4-Dog-tag-grab_WM-640x360.png View the full article

Earlier this week, we let you submit questions about gameplay balancing to our lead core gameplay designer, Alan Kertz. The response was amazing. We received a huge amount of questions and have now let Alan answer some of the most interesting ones. Read on for details on weapon balancing, smoke trails, and the rock-paper-scissors philosophy behind Battlefield 4. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/kertz-640x351.png Q: Balancing Battlefield 4 must be challenging, what is your ideal vision for the game’s multiplayer? A: The ideal balance for Battlefield 4 is a battlefield where each item has a valuable role, and no one item, weapon, or vehicle is the clear winner in all situations. Each item has a counter tactic, a fundamental weakness and a fundamental strength. Essentially, it comes down to one really big game of rock-paper-scissor: tank, infantry, airplane, boat, helicopter, sniper, and so on. Q: What’s the main process behind rebalancing a weapon or vehicle? Do you just change the appropriate values based on opinions voiced on the forums/Reddit/Twitter etc., or is it a much more complicated process? A: When balancing a vehicle or weapon we always start with the original intention for the item, and compare it to how the community sees the role. Sometimes we have a different idea of how a weapon is intended to work than the community does. Then there’s a period of analysis about how that differs and if changing the design of the weapon would change the game for better or worse. Generally a high level principal is that no weapon, vehicle, gadget, etc., should be the best at any given combat situation. We try to avoid all powerful weapons and instead rely on a rock-paper-scissors setup. A good example of where the designer and community opinions differ are shotgun slugs. Vocal members of the community see them as ineffective in close range. Given that the intent of the slugs from a design perspective is to be effective at long range, we looked at the feedback and decided that making them effective in close range as well would essentially remove the role of the other shotgun ammo. So we decline to make a tweak. The opposite is true of the mobile Anti-Aircraft, where the community and the designers both agree that it’s role is to shoot down aircraft, it’s just too good at it. The final step in that situation is to find the cause of the power imbalance (in this case, gun range seems to be the biggest issue) and make an adjustment. Q: Why do sniper rifles and hand grenades leave smoke trails? A: One of our high level design goals is that a player should be able to understand what killed him and from where. In the best of worlds, a player accepts his death as being earned by the other player. Battlefield moves very quickly and death can come quickly. Highlighting big quick kill threats like grenades and sniper rifles help players understand and react to incoming fire. It makes the player feel in control and when you watch a well thrown (or even lucky) grenade arc in the air and blow you up, you appreciate it more than if you never noticed it. Q: Why wasn’t the ghillie suit an option for the Recon class in Battlefield 4? A: Much of Battlefield 4 takes place in urban areas. A bush wookie outfit simply didn’t fit into those areas, and not every recon soldier is a sniper. We worked with our character concept artists to design a kit image that portrays the recon’s role as a sneaky intelligence gatherer with a spec ops focus, an image we think the recon soldiers today fit quite well. Sneaky, Urban, Annoying. Q: Why was the MAA (Mobile Anti-Aircraft) added to the game as there seems to be enough threats to aircraft? A: The inclusion of MAA in BF3 and BF4, gives us a “rock†to the “scissors†of aircrafts and the “paper†of tanks. Basically, it gives something tanks can hunt, which isn’t really a threat to the tank, and it gives aircraft something to fear. Given the number of pilot complaints about mobile AA, it’s plenty scary. However, given the ability to stay far back from the front where the tanks can’t get at it, it’s clear it has too much range. We will address the range difference in an upcoming update, and force the MAA back into the battlefield in order to be effective. Q: Why were smart weapons added to Battlefield 4? A: Battlefield 4 is a game set in the modern warscape, and in order to properly convey that we included smart weapons. Obviously in real life smart weapons are amazingly powerful, and no one in the business of combat is looking to make it balanced; Battlefield is intended to be balanced, and thus we try to counter the ease of use of the smart weapons with their damage output, and other effectiveness values. The level of our success in that delicate balance is lower than we’d like, and we’ve taken steps towards balancing these smart weapons for a future update. Q: How did you determine the unlock order of the main weapons and side arms? A: Actually, we generally try to pick the easiest weapons to pick up and use at the start of an unlock tree (hence the NLAW being a default unlock) and then the more difficult to master items deeper into the tree. We also have to balance that with the player having interesting options early on, so we may offer a new flavor quickly. Thank you all for participating in the first part of the “Ask DICE†series! We hope you have found these answers informative. Next week, we will let you submit new questions to another DICE developer. Learn more about Battlefield 4 gameplay balancing THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIODâ€). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCTâ€) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

Tired of your phone not sounding like a defibrillator? Don’t worry. As part of the Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month, we would like to share some Battlefield 4 ringtones with you. Eight tracks with Battlefield 4 music and sound effects have been added to the Battlefield 4 Soundcloud page. The sounds are available for download on Android and iPhone devices, for the duration of the Player Appreciation Month. You will find a selection of the new sounds below. Find all Battlefield 4 ringtones here THIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIODâ€). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCTâ€) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

Six days. 10 million dog tags. Can you make it happen? In the first DICE Community Mission we challenge all Battlefield 4 players to collectively grab 10,000,000 dog tags using melee attacks. This mission will run across all platforms. If the objective is completed in time, all participating players will be rewarded with a gold battlepack (handed out on February 20). The community mission is active between February 5, 8AM PST/5PM CET and February 11, 8AM PST/5PM CET. You will be able to track the progress of this mission on Battlelog under the “Missions” tab. The results will be presented on the Battlefield Blog on February 11. Good luck! http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/dr_FanCelebration_1L-6401.pngTHIS OFFER IS BEING ISSUED TO YOU FOR PROMOTIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A CREDIT, CHARGE, DEBIT OR GIFT CARD. BATTLEFIELD 4 PLAYER APPRECIATION MONTH IS FROM FEBRUARY 1, 2014 THROUGH MARCH 06, 2014 (“PROMOTION PERIODâ€). REQUIRES BATTLEFIELD 4 (“PRODUCTâ€) ON APPLICABLE PLATFORM AND INTERNET CONNECTION TO ACCESS IN-GAME CONTENT. PC VERSION OF PRODUCT ALSO REQUIRES ORIGIN ACCOUNT, ACCEPTANCE OF THE ORIGIN END USER AGREEMENT AND INSTALLATION OF THE ORIGIN CLIENT SOFTWARE (WWW.ORIGIN.COM/ABOUT). YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER. BRONZE OR SILVER BATTLEPACKS ARE OFFERED DAILY DURING THE PROMOTION PERIOD FROM 12PM GMT/4AM PST TO 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST THE NEXT DAY AND ARE AUTOMATICALLY ENTITLED WHEN YOU LOG INTO PRODUCT DURING THE DAILY TIME PERIOD. SHORTCUT BUNDLES ARE OFFERED FOR A WEEK-LONG PERIOD AND REQUIRE DOWNLOAD FROM EITHER WWW.ORIGIN.COM (FOR PC) OR HTTP://MARKETPLACE.XBOX.COM/ AND HTTPS://STORE.SONYENTERTAINMENTNETWORK.COM (FOR APPLICABLE CONSOLE VERSIONS) DURING THAT WEEKLY PERIOD. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE ARE AVAILABLE AT WWW.EA.COM. SEE APPLICABLE END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT AND DISCLOSURES ON WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS. VALID WHEREVER BATTLEFIELD 4 IS OFFERED. MUST BE 13+. CODE MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. View the full article

Battlefield 4 Player Appreciation Month has officially started! During this month, you can enjoy fun community missions and daily giveaways that you get just for jumping into a match. How to claim your daily Battlepacks Every day that you log into the game in February, you will receive a new Battlepack.  During weekdays, these will be Bronze, and during Saturdays and Sundays we will give away Silver Battlepacks. Make sure to play this weekend to receive your first Silver Battlepack! Each daily Battlepack will be handed out from 4AM PST/12PM UTC (hit the link to find your specific time zone) on the day in question, cutting off 24 hours later, when a new Battlepack will become available. Note that you need to login each day to get that day’s specific Battlepack. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/dr_FanCelebration_1L_2561.png Claim your Player Appreciation Dog Tag To kick off the month, we want to award you a special bonus dog tag: the Player Appreciation Dog Tag. This can be found in the Player Appreciation Battlepack, and is available between 4AM PST/12PM UTC February 1 and 4AM PST/12PM UTC February 2. We hope you will enjoy the Player Appreciation Month. Stay tuned to the Battlefield Blog for more updates during the month. This offer is being issued to you for promotional purposes only and does not constitute a credit, charge, debit or gift card. Battlefield 4 player appreciation month is from February 1, 2014 through March 06, 2014 (“promotion periodâ€). Requires Battlefield 4 (“productâ€) on applicable platform and internet connection to access in-game content. PC version of product also requires Origin account, acceptance of the Origin end user agreement and installation of the Origin client software (www.origin.com/about). You must be 13+ to register. Bronze or silver battlepacks are offered daily during the promotion period from 12PM GMT/4AM PST to 11:59AM GMT/3:59 AM PST the next day and are automatically entitled when you log into product during the daily time period. Shortcut bundles are offered for a week-long period and require download from either www.origin.com (for PC) or http://marketplace.xbox.com/ and https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com (for applicable console versions) during that weekly period. EA online Privacy Policy and Terms of Service are available at www.ea.com. See applicable end user license agreement and disclosures on www.ea.com/1/product-eulas. Valid wherever Battlefield 4 is offered. Must be 13+. Code may not be substituted, exchanged, sold or redeemed for cash or other goods or services. May not be combined with any other offer, gift card, rebate or discount coupon. Void where prohibited, taxed or restricted by law. View the full article

In our continued balancing blog series, we’ll talk about some of the core gameplay tweaks that we are looking into for Battlefield 4. In this post, we’ll talk about various items that you have brought to our attention regarding balancing in Battlefield 4. Right now, we are currently thinking of the items below as working as designed, but we are open to suggestions and comments. Stay tuned for more balancing updates going forward, and let us know what you think in the comments below. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/zavod.jpg BALANCING ITEMS WE ARE MONITORING1) Players have suggested that the TV missiles be allowed to 1 hit kill enemy aircraft. While we initially considered increasing their damage to 90% from 80%, we decided against this change. The TV missile is not intended to be an anti-aircraft weapon system, and while skilled players may currently be able to use it that way, we do not find its current damage level to be imbalanced. 2) Players have also suggested that Sniper Rifle and 12G SLUG rounds be allowed to penetrate body armor at close range. The purpose of body armor is to specifically counter these kinds of threats, and players with these weapons have received significant buffs to accuracy to allow them to achieve close range headshots with higher frequency. Finally, the goal of 12G SLUGS is a long range alternative for shotguns, players wishing to defeat body armor at close range with shotguns should utilize the 12G FLECHETTE rounds instead. 3) As a capable all around weapon, players have suggested the GALIL ACE 23 is over powered. Players of specific types, especially competitive players, will gravitate towards a weapon that can work in any situation. The ACE 23 is out performed at close range, long range, and has competitors at medium range. We see no need for a change at this time. 4) Below Radar has been a hot topic, asking why it was “removed†from BF4. Below Radar was never a part of the original design for BF4’s locking mechanics, and while we have discussed allowing a low altitude state to cause lock on to take longer, the added frustration of being unable to lock on to targets does not offset the added danger to helicopters at low altitude. Furthermore, having a low altitude state only affect PASSIVE or ACTIVE radar missiles would add additional confusion, as it did in BF3 when stingers still worked on Below Radar vehicles. 5) Long Range scopes for DMRs were tested extensively internally before release. We specifically removed these scopes from those weapons as we found any class being able to effectively snipe was detrimental to the overall pace and gameplay of BF4. We have no intentions of adding those scopes to DMRs for BF4. 6) As a guaranteed get out of jail free card, aircraft counter measures are only designed to allow a vehicle to escape distant danger, not to enable the aircraft to be immune to lock on weaponry. While this is a tricky balance, we’re currently happy with the reload times and amounts of counter measures carried by aircraft. 7) MAA is too powerful against the AC130 and other ground vehicles. The reduction to the range of the MAA cannons should address the issue of the AC130, and at this time we feel that the balance between MAA and other ground vehicles is appropriate. 8) Ground destruction makes vehicle driving difficult after significant combat. We’re happy that the dynamic aspect of BF4 has a direct impact on the gameplay, and at the moment do not think this is in need of any tweaks. 9) Some players have been disappointed in the rate of fire of the G36C carbine, citing it being different from BF3. We understand the feelings of fans when their favorite gun doesn’t work in the same way it was before, however BF4 is its own game, with its own balance, and all weapons received various changes and balance factors. We do not intend to change the rate of fire of the G36C. 10) Attack helicopter maneuverability is also a hot topic. We’re open to the idea that the Attack Helicopters could benefit from an increase in speed and maneuverability. At the moment, we’ve made tweaks to the primary threats for Attack Helicopters, and we want to see how that change affects the battlefield before we make additional changes blindly. Catch the entire balancing blog series: Grenades Vehicles Soldier Weapons Pistols What should we balance next? Stay tuned for more confirmed tweaks that we have planned for Battlefield 4. Let us know what you think in the comments below. View the full article

In our continued balancing blog series, we’ll talk about some of the core gameplay tweaks that we are planning for Battlefield 4. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/grenades.png In this post, we’ll talk about the upcoming Battlefield 4 tweaks that we have planned, based on your feedback. These changes are all slotted to go live in a future game update. Stay tuned for more, and let us know what you think in the comments below. Increased the number of M84 FLASHBANG and HAND FLARES the player can carry from 2 to 3. A player may now have 3 active HAND FLARES, up from 1 before. The HAND FLARE remains mostly a gadget of comic relief, though its ability to blind IRNV sights should not be forgotten. The increase in the number the player can carry should allow for a larger tactical use of both the HAND FLARE and the M84 FLASHBANG. Increased the effect of M84 FLASHBANG grenades on friendly and enemy players. When Friendly Fire is OFF, friendlies receive approximately half the effect duration. Previous duration was 4 seconds, now 5 seconds for enemy players. Additionally increased the range at which a player feels the full effect of the flash, and increased the effect on players not looking directly at the flash bang. This should sufficiently improve the reliability of the M84 FLASHBANG, and make it a viable choice in the grenade category. Increased the maximum damage for the RGO from 67 to 80, however reduced the range of explosion. The RGO was essentially an instant kill in Hardcore, it now has a reduced 1 hit kill range, however accurate throws will yield higher damage values in Core. This clarifies the role of the RGO as an accurate impact hand grenade, while still not allowing 1 hit kills in Core. Reduced the visual and audio effect for the detonation of the V40 Mini to highlight its smaller blast when compared to other grenades. Decreased the maximum damage from 80 to 60, and decreased the range at which maximum damage is applied. The player continues to carry 3 V40 grenades, and is still able to use 2 of them to get a kill in Core. Previously the V40 was entirely superior to the M67 in Hardcore, this change aims to balance them in Hardcore, while also keeping their effectiveness intact in Core. Catch the entire balancing blog series: Grenades (this post) Vehicles Soldier Weapons Pistols What should we balance next? Stay tuned for more confirmed tweaks that we have planned for Battlefield 4. Let us know what you think in the comments below. View the full article

In our continued balancing blog series, we’ll talk about some of the core gameplay tweaks that we are planning for Battlefield 4. In this post, we’ll talk about the upcoming Battlefield 4 tweaks that we have planned, based on your feedback. These changes are all slotted to go live in a future game update. Stay tuned for more, and let us know what you think in the comments below. UPCOMING BF4 PISTOL TWEAKS1) Increased the aimed accuracy of the M1911 to make it a viable choice once the COMPACT 45 has been unlocked. This gives the M1911 a clear accuracy advantage for range, while the COMPACT 45 has a clear ammunition per magazine advantage. 2) Increased the close range damage of the M1911, QSZ-92, FN57, CZ-75 and COMPACT 45. This will allow all pistols to bypass Body Armor at close range. Additionally, the FN57 and the QSZ-92 have had their long range damage increased to allow them to properly bypass Body Armor at all distances. Finally, the CZ-75 has also had its long range damage raised to give it a diverse role among the handguns. 3) Reduced the delay between pressing the trigger and the bullet firing for the M412 REX and .44 MAGNUM. This delay represents the way these weapons work in real life, while also improving their responsiveness in game. 4) Increased the magazine capacity of the QSZ-92 to 20 rounds, the proper amount for this weapon in real life. Additionally reduced the recoil of the QSZ-92 to give it a clear difference from the FN57. 5) Corrected a small error with the COMPACT 45 accuracy when crouched or prone. The weapon was accidently less accurate than intended. Stay tuned for more confirmed tweaks that we have planned for Battlefield 4. Let us know what you think in the comments below. View the full article

In our continued balancing blog series, we’ll talk about some of the core gameplay tweaks that we are planning for Battlefield 4. In this post, we’ll talk about the upcoming Battlefield 4 tweaks that we have planned, based on your feedback. These changes are all slotted to go live in a future game update. Stay tuned for more, and let us know what you think in the comments below. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/BF4-Weapon-Balancing.jpgWe’re balancing a number of weapons to highlight their intended roles on the Battlefield. Stay tuned for more upcoming tweaks in this blog series. UPCOMING BF4 WEAPON TWEAKSDMRs 1) Increased the damage of all DMRs across all ranges. Specifically, damage has been increased at long ranges to allow three-hit kills against unarmored opponents. Additionally, reduced the penalty to accuracy for sustained DMR fire, allowing more rapid follow up shots in combat. The amount of the damage increase varies from weapon to weapon, according to its intended range, rate of fire, and damage. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of DMRs in combat, and determine if additional action is needed to make DMRs a viable mid to long range weapon. Pump Action Shotguns 1) Increased the accuracy of pump action shotguns (870 MCS, HAWK 12g, SPAS-12, and UTS 15) while on the move and aiming. The accuracy has been approximately doubled. These weapons did not have any available barrels or grips that would allow a player to enhance their aimed accuracy. This change should make the use of pump action weapons with slugs much more viable at medium and close range by allowing more accurate fire. Carbines 1) Reduced the long range damage of the MTAR to bring it in line with the rest of the Carbines. General 1) Adjusted the way inaccuracy is handled when transitioning from Hip fire to Aimed fire. Previously, if a player began firing before aiming, he would keep his hip inaccuracy while aimed, until he stopped firing. This was especially obvious with LMGs on the move. Players will now only be subject to the maximum aimed inaccuracy after the transition. While still terribly inaccurate, this allows for substantially more accurate fire than the old method and should allow players with LMGs to panic fire in close quarters, provided they are aiming. 2) The Heavy Barrel’s Accuracy bonus now also applies on the move, at a reduced bonus. This should give the Heavy Barrel a wider role for players who desire accuracy while aimed in all situations. 3) Synchronized the timing of the aim down the sights animation of sniper rifles with their ability to fire with full accuracy. Players no longer need to wait for additional time after the aiming animation plays to get accurate shots. There is still a delay to achieve full accuracy, so Quick Scoping is still not possible. Stay tuned for more confirmed tweaks that we have planned for Battlefield 4. Let us know what you think in the comments below. View the full article