Armory Staff

http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Litograph_palace_640.jpgHi everyone! We hope you enjoyed yesterdayÂ’s new Close Quarters gameplay trailer. On that note, we just released a new cool litho for pre-order in the DICE Store. ItÂ’s a signed and numbered lithograph from DICE Concept Artist Eric Persson, showing the Donya Fortress map from Close Quarters. ItÂ’s available now in the EU DICE Store here, or the US store here.We also have the winning T-shirt that you voted for earlier available in both the EU and US DICE Store right now. Visit the DICE Store for even more great Battlefield gear straight from us at DICE.http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Zoom.jpgSource: View the full article

With the release of the new trailer yesterday, EA released a Close Quarters fact sheet as well. The fact sheet … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/45jWNF3ssCBEnQZcrBorwW_ZB1w/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/45jWNF3ssCBEnQZcrBorwW_ZB1w/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/dqqr6OY7fFA View the full article

As you may already know, we are gearing up for a June release of our upcoming themed expanion pack Battlefield 3™: Close Quarters. If you’ve followed us lately here on the Battlefield Blog, you know this is an expansion pack where we move the battlefield indoors to present relentless infantry action with unprecedented HD Destruction.Having recently held a European and U.S. media event, we are proud to present the second of four maps included in Close Quarters, dubbed Donya Fortress (internally called simply “Palace” after its working name). In today’s new gameplay trailer, you’ll see more of the gameplay changing HD Destruction, plus a glimpse of the new game mode Conquest Domination. Conquest Domination is basically a clever mix of the tactical Conquest mode and the instant action gameplay approach in Close Quarters, tailored to the tight level design and frantic close quarters combat.Check out the trailer below, and look out for media coverage from Donya Fortress starting to hit the web today. Source: View the full article

In this episode of “Inside DICE”, Core Gameplay Designer Alan Kertz returns with an in-depth look at how we balance and rebalance the game after launch. He will also help you realize some of the most significant changes in how the different accessories in Battlefield 3™ are tweaked in the latest patch – and how you can experiment to find a new and perfect setup to fit your personal playstyle. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Close-Quarters2.jpgSeek and destroy on the Donya Fortress map from the upcoming Close Quarters expansion pack. Battlefield™ is a big game. Balancing a game as diverse as Battlefield 3 requires constant attention, multiple iterations, and both a detailed approach as well as a broad vision. To start, we begin with the broad vision: Rock, Paper, Scissors, Tank, Jet, Infantry, Boat, Helicopter. At the heart of “Battlefield Balance” is the idea that no single soldier can be all powerful. We believe this makes the choices presented in Battlefield more interesting, as the player is not simply advancing an ever steeper power curve, but rather the player is consistently presented with new choices. The choices a player makes, whether before spawn, at spawn, or when playing will determine which role he plays and what abilities he possesses.No silver bulletsFor example, on a vehicle level a jet can destroy a tank, but an AA vehicle can destroy a jet, but the tank can destroy the AA. Only through teamwork can the tank be protected from the AA and the AA protected from another tank. Each of the vehicles is powerful within its role, but no one vehicle can master everything. Teamwork though, trumps all. The attack helicopter is a great example of a situation where two players, cooperating in the same vehicle can greatly increase the power of the vehicle. With a gunner and a pilot the attack helicopter can engage both ground vehicles and infantry, as well as defend itsellalalaainst other helicopters. However, even the attack helicopter is vulnerable to the jet, or an AA vehicle, or even infantry with a SAM launcher. It is when players find all powerful combinations that we need to do a balance update.Battlefield 3 made some major additions to game balance: vehicle disable, suppression, and deeper weapon customization all have a major impact on how Battlefield 3 is balanced. Suppression is an addition generally unique to Battlefield, as we felt that shooters really didn’t represent the unnerving fear that comes from being truly shot at in an authentic way. Suppression allowed us to better represent this psychological effect of being shot, while also adding to the gameplay. Being able to pin down and suppress a player so he cannot accurately return fire opens up new tactics and strategies for dealing with threats. A player with an SMG might not be able to put effective lethal fire on a sniper, but he can put enough rounds near the sniper to suppress him and get into cover.A Delicate Balancing ActOf course all of this is a delicate balancing act, and based on community feedback in the last update we made some tweaks to how suppression is calculated. We increased the size of the suppression sphere (bullets going through or impacting in this sphere cause suppression) in order to allow better suppression of targets in windows or behind some kinds of cover. Previously players would have to shoot over the cover, and this change allows the bullets that hit the cover to provide some suppressive effect. Of course, the closer a bullet passes to the player the more suppression he receives, and some tweaks were made to how close a bullet must be to fully suppress. I’m generally happy with the larger sphere, as it makes suppression clearer (and was a small adjustment), though community sentiment is clear that while divided a significant number of players dislike the changes made to suppression. We look forward to continued community feedback on how these changes are affecting Battlefield 3. Based on that feedback we may make additional adjustments in the future.Finding the Perfect Accessory Combo for YOUFor weapon customization, we did an in-depth analysis of how players were customizing their weapons and found that players, especially high level players who have many unlocks, were generally gravitating to a single combo: Foregrip and Suppressor. When we see many players gravitating towards a single setup, as game designers we can conclude that the other choices are not interesting enough to give players reason to try them out. We want players to experience the width of the game, and for this reason we concluded it was time to make a change. I think it’s been an overall improvement for the game. There’s some confusion that comes when a system wide change comes, as players find their go to combo suddenly is not as good as it was. It’s time to try out some new combinations! Which playstyle do you want to go for below?Continued in next post below do to image limit. View the full article

Our second gameplay trailer from the upcoming expansion pack Battlefield 3â„¢: Close Quarters showcases the map Donya Fortress in all its destructive glory. View the full article

We are extremely proud and honored to welcome U.S. Optics to the Medal of Honor family. Makers of the finest combat-ready rilfescopes, read up on the latest official partner. This week is all about U.S.Optics! Started with humble beginnings by John Williams Jr. in his garagein Fullerton, California in 1990, U.S. Optics revolutionised the wayriflescopes were built – to the exact specifications of the customer withglass that survives the rigors of the battlefield and the stresses that largecaliber rifles produce.Along with John Williams III, the father-son partnership quickly developed areputation in the industry and has become known for producing some of the bestspecial purpose telescopic riflescopes in the world.“We at U.S. Optics, and myself personally, are quite excited to bea part of this collaborative effort with all the manufacturers, professionals,and Electronic Arts on Medal of Honor Warfighter. With such a large demographicof users, it will allow gamers of all ages around the world to shoot with aU.S. Optics scope!†- John Williams III , CEO, U.S. Optics Inc.As with each of our previously revealed partners, John joined us at theMedal of Honor Warfighter photo shoot and brought some of his amazing glass.In Medal of Honor Warfighter, we will be featuring a variety of U.S. Opticsriflescopes including the ST-10, a fixed magnification, 10 power optic withlineage tied directly to the legendary Unertl MST-100 which U.S. Optics rebuiltfor the United States Marine Corps armorers in 1999. The original M40A1 and theupgraded M40A3 have been deployed with Marine Corps scout snipers equipped withMST-100 10x scopes built by both Unertl and U.S. Optics. The recent M40A1commemorative rifle built by McMillan to honor the legacy of the Marinescout sniper included the last of the available MST-100 10x scopes built byU.S. Optics and was mounted in the historically correct clip-slotted base andrings.We will also feature the variable magnification 3.2-17x SN-3 as seen on topof last week’s LaRue7.62 OBR as well as other optics to fulfill the extreme distances that theMcMillan long guns are capable of. /sites/default/files/images/sniper_side_600.jpg We are extremely proud and honoured to welcome U.S. Optics to the Medal ofHonor family.So head on over to the U.S. Opticswebsite and configure and customise yourself and optic to your exact specifications! Check back next week for the reveal of our next Partner! Greg Goodrich Executive Producer Medal of Honor http://cdn.medalofhonor.com/sites/default/files/fbthumb.jpeg?1335482307 View the full article

Battlefield 3 and Medal of Honor Warfighter, the upcoming title in the Medal of Honor series, share the same DNA. Both games are powered by the mighty Frostbite 2 engine that DICE developed originally for Battlefield 3, and DICE team members are collaborating with Medal of Honor developer Danger Close Games. Armed with this powerful piece of technology, Danger Close is delivering the most authentic Medal of Honor experience since the series started almost 13 years ago.Medal of Honor Warfighter tells a unique single player story written by Tier 1 Operators while deployed overseas and introduces global multiplayer competition based on real military units from around the world, from the renowned SAS and Navy SEALs to the less familiar Swedish SOG and Polish GROM.Missions in Medal of Honor Warfighter will take players to locales as diverse as the tropical climate of the Philippines, the rough waters surrounding Somalia, and other far flung locations around the world. The first Medal of Honor Warfighter gameplay trailer shows a rescue operation of hostages taken by the Abu Sayyaf, a real terrorist group based in the Philippines. and Danger Close are working together to combine the revolutionary technology of Frostbite 2 with real-world detail to deliver a truly authentic action experience in Medal of Honor Warfighter.Medal of Honor Warfighter is available October 23. Visit www.medalofhonor.com for more information.Source: View the full article

Medal of Honor Warfighter creates dotted lines to real world events by featuring real world terror threats in the game. Al-Shabaab is a real terrorist group operating in Somalia and are part of the story in Medal of Honor Warfighter. Medal of Honor Warfighter creates dotted lines to real world events byfeaturing real world terror threats in the game. The action focuses on hotspotsaround the world often overlooked by the media. Al-Shabaab/sites/default/files/images/al-shabaab-logo.pngLoosely translated as "The Youth," Al-Shabaab is aSomali Islamic militant group. The group’s size is estimated at 8,000 to12,000 members. The group’s principal membership consists of young menand teenage boys conscripted into terrorism from local clans in the area.Al-Shabaab is made up of two primary groups; a minority of foreign fighterswith a global extremist agenda and a majority of clan-based Somali's that seekto control Somali interests. Al-Shabaab forces control a significant portion of southern Somalia and itssurrounding coast. Through intimidation, murder, and brutal interpretation ofSharia law, Al-Shabaab professes to waging a jihad against the “enemiesof Islam,†including national agencies and foreign aid organisationsoperating in Somalia. The organisation has clear ties to global terroristnetworks, most directly linked to Al-Qaeda. Somalia/sites/default/files/images/somalia-map-small.jpgSomalia is part of the Horn of Africa, located at the eastern-most part ofthe continent. The country sits on the Gulf of Aden, impacting internationalshipping lanes through the region. Since civil upheaval in 1991, Somalia haslargely been a lawless state, operating without an officially recognisedgovernment. The situation is made worse due to widespread famine which requiresoutside aid from nations, escalating friction with Somali groups. Somali Piracy Piracy around the waters of Somalia originated as a protectionist responseto illegal fishing by foreign groups along the Somali coast. With no governmentoversight, this situation quickly degenerated into privateering, hostage takingand murder. Governments sent in naval units to protect their vital shippinginterests in the regions, resulting in frequent clashes with the pirates. Themost notable of these incidents involved the USSBainbridge in a sniper battle on open waters. Medal of Honor Warfighter Medal of Honor Warfighter creates dotted lines to real world events, taskingTier 1 Operators with combating the Al-Shabaab terrorist threat onSomilia’s high seas, on the trail of the deadly PETN explosive. Medal of Honor Warfighter is available October 23Find out more about the Authentic Action of Medal of Honor WarfighterPre-order the Limited Edition and get a 40-hour tactical head start on the competition http://cdn.medalofhonor.com/sites/default/files/al-shabaab-logo.jpeg?1335220309 View the full article

True to the Battlefield spirit, the latest Battlefield 3 patch fixed a lot of thing, but it also included a … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FfuPrdNNnWTxW0EtTClhgepZnX4/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FfuPrdNNnWTxW0EtTClhgepZnX4/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/1ELJje3Qf9A View the full article

In this episode of “Inside DICE”, QA Tester Zeke Lugmair shares his personal story about how he landed a job at DICE, what his job as QA Tester entails, and his tips for people who want to join the industry just like he did. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Zeke640v2.png“As a kid of roughly eight years old, one of the most mind-blowing realizations I had was that you can actually make games for a living. Since that day, more or less all of my planning for the future was with game development in mind. My experience as a Quality Assurance Tester (or just “QA Tester” or “QA” for short) here at DICE has really given me an understanding of what working in the games industry is really like. I got this job by a combination of luck and dedication, I guess. It all started with my high school through which I managed to get a three week internship at DICE where I got to do very basic QA stuff on Battlefield 1943. During this time I got to know a couple of people, luckily also the man who is my boss today. Some time passed without any real connection to DICE, but after a while I started to contact them quite fiercely. I signed up for every focus test, I signed up for every video shoot and more or less did everything in my power to spend as much time as possible in the DICE office. After a while I also yet again on sheer luck started to run in to my current boss out in my free time and started to really bug him about giving me any job within my field of knowledge when I graduated. In the end it turned that all those hours of free work and time spent yelling “I don’t care what it is, I can clean the office or whatever!” had paid off. About three months after my graduation I received a phone call telling me I had a job. And thus my time as a QA Tester had started, starting as a tester on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. A Hunter of BugsAs a Quality Assurance Tester, my goal is basically to together with our team of testers make sure the game provides proper quality compared to our plans. This mostly comes down to hunting down and reporting bugs to the right people in order to keep the game functional. However, it also includes having a good view of our project plan and being able to provide feedback to the development team both when asked for specifics and on a whim. How does a recently added feature play? Or what’s simply my general experience playing the game as a whole? As such, QA are without a doubt the ones who spend the most time in our games pre-launch”. “QA work is based around finding flaws and reporting them to the right people so they can fix it” The general flow of functional QA work is based around finding flaws and then reporting them to the right people so they can fix it. When I just had been hired, I thought that being a QA Tester would be considered the very bottom of the game dev food chain. Spending time here at DICE, I have however realized that QA truly is a vital part of the development process, even though there is no actual development going on. The most general (and still very common) misconception is that testing a game is the same as playing it. Surely some of our work resembles actual play, but in order to be an effective tester one has to obtain a certain view and mindset and get an understanding of how the game actually is built. When I launch a build (basically a version of the game) that I need to test I have a general idea of what may be broken. I would know this considering which state the project is currently in and what has been fixed or added since my last go at it. Early on in a project it might be a challenge to even be able to play the game for one minute without the game crashing or freezing. In this case it is our duty to gather all the data needed so that the programmers may analyze it, find the source of the problem, and fix it. I think working with QA in general is a great way to get a better understanding for how games are built. Having constant interaction with all the different disciplines that make up a development team, as well as having access to the development tools means you learn new things almost on a daily basis. Over time, this helps you grow as a tester and can prepare you for other areas of game development. A Juggler of TasksThere are always a whole lot of different things to keep track of during one day, as we currently have three different main platforms (PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3) as well as multiple project branches to attend. An essential ability within QA is to be able to juggle several tasks. I need to organize and communicate properly within the team, as it can be quite challenging making sure that all the correct info gets sent to the right people. All the while, I need to test all the different fixes as soon as possible, and I also schedule and gather the people needed for those urgent play tests. Getting organized is a valuable skill I have developed entirely here on the job, and I am sure it will come in handy in any future employment. A regular day for me could have one of the designers coming to QA saying ”Hey, I would like to try this new spawn layout for TDM on Kharg Island, could we try this out today?” (Diego asked this???), in which case it would be up to me to find a suitable build of the game containing the new layout, give it a test run to make sure it’s not broken in any way, and then send out an invite to the dev team and make sure that we get a full server so that we can test the new layout properly. Another recent example would be the audio team trying out some potential tweaks in the way audio is streamed in the game. The way all the different sounds in the game stack are prioritized to create the right feel, and they wanted to try out some new ideas. In this case we organized a play testing session on Caspian Border where all fighting was to take place in one particular area (we picked the Checkpoint base for this purpose). With the server full and the team running around playing as if an actual match was going, this allowed for the audio team to check whether all their tweaks were properly in place or if they had to tweak it further. During development olalalaame, we run several hundred play tests. A Slayer of Accidental MonstersWhen testing early content hilarious stuff will occur. If you were in the Battlefield 3™ beta you might remember the “long-necks” — disturbing looking characters indeed. They were nothing compared to the first time I encountered something similar in Battlefield 3. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Mantis.pngWe killed it with fire. It all happened pretty quickly. I was running fearlessly across the streets of Seine Crossing, turned around and saw a creature looking much like a praying mantis: About twice my size with a freakishly long neck, crooked back and distorted arms, and it came charging at me holding a knife! I was quite startled and quickly ended its miserable life with a panicky SV-98 bullet to the neck and saw it fall. Let’s just say that when we found out what triggered soldiers to take that shape, we had some good fun with that during the next play test before the fix for it had been checked in. My personal goal at work is that our games should be as enjoyable as possible with as few hiccups as possible. It’s probably impossible to ship a game with zero bugs, but I still silently curse myself when I hear about things that have slipped by during testing — even if it’s a real long-shot bug. I want to help bring our games to a state of near perfection in terms of functionality. A lot of people ask me how to get into the industry. On a QA level it is sort of hard to give any straight-up tips in how to get here. Unlike programming, modeling or design, I don’t think there is a general line of education for the work. I do however think that the best way to go about it is to go for education that is generally required for the line of work you think you’d like to do after a few years in the business. I know that one of my current colleagues simply saw that we were looking for new QA on Twitter and applied and got the job! I think the best way to go about is simply to push good and push hard when opportunities arise and show the company you want to work for that you are the one they would want, not necessarily by past QA knowledge but by a general interest for game development and an urge to learn. Again, there are few things other than QA that actually teaches you how to do QA. At any rate, it is a great way to take a first step into the industry. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ThisisDICE.pngI must however admit that my work has ruined my personal enjoyment of playing games just a bit. I now find myself challenging a lot of the games I play on my spare time. I want to see if I can see if I can break them or trigger some funky issues.” Zeke LugmairQA Tester You can read other stories from people here at DICE on the official DICE site. Check it out at About » DICE Source: View the full article

In this episode of “Inside DICE”, QA Tester Zeke Lugmair shares his personal story about how he landed a job at DICE, what his job as QA Tester entails, and his tips for people who want to join the industry just like he did. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Zeke640v2.png“As a kid of roughly eight years old, one of the most mind-blowing realizations I had was that you can actually make games for a living. Since that day, more or less all of my planning for the future was with game development in mind. My experience as a Quality Assurance Tester (or just “QA Tester” or “QA” for short) here at DICE has really given me an understanding of what working in the games industry is really like. I got this job by a combination of luck and dedication, I guess. It all started with my high school through which I managed to get a three week internship at DICE where I got to do very basic QA stuff on Battlefield 1943. During this time I got to know a couple of people, luckily also the man who is my boss today. Some time passed without any real connection to DICE, but after a while I started to contact them quite fiercely. I signed up for every focus test, I signed up for every video shoot and more or less did everything in my power to spend as much time as possible in the DICE office. After a while I also yet again on sheer luck started to run in to my current boss out in my free time and started to really bug him about giving me any job within my field of knowledge when I graduated. In the end it turned that all those hours of free work and time spent yelling “I don’t care what it is, I can clean the office or whatever!” had paid off. About three months after my graduation I received a phone call telling me I had a job. And thus my time as a QA Tester had started, starting as a tester on Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. A Hunter of BugsAs a Quality Assurance Tester, my goal is basically to together with our team of testers make sure the game provides proper quality compared to our plans. This mostly comes down to hunting down and reporting bugs to the right people in order to keep the game functional. However, it also includes having a good view of our project plan and being able to provide feedback to the development team both when asked for specifics and on a whim. How does a recently added feature play? Or what’s simply my general experience playing the game as a whole? As such, QA are without a doubt the ones who spend the most time in our games pre-launch”. “QA work is based around finding flaws and reporting them to the right people so they can fix it” The general flow of functional QA work is based around finding flaws and then reporting them to the right people so they can fix it. When I just had been hired, I thought that being a QA Tester would be considered the very bottom of the game dev food chain. Spending time here at DICE, I have however realized that QA truly is a vital part of the development process, even though there is no actual development going on. The most general (and still very common) misconception is that testing a game is the same as playing it. Surely some of our work resembles actual play, but in order to be an effective tester one has to obtain a certain view and mindset and get an understanding of how the game actually is built. When I launch a build (basically a version of the game) that I need to test I have a general idea of what may be broken. I would know this considering which state the project is currently in and what has been fixed or added since my last go at it. Early on in a project it might be a challenge to even be able to play the game for one minute without the game crashing or freezing. In this case it is our duty to gather all the data needed so that the programmers may analyze it, find the source of the problem, and fix it. I think working with QA in general is a great way to get a better understanding for how games are built. Having constant interaction with all the different disciplines that make up a development team, as well as having access to the development tools means you learn new things almost on a daily basis. Over time, this helps you grow as a tester and can prepare you for other areas of game development. A Juggler of TasksThere are always a whole lot of different things to keep track of during one day, as we currently have three different main platforms (PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3) as well as multiple project branches to attend. An essential ability within QA is to be able to juggle several tasks. I need to organize and communicate properly within the team, as it can be quite challenging making sure that all the correct info gets sent to the right people. All the while, I need to test all the different fixes as soon as possible, and I also schedule and gather the people needed for those urgent play tests. Getting organized is a valuable skill I have developed entirely here on the job, and I am sure it will come in handy in any future employment. A regular day for me could have one of the designers coming to QA saying ”Hey, I would like to try this new spawn layout for TDM on Kharg Island, could we try this out today?” (Diego asked this???), in which case it would be up to me to find a suitable build of the game containing the new layout, give it a test run to make sure it’s not broken in any way, and then send out an invite to the dev team and make sure that we get a full server so that we can test the new layout properly. Another recent example would be the audio team trying out some potential tweaks in the way audio is streamed in the game. The way all the different sounds in the game stack are prioritized to create the right feel, and they wanted to try out some new ideas. In this case we organized a play testing session on Caspian Border where all fighting was to take place in one particular area (we picked the Checkpoint base for this purpose). With the server full and the team running around playing as if an actual match was going, this allowed for the audio team to check whether all their tweaks were properly in place or if they had to tweak it further. During development olalalaame, we run several hundred play tests. A Slayer of Accidental MonstersWhen testing early content hilarious stuff will occur. If you were in the Battlefield 3™ beta you might remember the “long-necks” — disturbing looking characters indeed. They were nothing compared to the first time I encountered something similar in Battlefield 3. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Mantis.pngWe killed it with fire. It all happened pretty quickly. I was running fearlessly across the streets of Seine Crossing, turned around and saw a creature looking much like a praying mantis: About twice my size with a freakishly long neck, crooked back and distorted arms, and it came charging at me holding a knife! I was quite startled and quickly ended its miserable life with a panicky SV-98 bullet to the neck and saw it fall. Let’s just say that when we found out what triggered soldiers to take that shape, we had some good fun with that during the next play test before the fix for it had been checked in. My personal goal at work is that our games should be as enjoyable as possible with as few hiccups as possible. It’s probably impossible to ship a game with zero bugs, but I still silently curse myself when I hear about things that have slipped by during testing — even if it’s a real long-shot bug. I want to help bring our games to a state of near perfection in terms of functionality. A lot of people ask me how to get into the industry. On a QA level it is sort of hard to give any straight-up tips in how to get here. Unlike programming, modeling or design, I don’t think there is a general line of education for the work. I do however think that the best way to go about it is to go for education that is generally required for the line of work you think you’d like to do after a few years in the business. I know that one of my current colleagues simply saw that we were looking for new QA on Twitter and applied and got the job! I think the best way to go about is simply to push good and push hard when opportunities arise and show the company you want to work for that you are the one they would want, not necessarily by past QA knowledge but by a general interest for game development and an urge to learn. Again, there are few things other than QA that actually teaches you how to do QA. At any rate, it is a great way to take a first step into the industry. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ThisisDICE.pngI must however admit that my work has ruined my personal enjoyment of playing games just a bit. I now find myself challenging a lot of the games I play on my spare time. I want to see if I can see if I can break them or trigger some funky issues.” Zeke LugmairQA Tester You can read other stories from people here at DICE on the official DICE site. Check it out at About » DICE Source: View the full article

DICE has released a new Battlefield 3 server patch that brings a few fixes to the game, including a fix … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pPR9Gl4SvhKgzxs1PsaWdx9OlM0/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pPR9Gl4SvhKgzxs1PsaWdx9OlM0/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/VYGgOcHiqfk View the full article

Pondering that next unlock while you’re out and about? On the go and wondering if your friends are online and playing? Want to see who’s topping the leaderboards while you’re away from your computer? With the Battlelog application for iOS you can get all of this intel and more while you’re AFK and mobile. View the full article

Okay, we are back this week with LaRue Tactical! No surprises here since the LaRue 18†5.56 Optimised Battle Rifle (OBR) graces every single image we have released for Medal of Honor Warfighter. Okay, we are back this week with LaRue Tactical! No surprises here since theLaRue 18†5.56 Optimised Battle Rifle (OBR) graces every single image wehave released for Medal of Honor Warfighter. The rifle is also outfitted withLaRue’s quick detachable mounting solutions for Trijicon and SureFire.Located in the dead center of Texas since 1980, LaRue Tactical has one of themost pragmatic guarantees in the shooting industry – “If youain’t happy, then we ain’t happyâ€.“We’re very excited to work with Greg, his team and all of theawesome partners on this project. At first, we didn’t think a video gamecompany could “get itâ€, but we were wrong. Once we discovered theirgenuine support for the Warfighter, respect for the folks in uniform, and theirexcruciating attention to detail - we had to get involved. Their passion to getthings right is infectious, and it shows in everything they do. Not only canthese guys design amazing games, Greg is merciless on actual steel targets at400 meters with the 5.56 and 7.62 OBRs. Saw it with my own eyes. Wecan’t wait for folks to see what they’ve got planned. It’sgoing to be epic!†- Mark Fingar, Marketing Director, LaRue TacticalNot only did Mark bring two of his hyper-accurate 5.56 and 7.62 OBR riflesto the photo shoot. He actually painted the pine straw camouflage pattern usingonly a few colours of Krylon and a straw broom stripped apart by none other thanJosh LaRue. In the middle of the night. In the parking garage. Here at DangerClose! Tyler, former Tier 1 Operator and now full-time game developer, helpedMark paint the rifles, and affectionately named the pattern “ButterFingar.â€Both the 5.56 and 7.62 OBRs will be in the game to fulfill the designatedmarksman (DMR) role for midrange engagements that lie between the effectivedistances of the standard M4 and the extreme distances of the McMillan boltguns. The LaRue PredatAR will also be featured in Warfighter. This weaponsystem takes the highly-accurate OBR and lightens it in every possible way withthe least possible impact to accuracy that the OBR is known for.It is difficult to talk about all of the LaRue Tactical products that willbe featured in Medal of Honor Warfighter without revealing some of our otherpartners. But I will say this – Every riflescope, ACOG, red dot, light,laser, or any other accessory attached to a MIL-STD-1913“Picatinny†rail in Warfighter will utilise a quickdetachable LaRue mount. Just like the one cradling the 3.2-17x seen in thisphoto! /sites/default/files/images/larue_photo.jpg Shooting the LaRue Tactical 7.62 OBR offhand utilising SureFire’sDueck Defense Rapid Transition Sights and MB762-211C Muzzle Brake PhotoCourtesy of TAC-TV As a matter of fact, LaRue has been such a great partner, if they madebottle openers and dry rub for BBQ, we’d probably include those aswell!What?Just a minute.Yep… looks like they’ve got that covered as well.So get over to the LaRue Tactical website and get yourself squared away.Check back next week for the reveal of our next Partner!Greg Goodrich Executive Producer Medal of Honor http://cdn.medalofhonor.com/sites/default/files/thumb.jpeg?1334695364 View the full article

If you have been living under a rock and you just found out about Battlefield 3, if you’re deciding that … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/r5p2mdcJppUMBZMo96YjNslEAjc/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/r5p2mdcJppUMBZMo96YjNslEAjc/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/4uo-JOvNQbg View the full article

Pondering that next unlock while you’re out and about? On the go and wondering if your friends are online and playing? Want to see who’s topping the leaderboards while you’re away from your computer? With the Battlelog application for iOS you can get all of this intel and more while you’re AFK and mobile. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Splash-Screen.pngThe official Battlelog application ties directly into the Battlelog social platform bringing the best features and information to your phone. Features in v1.0.0 Battle Feed: See what awards and weapons your friends are unlocking and get notification. Comment and “Hooah!” on their posts. Com Center: Thinking about logging in to play? See which of your friends are online and playing. Plan for tonight’s session by leaving wall messages. Stats & Unlocks: Keep track of your persona stats and progress. Everything from dog tags to weapons, gadgets, vehicle upgrades, and specializations is tracked and available for your perusal. Leaderboards: View worldwide, global leaderboards or compare your standing among friends. News: Get the latest information on Battlefield 3 direct from DICE, the developers of Battlefield 3. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Phone-Screens-640x238.png And best of all? The app is free! There’s no excuse not to be connected to the Battlefield wherever you are. Download the Battlelog app for iPhone now: North America All Other Territories http://w.sharethis.com/images/check-big.pngSource: View the full article

Pondering that next unlock while you’re out and about? On the go and wondering if your friends are online and playing? Want to see who’s topping the leaderboards while you’re away from your computer? With the Battlelog application for iOS you can get all of this intel and more while you’re AFK and mobile. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Splash-Screen.pngThe official Battlelog application ties directly into the Battlelog social platform bringing the best features and information to your phone. Features in v1.0.0 Battle Feed: See what awards and weapons your friends are unlocking and get notification. Comment and “Hooah!” on their posts. Com Center: Thinking about logging in to play? See which of your friends are online and playing. Plan for tonight’s session by leaving wall messages. Stats & Unlocks: Keep track of your persona stats and progress. Everything from dog tags to weapons, gadgets, vehicle upgrades, and specializations is tracked and available for your perusal. Leaderboards: View worldwide, global leaderboards or compare your standing among friends. News: Get the latest information on Battlefield 3 direct from DICE, the developers of Battlefield 3. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Phone-Screens-640x238.png And best of all? The app is free! There’s no excuse not to be connected to the Battlefield wherever you are. Download the Battlelog app for iPhone now: North America All Other Territories http://w.sharethis.com/images/check-big.pngSource: View the full article

You may have seen advertisements of an iOS version of Battlelog on Battlelog’s website for many months now. Despite this, … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/OeNJW0LwU9gchwo5eTR9FrypqOI/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/OeNJW0LwU9gchwo5eTR9FrypqOI/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/YaWCLSqTvwY View the full article

The first official gameplay trailer was released this week, and Tier 1 Operators do an interview with GTTV. All this and more in this week’s After Action Report. The first official gameplay trailer was released this week, and Tier 1 Operators do an interview with GTTV. All this and more in this week’s After Action Report. First Warfighter Gameplay Trailer TASK FORCE BLACKBIRD /sites/default/files/images/aaf_blackbird.jpgTask Force Blackbird is the second of four units to be included in Medal of Honor Warfighter. TF Blackbird is known as a "CT (counterterrorism) symphony," combining the talents of Special Operations and Intelligence units. Read more in Greg's blog post. GTTV Interviews Danger Close and Tier 1 /sites/default/files/images/aaf_gttv.jpgGeoff Keighley interviews the Danger Close team, and the Tier 1 Operators who wrote the story behind Medal of Honor Warfighter. Plus more insights on the release of the gameplay trailer. . Player Poll of the Week /sites/default/files/images/aar_facebook.jpg We asked our Facebook fans to tell us which was their gaming platform of choice. Take a look at the results, and if you haven't already, share your answer. http://cdn.medalofhonor.com/sites/default/files/fb_thumb_0.jpeg?1334354339 View the full article

A few days ago we reported that DICE was working on implementing live scoreboards to Battlefield 3 game servers on … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/94ujK_K2_9bysoekse1gamzfiRQ/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/94ujK_K2_9bysoekse1gamzfiRQ/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/A8mX_2u0GyU View the full article

This week is a huge week for Medal of Honor Warfighter. With the release ofour full gameplay trailer we have decided to forego the reveal of our nextproduct partner and instead go back to London Bridge Trading and reveal thesecond of our four featured units in the game. This week is a huge week for Medal of Honor Warfighter. With the release ofour full gameplay trailer we have decided to forego the reveal of our nextproduct partner and instead go back to London Bridge Trading and reveal thesecond of our four featured units in the game.Those of you who were watching closely may have noticed there is a single frame of the image moments before the Warfighter logo reveal at the end of the trailer.So without any further hesitation, we bring you Task Force Blackbird! http://cdn.medalofhonor.com/sites/default/files/images/Blackbird_solid_300.png I have always found it somewhat difficult finding the proper balance whendiscussing the Tier 1 units we are honoring in Medal of Honor. First andforemost, since we are dealing with individuals who live and work behind theblack fence, we must adhere to certain rules when speaking about these units.Even if we did know the details (which we do not) we would never divulge anyinformation that would be deemed sensitive to members of this community.Therefore the details are never discussed. Full stop. When speaking about“Task Force Blackbird†it is especially difficult.What we do know - from a multitude of publicly available histories, fromvarious reports, and from discussions with our consultants - is that effectivecounterterrorism almost always relies on a close partnership between specialoperations and intelligence. Task Force Blackbird is our approximation of thisrelationship. It is also our way honoring the men and women of the IntelligenceCommunity. As one of our consultants describes it, operational units like Task ForceBlackbird are a "CT symphony" - Tier 1 personnel from the military operatingjointly alongside spies, analysts and techs from the Intelligence Community -where disparate talents and capabilities are brought together to accomplishmore together than they ever could separately.Task Force Blackbird in ourstory is a low visibility, clandestine, special operations team made upof veteran Tier 1 Operators and intelligence personnel with extensivespecialized training in fieldcraft to carry out operations in non-permissiveenvironments.Okay. Still here.I think that should be good enough.Check back next week for the reveal of our next Partner.Greg GoodrichExecutive ProducerMedal of Honor View the full article

Since the release of Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand, a very popular subject has been the be or not to be of a 5 flag Wake Island for consoles. Here’s Gameplay Designer Gustav Halling with the inside story on how the new 5-flag layout came into existence. Hi all. My name is Gustav Halling, 26 years old, also known by my nickname “cmd” or “cmd85” on Battlelog. I have worked at DICE since 2006 as Gameplay Designer and have been involved in designing Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield 1943, Medal of Honor, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. My latest project is Battlefield 3, and most of my time is put into the expansion packs such as Back to Karkand, Close Quarters, and now most recently turning Lead Designer for Battlefield 3: Armored Kill that launches this autumn (which I’m very excited about!) In this “Inside DICE” post, I’ll explain the reasoning behind adding the new 5-flag layout to Wake Island on consoles. I hope you like the new layout and that you find this post interesting. Why didn’t we have 5 flags from the start?http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/3-Flags-v2.jpgSo why didn’t we have a 5-flag layout for Wake Island Conquest on consoles to begin with? There is no simple straight answer, but it was a mix of design decisions and technical challenges. When we decided to make a remake of the classic Wake Island map, we wanted it to be the same scale as it was back in Battlefield 2, not the 30% smaller variant that I designed for Battlefield 1943. The reason Battlefield 1943 shipped with 5 flags was because the game was a standalone game where all air and land vehicles and distances could be tweaked specifically for those distances. This time, we wanted to keep the epic scale that Wake Island is on all platforms, and we play tested the map a lot with 24 players and found that the gameplay was suffering by the big spread of players that occurred over 5 flags. It easily turned into us just going around capturing the bases in a circular pattern, without really seeing any enemies – that was not very fun. That was when I designed the new variant instead, where the US started on the two capes instead of on the carrier — and at the same time focusing the gameplay down to 3 flags. The gameplay based on this flag layout turned out much better with a lot more action and awesome tank battles. An excellent byproduct of our latest patches is that we found a way to fit even more content into console memory – primarily vehicles — which made it possible to look into the original 5-flag layout again. So we did! Designing the new 5-flag Wake Islandhttp://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/5-Flags-v2.jpgAfter the release of Back to Karkand, we received a lot of feedback from you, our community, that you wanted to have a 5-flag variant on Wake Island. The feedback was very much focused on that it wasn’t a true Wake Island without 5 flags and also that it worked in Battlefield 1943 on consoles already. It wasn’t a big surprise for me but I also felt that many players didn’t see the whole picture on why this happened and why it provided a more intense battlefield so I did a big post on reddit about my design decisions behind Wake Island 3 flag and got a good response from that. I was actually already looking at the possibilities how a 5-flag Wake Island on consoles would work, both from a gameplay perspective and the technical challenges it would present. I knew that we had a big patch coming out at the end of March/beginning of April. This would give us the time needed to add the new design layout, playtest it on consoles, and make sure it was to quality and get it into the patch before heading into the certification process with first party. So I set the project up and started to look at it from a technical angle to make sure it was possible to do in the first place. Next step was to playtest the new layout with 24 players and adjust the experience to make sure each base had a valuable asset that the team wanted to own. After play testing, the in-house feedback at DICE was clearly that the best layout was the same as the one we use on PC. I went with that as a basis, but made some tweaks to both the PC and console layout. Perhaps the most important change being that we moved the mobile anti-air to the Beach capture point instead of having it at Airfield – this makes Beach a more strategic base to own. Two layouts – two experiencesI personally like both variants of Wake Island on console, and having the two to choose from, you can make sure you get the experience you want for each session: 3-flag Wake Island provides the more action orientated experience for when you want to get into the action fast! It’s less about travelling and more about fighting, with a good mix of infantry and vehicles. 5-flag Wake Island is the more strategic choice and the more vehicle focused experience! It will give you more choices on how to tackle the battlefield – making a head on assault on airfield or slowly working towards it from the bases surrounding it, one flag at a time. With the Spring game update being live on all platforms, PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 players alike can finally enjoy a 5 flag variant of Wake Island. We hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think in the poll below! Gustav HallingDesigner Note: To vote on the below section please visit this link. (http://blogs.battlefield.com/2012/04/5-flag-wake/) Which Battlefield 3 layout for Wake Island on console do you prefer? The original 3-flag variant The newly introduced 5-flag variant Source: View the full article

Since the release of Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand, a very popular subject has been the be or not to be of a 5 flag Wake Island for consoles. Here’s Gameplay Designer Gustav Halling with the inside story on how the new 5-flag layout came into existence. Hi all. My name is Gustav Halling, 26 years old, also known by my nickname “cmd” or “cmd85” on Battlelog. I have worked at DICE since 2006 as Gameplay Designer and have been involved in designing Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield 1943, Medal of Honor, and Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam. My latest project is Battlefield 3, and most of my time is put into the expansion packs such as Back to Karkand, Close Quarters, and now most recently turning Lead Designer for Battlefield 3: Armored Kill that launches this autumn (which I’m very excited about!) In this “Inside DICE” post, I’ll explain the reasoning behind adding the new 5-flag layout to Wake Island on consoles. I hope you like the new layout and that you find this post interesting. Why didn’t we have 5 flags from the start?http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/3-Flags-v2.jpgSo why didn’t we have a 5-flag layout for Wake Island Conquest on consoles to begin with? There is no simple straight answer, but it was a mix of design decisions and technical challenges. When we decided to make a remake of the classic Wake Island map, we wanted it to be the same scale as it was back in Battlefield 2, not the 30% smaller variant that I designed for Battlefield 1943. The reason Battlefield 1943 shipped with 5 flags was because the game was a standalone game where all air and land vehicles and distances could be tweaked specifically for those distances. This time, we wanted to keep the epic scale that Wake Island is on all platforms, and we play tested the map a lot with 24 players and found that the gameplay was suffering by the big spread of players that occurred over 5 flags. It easily turned into us just going around capturing the bases in a circular pattern, without really seeing any enemies – that was not very fun. That was when I designed the new variant instead, where the US started on the two capes instead of on the carrier — and at the same time focusing the gameplay down to 3 flags. The gameplay based on this flag layout turned out much better with a lot more action and awesome tank battles. An excellent byproduct of our latest patches is that we found a way to fit even more content into console memory – primarily vehicles — which made it possible to look into the original 5-flag layout again. So we did! Designing the new 5-flag Wake Islandhttp://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/5-Flags-v2.jpgAfter the release of Back to Karkand, we received a lot of feedback from you, our community, that you wanted to have a 5-flag variant on Wake Island. The feedback was very much focused on that it wasn’t a true Wake Island without 5 flags and also that it worked in Battlefield 1943 on consoles already. It wasn’t a big surprise for me but I also felt that many players didn’t see the whole picture on why this happened and why it provided a more intense battlefield so I did a big post on reddit about my design decisions behind Wake Island 3 flag and got a good response from that. I was actually already looking at the possibilities how a 5-flag Wake Island on consoles would work, both from a gameplay perspective and the technical challenges it would present. I knew that we had a big patch coming out at the end of March/beginning of April. This would give us the time needed to add the new design layout, playtest it on consoles, and make sure it was to quality and get it into the patch before heading into the certification process with first party. So I set the project up and started to look at it from a technical angle to make sure it was possible to do in the first place. Next step was to playtest the new layout with 24 players and adjust the experience to make sure each base had a valuable asset that the team wanted to own. After play testing, the in-house feedback at DICE was clearly that the best layout was the same as the one we use on PC. I went with that as a basis, but made some tweaks to both the PC and console layout. Perhaps the most important change being that we moved the mobile anti-air to the Beach capture point instead of having it at Airfield – this makes Beach a more strategic base to own. Two layouts – two experiencesI personally like both variants of Wake Island on console, and having the two to choose from, you can make sure you get the experience you want for each session: 3-flag Wake Island provides the more action orientated experience for when you want to get into the action fast! It’s less about travelling and more about fighting, with a good mix of infantry and vehicles. 5-flag Wake Island is the more strategic choice and the more vehicle focused experience! It will give you more choices on how to tackle the battlefield – making a head on assault on airfield or slowly working towards it from the bases surrounding it, one flag at a time. With the Spring game update being live on all platforms, PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 players alike can finally enjoy a 5 flag variant of Wake Island. We hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think in the poll below! Gustav HallingDesigner Note: To vote on the below section please visit this link. (http://blogs.battlefield.com/2012/04/5-flag-wake/) Which Battlefield 3 layout for Wake Island on console do you prefer? The original 3-flag variant The newly introduced 5-flag variant Source: View the full article

The annual PAX video game convention is underway, and DICE is showcasing the upcoming Battlefield 3 DLC Close Quarters. Someone … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZuTisPN75RyXr7racqobCkVOyGY/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/ZuTisPN75RyXr7racqobCkVOyGY/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/x9Ml-SBoabY View the full article

The latest Battlefield 3 patch has brought a lot of fixes, tweaks and improvements to the game, however, it did … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mvo1Zdbvft0R6kkyTW-FonaYvig/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/mvo1Zdbvft0R6kkyTW-FonaYvig/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/8xaV8eKAzWQ View the full article