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With Battlefield 3â„¢: Close Quarters, we want to claim new territory and broaden the Battlefield 3 experience. In this episode of “Inside DICEâ€, Lead Designer Niklas Fegraeus talks about the inspiration for going indoors, and what possibilities and challenges this presented. View the full article

Over the past many months, we’ve been receiving upwards of dozens of emails every day from Battlefield 3 players looking … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1K00rvu5X_ocf6p1wPMKoiPrIv8/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/1K00rvu5X_ocf6p1wPMKoiPrIv8/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/Vc9iUAHc1jo View the full article

http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Capture1.png Tonight, The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is deciding this year’s best in video games and Battlefield is nominated for several awards. Battlefield 3 has been nominated for three awards: Audio Achievement – We won! Congratulations to Stefan Strandberg, Bence Pajor, and Carl Vikman here at DICE! Online Multiplayer - We won! Congratulations to Lars Gustavsson, Alan Kertz, Patrick O’Shaughnessy here at DICE! GAME Award of 2011 (Public Vote) – We won! Thank you to all of our great fans that helped us win! Three nominations and three wins! We’re very happy to have won and we know that we couldn’t have done it without you, our loyal Battlefield fans. Thank you so much!You can watch the awards live here (link) and cheer Battlefield 3 on to victory! Source: View the full article

With Battlefield 3™: Close Quarters, we want to claim new territory and broaden the Battlefield 3 experience. In this episode of “Inside DICE”, Lead Designer Niklas Fegraeus talks about the inspiration for going indoors, and what possibilities and challenges this presented. Hi everyone. This is Niklas Fegraeus, Lead Designer on Battlefield 3: Close Quarters. Above is an early test video we recorded during a play test to judge the effect of our new destruction. But first things first: In 2001, while making games for the Sega Dreamcast, I began a career as a clan player in Counter-Strike. This eventually became a semiprofessional part time job, as I got a sponsor, won several LAN tournaments and competed in the Cyber athlete Professional League. Now, in 2012, my competitive mouse is put on the shelf, but I consider the experiences from those days invaluable to my role as game designer making Battlefield games. Counter-Strike is a very tactical and precise art of close quarters shooting, so I can comfortably say I know a little about how those tight shooter experiences play, and how they should play. Battlefield on the other hand, is a huge game in more ways than one. Even we developers sometimes have a hard time realizing its breadth. You can go from clearing a house of enemy soldiers through careful squad tactics to soaring through the sky in a jet fighter, frantically evading enemy anti-air weaponry, all in the same round. I can still recall the thrill of that scale and freedom I had when I first tried the game. It was the BF1942 demo on Wake Island (before I joined the crew here at DICE) and I was raging over those damn fighter planes that kept dropping bombs on my head! However, rage and confusion turned to evil grin as I found the AA-guns and used them to good effect! Three years later, I landed my dream job working at DICE on Battlefield 2! Having worked as Animator and Designer on Battlefield 2, it was especially satisfying to be Lead Designer on Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand and bring some of the most classic maps from Battlefield 2 into Battlefield 3. When I finished up Back to Karkand, I already knew I needed to start on our next themed expansion pack for release in June. This time, I really wanted to expand Battlefield 3 and give players even more experiences to choose from. But I didn’t know how to approach it. Then I remembered those nights at my sponsor’s Internet café, where I and my clan for hours on end practiced the best way to attack a well-defended room, using only a few grenades and the business end of our rifles. There is something very unique about an indoor fire fight. You have to cover angles in new ways, use sound to track your enemies, navigate with much more careful precision and most importantly, you’re never safe. Danger is always no more than a few meters away. It’s a scenario that always makes me feel 100% in the fight. There is no dull moment, you’re always on your toes, on the edge. The closest you come to this type of tight combat scenario in Battlefield 3 is on Operation Métro. We know this is one of our most popular maps, which tells us that our gameplay has what it takes to perform in such unique and frantic conditions. I had an approach for our new expansion pack. Now, I just needed to refine it. I needed to find those elements that make the adrenaline levels go through the roof and keep you constantly on that edge. I want the player to feel like Hudson in Aliens, as he is watching the motion scanner bleep faster and faster, realizing that the safety he thought he had isn’t there anymore, and that death is already in the room. I sat down and spoke with Jhony Ljungstedt, my art director, and had a discussion about how we could achieve this. After bouncing random ideas for a while, he told me that even though that explosive scene from “The Matrix” was rather old, seeing Neo and Trinity turn a lobby into rubble in slow motion did leave a huge impression, and hadn’t ever been properly done in a game. We both agreed and Jhony said he really wanted to be able to create that sensation. “Imagine tearing a place down using only bullets, watching chunks being torn off the walls, littering the floors like a dropped bag of grey marbles” he said. “I wanted everything to get shot to pieces. Really, really small pieces” And that’s when it occurred to me. We have a golden opportunity here. When removing large and process heavy elements like tanks, and scaling down Battlefield to a tighter scale, we are given some extra Frostbite 2 oomph at our disposal. The engine has fantastic destructive capabilities, and with more CPU overhead, we could put it to the ultimate test. I wanted to see if we could destroy things in greater detail. I wanted everything to get shot to pieces. Really, really small pieces. In short, I wanted destruction to go High Definition. After a series of prototypes and testing, we had a working model and immediately put it into practice. A grey and boring test level became the scene for a big floating stairway, with supporting pillars surrounded by temporary walls, just so we wouldn’t fall into oblivion. We had incorporated some early HD Destruction in this test level just for proof of concept. Then, we simply asked the testers: “Shoot at everything”. And they did. The place immediately got torn to pieces, as bullets ripped through the grey prototype materials, spreading chunks of it everywhere, literally creating a carpet of debris on the floor. Walls had big holes where there was once solid wood or plaster. You could create new angles and ways of attack, just by firing your normal gun. This was new to Battlefield, as you would normally need heavier hardware like RPG’s or tanks to blow up walls in the base game. We immediately knew this was something really cool and would have a significant impact on both how you play and how you experience that play. HD Destruction immediately became a key factor in bringing the intensity of the Battlefield experience into close quarters combat, and looking at it now, in its complete implementation, it feels great to finally be able to show it to everyone. While HD Destruction has a significant impact on how you experience the second-to-second gameplay, we also had to tackle the challenges of bringing our tried and tested game modes to the smaller scale. We understood quickly that Rush, being a large and progressive mode that takes you on a journey from M-COM to M-COM, simply wouldn’t fit physically. So instead, we turned our attention to Conquest. How could we tailor this essential Battlefield game mode to fit our new type of environment? http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/BF3_Close_Quarters_Ziba_Tower_010-640x360.jpg Welcome to Ziba Tower. We built it. We can destroy it. I spoke to my Game Designer Gustav Halling who, like me, has a history of competitive FPS gaming. We remembered Unreal Tournament from way back in 1999. It was the first time the world saw the game mode “Domination”, which is very similar to Conquest. There are some differences though, and the Domination type gameplay usually takes place on smaller maps, much like the ones we were creating. Inspired by these memories, we used the spawning systems from Battlefield 3 Team Deathmatch and came up with a Conquest mode adapted for smaller spaces. We called it Conquest Domination, and it worked beautifully. In particular, flag defense is suddenly more important, and you get different tactical layers due to the subtle differences the new mode provides. It’s reminiscent of those tactics I practiced to perfection in my e-sports days. Listen for the footsteps, spray the wall, throw your grenade, cover one angle each and constantly communicate. The experience grows with our tried and tested squad play mechanics, and the intensity and pure challenge of trying to dominate these close quarters is something I’m convinced will put even the best squads to the test. Designing a new experience isn’t easy. Many things were created and tested, many things didn’t fit, and there are millions of fans whose wishes you want to fulfill. Ultimately, it’s about finding a meaningful core idea, and realizing it with relentless attention to detail. We wanted the thrill of fighting in close quarters. We wanted the adrenaline rush that comes from always being one second from potential death. We wanted the world around you to be both your best friend and mortal enemy, by protecting you in one moment and in the next, completely failing you by opening up new ways for the enemy to attack. Often when I remove my headphones from a playtests on Close Quarters, I’m shaking like a leaf from all of the adrenaline. So personally, I am very happy and proud of where we are with our next expansion pack. Most of all, I’m happy with how versatile our game is, and how my team has helped broaden it further. Niklas Fegraeus, Lead Designer Battlefield 3: Close Quarters Note: To vote on the below section you need to visit this link. (The Battlefield Blog | Bringing Battlefield into Close Quarters) You’ve seen the Close Quarters trailer and HD Destruction Timelapse video. What are you most looking forward to in this expansion pack? Blowing a hole in a wall and shooting enemies on the other side Walking outside on the roof, shooting the glass in the ceiling and dropping down into the room below Room sweeping with my shotgun Creating my own HD Destruction timelapse video View Results Source: View the full article

Battlefield 3′s upcoming DLC, Close Quarters, includes four new maps, several new weapons, and a new game mode: Conquest Domination. … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qbSPZZJB99tl5vO37UXi3jZ_zJY/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qbSPZZJB99tl5vO37UXi3jZ_zJY/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/zZVad_W-FtQ View the full article

With the release of the new trailer for Battlefield 3 DLC Close Quarters, half a dozen screenshots were released as … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JGOl6l5Etxmr9l9jEwDsDajPORY/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JGOl6l5Etxmr9l9jEwDsDajPORY/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/iI6MSeHrAiM View the full article

Last week, we went to San Francisco and the Game Developers Conference to demo our explosive expansion pack Battlefield 3™: Close Quarters to press. First gameplay trailer, first screenshot, and new details below. Battlefield 3: Close Quarters Gameplay Premiere Trailer - YouTube With Close Quarters, we really wanted to take Battlefield 3 in a new direction, to offer players another style of gameplay while still retaining what is uniquely Battlefield. What journalists on site could play was a relentless infantry combat map called “Ziba Tower” (internally known simply as “Skybar”). The clue for the theme in Close Quarters is in the title: The battlefield moves indoors, and we’re bringing HD Destruction! While the squad functionality and gunplay will feel instantly recognizable for any Battlefield player, moving the battle to tight maps means it’s instant action and even more frantic than normal. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/BF3_Close_Quarters_Ziba_Tower_011-640x360.jpg Claiming new territory, Frostbite 2 style. The tight level design and vertical gameplay means death can come from any angle, and the HD Destruction adds a new layer of mayhem to the game. Check out our first gameplay trailer from Battlefield 3: Close Quarters above, and stay tuned for an in-depth look at HD Destruction in our “Inside DICE” blog series soon. This June expansion pack has the same scope and ambition as Back to Karkand. This means that besides new maps, the expansion pack also offers 10 new weapons that you can bring back to the base game, 10 new Assignments, 5 unique dog tags, new audio, new ways to play, and more. Look for Battlefield 3: Close Quarters this June, and stay tuned for more news soon, as media hands-on impressions will start hitting the web today. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GDC-BF3-Close-Quarters-Venue-Inside.jpg Read their impressions soon. Photo by Close Quarters Associate Producer Craig McLeod. Source: View the full article

Starting tomorrow (March 13th), you can re-download a new, patched version of Battlefield 3™: Back to Karkand on PS3. This will fix the weapon animation bug that some of you have experienced. This download is free of charge if you have already bought Back to Karkand. Note that changes made on our back end will make this re-download mandatory in the near future. If you buy Back to Karkand for the first time after tomorrow, no additional action is necessary. Source: View the full article

Good news, everyone! According to DICE (via Twitter), the new Battlefield 3 patch is currently in certification at Microsoft and … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-_X8VjH3LgdimJlsyA_xlnpuly8/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-_X8VjH3LgdimJlsyA_xlnpuly8/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/pvjRnuZ5qTA View the full article

We’ve gotten our hands on the very first Battlefield 3 Close Quarters trailer, called “Ziba Tower”. It showcases one of … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iwX-rLNwrtqLcno0zGI6bdpA7zg/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iwX-rLNwrtqLcno0zGI6bdpA7zg/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/IG9rAzxjwHs View the full article

The current console generation (PS3, Xbox360, Wii) has been around for a while now, and it’s time for something new … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f7Sx0ygd5-Lrf7-sGv71xMTkU4E/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/f7Sx0ygd5-Lrf7-sGv71xMTkU4E/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/XNg42F4kGr4 View the full article

Starting today (March 13th), you can re-download a new, patched version of Battlefield 3â„¢: Back to Karkand on PS3. View the full article

MTV got their hands on the official box art for the upcoming three Battlefield 3 DLCs: Close Quarters, Armored Kill, … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C--QxUdxPIbXvDWnnJM0zCOyTfM/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C--QxUdxPIbXvDWnnJM0zCOyTfM/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/KgM7G0wCqfE View the full article

Alan Kertz is Core Gameplay Designer on Battlefield 3. In this “Inside DICE” post, he explains how feedback from the community has a direct impact on the balancing we do on a number of items in our upcoming game update. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Valley01.jpg It’s always a challenge for me to balance a Battlefield game after it has launched. Before a game ships it’s Our Game, and we can generally do what we feel is right with the game, even if it means entirely redoing some part of the balance (we did this multiple times on Battlefield 3’s development before we arrived at today’s combat pacing). It can generally be said that once a game ships, it’s no longer Our Game, it’s Your Game. It belongs to the community; I’m just a care taker; A Game Warden if you will. So it’s a lot of consideration that goes in to crafting an update with as many fixes and changes as we have prepped for our next update. Sometimes the community comes together and clearly demands a fix: “The USAS-12 and FRAG rounds are Over Powered!” or “MAV elevators have got to go!” It’s easy to make a quick reaction fix, though every “fix” for an issue can be essentially ruining another player’s fun. What’s game breaking for balance to one player is the very thing that helps another enjoy the game. It’s my job to pick which issues to fix, how to fix them, and analyze their overall impact on the game. Ultimately the community will make its opinions loud (though not always so clear) when an update lands, and many updates for many different games have come with unpleasant surprises for their respective communities. I really wanted to avoid that situation for Battlefield 3, so we’ve tried a series of different approaches. Various update change lists have been posted on Battlelog for all to see during the development of this update. And many changes and additions (and even deletions) have been made in response. As we went on in development, and after we had reached a feeling of equilibrium for balance in internal playtests, we released the specific data to a community site known for its in depth analysis of Battlefield 3’s weapons and vehicles: Symthic.com. Players then were able to look directly at the numbers, and the process of changing, adding, and deleting was repeated. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Alan-Kertz.jpg To me, this process has been a huge success. The clearly unnecessary changes were removed based directly on community feedback, and some changes that may have swung the balance pendulum too far in the other direction have been moderated. I’m sure there’s still a strong set of opinions, and there’s clearly some hot button issues, so I’ve attached a poll for you to vote on: Tell me which change you want to know the reasoning behind. I’ll craft a blog post for each of them in time, and your vote will determine which order. If there’s something that’s missing from this poll list, please add it to the comments section. I’ll throw up another poll when my next blog post goes up with a revised list of hot topics. I look forward to doing more of these blogs, and to your comments and questions below. Alan “Demize99” Kertz, Core Gameplay Designer Note: To vote on the bleow section ou need to visit this link. (The Official Battlefield Blog) Which potential upcoming Battlefield 3 change do you want to know the reasoning behind? USAS-12 and frag rounds: The Tale of the Tape MAV Goes Up, MAV Comes Down, You Can’t Explain That From the Ground Up: The M16 as the Core of BF3's Balance Reconnaissance from inside 15m: Aggressive Bolt Snipers Fragments of Random Output: Buckshot and Flechette AS VAL: The VSS for the Common Man View Results Source: View the full article

DICE’s long awaited Battlefield 3 DLC announcement has been met with mixed reactions from fans, some echoing “finally!”, while other … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M8BJH_0JuSSvLjELgL0Go1biPwQ/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/M8BJH_0JuSSvLjELgL0Go1biPwQ/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/-iwhahDi9fA View the full article

View large image The upcoming Battlefield 3 DLC Close Quarters is, as the name suggests, based on close quarter infantry … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/l1f5PVRYnv4aHMZnCQFflFH5ArM/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/l1f5PVRYnv4aHMZnCQFflFH5ArM/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/WgpRvH9C1F0 View the full article

http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/KeyArt_CQ_16_9-640x360.jpg In June, take the battle indoors with our new themed expansion pack Battlefield 3: Close Quarters! This will be followed by all-out vehicle warfare in Battlefield 3: Armored Kill, featuring the biggest map in Battlefield history. Read on for the very first details about these upcoming expansion packs and more. We are happy to announce the first details on our June expansion pack Battlefield 3: Close Quarters. As the battlefield moves indoors, we will drop you into frantic and relentless infantry combat where the tight level design and vertical gameplay creates a highly competitive environment. By introducing high definition destruction, everything from furniture to plaster can be shot to pieces, and rubble and broken pieces will pile up on the floor as the battle rages on. Like all of our themed expansion packs, this is much more than just new maps, as we also include new weapons, Assignments, and dog tags to bring back to the base game — much in the same way as we did for Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand. But we’re not stopping there. This fall will see some truly epic all-out vehicle warfare in our third expansion pack, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill. Featuring new drivable tanks, ATV’s, mobile artillery, and more — and to top it off, the biggest map in Battlefield history. We also have a fourth expansion pack lined up for you: Battlefield 3: End Game, but details about that one remain tightly guarded for now. In addition to these three expansion packs and our upcoming Spring update, we will also add a much requested feature: a fully integrated rent-a-server program for console players. We will detail this program fully later, closer to launch. We hope you are as excited as we are about finally being able to tell you the first details about our upcoming plans for Battlefield 3. Return next week for the first gameplay trailer from Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, as well as media impressions from our event yesterday at Game Devopers Conference. In the meantime, click the image above for the full HD version of so you can use it as a wallpaper. That’s it for now. Let us know what you think about our newly announced content by voting in the poll below! Note: To Vote on the section below you need to visit this link. (The Official Battlefield Blog) There is lots of content and fixes coming up for Battlefield 3! Which are you most excited about? Battlefield 3: Close Quarters in June Battlefield 3: Armored Kill in the fall Battlefield 3: End Game in the winter The upcoming game update this spring The upcoming rent-a-server program on console View Results Source: View the full article

As expected, EA and DICE finally announced some new Battlefield 3 DLC for at GDC. In total, we’ll be getting … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-uErJt_2z4SgGu599197wc525C4/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/-uErJt_2z4SgGu599197wc525C4/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/JvfxerKQQBA View the full article

As Fans Continue to Devour the First Expansion Pack, Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand, DICE Announces Three New Packs that Expand the Smash Hit with New Modes, Maps and Weapons. As fans continue to devour the first Expansion Pack, Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand, DICE announces three new packs that expand the smash hit with new modes, maps and weapons. The Battlefield™ army is over 12 Million strong and growing every day as Battlefield 3™ and its first expansion, Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand continues to recruit gamers around the world with its dynamic sandbox gameplay and state-of-the-art technology. DICE demonstrates its ongoing commitment to fans by unveiling three new themed digital expansion packs* that will enhance the superior Battlefield experience with fresh and innovative gameplay, new modes, unique environments and more ways to wage all-out-war on the battlefield. Powered by the Frostbite™ 2 engine, the next expansion packs are: Battlefield 3: Close Quarters in June, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill in the fall, and Battlefield 3: End Game in the winter. Battlefield 3: Close Quarters In Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, players are dropped into a frantic, infantry-only theatre of war. Frostbite 2 high definition destruction makes the environment come alive as everything from furniture to plaster gets shot to pieces. Players will feel the intensity of the world exploding around them as rubble and broken pieces pile up on the floor, while tight level design and vertical gameplay create a highly competitive environment. Battlefield 3: Close Quarters also introduces new weapons, assignments and unique dog tags to bring back to the base game. Battlefield 3: Armored Kill Following the tight infantry gameplay of Battlefield 3: Close Quarters, DICE will release Battlefield 3: Armored Kill that ups the ante for vehicular mayhem as only Battlefield can do. Featuring new driveable tanks, ATVs, mobile artillery and more, Battlefield 3: Armored Kill also delivers huge battlefields for an all-out vehicle assault, including the biggest map in Battlefield history. Battlefield 3: End Game The fourth expansion pack will ship in the winter but details remain tightly guarded. Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand is available now for download for £11.99 or 1200 Microsoft points and features four of the most beloved Battlefield 2™ maps (Strike at Karkand, Gulf of Oman, Wake Island and Sharqi Peninsula), all fully re-imagined utilising the power of the Frostbite 2 engine. Patrick Bach, Executive Producer, Battlefield 3 said, “Instead of delivering piecemeal map packs, we’re giving players a completely new experience with every themed expansion pack to keep the action fresh. Our expansions are designed to excite our large and active fan base while attracting new recruits with gameplay that is dynamic and unpredictable every time.†Battlefield 3 is supported by a robust, and completely free social platform called Battlelog that invites players to compete, communicate and play with friends. Gamers track personal stats, compare against other players and join a platoon in an effort to dominate the battlefield. To add to the competitive fervor, a fully integrated rent-a-server program for console players will be available for gamers to play online with friends the way they want to play in either private, public, ranked or unranked matches. For more information about these enhancements and future plans for Battlelog, please visit www.battlefield.com. Since its launch on Oct. 25, Battlefield 3 has quickly become the fastest selling title in EA’s 20+ year history selling more than 12 Million units since release. Lauded by game critics worldwide for its compelling single player campaign, intense co-op missions and its addictive and world class multiplayer, Battlefield 3 has won more than 120 awards including IGN.com’s “Best Multiplayer Game of 2011.†View the full article

Pre-order Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition to Receive Day 1 Early Multiplayer Unlock of the U.S. Navy SEAL Tier 1 Sniper at No Additional Cost. Players that pre-order the Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition* will unlock the U.S. Navy SEAL Tier 1 Sniper class on day one of launch. This multiplayer unlock** saves an estimated 40-hours of time that would normally be required to unlock the operator. Medal of Honor Warfighter Limited Edition is available on Origin.com and other participating retailers.http://cdn.medalofhonor.com/sites/default/files/images/medal-of-honor-warfighter-xbox-360-front-pack-art.pngPREORDER AT ORIGIN* Available while supplies last.** OFFER EXPIRES OCTOBER 22, 2012. GOOD ONLY FOR NEW PURCHASES OF “MEDAL OF HONOR WARFIGHTER LIMITED EDITION" (“PRODUCTâ€). VALID AT ORIGIN.COM AND PARTICIPATING RETAILERS. PRODUCT SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. ACCESS TO UNLOCKABLE CONTENT AVAILABLE WITH REGISTRATION OF PRODUCT. OFFER MAY NOT BE SUBSTITUTED, EXCHANGED, SOLD OR REDEEMED FOR CASH OR OTHER GOODS OR SERVICES. VALID WHEREVER PRODUCT IS SOLD. MAY NOT BE COMBINED WITH ANY OTHER OFFER, GIFT CARD, REBATE OR DISCOUNT COUPON. RETAILERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND EMPLOYEES OF ELECTRONIC ARTS INC. AND THEIR AGENCIES/AFFILIATES ARE NOT ELIGIBLE. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED, TAXED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW. LIMIT ONE OFFER PER PERSON. SEE FINAL PRODUCT DETAILS, EULA AND CONTENT PROTECTION TECHNOLOGY AT WWW.EA.COM/1/PRODUCT-EULAS IF AND WHEN AVAILABLE. INTERNET CONNECTION, ORIGIN ACCOUNT (EA), REGISTRATION WITH SERIAL CODE AND ACCEPTANCE OF END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT MAY BE REQUIRED TO PLAY. EA ONLINE PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF SERVICE CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.EA.COM. YOU MUST BE 13+ TO REGISTER FOR AN ORIGIN ACCOUNT (EA). EA MAY DISCONTINUE ONLINE SERVICES WITHIN 30 DAYS NOTICE AT WWW.EA.COM/2/SERVICE-UPDATES. View the full article

http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/gdc12_logo.jpg We are excited to return in force to the Game Developers Conference. This year, we give a number of lectures from different aspects of developing our award-winning title Battlefield 3™. If you’re attending the show, visit any of these lectures for an in-depth look at topics ranging from building a scalable terrain system to the animation process and philosophy behind Battlefield 3. Schedule and full details below. Hope to see you there! Terrain in Battlefield 3: A Modern, Complete and Scalable System SPEAKER/S: Mattias Widmark (EA DICE) DAY / TIME / LOCATION: Wednesday 5:00- 6:00 Room 2006, West Hall, 2nd Fl TRACK / DURATION / FORMAT / AUDIENCE LEVEL: Programming / 60-Minute / Lecture / Intermediate GDC VAULT RECORDING: Video Recorded DESCRIPTION: In the session, we’ll take a complete look at the terrain system in Frostbite 2 as it was applied in Battlefield 3. The session is partitioned into three parts. We begin with the scalability aspects and discuss how consistent use of hierarchies allowed us to combine high resolutions with high view distances. We then turn towards workflow aspects and describe how we achieved full in-game real-time editing. A fair amount of time is spent describing how issues were addressed. Finally, we look at the runtime side. We describe usage of CPU, GPU and memory resources and how it was kept to a minimum. We discuss how the GPU is offloaded by caching intermediate results in a procedural virtual texture and how prioritization was done to allow for work throttling without sacrificing quality. We also go into depth about the flexible streaming system that work with both FPS and driving games. TAKEAWAY: Main takeaway is to see the full picture of a modern, scalable and flexible terrain engine that would work equally well for simulators as for games. A few novelties stand out, such as the procedural virtual textures and the flexible streaming system, both described in detail. INTENDED AUDIENCE: Target audience is software engineers working with rendering in general, tools (level editors), data pipelines, streaming or that are just curious. Some technical artists may be interested too. No field-specific knowledge is required, but some knowledge of basic data structures (quadtrees) and basic rendering (shader graphs, virtual textures) helps. [/url] Modular Rigging in Battlefield 3 SPEAKER/S: Johan Ramstrom (EA DICE) DAY / TIME / LOCATION: Wednesday 3:30- 3:55 Room 3009, West Hall, 3rd Fl TRACK / DURATION / FORMAT / AUDIENCE LEVEL: Visual Arts , Production / 25-Minute / Lecture / Intermediate GDC VAULT RECORDING: Video Recorded DESCRIPTION: For Battlefield 3, DICE took on its most difficult challenge so far. To raise the bar for character quality in games we developed our own deformation rig, combined it with the powerful ANT animation system (used in FIFA) and extensive motion capture usage. To create a believable experience we built and managed enormous amount of assets and ways of keeping these organized. The rigging process was one of the most challenging aspects of production, with the smallest change requiring an update for almost every single asset. With a modular rigging system and a flexible animation pipeline the production team could deliver on time and quality. TAKEAWAY: This session will discuss the benefits of using a modular rigging system and what we’ve learned during the production of Battlefield 3. INTENDED AUDIENCE: Technical artists and technical animators working with character deformation, rigging, facial setup and production pipelines. Animation methodology for Battlefield 3 SPEAKER/S: Tobias Dahl (DICE/EA) and Mikael Hogstrom (DICE/EA) DAY / TIME / LOCATION: Wednesday 5:00- 6:00 Room 3007, West Hall, 3rd Fl TRACK / DURATION / FORMAT / AUDIENCE LEVEL: Visual Arts , Game Design / 60-Minute / Lecture / All GDC VAULT RECORDING: Video Recorded DESCRIPTION: Learn about the animation process behind creating Battlefield 3 but also the philosophy behind animation as a whole at DICE. The presentation will cover topics regarding both single and multiplayer animation challenges, as well as team oriented challenges. At DICE we are strong believers that animation span over more areas than just content creation and we will talk about how this affects our daily work at the studio. We will also share the problems we faced starting work on our biggest title yet and how we solved them. TAKEAWAY: This talk you will give you a deep insight on how it is to work as an animator at DICE and why we chose this path. You will also learn about the animation challenges we faced creating Battlefield 3 and how we overcame them. INTENDED AUDIENCE: This talk is for everyone that is interested in learning more about creating a large multiplayersingle player game from an animation perspective. Stable SSAO in Battlefield 3 with Selective Temporal Filtering SPEAKER/S: Louis Bavoil (NVIDIA) DAY / TIME / LOCATION: Friday 12:05-12:30 Room 2006, West Hall, 2nd Fl TRACK / DURATION / FORMAT / AUDIENCE LEVEL: Programming / 25-Minute / Lecture / All GDC VAULT RECORDING: Video Recorded DESCRIPTION: With the highest-quality video options, Battlefield 3 renders its Screen-Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) using the Horizon-Based Ambient Occlusion (HBAO) algorithm. For performance reasons, the HBAO is rendered in half resolution using half-resolution input depths. The HBAO is then blurred in full resolution using a depth-aware blur. The main issue with such low-resolution SSAO rendering is that it produces objectionable flickering for thin objects (such as alpha-tested foliage) when the camera and/or the geometry are moving. After a brief recap of the original HBAO pipeline, this talk describes a novel temporal filtering algorithm that fixed the HBAO flickering problem in Battlefield 3 with a 1-2% performance hit in 1920×1200 on PC (DX10 or DX11). The talk includes algorithm and implementation details on the temporal filtering part, as well as generic optimizations for SSAO blur pixel shaders. This is a joint work between Louis Bavoil (NVIDIA) and Johan Andersson (DICE). TAKEAWAY: Attendees will learn about a simple temporal-filtering method that can fix SSAO flickering on thin geometry with a negligible performance hit, as well as generic SSAO-blur optimizations. INTENDED AUDIENCE: This talk is addressed to graphics programmers who are familiar with writing post-processing pixel shaders in HLSL. Some knowledge on SSAO algorithms and DirectX 11 would help, but should not be required to follow the talk. Source: View the full article

EA has created a new studio called EA Gothenburg, based in Gothemburg, Sweden, which will focus on development of the … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uWW7EF2V1rNG7AuTR6r44QO_jDo/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uWW7EF2V1rNG7AuTR6r44QO_jDo/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/up5DqIYvPzk View the full article

BF3Blog held a few Razer contests last year which were very popular with BF3 fans and our readers. Good news: … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yFKADbITJE-dBnXvMQ16kEbkNb4/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/yFKADbITJE-dBnXvMQ16kEbkNb4/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/GzQvzuJM9X8 View the full article

We are happy to present the brand new “Inside DICE” series! This is where all of our fans will get candid and personal reflections directly from the people working with Battlefield 3™ and our expansion packs and updates. First out is DICE General Manager Karl Magnus Troedsson, revealing his thoughts on community transparency and on returning to GDC one year after the big Battlefield 3 presentation. I’m very excited to open up our new “Inside DICE” section. Engaging in direct dialogue with our fans has been on my agenda for a while, and we will do that partly via the new blog series that you are now reading. When it comes to upcoming game updates, tweaks, fixes, and new features, this is where the producers, programmers, and designers personally will tell you what they are doing, why they are doing it, and when you can expect to see their changes in the game. More than just information on dates and a change list, you will also get to meet the people behind the keyboards actually making it happen, how they go about designing these changes, what obstacles they stumble across, and how many semlor they had for fika. Besides keeping you better informed on upcoming updates, we hope this blog series will give you an insight into game development and post-launch game support itself, as well as into Swedish culture working at DICE, and working as a community manager. Going Back to San Fran So what’s on my mind right now? Well, I’m super psyched about putting the final pieces together for an exciting presentation we’re taking to GDC in San Francisco. For any fan, GDC will bring some very exciting news about the future of Battlefield 3. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/KM-Presenting-2.png Presenting Battlefield 3 at E3 2011, seconds before Patrick Bach plays the "Thunder Run" mission. Fond memories. I love doing live presentations, but it’s also somewhat nerve-wracking at times. I’m up there on stage, representing the team at DICE and all their hard work. They spend blood, sweat and tears making our games, and that’s why I always strive for rock solid presentations. But sometimes I stumble on the language. English is my second language, and this can make for some interesting hiccups on stage. Like at E3 last year when I apparently coined a new meme. In Sweden we don’t say “fingers crossed” but rather we “hold our thumbs” to express the same wish. What came out on stage became the now famous “thumbs crossed”, which my colleagues at DICE refuse to let me forget. Anyway, I hope to see some of you in San Francisco, and you will definitely be able to read about the latest announcements after GDC. I’ve also been swamped with other exciting work lately, which is the reason I’ve been pretty quiet on the Twitter front. I’ve worked hard with the DICE management team to plan the long term goals of DICE as a studio and our upcoming games, and I feel very good about where we are and where we are headed. We have so many great ideas for where to take DICE and Battlefield™ in the future! But that’s for another blog post another time. The fast moving industry Part of what I love about the games industry is that it moves so fast. We’re not making snap decisions at DICE or EA, but decisions can still change overnight. At one point in time, we were planning to announce our next expansion pack in February. Turned out it wasn’t feasible, but not before word got out that it was in the plans. That happens. And it will happen again. It’s just part of the big and elaborate puzzle where sometimes plans change at an amazing speed. As I’m writing this, we are still deciding on the final pieces of this puzzle, but consider GDC as the next info drop from us at DICE. The ever changing nature of what we do is one of the reasons we will always be careful what we say and when we say it. Why? Because if we say “Next week we’ll announce a new expansion pack” and then change our minds (for whatever reason), the normal reaction is disappointment. Being unclear about future content could also raise more questions than answers. We’re doing X on format Y? What about format Z and W? If we don’t have those answers, we want to be able to say why. Going forward, we will work hard on being clearer and more regular in our communication, and explain the rationale behind some of our decisions. Then again, some huge events just have to premiere on GDC. Why? Because, and this is maybe explaining the obvious, we want as many eyes as possible on what we do. It’s how we get attention, it’s how we grow, and it’s how we make sure we can keep delivering blockbuster games out of a studio that started as a small group of friends creating pinball games for the Amiga. The next Battlefield 3 update: What is it? When is it? So, in the interest of openness: The next client update for Battlefield 3 on all platforms is a big one. It’s been in the works for quite some time now, and the reason it’s taking its time is we want to make it a really great update. That and the fact that each client update on console is in part governed by first party and for technical reasons have some lead time. There is a reason that we can’t update the game every time we fix one small thing. Rather, we need to pile stuff up until we have a decent sized update that makes sense to push live (in extreme cases, we make exceptions, like when we pushed our VOIP chat fix live in a separate client update on PlayStation® 3). For a while there, it looked like the next Battlefield 3 update would go live in February. So we messaged that. Guess what? It didn’t happen. We wanted to fill it with even more content, which takes extra time. We are now aiming to get this update out this spring, and will have a clear date closer to release. This Battlelog News post details some of what is in the planned spring update, although please keep in mind that this update is still subject to change. More detail about what we are adding to the game will be revealed at GDC, and after that, we will start to go in-depth on specific features from the change list. All in all, you will pretty soon know why I think 2012 will be a great Battlefield year. In our next post in the “Inside DICE” series, we will talk in more detail about some of the changes we are making in our next update, why we are making them, how we are making them, how we are basing them on community feedback, and why we think this makes the game better. In the widget area to the right, you will also find some basic information about what we have done so far in terms of supporting Battlefield 3 after launch. As we continue this series, you will always be able to get the latest data at a glance about upcoming updates, any current change lists, and more. Looking at that data just now, I can honestly say we are one of the studios that take the greatest care of our game post-launch. This is just the start of the “Inside DICE” series. Expect a mix of long, in-depth features on weapon balancing mixed with spur of the moment mobile photos of random events at the DICE office. I love coming in to work every day, and I want you to experience part of what makes being at DICE so rewarding. http://blogscdn.battlefield.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Karl-Magnus-Troedsson-vd-DICE.jpg Me with my first crush, Mine Storm on the Vectrex. What do you want to read next? Consider “Inside DICE” officially open. And consider it your chance to let us know what you want to read next. The comments section on our new blog is pretty neat, so just hop in and let us know what you think, or use the poll below to vote on some post ideas we are toying around with. My DICE colleagues will make sure to check in, so this is a chance for you to engage in dialogue with the people behind Battlefield 3. I’m happy to have cut this ribbon. This is the place where we will delve deep into matters, so if you prefer your Battlefield info a bit more tweet-sized, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Battlelog forums, Battlelog News section, in-game tickers, standalone forums, or any of our other channels where we regularly communicate with our fans. Looking forward to hearing from you! Cheers Karl Magnus Troedsson General Manager, DICE Follow Karl Magnus @L_Twin Note: To vote on the part listed below you need to vist the Battle Blog. You've just read the first "Inside DICE" post. Which of the below ideas for future posts sounds the most exciting to you? We're Going In: Adapting the Battlefield Gameplay to a New Environment Fight for Every Inch: Fine-tuning Map Layout to Create the Perfect TDM Experience Walking a Razor's Edge: Upcoming Weapon Balancing Tweaks Fixing It: Game Updates 101 The Sound and the Fury: Creating the Soundscape of All-out Warfare Hey, that's My Ride: The Rise and Fall of the MAV Elevator View Results DISCLAIMER These posts may contain information that is subject to change without notice. EA DICE assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these posts. Each post contains information that was current only as of the date of the post. EA DICE does not update or delete outdated information contained in these materials and it expressly disclaims any obligation to do so. Source: View the full article

This should come as no surprise: DICE has trolled teased us Battlefield fans once again with a brief mention on … Read on → http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Y3TX_onFSPNlKIrO-bjDroEu0_Q/0/di http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Y3TX_onFSPNlKIrO-bjDroEu0_Q/1/di http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BF3Blog/~4/B1Fv3yh8z3E View the full article