[Multiplat] Battlefield 3

analysis of gameplay trailer

 

The soldier throwing the grenade at the end isn't holding a grenade (3:35 in the above video). Psych!

 

Seeing as how BF3 seems to be more optimized for DX11 than your average console/PC game, I don't think it's going to be the usual console -> PC gap, I think it's going to be much bigger. Especially when you consider the difference in scale between the two versions (64 vs 24)

 

I disagree, there are games like GTA4 and Just Cause 2 where I find the PC graphics to be a generation ahead of the console versions. Even BFBC2 looks noticably better on the PC but not a generational leap. Any game that uses higher res textures in the PC version looks way better.

 

Well, it's not like the trailer is without its faults either. The motion blur, various textures. I think people just aren't used to really good lighting from an art or tech standpoint. *ahem* I think it's the animation work that sells the trailer mostly, and I'd be hardpressed to believe that's a performance issue.

 

I think it's readily obvious why both this (in your opinion) and Crysis 2 on PC don't look like you'd expect a bleeding edge game built entirely for PC to look... consoles are right now where the money is.

In terms of effects driven by the technology, Frostbite 2 and CE3 are cutting edge. I'd argue that BF3 and C2 are what are not fully taking full advantage of the tech their running on, and i'd also say that it's the consoles that are the reason why. Why should DICE or Crytek spend any more money producing super duper hi quality assets that the consoles can't even reasonably hope to render when they'll make far more money selling both those games on the consoles than they will on PC.

It's obvious really

 

BFBC2 sold really well on PC. Considering they can make the same profits selling on Steam with a fraction of the sales they would require on a console, their decision to focus on PC makes a lot of sense.

 

Except there is a quite big quality difference, especially in motion... even comparing to low setting there is.

Goes for various other games to, BFBC2 from DICE being one.

 

Yep, I think its the lighting and animation which are making people go crazy.
Its really something remarkable.

 

Whats the biggest challenge for animation on current gen consoles? Why isn't animation more lifelike?

 

Because either it's completely lifelike, or playable and responsive to the user's inputs.

 

True, and this raises the question about whether there will be a big disparity between AI animations in single-player and player animations in multi-player.

 

I would love a FPS game with "lifelike" player movement and animation. But I think that would not make for a popular game.

 

Some shots from 1080p@20mbps press trailer.



More :

Spoiler

http://openpandora.info/hosting/upload/files/2011-03/aba667.jpg
http://openpandora.info/hosting/upload/files/2011-03/d7411a.jpg
http://openpandora.info/hosting/upload/files/2011-03/0d4d5d.jpg
http://openpandora.info/hosting/upload/files/2011-03/7d26c0.jpg
http://openpandora.info/hosting/upload/files/2011-03/8f247b.jpg
http://openpandora.info/hosting/upload/files/2011-03/92d7ef.jpg
http://openpandora.info/hosting/upload/files/2011-03/fd353c.jpg
http://openpandora.info/hosting/upload/files/2011-03/81d670.jpg
http://openpandora.info/hosting/upload/files/2011-03/9d15fa.jpg

 

4 minutes leaked gameplay footage ( camrecorder )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4Ha_ZDf-fI

 

Dice talks a bit about console

http://www.nowgamer.com/features/1245/battlefield-3-eyes-on-with-dice-gameplay-details?o=2#listing

What does that even mean? They're going to run off the hard drive or something?

 

And how are they going to 'refresh' that data without load times or breaks in game play?

 

I read somewhere they have separate animation sets for SP/MP for exactly this reason

 

Yes, and probably also from the DVD. It means that they keep streaming texture, models and data in the background.. what's inside the memory is what the players sees.

 

I'm guessing there are still going to be some nice improvements for reload animations, grenade throwing, or other non-twitched based actions like crawling while prone.