Battlefield 3 Won't Be "Consolized," Claims Developer

Logan Westbrook

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Feb 21, 2008
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Battlefield 3 Won't Be "Consolized," Claims Developer

Good PC gameplay is good console gameplay too, says DICE's Alan Kurz.

EA DICE developer Alan Kurz has reassured PC gamers that the next installment of the Battlefield series won't be "dumbed down" or "consolized," and that he planned to give the PC version of Battlefield 3 the care and attention it deserved.

Posting on the EA forums [http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-3/1363387-demize99-working-bf3-4.html#post18686418], Kurz said that he had learned an important lesson while working on the PC version of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Battlefield-Bad-Company-2-Playstation-3/dp/B001QXNBNI/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1287746141&sr=1-1], which was to treat the PC and console versions of a game the same when it came to gameplay. DICE originally designed the weapon handling in BF:BC2 with a PS3 controller, and each weapon had a certain degree of inaccuracy that was unnoticeable on a pad, but very obvious when playing with a mouse. Using feedback from the PC tests, Kurz redesigned the weapon handling to eliminate that inaccuracy and found that not only did it improve the game for the PC players, it made the console versions better as well.

That's not to say that there's no difference at all between playing games on a PC versus a console. Kurz said that the limited number of buttons on a controller meant that console interfaces had to be more elegant, and that while console gamers were not averse to deep systems, they had to be accessible. PC gamers, he thought, were more forgiving of complexity, but had much higher expectations and would react very badly to anything they felt had been ported over from a console.

Kurz's post met with a mixed response from forum users, with some taking it at face value, but the majority reacting badly to it, especially Kurz's claims that the gap between consoles and PC was narrowing. Some even went as far as to say that the very future of DICE was in danger if the PC version of BF3 wasn't exactly up to the high standards they demanded, presumably meaning that the financial impact of PC gamers shunning it would be disastrous. It's unlikely that these comments have any real bite to them though, and really only represent the views of a small, but loud, minority.



Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-10-22-battlefield-3-will-be-just-as-good-on-pc]


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teh_Canape

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May 18, 2010
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hope it's true

I really do

but, you know what would be shit? if Duke Nukem Forever for PC ended up being a badly mapped consolized port
 

Aphex Demon

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Aug 23, 2010
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Thank god for that, I started a topic raging about its port.

Check it out here - http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.230796-Poll-Battlefield-3-to-be-ported

Check the proof, surely that is definative proof that it will be going to console?!
 

ImprovizoR

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Dec 6, 2009
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Scrumpmonkey said:
To be honest i didn't think that the PC verion of Bad Company 2 was that bad, i mean compared to the PC port of that other fucking game it looked almost godlike. Good to know we will be seeing an even better version this time. The PC needs treating like a PC and half-measures (or in the case of that other game NO measures) are easily detectable.

To be honest i think many console gamers hold PC gamers do a double standard. Imagine if the next Gears of War game was infact just a Wii port and the controls, interface and gameplay were made for that platform and just ported over. Needless to say there would be an EPIC rage storm (if you pardon the pun). This is how many PC gamers feel, tied down by another platform.
I agree completely. I don't believe these guys however. I'll believe them when I play the beta. So for now, I'm just looking forward to Heroes of Stalingrad.
 

Capt. Crankypants

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Jan 6, 2010
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Really? In a press release? Of course he's going to say this, saying ANYTHING resembling "It'll be dumbed down" will anger BOTH console and PC users. PC gamers will be unhappy for the apparent 'dumbing down' and shitty port-ness, and console players will be unhappy to feel like the retards who need their sausages cut up for them.

(no offence to mentally disabled persons, naturally, just take this metaphor, along with the press release, with an appropriately sized grain of salt)
 

UberMore

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Sep 7, 2008
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It's just annoying cos the core Battlefield games have been designed for PC, and only PC.
I don't mind them spreading into consoles, but they should keep the Core in the PC format, and then if they choose too, should port it to consoles.
BC1 was originally a console game, so BC2 was ported to the PC so that DICE would have an excuse for not sorting out 2142.
BF3 should not be the same case!
 

ASnogarD

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Jul 2, 2009
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Thing is we have heard these types of claims before... I mean during BFBC 2 PC development, EA DICE claimed the PC ver. was a proper PC version with care and attention it deserved... it wasnt.

They also claimed no map packs would be sold... well its true no map packs were sold, but no new maps were released either ( I dont count new modes on old maps as a new map )and instead we have a expansion, which we need to pay for... which has new maps.

I honestly wish developers would elect a platform and dont port to the other, PC may get less games but the few would be more friendlier to the PC players.
The way things are at the moment its that the developers make games for the consoles, but flood the PC with quick ports because they dont want to totally back out the PC world which makes it hard for a dedicated PC developer to compete. Not only is the dedicated PC developer suffering due to the smaller PC market, but has all the ports of overhyped console games (where each time the console dev assure PC gamers it isnt a port).
 

GLo Jones

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Feb 13, 2010
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Aphex Demon said:
Check the proof, surely that is definative proof that it will be going to console?!
Well considering my 360 copy of Medal of Honor gives me guaranteed access to the beta. I don't expect to be driven over to PC to play it.
 

MGlBlaze

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Oct 28, 2009
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Rusty Bucket said:
Logan Westbrook said:
PC gamers, he thought, would react very badly to anything they felt had been ported over from a console.
Jesus, that's an understatement.
PC gamers tend to be douchebags with an inflated sense of self-entitlement.

That said, it's quite interesting to see that tighening up the need for accuracy had a positive impace on BOTH the PC and console versions. I think that the gap may indeed be narrowing.

That said, both consoles and PCs will always have some fundamental differences and there does need to be some slight differences, but even so I think this was an interesting statement from DICE.

ASnogarD said:
Thing is we have heard these types of claims before... I mean during BFBC 2 PC development, EA DICE claimed the PC ver. was a proper PC version with care and attention it deserved... it wasnt.

They also claimed no map packs would be sold... well its true no map packs were sold, but no new maps were released either ( I dont count new modes on old maps as a new map )and instead we have a expansion, which we need to pay for... which has new maps.
DLC are basically expansion packs, you know. We didn't have a problem with expansion packs; why should we have problems with DLC? Okay, having a physical copy would be nice (as with Fallout 3's addon packs) but still.

Also, I didn't notice anything wrong with the PC version.
 

fix-the-spade

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Feb 25, 2008
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Well, we'll be the judge of it Mr Kurz.

It's nice to hear him trying to allay concerns about BF3, but really the proof is in the pudding. If BF3 has anything but 64 players, squads, a commander, air support, artillery and a whole bunch of other stuff missing from BC2 in BF3 I'll be severely disappointed.

More importantly I won't bother buying it if it represents a step down from BF2/2142, which both Bad Company games have done.
 

Tethalaki

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Nov 5, 2009
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My only major irks with Bad Company 2 on PC are; no prone, 'waist high' walls are short enough for your head to stick up over the top - which practically defeats the purpose, lack of flying assets, small maps, no commander, and the 32 player maximum.

Only other complaint I can say is that there's no LAN mode, but this is fairly minor since we can still play BF2 and BF2142.

Every other issue I can think about it is fairly is standard for DICE, i.e the hitboxes.


Though very much hope that BF3 will be an improvement over Bad Company 2. Then again, I would really like a sequel to BF2142...
 

Littaly

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Jun 26, 2008
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I wish DICE would drop out of the military shooter race, leave it to Call of Duty and Medal of Honor and develop something in the vein of what they were doing two years ago...