DICE's Latest Update for Battlefield 4 Cuts Out Sound In Certain Game Modes

[Alex Co]

DICE's Latest Update for Battlefield 4 Cuts Out Sound In Certain Game Modes

Some users are reporting that the latest title update for Battlefield 4 causes the sound to cut out in a few game modes.


DICE has once again rolled out another patch for Battlefield 4 on multiple platforms. While the update has added Mantle support for the PC version, it also contains tweaks to the DMR gun class and other balancing changes. Now, here's where it gets interesting. According to users on Reddit [http://www.reddit.com/r/battlefield_4/comments/1wjr2c/post_your_new_patch_early_bug_findings/], sound is cutting out in certain game modes, and we've even included a video a Battlefield 4 player made showing this new bug. Apparently, this sound glitch happens in Squad/Team Deathmatch and not in the franchise's most famous mode, Conquest.

In the same Reddit thread, DICE community manager Vincent Vukovic states they're "on it" and asked other users whether they're experiencing the sound disappear in other game modes, too.

The full PC patch notes can be seen below.

Jan 30 PC Game Update Notes


Mantle Support

The new Mantle renderer has been added in Battlefield 4. Most players can expect a performance increase by using this new low-level graphics API. Check out this news post [battlelog.battlefield.com] for the full details on Mantle, what the requirements are to run it, and how to enable it.

CPU/GPU performance and monitoring

-Tweaked and improved CPU multi-core utilization to try and avoid stuttering and low framerate due to stalls that happened on some CPU and OS configurations.
-Users can now configure and control themselves how many CPU cores should be used in the game with the new "Thread.MaxProcessorCount" settings in User.cfg.
-"Render.DrawScreenInfo 1" now also shows information about which CPU and GPU is in the system, how many GPUs & CPU cores are used and which renderer (DirectX 11 or Mantle) is active
-Added new "PerfOverlay.FrameFileLogEnable" command that records frame times on CPU & GPU and logs out to a .csv file
-AMD Catalyst driver 13.12 (or later) is now recommended instead of 13.9
-Enabled tile-based compute shader lighting optimization on Nvidia for improved GPU performance (already active on AMD GPUs)
-Improved performance with rendering and spotlights for all GPUs, primarily in in-door environments

DMR Balance Tweaks

-Increased the damage of all DMRs across all ranges. Specifically, damage has been increased at long ranges to allow three-hit kills against unarmored opponents. Additionally, reduced the penalty to accuracy for sustained DMR fire, allowing more rapid follow up shots in combat. The amount of the damage increase varies from weapon to weapon, according to its intended range, rate of fire, and damage. We will continue to monitor the effectiveness of DMRs in combat, and determine if additional action is needed to make DMRs a viable mid to long range weapon.

Other Items

-Significantly reduced the duration of the black screen when spawning in, and fixed the issue with players getting killed before being in-game
-Greatly reduced the risk of crosshairs disappearing, which would also result in hit markers disappearing
-Added a headshot icon on the killcard. This should help identify instances where players are correctly killed by one shot
-Fixed an issue in Squad Deathmatch where the "Win/Lose" text was overlapping
-Fixed an issue with players using an exploit for the SOFLAM
-Fixed an issue with players using an exploit for the MAV
-Fixed the gameplay code to properly track the FOV (Field of View) changes in the options menu
-Fixed an issue where chat would break when entering "false" or "true" in the chat window
-Fixed an out-of-helicopter glitch in Air Superiority where players could spawn on the ground and play as infantry
-Fixed the misaligned crosshairs on the T90 MBT
-Added setting to tweak joystick dead zone
-Various minor crash fixes


For the most part and aside from the added Mantle support for the PC version, the fixes are the same across the board for all platforms give or take a few. You can check a patch caused spawns to break, [http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/forum/view/2955064768683803785/] which meant you couldn't respawn once you died in a match.

In other BF4 news, EA execs have spoken out regarding the game's post-launch issues [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131770-EA-Speaks-Out-on-Battlefield-4-Post-Launch-Issues] and claims they were convinced Battlefield 4 "was ready" when it launched.

Source: YouTube [http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/forum/view/2955064768683803785/]

Permalink

 

[Hazy992]

What a weird new feature, I wonder why DICE would do such a thing? ¬_¬

Jesus Christ this game is an absolute mess...

 

[Church185]

DRM gun class

I think you meant to say DMR. Though I wonder what a DRM weapon would be like...

OT: While I haven't had many problems with the game yet (I own it for PC and PS4), it sounds like the game has been a real mess so far. Hopefully DICE gets their shit together soon, or they'll lose a lot of player confidence once the next iteration of this game is available for purchase.

 

[Alex Co]

DRM gun class

I think you meant to say DMR. Though I wonder what a DRM weapon would be like...

OT: While I haven't had many problems with the game yet (I own it for PC and PS4), it sounds like the game has been a real mess so far. Hopefully DICE gets their shit together soon, or they'll lose a lot of player confidence once the next iteration of this game is available for purchase.

Ooops! That's what I get for writing MS stories for the day. Kidddding! Thanks!

Now, the game works fine. But when it launched? Yeesh tons of technical issues. And I agree, EA and DICE might lose players from the goodwill BF3 brought them.

 

[Dr.Awkward]

Not that it might be the problem, but have they been looking into how the game allocates memory? It's been recently discovered that many of Skyrim's technical problems came from allocating a 256MB block upon startup, which would just then try to allocate more when it was full but would glitch or crash as it tried, especially when using mods that add more content to the game. (ENB and soon SKSE fixed this problem by using a setting in their config to adjust the size of that block.)

 

[Church185]

Now, the game works fine. But when it launched? Yeesh tons of technical issues. And I agree, EA and DICE might lose players from the goodwill BF3 brought them.

I've only ever read about the problems the game has had. I once lost two games worth of progression when DERP DDoS'd EA's servers, but that wasn't exactly DICE's fault. I've managed to unlock nearly everything, get to rank 71 [http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/soldier/Church185/stats/935791257/ps4/], and get the platinum trophy for the game on PS4. I really feel for the people that have been affected, but I've had a blast with the game so far.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

I'm still trying to understand how anyone can play to begin with. Everytime I go into the PC versions server list I get the same 4 servers listed over and over again (same name, same amount of people, same game mode, same everything)

And even if I try to join that server, I always get an error. Sometimes I'm lucky and I always end up joining the same team deathmatch server.

 

[Alex Co]

Now, the game works fine. But when it launched? Yeesh tons of technical issues. And I agree, EA and DICE might lose players from the goodwill BF3 brought them.

I've only ever read about the problems the game has had. I once lost two games worth of progression when DERP DDoS'd EA's servers, but that wasn't exactly DICE's fault. I've managed to unlock nearly everything, get to rank 71 [http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/soldier/Church185/stats/935791257/ps4/], and get the platinum trophy for the game on PS4. I really feel for the people that have been affected, but I've had a blast with the game so far.

Oh, not denying the game's appeal. When it works, it's friggin' awesome. I'm rank 108 and I haven't played in like two weeks!

The core gameplay is still the best iteration of Battlefield I've played so far, that's subjective, but that's my take.

 

[Metalrocks]

yeah, i was on a server were the sound was missing. other players were asking them self as well where is the sound. but im still having some freezes and i still get kicked out from servers that something went wrong. its a bit better that i cna join servers for a change but the lagging and freezes are still a problem for me. aiming sucks big time in this game. i wish i would have saved my self the trouble by not buying this game at all.

 

[unstabLized]

Jesus this is a mess... I guess it's good that they're at least trying though? Would be good publicity if they offered some stuff for free after the game was completely fixed.

 

[Haakmed]

I take it play testing these patches before release is to much to ask is it Dice?

 

[ThunderCavalier]

Oh dear, Battlefield.

Seems like it only breaks somewhere else if we patch it up.

 

[AstaresPanda]

So are they and EA really going to keep the lies going about this being a complete game. Sure as fuck does not see so, patches are one thing but this is a broken mess. And all for only £39.99 on pc....yeah no thanks.

 

[tdylan]

I gave up on the series after Bad Company 2 (X360). I built my first gaming PC for BF2, was disappointed in Special Forces, and have my qualms with BF2142, but it's still a good game overall. I want to get back into BF, but DICE keeps finding ways to make me say "Nah."

I recently reinstalled BF2 and BF2142, but was unable to play online, getting some message about my key not being legit. I'm guessing this is because I own them on disc, and in some part due to EA origin that I've heard so many complaints about? At least I still have the Point of Existence 2 mod for BF2, but 2142 never received any mod tools because it would be "too difficult to mod," or something to that effect.

I miss BF, but each time I read about BF3, and now about BF4, I simply think "it's not worth the headache." Apparently, "you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs," to DICE means "you can't patch one thing without breaking another."