DICE threatens permanent bans for users of color-editing mod

Players from Battlefield 3 have released a mod allowing tweaks to the displayed color levels, when its applied it looks like colors from Battlefield 1943. DICE of course doesn't want to be out there because they say its a "hack" and you will be banned permanently from Battlefield community unless you create another account of course. Here's what Battlefield 3 gameplay designer Gustav Halling said on twitter:

"[It's] too colorful,” "Also, I wouldn’t use those hacks if you don’t want a permanent ban on your account. FYI warning.”

Some people on reddit already experienced bans because of that mod. It looks this will be a big problem for competitive games of its "too colorful" absurd on the surface. it seems adamant about protecting the competitive standards set in the unmodified game, where filters and gradients could figure into each map’s overall balance. Here's a video of the mod example down below.

[TOGC]

It is just a color mod...why the bans.

[YourGameEdge]

people may use it in competitive game and it makes the enemy more visible, my opinion.

[deadpoole]

BF3 current color pallete is like of a dying crt televisions with color saturation problem. The thing I don't get it, lcd/led televisions and monitors are capable of displaying more than 16million colors ... whereas BF3 has resort down to lowest limited bumbers of color pallete defeating the very purpose of having colors on your television in first place ... I swear to god you wouldn't find much difference if u play BF3 on black&white television.

So for the sake of realism they dumbed down colors and increased the contrast to eyes burning level ... and when some fellas are tryin to play game after tweaking it to the normal game colors levels which it should have in first place .... they are banning them ... wht a piece of js they are?

As Calvin Klien said ... God Forbid if I have a likin of playin my fps game with some colors .... lollllll

I got a solution for ya DICE ... improve your engine lighting capability for creatin an illusion of realism ... not by dumbing down color pallete.

[Winter47th]

It'll make you see the dark areas easier. As well as the players moving much more contrasted in color than the rest of the environment.

[jetpacksheep]

I can see what you mean but some players use totally different hardware giving a vast array of graphical and frame rate differences, not to mention differing keyboards and mice which could also give them an advantage. EA is just being silly.

[Ducky]

It doesn't really change the visibility of enemies. Besides, it's not like the game relies heavily on camouflage anyways. Most players are hidden behind cover, rather than BigBossing it in the open.

Thing is, there already is the FXAA injector, which can change colour correction too, and that is perfectly allowed.
You don't even need the FXAA injector either, as the control panel for nVidia/ATI card have colour correction. Both methods can achieve an effect similar to the mod.

[shutUpAndTakeMyMoney]

BF series when from mods to no mods to anti mods.
EA want everything to be a console.

The spirit of bf is now dead to me.
They just want to beat cod & I hope cod out sells it by even more just because of that.

Yes I am mad...

[YourGameEdge]

BF3 is still %100 better than COD

[Drumsmasher]

I agree totally. I don't even get much fun out of BF3 anymore. Cod is still fun in a simple kind of way. EA has been very disappointing lately. BF3 was fun, but ME3 sucked compared to the other two, and BF4 has been announced already!! And now all this grumbling because of a fucking colour mod out of anything else.

Do you think I'm going to buy anymore EA games?

[Steadyhndz]

It's not every mod...there are plenty of mods out there for BF3 on the PC that they don't care about. Why aren't they as popular as BF2 mods? Simply because it is much harder to mod BF3...not because EA purposely made it hard, because the is just naturally built that way in other words, the games engine just wasn't built to have mods in...now FB 1 wasn't either, but the graphics weren't that complicated then.

[CalvinKlein]

god forbid a shooter has color hahaha.

[Blastoise]

I never realised how dull this game looked until I watched that video

[Steadyhndz]

It's an unfair advantage, it allows the person with the mod to see the enemies much more clearly...In every game when you accept the terms of agreements, in there it mentions that you may not edit the game in any way and could result in a ban of your account.

These guys can't complain if they get banned. They accepted the agreements.

[UF0]

The modded colors / removal of the "blue filter" look much better to my eye. But i can see DICE's point of how players using the mod have an advantage, slight as it may be. My favorite maps are Caspien Border and Armored Shield because of the fact that the "blue filter" is turned way down if not non existant and players are easily seen way out in the distance, contrasted nicely by the deep blue sky and plush green grass. The only way it would be completely fair is if DICE/EA made a mandatory patch removing their blue filter effect..Don't see that happening..though I wish they'd put it to a vote..I vote remove pointless blue filter for full colors...If you vote to keep it the same..then disagree

[DeadlyFire]

Funny thing is that without that color filter the game actually resembles an updated Battlefield 2 type of image. With the filter its like a different game.

[modesign]

Dice hates people improving on there games for free especially when dice isnt making any money on it

[Hufandpuf]

how is the game dull looking when even IGN praised it for its use of color and lighting?

http://www.ign.com/articles...

[Nafon]

no one is saying the game looks bad, it just looks way better with proper colors.

[Alos88]

Worst reason for a perma ban I've ever heard.

[SnakeCQC]

i heard that some people in the dice forums perm banned banned from origin accounts for swearing

[Steadyhndz]

They don't ban for swearing...they actually can't ban you for swearing, it's against the law to be oppressed due to what you say...unless it is ways of conspiring to put someone/people in danger.

[Nafon]

Steadyhndz: they do ban for swearing. when you go on the forums you agree to the TOS, which bans "inappropriate language." I got a warning for swearing on battlelog, so i know what im talking about.

[pandehz]

This mod does make enemies more visible.

Tested myself.

On caspian border it makes it easy also on most maps in many ways

[GiantFriendlyCrab]

Why is EA not allowing this? Just because it looks 2 million times better than their game? FU

[nepdyse]

They're not threatening a ban because people are removing the color grading, its because the tool/tweaker also allows you to modify weapon values/damages etc pistols shooting nades, that kind of stuff.

[GiantFriendlyCrab]

the original colors make it look bleak and depressing. i think that this tool is great, the maps are more alive.. and blue is blue, not over white blue.. in my opinion it looks more realistic

with that tool, you can easily see, even color blind people, that the standard color settings are "over white" they just added to much white in it..

[LightofDarkness]

So stupid. The colour edit is actually an enhancement; it looks far closer to the Gulf of Oman in reality than the default palette. The default palette is clearly just that modern "AAA" shooter-style of lifeless grey, so it fits in with every other shooter on the market. Reality if FAR more colourful. Check the image below for what the Gulf actually looks like along the beach.

I think this comes down to a little from column A (DICE preventing unfair advantage) and a lot from column B (DICE's pride).

[GiantFriendlyCrab]

no wonder I've been depressed after a gaming session! Gimme colour DICE... plenty of colour!

[UF0]

lol

[GiantFriendlyCrab]

Remember when all games were colorful and vibrant?, now the color of the games of this genreation is dominated by grey, brown, yellow, and white contrasts.

[torchic]

that's a really cool mod.

makes the game as vibrant as Crysis 2.

[nitrogav]

After watching the video gotta say it makes the game look more real . Shame dice not allowing it !! .

[barb_wire]

I actually prefer the more colorful version, looks far more realistic than the subdued palette that the game is now.

[Hufandpuf]

the color makes it look like a cartoon. If you want color, play BF1943.

[NoFanboyRequired]

Okay, walk to your nearest field of grass and let me know how grey it is. That color palatte looks a hell of a lot more realistic than the default.

[CynicalKelly]

The game looks amazing with this mod. Everything looks so much better, I have no idea why they don't just give the modder some credit and implement it in the next patch. Fuck saving face, we as consumers who pay for the games should be allowed to play the version that looks the best.

[venom06]

LEAVE THE DAMN GAME ALONE!!! its fine.. these fools deserve to be banned....

[Straightupbeastly]

Dice is just jealous they couldn't figure out how to add color to their game

[chukamachine]

The colour with the mod is alittle happy. I think a balance inbetween would have been fine.

[jetpacksheep]

It's just giving Battlefield some much needed sunshine, polygons need a tan too.

[Saryk]

I have been gaming since the 2600 and the C64. I have never disliked any gaming company, never. But EA is starting to test my wallet. I value innovation and so should they. If they want to control everything great, make games for consoles. But games for PC should be open for the people who want to innovate. If someone would make a mod for bots in BF3, I'd buy it.

[Plagasx]

BF4, No mods, CONFIRMED.

[pandehz]

I actually like DICE version of colour grade.

The modded ones are over done generic colours. Everything looks like far cry. Pff

Just basic saturation and crap on everything.

DICE version sticks to a nice art style and mood.

[topekomsi]

So is it ONLY a color mod, or does it change gameplay mechs, gun damage/specs?

I have to give it to the modder, it looks fantastic.

[swishersweets20031]

i want the colorful version of bf3.. :(

[3-4-5]

The world is colorful. Not just brown and grey.

[Dugstar]

I'm not sure how hard it would be to implement but could DICE not have a few servers to take advantage of this mod instead of screaming INSTA - BAN ....

If they did that way then it would be a level playing field for all on the server although if its PC, theres always a element of more Hacking ..

Would be amazing on Console I think but quite clear DICE and EA don't want to even bother with it.

[UF0]

The modded colors / removal of the "blue filter" look much better to my eye. But i can see DICE's point of how players using the mod have an advantage. My favorite maps are Caspien Border and Armored Shield because of the fact that the "blue filter" is turned way down if not non existant and players are easily seen way out in the distance, contrasted nicely by the deep blue sky and plush green grass. The only way it would be fair is if DICE/EA made the modded colors a mandatory patch for all. Don't see that happening..though I wish they'd put it to a vote..I vote mod colors...If you vote to keep it the same..then disagree