Battlefield 3: Maxing out PC was the biggest challenge, not consoles – DICE dev

Utilising all the power of “next-gen PCs” rather than scaling the game down for “a less powerful platform on consoles” was the biggest challenge DICE faced when developing Battlefield 3, says Karl Magnus Troedsson, who “didn’t feel we got as far as we wanted with PC gaming.”

[FlareDReborn]

inb4 console sucks from pc elitist

[toaster]

But they do.

Problem?

[rajman]

Atleast consoles have much better exclusive games...btw I have a PS3 & PC before you think Im a console fanboy lol

[xX_Altair_Xx]

Lol. This is why I consider the term "PC gamer" a contradiction. A lot of Pc gamers arent gamers at all - they're graphics whores. They look down on consoles because they cant play 1080p, 60fps+ in every game. If you were a true gamer things like that wouldnt matter - you'd play the game for what it is. I play games on all platforms so I'm a "gamer" in the proper sense.

So what Uncharted 2 doesnt have the graphical fidelity of Metro 2033; it's still one of the best games ever made and if you refused to play it because it's a "poor res" game then you missed out.

[MARKUS_MAX1MUS]

lol let me guess, Uncharted is the best exclusive ever?

PC is just such a superior user experience, Games look better, they run better, Servers, Mods, Communitys, Steam, Warcraft, MMOs that work, Arma II, Stalker series, Metro 2033, Company of Heros, Crysis 1, Counterstrike, Team Fortress 2, SWTOR, GUild Wars 2, DOTA 2, Red Orchestra, Diablo 3.

I rest my case

[MysticStrummer]

I did all my gaming on PC for a couple of years, back when the difference between PC and console graphics was quite a bit more noticeable than it is now. The experience was so amazing that I went back to consoles and have no desire to game on PC ever again. Funny how DICE uses the term "next-gen" for PCs, since the PC users on N4G love to say PCs have no gens.

[-Alpha]

It's funny how you guys are bashing PC gamers when it's you people who brought up the mention that consoles suck.

Also, I think it's quite ironic that you call PC gamers graphic whores when the PS3 is constantly touted as having superior graphics to the 360 around here.

[CaptCalvin]

@rajman
who doesn't have a PC?

[rajman]

@ CaptCalvin
Not everyone has a 'Gaming PC'

[death2smoochie]

@xX_Altair_Xx

And yet, most PS3 owners on this site that bitch about "PC ELITISTS/GRAPHIC WHORES" ALWAYS, bring up graphics/power and how EXCLUSIVES on that platform look better than Xbox360 games when there are comparisons between the two systems games.
Oh the rampant hypocrisy...You can't see that?

[evrfighter]

consoles need to gtfo with that dinosaur hardware.

[xX_Altair_Xx]

@ death2smoochie

"most ps3 owners"

Wouldn't include seeing as I own all three systems and play GAMES. In case you noticed I'm the one saying that graphics DON'T matter.

@ MARKUS_MAX1MUS

I dont disagree with anything you said; I play a lot of the games you mentioned; I'm attacking PC elitists who always seem to attack consoles because they're not PCs or have PC specs. Also I said Uncharted 2 was "one" of the best games ever made; also looking through a list of best games ever, most seem to be on console which shows you're missing out if you refuse to play console.

[lil Titan]

DICE made a great game for all platforms. my experience will be on PS3. Problem?

[radphil]

@-Alpha

I gave up trying to make sense to people on this site a WHILE ago. It's like a big circle jerk.

[JsonHenry]

Did any of you read the article? Or are you just here to argue because you have no religion or political views to argue about somewhere else?

I found it interesting that DICE says they still have a few areas where they can squeeze out more power of the consoles than anything else. The PC is an ever changing format. So trying to "max" out a PC is impossible unless you just code really sloppy so nothing will ever run it right.

[AKS]

"The PC is an ever changing format. So trying to "max" out a PC is impossible unless you just code really sloppy so nothing will ever run it right."

Based on my experiences with their PC ports, Rockstar and Ubisoft seem to be experts in this area.

[MARKUS_MAX1MUS]

@xX_Altair_Xx

I cant understand people who base how good a set of games are on some journalistic report, journalisim from mainstream companys e.g. IGN, Gamespot etc rarely ever at all talks about PC and usually those lists are never the "top 10 games ever"

[xTruthx]

@Alpha

So true

[3GenGames]

DICE, I love you. But if you're saying you've maxed out DX11 before you've even really used it, learned it, and optimized it to do even more than in this game, you have a 99% chance of lying, lol. That means PC gamers will only have even crazier stuff to come to DX11 though, so that's good. BF3 FTW.

[Gran Touring]

Agreed, I highly doubt DICE will be able to max out DX11, but I do think they're pushing DX11 more than anyone else. BF3 being built from the ground up with the DX11 API is something not a lot of PC games in development (or out already) are doing

[3GenGames]

Exactly. And then as games need to get more out of it, they'll go back, learn more, optimize, and it'll become better utilized with time. I bet DX11 will be one of the last myself. It's looking sweet, not much to do after it runs it's course.

And lol, post perfect comment and still get somebody stupid to disagree. :P

[JsonHenry]

Yeah man, being built from the ground up using DX11 sounds like a step in the right direction.

[AKS]

They are pretty clearly stating that they have struggled to utilize all the power available with the latest PC hardware.

[dericb11]

Sad that after reading the article it is just another misquote. They need to stop with these misleading headlines.

[RedDead2067]

The console version of BF3 will need auto-assist aim.

[3GenGames]

You've confused BF3 with MW3.

[CaptCalvin]

Nope pretty sure he got it right. aim assist will be in shooters as long as you're playing them with a controller, even on PC.

[nickjkl]

implying i need it

look at cod

theres no need for aim asist when you have people doing the absolute rediculous pieces of shit ever

like jumping out of a window doing a 360 and scoping some one across the map

main reason why i play killzone 2

[outwar6010]

maxing out pc version may cost the end user hundreds of pounds in new parts maxing it out on console does nothing but make the user happy

[rajman]

Exactly, my PC from 2006 isnt even close to running BF3...let alone at max. So I bought a new PC last month, which should run it at max but cost me over £500

[CaptCalvin]

How about you just buy a nice graphics card for £100 and put it in your 2006 PC that'll run all games that'll come out until the next generation of consoles release?

[outwar6010]

im picking up an msi 6850 cyclone power edition over the next few days should be pretty awesome it just annoys me that I don't have the best of both worlds in the sense i may have awesome graphics but i cant use a controller in all games

[Bladesfist]

Controllers suck, You can use them in most games if not download an emulator. BF3 is an fps why would you play with a controller?

[outwar6010]

i just prefer them

[JBSleek]

Dice is not smart putting all this power into the PC when it will probably the least selling platform...

[CaptCalvin]

DICE wants to put "lotsa power" into BF3. It's just a shame that consoles will fry trying to run the amount of power meant for BF3

[AKS]

Look how much popularity Crytek gained for making Crysis 1 such a graphical brute. How much would we have discussed Crytek if Crysis 1 was average to below average technically? Don't misunderstand; I enjoyed the game quite a bit, but the technical wizardry aspect got them tons of attention.

Also, how do you think those side-by-side video comparisons between BF3 and MW3 are going to turn out? If DICE wins awards for having the best graphics in 2011 (PC version), do you think that will hurt business?

DICE and EA are trying to get some of Call of Duty's business (and as a franchise, not just these latest editions), and creating one of the best looking multiplayer first-person shooters ever that is immense in scale isn't a bad way to go about getting people's attention.

[xtremegamerage]

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

It's a nice looking game, but over hyped graphically. It's nowhere close to crysis 1&2. It's a tunnel game.

BF3 destroys Metro 2033 and first light with ease. Seriously you pc nutter no nothing. You see dx11(more overhyped crap) Until dx12 and you wet your pants,lol.

[AKS]

Metro 2033 at max at the time of its release was the most visually stunning shooter ever released in close quarters, indoor settings. It's still among the most visually stunning games. Last Light will more than likely set the new visual standard for indoor, close quarter settings. Thus, I don't see things going well for you in debating your position.

You may prefer the grand scale of Battlefield 3, and in general, I do as well, but that doesn't mean that what Metro 2033 and Last Light do best isn't important or impressive.

[Da_Evil_Monkey]

Of course it's harder to max PC. Consoles have standardised hardware, once you have pulled out every bit of juice from them: you know the game will run the same on every machine. On PC you have to work with many different combinations and optimise them to run as well as possible on every one. Which I imagine is very time consuming and difficult, but the results are amazing.

[ATi_Elite]

I agree! As gorgeous as BF3 is there are still things missing from it like Tessellation which Devs are still trying to master!

But the Pc has so many things going for it that you can leave a few eye candy options out and still have a great looking game! Devs would be hard pressed to put EVERYTHING in a PC Game!

DICE has done an amazing job on BF3 and the Ray Tracing in some of the scopes and reflections is amazing as we move towards Ray Traced or Voxel game engines....Yippie!!

[thespaz]

You can max out any system easily... but that doesn't make the game run well.

It's all about how well the developer knows the hardware and how to optimize the code so that it runs as nice as it looks.

[kuroukage]

Not sure why they keep putting up articles like this. It's been very obvious the past few years how much farther ahead in terms of hardware PC's are. BF3 on PC is going to look amazing. Same for Rage as well. Consoles just can't hang anymore and it's time for nexgen because they really do need to catch up in terms of hardware. PS3, Wii and 360 are very outdated now. Especially Wii. Still can't believe Nintendo used such crap hardware for it.

[vandal GAB]

I will sli my GTX 570 for BF3 =)