BF3 Open Beta Closed

It had to end sometime, and it just did. Thousands of people have joined the beta on PC, Playstation 3 and XBox 360 to get a glance of the game in progress and to help the creators get rid of any last remaining bugs but more importantly to actually improve the game before launch. EA has created a list of the ten most important issues that have been given attention or even have been fixed in the last few weeks, below some highlights.

I cannot play with friends within same squad; squads sometimes get split up onto opposite teams.
There will be improved squad functionality in the retail game (including but not limited to): the ability to create squads prior to launching into a game, sticking with your squad when joining a game and continuing together through future games (If team balance on the server allows it), inviting friends to a squad and changing squads once in game.

Why is the hit detection different from Battlefield: Bad Company 2?
The netcode is one of the many things that we are testing as part of the Open Beta and is not necessarily reflective of the final retail game. The DICE team appreciates and has heard the feedback you’ve provided and is further optimizing online play.

Can we change settings before deployment into a match on a PC?
Yes. Added into the retail game.

For the full list, click here to go to the EA blog post.

Lots of new BF3 facts released

A lot of new facs have been released in a recent Q&A session. They’re all listed below.

Battlefield 3 Beta

  • The beta will not start at midnight or 00:00 GMT
  • The download size will be 2 – 3gb
  • Those who had the alpha must download the beta client, the alpha client can not be updated.
  • No game rank limit during beta (go all the way to 50!)
  • Pre-load information coming soon
  • The beta was not delayed

Battlefield 3 General

  • The netcode is completely new and rewritten
  • Players can not join a squad if their team is full (to prevent Battlelog groups from getting split)
  • Vehicles will begin to heal themselves after 10 – 15 seconds (this is a server setting)
  • Vehicles will only begin to regenerate if their health is under 75%
  • Unlocks are class restrictive, can’t put a sniper scope on a support gun
  • Operation Metro has been better balanced
  • Two knife animations (behind and on the ground)
  • A knife attack on your player can not be countered
  • Throwing a grenade will still prompt enemy players to yell (Bad Company 2 similar)
  • Hand grenades can not be held to make the detonation time quicker (known as cooking)
  • You can join a server that a friend is on via Origin
  • Friendly Fire is set to “on” by default. It can be turned off in the server settings
  • Caspian Border is not the biggest map
  • Jets do not have bombs (wtf?)
  • If you are kicked from a server, Battlelog will prompt you with the reason (ping, server settings, or server admin reasoning)
  • A ranked server can be turned into an unranked server (for practice, etc.)
  • No weather or time change during a multiplayer game
  • e-sports are the focus of Battlefield 3
  • No word on Battlerecorder/Game recorder

Misc. Battlefield 3 Information

  • Next 1 – 3 weeks will bring more information about maps
  • Battlelog application for iPhone/iOS (free). No word on Android.
  • Battlelog is updated separately to allow game updating to be a bit more flawless
  • More community events in the works (some happening here on enterbf3!)
  • Mod tools are still a possibility
  • Two nVidia GTX 580′s can run the game on ultra
  • Battlefield 3 may be available on the Xbox marketplace
  • Some 300 employees at DICE