DICE Talks Battlefield 3 Console/PC Differences
The console version will only allow for 24 simultaneous players compared to the PC's impressive 64-player military mayhem.
We already know what DICE is focusing on the PC as the primary platform for its upcoming shooter, Battlefield 3. But recently DICE revealed some of the differences between the PC version and the version planned for the consoles, and they're enough to fill any PC gamer with pride (finally).
"The biggest difference between the PC and console version of Battlefield 3 is that we have 64 players on PC and 24 players maximum on console," said DICE boss Patrick Bach. "The rest is more or less the same: we use the same engine, the same technology, the same animation system, the same lighting system. Our aim is to give the player the exact same experience and not try to dumb down the console version."
OK, so maybe the differences aren't that drastic. But then Bach started to elaborate on the "more or less" aspect, admitting that the team tried to squeeze more players into the console version but realized it required the team to scale down all the graphics, scale down all the destructibility, and in some cases scale down the map sizes.
"Everything is a compromise," he said. "It's not that we're evil or stupid. We didn't choose not to have more players - we would love to do 64 players on console but then we would have to cut away so much; people would get very upset that it looked worse, played worse and wasn't as fun as the PC version. We would never do that because the fun is always more important."
Adding more than 24 players also meant removing the vehicles, as they require a lot of data that's shoved through the network and the CPUs. "If you had more vehicles, that would mean less players and vice versa," he said.
So what about the maps? Will they be smaller than what will be available on the PC? Or will both versions be the same? Here's where he really elaborates on the "more or less" aspect.
"When we say they are smaller, it's not that we have cut them in half," he said. "But we tried to compact them slightly to keep the action up. If you compare it to Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the maps weren't really small on console. We actually had huge maps even for console. We have the same kind of angle on it right now [in Battlefield 3]. We want to create the same experience for PC as for consoles."
Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
Battlefield 3 is slated to hit the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC in October.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
-
jryan388 LOL? Not try to dumb down the console version? That means they will both be low quality. The PC version is going to be just as bad!Reply -
LuckyDucky7 ReplyWe want to create the same experience for PC as for consoles.
Well, that's exactly what PC gamers hate- sorry to break it to you.
You're always going to be "dumbing down" a game for either a PC or a console when releasing for both systems: looks like the PC gets the short end of the stick again this time.
At least there are those two token differences, but there is no difference graphics-wise (just toss in AA for the complainers, eh?) since the same technology is used, why buy a better computer for that? -
By that logic the PC version should only be playable on a $4000 monster PC with the graphics settings all fixed to super-ultra.Reply
PC games have to be scalable to lower power systems anyway, and scaling them for consoles is no different. The difference with BF3 is it is being primarily developed for PC and THEN ported for consoles. Having the game ported to console doesn't automatically damage the PC version, even if DICE plan on doing a good job of the port. -
jimmysmitty digitalexplosivesWTF are you on about?Reply
They said that pretty much everything else is the same. That means graphic wise it will be the same. Yet they say DX11 support so not sure how it could be the same when consoles can't do anything beyond DX9 graphics.
Guess we will have to wait and see. -
kcorp2003 The comments here are just idiotic. If you follow the Battlefield 3 forms then you know how special it is on PC. We do have the superior graphic enhancement, confirm by repi. Supports multiple cores and scale well on SLI/Crossfire. Also they are doing an Alpha trial for their game! how many developers do that with their triple A games? Their only saying this to let the console player feel secure.Reply -
Lobodomy Silly console players think they're being treated equally! At least DICE is doing a good job of keeping the console players happy :)Reply -
codyjt5150 @lobodaomy, not everyone has fast computers, such as myself. I don't feel like wasting my money on a computer game when i don't trust my computer. i trust ps3 better with my games.Reply