BF3 - Patch 1.04 Thoughts

raze

Thought I'd make a thread for people's first impressions of the 'fixes' - and give Xbox players a heads-up on what's to come for them.

I think there's a lot of good and some bad things about it. At over 1 Gb, and with the servers being hit on day one, it's a very slow download - which makes it doubly frustrating that after you get it, it breaks B2K maps and guns and asks you to download that again. From memory, that's another download of around a gig.

I haven't bothered with the B2K re-download yet - so I was a bit frustrated that all my classes got reset as I've lost my FAMAS.

The UI changes are a real step up though - simple things that should have been in the product when it was released. Now you can leave a game at the end of match scoreboard. While you're in a server, the start menu will let you check server settings - including which maps are in the rotation. In the Server Browser you can finally distinguish between searching for CQ and Conquest Assault. The mini-map on the start menu doesn't flicker as much, and as far as I can tell the objective markers are less out of sync with their actual current status.

You can now spot mines with 3d markers (i.e. they get orange symbols over them, like enemies or vehicles) - which is a bonus for any learner pilots looking for free points if you destroy them with rockets, and might make infrared view in tanks more expendable.

But I've been really frustrated by how differently the vehicles behave. Tanks seem a lot more vulnerable to rocket fire from the side and rear, which I guess is the way it should be - but if you're playing with randoms it's frustrating because now it really does take more teamwork to keep the armour going.

Also, every hit a tank takes now sounds a lot noisier. It's a very minor thing, but gets irritating pretty quickly, like someone banging pots together.

The new Havok is adequate. Finally it doesn't feel like it's toting 100 hods of bricks and a dead cow on a winch. Also, its rocket pods feel a little more accurate than the Viper's. Could be wrong, but Havok seems to hit bang on the crosshair, while the Viper seems to have a bit of drop and hits below that. In general though, rockets on choppers and jets to seem to have been toned down - they leave narrower trails, travel a bit faster, are slightly more effective against infantry, but seem to have reduced area for splash damage.

In the short term it's frustrating to re-learn the timing for the air counter-measures. Before, when I locked onto another chopper I used to switch weapons and watch them deploy flares, then re-lock on and nail them. Now flares do nothing to prevent or reset lock-on. I watched an opponent earlier while I was locking onto him, he fired flares and I never once lost my lock - which gave me two free hits to disable him much quicker than having to start over. So, if you weren't using ECM before it's worth remembering it's got even more of an advantage now.

CITV stations on tanks now emit IR beams, so you can see who is laser tagging you. Also, the there seems to have been a big bump in the points you get for spotting as the third man in a tank.

Snipers have been given a bit of help, it's now much easier to see the bullet trails in the scope after you fire, making it less guesswork if you're ranging your shot. Also, spotting over long distances feels a little more precise. Could be wrong, but I used to notice that I'd be looking at a soldier about 500 metres away, and try to spot and end up marking a jet 300 feet above, and haven't noticed that so much in games this morning. Also, pre-patch it was trivial to spot tanks while in a jet, you could just click select while pointing within 300 yards of it, but now it seems to need to be more accurate.

Stationary AA guns have been tweaked. Now the US Conquest gun on Kharg is at the end of the runway on the ship, which I discovered when I crashed, hitting it on take-off. But it's a much better position to deal with spawn killers, and you can spawn directly into AA guns on all maps.

Air Radar has been tweaked, you no longer see your own plane/chopper at the centre of the circle - which is a bit frustrating not knowing if you're on your enemy's radar if you rely on ECM, but easier to tell if you're about to collide mid-air with a friendly. Also, ground vehicles don't seem to show up on Air Radar by default - they might do when they're spotted, not sure.

On the whole, they've managed to fit an awful lot into the patch, which kind of gives them a pass on how bloody long it takes to download the thing - though much of this should have been fixed prior to launch. But as it completely changes the feel of so many aspects of the game, I think it's going to take a bit of time before I could make a call on whether it's actually better.

Zomg Okay

There's so much to take in. It's like starting all over again. :eek:

hightower1

Thanks for that Raze, its easy imagine how changes will effect the game reading them from a list but actuall play time may show it to be different. Good to see hands on opinion.

Glad to see the spawing into AA turrents added. That AA on the end of the carrier on Karg is so underutilized as anti air, spotting tool and supression tool by attackers.

johnners2981

The suppression now is a bit much, someone fires one bullet at me and I can't see for the next 5 seconds*

Not sure what to make of the tweaked attachments yet, is there any point to the foregrip now that it decreases your aimed accuracy?

Looking forward to trying out some of the improved weapons and not getting spammed by USASes and MAVs




*May have exaggerated slightly

hightower1

johnners2981 wrote: »

Not sure what to make of the tweaked attachments yet, is there any point to the foregrip now that it decreases your aimed accuracy?

It does? Thats a bit odd? I next to never hip fire... just all other recent FPS games have trained that out of me so why have a stability attachment DECREASE accuracy? If something increases hip fire accuracy it makes no sense by any stretch of the imagination to have it decrease aimed accuracy. That sucks monkey nuts a bit.

Will be glad to see if the patch has any realisitc effect on USuckASs with frag rounds.

LawlessBoy

So this mean all the assignments have been reset? I'll have to get my L85A2 again?

PhlegmyMoses

LawlessBoy wrote: »

So this mean all the assignments have been reset? I'll have to get my L85A2 again?

This can't be right. No way am I bothered actively searching for Oman conquest to get those BTR kills for the MK again or looking for roadkills in a DPV.

johnners2981

hightower1 wrote: »

It does? Thats a bit odd? I next to never hip fire... just all other recent FPS games have trained that out of me so why have a stability attachment DECREASE accuracy? If something increases hip fire accuracy it makes no sense by any stretch of the imagination to have it decrease aimed accuracy. That sucks monkey nuts a bit.

Will be glad to see if the patch has any realisitc effect on USuckASs with frag rounds.

Yeah it reduces the horizontal recoil by about 20%-33% (down from the pre patch 50%) but now it increases the minimum spread by 20%-50% basically making it 20%-50% more inaccurate with each shot so I'm getting rid of it.


This is what DICE say about the post patch foregrip: "-A small long range Aimed Accuracy penalty has been added to the foregrip. Players who generally find themselves fighting at mid to long range may want to change their accessory, while players fighting in CQB will go largely unaffected. Combining the Foregrip with a Silencer or a Heavy Barrel will offset this penalty"

weiland79

I don't know if this is related to the game or not, but when i started to install the update i got a DNLA protocol error.

Any one know what this is?

Paparazzo

Nice post raze.
Most annoying thing is that I finally get a couple of hours free to play battlefield and I have the slowest download ever to wait for :mad:

5uspect

It's good to hear that tanks are a bit more vulnerable. I've lost count of the amounts of RPGs I've put into armour whorebags on Craggy with little effect.

ComeraghBlue

PC patch is to be released tomorrow
(thursday)

Xbox is still TBA

mozattack

Glad to see the USAS finally sorted, that gun single handly almost ruined an amazing game. I checked it out last night on Metro with frags and while it is still good it is a lot more difficult to use and therefore a lot fairer. The recoil from it is insane really and I think long range damage has been dramatically reduced. I can rest easy now that we are back to playing an adults game.

ComeraghBlue

Glad to see the MAV riding to insane
places like that bridge on Tehran has gone. And the MAV road kills annoyed me greatly as well.

I was using the M16a3 pre-patch and it seems the recoil has increased on it so iv ditched that and gone for the now slightly better L85A2

MajesticDonkey

5uspect wrote: »

It's good to hear that tanks are a bit more vulnerable. I've lost count of the amounts of RPGs I've put into armour whorebags on Craggy with little effect.

*cough* *cough* Astro

johnners2981

ComeraghBlue wrote: »

Glad to see the MAV riding to insane
places like that bridge on Tehran has gone. And the MAV road kills annoyed me greatly as well.

I was using the M16a3 pre-patch and it seems the recoil has increased on it so iv ditched that and gone for the now slightly better L85A2

They didn't change anything on the m16a3, they changed the foregrip

Damien360

Bloody update is huge. Just when you have downloaded the 1GB patch you are told to re-download the back to karkland also which is 1.3GB.

Tanks are way more vunerable. 2 hits with a javelin will finish it off. The option to exit the game at the end is much improved.

I am fairly crap at the game but last night after the patch I had some of the best games. Other people speaking on mics was a lot clearer. The hit accuracy seemed better also.

Overall it seems good but my god the download size is silly.

raze

LawlessBoy wrote: »

So this mean all the assignments have been reset? I'll have to get my L85A2 again?

Nope, assignments aren't reset, but you don't have the guns innards you re-download DLC.

Tanks are a joke now. I flew a jet at two tanks earlier, starting from a distance of about 500 metres. Pre-patch I could disable a tank with rocket pods from that distance. Today I destroyed one tank, and disabled the second one. Jets haven't got much more powerful, just tanks have been nerfed beyond reason.

Some of the rented servers are a bit weird. Ended up in a 800 ticket game on Caspian earlier. Quite unexpected, and ultimately a bit boring. But when games are that long teamwork does improve.

Captain Chaos

johnners2981 wrote: »

They didn't change anything on the m16a3,

Yep they have. It's in the dev patch notes. They changed the recoil characteristics of the M16A3 and A4 to balance them also with the M4 and M4A1. To give the benefits, and cons of both burst and full auto fire and different ranges.

MajesticDonkey

Overall it seems good but my god the download size is silly.

A 2.3GB patch isn't big by PC standard, I assume it is for console?

dreamers75

Decryptor wrote: »

A 2.3GB patch isn't big by PC standard, I assume it is for console?

Thats fcuking ginormous by anyones standard.

What pc games you playing that need a 3gb patch :eek:

Zomg Okay

I've played it properly now and I must say I'm likely most of the patch but two things in particular are bugging me, a lot:

Not happy with the game being restricted to 3 squads - just makes it more difficult to squad up with mates and to jump squad when the current one's randoms act like they're on CoD. :mad:

Also made **** of a T-90 with minimum effort in an LAV. The tanks have become mobile coffins - I didn't think they were overpowered at all pre-patch but now they're definitely approaching worthless.

ComeraghBlue

Zomg Okay wrote: »

I've played it properly now and I must say I'm likely most of the patch but two things in particular are bugging me, a lot:

Not happy with the game being restricted to 3 squads - just makes it more difficult to squad up with mates and to jump squad when the current one's randoms act like they're on CoD. :mad:

Also made **** of a T-90 with minimum effort in an LAV. The tanks have become mobile coffins - I didn't think they were overpowered at all pre-patch but now they're definitely approaching worthless.

There's a option to create a new squad

Kingpin187

Yeah.. @Zomg.. the game starts with 4 squads.. but you can create a new one if you want to squad up with friends etc

johnners2981

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Yep they have. It's in the dev patch notes. They changed the recoil characteristics of the M16A3 and A4 to balance them also with the M4 and M4A1. To give the benefits, and cons of both burst and full auto fire and different ranges.

On the battlelog patch notes it says no change to the m16a3 but have changed the recoil on the m16a4

Zomg Okay

Ah cheers, lads. Missed that. :rolleyes:

The tanks are still coffins though.

Chavways

How much has the USAS been nerfed? Do the other shotguns have a chance against it now?

ComeraghBlue

Chavways wrote: »

How much has the USAS been nerfed? Do the other shotguns have a chance against it now?

Lots of people still using it but not with frag rounds. I think it was so overpowered that even after nerfing it that it's still overpowered.

chopperbyrne

It's an automatic shotgun shooting frag rounds though, it should be one of the best close up guns in the game. It was just a bit too good before.

darrenw5094

No guns lying on the ground anymore from dead soldiers. That was funny in the locker room in Metro. Hundreds of guns on the floor to choose from, but not any more.

Mav killing was a pain in the a$$.

Famas is nerfed with extra recoil. Was my #1 gun.

Seems more destruction is possible with buildings.

Respawn map is more clear, old map was confusing.

mozattack

I think the USAS is now fair, it is like the SAIGA – the number of people using it has dropped dramatically. Thank god. Same too with the Famas, two guns that were on the way to ruining a great game have now been nerfed positively.
A few other comments:
- LMGs are really hard to control so no more running and gunning. Fair really because that is not what they are intended for although it pains me ‘cos I used to love Support Class
- I note the Spawn Beacon doesn’t explode when moving onto another set of stations on Rush.. strange little change but good for spawn camping.
- A lot more deaths from Recon players recently, a lot playing attacking recon which is fair enough.
- Javelin is now a beast and is now a choice must be made between RPG or javelin as both have their own advantages/disadvantages – before it was just RPG for me
- Tanks are definitely weaker, in fact all armour has been nerfed but I do think their guns are more powerful post patch. Fair enough I think
- Viper or any attack chopper is in trouble now, doing well to keep going for 2 mins with all the stingers / IGLAs after you. Also I unloaded 3 sets of 14 rockets on a guy on the mountain on Kharg Island and he survived. Not saying I hit him everytime but surely hit him 10 times with rockets!!! I know it is meant to be for armour but that is a bit much.
- One v One… post patch I have been in loads of situations where you run against a guy and both unload but we both survive and have engage pistols and run around mad after each other shooting. Pre-patch this never happened. Does anyone share this experience? I don’t really like it.
- Some pistols have as much power as a water pistol.
- Has the Suppressor dramatically reduced the power of the bullets? Fair enough if so.