Sweet. Have had this game reserved since November or December. Can't remember which month haha. Only a couple of more days and all your base will be mine haha.
I know the beta would stomp on your system, but have there been any benchmarks for the final build of the PC version?
I would like to get this at some point.
| IllegalPaladin said: I know the beta would stomp on your system, but have there been any benchmarks for the final build of the PC version? I would like to get this at some point. |
Dunno if this helps
My name is Johan Andersson (Twitter: repi) and I'm one of the architects working on our proprietary Frostbite engine here at DICE.
We've had numerous requests to go through in more detail about what kind of graphical features & options that exists in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for the PC. So this is an attempt at just that.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is based on Frostbite 1.5, but with multiple enhancements and a lot of specific effort spent on building it up and for the PC as this is the first time Frostbite is used on PC.
Frostbite 1.5 on PC is designed for DirectX 10 as a base, this enables us to easily support all the advanced graphics features that we use on the consoles, and much more! DX10 is a very modern graphics API and gives us a lot of flexibility as a developer.
DX10 has one unfortunate draw back though; it is only supported on Windows Vista and Windows 7, not the now 9 year old Windows XP. And as we have a big PC fan base, where not everyone may have transitioned over to Vista or Windows 7 yet, we have also added a rendering path that uses the old DirectX 9.
The DX9 path is quite efficient but lacks some of the features that we have on DX10 like anti-aliasing and HBAO.
For everyone with the new generation of graphics card, like the AMD Radeon 5xxx series or the upcoming Nvidia Geforce 4xx, we've also added support for DirectX 11. The primary uses of DX11 in Bad Company 2 is to soften all the dynamic shadows as well as to improve performance in general with a few smaller DX11 optimizations that we are using.
The detection and usage of DX9/DX10/DX11 is done automatically, the game selects the highest possible version available with your graphics card and OS. If you want to force a given path you can do that in the Settings.ini file by setting 'DxVersion' to any of these options: 9, 10, 11 or auto (default).
The Settings.ini file can be found in My Documents\BFBC2 directory.
Bad Company 2 supports AMD's Eyefinity rendering mode where you can have 3 (or 6!) monitors connected to a single graphics card. The game will then detect that mode and the very wide aspect ratio and render using a wide horizontal field of view and keep the menus & HUDs on the middle display. This can create a very immersive experience if you have the hardware required.
Update: Bad Company 2 is now officially Eyefinity Validated by AMD which is the highest level of support.
Elmnator1 posted this Youtube video showing Eyefinity in the Bad Company 2 PC Beta on his nice setup:
We've been working together with engineers from Nvidia for adding proper support for 3D Vision stereo rendering in Bad Company 2 PC. This support is not enabled in the beta but it will be included in a patch shortly after the release of the retail game.
3D Vision works by rendering a picture for each eye every frame together with a slight offset. Then the 3D glasses together with the compatible displays and drivers correctly select which frame each eye sees to create actual depth perception in the game.
We are also looking forward to trying out the upcoming multi-monitor stereo rendering: 3D Vision Surround.
Expect to see & hear more about both 3D Vision and 3D Vision Surround in Bad Company 2 after the beta!
HBAO stands for Horizon-based Ambient Occlusion and is a rendering technique developed by Nvidia originally and that we have integrated into Frostbite for use on all DX10 and DX11 graphics cards.
It is a technique that creates soft & realistic contact shadows between objects and can really enhance the visuals but in a quite subtle way. It can be a demanding effect for the graphics card and as such is primarily meant for more higher-end cards. It only is a cost on the GPU, not the CPU.
Since the PC Beta we've done a bunch of optimizations on the effect together with both Nvidia and AMD, so if you had performance problems with it before: please give it a shot again in the retail game if you have a modern & fast GPU!
For the full technical details about how HBAO works, see this presentation by Nvidia from SIGGRAPH 2008: Image-Space Horizon-Based Ambient Occlusion.
BC2 uses approximately the same vertical field-of-view on all platforms and modes. But as we support arbitrary monitor aspect ratios, you can get different horizontal FOV on different monitor setups - the wider monitor you have the wider horizontal FOV you get, i.e. you actually see more on the sides of the screen.
As widescreen monitors nowadays are even more common (and actually: the new standard) we felt it was very important to support them properly. Which we do in BC2 thanks to handling arbitrary aspect ratios. A positive side effect of this is that Eyefinity also works as it should, i.e. just like a single very wide monitor.
We've seen overwhelming positive feedback for the out-of-the-box support of Eyefinity, but a few select people have voiced some concern that the wide FOV when playing with Eyefinity would be considered cheating. But now when people have been playing the Beta we haven't heard any feedback that Eyefinity have actually been a big practical competitive advantage, it is meant to give you only extra peripheral vision.
The PC as a platform is inherently not a 100% fair playing field as people have always had varying performance, network connection, hardware setups, input devices and new technology - which is also one of the strengths of the platform and something we, and many PC players, would like us to embrace & utilize.
If the community later collectively agrees that Eyefinity is an actual big advantage in multi-player we can look into potentially having it as a server option, but don't think that will be needed.
Another much requested topic is to have a customizable FOV. This is not implemented in the PC Beta, but we are adding a customizable FOV for a future retail patch. The feedback from the Beta about servers, performance & stability have been of a higher priority and needed to be solved first.
The 'High' texture detail level is not included in the PC beta, but is in the retail game which increase texture resolution a bit.
Support for multiple GPUs (AMD Crossfire / Nvidia SLI) in the first PC Beta build was only partially working and could cause visual artifacts. This is improved on in the latest Beta client and since that version we have done additional performance scaling improvements that should be a good benefit.
We would like to thank both AMD and Nvidia for their technical support and assistance during the development of Bad Company 2. Both with the PC-only advanced features and with helping to make sure the game runs and performs well a wide range of graphics cards and configurations. Special thanks to Louis Bavoil (Nvidia) and Nicolas Thibieroz (AMD).
If you are interested in more details about DirectX 11 as well as some sneak peaks and technical details about our upcoming Frostbite 2 engine, AMD recently did a big interview with me in their on the AMD Underground blog: "11 Days of DirectX 11: DICE". The longer full interview is also available as an pdf here
Keep in mind that the interview is about the future, beyond Bad Company 2.
-- repi
*sigh*
I need to get me a job so I can get the monies to build a new tower. I've got a 64-bit version of Windows 7 installed, but I can't do much with it since my hardware is lacking.
Good job Akvod. It's always great to have official threads.
I'll be picking this up day 1, though won't be able to play until Thursday :(
Add me to friends list if you are looking for another player (Picking this one up for PS3)
Unicorns ARE real - They are just fat, grey and called Rhinos
Update: Please check the second post please. Post your name/console if you would like to have people to play with.
A new challenger has appeared to stake its own claim on the modern warfare throne, and according to our reviewer Mitchell Dyer, Bad Company 2 has the firepower to knock Call of Duty off its lofty perch. Read on to see why EA and DICE's latest effort just might replace Modern Warfare 2 as your FPS of choice.
Two members of my squad have taken too long to radio in our extraction, and the third just impatiently ran off into the storm in search of them. I am alone on a mountainside and can barely see the encroaching enemies through the fog of snow. I have to get farther down and find my team, but the frostbite is starting to overwhelm. My desperate dash to the nearest hillside house slows as my body begins shivering violently, and my vision is fading under a veil of ice. Just as things start going dark, I burst into the house, put a few bullets into its armed occupant and cozy up to the fireplace. My eyesight returns to normal and I'm quickly back outside in the cold, zigzagging from one warm spot to the next, all the while evading enemies.
This moment, which I experienced during a mission in Battlefield: Bad Company 2, perfectly demonstrates why the game is so interesting: it offers a unique and varied take on established FPS genre conventions. In any other game, I would expect to simply run-'n'-gun my way out of a situation like the one I detailed above, so Bad Company 2's unexpected emphasis on survival skills caught me completely off guard. The radical change in pace forced me to think and react differently to the situation than I normally would, and it made for an incredible experience. The best part is that there plenty of other instances like this throughout the game: racing an ATV through a town full of heavily-armed enemies; sniping enemy sentries with a sniper rifle while using the sound of thunder to mask my shots; and blowing the walls out of a building and watching it crumble on top of your enemies -- it's the moment-to-moment excitement of each mission, helped along by the cool and unique objectives, that gives BFBC2's campaign an unforgettable edge.
The core storyline, however, does a poor job of grabbing you. It isn't that it's bad but rather that it basically boils down to four dudes cracking jokes about cheerleaders while shooting the terrorists behind a World War III plot. It works best if you treat it like an action movie; the comparable example that immediately springs to mind is Die Hard: The heroes end up in a situation so crazy, it's practically improbable, but their badass attitudes, loud mouths and itchy trigger-fingers make it worth experiencing anyway. Taking advantage of that simplistic formula, Bad Company 2 pushes the story into the background, meaning it occurs around the action instead of getting in the way of it.
Where it really stumbles is in its reliance on cliches. For instance, your squad is comprised entirely of been-there archetypes like the explosions-obsessed Haggard and the nerdy tech-specialist, Sweetwater. Neither, however, holds a candle to their cigar-chompin' Sergeant: He is not only minutes from retiring but is, as they say, too old for this shit. Like they were in the previous game, they're a predictable lot, but with the help of some solid writing, the squad's deprecating, goofy and profane rapport is genuinely funny. As you progress through BFBC2 you'll also see that they're not as one-dimensional as you originally thought: Sarge grows increasingly agitated about being prematurely brought out of retirement, and Haggard is a big ol' softie.
I also appreciated that the campaign isn't merely a primer for the multiplayer. Yes, the skills you gain during the solo romp will transition over when you hop online but it's an entirely separate entity. It's also remarkably similar to the first Bad Company which, in this instance, is a good thing. It surprised me how familiar everything felt to the first Bad Company, but I quickly realized that BFBC2 isn't trying to reinvent the wheel -- it's merely changing to tires with a better tread. So, rather than bombarding you with oodles of new game types, developer DICE has fine-tuned and modified the familiar favorites to cater to their established fan base.
This is especially evident in the online modes, where the little enhancements not only reinforced what I liked about the original but offered several new ideas to chew on. Where the control point-capturing Conquest mode has been the series' trademark for nearly a decade, Rush is quickly becoming the mode I most expect other multiplayer games to latch onto and players to gravitate toward. Conquest gives two teams the same objective -- hold control points the longest and wear out your enemy's reinforcements -- but Rush puts different layers of stress on a team depending on their objective. Defenders passively wait behind mounted guns or atop vantage points to prevent the struggling offense's efforts to advance.
On the other hand, the attackers always have the opportunity to progress, causing the defenders to frantically retreat to new positions when the explosives are successfully detonated. While similarly structured to Conquest, the push-push-push mentality of constantly destroying enemy control points keeps Rush matches moving along at a quick and satisfying pace. Good thing, too, because the maps are humongous. Areas expand as you destroy their control points, but smart design decisions keep things from getting too messy. As a new sector opens, the last one closes and keeps you focused on going forward. The smaller Squad Rush mode, however, shrinks things down to 4v4 and eliminates the availability of tanks and helicopters. This significantly amplifies the intensity by forcing you to rely on your small team to attack or defend a wide-open area. All of this makes for big, intense, awesome, easily digestible multiplayer matches.
I was only able to sink four hours into these multiplayer modes during EA's prearranged sessions, and while this brief window isn't quite the same as playing against "regular" players after the game's launch, I was impressed with what I saw. I became hooked on BFBC2's multiplayer not just because it's a great shooter, but because it is instantly rewarding. Everything you do -- and I do mean everything -- earns you experience points. High kill-counts bring in the big points, but I grew fond of playing support roles to nickel and dime my way to the top. Defibrillating dead teammates back to life, dishing out boxes of ammo and repairing battered vehicles contributes a considerable amount to earning promotions and earning new weapons.
That the customization doesn't reach the standard set by the similarly satisfying Modern Warfare 2 will likely discourage genre pros, but the list of unlockable guns for the snipers, medics, engineers and balls-out assaulters is seemingly endless. The massive maps and wide variety of combat options also contribute to the fun. I had a blast airdropping across enemy lines, flying choppers, mowing enemies down from a mounted turrets and using the destructible environments to my advantage. The spectacular explosions that accompany tank shells punching concrete also have a drastic effect on the way you and your opponents interact with the world, so obliterate with caution and care to exploit the built-in physics effectively.
With Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2 being regularly victimized by bugs, glitches, hacks and other exploits, there's an opportunity for another game to come in and do some real damage. Bad Company 2 definitely has the necessary chops to give the current king of, well, modern warfare, a run for its money. Aside from its limited weapon tweaking, it hits on all of the same high points as its biggest competition but does it with a style all its own.
PROS: Exciting and unique single-player objectives; multiplayer is rewarding and deep
CONS: Cliche story and archetypal characters could be a bit of a turnoff for some; not many new ideas in the way of multiplayer; limited weapon customization.
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