SD, take notes from DICE

(funsize) #1

BF3 is one of the most entertaining multiplayer experiences I’ve ever had. Sure, SD does not have a DICE-sized budget, but they should really take note of how DICE caters to PC gamers and creates a polished product. Thank God for Dice, otherwise PC gaming would continue to die

(zenstar) #2

Erm… that’s just a little hyperbolic isn’t it?
PC gaming is far from dead even without DICE (plenty of PC games out there that are excellent) and plenty more on their way.

(Indloon) #3

SD multiplayer games are cewl,I like the subject.
SD can develop very awesome game what has already done like W:ET,ET:QW and BRINK,but they are dealing with wrong guys…
Bethesda and Zenimax…Can’t understand why they don’t talk with Electronic Arts…

(Humate) #4

BC2 was pretty much a console port.
And BF3 in Beta, took zero skill to play. :wink:

(sereNADE) #5

please, do not take notes from dice; especially when seeking advice for a decent ui. better off being shorthanded than deal with the mess dice makes.

(Cep) #6

Please never say that dirty word again, naughty! slaps wrist

(INF3RN0) #7

I like Valve’s concept of using their non-forum-abled player base to test and give rational feedback in game development, plus the patch support 10 years later too.

(Humate) #8

dice.jpg523×1263 103 KB

^taken from reddit

(Codine) #9

Yeah sure bf3 might be a pc game but it requires no skill to play. The PC community desperately needs a new competitive shooter and BF3 does not deliver. The closest thing we have right now is Red Orchestra 2 but it’s not everybodies cup of tea like ET was.

(montheponies) #10

i wasn’t overly impressed with the bf3 beta - and the bf3 forums aren’t exactly full of pc players singing its praises - lots of critiscism around the game being console baised and a cod wannabe (sounds kinda familiar)…hasn’t stopped me pre-ordering as now doubt i’ll waste some time on the pubfest, but agree that it’s not what I would recognise as a skilled competitive fps (esp when you add in jet/tank whores).

in terms of polish, dues ex is the only recent game that i thought was well presented just a pity i cba playing sp.

(Stormchild) #11

Not talking about game mechanics, it is probably true that they could get inspiration from them on one thing at least (but not only from DICE) : a bloody (semi-)open BETA, with the proper coating of feedback tools and indicators.
I think this could have helped Brink a lot ! I know it did for ETQW for me.

Gameplay-wise, of couse not, because it is a different type of game (that can live side by side IMO), and budget appart, Battlefield is more about atmosphere with rather sluggish movement but large maps imo, while ET games usually have smaller maps but precise and fast movement and room for nimbleness/agility/relfexes to weight in. Well with brink this changes a little bit, but to be honest most FPS now go for a bit more sluggish movement/controls but with increased atmosphere, because it is more accessible to the majority, and also you can only so much with a pad.

I don’t want to turn this into a platform war, but I am just stating an obvious truth. Not that I dislike atmosphere, but I think ET-like games (I mean like WolfET and ETQW) only have a future on PC, meaning with a smaller audience hence budget. If SD is interested in big bucks, they will progressively make it more “accessible”, losing a chunk of the ET legacy, in order to make it more accessible and playable with a pad. Actually it is probably more Bethesda’s decision now.
If it goes this way, I would advise the oldies from SD to quit and form a new small indie company and make a nice ET successor and sell it only on steam/impulse and the like. More freedom, proper ET product (maybe with new name if Beth has the owning rights now, but nothing a bit of communication will not undo), and it can revive/consolidate the PC community.
Let Bethesda make they games for pads (Skyrim :frowning: ) and keep alive the ET legacy !!

(etwolfmod) #12

They could take notes from DICE and put their next game or Brink on Origin instead of Steam.

(Crytiqal) #13

Why would they want to do that?

(tokamak) #14

That would definitely include you :wink:

(Raga) #15

SD take notes from qw and et :wink:

(light_sh4v0r) #16

Yeah, SD take note from me :slight_smile:

(Apocalypse_Pony) #17

I actually agree. They should take a note from the book of EA/Dice (and Actifail/IW for that matter) and give up on originality. It doesn’t sell. Instead, we need Enemy Territory: Modern Battlefield. Have it look like every other modern combat game, but play like an ET game=win. BTW, that includes ET style shooting.

(tangoliber) #18

I know that many of the people here were disappointed by Brink…but I would assume that for most of us, it is much preferred to BF3. I actually don’t mind the browser stuff, but the only thing I think that Splash Damage could take from Dice is optimization.

Personally, I think Splash Damage’s next game should be free to play…not too graphically ambitious so that more focus can be put on feautures. They can sell character customization, and alternate loadouts for each class. You provide a basic Soldier, Medic, Engineer, Operative to every player for free…so that everyone can always switch to the objective class. But then you also sell alternate Medics and things which have different medic abilities, and different weapons. Even if alternate loadouts are weaker than the standard ones, people who enjoy the game will buy them for the variety and for the fun of the abilities. A good example would be the UAV. Its not a required ability by any means, and including in an alternate Operative loadout would not make the game pay 2 win… but people would purchase it for the fun factor, and it can still be useful in certain situations.

Same goes for weapons. I think Resistance 3 is a good game to look towards for multiplayer weapon design. Many of the weapons you unlock at high ranks are not as powerful as the weapons you start with… But they are fun to use because they are unique…such as a revolver that shoots bullets that you can later detonate… Or a gun that freezes opponents…or the bio gun that mutates opponents into zombies that then attack their teammates. If you are just selling a hundred types of SMGs, people wont be that interested…they will just make sure that they have the 1-2 best SMGs. But if you go a little bit in the direction of an arena shooter, you can have highly unique weapons, even while maintaining low spreads. You can offer unique weapons in paid loadouts that don’t make the game pay 2 win. Its just pay for more variety and style.

Some people will miss customization…but honestly, I prefer having weapons and abilities set for classes, as it can make balance more interesting. Some classes can have powerful abilities with weak weapons. If you allow the player to choose any weapon, then you can’t do that…you lose a balancing tool. It gives you more room to make the classes unique, and more freedom for how you design the abilities, since you can weaken the strengthen the class’s weapons if its abilities are too strong or weak.

The benefit of a free to play game over a game that you pay once for is that the game is likely to start with a much more modest base, but one that is competitively sound, and evolve from there. And it can potentially evolve into a much deeper product than it would have been as a 60 dollar game. And most importantly, you get a much bigger community, which is very important.

(zenstar) #19

You don’t need to take notes from DICE for optimization or polish. You can take notes from any optimized and polished game, of which there are plenty. Some of which are indie games.

Look at blizzard for example.

Just because DICE just released something doesn’t make them the sudden genius of the industry.

(Remasters) #20

like almost all games these days I thought BF3 was pretty much geared up for consoles (only played the demo).

the lack of a in game server browser say’s it all tbh. even the IDtech5 game engiine is limited/optimised for consoles.