official Battlefield 3

[Xilo]

Got into Alpha. Not sure if I want to even bother due to Origin. :/

[ViperAFK]

Got into Alpha. Not sure if I want to even bother due to Origin. :/

Origin really isn't that bad...

I suppose it could be an unlucky combination of hardware. I just find it incredibly frustrating getting an alpha code to a game I've been dying to play since they announced it only to find out I can't even run it decently.

In my opinion even on high the game looks worse than BC2 maxed out in it's current state. Nothing looks better, aside from a handful of textures here and there (mostly the weapons and characters, some map textures). I still think BC2 is still one of the most polished looking games available at this point in time.

I'm going to assume it'll only getting better from the Beta onward, but I just fail to see the point in releasing something like an alpha when assumingly a more polished Beta is on the way a little over a month from now. This has done nothing but leave a bad taste in my mouth.

IMO the lighting/shadows is all around far better, especially in the subway... The sunrays are really nice too. Another great touch is the suppression effects. Water is a lot nicer too (but its still way to static, like all the other bf games.)

And dude its an alpha. When I think of alpha software, Polished certainly shouldn't come to mind. Play it for what it is.... I think its pretty polished for an alpha, I've played games in much rougher shape (like the natural selection 2 alpha)

[Sikh]

Havent touched my PC all summer, check my email today and saw I got an invite Last Night / Early this Morning (2am) and I instantly turned on my PC got on and started the dl.

After about half an hour i started playing, i just stopped after a 2 hour gameplay.

Let me tell you, for an alpha, DICE has truly shown its color. The game feels like BF2 again, made for PC. Im running it @ 1280 x 720 and im getting 60+ FPS on HIGH with my 580 GTX.

I cant wait for the beta / official game. I am loving it a lot so far and I cant even begin to tell how excited I am this game is now a reality in my fingertips.

Now back to playing it more!

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Wow! The game looks amazing. Unfortunately, it runs poorly on my Radeon HD 4870 and Core 2 Duo E6750 @ 3.2 GHz. Performance is much better indoors than outdoors (no surprise there). As for image quality, the first thing I noticed was the lighting which looks noticeably better than BC2. The shadows looked better too. And of course, the animations were amazing.

[TheLegendOfMart]

You need a quad core to run this game at its full potential, i think everyone with a dual core is going to suffer.

[gkl]

Nice, now the rest of Neowin are in as well.

Forever alone. :(

How ya liking it?

[Singh400]

Wooooo welcome to the club guys! Feel free to add me on Origin. It's Singh400 (case sensitive). I'll be on much later tonight.

[Lovell]

I'm assuming they've opened it to everyone I just got an alpha code and don't remember even signing up for it.

[idioot]

Then where's my key :crazy: :(

[Digitalx]

Nice, now the rest of Neowin are in as well.

Forever alone. :(

How ya liking it?

Forever alone sucks. :crazy:

I have a feeling they may be regionally restricting it to NA/UK just as quick observe of neowin members getting in. I'm a 4 veteran, signed up for newsletter both battlefield, Medal of honor and gun club got origin account and whole sha-bang and nothing not even a casual news letter.

Their management and issuing of invites is pretty atrocious to say the least... If anyone gets one spare key on second account or something they don't need, if feeling generous I'd like to try it out.

[John Freeman]

I have a feeling they may be regionally restricting it to NA/UK.

Can someone PLEAAASE confirm this as false?

[Singh400]

Can someone PLEAAASE confirm this as false?

Confirmed as false one of my clan mates from Sweden was one of the first to get in.

[John Freeman]

Confirmed as false one of my clan mates from Sweden was one of the first to get in.

Phew, thanks. Still have a chance then.

[Singh400]

Nice, now the rest of Neowin are in as well.

Forever alone. :(

How ya liking it?

Arrr they don't invite noobs :p

I've only played a little bit. Movement is completely different from BC2. I don't feel as agile, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. It's look glorious and sounds fantastic (I'm getting a new headset for it).

Killing people is somewhat harder, they are harder to spot. Or maybe my eyes haven't adjusted yet. Something feels off with hitting your target. Probably tons of other stuff as well. Those were my initial observations.

[Y2Stu]

i want my code :'(

*throws toys out of pram

[Pupik]

I'm still getting "WE'RE SORRY - YOU DON'T MEET THE CRITERIA TO ENTER THIS SITE" error while trying to get a key on https://bf3alpha.battlefield.com

Am I looking in the wrong place, or what :( ?

[Crisp]

I'm still getting "WE'RE SORRY - YOU DON'T MEET THE CRITERIA TO ENTER THIS SITE" error while trying to get a key on https://bf3alpha.battlefield.com

Am I looking in the wrong place, or what :( ?

Me too, first BF game was 1942. Own all BF games with a veteran rank of 8 and played the crap out of BF2 online, also BC2. Own BC2 on Xbox aswell, have pre-ordered BF3 via Origin and Game.co.uk for Xbox 360. Subscribed to BF3 newsletter and EA newsletter ages ago and my email is verified. Also own MoH LE which I only brought for BF3 beta in September.

Apparently, I don't meet the criteria.

<Sarcasm>Maybe it's because the only Call of Duty game I own is Call of Duty 4? Pre-haps if I owned every Call of Duty I would get an invite.</sarcasm>

Anyway, don't care much. I hate Rush with a passion and I've heard the beta will use a different map with more vehicles... hopefully Conquest.

[heslo]

If anyone doesn't want their key, I'll gladly take it :)

[SkyyPunk Veteran]

The beta nvidia drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7-winvista-64bit-280.19-beta-driver.html

I don't see any mention of BF3 though :(

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

The beta nvidia drivers: http://www.nvidia.co...eta-driver.html

I don't see any mention of BF3 though :(

Damn, potentially not good at all.

A friend of mine has virtually the same exact setup as I do, same cards, and since SLi is currently not supported, the game is only running at 25fps on Medium. :(

This is a pretty good example of when SLi can sometimes be a pain in the ass, definitely.

As a fellow BF junkie and Vet... I await your impressions.. ;)

I stopped keeping my rig updated for gaming years ago (still on a FX-55);

So the console version is my only hope. Being this game appears to have been catered to the console player, I'm sure I won't be missing anything (I loved playing Commander in the 2nd).

Will do, you know I will say what I think.

I am really looking forward to checking it out tonight. I definitely will be playing it at some point. No doubt.

[gkl]

From Demize99:

nVidia users, update to the new 280.19 Public Beta drivers!

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Also, does anyone have any idea when the Alpha runs until?

On the email invite, it says the following...

BATTLEFIELD 3 ALPHA TRIAL INSTRUCTIONS

Dates: July 19th - August 1st

So does anyone know if those dates mean when you can sign up for the Alpha, or how long it actually lasts?

From Demize99:

Cool, thanks for sharing, and also Happy Birthday. (Y)

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I read somewhere that it ends on the 1st of August. :/

[Singh400]

Alpha does indeed end on the 1st. My guess is they move to closed beta in August, open beta September and then release in October.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Alpha does indeed end on the 1st. My guess is they move to closed beta in August, open beta September and then release in October.

A mid- to late-August closed beta would be amazing.

Also, be sure to fill out the BF3 alpha survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/P89YDV9

I expressed my concerns about the subway area. It's way too crowded and it's easy to die from a barrage of bullets as you run in. Basically, the defenders have a huge advantage if they set themselves up early with support soldiers.