official Battlefield 3

[+BeLGaRaTh Subscriber¹]

:( only just got online again after my P blew up due to knobhead workers doing my bathroom and kitchen. Anyway have had the invite for a few days so used it, downloaded the game and two issues. WTF is the deal with installing it through Orible (sorry Origin) and then it launching from the damn browser? Secondly howq do you actually play the game filtering servers so not to show full or empty and then trying tpo join gets a constant server full message in the bottom left. Using the quick match just gives a Joining Server (MYIS.net) which sits there for around 10 minutes (then I get bored and close it) It's totally PISHING me off :(

[SMELTN]

Just got my alpha invite.

As the email states, I will not public ally post any information about the game though, as always, NDA is in effect.

Hope others here get in as well though

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Using the specs in my sig. Running @ 1920x1200. I'm getting a solild 80+ fps. This is on Auto, I haven't it customized it yet. I suspect I can squeeze a few more out with Retail and a proper config. Is it bad that I'm thinking about grabbing another HD6950 and dropping Crossfire on this rig just for BF3? :D

Top right hand side of Battelog there is a white search box. Input the name into there and hit search. Then click "Send Friend Request" next to name in the profile.

Just spoke to him and he said SLi is definitely working for him. "Scales perfectly" his words.

Once you unlock a quality scope you steam through the unlocks. I've unlocked a crap load of stuff once I got my scope.

Tut tut. I would never fall for that kind of offer. Thank god for the open beta! :D

Cool, will check out the friends thing.

And can you please ask your friend what he did to get SLi working? None of the drivers released by Nvidia support SLi, not even the latest Betas. I forced it on my own using Nvidia Inspector, and it worked but had an absolutely detrimental effect. Went down to 10 FPS and never went higher.

And I actually got MoH gifted to me from someone I did some graphic design for. ;) With that said, I am one of the few who did enjoy the SP, so for me it was worth it for that. The BF3 Beta was just an added incentive.

Hope others here get in as well though

That's the same one all of us have already been in no?

Does it say August 1st toward the bottom?

[SMELTN]

Cool, will check out the friends thing.

And can you please ask your friend what he did to get SLi working? None of the drivers released by Nvidia support SLi, not even the latest Betas. I forced it on my own using Nvidia Inspector, and it worked but had an absolutely detrimental effect. Went down to 10 FPS and never went higher.

And I actually got MoH gifted to me from someone I did some graphic design for. ;) With that said, I am one of the few who did enjoy the SP, so for me it was worth it for that. The BF3 Beta was just an added incentive.

That's the same one all of us have already been in no?

Does it say August 1st toward the bottom?

10-4 I am ready to go

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

10-4 I am ready to go

Cool. You should also get a very similar email after playing it a little, saying thank you, feedback can be here, blah blah blah. I just got it this morning.

To follow up on the whole SLi thing...

Thread On Nvidia.com saying it does not work

Thread on Battlelog forums.

Another thread on Battlelog about FPS, where a few people are sharing the fact SLi is not working.

I am definitely open to hear what those who are saying it does work did, and I am really open to seeing some screens with the SLi visual indicator enabled showing SLi is working, and a FRAPS FPS indicator somewhere as well. That will make me a believer. Honestly in the meantime, not really going to trust anyone claiming they have it working until I see some actual proof. If and when I have had to get SLi working in the past, I have had no problem doing so. Yet I am completely not able to get it working on this game. So I do have to say that makes me doubt some people claiming it does work, especially when the majority of people seem to be saying it does not.

And honestly, again, as I pointed out before, just 1 GTX 570 working should make the game run very well. I took two screens showing the performance on BFBC2, and Dirt 3, both with DX11 enabled.

As you can see, the 570 outperforms the 460 by roughly a little less than 50%. So truth is anyone with a 570 should be getting very good performance on just one of them.

With all that said, stranger things have happened, maybe somehow just specific models have SLi enabled. I guess I am just saying I am very confident in saying the 460 definitely cannot have it enabled.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Also - Feel free to add me on Battlelog anyone, DirtyLarry is my name.

[Singh400]

And can you please ask your friend what he did to get SLi working? None of the drivers released by Nvidia support SLi, not even the latest Betas. I forced it on my own using Nvidia Inspector, and it worked but had an absolutely detrimental effect. Went down to 10 FPS and never went higher.

To follow up on the whole SLi thing...

Thread On Nvidia.com saying it does not work

Thread on Battlelog forums.

Another thread on Battlelog about FPS, where a few people are sharing the fact SLi is not working.

He said you have to be using the latest beta drivers. And he is using the BC2 profile to get it working.

Also: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=206139&view=findpost&p=1272066

"Update. These are working on my rig in SLI but there is no profile for bf3. Just leave drivers at default state and run alpha and you should get better frames. Profile will be in whql soon."

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

He said you have to be using the latest beta drivers. And he is using the BC2 profile to get it working.

Also: http://forums.nvidia...dpost&p=1272066

"Update. These are working on my rig in SLI but there is no profile for bf3. Just leave drivers at default state and run alpha and you should get better frames. Profile will be in whql soon."

I actually already tried both of those suggestions last night. I installed the beta drivers as soon as they were released, and as soon as I saw SLi was not working by default, I immediately started playing with Nvidia Inspector, That is just a tool that lets you create different profiles just like the drivers let you do, so I created a new profile, duplicated the BFBC2 profile file and used it, duplicated my Bulletstorm profile, etc. And I indeed got SLi working, I am not saying it does not outright work, but it actually destroyed my frame rate instead of helping it. Which leads me to believe SLi was not released as promised as the game itself is not capable of handling it without an update. I can literally get SLi to work on absolutely every game I run, that is the easy part. Forcing it is extremely easy. However if the game itself does not natively support it, it can indeed have a detrimental effect. The latest Need For Speed game is another game I can remember that SLi actually made it run much, much worse, and it was not until they patched it with an update SLi helped and did not hinder it.

And I did see those comments when I read that thread and linked to it, and I hate to nitpick, but technically the second guy is not even saying it worked for him, he is just suggesting to copy the BFBC2 profile since that is pretty much common sense if you try and get working SLi often. As I said I tried it last night almost immediately. And also that quote above, all he says are the drivers are working in his SLi rig and "you should get better frames." If SLi was working, one would definitely get more than "better frames." Just better optimized drivers, such as these latest beta drivers, will indeed give one "better frames" as they did for me, but SLi usually doubles my frame rate, so there is no "should" about it.

So I am just skeptical as I have tried all of the above suggestions, and I do see more people just stating it is not working for them, including a friend of mine IRL, who we have very identical rigs, and literally have the same exact cards. Some model, same brand. Also not working for him.

Like I said, if it is working for some people, more power to them. If that is the case it somehow has to just be working for certain cards, perhaps the 500 series and not the 400. That is possible. Based on my experience though, I am skeptical, and about the only thing that will prove it to me is screenshots, and even still those can be faked.

At the end of the day, it is not the end of the world, and honestly since some retail games do not even have SLi upon their actual release, it is definitely not expected. I was more or less sharing my experience with others, an experience that definitely seems to be shared among other 400 series owners who also run SLi.

[Lexcyn]

As if I haven't been invited yet. My veteran status is 5 and I've been signed up to the newsletter. :(

[DrJohnSmitherson]

I get 25-40fps. 30 on avg. id say. It feels very smooth though!

To go over my specs again

Q6600 3GHz

4GB 1066

Nvidia 460 1GB

Win 7 64bit

1920x1080

7200 rpm drive 32mb

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

And me fully being able to admit when I am wrong, all of a sudden SLi works now! I just confirmed with my friend, and he said earlier today it was not working, then all of a sudden it is. Default new beta drivers, nothing done, so it looks like they may have enabled something on their end. (Y)

So I was wrong about them not working now, but they definitely did not work. :p

With that said, I now get around 40 FPS. Not the improvement I was hoping for. :cry:

[SMELTN]

So downloading now. Everyone add me to your friends list. Name is : Smeltn

Specs are:

Intel Core2Quad Q9550

4gig ram

64bit windows 7 Ultimate

2x Nvidia GeForce GTX 260's running SLi

64gig SSD

I am running the 8.17.12.7550 Driver released on 6/15/2011

edit: Updating to the new

Version: 280.19 ^BETA

Release Date: 2011.07.28

Since I see its out now

[gkl]

I get 25-40fps. 30 on avg. id say. It feels very smooth though!

To go over my specs again

Q6600 3GHz

4GB 1066

Nvidia 460 1GB

Win 7 64bit

1920x1080

7200 rpm drive 32mb

Ugh, looks like I might have to upgrade my GFX card. :/ Got the same setup except a better CPU (Phenom II X4 965) and slightly faster RAM (1300). I guess a 6950 might be a good choice? Are there any new products to be expected from AMD and Nvidia around the release?

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

And just to follow up, I played with some more settings just now. when i was speaking of my FPS prior to this, when i was running full screen, I was also going for native resolution of my monitor, as I always do with every game, so that is 1920 x 1080. When I changed it to 1600 x 1200 or 1080, forget which one right now, the game actually runs at a decent FPS, about 55 on average. I can more or less live with that. But obviously it did not look that good, and a lot of screen tearing as well. It was not ideal on the graphics side.

Windowed mode is still the mode for me. Was getting 80 FPS before, and it runs great. It is just I cannot change the size of the actual window in Windowed mode, so it is actually running at 1280 x 720 actually, so that explains why I am getting the 80 FPS. I really wish when I changed the resolution of Window mode, it changed it. Does not matter what I choose, if it is Windowed, it stays that size. Just bizarre.

Also whatever they did to enable SLi, the game now simply does not like. I cannot make it through a round without the game freezing or crashing outright. Literally not a single round. Oh well. I will wait until the next Alpha comes around I guess, maybe it will like my cards a bit more.

[Cyplex]

I don't understand this either.... I have:

1) Veteran level 4

2) at least BC2 play time of 11d 16h and BF2 play time of over 50 days and

3) am signed up to the newsletter yet I not qualify for the alpha?

Needless to say I was on the MoH beta / own the game and I purchased EAs preorder of BF3 limited.

What am I missing here?

[Lexcyn]

I don't understand this either.... I have:

1) Veteran level 4

2) at least BC2 play time of 11d 16h and BF2 play time of over 50 days and

3) am signed up to the newsletter yet I not qualify for the alpha?

Needless to say I was on the MoH beta / own the game and I purchased EAs preorder of BF3 limited.

What am I missing here?

Yeah I know how you feel. I am sitting here looking at my Origin friends list seeing people playing it right now ... :(

[Singh400]

And me fully being able to admit when I am wrong, all of a sudden SLi works now! I just confirmed with my friend, and he said earlier today it was not working, then all of a sudden it is. Default new beta drivers, nothing done, so it looks like they may have enabled something on their end. (Y)

So I was wrong about them not working now, but they definitely did not work. :p

With that said, I now get around 40 FPS. Not the improvement I was hoping for :cry:

I won't say "I told you so" :p

I don't understand this either.... I have:

1. Veteran level 4
   
2. At least BC2 play time of 11d 16h and BF2 play time of over 50 days and
   
3. Am signed up to the newsletter yet I not qualify for the alpha?
   

Needless to say I was on the MoH beta / own the game and I purchased EAs preorder of BF3 limited.

What am I missing here?

Yeah I know how you feel. I am sitting here looking at my Origin friends list seeing people playing it right now...:(

Fellas I wouldn't worry too much about it now. Alpha sign up is now official closed and the Alpha ends on 01/08/11. Then I'm pretty sure all of us get kicked out.

[Olemus]

Using the specs in my sig. Running @ 1920x1200. I'm getting a solild 80+ fps. This is on Auto, I haven't it customized it yet. I suspect I can squeeze a few more out with Retail and a proper config. Is it bad that I'm thinking about grabbing another HD6950 and dropping Crossfire on this rig just for BF3? :D

What resolution are you running at? At 1080p with an i7-920 (3.8GHZ) I can only manage around 50-55fps in the outdoor areas on a single one of my 6950s, with crossfire it's anything between 80-120. Both with modded 6950 bioses (Shaders only)

[Singh400]

Couple things annoying me now. Campers (bushwhackers I call em), dolphin diving - seriously just remove prone - or make the animation slower and locked out of shooting. It should be 2.5 secs long and not ability to shoot until you are fully prone. And a distinct lack of teamwork. I constantly find myself arming/disarming. I've only seen the fourth stage of Operation Metro twice. Seriously, players need to buck up their ideas.

What resolution are you running at? At 1080p with an i7-920 (3.8GHZ) I can only manage around 50-55fps in the outdoor areas on a single one of my 6950s, with crossfire it's anything between 80-120. Both with modded 6950 bioses (Shaders only)

...

Using the specs in my sig. Running @ 1920x1200. I'm getting a solild 80+ fps. This is on Auto, I haven't it customized it yet. I suspect I can squeeze a few more out with Retail and a proper config. Is it bad that I'm thinking about grabbing another HD6950 and dropping Crossfire on this rig just for BF3? :D

To be fair I've only had FRAPS running during one session. And in that one session it hovered in the 80s (average). I try not to have too much stuff running as I don't want the game to throw a wonky (which it does anyway at the end of every match).

I've got a modded HD6950 too (again shaders only). You using the latest drivers? I think they came out a couple of days ago.

[SMELTN]

How in the heck do I change my key bindings?

[Olemus]

...

To be fair I've only had FRAPS running during one session. And in that one session it hovered in the 80s (average). I try not to have too much stuff running as I don't want the game to throw a wonky (which it does anyway at the end of every match).

I've got a modded HD6950 too (again shaders only). You using the latest drivers? I think they came out a couple of days ago.

Sorry I'm blind and didn't see your resolution (It's late and I should probably be sleeping :p)

Yeah using the 11.8 betas that came out the same time as the full 11.7 release the other day. In fact, I don't think I've tested with crossfire off on the new drivers yet, I'll have to try it out tomorrow and see if it improved at all.

How in the heck do I change my key bindings?

Unfortunately you can't in the alpha build.

[gkl]

dolphin diving - seriously just remove prone - or make the animation slower and locked out of shooting. It should be 2.5 secs long and not ability to shoot until you are fully prone.

Demize99 supposedly fixed that.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

I won't say "I told you so" :p

Nah, you definitely can, no doubt. You did tell me so. But I take comfort in the fact knowing we were both right. ;)

Okay, so last update with graphics situation. As I said before, game just kept crashing on me, did not take me very long to figure out it was because I was ****ing with the graphics to much. :D

This also led me to figure out how to get Windowed mode to stick. You have to choose a Window size, quit the game completely, then launch it again. That is the only way a new chosen window size will work, at least on my end. But it was great, was able to set it to 1680, so it took up more of my screen than the 1280, no doubt, and I was getting around 80 FPS. It was actually running like a dream. Real happy about that fact. So I just have to hope when the retail is released, it handles full screen better, which I have to be confident it will. As I said before, it is bizarre to me that right now the game actually runs better in Windowed mode, as that is almost never the case. So this fact leaves me somewhat hopeful full screen will at some point run well.

And I truly have to say, once I settled into the 1680 windowed mode and just accepted that was going to be my best option and finally just played the game, Wow. I really, really do love it. It is without a doubt a hybrid between BF2 and BFBC2, and that is nothing but a great thing IMO. I had not even gone prone the entire time I was messing with the graphics, and it feels good to be able to do that again in a BF game. I actually do a little Recon when that is the case, and I was pretty decent at it. With that said, I do feel recon may be overpowered, but still was fun to play. And once I settled down into my usual Assault role, had some epic skirmishes on foot, especially at the escalators in the subway. Damn good time.

So yeah. Just based on what I finally played with no interruptions, this is the only game I will be playing for a very long time once it is released. This is a fact. So much so I probably am going to upgrade my GPU just to get it to run better. If a envision myself easily playing this game for at least 6 months if not longer, why would I not invest in it performing as good as it possibly can is the way I see it. Thankfully I am fortunate enough to have a decent career right now, so I can make such rash decisions. :rofl: In fact I may have 2 Nvidia EVGA 460 GTX's on sale very soon, which I am pretty sure I can switch the warranty over on no problems at all.

[Singh400]

Delayed?

New date is on the Origin client.

[Pupik]

^ Damn, an extra month of waiting :(

edit: Or maybe just an error. http://www.battlefie...om/battlefield3 still shows October, and when you click on the link brings you to an Origin sale page that still says October too: http://store.origin....lefield3_US_LE/