digital-illusions posts

You may remember a few days ago that folks were getting scammed into sending their personal info thanks to a fake Battlefield Bad Company 2 beta sign up dealie. Well today we have some official news about the beta test for the upcoming first person shooter.

First the bad news: Folks who have a PS3 will get first crack at the beta test for the Digital Illusions-developed game. The PS3 beta begins on November 19 via a code that folks can get when the pre-order the game from several retailers. The good news is that the PC version of the beta will be launched sometime in December and a full blown multiplayer demo will be released for all of the game's platforms in early 2010 ahead of the game's release on March 2.

While Infinity Ward continues its cone of silence on the PC dedicated server issue for Modern Warfare 2, its rival developer Digital Illusions continues to (indirectly) hammer on the fact that their upcoming shooter Battlefield Bad Company 2 will support such servers in their March 2010 game. The latest shot across the bow comes on the game's official blog site where they reproduce a fan letter from a gamer who sent in the $60 he would have spent on Modern Warfare 2.

We are not quite sure why DICE continues to not name Infinity Ward or Modern Warfare 2 in these kinds of posts. Indeed they black out any mention of the game or developer in their reproduction of the fan's letter. It's pretty clear they are not talking about the lack of dedicated servers for Nancy Drew: Warnings at Waverly Academy.

Meanwhile Infinity Ward is still dodging questions about the issue. An online chat sponsored by Best Buy with members of the development team had tons of PC-related questions from fans. However, Infinity Ward members would not comment if dedicated servers might return in a future patch for the game nor would they comment on if mod tools for the PC version would be released. They did confirm that the upper limit for multiplayer games in the PC version will be 18 players, far less than the 32 player support PC owners of previous Call of Duty games are used to.

Looks like some folks are using Battlefield: Bad Company 2 as a way to get a hold of your personal info. Apparently there's been some reports of some fake beta sign ups for the upcoming first person shooter and the folks at the game's developer Digital Illusions want those people to know that those sites are not being run by them.

In a post on the game's official blog site, producer Gordon Van Dyke states, "As of today there is no official Battlefield Bad Company 2 Beta and I wanted to warn people out there of fake/hoax sites perpetrating to have a sign-up for one." He adds, "Please do not let these e-tards take advantage of your enthusiasm for BFBC2 in their scam and only give them the middle-finger if anything." As usual if a beta for the game really begins sign-ups we will report on such a beta at Big Download.

Digital Illusions' March 2010 release of their first person shooter Battlefield Bad Company 2 just got a little more interesting with the reveal today of a Limited Edition Version of the game. The special version will be sold at the same price as the standard version but will feature six in-game items that will be unlocked immediately.

Four of the items are vehicle related (Improved Vehicle Armor, Supreme Vehicle Firepower, Vehicle Motion Sensor, Tracer Dart Pistol) while the other two are weapons from DICE's recent downloadable game Battlefield 1943 (M1A1 Submachine Gun and M1911 Pistol). The Limited Edition will be sold while supplies last.

Last week a "tweet" was posted up by a producer at Digital Illusions that, without naming names, pretty much slammed Infinity Ward's stance on not providing dedicated servers for the PC multiplayer portion of Modern Warfare 2. Now the developer has gone well beyond 140 characters in a new blog entry that explains their own opinions on the topic. Once again they state that their upcoming FPS Battlefield: Bad Company 2, like all of their previous Battlefield games, will have dedicated server support for the PC version.

Again without naming names, producer Gordon Van Dyke states, "A lot of buzz has been floating around the internet lately about dedicated servers . . ." That's certainly true. Digital Illusions feels that peer-to-peer solutions for PC players are not the best as they are dependent on the host's connection. Van Dyke states, "With dedicated servers everyone gets non-stop action with no connection penalties based on some other player and their internet. This makes dedicated servers the best solution for online PC gaming hands down!"

Van Dyke adds, "So rest assured PC players, Battlefield will stay true to its roots offering dedicated servers to all its players and continue the tradition of the ultimate FPS gaming experience!" Sounds like the developer wants some of the business that it thinks might be dumping Modern Warfare 2.

It's clear that a lot of PC gamers who were hoping to enjoy Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 are very upset at the surprise decision by developer Infinity Ward to abandon dedicated server support in favor of a matchmaking service hosted by the developer. Many PC gamers enjoy the freedom of hosting their own servers, allowing for mods to be run on their own machines and generally having more control of their own multiplayer experience.

A few hours after the "no dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2" decision was revealed, an interesting "tweet" from Digital Illusions' Battlefield producer KM Troedsson was made. While Modern Warfare 2 was not named, it's clear he had the game in mind when he wrote, "Dedicated servers FTW. What ever secures a better online experience is a given for us." Hopefully that means DICE will continue to release that kind of support for future Battlefield games for the PC, including Battlefield Bad Company 2, the PC port of Battlefield 1943 and the (officially unannounced) Battlefield 3.

[Via Kotaku]

Gallery: Battlefield Bad Company 2

Xbox 360 and PS3 owners have had the privilege of being able to purchase, download and play Battlefield 1943 since last July. Now PC gamers can put down money to pre-order the long delayed PC port of the multiplayer shooter from developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts.

The EA Store web site is now taking pre-orders for the game which has a $14.99 price tag. That's in line with what the console versions currently cost to download. After scheduling a September release for the PC port, EA decided to push the PC version back to the first quarter of 2010. At the time the producer of the game stated the delay was necessary to put in PC specific features such as "support for DirectX 9 and 10, higher player count (up to 32-player matches), wide peripheral support i.e. Joysticks for flying, VoIP, and ranked server provider hosting."

As promised, developer Digital Illusions and publisher Electronic Arts have released their big "Heroes of the Fall" content update for their free-to-play shooter Battlefield Heroes. The update includes an all new map which has now gotten a title, Riverside Rush.

Other updates include allowing the Hero Shield to be shared with other teammates, having the explosion of the Keg slow down its victim's moments and letting Frenzy mode add health to the person who uses it. There are also some new items and bundles added to the game along with a number of bug fixes as well as changes to the game updater and menus. You can check out the entire change list for the update after the jump:

Electronic Arts is using the occasion of celebrating their 2 million registered user for Battlefield Heroes to announce plans for an all new map that will be added to the free-to-play shooter on September 30. The map itself, pictured above, is an infrantry-based level "set in a village with dozens of intersecting canals."

The map doesn't have a name yet and the game's developers at Digital Illusions are asking for suggestions from Battlefield Heroes players. The update will also include the previously revealed additions to the Gunner character class as well as improvements to the game's Friends list and the new player ranking system.

Digital Illusions got their start in Sweden where they released Battlefield 1942, the first in a long line of Battlefield games from the dev studio. Now one of the co-founders of DICE, Fredrik Liljegren, has helped to launch a new Canadian studio that recently launched a free-to-play browser based action game.

The company is called Antic Entertainment which Liljegren formed with the help of two former members of Digital Extremes. Their first game is called Junk: Battles, The post-apocalypse setting gives the game its theme as players create vehicles that they put in action-strategy battles online with other players. While free-to-play, you can also purchase upgradable parts and items for your vehicles (over 220 parts are available). While Antic Entertainment is currently working on web browser-based games they hope to expand to "all viable platforms."