digital-illusions posts

Battlefield 3 may have just been announced but developer Digital Illusions is also hyping up the new version of its in-house Frostbite game engine. Now a video from a Siggraph presentation has shown up on YouTube that shows off a little more of the engine,

The video, which doesn't show gameplay from Battlefield 3, does show off the real-time radiosity features of the new Frostbite Engine 3 through the use of a middleware program called Enlighten. DICE is still not talking about if Battlefield 3 will include an SDK for mod makers although previous games in the series have had such released. You can check out the video after the jump:

[Via VG247.com]

While we wait for the info from Game Informer's print preview of Battlefield 3 to pop up on the internet, one of the game's designers, Digital Illusions' Alan Kertz, has been giving some hints about the developer's next military shooter to fans via his Twitter page.

While he's not commenting on some issues such as if an SDK will be released or what anti-cheat methods will be used, Kertz is telling fans some small tidbits. Knifes will be in the game as well dogtags, according to Kertz, but there won't be any grapples or zip wires. The bullet drop in the game will be deeper than in Battlefield Bad Company 2. There's a little debate on whether gamepads will have an aim assist for the PC version with Kertz saying, "My concern is people turning on aim assist with a mouse. If we have it you either get aim+pad or mouse, not both."

Battlefield 3 details are starting to leak out to the internet following the multiplayer shooter's official announcement on Friday. Computer and Video Games claims in a new story that a leaked ad for the game shows that the Limited Edition of the Digital Illusions-developed game will provide gamers from content from the series' last installment Battlefield 2.

Specifically, the Limited Edition is supposed to give gamers access to a special four level map pack containing revamped versions of classic Battlefield 2 maps but redone in Battlefield 3's new Frostbite 2 graphics engine. In addition vehicles and weapons from Battlefield 2 will show up in the Limited Edition of Battlefield 3 along with "unique rewards, new Achievements/Trophies and more." Folks who don't pre-order the Limited Edition version of the game will apparently still be able to access its extra via paid DLC sometime after the game is released.

While we wait for the inevitable leaks from the upcoming Game Informer cover story, the official Battlefield web site has now offered up a little more info on the now officially announced Battlefield 3. The blog site states that the next game in developer Digital Illusions' military shooter series will have "a full single-player campaign and a co-op campaign" in addition to the game's popular multiplayer modes.

PC gamers can expect to have support for up to 64 players in online multiplayer. Jets will also be featured in Battlefield 3 and players who like to go prone will be happy to know they will be able to do that in the game as well. Much is being made about the powerful features of the Frostbit 2 graphics engine as well. If you want to go ahead and pre-order the game now you can do so at EA's online store to secure the Battlefield 3 Limited Edition. Details of what the Limited Edition will contain will be revealed later this month.

Update: We now have the teaser trailer for Battlefield 3 which you can check out after the jump.

Download the Battlefield 3 teaser trailer at Big Download

The first details on Battlefield 3 should be revealed very, very soon. Game Informer's web site has just revealed that its next print magazine issue, due in newsstands later this month, will feature a cover story on Digital Illusions' next game in the military shooter franchise.

Details are still scarce but the web site announcing the cover article states that the game will use the next version of DICE's in-house Frostbite Engine which will have new features like "deferred rendering, real-time radiosity, a new animation system borrowed from the EA Sports label, and an exponential leap in destructibility." As we reported earlier today DICE made the design to cancel the PC port of the long awaited Battlefield 1943 to concentrate its resources on Battlefield 3.

Battlefield 1943 for the PC has finally been officially cancelled after PC gamers have spent nearly two years waiting for the promised port of the multiplayer shooter. In a post on the Battlefield blog Karl Magnus Troedsson, the general manager of the game's developer Digital Illusions, stated, "I often need to make hard calls regarding where we put the studio's focus. Part of the challenge is to balance work on the new against the already shipped, prioritizing the amount of energy spent on the known franchises and the time spent on developing something entirely new."

Troedsson stated that while they will continue to support its previously released games such as 2010's Battlefield Bad Company 2, he added that DICE had made the decision to move forward with development of its next game Battlefield 3. He stated, "Our goal is crystal clear: we're going to build the best Battlefield game ever, and we'll do whatever it takes to make this the biggest launch in DICE's history." Therefore the decision was made to cancel development of Battlefield 1943's PC port along with a PC version of Battlefield Bad Company 2's Onslaught mode. Troedsson states, "Instead, our talented teams will focus on delivering the greatest possible gaming experience in our next behemoth release. We're confident this will lead to an even better experience in Battlefield 3, not only on PC, but on all platforms."

Battlefield 1943, basically a graphical remake of some of the maps and content of DICE's first game in the series, Battlefield 1942, was released back in July 2009 for the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles via download. The game went on to become a huge sales hit for the developer and its publisher Electronic Arts. DICE promised a number of times in the that a PC version would be released, stating at one point that the delay was to give PC players more features such as DirectX 10 graphics support, 32 player support in multiplayer and more. As recently as last November a DICE team member said the PC version was still in development.

Last December, the free-to-play shooter Battlefield Heroes from developer Digital Illusions announced that a portion of the proceeds from selling two in-game outfits, the Santa Holiday Set and the Nikolaus Holiday Set will be given to the game-related Child's Play children's hospital charity. Today the game's web site announced that the total amount raised last month from the sales of those items was $ 4,594.

The game's publisher Electronic Arts said that it would match the contributions if the total went over $8,000. While the final amount fell well short of that goal, EA decided to go ahead and match the fund anyway, bringing the final total raised for Child's Play up to $9,188.

Battlefield fans can now go ahead and mark "March 1" on their calendars. That's the date that publisher Electronic Arts plans to finally reveal the first concrete details on Battlefield 3, the next game in the popular first person shooter franchise, according to an article on IGN. The game from developer Digital Illusions has been in development for some time and the PC version will require a DirectX 10-based rig to run.

The reveal will be part of an EA press event at GDC 2011 in San Fransisco which will also feature new hands-on previews of Alice Madness Returns, Crysis 2, and Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning. EA is also expected to reveal more new games at the event.

The install base of Windows XP-based PCs among users of Steam has dropped considerable in just the past few months. The operating system, which is over 10 years old, is now used by only 25 percent or so of Steam users, according to the PC game download site's latest survey figures. That's down from over 33 percent of Steam users from the result of July's survey.

Windows 7, especially in its 64-bit version, is the current king of the hill with over 35 percent of Steam users having the OS installed and its expected that the percentage will continue to grow as more PC gamers update their systems. That's good for people who want to play games that will only run on DirectX 10 or DirectX 11. This weekend some web site spotted info that was actually first announced last summer. Battlefield 3, which will use a new version of developer Digital lllusions' Frostbite Engine, will be a DirectX 10-11 exclusive. That means Windows XP and its DirectX 9 API won't be able to run the game when it comes out in late 2011.

The PC players of the first person shooter Battlefield Bad Company 2 and its just released expansion pack Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam have been busy since the call went out to unlock the fifth map in the expansion pack. Earlier this morning the PC players reached the 69 million team actions goal in the games and as a result unlocked the map, Operation Hastings.

The goal was reached in less than eight days as the race started to unlock Operation Hastings on December 22. At the moment the Xbox 360 and PS3 players of the game are still less than halfway to achieving the same goal as their PC counterparts.