Battlefield 4 discussion..

[ZaO]

It's well worth using your pistol, they're much better than BF3 IMO, even the stock one(P226? cant remember). Don't get the mag thing, it was stuck on in normal for a while too, sure it's realistic because you do just drop the mags, but if we're going to be realistic with ammo like that, can I have the 10-20 STANAG's I'd really be taking into battle then? Not like 3 or 4. Whole thing just made me like support even more. Fire superiority ftw.

yes. i noticed the pistols are much better in this. i've only actually used the first one you're given. a few times when my main guns clip ran out, so i switched quickly. and the other was just when my main gun was fully out of ammo. but what do you mean by "don't get the mag thing"? is there something you choose that makes you waste bullets in clips when you realod? i still don't get if it's something that just happens in the game by default..

[chuckskull]

I meant I didn't get it game mechanics and balance wise. Seemed pointless.

For what it actually is and does. First thing you need to know is it was meant to be an server side option for Hardcore only but got bugged and was stuck on everywhere for the first few days. Fixed now.

The mechanic itself is pretty simple, when turned on and you reload you lose any bullets remaining in the magazine. Rather than them just being absorbed magically back into your ammo pool. The logic being in BF you're doing the fastest possible reload, dropping the mag to the ground rather than putting it back in your vest pocket for later.

[Dooms]

I cant remember what game it was that did the reloading thing where if you changed mags mid clip you would get that half clip 3-4 reloads later (carry 4 clips and cycle through them basically).

[ZaO]

I meant I didn't get it game mechanics and balance wise. Seemed pointless.

For what it actually is and does. First thing you need to know is it was meant to be an server side option for Hardcore only but got bugged and was stuck on everywhere for the first few days. Fixed now.

The mechanic itself is pretty simple, when turned on and you reload you lose any bullets remaining in the magazine. Rather than them just being absorbed magically back into your ammo pool. The logic being in BF you're doing the fastest possible reload, dropping the mag to the ground rather than putting it back in your vest pocket for later.

right i get ya now. just misunderstood before.. so it does do that in this game then. i think it's kinda cool that way. makes reloading a way more tactical decision now

[Skidmark]

I cant remember what game it was that did the reloading thing where if you changed mags mid clip you would get that half clip 3-4 reloads later (carry 4 clips and cycle through them basically).

Was it the Rainbow Six series?

[Firejack]

Yeah I've seen the Scan servers hopping form 32 to 64 and then falling back to 32 due to stability issues. I'm mainly keeping on 32 player servers for the moment as as you say it does seem to crash out less......

We're pretty much done with the stability/performance testing on the Scan servers. We had the DICE R6 pre-release patch on our servers yesterday and that proved very effective and has been rolled out to all servers.

You'll start seeing the preferred server configs being rolled out in the coming days without all the guess work what exactly the server will be running on any given day.

Across 7 servers we were getting 5+ crashes an hour. Think we're at 4 crashes in total today. Still unacceptable but much improved all the same.

Current server uptime is:
#1/7 - TDM - 20 players - 24 hours
#2/7 - Obliteration - 32 players - 9 hours
#3/7 - Domination - 32 players - 24 hours
#4/7 - TDM - 32 players - 16 hours
#5/7 - Rush and Conquest - 64 players - 1 hour (it crashed )
#6/7 - Conquest - 24 players - 24 hours
#7/7 - Obliteration - 32 players - 3 hours


We have full control over our dedicated server, unlike many others, so if needed we can always sacrifice slots/servers for added stability. CPU spikes/lockups are a big cause of the crashes.

[ZaO]

We're pretty much done with the stability/performance testing on the Scan servers. We had the DICE R6 pre-release patch on our servers yesterday and that proved very effective and has been rolled out to all servers.

You'll start seeing the preferred server configs being rolled out in the coming days without all the guess work what exactly the server will be running on any given day.

Across 7 servers we were getting 5+ crashes an hour. Think we're at 4 crashes in total today. Still unacceptable but much improved all the same.

Current server uptime is:
#1/7 - TDM - 20 players - 24 hours
#2/7 - Obliteration - 32 players - 9 hours
#3/7 - Domination - 32 players - 24 hours
#4/7 - TDM - 32 players - 16 hours
#5/7 - Rush and Conquest - 64 players - 1 hour (it crashed )
#6/7 - Conquest - 24 players - 24 hours
#7/7 - Obliteration - 32 players - 3 hours


We have full control over our dedicated server, unlike many others, so if needed we can always sacrifice slots/servers for added stability. CPU spikes/lockups are a big cause of the crashes.

Yeh I've definitely seen improvements today. Still messing up and crashing too often though as you say. Seeing as you know about these servers, can you tell me something - are you able to set the minimap on for Hardcore mode? It seems to be off in every server I play.. Thanks.

[Firejack]

Not tried it myself.
Reading the Server Docs it specifically says for the HARDCORE preset, minimap should be set to OFF. You can turn it on but that would change the server to a CUSTOM preset. You can try searching for such a CUSTOM server in the advanced filters on Battlelog.



#5/7 restarted again after CPU usage went crazy. Server will drop back to 48 players on the next restart.

[ZaO]

Not tried it myself.
Reading the Server Docs it specifically says for the HARDCORE preset, minimap should be set to OFF. You can turn it on but that would change the server to a CUSTOM preset. You can try searching for such a CUSTOM server in the advanced filters on Battlelog.

#5/7 restarted again after CPU usage went crazy. Server will drop back to 48 players on the next restart.

Ah I see, thanks. I normally filter servers by minimap + minimap spotting on but 3d spotting off. And leave the Normal, Hardcore and Custom presets unticked. This usually gets me good results. However, the filters don't seem to stay on when you tick them. So I'm not able to search like this right now. I wonder if air radar still works on Hardcore. Maybe they want to make more people play the "Normal" mode..

[Biscuit]

i got this at the weekend and have really struggled with it. I picked up BF3 quite quickly but just cannot seem to get into a decent roll on BF4.

Reckon we could get a Hexus team on comms smashing some public servers at some point?

[AETAaAS]

Since no one has brought it up yet, I'd like to talk about the turd sandwich that is the single player campaign. Leaving the story alone, which is at best a confused mess, the cinematic to gameplay ratio is pretty woeful especially if you are the rapid fire rusher I tend to be in SP games (because of the fear of infinite-spawn-clown-car) enemies. At least there are some goodies to be had including the M412 Rex and;

QBZ95-1 - In my opinion, one of the most balanced LMGs in the game. It doesn't weigh you down, has a good fire rate and fast reloads make it formidable in the short to medium range. Paired with heavy barrel and an ACOG (canted sights are a good pair), you are going to be pushing your fire up to sniper range but still be quick and ready in close quaters.
P90 - Need I say more? Good damage, a large clip and the fire rate to go with it make the P90 a scary CQB weapon to go up against.
M249 - One of the more controllable belt fed LMGs and tied for the fastest fire rate. Its high mobility and ease of use make it an attractive choice for rushing to pour fire from defensive flag positions early on in conquest maps.

You are going to have to swallow the especially bitter fruit of the last level for these. A level which unnecessarily puts in a decision point and has you watching the game more than actually playing it. Plus you are going to have to do it 3 times to get all the endings and weapons, so it's a good job that these weapons are at least something you would WANT to have rather than some dogtags or other trinkets.

It's worth noting that it takes a while for Battlelog to update the achieve after you complete the 2nd and 3rd goes, so leave it overnight or something to unlock those weapons.

[Dooms]

Single Player? Whats that then?

Honestly... Bad Company 1 was the only BF game I played the single player in but I'm tempted to force my way through the BF4 campaign just because it unlocks some stuff for use in MP - I don't know why they even bothered. Titanfall have the right idea of just dropping single player and focusing on the MP because they know what the game is.

Oh another note there are some good tips posted on the battlelog forums: http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4...5218161358535/

[shaithis]

Single player is a tad of a letdown, the ship sections make me physically ill due to the FOV and narrow corridors

I also feel they tried to make it look too good. My settings for 60 FPS ultra on MP end up going to a slideshow at moments on the SP!

[ik9000]

Single Player? Whats that then?

Honestly... Bad Company 1 was the only BF game I played the single player in but I'm tempted to force my way through the BF4 campaign just because it unlocks some stuff for use in MP - I don't know why they even bothered. Titanfall have the right idea of just dropping single player and focusing on the MP because they know what the game is.

Oh another note there are some good tips posted on the battlelog forums: http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4...5218161358535/

I still play BF2 on single player 64bot mod. When your net connection sucks it's all you can do.

[ZaO]

Since no one has brought it up yet, I'd like to talk about the turd sandwich that is the single player campaign.

Nobody buys BF for the singleplayer lol... It never even used to have singleplayer. Well, you could battle bots to practice multiplayer. But that was it. I do play through the SP first in the games that have it though. Just see it as a way to get familiar with the game before you jump into the multiplayer. The thing that really ruined the SP in this one for me was the horrible FOV. It just made me feel sick and dizzy!

Single Player? Whats that then?

Honestly... Bad Company 1 was the only BF game I played the single player in but I'm tempted to force my way through the BF4 campaign just because it unlocks some stuff for use in MP - I don't know why they even bothered. Titanfall have the right idea of just dropping single player and focusing on the MP because they know what the game is.

Oh another note there are some good tips posted on the battlelog forums: http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4...5218161358535/

Most of that I know. But there are some really cool tips in there! This one "* Pressing E on a dead soldier when medic will automatically switch you to the defibrellator paddles and revive (brings back weapon after revive). - CryptiKau" is a great tip. I bet that not a lot of people know that!

[AETAaAS]

Nobody buys BF for the singleplayer lol... It never even used to have singleplayer. Well, you could battle bots to practice multiplayer. But that was it. I do play through the SP first in the games that have it though. Just see it as a way to get familiar with the game before you jump into the multiplayer. The thing that really ruined the SP in this one for me was the horrible FOV. It just made me feel sick and dizzy!

I know that. I've played Battlefield since 1942 and remember the single player campaign was a hastily cobbled together sequence of the multiplayer maps with bots and barely additional story or writing to go with it. Towards the end of it's life, I spent way more time playing Forgotten Hope and Desert Combat.