Ever since the release of Battlefield 3, various glitches, exploits, and annoying bugs that have plagued the game. With these glitches comes the requisite cheaters as well, with hundreds of gamers taking advantage of some of the holes in the game. DICE promised gamers that a client-side fix was in the pipeline that would address many of the issues being raised by legitimate gamers, and they have followed through on that promise with the first patch for Battlefield 3.
Not only will the client and server update try to eliminate the glitches and various cheaters who are running around the virtual battlefield right now, but it is DICE's intention that the patch will help the PC crowd run the game much more smoothly. Given the steep list of system requirements for Battlefield 3 on PC, this is a very welcome update to say the least.
Besides the general improvements to performance and loading times, here is a list of some of the key fixes for the client-side of the update:
- "Black Screen" fix for an issue occurring on some PC configurations
- Stereo and rendering support for Nvidia and AMD graphics cards
- Fixed crashing issue for multiplayer and co-op sessions
- Fixed the negative mouse acceleration issue
- Cannot damage a friendly vehicle when sitting in an open position
- Eliminated spawning next to enemies in TDM, SQDM, or Conquest
- Balancing tweaks for weapons
- Fixed a problem regarding key bindings while playing
- Join Squad interface modified (see below)
A few server-side updates were made, including the EOD Bot exploit fix and various crash fixes. Support for unranked servers was added, as well. A full list of the features in the entire update can be found in the Battlelog.
As mentioned above, several tweaks to Squad functionality will make it easier to play with friends. Initially, the servers attempted to equal each side, so joining with friends could impact the balance of the game, while joining with platoons made the situation even worse. On the PC, players can now highlight several squads and select which one they wish to join. The Squad Privacy option still allows players to make 2-man Squads, which can lead to no squad position in 64-player sessions.
For the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of Battlefield 3, a patch is coming shortly, but due to the consoles' certification processes, it will be released after the already-available PC version. After the patch is applied, players will be able to cycle through the list and select which Squad they wish to join.
Considering the laundry list of changes that were implemented with this first update, Battlefield 3 has earned high marks from this gamer, especially with the holiday shopping season bearing down on us. With more glitches sure to be found, one can only hope that DICE eliminates them in just as timely a fashion as they have done here, and that the entire process does not become some big game of whack-a-mole.
What do you think of the first Battlefield 3 patch? What do you want to see addressed in the next update?
Battlefield 3 is now available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
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Source: Battlefield Blog