Total Battlefield

As of 08.18.2008, Punkbuster released a server side update aimed at tackling Macros/hotkeys. It will be flexible to give admins some decisions on how it works. Here is what they had to say:

Version 1.683 of the PB Server for BF2 has been released to our PB Master Servers for auto-update and to our website download page.

Release Notes for PB Server v1.683:

The setting pb_sv_restrictions will now accept a value of 2 for cases where a server admin wants PunkBuster to be more restrictive with regard to certain macro or hot key type programs; pb_sv_restrictions will continue to default to the value of 1; admins who want to enforce the additional restrictions must configure "pb_sv_restrictions 2" either at the command line or in the pbsvuser.cfg configuration file in the server's pb folder

We are interested in hearing feedback from both players and server owners on the effectiveness of this update.

1UP has released a lengthy video today that shows off some more of the gameplay in Battlefield Heroes. Check it out below:

The guys over at AMD Zone have posted up some new performance benchmarks for Battlefield Heroes today. Check it out:

FRAPS was used for testing and unfortunately on the Village map in the game. Benchmarking FRAPS isn't the most accurate all the time but a multi-player game adds in added variations. We tried to re-produce the same exact results though despite these results we feel are very accurate but take them with somewhat a grain of salt that FRAPS adds.

The game is very limited in graphics options from "High", "Medium", and "Low" being the only options with no details or advanced section. The gameplay matches the engine in it's simplicity so that isn't a big deal, as you'll see the game runs well even on "High" even on older hardware.

For more details from this benchmark be sure to visit here.

The Battlefield Heroes website was updated today with a wrap up from Games Convention 2008. Check it out:

GC `08 is now over; we had a great time and definitely have some fond memories. Hopefully everyone who visited enjoyed it and had time to try out Battlefield Heroes.

Not only was the community feedback very good, it was also great to have the opportunity to meet some of you personally.

In addition to articles, galleries and videos from the EA-CT.de team (without whom we couldn’t have pulled this off. A huge thanks to them and all the folks over at EA Germany!), you will find some pictures in our Community Heroes section.

Be sure to stay tuned for more!

The release date for the upcoming 0.8 update of Project Reality has been announced. Check it out:

We are currently wrapping up work on Project Reality v0.8 and we now have what you've all been waiting for, a release date! Project Reality v0.8 will be released via FilePlanet.com on Friday the 29th of August, 2008. The full public release will follow on Saturday the 30th of August, 2008. The Project Reality Team has spent countless hours working on new assets and overcome many obstacles to bring you this completely new version which includes numerous new gameplay changes, weapons, and vehicles which we hope will make your current realistic combat experiences on the Battlefield 2 engine even better!

Now, that is not all we have for you today! With the help of the Sir. Community, we have a small v0.8 teaser for you that shows off all the new maps and some new assets you will find in Project Reality v0.8.

You can read this entire release here.

A number of gaming sites from around the net have posted up new hands-on previews discussing their time with the Battlefield Heroes beta. Take a look:

Ars Technica
The game play has its own feel and pace, and strategy is much more important here than it is in other shooters. Heroes does the casual thing well, while also giving hardcore gamers some depth, and I can see how leveling up your character and chasing the achievements can become addictive. EA and DICE are also promising constant updates with more content, so the game will be a living being, much like Team Fortress 2. Will Battlefield: Heroes find an audience? Hard to say, but the game won't cost you anything to play, so it will at least be worth a try when it receives a wider release. The big question is what EA will choose to sell you, and what gamers will find themselves willing to pay for. Read more...

1UP
Heroes is on to something. Until we figured out why everyone was using the one weapon and equipped the one buffed ability, I enjoyed experimenting. I blew up my own booby traps to throw myself onto rooftops, where I'd then toss dynamite down at tanks. Combining the Commando's speed burst and cloaking abilities allowed me to assault tanks and escape unscathed. It's a little like Age of Conan any other MMO mixed up with a multiplayer shooter. Of course that means that individual builds will be a bitch to balance, let alone mixed squads. I want to stick around to see what happens. Read more...

GameSpy
Playing as a Commando is difficult due to their reliance on the knife and the sniper rifle. It's tough to get in close enough for the knife to be effective, and even when you've closed to its usable range, it does a pittance of damage. Even powered-up with the Poison Blade ability that I bought with my scant ability points, I still have a hard time taking someone out before they've dispensed with me entirely. Maybe it's tough to kill Soldiers and Gunners, but it doesn't seem like anyone has a problem killing me as a Commando. Read more...

Stay tuned for more new previews on BFH!

Some exciting news has just been released from the team behind the Battlefield 2142 Extreme Realism mod. Plans are in the works to add an entirely new faction to the fight, the North American Coalition, and update more of the core content of Battlefield 2142. Read what dtneter had to say:

You may have noticed it's been rather quiet...generally only a few photos posted every couple of Weeks/Days.

But here at Destruction Designs (ER) we have something fantastic to announce. We've been taking to heart what people wanted to see in 2142, with that in mind...We have started on what we call the "Northern American Coalition".

AKA the NAC.

Yes, You read right...a Third Faction.

...

As you all most likely know, we recently showed off the R1 Drone. Apart from being made from the NAC, All Gun drones/Drones are being
moved to Normal kits; in order for more exciting Squad Leader stuff to be added, we had to do it.

We would ALSO Like to announce destructible scenery! That's right! Remember those fences on Gibraltar? Tired of people sitting behind them and firing? Blow the **** out of the fence and get even.

The main news post over at ModDB has tons of additional information regarding new vehicles for the NAC, historical details about the North American Coalition, and other goodies such as a destructable fence development video, so take a look!

The Allied Intent Xtended mod team has posted a new update today that includes some info about stats being in their next release. Take a look:

We are happy to announce that i3D.net has graciously provided sponsorship for the brand new Aixstatistics.com! What is this crazy news you ask? Well, due to the hard work of super dev's R4ZOR49 and Ti_GER arn354, AIX 2.0 will launch with a central database for collating stats and ranks for server owners! Thanks very much to i3D.net for their amazing support. Be sure to check out their awesome game servers and services.

Be sure to visit our brand new sister site Aixstatistics.com developed and maintained by our very own R4ZOR49 (Kvec), Ti_GER arn354 (Tigercage), MAC-r (Teamfirestorm) and Blackcats (free GFX.) Their amazing work in this awesome AIX community we share is outstanding. It truly is a privelage to work with such a group of talented and well grounded individuals throughout this whole AIX experience and we can't wait to bring you AIX 2.0!

To learn more about this new central database be sure to visit here.

The team behind the Battlefield Podcast series have released episode 105 of their series today. Here is what they had to say:

Chalk.Two is on vacation this week and we are joined by special guest host Poco Loco as we discuss the latest news about Battlefield Heroes, get a Playstation 3 perspective on Bad Company, compare Battlefield 2 to Bad Company, praise the free Conquest mode, and follow up on some Battlefield 3 rumors. All this and more in this week's Battlefield Podcast!

Be sure to check it out and post your feedback either in this thread, or in their forums. You can visit their site by clicking here.

GameIndustry.biz has posted up a new interview with DICE's executive producer Ben Cousins that details some of the launch plans for Battlefield Heroes. Take a look:

Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, Cousins explained that by the time the beta closes they expect to have a player base "about as big as Bad Company". He further revealed that the game is "already out" and won't have a "big splash release".

"We're not going to turn on a switch one day and suddenly our audience gets 100 times bigger," he explained. "It's really our plan, within the closed beta, to get a very high number of peak concurrent users and we expect in the later phases of the closed beta to be about as big as Bad Company is today in terms of online numbers.

"We're going to have a very large closed beta almost to the point where every hardcore gamer in the world will probably be able to get a key if they want to - it would just be within a closed beta so that we can control the size of it to a degree."

The project lead behind Battlefield Heroes went on to explain that there was a lack of understanding with how a free-to-play online game would launch - talking issue with comments made by EA's CEO, John Riccitiello, that the game was delayed.

To check out the rest of this new article be sure to visit here.