The developers seem to be pushing the PS3’s limits a lot these days, and DICE definitely have to be one of those many devs. DICE recently showed off a lengthy campaign gameplay video that was being played on the PS3, and it looked magnificent. But not only did it have some awesome effects and great attention to detail when talking in terms of visual prowess, it was also huge in size.
When asked about this, DICE Producer Patrick Liu revealed that they could manage such a large size of maps and arenas because of the FrostBite 2.0 engine: “That’s Frostbite 2 and our new streaming technology. We didn’t have that in Frostbite 1,” he told in an interview. “It enables us to build bigger maps, whether they’re interior maps or open exterior sandbox environments. We wanted to push the scale as much as possible, and our new streaming technology is essential for that.”
When asked about the stunning visuals that the PS3 version of Battlefield 3 managed to achieve, Liu said: “We’re very confident – we’re pushing the hardware big-time. Of course, we have a performance budget that we have to hit.
“Everything counts into that: the scale costs performance, destruction, animation, special effects…those are all the things we cram in there,” he continued. “I feel really good about where we ended up with on the PS3.”
Battlefield 3 currently has a multiplayer beta opened to the public. You can read our impressions here. After taking the fan feedback of this beta into consideration, DICE also listed the changes they will be making to the final version of the game. Read the list here.
Battlefield 3 releases later this month for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Stay tuned till then for more info.
