Alan Kertz, Senior Gameplay designer at DICE give us some more insight into the balancing act that goes into developing a game like Battlefield 3.
Talk of the IRNV scope is quite popular these days, with the community being seemingly undecided on whether it’s been nerfed too hard, or not enough. Two videos have been making rounds lately, one demonstrating the uselessness of the IRNV while in the tunnels of Operation Métro, while the other demonstrates a much more reasonable usability on the Canals. Kertz recently took to reddit where he had this to say regarding the muddy look of the IRNV in the Op Métro tunnels: “The IRNV has a lot of trouble down in the tunnels due to all the smoke from burning stuff.” However, he also mentioned that with “that said, I think this area might be over nerfed, and it’s hard to get a setting that works everywhere effectively. The bright background of the tunnel makes the system not work so great. It’s not perfect, but at least it’s not a free hack anymore. The changes are by no means set in stone, it’s a living game.” So, look for more updates to come regarding the infamous IRNV scope.
Another admittedly tough balancing act has much to do with the mobile anti-aircraft units. Kertz admits that “It’s still on our radar. Probably the toughest balance issue in the game.” He explains that “the buff to AA vs Infantry was a side effect of buffing the Jets vs Infantry. That’s the way the system works. The AA buff will be removed in the future and the Jet buff will remain.” Another update many Battlefield fans can look forward to. Kerts also talked about the shotguns in Battlefield 3 receiving a slight nerf. However, he assured us that “it’s not that bad, and it’s not getting nerfed hard. The explosive damage will be similar, its the direct hits that aren’t intended to be 1hk with a USAS12.”
Many fans are awaiting news regarding the PS3 input lag issue. All we’ve gotten so far what Community Manager, Daniel Matros has stated: “We couldn’t really find what caused it. We’re working on it though.”
So far DICE has shown some aptitude towards consistent updates with the PC having seen one patch with another one releasing December 6th (you can check out the full patch notes here). The PS3 has also seen a patch while we still await for an incoming Xbox 360 update.
Keep an eye on our brand new Patch Notes section for recent, and incoming patches!