Livestream Gameplay And Notes, June 12, 2016
http://www.pcgamer.com/watch-an-hour-of-battlefield-1-gameplay-today/
Destruction, lots of it — I expected that, given the way the trailers look. Overall, part of the effect of using more real physics modelling within the Frostbite engine. Both large and small scale destruction abounds on the map. A really big effect is the destruction, crash, and fiery demise of an airship. Not just at a pre-planned location, but dynamically wherever it happens to be shot down. Aircraft and ground vehicles also now take targeted, located component damage, such as shooting off wings, wheels, or treads. That alone will change up vehicle combat.
Dynamic weather. It isn’t so much a new idea, as it is new to see them try to do it well. BF4 had elements of this, with weather on maps, but this will change up the game play even more. Sunny day, cloudy, rain, fog, and I expect there will be even more than that for variety. It is also not constant or scripted events on certain maps, but truly dynamic and unpredictable.
Weapon physics changes are subtle, so that I really couldn’t be sure of the differences between BF1 and BF4. Except that it did seem like bullet impact was felt more strongly, which could be part of that change. Bullet drag is a very big change, though. BF4 and Hardline (and Battlefront) all use constant bullet velocity. BF1 does not. The bullets will start at a high (realistic) muzzle velocity, and slow down as they travel. This means that all long range shooters will need to relearn how to compensate for motion and bullet drop, and it will feel very different for each kind of weapon. Long shots on moving targets will be harder to pull off, not that they were ever easy. Short range shots will hit faster. All in all, this will make a great leap in realism, especially good for players who have experience with real weapons.
Most guns use iron sights, with only a few having optical scopes. This is to be expected for the time period, but not all iron sights are the same. Without seeing all the options in the game, I can’t say just what will be available, except that I figure that optical scopes will be restricted to sniper (scout) weapons. BF4’s reticle and HUD customization, however, can be retained with no problems.
I like the circular minimap. The HUD and interface as a whole owes a lot to BF2 and BF1943. It is very clean and open, which is a good thing.
The magazine feed for clip fed rifles will be a new thing for many players. We’ve had this with some shotguns, but now, rifle users will face it as well. Instead of just pulling out a new magazine and popping it in, you will need to reload bullets one at a time, Do you reload fully, or do you pop it in short a few rounds? And can you afford the time to reload at all in the heat of battle? Good thing you carry a sidearm, but the melee weapons may be even more essential as backups in close combat.
Pilots and airship crew have parachutes. I expected that — the high command’s resistance to issue parachutes was fading by the end of the war, and the value of keeping a trained pilot alive rather than having them try to land and save their plane became obvious wisdom of war. Airship crew have a tactical role here as airborne reinforcements.
The airship in this conquest game is a special asset. Only one will appear per game, and it shows up for the losing side. That makes it a last ditch tool to try to turn around a losing game, rather than an asset added for the winning side (AC130 on many maps) to enhance dominance. The game pace and length also seems to work well. Private servers may allow longer games and other options, but for many players, a good 10 to 20 minute match is fun and challenging.
Air combat looks fresh and fun. In game play style, this is very much a throwback to BF1942, and I think it will work out excellently. How easy will flying be? I can’t say, but I think that the mix of maneuverability and lower speeds will make it easier for new pilot players than BF4’s jets. The lack of lock on weapons will also make air combat more challenging. The planes themselves look gorgeous, and that combined with the scenery will add another attraction to playing this game.
Player character movement is more fluid and flexible. How much of this is physics engine upgrades, and how much is just enhanced controls and choices, I can’t say yet. But the ability to climb and vault over obstacles will help make ground soldiers much more agile and safer on the battlefield. The charge through a door is a nice addition too — you can crash through a closed door without having to stop and open it first. The bayonet charge — a rushing sprint to attack — also looks and feels cool. Both as an attack, and simply as a way to more quickly advance on the enemy (or run away), it adds another nuance to movement and combat. Coupled with the greater impact effects which seem to come from melee combat (and possibly bullet impacts and explosions, hard to tell from what I’ve seen so far), and close combat action should feel more realistic and intense than ever.
Guns: the only class really missing that I noticed was the regular infantry bolt-action rifles. In terms of usage, the biggest class of weapons used in the war, all with iron sights, moderate accuracy, and slow fire rate but with a clip to reload. The Lee-Enfield, Mosin-Nagant, Mauser, Winchester, Springfield. Semi-auto rifles were also made, and used, but not adopted widely yet. The only real trick is how to balance them — they’d be slower to fire than the semi-autos, and not much better. Even the lever-action Winchester 1895 could fire six times as fast as a bolt action (though with what aimed accuracy, it is harder to be sure it would be effective). Still, it would be nice to see them all present in the game, for realism, as a viable choice along with the semiauto rifles.
The various submachineguns and machineguns seemed to work well, shotguns likewise, and the sniper rifles and sidearms seemed good, if a bit harder to use than some of the modern weapons in BF4. All in all, it looks like gun balance is pretty good, and gun game play should be a lot of fun.
Tanker and Pilot classes are a nice addition. You want to operate a vehicle, you get a loadout appropriate to the role. This gives us six classes — the four infantry roles of Medic, Assault, Support, Scout, plus two for vehicles. It sounds like a vehicle crew will need to stop and cease fighting in order to self-repair, which should make for an interesting tactical choice.
