Battlefield 3: The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

Battlefield 3 Settings Analysis

2011-11-30T20:38:00.001-08:00

For this blog post, i was unsure exactly what i wanted to cover. After looking back on a couple comments readers made about wanting to see more about the "individual settings" in Battlefield 3, i decided i would analyze each setting, what it does, and show the performance impact on the game in FPS.

Below is a slideshow i put together with my results. Underneath it I'll explain exactly what my findings were and also what each individual setting does to the game.

Results

Out of the 11 settings in Battlefield 3, i catagorized the settings based on the amount of change they made on the FPS:

No Change: Effects Quality
Minimal Change: Texture Quality, Terrain Quality, Terrain Decoration, Anti-aliasing Post, Anisotropic Filter
Noticeable Change: Shadow Quality, Motion Blur, Ambient Occlusion
Significant Change: Mesh Quality, Anti-aliasing Deferred

Number of FPS Change:

Texture Quality:               1
Shadow Quality:           5
Effects Quality:               0
Mesh Quality:                   9
Terrain Quality:               1
Texture Decoration:         1
Anti-Aliasing Deferred: 13
Anti-Aliasing Post:             1
Motion Blur:                   4
Anisotropic Filter:              1
Ambient Occlusion:            5

These results obviously are them being changed alone and without any change of the other settings. If i were to have changed multiple settings at a time, they would have compounded and the FPS would be higher.

This information shows that some settings have a greater effect on the FPS than others and using this information in combination with their effect on the game (which is discussed below) a person can help tweak the settings of their game to get the BEST possible performance while also getting the BEST visual experience in Battlefield 3 and any game for that matter.

BF3's Graphics Settings Explained

This information was taken from Harry Butler's blog post titled "Battlefield 3 Performance Analysis". I could not have explained it better myself.

Texture Quality
Self explanatory this one; the higher the settings, the higher quality of the textures. The below shot, courtesy of Nvidia, demonstrates this clearly. However, in practice there’s actually very little visual difference between Ultra, High, Medium and Low, as the game will still load the Ultra textures when you’re up close. Instead, this really lets you set the level of detail; at Low you’ll notice textures popping through the different detail levels; at Ultra you won’t.

Texture Quality in Battlefield 3 - Click to enlarge

Shadow Quality
Rather than compromise on the number of shadows or remove shadows completely, even at the lowest setting BF3’s environments, vehicles, soldiers and even incidental details such as boxes still cast dynamic shadows. However, the difference between the lowest and highest detail settings concern the quality and softness of the shadows; as you can see below, at Low detail the antennae’s shadow is stark and blocky, looking like it’s been painted onto the landscape. However, at Ultra detail the shadow is much smoother and looks like it’s a part of the game world.

L to R: Shadow Quality in Battlefield 3 on Low, Medium, High and Ultra - Click to enlarge

Effects Quality
Being honest, we struggled to find a difference between the lowest and highest settings in the Effects Quality settings; explosions, debris, smoke and clouds all looked just as good at the lowest or highest settings.

Mesh Quality
Mesh Quality has a big impact on BF3’s visuals as, like Texture Quality, it adjusts the model detail depending on its proximity to the player. It’s a subtle effect, but you can see in the below images that, as the mesh detail drops, objects further way from the player become simpler. Most obvious is the tree in the middle of the screen and the chain link fence, both of which are much simpler at Low detail than they are at the Ultra setting.

L to R: Mesh Quality in Battlefield 3 on Low, Medium, High and Ultra - Click to enlarge

Terrain Quality and Decoration
As with Effects Quality, we saw very little difference between the lowest and highest settings for these two detail options, even on large terrain and decoration-filled maps such as Caspian Border.

Anti-Aliasing Deferred
This is standard multi-sample anti-aliasing, reducing texture creep and generally smoothing edges and removing horrible jaggies to improve image quality. BF3 supports both 4x MSAA and 2x MSAA natively, but only enables 4x at the Ultra preset.

Anti-Aliasing Post
While not true anti-aliasing, this post-process effect has a similar purpose; smoothing edges and harsh lines and generally softening the visuals without the performance impact of full MSAA. It's not as effective at reducing and smoothing jaggies, though. BF3 offers four settings of Low, Medium, High and Ultra, but as we’ll see, the performance difference between Low and Ultra is fairly minimal.

Motion Blur
Another post-process effect, this time to give a more convincing feeling of movement and motion.

Anisotropic Filter
Anisotropic Filtering (AF) is the process of enhancing the visual quality of textures when they’re viewed from sloped viewing angles, correcting texture blurring and making textures, particularly at a distance, look clearer and more defined. Oddly for a game that prides itself on outdoor environments, BF3’s Low and Medium presets set AF to just 2x and 4x respectively; we’d recommend forcing this to 16x due to the minimal performance hit and significant improvement to visual quality, particularly on large open levels.

Ambient Occlusion
Ambient Occlusion (AO) is a method of applying shading and more authentic lighting effects to models, even if they're not directly lit by a light source. BF3 supports both SSAO or soft shadow ambient occlusion, and the more modern horizon-based ambient occlusion (HBAO). While this has in the past been a largely unnoticeable effect that saps performance, BF3 makes significant use of ambient occlusion, especially in its urban environments. As the image below from Nvidia shows, at Low detail settings the windows are starkly lit, while at Medium detail with SSAO the lighting is softened and shaded. At High and Ultra settings, HBAO improves the effect, applying smooth and believable shadowing to the scene.

Ambient Occlusion in Battlefield 3 - Click to enlarge

Shiny PC Graphics in Battlefield 3

Below is a 5 part presentation that Johan Andersson, the Rendering Architect at DICE, made at GeForce LAN 6 which took place on the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier, October 14th-16th. The presentation is titled "Shiny PC Graphics in Battlefield 3" and is focused on 5 Graphic Components: Objects, Lighting, Effects, Terrain, and Post-Processing.

I highly recommend anyone who is really interested in PC graphics and/or Battlefield 3 watch this hour long 5 part series. If you only watch one though, watch the last video. It correlates the best with my objective above and is only around 11 minutes.

As Fred Dutton summarized on his blog, this is what Andersson said in a nutshell:

Low = "lowest possible":

Similar visuals to consoles, lots of stuff disabled
Still contains the essential visuals not to be unfair in MP
Minimum: GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB RAM

Medium = "good performance":

Most important visual features enabled

High = "what the game is designed for":

All major features on except MSAA (if you have DX11 card)
Recommended: GeForce 560 TI or better

Ultra = "highest possible":

Intended mainly for multiple GPU machines for 60+fps

Want to know what you're missing out on if your machine can't handle Ultra mode?

"Ultra sort of cranks things up further," explained Andersson.
"The shadows are a little bit sharper, the terrain is a little bit more tessellated. And also a big setting we have on Ultra is anti-aliasing. We use our multi-sampling there which is really memory-consuming and performance-consuming in general.
"It looks better but it's not a giant step in visual quality. So if you have a multi-GPU machine, like a dual 580 or a dual 560 for that matter, you can run Ultra at 60fps."

Darn it...

Also, one thing from this video that i learned that somewhat bothered me was the ability to show an in game FPS counter in the top right and also a performance overlay, as pictured below.

After opening the console by pressing the " ` " key which is just above the TAB key, you can type:

" Render.DrawFps 1 " to show the FPS counter
" Render.PerfOverlayVisible 1 " to show the performance overlay

I never knew this was even possible and this would have been perfect for my previous post. but oh well.

Then and Now: Graphics of Battlefield 3 Continued

2011-11-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome back! I have been playing Battlefield 3 for the last few weeks and i have to say my expectations have been shattered. Battlefield 3 lived up to everything i thought it would be and more. Since i started this blog, my plans for it have been constantly changing based on my experiences, talking with Dr. Palmer, and a request from a commenter on my last post. Originally this post was going to be on other aspects of the game but i feel benchmarking Battlefield 3 in terms of its graphics is better suited.

Since my last post i have since upgraded my video card in my computer to a Nvidia GTX570, a much better card to handle BF3. It worked in my favor because i now get to compare my old card to my new card, on low and high settings for my benchmark tests. This will hopefully show what having better, more up-to-date hardware, can do for your PC gaming. So for this post i will be...

Conducting 4 benchmark tests. Benchmarking Battlefield 3 with...

GTX275 on Lowest Settings
GTX275 on Highest Settings
GTX570 on Lowest Settings
GTX570 on Highest Settings

Giving a quick explanation of Anti-Aliasing, what it is, and what it does.

Conducting a few benchmarks that demonstrate the effects on frame rates when changing the Anti-Aliasing setting in Battlefield 3. (As inspired by nathangsxd in my last post. Thanks!

***Below are my results continued from my last post.***

NOTE: Before i start, I wanted to quickly go over something that was brought up to me in a comment from nathangsxd on my last post. He said, "are you sure that fraps maxes at at 60fps? I'm pretty sure that it can record higher frame rates than that...". This is a great comment that i should address. On the Fraps.com FAQ, it states, "You can choose the frame rate of the output movie from 25fps, 30fps, 50fps, 60fps, or a custom value up to 100fps." I didn't realize you could input a custom frame rate higher than 60fps when i started doing my tests.

So during all my tests, this is the reason the benchmark results are limited to 60fps. When i do the benchmarking without recording, my numbers are much higher, hitting well over 100fps in BF3 on the highest settings with my 570.

While this isn't representative of the computer’s ability to play the game, all my tests have this limitation, making them accurate in showing frame rate changes based on hardware and settings. Also remember that these tests are conducted while recording full 1080P video so the frame rates are lower than i get during normal gameplay.

Each section below shows the results of my 4 benchmark tests and an explanation of my results are below the images

Prediction

Finally getting to play the full retail game on my own computer, i am able to see how my PC handles it. When i had my GTX275, i couldn't play the game on the highest settings but could easily play it on the lowest. With my GTX570, i can play the game on the highest settings without any graphics lag or visual tearing.

I predict that my frame rates will be representative of my experiences, with my GTX275 having lower frame rates than my GTX570. The question is how will the 275 perform on lowest settings compared to the 570 on the highest settings. Look below to find out...

Battlefield 3: GTX275 on Lowest Settings

Battlefield 3 GTX275 Lowest Settings Video

Results

With my GTX275 on the lowest settings i was able to play the game without any issues. The average frame rate was about 42.4 frames per second, about 18 frames less than my results with Battlefield 2 on he highest settings with the same graphics card. The CPU temperature topped out around 42C and the graphics card topped out around 67C.

Battlefield 3: GTX275 on Highest Settings

Battlefield 3 GTX275 Highest Settings Video

Results

With my GTX275 on the highest settings the game was barely playable at all. I had a very difficult time flying the jet, as you can see in the video. The average frame rate was about 26.8 frames per second, much less than my results on the lowest settings with the same graphics card. The CPU temperature topped out around the same, 42C and the graphics card topped out a little higher around 74C.

Battlefield 3: GTX570 on Lowest Settings

Battlefield 3 GTX570 Lowest Settings Video

Results

With my GTX570 on the lowest settings the game performed perfectly, no issues at all. The average frame rate was about 42.7 frames per second, interestingly about the same as the GTX275 on the same settings. The CPU temperature topped out around 45C, 3 degrees higher than the 275 on both settings, and the graphics card topped out at 84C, much higher than the 275 with both settings.

Battlefield 3: GTX570 on Highest Settings

Battlefield 3 GTX570 Highest Settings Video

Results

With my GTX570 on the highest settings the game again performed perfectly, no issues at all and i have to say that the game looks absolutely incredible. The video doesn't do it justice. The average frame rate was about 41.7 frames per second, 1 frame less than the same card on the lowest settings. The CPU temperature topped out around 47C, 2 degrees higher than the same card on the lowest settings, and the graphics card topped out at 84C, the same as the low settings with this card.

Summary of Results

Overall, my results matched my predictions, except for both the average frame rates of my GTX570. I expected them to be higher than that of my GTX275 on the lowest settings. What i think is happening with my results is fraps is limiting the performance of my computer due to the recording of the video while benchmarking. In hind-sight, this may have been a mistake on my part and i would have only done the benchmarking without the video recording. That would have yielded more accurate results and a better representation of my computers ability to play the game. The tempetures for both my GPU and CPU during the 570 tests are higher than that of the 275 for two reasons:

1). With my 275, the cooler design is different. It vents out the back of the computer and is a closed system. My 570 on the other hand isan open system and vents into the computer itself, resulting in slightly higher temps for both my GPU and my CPU.

2). I had my 275 fan set to 90% speed at all times, helping cool the card better than my 570, which had a fan speed that was automatically controlled by the computer based on temperature.

Anti-Aliasing: Effects on Performance

Like i said, i will be conducting a small, final test which was inspired from a comment on my last post by nathangsxd in which he said "Could you explain what settings were used in the actual game and maybe show comparisons of their results on performance? I know settings like anti-aliasing can be a pretty big performance hit when set to a high value". This inspired me to see the effects on the game when changing that setting. For those of you that don't know what Anti-Aliasing or AA is, here is a video that details it very nicely and it explains it better than i could:

Below are 4 pictures. 2 show the settings being used, 1 is a screenshot with no AA, and 1 is a screenshot with AA. They have a yellow number in the top left which is showing the current FPS.

Like the video said, at my resolution it is almost impossible to see a difference with AA on or off. But, with AA on i was getting 60 FPS and with it off i was getting 80 FPS. I increased my frame rate by 20FPS with a minimal visual impact. Thanks for the comment nathangsxd!

Then and Now: Graphics of Battlefield 3

2011-10-20T23:45:00.000-07:00

Battlefield 3 is widely known for its absolutely incredible, breathtaking graphics. This is what sets this game apart from all the others. From my experience, i agree with these claims. I have never seen any other game as realistic visually as this one. For this blog post, i would like to go over the graphical technical aspects of Battlefield 3 and compare it to its predecessor, Battlefield 2. There are MANY graphical aspects i could cover such as lighting, shadows, textures, physics, smoke particles, weapons, explosions, destruction, and many others, but I'm going to focus on 2 main parts: Lighting and Textures.

I'm also going to do some performance benchmarks comparing three different test scenarios. 1). Battlefield 2 on the highest settings. 2). Battlefield 3 on the lowest settings. and 3). Battlefield 3 on the highest settings. I'm going to do this to demonstrate the effects of increasing and decreasing lighting effects and textures and the impact they have on performance while playing the game.

Battlefield 2 Vs. Battlefield 3

Looking at the image below and the video above, you can clearly see the difference between the two games. I'm confident that if these images weren't labeled, most would be able to guess which is the newer of the two. Battlefield 3 utilizes the game engine Frostbite 2. The game designers actually waited to make Battlefield 3 to let the technology advance so they could make the game the way they wanted it.

Lighting

In Battlefield 2, the lighting is fairly static. I say fairly because while there are shadows in the game and a really basic sun glare, that's about all the lighting effects that are there. In the video above, you can see the basic lighting effects at 1:49-2:00. You see the shadows underneath the soldiers and when he dies, you can almost get a glimpse of the sun effect. In pictures 1 and 2 below, you can also see the shadows under the soldiers and a static flash from the soldiers gun. In battlefield 3 however, lighting effects are everywhere and it is majorly dynamic. There are three main parts in the video above that gives you a good idea of the newer lighting effects. In the beginning of the video, as he walks out of the car, you can see the sun not only in the sky but the reflection off the puddle in front of him, you can see the way the light streaks through the sky, and you can see the details of shadows. At 1:08-1:21, you get another good view of the lighting effects as the sun shines through some windows and streaks through the dusty air. You also see some sparks and the florescent light fall lighting a different part of the room. Lastly, at 1:45 while your dragging your wounded soldier away, you can see the flashes from your squad mates weapon lighting up the wall hes standing by and also some flashes from explosions that light up the surrounding area. You can see these comparisons in pictures 3, 4, and 5, i posted below also. This dynamic lighting is greatly improved over battlefield 2's lighting and greatly changes the game play. This is especially true when soldiers can equip flashlights and lasers to their weapons which actively blind whoever they shine it at in the game (pictures 6 and 7). Also, when a sniper looks at you just right, the glare of the sun shines off their scope and is visible, giving away their position (picture 8).

These lighting effects are greatly improved over Battlefield 2's. It not only gives the game a beautiful look but it gives the game an entirely new game play not seen in any other game.

Textures

The comparison of textures in Battlefield 2 and 3 is about the same as the lighting comparison. That is, Battlefield 2 is much more basic and Battlefield 3 is much more detailed. In pictures 1 and 2 you see how simple the textures are in Battlefield 2. In the first image you can see the wall of the hotel that is a solid tan color for the most part. The ground the soldiers are standing on is very "flat", in that the only definition is some light dry cracks. The grass is clearly separate from the ground and you can see how it almost looks unnatural the way it comes out of the dirt. In the second picture you can see how the riffle he is holding has very little definition. You can see the way the tree tops, flag pole, and tops of the grass are over pixelated and look somewhat blocky. The ground, while it has a grassy underlay, still looks unnatural and detached from the modeled grass growing from the ground.

Battlefield 3 changes all that. Its textures are much more detailed and modeled accurately. The best example of these advancements are in picture 5. Looking at this image, you can see the concrete barrier in front of you. It looks weathered, there are chunks of it missing, there are bullet holes, and the steel mesh is showing. The street in the bottom right looks paved with little grains. There is debris scattered about from the battle. Each tire tread has its own pattern and amount of wear on the left. The containers in the far middle look corrugated along with the edge of the metal overhang. Dirt is shooting up from the ground near two of the soldiers in a fire fight. The truck on the right is on fire and looks burnt. The grass in the median looks noticeably better. Also, in picture 4 you can see the vivid detail of the weapon he is holding, unlike the sniper riffle from battlefield 2.

You can see how nothing looks pixelated, everything has a certain amount of definition, and everything looks natural, unlike Battlefield 2. The textures in Battlefield 3 are just simply better.

Battlefield 2

Battlefield 3

Destruction 3.0

I included this image to show the sheer power behind the Frostbite 2 game engine and the level of destruction it enables. Just some eye candy.

****Benchmark Results****

For Reference, here are the minimum and recommended system requirements for BF2 and BF3 and also my computers specs for comparison.

Battlefield 2 Specs

Battlefield 3 Specs (Beta)

My Computer's Specs

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67GHz (Quad Core)
RAM: 6 GB DDR3 @1866MHz
VGA: EVGA GTX 275 (1792MB Version)
OS: Windows 7 64 Bit

Battlefield 2: Highest Settings

Prediction

Making a prediction for my results for the benchmarks of Battlefield 2 on the highest settings, i would guess that i am not going to have a single problem running the game on the highest settings. My computer is running above and beyond the recommended settings for Battlefield 2 and at the recommended settings for Battlefield 3. I am curious to see how my computer will run Battlefield 3 on the highest settings.

FPS and Performance

Battlefield 2 Highest Settings Video

The video above and the following information in the image below was gathered using a program called Fraps. It also collects benchmarking data. In my tests, Fraps tops out at 60FPS, so the image below can be read as my computer handled BF2 at the highest settings the best it possibly could. Also, Fraps itself takes some resources to record HD video during benchmarking which may effect later results for BF3.

Frames: Total number of frames collected during the recording.
Time: Length of the recording.
Min: Lowest frame rate during recording.
Max: Highest frame rate during recording.
Avg: Average frame rate during recording.

Temperatures

CPU Temperature during test

I started recording the tempetures before i opened BF2 and ended it after i closed it. The jagged areas around the begining represent the game starting and loading, then the flat area shows my temps during gameplay, and the spike at the end is me closing the game.

GPU Temperature during test

These temps reflect the same time frame as the CPU temps. The temperature gradually increased during loading and game play and topped out at around 55-56 degrees Celsius, a low to average temperature for a video card that is playing a game. Temps dropped back down after the game was closed.

BF2 Results

What i gathered from this information is what i expected. Battlefield 2 ran at the highest settings as well as my computer could possibly run it, even with Fraps recording during the test. My CPU and GPU reflected temperatures in the low to mild range from my experience playing games.

Battlefield 3 launches TODAY! Expect my results for Battlefield 3 ~~within the next few days~~ in my next blog post on 11/11/11!

I will be doing more in-depth benchmark testing on Battlefield 3 with two different graphics cards.

Welcome to my blog

2011-10-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

I decided to do my technical blog project for my CS475 class on an upcoming video game called Battlefield 3, following Dr. Palmer's suggestions and approval. I'll give a little back story into why i chose to create a technical blog about BF3.

I started playing the game Battlefield 2 in December of 2005. At the time it had the most amazing graphics and it had an addicting, captivating, online multiplayer. My friend Nick and i both fell in love with this game. It came out when he and I were both just getting into technology and building computers. This game was everything to us. Since we both got into BF2, video games graphics and technology in general have continued advancing to new highs. We both joked all through high school about how awesome Battlefield 3 will be with updated graphics yet not losing the insanely large scale, 64 player battles that Battlefield 2 had to offer.

Nick

Yes, you read that right, Nick and I have a combined time of playing this game of over 1220 Hours. That's almost 51 days of straight playing, and that's not even including time playing offline, in unofficial games, or in mods such as Sandbox. You can see how much we liked this game and you can understand why we are so excited for BF3.

For this blog however, i will be focusing on the technical aspects of BF3, not game play or gushing over how awesome it is (ok, maybe a little of that):

The BF3 beta is open to the public and was released September 29th, 5 days ago as of this writing. It is essentially a limited version of the full game. The full game releases October 25th. I want to document and report on the transformation of the game through the beta process, to the full release.

I want to discuss aspects of the technical side of the game, including: The graphics (Frostbite 2 Engine, incredible destruction in multiplayer), the creation and recording of the sounds of the game(guns, environment, voices, ect), the physics(realism of movement, explosions, ect)

MAYBE a brief comparison of the Battlefield series Vs. the Call Of Duty series, why BF3 will be better than CoD: Modern Warfare 3. (Technical Analysis: MW3 is still using the same gaming engine as MW2) (don't want to get the CoD fans huffing and puffing)

I already have over 8 hours of play logged on the beta (had to collect some valuable information for this blog right? ;) ) and i can't wait for the full game to launch later this month.

UPDATE: Instead of doing what i listed above, i will be digging a little deeper into a more technical side of Battlefield 3. After speaking with Dr. Palmer, i realized the direction of my original blog ideas may not have been technical enough. My 3 blogs will go over the graphical aspect of the game, the audio and sounds of the game, and the technology behind Frostbite 2 and the hardware needed to run it.

UPDATE 2: The direction of my blog keeps changing. The above outline is not accurate.