Battlefield 3 - Inside DICE: Tweets from the Battlefield

Alan Kertz is the Core Gameplay Designer behind a lot of great in-depth blog posts published here at the Battlefield Blog. In this episode of “Inside DICE”, he takes a handful of your most tweeted questions and answers them personally.

Keep the questions coming here on the blog (or send them to @battlefield) and we’ll do more round-ups like this. Now let’s dig into the questions and some answers we think you will find illuminating.

1. Where did you start before working for DICE?
(Asked by @minikanelive)
Alan answers: "I was actually quite lucky to enter the industry directly working for DICE on Battlefield 2142. Of course, I didn’t just start cold turkey, I’d previously been a member of the Battlefield 1942 modding community where I developed tools, levels, and mods. Some of my work was featured in mods like Eve of Destruction, Desert Combat, and Point of Existence. Scholastically my background is a Computer Science degree from a university in the US where I grew up. While the CS degree wasn’t a real influence on me getting the job, I do find that understanding the concepts of coding is a definitive edge when working as a game designer.

2. SKS bullet drop is very pronounced. Bug or intended? It ruins my immersion whenever i see it.
(Asked by @shimme01)
Alan answers: "The SKS has a relatively low velocity round when compared to other DMR and Sniper weapons. Over the same distances the SKS round will drop further and lose more energy since it’s a smaller caliber round. The SKS is range limited, though it makes up for this by being mobile, fast firing, and deadly in mid-range. For longer range engagements I would step up to something like the M39 EMR or the QBU-88 sniper from Back to Karkand."

3. In comparison to the P90, the MP7 is a bit outclassed. Maybe consider reducing the MP7′s first shot recoil and increasing the P90′s?
(Asked by @kryptikspaniard)
Alan answers: "The MP7 has a lower overall muzzle climb, a faster reload (especially from empty), and a higher rate of fire than the P90. Finally, the MP7 is rather easily obtained via COOP play, while the P90 comes later on at Rank40. Obviously they’re both similar weapons, and I feel the subtle differences between the two weapons makes it an interesting choice for players. Some players clearly prefer the P90, others prefer the MP7."

4. Do scopes have an effect on vertical recoil? Didn’t know if the weight of the scope factored in? It’s not in the descriptions.
(Asked by @friedpixels)
Alan answers: Another great question. Scopes only change two variables: how much zoom they provide and how fast the weapon aims down the sights. A high zoom scope, like a 6x rifle scope, will be slow, and a low zoom sight, like a red dot sight, will be fast. There are no additionally effects on the weapons’ handling, no changes to recoil or accuracy."

5. So a gun that has just a suppressor and a sight has better aimed accuracy than one with a foregrip & suppressor?
(Asked by @KILLAnthonyMan
Alan answers: "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssss. The explanation though, is more interesting. A foregrip carries a small aimed accuracy penalty, if you’re trying to get the best absolute accuracy you can with the weapon, a suppressor will give you better aimed accuracy. However, combining the Suppressor and the Foregrip will give the weapon the same accuracy as if you had no accessories, while also reducing recoil. It’s my recommendation that you only forgo a foregrip (see what I did there?) if you demand the absolute best accuracy you can obtain. Generally, inside 100m a weapon with a foregrip is still plenty accurate to hit consistently on target, and it will be easier to control."

That’s it for now! We hope you enjoyed this Q&A session. Once again, if you want similar questions answered right here on the blog, ask them below in the comments section. See you in the next episode of “Inside DICE”.