Battlefield 3 PC update to roll out tomorrow at 11 am CET

DICE has confirmed the PC Battlefield 3 update will go live tomorrow and will begin rolling out at around 9 am UTC / 11 am CET.

The massive Spring update is about 1.6GB in size and includes a ton of fixes, tweaks, and additions.  The focus for tomorrow's PC update is to make the game more "stable, fairer, and more balanced."

The big feature in tomorrow's update is a new and improved commo rose, partially based on community feedback.  Below are the list of changes made to the commo rose.

  • New global call-outs

    • We have added a number of new commo rose call-outs that you can make to the entire team whenever you want. Where you previously had to look at a Support player to get the option to request ammo, you can now use the commo rose at any time to request ammo, health, or repairs. Using these requests will trigger appropriate icons on the minimap.
  • Moved orders to commo rose

    • We moved orders so that they are now exclusive to the commo rose. This means that you will no longer accidentally place an order when you in reality wanted to spot an enemy standing near a flag, for example.
  • Improved mouse handling

    • The mouse movement is now always tracked from the center of the commo rose, to make navigation more intuitive.
  • Quicker activation

    • You now activate a call-out simply by releasing Q, which should be snappier than the previous implementation.
  • Improved readability

    • We tweaked the layout and design of the commo rose to improve readability and give clearer and quicker confirmation of which call-out is currently highlighted.
    • The available call-outs in the commo rose is context sensitive and will change depending on what you are currently doing in the game – for example, vehicles and infantry each have separate call-outs. Each function should trigger appropriate voice messages as well as icons on the minimap for increased team play possibilities. Players should keep an eye on the minimap for these icons. If you see them flashing, a team mate is requesting aid via the commo rose.

Other features include an improved minimap.  Players can now choose between three different modes to display the minimaps: Map, Satellite, or Hybrid view.

  • Map mode shows the most important tactical geometries such as buildings, objects, roads and water.
  • Satellite mode displays a top-down photograph of the level for increased terrain detail.
  • Hybrid mode combines the Satellite view with a Map overlay, offering a mix of quick tactical awareness and terrain detail.

Horns have also been added to the PC version.  It was added to the PlayStation 3 in the update that went live yesterday

DICE has given IR flares to all players to balance the battlefield.  These are automatically available in all air vehicles, so it should be easier to dodge incoming threats from now on.

The Recon gadget SOFLAM (laser target painter) has been given a new feature. Now, when a Recon player places it and then leaves it, it will continue to paint targets entering its area of control, continuously giving the Recon player a passive points income.  This was also present in yesterday's PS3 update.

The threshold for achieving the Suppression Ribbon has been lowered from a previous requirement of 7.  Now, players only need to perform 3 suppressions in a game to be awarded the ribbon.  This means the Support Kit player can rack up scores by skullful use of the LMG.  Once again, this has been applied to the PS3 version.

Lastly, like the PS3 version, DICE has added new shortcut items for new players looking to start playing Battlefield 3.  DICE is offering 10 different shortcut items for sale for Battlefield 3 on PC to help first time players compete with veterans online.  The 10 shortcut items are available now from Origin and include:

  • Kit Shortcut Bundle: Immediately unlocks all items unique to the four playable classes
  • Vehicle Shortcut Bundle: Immediately unlocks all items for all vehicles
  • The Ultimate Bundle: Immediately unlocks all items from all other available shortcut packs

Check out our previous post for the complete Battlefield 3 update patch notes.