DICE explains how squad management will work in the retail version of Battlefield 3. / By Ian Miles Cheong
If you've been playing the open beta for Battlefield 3, you will have noticed the absence of squads in the game, which makes it difficult—if not outright impossible—to join your friends and team up with them in the game's competitive Rush mode. This has, of course, resulted in significant complaints from players both new and old.
Players can breathe a heavy sigh of relief to know that DICE has fixed things. The developers have since responded that the functionality is limited in the Open Beta, but it will not be so once the game goes to retail.
According to the studio, the developers have added the ability to browse and join specific squads through the squad screen. You'll be able to see all the players that are in a specific squad as well as lone wolves. As a squad leader, you will also be able to create a squad, set it to private, and kick malcontents from the squad. In other words, the functionality will be exactly the same as in Battlefield 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
Over the console, players will also have the option to choose the active VoIP channel on the entire team, or limit it to your squad. You will also be able to invite your friends to the squad. Additionally, it will be possible to mute any player through the scoreboard.
Looks like 2011 is all set to be another great year for PC Gaming. Here's our list of the Top 10 PC Games to look forward to in 2011. / By Gameranx Staff
They say PC gaming is dead, but as Valve has proven time and time again with the success of Steam, they, whoever "they" are, couldn't be more wrong. The PC gaming community is thriving despite stiff competition from its console counterparts and next year promises to be a year like no other with a slew of highly anticipated games. Here is the list of top ten PC Games to look forward to in 2011.
The Witcher 2
The Witcher thrust you into the role of Geralt, last of his kind--a Witcher. Genetically engineered and trained in the deadliest skills, a Witcher's task is do do battle against supernatural creatures.
The sequel to The Witcher, titled Assassins of Kings, puts you back in Geralt's shoes. There is a storm on the horizon. A war is coming. Little else is known about the game's plot, but it is rumored to feature 16 different endings. The game features an entirely new engine--one that's leaps and bounds better than the highly modified Aurora (NWN) engine used by it's predecessor, and a similar combat system.
Players can expect to make a wide array of decisions throughout the game, much like in the original, and follow a multilinear story with branching paths.Needless to say, the game is one of the most highly anticipated titles on the PC platform due to it's exclusivity.
The latest addition to the Elder Scrolls universe is expected to elevate the series to new heights. Featuring a brand new engine, Skyrim is shedding the poorly aged GameBryo.
Players enter the role of the Dragonborn, an individual prophesied to take on the Sons of Skyrim, an army not unlike the Vikings of old. If you're wondering where Skyrim happens to be, it lies somewhere to the north of Cyrodiil in TES4: Oblivion.
Not much else is known about the game at the time being, but you can expect to be able to choose from a variety of races and fully customizable classes during character creation, and explore a vast expanse of land.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Fans of Deus Ex may be bemoaning it's recently announced delay, but the game remains highly anticipated nonetheless. Set decades before the events of the first game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a prequel that promises to reinvigorate the cyberpunk setting and the Deus Ex franchise.
Human Revolution is primarily a first person shooter with strong RPG elements that, if it's anything like the first two games, will allow you to approach combat situations based on your own personal preference. You can take out enemy combatants through stealth, brute force, or even use your hacking abilities to get sentry guns and armed robots to do your bidding for you.
Taking a cue from Ghost in the Shell, Deus Ex carries a strong cyberpunk motif. If things continue to head in the direction they're heading in the real world, there's little doubt that we'll be living in a world just like the one depicted by these games.
And while this pre-beta version of Windows 8 is not close to ready for consumer consumption, and meant to be used by developers who are looking to make apps for the desktop and tablet OS, anyone can download the software -- no developer registration or anything like that needed.
The move to release Windows 8 so early on can be seen as a testament to just how much Microsoft wants, and needs, developers to get into building apps for the new OS before it is actually released as a retail product that will compete on tablets against Apple's iPad (running iOS) and Google's Android software.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, made a surprise appearance at Build on Wednesday and touted 500,000 downloads of Windows 8 overnight as a testament to developer interest in the new platform, according the tech blog This Is My Next.
Microsoft has made available three different versions of Windows 8 for download (two versions built for 64-bit systems which use new processors and can make use of more RAM, versus older 32-bit PCs that use earlier chips and less memory), which all show up as an ISO file when downloaded.
The three versions also vary in size and as an ISO file will need to be downloaded and burned to a DVD or installed on a bootable USB drive before being installed (Microsoft, of course recommends using Windows Disc Image Burner on Windows 7 to get the ISO file onto a DVD).
The three versions, all in English, are:
Windows Developer Preview with developer tools, 64-bit: A 4.8-gigabyte download, this version includes Windows 8 Developer Preview operating system with a Windows software developer kit for Metro style apps made up of Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express and Microsoft Expression Blend 5, as well as 28 preview apps.
Windows Developer Preview, 64-bit: A 3.6-gigbyte download, this version is made up of just the Windows 8 Developer Preview OS and the 28 preview apps -- no added developer tools
Windows Developer Preview English, 32-bit: The smallest of the bunch, this 2.8-gigabyte download includes the Windows 8 Developer Preview OS and the 28 preview apps.
Since this is a preview version of Windows 8, it still has plenty of bugs that need to be fixed. This isn't yet even a beta release and not polished enough for the mass market. So if you're interested in downloading this early release, it might be a good idea to install it on a spare PC rather than your main computer. If you only have one computer, do consider the risk here.
Microsoft has said that all Windows 7 apps should work in Windows 8 on desktops and laptops, but there are no guarantees that will hold true at this point given the OS is in development.
There has been a lot of speculation and anticipation surrounding Microsoft’s BUILD conference which started today in Anaheim, California. We can’t be there ourselves, so here’s a link to Winrumor’s liveblog, and be sure t 4: Windows pen and other input options improved.o check out their website for more exciting developments. We’re excited about the new stuff! Are you? UPDATE 1: It seems that Samsung is making a Windows 8 tablet. UPDATE 2:The task manager has been updated; it looks fresh and new. Plus, there’s a new backup feature called File History. UPDATE 3: Microsoft to release Windows 8 developer preview today at 8PM! UPDATE 4: Windows pen and other input options improved in Windows 8. UPDATE 6: Hands on video!
UPDATE 7: Windows To Go: Boot Windows 8 from a USB! UPDATE 8: Nvidia shows off quad-core Tegra based tablet UPDATE 9: Pretty awesome App Store video from Winrumors. It looks great!
UPDATE 10: This is probably already outdated, but 500,000 downloads of Windows 8 developer preview so far! Off to a strong start, eh?
