Battlefield 4 receives netcode update this week

DICE is looking to deliver on their promise for online optimization by uploading a whole new netcode update to Battlefield 4 on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 today before bringing it to PS4 and Xbox One later this week.

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The road to stable online play has been a rocky one for Battlefield 4, with a high number of bugs plaguing the game at launch. DICE promised some netcode optimization and it appears that the developer is ready to deliver, with a whole new netcode update going out this week.

"We're happy to announce that we've released an update for PC, PS3, and X360 today containing the new improved 'Netcode' for Battlefield 4," reads the Battlefield blog. "The update will be released later this week on PS4 and Xbox One. This update has been developed using the CTE (Community Test Environment) on PC, and is the first update being deployed using your gameplay feedback."

The PC, PS4, and Xbox One versions of Battlefield 4 will add a 'High Frequency Bubble' that will refresh client events more often, leading to a smoother experience. Since it's still a work in progress, the feature will be turned off by default. DICE is also adding bandwidth options to suit individual players, with those on lower connections advised to place this setting on 'LOW.'

DICE is aiming to further optimize BF4's netcode in future updates, but you can check out the current look of the PC version in the video below. The full change list for the current patch can be found on the Battlefield blog.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 3, 2014 2:45 PM

    Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Battlefield 4 receives netcode update this week.

    DICE is looking to deliver on their promise for online optimization by uploading a whole new netcode update to Battlefield 4 on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 today before bringing it to PS4 and Xbox One later this week.

    • reply
      June 3, 2014 3:04 PM

      I just recently started playing bf4 again and I was quickly reminded of how bad the netcode still is. I'm all excited for this now, however, I still want further third party testing. Also, they did not give a radius on the bubble.

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      June 3, 2014 3:41 PM

      PC Server Performance
      On PC the RSPs are responsible for enabling the feature at their discretion, we expect most to do so as soon as possible.


      So, how are you supposed to know when a server has it enabled? There's nothing I could see in the battlelog that identifies a server has this improved netcode / high frequency stuff enabled. Really fucking pointless if you just have to guess if a server is using it when trying to find a game.

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        June 3, 2014 3:42 PM

        hopefully the servers will put it in their titles until battlelog adds a checkbox for it.

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          June 3, 2014 10:16 PM

          I hope so, too. So far it's not really happening, have you seen any servers tagged with info describing such? dra linked me 2 mentioning high tickrate, but they were both empty. I tried high frequency and netcode and nothing came up. It shouldn't be surprising that DICE managed to fuck up the rollout to a long awaited fix for their game, but this is beyond ridiculous.

          Wanted to try it out but I'd have no idea if it's in effect or not on any random server. If a server or my client is lagging more or less because of it or not. Just have to guess based purely on feel right now what's going on and if a server might be using it or not. I kind of need to know for real that it's enabled so there's actually a basis for comparison to the old netcode, instead of assumptions and speculation. I've already seen people on the forums saying it's much better and worse. So obviously there's no consensus or some servers are using it and some aren't. Or just placebo effects all around. Plenty of folks thought the original netcode was fine while others knew it was shit. Can't trust any random person's opinion.

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      June 3, 2014 3:41 PM

      It's interesting that the patch is for all platforms, when the CTE is on PC only. I guess the engine translates well enough that they were confident the player experience would be the same.

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      June 3, 2014 3:42 PM

      They would do this a week after I finally uninstalled the game.

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      June 3, 2014 5:44 PM

      In true DICE fashion, the patch introduced new bugs.

      Sometimes, when I die, I get the option to revive, like someone used the defibrillators on me, however, I'm unable to revive. If I wait there, it times out and I'm unable to revive. If I hit escape to try to redeploy, the option is greyed out. I have to wait until the map changes or log out and log back in.

      Way to go. Stop the crashing but still can't play after a few minutes.

      • reply
        June 3, 2014 5:49 PM

        Wow that sucks but not really surprising.

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          June 3, 2014 7:00 PM

          Yeah, when I die, the game flashes white just like I was getting defibbed. Agreeing to the revive or cancelling it has no effect

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            June 3, 2014 7:02 PM

            switching squads and teams won't fix it either

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      June 3, 2014 11:06 PM

      7 months to fix the netcode in a primarily multiplayer game where milliseconds count, GG DICE, GG/

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      June 3, 2014 11:16 PM

      Holy jesus WAY too late. I've already given up on BF4, as have most of my RL friends. :(

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      June 4, 2014 12:47 AM

      Even though that's way late and should have shipped with BF4 itself IMO, it's still good to see them make a change this signficant in one of the core technology components (networking). I am certainly very glad to have that improvement.

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      June 4, 2014 1:40 AM

      Late, but very welcome. I still play a session with friends every now and then. To be honest, I've really little complaints about the network performance so far. I've seen all the videos underlining the problems with player updating, shots not being displayed, decal not syncing correctly, etc, but they've never really bothered me to such an extent that I'd say it ruined the experience for me. I feel like 99.9% of the time when I am sure I should have hit something, I did hit it. Then again I'm old and slow to begin with, and play on servers with ~10-20ms ping for me, so maybe it's just worse for others.

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        June 4, 2014 2:49 AM

        For me it's more the ability to comprehend what is happening in the game world. When it only updates at 10Hz on the network stream, there's a bit of disconnect that manifests itself as a feeling that I am not in control and things seem random to me. Games that sync at 60Hz (or even 30Hz) over the network give a more reliable sense of a rapid series of events (like a close-quarters firefight) firing off.

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      June 4, 2014 4:04 AM

      It's not even 'new' netcode.

      The game always ran at 30 anyway, but for whatever odd reason the servers only sent you stuff at 10 while the client sent servers stuff at 30. This update just has both at 30 but only for things within a 100meter bubble around you. So you will probably still end up being sniped while behind cover by someone not even facing you at 101meters and above.

      Counterstrike uses 64 or 128, though to be fair it's not dealing with quite as much information as Battlefield.

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        June 4, 2014 5:46 AM

        Creating the bubble was probably a significant modification to the netcode though. And yes, bandwidth limitations (to comply with the closed console networks specs mostly) were the reason for the 10Hz server refresh.

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      June 4, 2014 5:42 AM

      I will probably give it a shot this weekend, but yeah, too late.

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      June 4, 2014 6:10 AM

      Will someone please explain to me why BF4's netcode can't run at, say, 60hz (or what have you)?

      People who play this game aren't on dialup or ISDN or whatever. We all have fast internet connections. In a 64 player game with tons of vehicles, what would be the total amount of bandwidth needed to pass along info at the 60hz rate (client and server side)?

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        June 4, 2014 6:12 AM

        EA are too stingy to pay for better servers, probably

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        June 4, 2014 6:18 AM

        I'd imagine it's more a server side limitation? I'm thinking it's just the fact that it's too much data, either in terms of bandwidth, or CPU time spent processing said data. When I'm playing a 64 player BF4 round and I'm in the heat of the battle, I have absolutely no doubt the amount of information being processed and sent back and forth is multiple times that of typical shooter. All those players, vehicles, projectiles, syncing destruction, all of it.

        At the end of the day, if it was a non-issue getting it to refresh at 60hz, then I'm sure they'd do just that. No upsides from the customer satisfaction POV to having it any lower.

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          June 4, 2014 6:56 AM

          is there really that much more going on than in bf1942 12 years ago?

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            June 4, 2014 6:59 AM

            I don't know, but I would be surprised if the answer was no. BF1942, even if great for its time, certainly was a much more simple game. Less projectiles for sure, less destruction, less of everything. Plus we have no idea how hit detection and other mechanics worked back then, at least from the developers POV, compared to now.

            Like I said, if there wasn't a technical reason for having a low refresh rate, why on earth would they?

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        June 4, 2014 7:21 AM

        Its because they are all licensed servers. Their licensee's can put more instances on the same hardware with a lower tick rate. Thus purchasing more licenses from EA/DICE.

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      June 4, 2014 6:49 AM

      so you're saying it's gone gold?

    • reply
      June 4, 2014 6:53 AM

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