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Battlefield 3

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Revision as of 01:28, 10 May 2019 by Garrbot (talk | contribs) (→‎top: updated template usage)
Battlefield 3
Battlefield 3 cover
Developers
DICE
End Game Visceral Games[1]
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Engines
Frostbite 2
Release dates
Windows October 25, 2011
Battlefield 3 guide on StrategyWiki
Battlefield 3 on Wikipedia
Battlefield 1942 2002
Battlefield Vietnam 2004
Battlefield 2 2005
Battlefield 2142 2006
Battlefield Heroes 2009
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 2010
Battlefield Online 2010
Battlefield Play4Free 2011
Battlefield 3 2011
Battlefield 4 2013
Battlefield Hardline 2015
Battlefield 1 2016
Battlefield V 2018
Battlefield 2042 2021

Key points

PC version features 64 player multiplayer, high resolution textures, high quality shadows and more PC-specific features.

General information

Official website
Battlefield 3 on Battlelog - PC section.
Answer HQ for the Battlefield series at EA.com
Battlefield Wiki

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Origin
Windows
Amazon.com
Origin
Windows
Amazon.co.uk
Origin
Windows
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Origin
Premium Edition also available.
Windows
Origin
Origin
Included with EA Play.
Windows
All versions require Origin DRM.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Aftermath Included with EA Play Pro.
Windows
Air Vehicle Shortcut
Windows
Armored Kill Included with EA Play Pro.
Windows
Assault Kit Shortcut
Windows
Back to Karkand Included with EA Play Pro.
Windows
Close Quarters Included with EA Play Pro.
Windows
Co-op Weapons Shortcut
Windows
End Game Included with EA Play Pro.
Windows
Engineer Kit Shortcut
Windows
Ground Vehicle Shortcut
Windows
Kit Shortcut Bundle
Windows
Promotional Items
Windows
Recon Kit Shortcut
Windows
SPECACT Kit & Dog Tag Bundle
Windows
Support Kit Shortcut
Windows
The Ultimate Shortcut Bundle
Windows
Vehicle Shortcut Bundle
Windows

Essential improvements

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game.

Performance boost

This command disables the engine's deferred compute shader lighting path. This may give a large FPS boost in open, outdoor areas, but possibly may reduce performance in heavily lit scenes. Most users report only the performance boost, including inside closed areas.
This command provides no graphical change.
WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable false or DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0[citation needed]
  1. Open the console (~).
  2. Input either WorldRender.DxDeferredCsPathEnable false or DxDeferredCsPathEnable 0

Notes

You can create a text file called user.cfg in the installation folder containing this command, so that it's permanently enabled.

Optimal video settings

You may use any configuration with-which you are satisfied. The following tips serve to balance graphical fidelity, function and performance.
Setting textures to High may eliminate texture pop-in, if it is happening to you.
Setting effects to Low is recommended. Other levels show no particular improvement, it only adds a little bloom around fire sparkles.[2]
Settings mesh to Ultra is recommended as it allows you to spot enemies at a greater distance.
Set anisotropic filtering to the maximum value your PC can handle. Better AF comes as a minimal (or none) performance cost and significantly improves graphical fidelity.

Play the game without Origin

Warning: no official word from EA, proceed at your own risk.
Patch your parameter file[3]
  1. Look in the installation folder for a file with .par extension
  2. Upload it to NoFaTe's Origin Requirement Remover
  3. Replace the original file with the one which will be you provided

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Battlefield 3\settings\

Save game data location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Battlefield 3\settings\
meta.xml, PROF_SAVE_body, PROF_SAVE_header and PROF_SAVE_profile are the save files.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Origin
OneDrive
Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.

Video settings

In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.

Template:Video settings

Input settings

In-game control settings.
In-game control settings.
In-game key/button map settings.
In-game key/button map settings.

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Template:Audio settings

IndirectSound copied to the game directory can be used to enhance audio quality and spatialization. Consider also enabling enhanced stereo mode in game options.

Localizations

Some regions do not include all languages; see Change game language.
Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
GDFBinary_en_US.dll, en_US
Traditional Chinese
Czech
GDFBinary_cs_CZ.dll, cs_CZ
French
GDFBinary_fr_FR.dll, fr_FR
German
GDFBinary_de_DE.dll, de_DE
Italian
GDFBinary_it_IT.dll, it_IT
Japanese
GDFBinary_ja_JP.dll, ja_JP
Korean
Polish
GDFBinary_pl_PL.dll, pl_PL
Russian
Spanish
GDFBinary_es_ES.dll, es_ES

Change game language

Instructions[citation needed]
If you've purchased a foreign version of the game and would like to play it in English, you can either download a complete package:
  1. Download the complete package here.

- Or follow these steps:

  1. Download the BF3 Language Pack and extract the files to <path-to-game>\Data\Win32\Loc\.
  2. Download the second BF3 Language Pack for the 5 March 2013 patch and extract the files to <path-to-game>\.
  3. Download the December patch archive and extract only the "en.toc" file from \Update\Patch\Data\Win32\Loc\ to <path-to-game>\Data\Win32\Loc\ (do only take the en.toc file from this archive!)
  4. Update this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Electronic Arts\Battlefield 3
  5. Update this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Origin Games\DGR01609244
  6. Replace the circled keys (to the right on this page) with those provided above.

Network

Update PunkBuster using the PBSetup utility to fix most issues.

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
Online play
64

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
May not be reliable.
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Servers must be rented from approved providers.
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 80, 443, 9988, 17502, 20000-20100, 22990, 42127
UDP 3659, 14000-14016, 22990-23006, 25200-25300
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes State GG3D Notes
Native 3D
Nvidia 3D Vision
TriDef 3D
iZ3D

Issues fixed

"Game disconnected: something went wrong" error

Replay Mission[citation needed]
  1. From the main menu, select Replay Missions.
  2. Select the mission you would like to continue from.

Notes

This will overwrite your latest checkpoint.

"Battlefield 3 has stopped working" error

Find PROF_SAVE_body[citation needed]
  1. Go to the save game data location.
  2. Find a file called PROF_SAVE_body. If its size is 0KB, it is corrupted.
  3. Overwrite the file through re-installation or get a replacement from a verified source (friend, reputable website).
  4. If prompted by Origin, opt to use your local data instead of the version stored on the cloud.

Game crashes with a sound loop using an ASUS Xonar sound-card

Disable GX Mode[citation needed]
  1. Open the Xonar Audio Center.
  2. Disable GX Mode.

Crashes on 32-bit Windows

Increase user-mode virtual address space to 2500MB[4]

Nvidia GeForce GTX 500-series freezing or displaying bad graphics

Turn off various options, etc[citation needed]
  1. Turn off Antialiasing Deferred, Vertical Sync and Motion Blur in the options menu.
  2. Close overclocking and/or monitoring software such as RivaTuner.
  3. In the NVIDIA Control Panel, set Power management mode to Prefer maximum performance.
  4. Uninstall TeamViewer and any associated drivers and services.
  5. Uninstall or disable FFSplit.

Black screen (AMD/ATI)

Edit PROF_SAVE_profile[citation needed]
  1. Go to the save game data location.
  2. Edit the file PROF_SAVE_profile using Notepad.
  3. Modify the entry GstRender.FullscreenEnabled to 0
  4. Modify the entry GstRender.FullscreenScreen to 1
  5. Save the file, then change its properties to Read only.
  6. Launch the game. Go to the Video menu in the options menu.
  7. Change the undefined monitor number to 1
  8. Modify the screen resolution option to a resolution lower than your normal/native resolution.
  9. Modify Fullscreen to ON. Apply the changes.

Origin error - "Could not activate"

Delete License files[5]
  1. Close Origin (right click tray symbol > Exit)
  2. Go to %PROGRAMDATA%\Electronic Arts\EA Services\License
  3. Delete any files named 71067.dlf, 70619 or 70169.dlf
  4. Go to %PROGRAMDATA%\Origin\DownloadCache
  5. Delete all of the files in this folder
  6. Restart your computer and launch Origin
  7. Log into your Origin account and launch Battlefield 3 to force a license update

Weak performance on Intel Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs (especially Laptops)

Deactivate Intel TurboBoost using this trick[citation needed]
  1. Open Control Panel-> Power Options -> Change Plan Settings (on current plan) -> Change advanced power settings
  2. On Processor power management change the maximum cpu usage to 99% instead of 100%. This will disable TurboBoost, which is the reason for weird performance issues in connection with Battlefield 3.
  3. ATTENTION: You might also have to turn down minimum CPU usage if it is set to 100% (eg Max performance mode often has this). Also your performance will get steadier with both minimum and maximum settings set to 99%, but at the cost of battery life.

PunkBuster kicked player 'xxx' (for 0 minutes) ... No Packet Flow

Dual WAN router - use one WAN for both BF3 and PunkBuster[citation needed]
  1. Find the user manual for your router
  2. Route all connections to/from your PC through one WAN connection
  3. You may need to restart your router/ your PC

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 11
Shader Model support 5
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Anti-cheat PunkBuster

Console commands

Launch console with ~.
You can have these commands run automatically, whenever you start the game, by entering them in user.cfg in the Battlefield 3 installation folder (the file won't exist by default, you can create it through Notepad and save as a .cfg file).
Command Description
Render.DrawFps 1 Show FPS counter
Render.PerfOverlayVisible 1 Show performance graph
GameTime.MaxVariableFPS # Limit frame rate (where # is a positive number)
RenderDevice.TripleBufferingEnable 1 Enable Triple-Buffering (only recommended if Vsync is on)
RenderDevice.RenderAheadLimit 1 Force rendering only 1 frame ahead (may remove stutter, default value is 3)
Screenshot.Render Take a screenshot (into %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Battlefield 3\Screenshots\)

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) Vista SP2 32-bit
Processor (CPU) AMD Athlon X2 2.7 GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM) 2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 20 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon 3870
Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT
512 MB of VRAM
DirectX 10.1 compatible
Sound (audio device) DirectX Compatible

References