DICE is improving Battlefield 4’s netcode this week

Update out now on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360

DICE’s promised netcode improvements for Battlefield 4 are rolling out this week. An update is available now on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC and will hit PS4 and Xbox One later this week.

On PC, PS4, and Xbox One, there’s a new high-frequency network update option which you can enable from the gameplay tab in the options menu — it’s set to off by default. “Within a certain radius of the player, we add the possibility to update the clients at a higher rate from the server,” writes DICE. “What this essentially means is that the server will update the client on what is happening more often than before.” There are low, medium, and high settings, but you should go for the latter if you have a decent internet connection.

This high-frequency update is coming to 48-player servers and “a small set” of 64-player servers on PS4 and Xbox One to start. From there, all servers will support it after 24 hours if all goes according to plan. For a quick before-and-after video comparison, head here.

Curiosity finally got the better of me and, after months since last playing, I got a quick round in today. It’s still Battlefield 4, but it’s a better online experience than I remember. And there’s more to come (of course there is): “We are still hard at work with additional improvements and tweaks to better our network experience that did not make this release.”

New Update Addressing “Netcode” Rolling Out [Battlefield]

Update Details

PC
• Improved/reduced explosion induced camera shake
• Character collision improvements
• Fix to reduce object damage mismatch between client/server.
• Fix explosion packs not being able to be shot sometimes
• Improvements for client side packet loss
• Client crash fixes
• AMD Mantle multi-GPU improvements
• Carrier Assault game mode reports bug fix
• High Frequency Network update
– Added High frequency “bubble” updating player movement, stance, rotation, damage and projectiles at a separate rate on foot and in vehicles
– Added option to control client side update rate setting

PlayStation 3
• Improved/reduced explosion induced camera shake
• Rental server bug fixes
• Character collision improvements
• Reduced object damage mismatch between client/server.
• Fix for explosion pack not being able to be shot sometimes
• Improvements for client side packet loss
• Added controller option to swap functionality of the bumper and trigger buttons
• Carrier – Invisible walls stopping bullets fix

Xbox 360
• Improved/reduced explosion induced camera shake
• Rent A Server bug fixes
• Character collision improvements
• Reduced object damage mismatch between client/server.
• Fix for explosion pack not being able to be shot sometimes
• Improvements for client side packet loss
• Added controller option to swap functionality of the bumper and trigger buttons
• Physics optimization for Naval Strike Wave Breaker rocks
• Carrier – Invisible walls stopping bullets fix
• Fix for issue where clients with low bandwidth would not be able to enter squad menu.

PlayStation 4
• Improved/reduced explosion induced camera shake
• Rental server bug fixes
• Character collision improvements
• Fix to reduce object damage mismatch between client/server.
• Fix explosion packs not being able to be shot sometimes
• Improvements for client side packet loss
• Added controller option to swap functionality of the bumper and trigger buttons
• Physics optimization for Naval Strike Wave Breaker rocks
• Carrier – Invisible walls stopping bullets fix
• High Frequency Network update
– Added High frequency “bubble” updating player movement, stance, rotation, damage and projectiles at a separate rate on foot and in vehicles
– Added option to control client side update rate setting

Xbox One
• Improved/reduced explosion induced camera shake
• Rental server bug fixes
• Character collision improvements
• Fix to reduce object damage mismatch between client/server.
• Fix explosion packs not being able to be shot sometimes
• Improvements for client side packet loss
• Added controller option to swap functionality of the bumper and trigger buttons
• Physics optimization for Naval Strike Wave Breaker rocks
• Carrier – Invisible walls stopping bullets fix
• Fixed issue when using standby in Campaign
• Fixed issue when using standby and reconnecting to game servers
• Fixed issue with snapped application and matchmaking
• Playgroup Matchmaking fix for Xbox One
• Fixed incorrect error message for lost Xbox Live connection
• Fixed issue for user name mismatch in rental server, ingame scoreboard and Squad Join menus
• High Frequency Network update
– Added High frequency “bubble” updating player movement, stance, rotation, damage and projectiles at a separate rate on foot and in vehicles
– Added option to control client side update rate setting