Battlefield Heroes Q&A

[Omni]

Battlefield Heroes Q&A with Colin Clarke

Will buildings and/or other obstacles be destructible?

There is no world destruction planned for Battlefield Heroes. This is in part to keep the system requirements down and also to make the game easier to learn and master. If we asked players to have to negotiate constantly changing terrain we wouldn’t be able to call it a casual game

Will you be able to refill ammo/HP out in the field (as in BF1942 and BFV)? If not, will a class be able to hand out ammo/HP?

Every class in Battlefield Heroes has unlimited ammo and is able to heal themselves on the fly. Though the Soldier class could be described as being the closest to a traditional Battlefield ‘medic’ if you choose to play him as such; you could just as easily leave this group heal ability out and focus just on offensive abilities

Will all classes have grenades?

Only one class in Battlefield Heroes has grenades, though all the classes have access to some form of explosive. Either way there will be a Kaboom!

Will there be any stationary weapons?

Yes, currently we have anti-aircraft guns around some of the capture points in the map that has vehicles

Will there be any expansions or booster packs? If so, will they be free of charge?

This is a free game! So we want any expansions or booster packs we release to be available to everyone

How will you shoot down aircraft?

Every single weapon on the ground in Battlefield Heroes has the potential to shoot down an aircraft. Naturally the Anti-Air is the most effective tool for doing this, but with some practice you could use a sniper rifle and shoot the pilot out of their seat

What similarities with Battlefield 1942 will we see in Battlefield Heroes?

We focused on those particular events that have been dubbed “Battlefield Moments” with Battlefield Heroes. So one could say that the main similarity is the potential for things to go horribly right in unexpected ways

Which is the biggest factor deciding who will win a one on one duel? Playtime? Rank? Skill?

Our focus in balancing the game was to have fights be determined most by how you use what you have and not so much how good what you have is. Of course there will still be loads of items that might give advantage at the right time, in the right place

[Matt@Sim_Moves]

That's pretty interesting, thanks for posting that up Omni.
I'm really looking forward to this game, for three points:

a.) It's Free
b.) It's a Battlefield Game
c.) It's Cartoony!

[VectorRoll]

Nice I like it and can't wait.

[Omni]

Additional questions and answers as found on Your questions, our answers | Battlefield Heroes - Free to Play, Cartoon Shooter

What is the maximum level you can achieve? Will it ever increase?
The level “cap” is currently 30. We’re assuming that BF Heroes will be around for a while and evolve over time, so you could say it’s a reasonable assumption that at some point the level cap will increase.

Are the available weapons balanced? Or is there a lot of difference between them?
Obviously different weapons will have different strengths and weaknesses. Depending on what class you play, what abilities you use and also things like your play style will mostly determine the “actual” strength of a certain weapon. That said, there will always be potential for some balance to shift within an online multiplayer game. This is why we are, and continuously will be, going to the community for feedback as well as doing our own continued testing.

Are there any plans to implement more classes or ones that players can unlock?
At the moment we feel that we have three classes with a lot of diversity among them and players will have a lot of fun for a long time.

How many players will be able to play on the same server?
Battlefield Heroes is currently aimed at 8v8, so 16 total.

Will there be a Battle Recorder like BF2?
We haven’t decided yet. This is something we may add in the future. We’re currently looking at ways to make it easier to use.

Will there be ranks? How many will there be?
Since we are using a level system, ranks won’t be implemented from the get go.
We’ll likely review at a later time and see if this might change.

How will the unlocking of certain abilities and weapons work?
Players will be able to earn Hero Points which can be spent to unlock and upgrade abilities, and Valor Points which can be used to purchase new weapons. Both of these are given to the player as rewards for completing missions in game. For more information have a look at our Dev Blog with David and Mayu.

Is this game going to run PunkBuster?
Yes. Where we like to change the mix on a lot of things, we felt keeping PunkBuster would be the best way to go at this time.

Will there be female soldiers?
Perhaps.

What will the player experience or recognise in BF Heroes that has previously been experienced in the Battlefield Series?
Actually, we recently had a DICE designer meeting. In this meeting we discussed and reviewed whether each of the projects that held a Battlefield name really deserved to have that mantle. For Heroes we found that the core experiences that kept this game a ‘Battlefield’ game were: Freedom, Team Work, Vehicles, Rock-Paper-Scissors, and a couple of other items. When designers get into a room conversations tend to go on long tangents so to condense a lot of talking for the sake of readers’ eyes: Heroes brings the team play, vehicle & infantry, and wild unexpected moments to the table which veteran Battlefield players will find very familiar.

What can you tell us about the objectives of the game, will there be some type of system that has control points?
The current game mode in Heroes can be simplified down to ‘Kill the bad guys’. There are capture points which impact the tickets lost by the enemy when they die and also grants the controlling team vehicles and better spawn locations; but the core of the game is to help your team mates and of course to get the other guy before he gets you.

There's little information released about the weapons in BF Heroes. Can you tell us about some of them?
Not quite yet. But we will.

Will there be any form of voice communication in-game?
We’re currently not planning to incorporate voice chat in BF Heroes. Of course you are free to use one of the many 3rd party voice communication applications available.

Will there be a spectator mode?
We haven’t decided yet. If, after a while, it looks like the majority of players want it, we’ll definitely want to try and find a way to add this.

Are the two factions' vehicles equal?
Balance is important to us. The factions’ vehicles only differ aesthetically.

Will there be artillery?
That will depend on the maps we implement at a later time. The starting map(s) will not have artillery, so for now AA guns will have to do.

What vehicles will there be?
Right now we have planes, tanks and jeeps.
Will your skill increase with a certain weapon if you use it enough or very well?
From a personal point of view, hopefully yes, but not from a technical standpoint.

Will you drop off the plane’s wings if it does crazy manoeuvres?
Nope, our planes come with safety belts.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
That depends on how big an axe he buys in our Store.

How many guns can you carry with you at any one time?
You can carry two weapons and one special damage item with you at any time.

Will the game be rated?
Like all EA games we have submitted Heroes to the ESRB and PEGI.

Will there be a Single Player mode?
There is a tutorial so anyone who is new can learn the ropes before joining the mayhem.

Is the game play environment destructible?
Since we wanted to keep system specs as low as possible without affecting the game directly, we did not include destructible environments.

Can you dual wield certain weapons?
Not at this time.

(How) are you preventing spawn camping?
We have a few new things in place to try and prevent this. We’ll be watching closely to see how well it works.

Will Battlefield Heroes have Squads and Commanders, like 2142? If so, will there be a system in place to ensure that commanders actually command, instead of fighting?
This isn’t in the planning at this time.

Will there be leaning (like around corners)?
Since you play Battlefield Heroes from third person perspective and we want to keep things somewhat simple, there won’t be leaning.

Will you be able to customize just one character?
You will be able to create more than one soldier per account.

Will you be able to play with a friend who has a higher/lower level than your self?
Yes, this will be possible.

In which languages will the game/site be available?
We will start with English. German and French currently are likely candidates to be added soon.

Will there be events/tournaments with cool prizes?
Yes! We definitely plan on doing lots of tournaments that anyone can enter AND win very cool stuff!

Are headshots possible?
Yes, they are.

Will you be able to revive dead people?
We’re not THAT Heroes.

Will you get dog tags for certain in game achievements?
This isn’t planned at the moment, but we are looking into other ways to be able to add similar functionality.

Will there be any additional melee weapons other than the knife?
That seems likely at this point.

Can you "moon" the other team as a taunt?
That’s a good idea, but no, not right now.

If I choose to get an eye patch, can I get 2 eye patches?
We’ll be adding content to the Store as we go along, so this could definitely happen.

Can you change factions?
You can create a new soldier and choose a faction when you do. You won’t be able to change faction of a specific soldier once you’ve created him.

Will there be support for modifications/player maps?
Not right now. As you know, with Battlefield Heroes we are aiming for the more casual side of things and at this time the concept doesn’t include modifications. Let’s see where things go and what options we can look at in future.

Should we anticipate map restriction as we have seen in other Battlefield Titles and if that is (not) the case what will we experience within the environment of BFH?
We plan to make all map content freely available to all players. There may be restrictions that are game play based where we ask that players meet certain requirements before being able to play on a certain map.
We also do not want to prevent friends from playing with one another so it’s always in our heads that any restrictions we place need to be flexible enough to let friends play with friends and let our community of Heroes flourish.

How many maps will be available at release?
We’re currently planning to release with two maps, but we are working on new maps all the time. How many we end up including from the start could still change.

How does the skill matching work, through KDR (kill death ratio), PDR (point death ratio) or will it be working in a more complicated way?
A slightly more complicated way, more details on this later.

Will there be stats tracking, medal awards and so on?
We will be tracking stats with things like Leaderboards. More details will be available at a later time.

Is there a chance to play against players who are the same level I am?
Matchmaking is intended to try and make sure that you will most likely end up playing others who are just as good (or new to the game) as you.

Are classes interchangeable during a game?
Nope.

Are there turrets or other stationary defenses?
At the moment there are AA guns for swatting at those pesky planes.

Are there objectives like "plant a bomb" or "fix this device" in the game?
There might be, at a later time.

Does Battlefield Heroes have a story or is it only about killing the enemy?
Yes, there’s a story; all shall be revealed later.

Is there a class that can repair vehicles?
Yes, three even.

Will there be day and night or only day in-game?
Just day, for now.

I want to be informed when you do stuff. Where do I sign up for the Newsletter?
We’ll be offering a signup option on the site, so keep an eye out!

How long do you plan on supporting the game?
As long as there are players enjoying it!

Any plans for including naval combat and/or support (like bombardments) in the future?
This has come up on the Beta forums and is something we definitely want to spend more time looking into.

Will there be any P2P aspect as in cash shop type deals? Or is it pure F2P ftw?
The game will be entirely free to play. The Store will come into play once you start looking at buying outfits, cool items, etc.

Will you be able to run faster, slide into cover or do other stuff that can quickly get you out of the shooting zone, or are you just going to run around and shoot stuff?
There are abilities that can help, yes. And they won’t cost real money.

Is Battlefield Heroes going to be Global?
Most definitely.

If my friend and I are on opposing armies, is there any way for us to team up on the same army or do the opposite if we want to challenge each other?
Anyone is free to create more than one soldier, for different purposes.

What major difference will there be between the two armies?
We’ll leave that to you to find out once we’re live.

Will your choice of army affect what clothes you can wear?
Most clothing items are specific to an army. This is primarily to help you see who’s friend and who’s foe.

How will you see who is friend and foe on the battlefield if everyone is wearing their own clothes?
We ran into this one a while ago and decided to change the font and font color of player names, so it is easier now to distinguish friend from foe.

Are the planes hard to control?
If you haven’t played Battlefield before you will want to practice a bit. But in Heroes, even crashing is fun to do.

Can I play offline or play tutorial mode?
You’ll need to be online to sign in, before being able to play. Heroes is all online.

Are you going to reset all accounts when you start Open Beta?
Yes, we will. We feel this is the only way to make it fair for everyone.

Are you considering an ‘infantry only’ option to the game?
Yes.

Will you be able to steer planes with he "w,a, s and d" and/or the arrow keys?
Yes, we’ll let you configure the controls the way you want them.

Can you change name on your character?
We’re looking into making this option available at a later time.

How many different kinds of weapons can you unlock?
The sky’s the limit, so we’ll see.

Can we zoom in when we shoot?
Yes, sniper rifles come with scopes.

Will you be able to play on your account on any computer with BFH installed?
Yes.

What payment methods are there?
This will most likely vary depending on what country you live in.

Will this be the last game of this kind you will make?
We certainly hope not!

What happens, if this turns out to be a hit?
What do you mean, IF?!

Will there be Easter eggs?
No. Maybe

Is it possible to have in-game avatars?
Your Hero will also be your avatar.

About the Metagame , will it be started with the start of the game?
The meta game will be available even before you start the game client.
Will there be larger transport vehicles in the game, or will players drop right into the action?
If we see a growing need for transports at some point we won’t want to deny anyone this option. However, all current vehicles have multiple seats.

Are there emotes/taunts?
There sure are!

Will there be something special on holidays like a Santa outfit for Christmas?
We definitely want to add seasonal items.

Will you have special events like “gain double Experience points for one week”?
That kind of thing is on our list.

[VectorRoll]

Cool thanks for the info.

[Don177]

Yay! Thx for the christmas presient.

[halloikbenbart]

hoe moet je inlogge???

[halloikbenbart]

how to log in and play the game can somewone explane my question??

[VectorRoll]

It is not out live yet. The BETA is also down and will reopen next year after the holidays; from what DICE has mentioned. When the BETA opens you might be able to get in. It depend on if they have it to be an open BETA or a close BETA were they give out keys like the last time.
Hopefully it will not take long after that next BETA for the game to startup live.

[Codez23]

Just wondering if the shop items will only be for aesthetic purposes? Hopefully That bit about the "double experience points for a week" does not cost money, because it would put the balance of power into how much money you are willing to spend...

[Inzaghi]

looks great

[Swetim]

maybe a lan mode? is there unlocks like bf 2142 and bad company?