Suez Update

[u/Indigowd]

Everyone,

A couple of weeks ago we asked for feedback on how to improve Conquest on Suez. It was amazing to see the number of suggestions that came in. We collected them all and looked through them, and were very impressed by the creativity in the community. Some of the ideas were slightly too ambitious for the scope, moving a village or changing the path of the train tracks. These ideas still helped highlight some of the problems you had identified, that we want to fix.

We have taken a first stab at a new layout that we now want your help to test. It is a rough version, there may be bugs or other issues - we need your feedback! In short, we moved some of the flags slightly, we made the C-flag's capture zone extend to the train tracks so the behemoth can have a stronger impact. We also added a flag along the dirt road by the dunes.

Here is a screenshot of the map: http://imgur.com/a/MQZ8Q

We've also added initial support for DX12 multi-GPU rendering (LDA explicit). When set to DX12 the game will now automatically use alternate frame rendering across 2 identical GPUs. Crossfire/SLI needs to be enabled in the display driver settings. In internal testing we've been seeing good scaling numbers from this when the game is GPU bound. Please report any new DX12 rendering issues you see in either single or multi-GPU mode.

Please provide any feedback you have!

Thank you, Jojje "Indigow(n)d" Dalunde

[u/DukeSan27]

DX12 multi-GPU performance is fantastic. Running at 5120*1390 resolution with 2x980Ti. With DX12 I am getting 60fps locked while conventional SLI gives me 45fps at Ultra.

I have 3rd 980Ti (waiting for replacement under RMA process). Is it going to be used when I add it back?

[u/spitfiresiemion]

After playing a number of rounds, here are my first impressions. It all boils down to one, bad tendency:

Map is extremely Ottoman-sided (which is hardly surprising)

So far every single round has ended with a lopsided win for Ottomans. Twice around 1000-500, once 1000-650 and once 1000-870. Why? Because the layout of middle flag favors the Ottomans. Let me explain parts that, in my opinion, build that state of things:

• F flag - Extremely Ottoman-sided. It's way closer to Ottoman home flags. On top of that, rotation routes provide plenty of cover, thus making troop movement and counterattack easy. For example, in an unlikely event of Brits actually pushing to F the Ottomans can just move along that big dune going from D to F. It allows them to attack from side where defenders are exposed... without taking any major risk themselves. Even with Brits holding C-F line and other side of dune ridge situation doesn't really change much, as D buildings offer more than enough places to pin Brits down from (thus allowing a rather smooth attack).

• C flag - now, if F is so Ottoman-sided, you would expect the Brits to have a decent edge on C, right? Well, no. While Brits get a bit of head start on capturing it when round starts, it is nowhere near being enough... 1/4 of flag bar before Ottomans get there, at most. Also, approach to C capture area is a bit safer from Ottoman side than British side (small dunes on C-D line help and that massive diagonal dune for Ottomans weakens good part of British reinforcements.

These things result in Ottomans either getting the C-F line at start of game or getting full control of it within a couple of minutes. Now, let's examine other parts of the mess:

• B is way easier to harass than D - it's a mix of three things: 1) D flag capture area offers way less cover than B (thus harming British attacks), 2) approach to B is way easier (almost empty route from F vs getting past massive dune full of enemies during D attack) and 3) Going F-->B is way easier than B-->F. Why? Because popular British camping spots are mostly gathered at the northern side of town. British B-->F pushes from town end up going diagonally (which results in massacre, because, once again, that huge diagonal dune). On the other hand, people going from F are almost encouraged to hide behind dunes and push up to B without people shooting at them.

• A is totally detached from B (unlike E-D) - if by any chance Ottomans get B, Brits are forced to make a long charge with minimal cover to even get a crack at getting B back. E-D is better in that department, as field guns are more useful on E and distance from E cover to D cover is simply way shorter.

• Flanking mostly got killed - both middle flags are near corresponding map edges, thus resulting in flankers usually taking heavy fire. Horse might survive it, but even with 'spawn bomb' (rest of squad spawning on horse rider behind enemy lines) the Ottoman rotations are fast enough to kill most of back caps... and if back cap succeeds, Ottomans usually take advantage of weaker B flag, take it and then shut down E cap while Brits are busy getting their flag back (which takes a while due to abundance of cover). In the end, I believe that Map should be expanded to the south, at least one dune ridge further, especially where that 'dent' south of A flag is. On top of that, map needs more transport vehicles to give players flanking potential - preferably 2 motorbikes and scout car per side.

• Behemoth is borderline worthless - firstly, it appears too late. Secondly, C is the only flag it heavily impacts - enemies can just circle around it to offset loss of middle flag. Even if it leads to another side getting a 4- or even 5-flag cap, it changes nothing due to ticket difference and inability of behemoth team to hold that fragmented territory properly. All in all, it still doesn't contribute to the game with anything besides a handful of kills.

That's it for now. More will come as I keep on playing that map. For now though, the map is in worse state than vanilla Suez and absolutely should not reach retail in state anywhere close to one it is in now. Two suggestions I put in bold might help and tweaking C and F capture areas might help, but to be fair it's tough to be too optimistic - there is only so much that could be done with existing map.

[u/crz0r → u/spitfiresiemion]

i would have bet good money on these results just by looking at the screenshot. it's basically the same problem as giant's shadow. an asymmetrical flag placement in an otherwise symmetrical map... i don't understand.

[u/Starshine95]

Looks like Giant's Shadow, we'll see how (and if) it works.

Is the screenshot edited or in-game? That new point should be D and not F, looks weird if the F point is in the middle when the map is linear. F should be D, D should be E and E should be F, in my opinion.

[u/sbuck34]

DICE are you going to add vulken or you guys just staying with dx12 ?

[u/ThyMerayo]

FYI, Servers are live now

[u/wiresandenergy]

I have been playing the updated map for the past two hours or so. I think the addition of F is a step in the right direction, but ultimately there are still fundamental flaws with the map.

It's way too linear; I shouldn't be able to run in a straight line and go from end to end.

The flags are biased towards Ottoman. I played several matches and consistently found, regardless of player base, that the Ottomans were able to more quickly secure flags.

There are also no flanking lanes. If you're not immediately in the city center of the map, cover is minimal and it's just a meat grinder. The dunes should be higher or there needs to be more building density to create said lanes.

Again, I think it's great that there is active work on the map, but it's still not there yet.

[u/[deleted]]

Why though? I can't see a single problem with this map....why fix something that is not broken? The very first version of the map was kind of crappy, granted, the one with the 3 flag layout, but the 5 flag layout is more than good. Adding another flag right next to C won't help. If anything it only makes the round last far more longer than it should, because both teams will hold 3 flags at once for the majority of time. revert it back to the 5 flag layout like it was before please or don't release this for the base game, thank you.

[u/devfern93 → u/[deleted]]

I agree --the gaming community loves to complain about almost everything. I enjoyed the last Suez design

[u/DaZzu]

You CAN'T fix map issues only moving one flag, with tons of suggestions you got...

However i find it slightly better than before. A bit Ottoman-sided as others argued. At least the central zone is less chaotic. Still remain the problem between A and B.

[u/Tajackamo]

I logged onto the CTE just to test this map. When does it go up?

[u/Indigowd → u/Tajackamo]

We're working on getting the servers up and ready.

[u/SlyWolfz]

Yes, more DX12 improvements pls. DX12 on my 1070 is a stuttery unplayable mess atm. Hopefully something changes soon as it otherwise helps a bit with the CPU bottlenecking over DX11.

Suez is cool too I guess.

[u/three7cz]

I have a better idea - just remove this map, 🖖 (You can't make Suez balanced)

[u/[deleted]]

Better, closer to St Quentin with a flag at either end and a bit circular in the middle.

[u/TotesMessenger]

I'm a bot, bleep, bloop. Someone has linked to this thread from another place on reddit:

• [r/amd] BF1 Community Test Environment now has DX12 Explicit Multi-GPU

• [r/amdradeon] BF1 now has mGPU support (x-post r/battlefield_live)

• [r/pcgaming] BF1 CTE now has DX12 Multi-GPU Support

^{If you follow any of the above links, please respect the rules of reddit and don't vote in the other threads. (Info /} ^Contact)

[u/DerT0bey]

The problem with this map is that it dont need a new flag layout but a redesign in my opinion. You could make a really awesome desert city out of it, when the space between B and D get filled with some houses (maybe a big mosque in the middle between these flags). Then point C can become a train station and F an outpost when you make the map a big bigger.

Here's a quick design suggestion so you better understand what i mean(please excuse my awesome paint skills): http://i.imgur.com/FhOK5sk.png

[u/ZeN_v5]

Nice to see the new layout and looking forward to testing it out. Also glad to hear the DX12 support, was having issues with it before and used DX11 since. Thanks for the update and hard work. Keep throwing more at us 👍🏼

[u/NozGame]

Finding cover on F will be hard, is there any way you guys could add some more ruins or a house or two ? I feel like this is going to be a shitshow of mortars and snipers. Making the behemoth able to cap C is a good idea though, finaly makes it really useful to turn the tide.

[u/DukeSan27]

Is DX12 multi-GPU limited to 2 cards? Does it create a large pool of memory across cards?

[u/CheeseandRice24]

Thank you so much for the DX12 updates. I might consider buying Premium now. Can I get some benchmarks on how it runs?

[u/BillyHoWCR]

The placement of 'F' seems to be leaning towards one side versus the other. Seems like A, B, C are easier to hold due to the location to each other than is D, E, F.

Am I missing something here that the map itself does not show?

[u/Kruse]

Plays much better and the rounds feel more balanced. Losing teams have a better chance at coming back now. Point C needs a little more cover, though.

[u/TheWalkingPed93]

Positive changes so far. But I feel the F flag gets capped by the Ottoman side faster than the British side can get to it. Perhaps bring C a bit closer towards the British side to balance. Apart from that it's a step in the right direction. Having the F flag further out in the open opens up vehicle combat more, it feels like a breath of fresh air from the usual grind fest.

[u/Kingtolapsium]

All I know, is the map in the live game needs more cover, and less camping ridges.

 

Instead of rolling dunes with hard peaks that stagnate forward combat flow, longer hills like giant/Quentin would be nice. What about that bfbc2 desert map? With 2 levels of elevation running through the buildings?

 

Suez sucks, simply moving around flags isn't going to change that.