The Star Wars Battlefront Beta is Coming October 8th

[AiRJacobs]

The following is a message from StarWars.EA.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

The Star Wars Battlefront Beta is Coming October 8th

Get ready to be taken to a galaxy far, far away!



The Star Wars Battlefront Beta is Coming October 8th

Get ready to be taken to a galaxy far, far away! Today, we are happy to reveal that the Star Wars™ Battlefront™ Beta will be available for PlayStation®4, Xbox One and on PC via Origin players between October 8 and October 12. The Star Wars Battlefront Beta is a technical test and will give Rebels and Imperials alike just a small taste of the Star Wars™ battle fantasies you can expect to live out when the game launches on November 17.

The Beta will let you experience three modes spread across three iconic planets including:

• Walker Assault on Hoth: Fight in epic 40-player battles as a Rebel to destroy the Empire's onslaught of AT-AT's by calling in Y-wing bombers. Or, side with the Empire and protect your walkers while utilizing their mighty weaponry to crush the Rebel objective.



• Drop Zone on Sullust: Escape pods are crashing down and you and your team must fight to control them. With its frantic 8v8 matches, Drop Zone is sure to put your combat and strategy skills to the test.



• Survival Mission on Tatooine: Play alone or with a friend via co-op or split-screen as you battle to hold off waves of Imperial forces including AT-ST's, TIE fighters, elite stormtroopers and more.

In addition to the Star Wars Battlefront Beta on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and on Origin for PC, you will also get a chance to try out the Star Wars Battlefront Companion experience. Available during the Beta only at www.StarWarsBattlefront.com, the Star Wars Battlefront Companion experience features the strategic card game Base Command, and lets you earn in-game Credits that unlock Star Cards, weapons, and more in Star Wars Battlefront. In addition to Base Command, the Companion also lets players check out game stats and progression, customize load-outs and appearance, connect with friends, and more.

Whether you look forward to crushing the Rebel scum or feel like you can take on the whole Empire by yourself, we look forward to seeing all you in the Star Wars Battlefront Beta on October 8th.

Be sure to sign up for the EA newsletter at http://starwars.ea.com/starwars/battlefront/newsletter to get all the latest information on the Star Wars Battlefront Beta and other EA games.

STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT F.A.Q.

What is the Star Wars Battlefront Beta?

• The Beta is an opportunity for the team at DICE to test various aspects of the game and its online infrastructure. Because of this players may experience interruptions to their gameplay during the Beta period.

Do I need to register for the Beta?

• The Star Wars Battlefront Beta is open to PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Origin for PC players. There is no need to register. The Star Wars Battlefront Companion is available during the beta to all players with an EA Account at www.StarWarsBattlefront.com.

When is the Star Wars Battlefront Beta?

• The Star Wars Battlefront Beta and Companion will be available on October 8 and will end on October 12. The Beta and Companion is open to players around the world, so everyone will get a chance to live out their Star Wars battle fantasies.

What time will the Beta and Companion be available on October 8?

• Time will vary by platform and region. Please come back and visit the Star Wars Battlefront Beta hub or follow us on Twitter for all the latest information.

When will the Beta and Companion end?

• The Beta will end on October 12. Exact times vary by platform and region.

Where can I find the Beta?

• For PlayStation 4, the Beta will be available in the PSN Store. For Xbox One, players can find it in the Xbox Live Marketplace. On Origin for PC, it will be under the Demo & Betas section of the Origin store.

How big will the Beta download be?

• On PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the download will be around 7GB. On Origin for PC, the download will be close to 11GB.

Can I pre-load the Beta?

• You can pre-load the Beta on Origin for PC beginning at 1am PT/10am CET on Wednesday, October 7th. Check https://www.origin.com/store/free-games/demos-betas on October 7th at 1am PT to start your pre-load.

Is there a level cap?

• The Beta level cap with allow you to advance to level five. Once you hit the level cap you will no longer be able to progress to higher levels, though you will still be able to unlock items in the Beta.

Do my stats and progression carry over to the main game?

• Stats and progression will not carry over to the final game or the final companion experience.

How many players does each mode support?

• Walker Assault supports up to 40 players, 20 per side, with Drop Zone supporting 16. The Survival Mission can be played by yourself or with a friend via online co-op or local split-screen. Local split-screen is available on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One only.

Will there be a mobile app for the Companion?

• During the Beta, the Companion will only be playable via browser at www.StarWarsBattlefront.com. Prior to the release of Star Wars Battlefront, the Companion will be available on web and in the Apple App Store™ and Google Play™ store.  Note that stats and progression earned during the beta will not carry over to the final Companion experience.

What browsers does the Companion support?

• The latest version of Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge, as well as Internet Explorer 11.

BETA PARTICIPATION REQUIRES A PERSISTENT INTERNET CONNECTION, THE ORIGIN CLIENT TO REMAIN IN ONLINE MODE (FOR PC PLAYERS), AND IS GOVERNED BY THE TERMS OF THE BETA AGREEMENT. GAMEPLAY PROGRESS, ACHIEVEMENTS, CHARACTERS, CHARACTER DATA AND/OR ANY OTHER VALUE OR STATUS INDICATORS ACHIEVED THROUGH GAMEPLAY IN THE BETA WILL NOT TRANSFER TO STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT MAIN GAME OR STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT COMPANION. BETA IS PRE-RELEASE SOFTWARE, MAY CONTAIN ERRORS/DEFECTS AND IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY.
Source: http://starwars.ea.com/starwars/battlefront/news/the-star-wars-battlefront-beta-is-coming-october-8th

[Ultimo]

For somebody like me who unfortunately won't be able to actually run the Beta, I'm very excited for this. The "Drop Zone" game mode sounds especially cool, and I'm sure I would enjoy that if I had the chance to play it.

Thanks for the update, Jacob!

[AiRJacobs]

For somebody like me who unfortunately won't be able to actually run the Beta, I'm very excited for this. The "Drop Zone" game mode sounds especially cool, and I'm sure I would enjoy that if I had the chance to play it.

Thanks for the update, Jacob!

Your welcome. What are your PC specs? Do you have a next Gen Console?
Here is a current test you can try to see if your PC will run Star Wars Battlefront:

What you need is a copy of Battlefield 4 or Battlefield Hardline. If you do not own either, you can get a free trial of Battlefield 4. I will provide steps on how to do so below.

This test is to find out if your PC can run Battlefield 4 on old-Gen Console settings (bare minimum graphics), at a resolution of 720p (1280x720) and still retain an average FPS (Frames Per Second) of 30 or higher.

I am using Battlefield 4 or Battlefield Hardline for the test, because they both run on the same game engine as Star Wars Battlefront and all three of these games have the same performance. Whatever settings and frame-rate you get in Battlefield 4 / Hardline,  you will get the same in Star Wars Battlefront. I know because I played the Alpha and tested the graphics settings.

If you already own Battlefield 4 or Battlefield Hardline, skip to step 10

1) Go to Origin.com and install Origin onto your PC. https://www.origin.com/en-us/download
2) Create an account on Origin/Log into your Origin account
3) Go to the "Store" page, then click on the "Free Games" Tab
4) On the drop down list, select "Game Time"
5) Scroll down the Game Time page and look for "Battlefield 4"
6) Click the download button to install Battlefield 4
7) Go to your "My Games" page and click on "Battlefield 4" to play your Free 168 hour trial.
8 ) Go to Battlelog.com and log in with the same account you used for Origin. http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/
9) Go play the Campaign or the Test Range
Here is where the test starts
10) Once in the game, go to "Options", then click on the "Video Options" tab
11) Select the "Low" preset option for overall graphics, or manually turn all of the options on the right-hand side panel to "Low" or "Off".
12) On the Left-Hand side, set your resolution to 1280x720
13) Turn "V-Sync" off
14) Turn "Motion Blur" all the way down
15) Turn Off "Weapon DOF"
16) Apply and Save your options
17) Exit out of the options menu and go back to the game
18)Open the console in Battlefield 4 with the tilde key (~). Once you opened the console, you need to type in:
perfoverlay.drawfps 1
19) Go around and play the game, but keep an eye on the FPS counter in the top right corner.

You want the number to be 60 or higher. An average of 45 is OK, but 30 is the bare minimum. If the number is constantly below 30, your PC does not meet the minimum requirements to run the game properly.

So, if you can run Battlefield 4 on the lowest settings with 30FPS minimum, you should be fine for Star Wars Battlefront. However, 30FPS is the bare minimum of a playable frame rate. You want at least 60 FPS, so invest in a good PC.

If you want the best gaming PC for under $500, go watch this video This is very low priced and you will be able to run Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefield 4 / Hardline perfectly fine.

Good Luck.

[Ultimo]

As of now, I already know that my computer will not handle the game, even without testing it.
I couldn't even run the Frostbite 2 Engine when I owned Battlefield 3.

My computer is on the decline, and its going fast. Normally I get 20-30 FPS in CS::GO. which isn't good, but it dropped to 10-15 FPS tonight.
At the moment, lowest settings on any game newer than 2007 isn't even going to run smoothly.

As I speak, I'm in the process of uninstalling lots of games and preparing this computer to become work-orientated for a short time until I'm ready to buy a gaming laptop.

[Gold Man]

Eh, I'm almost tempted to see if my laptop would even be able to run this. I know a friend from CompSci who had a PC with perhaps worse specs than my current laptop, and ran BF4 on lowest settings with a decent framerate of 30 (I believe he was also using Game Time as well). Actually it may have been BF3 now that I think of it...

Regardless, might try out the BF4 demo to see if my rig would be able to even withstand the framerate of 30. I think as of right now my highest, most graphically demanding game would have to be tied between Warframe and Payday 2 (the latter I achieve about 15-20 FPS on). I play Warframe on medium settings, and Payday 2 I've had set to lowest settings (getting above 20 FPS), and on highest settings (getting around the 15-20 range).

Seeing those stats, I'm guessing I'll have some insanely low framerates just off the BF4 demo, running on lowest settings. In any case, I do have hopes to be employed soon to raise cashflow for an actual gaming rig.

[Unit 33]

I'll see if this will run on Bootcamp. For science.

[Ginev]

My 4Gb ram,dual core 2.8 and 2 GB video card probably won't be enough to run on lower settings?

[TheGangstarTY]

Only 4 days? Well... after all, it's EA we're talking about.

[{PLA}gdh92]

My 4Gb ram,dual core 2.8 and 2 GB video card probably won't be enough to run on lower settings?

Unlikely but you might get lucky if the optimise it for the final release.

These are the minimum requirements from the Alpha;
CPU: Quad Core CPU e.g. Intel Core i5-2300 @ 2.8 GHz or AMD Phenom II x4 955 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz  - Not too high but Quad core is the biggest issue I see there

RAM: 6 GB  - shame it couldn't be 4 but most new PC's have 8 now

OS: Windows 7 or 8/8.1 (64-bit operating system required)  - presumably it will run on Windows 10 as well

Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon HD 7970 with 2 GB of Video Memory  - Nvidia 970 or 980 is the latest equivalent

That's a pretty high minimum. I built the best single card PC you could about 4 years ago and that would be slightly below those specs so it's going to be hard for a lot of people to play.

Luckily my new PC should be able play it easily but not everyone wants to get a gaming PC. I would think the high minimum is because they no longer have to worry about consoles holding back the game but it would be nice to have ultra low settings.

[AiRJacobs]

As of now, I already know that my computer will not handle the game, even without testing it.
I couldn't even run the Frostbite 2 Engine when I owned Battlefield 3.

My computer is on the decline, and its going fast. Normally I get 20-30 FPS in CS::GO. which isn't good, but it dropped to 10-15 FPS tonight.
At the moment, lowest settings on any game newer than 2007 isn't even going to run smoothly.

As I speak, I'm in the process of uninstalling lots of games and preparing this computer to become work-orientated for a short time until I'm ready to buy a gaming laptop.

There is one more setting I forgot to mention. In "video options" on the bottom  portion of the left-hand side panel is a slider labeled "Resolution Scale". This is more of a last resort graphics option. What it does is scale up or down your resolution in-game. Your monitor will remain at whatever resolution you set it to (720p), but the game will render the game at a different resolution. If you increase the Resolution Scale, the game will look much better, but it will KILL performance. If you turn it down, on the other hand, the game will look very pixelated, but it will run very smooth.

So if you are having terribly low FPS even with all of your graphics options turned to the lowest, try turning Resolution Scale to 25% (lowest). This will give you a 20+ FPS boost, so you will be able to play the game, but your gonna have to forget about shooting at long range. By doing this, I have been able to play Battlefield 4 and Hardline on very old PC's that don't meet the minimum requirements, and I am able to play the games at 720p, res scale 25%, lowest settings, and get an average of 45+ Frames Per Second. Give it a try. If you are a Close Quarters kind of person, this will not effect you one bit.

In the screenshots, you can see that my Frame Rate is a around 110 FPS average. If I play the game with my normal, High, settings, with a res scale of 100%, I normally get 60 FPS average. If I just play on the lowest settings, same resolution, and res scale of 100%, I will get about 80 FPS average. But, when I turn the res scale to 50% and 25%, you can see that I gain about 30 FPS. So just play around with the resolution scale, until you find a good middle ground between performance and quality.

[Gold Man]

Unlikely but you might get lucky if the optimise it for the final release.

These are the minimum requirements from the Alpha;
CPU: Quad Core CPU e.g. Intel Core i5-2300 @ 2.8 GHz or AMD Phenom II x4 955 @ 3.2 GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz  - Not too high but Quad core is the biggest issue I see there

RAM: 6 GB  - shame it couldn't be 4 but most new PC's have 8 now

OS: Windows 7 or 8/8.1 (64-bit operating system required)  - presumably it will run on Windows 10 as well

Video Card:
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon HD 7970 with 2 GB of Video Memory  - Nvidia 970 or 980 is the latest equivalent

That's a pretty high minimum. I built the best single card PC you could about 4 years ago and that would be slightly below those specs so it's going to be hard for a lot of people to play.

Luckily my new PC should be able play it easily but not everyone wants to get a gaming PC. I would think the high minimum is because they no longer have to worry about consoles holding back the game but it would be nice to have ultra low settings.

My laptop's current specs:

CPU:
Quad-core AMD A10-5745M APU @ 2.1GHz
RAM:
8GB DDR3 RAM
OS:
Windows 8.1 (May upgrade to 10 though)
GPU:
Radeon 8610G graphics (installed on the APU) with 2GB VRAM

In other words, it runs better some aspects more than others. My CPU will probably have a tough time with handling the power, and my GPU probably won't be able to cope with it all too well. The RAM and OS though definitely meet the requirements. In other words, I have won half the battle, and lost the better half that requires more crucial aspects to run BF4/Hardline decently on low.

Still might try the Game Time thing though, we'll see.

[AiRJacobs]

EA has sent out Email Notifications of this message last Monday, September 28, 2015.

[AiRJacobs]

Get ready. The beta is going live in 4 days.

[Ascertes]

These game modes sound really interesting...but where are my Command Posts for capturing?

[Epifire]

So excited guys! I already got my pre-load done when I got off of work. Thankfully with my new internet I was able to download it in about half an hour. Now I have to wait till tomorrow when I get off at work.

Also! If anyone who doesn't have me added on Origin it's simply just: Epifire.

PS: This is that day when I feel spending the extra cash on the rig was worth the while. This kid still fits on the specs (besides the outrageous recommended RAM).