Hey guys, quick question. I've got enough hard-drive space to install both BF3 disks, but do I need to install the multiplayer disk itself, or just the HD content? If I install the multiplayer disk will there be any noticeable difference in performance?

Thanks for the advice.

I'd install both, if ya ever need the space just delete the campaign after it's been finished.

I'd keep MP on the HDD though.

Not sure if this is true but I heard the hi-def texture pack is only for campaign.

You would definately want that all on the hard drive rather than accessing the disk all the time.

HD textures is campaign only. You can't access it off the disc. You either install it or live without it.

@alternate: I know this, maaaaaaan... ; )

I just meant the campaign disk part, hi-def pack is a 1.5 GB download. (or on the disk, not sure, not playing on my xbox, PC.)

@Franstone said:

@alternate: I know this, maaaaaaan... ; )

I just meant the campaign disk part, hi-def pack is a 1.5 GB download. (or on the disk, not sure, not playing on my xbox, PC.)

right, 1.5gb install on 360 but since you install the PC version anyway that is what he is talking about.

The developers apparently only recommend installing the texture pack. (Source: lensoftruth.com, scroll down to the comparison of the loading times)

Finally we have out loading times. First off let us start by saying that ONLY the HD pack was recommended by the developer, so ONLY the HD pack was installed. Unlike RAGE, installing the entire game will not offer anymore to the experience in terms of visuals and performance and therefore has no part in this comparison.

Best test it for yourself I suppose? Would be interesting to hear your findings as my copy arrives tomorrow and I should really start clearing space if there's a bit improvement.

I would expect that you would just want to install the texture pack. If you install the texture pack and the disc it may increase your load times and texture pop-in because it's pulling content from all over the HDD. Something similar happened with Halo 3. It came out before disc installs and if it detected your hard drive it would do some caching on it. That led to worse performance when the game was installed.

If you have an external USB drive as well as the 360's HDD you may be able to install the texture pack to one and the disc to the other and see better performance. The game will no longer be trying to retrieve data from multiple parts of the same drive at once. Halo 3 benefited from being installed to a USB drive as well.

Hi-def textures are so 2010. See if you can scratch the disc in such a way that it lowers the texture quality. This will no doubt improve your FPS and enable you to gain an advantage over people who are rendering the environment in higher, slower detail.

i played the MP after installing the HD texture pack and still noticed a lot of texture pop-in and screen tearing. After a few matches I installed the MP disk from the dashboard and there was a definite difference in graphics/performance.

Well so far with everything installed, the single-player has long load times but no noticeable impact on gameplay (the xbox isn't quite so loud at least though). I haven't notied any impact on the multiplayer despite the disk being installed, which leads me to suspect that the HD resolution pack has nothing to do with it, and that DICE have managed to avoid the Halo 3 situation.

Can't say for sure hough so I'll try uninstalling it tomorrow and see if I notice a difference.

So having messed around with the texture pack both installed and uninstalled, it seems to me that it applies to both single-player and multiplayer. Installing the game itself on the hard-drive hasn't had any noticeable performance impact on multiplayer, other than stopping my launch system from imitating one of the jets in the game.