Does anyone know what it means when a developer says their game has a lead platform? 
Lets take Battlefield 3 as an example. DICE said the lead platform is the PC. What does that mean? 
 
If I had to guess, I would say that the game is built around the PC as a machine (tech) and as gaming platform and a service provider (game design, features, utilities, etc..) 
Technically speaking, yes, the game is definitely using the power of the PC. Cutting edge multi-setting DX11 graphics, and a higher player count on the Battlefield. Ok, what else? Can anyone think of anything else that the shines on the PC in this game, or is exclusive to it?  
There is nothing. Aside from the graphics and 64 players, the PC version is looking identical to the console one.  
  
I know you're confused, I am too, so lets try to look together for things that usually exist in a PC exclusive or a PC-lead game. 

• Mod Tools - No: OK, BF2 didn't ship with them, DICE has a lot of singleplayer work and multiplayer polishing to do, not to mention Battlelog. This is a massive game that they're rushing to release, so mod tools will probably be a post-launch thing. And if it isn't, hey, EA likes money, so they wanna create content to charge money for.. Understandable. 
• PING Bar - No: You will not be able to see your ping while playing this competitive pc game.
• Public Server Files - No: Again, EA likes money, so I understand that they're restricting the server services/providers/whatever and don't wanna share the public server files. 
• LAN support - No: What? OK... ok. Security reasons, piracy, etc... We understand. 
• Battlerecorder - No: Battlefield games are known to have this amazing "in-engine" video capture feature, just like Theater Mode in Call of Duty and Halo... Battlefield 3 is not shipping with that standard feature, not even on PC. Yes, lets stay optimistic and tell ourselves that this isn't a big deal, "we have fraps". 
• Spectator Mode - No: This is a game that is aiming to be E-sports friendly, not to mention that it's simply a competitive shooter on PC. It doesn't have spectator mode. When you die, all you can do is look at the blue deploy screen and the unlocks screen. If you do not realize how.. essential and standard this missing feature is, then sure, who needs it, right? Lets stay positive! 
• In-game VoIP - No: You're in a squad with either strangers or friends who currently aren't on Mumble or Teamspeak.. You can't talk to those people in your squad anymore. The very basic and helpful VoIP that allowed strangers to say basic sentences that helped the gameplay, and usually ended up conversing and becoming friends, it's no longer there. You have to befriend your squad members on Battlelog, open a voice channel, then play. As if you'd add strangers to your friends list and they'd accept before the match ends. And as if squad members don't constantly change.. BUT HEY, lets be positive, strangers NEVER become friends and they're always lone wolf assholes who can't and won't communicate.. yaaaay. 
• Commo Rose - No: It was promised on launch, we're not getting it on launch. We shall remain mute headless chickens on the battlefield, unable to request ammo easily or alarm the speeding teammate in a car that we're close so they can pick us up, etc.. Again, let's lie to ourselves by saying that no one uses that tool, and that people abuse and spam it (as if a cooldown system wouldn't immediately solve that problem). 
• Joystick Support for Jets - No: Give me a moment, I'm trying to find a pseudo-positive excuse to make this sound OK.  
• Soldier Creator - No: On the PC, you can only play as your Origin ID. You will not be able to do the thing you were able to do in ALL previous BF games: Create a second account on the same game. Your brother wants to play some on his own account? He needs to buy the game. You ranked up high and you wanna play from square one again so you can rank up again? Buy a second copy.
• Advanced Separate Control Schemes For Vehicles - No: In any old Battlefield game, you could set different control schemes for your cars/helis/jets and ofcourse, on-foot. That way you wouldn't have to change the controls everytime you hop into a vehicle.. Batlefield 3 will not have that. Same control window for everything.

It's not about your wants. It's about what platform you base your engine on. Software engineering for current high end PC hardware, then downscaling and optimizing code from there for consoles - that's what that term is about. Instead of the other way around. Bearly anyone does this anymore. PC lead-platform developement is usually for a PC platform exclusive product.

Is this a angry rant instead of a question?

@AhmadMetallic:

btw. you know the BF3 beta server files leaked and what happend thereafter? I'd rather they'd do everything to keep the server files under wraps as long as possible. BF:BC 2 didn't have any cheats before its server files got leaked.

Also - lots of what your listing is based on inaccurate info and over-exaggeration.

The most obvious reason that some if these features are missing is EA pushing DICE to rush production of the game to beat out MW3's release, if DICE took a Valve/Blizzard approach, they could've waited years to polish the shit out of it and ship BF3 as a complete PC game with decent console ports. But hey, publisher obligations...

It's not about your wants. It's about what platform you base your engine on. Software engineering for current high end PC hardware, then downscaling and optimizing code from there for consoles - that's what that term is about. Instead of the other way around. Bearly anyone does this anymore. PC lead-platform developement is usually for a PC platform exclusive product.

btw. you know beta server files leaked and what happend thereafter? I'd rather they'd do everything to keep the server files under wraps as long as possible. BF:BC 2 didn't have any cheats before its server files got leaked.

Also - lots of what your listing is based on inaccurate info and over-exaggeration.

Is this a angry rant instead of a question?

@AhmadMetallic said:

@Seppli said:

It's not about your wants. It's about what platform you base your engine on. Software engineering for current high end PC hardware, then downscaling and optimizing code from there for consoles - that's what that term is about. Instead of the other way around. Bearly anyone does this anymore. PC lead-platform developement is usually for a PC platform exclusive product.

So what you're saying is, PC lead platform = the software is engineered on it? That is enough for a game to be called a PC game?

btw. you know beta server files leaked and what happend thereafter? I'd rather they'd do everything to keep the server files under wraps as long as possible. BF:BC 2 didn't have any cheats before its server files got leaked.

Hmm, that's a good point.

Also - lots of what your listing is based on inaccurate info and over-exaggeration.

Don't insult me please. I will provide links in the OP in a moment.

• Frostbite 2 is engineered FOR PC hardware technology first and foremost. It's a native DX11 engine supporting its features like no other. 'PC is lead platform' is about how the game is engineered, not about its in-game and meta-game features. And Battlelog certainly is a PC-platform-centric feature and it will redeem itself soon enough. Its potential is unlimited.
• Lots of what your writing is in-accurate and an over-exaggeration indeed. Don't need proof for that, it's a factoid coming with your person.

I'm pretty sure 'lead platform' originally meant that it was the platform that you make the game on, and then you re-engineer that game to work on the other platforms when it's in a more complete state. Most lead platforms are the 360 simply because it's easier to port from the 360 to the PS3/PC than the other way around.
 
Whether the PC actually was the lead platform for BF3, or if it's just EA saying that to get long-standing PC gamers to buy it, is another matter entirely. Though just because it lacks many features that you consider essential for a PC game to have doesn't mean PC wasn't the lead platform, it may well have just been designed to work on both consoles and PC.

@stalefishies said:

I'm pretty sure 'lead platform' originally meant that it was the platform that you make the game on, and then you re-engineer that game to work on the other platforms when it's in a more complete state. Most lead platforms are the 360 simply because it's easier to port from the 360 to the PS3/PC than the other way around. Whether the PC actually was the lead platform for BF3, or if it's just EA saying that to get long-standing PC gamers to buy it, is another matter entirely. Though just because it lacks many features that you consider essential for a PC game to have doesn't mean PC wasn't the lead platform, it may well have just been designed to work on both consoles and PC.

Of course PC is lead platform. Frostbite 2's shading tricks cannot be done on consoles, just approximated. Did you ever see the PC version of the game? It melts eyes with awesome. Especially the whole 'unlimited dynamic lightsources' deal is mindbending.

They might have held back a bit to keep content disparity between platforms in-check; then again they have to build a game that's viable to a broad audience even on PC. If only 1% of all PCs can run it - that will cripple sales regardless of platform.

@AhmadMetallic: I have read what you've written and the thread is titled "What does Lead Platform mean?" and you answer your own question in your post. So if its not a question because you've already answered it, then it is just a rant.

Leading platform - The ground base of the program and the center of focus.

Or at least that's what I think when I hear/read it.

QQ

All I keep seeing is that PC and Console versions are the same, so no matter what platform you buy you will be better an equal experience. I guess when you have the mindset of the 12 year old you don't like the idea of you not being better than someone.

oh man they gotta at LEAST patch a ping bar and joystick support in. 
also i hate how you cant change graphics settings (OR ANY SETTINGS) when you're dead, only when you spawn, which forces you to be standing around in the battlefield waiting to get shot.  and of course you cant change them before you get into the game because before you get into the game you're using a FREAKING WEB BROWSER!! 

...i wouldnt buy this game if it wasnt so damn fun and the graphics werent so damn good.

Yupp, this is another rant about BF3 from Ahmad alright.

@captain_clayman said:

oh man they gotta at LEAST patch a ping bar and joystick support in. also i hate how you cant change graphics settings (OR ANY SETTINGS) FIXED for Retail CONFIRMED.
when you're dead, only when you spawn, which forces you to be standing around in the battlefield waiting to get shot. and of course you cant change them before you get into the game because before you get into the game you're using a FREAKING WEB BROWSER!! Battlelog is AWESOME!

Menus are fixed. Accessible from deploy screen CONFIRMED.

I say, if you are into Battlefield and keep playing BF3 for a long time to come, you will warm-up to it to the point where you cannot imagine doing it any differently.

Mark my words.

@captain_clayman: they added the "options" tab in the deploy screen , so u can change whatever u want before u deploy

I'm pretty sure 'lead platform' originally meant that it was the platform that you make the game on, and then you re-engineer that game to work on the other platforms when it's in a more complete state. 

• Frostbite 2 is engineered FOR PC hardware technology first and foremost. It's a native DX11 engine supporting its features like no other. 'PC is lead platform' is about how the game is engineered, not about its in-game and meta-game features. And Battlelog certainly is a PC-platform-centric feature and it will redeem itself soon enough. Its potential is unlimited.

Leading platform - The ground base of the program and the center of focus.

All I keep seeing is that PC and Console versions are the same, so no matter what platform you buy you will be better an equal experience. I guess when you have the mindset of the 12 year old you don't like the idea of you not being better than someone.

Just gonna respond to the points that are actually worth responding to.

• Ping bars don't really matter as much in this day and age. If you're joining servers with a low ping, then you're all set. Even with our shitty UK internets.
• LAN gaming is a dying breed, yes it sucks, but really, who wants to lug a desktop to a LAN party these days? Most LAN parties descend into getting online anyway, in my experiene.
• Battlerecorder? Really? Why do we need this feature? Saying that we have Fraps isn't being optimistic, it's just plain better. If they do release this post launch, you do realize it will be limited? Fraps you can record whatever resolution and quality you want. This feature will not. Just like in CoD, Halo and Dirt3.
• You keep going about being a competitive shooter, you realize Spectating is akin to just looking at the other team? There's a reason competitive servers on Counter-Strike and other games either switch it off or don't let you see the other team. If you're wanting to spot enemies for your team, don't die.
• If you're not on Vent or Teamspeak before the game launches with the Battlelog system they have in place then there's no issue here. If you're organising games to play with your friends/clan/whatever you'll be coordinating before hand, not at the last minute before the game starts.
• Yeah, the Commo-Rose is being worked on, great. But it's really NOT that difficult to call out for ammo. You look at a guy with ammo and press 'Q'. What's so hard about that? That tweet also only confirms that it might not make launch, not that it won't. To your other point, being able to call out an in-game command for people to stop won't stop the players who just run out, grab vehicles and don't wait. Nothing will. No matter how much you spam "I NEED A RIDE!".
• With the way people played BF2 and the way the Beta went, having no Joystick Support for jets is meaningless. People can be sickly good at it with what is supported. No issue here.
• Soldier Creator? During the Alpha and Beta I had three soldiers to choose from. Three. There's no need to be bitching about that. If I can have multiple 'soldiers', then it can't be hard to make them.

To answer the main question of the thread, which has nothing to do with your, let's face it, ranting complaints, your lead platform is what you design your game on/around. Rage, for example, has an Xbox 360 Lead Platform. This was said by the devs and it happens to be the best version out there just now, although only by a small margin.

BF3 is clearly being developed with the PC in mind, with the graphics engine working so well on that system compared to the 360 and the features it DOES have. Just because some old features don't make it into a game doesn't mean they need to be there for it to be a "PC game." The fact that it plays so well on everything isn't a bad thing, it's a good thing. It means they have some amazing devs on their team to make a fantastic game. The PC will have more features, more users, more players, a more optimized and powerful engine and it's honestly the most fun.

This isn't BF2, get over it.

@Jeffsekai said:

QQ

All I keep seeing is that PC and Console versions are the same, so no matter what platform you buy you will be better an equal experience. I guess when you have the mindset of the 12 year old you don't like the idea of you not being better than someone.

Actually there is quite a disparity in graphical fidelity (superficial nonetheless) and playercount, though Rush 24 is better than Rush 32 imo. So all that's left is Conquest 64, which for many longtime BF fans is what Battlefield is about.

If one is so inclined, playing BF3 on a good PC is more than enough reason to smile smuggly at the console crowd and feel superior.

VOIP, Joystick support and commo rose will be in the final game.

@AhmadMetallic:

Not a PC game by your standards maybe, but much of which you ask for is outlandish for a game like BF3 and other stuff is very much still work-in-progress and will eventually be addressed. From what I've gathered from Twitter, the guys and gals at DICE went through crunch hell to get BF3 out of the door in a presentable state and online multiplayer centric games do keep iteration going even after release. BF3 will not be done 3 years from now. There will still be a patch coming at that point improving one thing or another. For the next year or so, iteration on BF3 and Battlelog will be regular and far-reaching.

Play the damn game. The core gameplay is more than just there. It's the best BF experience to date - no doubt. We are in store for good stuff. DICE delivers. Have some faith.

VOIP, Joystick support and commo rose will be in the final game.

@AhmadMetallic: Let me ask you one thing, what is your definition of "PC game"? you seem to think it has something to do with depth or features.

@AhmadMetallic: Please forget that I even asked, I very much regret that I did.

@Sitoxity said:

• You keep going about being a competitive shooter, you realize Spectating is akin to just looking at the other team? There's a reason competitive servers on Counter-Strike and other games either switch it off or don't let you see the other team. If you're wanting to spot enemies for your team, don't die.

Just wanted to say, if they were serious about making this popular in the eSports industry you need spectator mode. That's the real problem there.

Let's take a trip:
 

February 22 2010   

Battlefield 3 Will 'Absolutely Blow Everyone Away'

 
Liliegren: What the PC version is going to be, Battlefield 3, I think it's going to absolutely blow everyone away, but I can't tell you what it is, but it will blow people away.

http://www.gamingunion.net/news/battlefield-3-will-absolutely-blow-everyone-away--1075.html

July 31 2010

Battlefield 3. What we know (and think we know) so far.

 

The Beta announcement and reaction 

 - July 30th 2010: EA announced that purchasers of the Limited Edition of Medal of Honor for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will receive an invitation to the beta. There is no date to when the beta starts but will most likely begin in Early to Mid 2011. 
 
- News of BF3 going fully multiplatform sends shockwaves thru the internet. PC gamers think the worst and everyone is quick to jump to their own conclusions. The game hasn’t even been shown in any form. And no official details have ever been released. 
 
- July 31st 2010: Alan Kertz (Battlefield developer) aka Demize99 tweets: “Battlefield 3: Lessons in Unorthodox Game Announcements.” A humorous response to the massive backlash and fan assumptions with the news of the multiplatform beta. Also the dev later posted, "I know exactly what PC players are concerned about, I don't think words will soothe them and I have no comment anyway." Dont jump the gun appears to be the message.

The initial BF3 rumors:

- Set in modern day (just like BF2)

- 40 players PER team. 40 vs 40 battles.

- Squads and Commanders are present, introduced are “Battalions” which consist of three to four squads.

- Two playable factions, NATO and MEC (Middle Eastern Coalition)

- Same “ticket-based” [conquest] gameplay style as before

- BF3 Maps are mostly urban, based in Middle East

- Five playable classes; Sniper, Assault, Engineer, Medic and Support

- Will feature 48 different BF3 vehicles (24 for each faction)

- Will feature 34 different BF3 weapons (17 for each faction) and another 22 unlocks (for both factions), in total 56 different weapons.

- Other unlocks include different types of ammunition, body armor, helmets, camouflage and accessories.

- Battlefield 3 Online stats tracking, awards and “real world ranks”

- “Soldier” feature, looks like MMO-styled characters and avatars

- Battlefield 3 Ranked servers will be available for resellers weeks before the game ships (for testing, apparently, ed.)

- In-game replay and recording feature

- VoIP, friends list, in-game IM-client and “extensive clan support”

- Built in auto software updater (no more patches!, ed.)

- Widows Vista and OS X

- A map is mentioned by name, called “Baghdad Burning”, and appears to be a massive urban map, similar to BF2’s very popular “Strike at Karkand”.

- Among the leaked features are some impressively large numbers: 56 total weapons, 48 total vehicles, and most stupefying of all, 40 vs. 40 battles. With teams that big, it's no wonder they're also reportedly adding a new tier to the squad mechanics introduced in Battlefield 2. Squads and the commander role return, but now three or four squads will form a battalion.

http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-3/1268259-battlefield-3-what-we-know-think-we-know-so-far.html

 
October 21 2010

DICE on Battlefield 3: PC gamers “have higher expectations”

Writing as Demize99, Alan Kertz from DICE posted on the EA forums to say that “consoles generally are less tolerant of overly complex interfaces. They have less buttons, you need more elegant interfaces.” 
 
He adds, “PC players have their own set of requirements. They tend to play only on PC, and they know their PCs have capabilities beyond that of a console. The gap is narrowing, but PCs still have a clear advantage in memory.PC players also demand a PC interface, a server browser, and anything that feels like it might have been “ported” from a console is going to get flamed hard. They are more forgiving of complex systems and will tear any design down into its parts to really figure out how it works. It’s a damn sight harder to please a PC player, they have higher expectations.”
 
“It’s too early to talk BF3 specifics. But it’s never too early for me to acknowledge that PC players have a fear that BF3 will be “consolized.” PC gaming is alive and well, BFBC2 has proven that and no one at DICE or EA can argue with the numbers. Battlefield 3 needs an extra bit of special attention on the PC. I intend to give it that attention, tradition and our community demand it.”
 
http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/10/21/dice-on-battlefield-3-pc-gamers-have-higher-expectations/

April 13, 2011

DICE to Focus on the PC with Battlefield 3

Do you feel the consoles are holding PC games back?

Yes, absolutely. That's the biggest problem we have today. Most games are actually still based on the same core idea that the consoles are your focus, the superior platform or something. I don’t know why. That was the truth 5 years ago, but the world has moved on. PCs are way more powerful than the consoles today and there are actually almost zero games out there that actually use the benefits of this. So for our target of what we want to hit, we are now using the more powerful platform to try and prove what we see gaming being in the future rather than using the lowest common denominator, instead of developing it for the consoles and then just adding higher resolution textures and anti-aliasing for the PC version. We're do it the other way around, we start with the highest-end technology that we can come up with and then scale it back to the consoles.

For those unfamiliar with the Battlefield franchise or just the Bad Company series, can you explain what all the buzz behind Battlefield 3 is about?

It is the successor of course to Battlefield 2. It's not supposed to be connected to the Bad Company series. It's actually been more than five years since Battlefield 2, which, of course, has made us think a lot about how this next big Battlefield game should be. One of the conclusions that we made quite early was that if you really want to move gaming forward, you need to go back to the original idea. Look at the core of what you want to achieve rather than to just do an iteration on our existing technology for instance. We actually designed the game based on what we wanted to see in the future rather than what can merely be built today. And then we realized we had a lot of problems with the technology we had so we went back to the drawing board and just redid the whole engine based on our needs, rather than doing it the other way around. I think that's one of the big reasons why it's been taking so long for us to release anything from Battlefield 3 because the technology wasn't done. And also the fact that if you look back 5 years when the consoles, the high definition consoles, were released, they were actually better or good as high-end PCs back then.

http://www.geforce.com/News/articles/battlefield3-interview

 
Oct 11, 2011

Battlefield 3 Beta Interview

 
GameSpy: The beta didn't support in-game VOIP; players had to form a party through battlelog to be able to chat just to their party. Will Battlefield 3 include in-game VOIP – be it squad or team based – at launch?

Lars: No, on PC this (battlelog) is what we're going to ship with. Then we're going to evaluate how we move forward with this. It's something we've heard from the community, it's something we understand. At the same time, building a game of this size, you can't win all of the battles. The convenience of going in with friends with your party VOIP channel and keep it even after the game, is definitely a strength. That's just the start – we can definitely evolve from there down the road.

GameSpy: We've heard there's going to be a command rose at launch for PC. Is that still going to be ready for launch? What sort of functionality might it include?

Lars: It is on our list for trying to get in there at launch. It is the usual things that you can really miss on the battlefield. Bail out is a typical one; you're sitting in a helicopter and you realize that you want to attack the flag, and there's no way to tell you're buddy that you're going to bail out.

GameSpy: What about ammo, medpacks, that sort of stuff?

Lars: We have the context system today, but it was buggy in the open beta. We've been hammering it to get it right.

GameSpy: The PC version looks quite different to the console versions. Do you think there will be any critical backlash from console gamers? Most of the marketing material is very PC focused, so they might be expecting something different to what they end up getting?

Lars: I don't think so. Most gamers do realize that the consoles are five years old, and if someone buys new SLI cards for their monster PC, there will be something extra for the PC. If we kept everything on console level for those PC players, then they would rightfully strangle us! I do think we have managed to push the boundaries of the consoles to a level where I feel we've passed the competition. That's all you can ask out of the team at this point.

GameSpy: Do you think building for PC first and foremost will give DICE a headstart when it comes to developing an engine for the next gen consoles? You'll be adept at multicore, multi-GPU and DirectX 11, where many other companies won't?

Lars: The main focus has been to build a game. Of course we have the technical thinking behind it, but we've been leading with console for quite some time now and it was time to turn it around to refresh all of our knowledge on previous titles. But yeah, the Frostbite 2.0 engine has been built to – as far as we possibly can – prepare for a modular approach to whatever may come in the future.

GameSpy: A lot of the oldschool, hardcore Battlefield players are asking for an advanced flight model option for choppers and jets – any chance you'll consider this requests?

Lars: For now we're leaving them the way they are, and will let the game live for a little while, then start the communication with the community to see where we stand.

 
http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/battlefield-3/1199753p1.html

 From what I have read PC lead refers to using the graphical power of the PC. Search online and you will see that PC lead and PC centric features are not even in the same sentence. Always when PC lead is talked about, there is use of DX11 or powerhouse PC hardware... but not the features found in BF2 (a PC only game, thus the last modern benchmark for PC centric Battlefield game; after 1942/Vietnam).  
 
I'm curious to find out, during what state of development of BF2, for example, was commo-rose introduced? At the end? Surely, they would need to test the commo-rose out and see how it works in-game; they couldn't have added it in the end.  
 
Seems like BF3 PC is a console port, BUT with extra tender love and care ONLY for the renderer and NOT with respect to the features needed by PC users. 
They should've map large maps with spread out flags, like 1942, and have different versions of the maps that cater to people who like flags closer together.  Plus there are only 2 factions in BF3, ripping a page out of BC2. Previous Battlefields (like 1942, Vietnam, BF2) had several factions and a wide variety of weapons for each faction. 

Aren't all games made with a PC?

You sure know how to burn your brains out in meaningless diatribes

Lead platform means playing the game on a non-lead platform sucks. And it does. 24 players and reportedly terrible controls. The PC is going strong compared to what the consoles are getting.

Here is your plan. You're going to get real real close to EA/DICE and you're going to take your hand and slip it ever so genitally into its pocket, open your hand, and release a fist full of bills. Then you're going to bring your mouth up right next to its ear and whine and moan like a bitch.

They already have your money they don't give a fuck what you think!

If the cake is good enough, then I don't care if there's only a thin layer of icing nealy as much.