Battlefield 4 is still about four months away but that hasn't stopped EA from releasing a number of trailers to showcase what the title has in store for gamers this holiday season. The latest sneak peek takes a closer look at the technology used to power the game, the Frostbite 3 engine.
A good bit of the footage shown in the embedded video below is recycled from earlier trailers but what's new this time around is the commentary. Frostbite creative director Frank Vitz points out that the engine has been in development since 2006 as an evolutionary process.
One of the goals of Frostbite 3 was to create more dynamic and living environments. For example, game developers previously had to go through a lot of effort to give the impression of trees swaying in the wind. With the new engine, developers are given tools to create the tree but it's left up to the game engine to animate the tree using wind.
Environmental destruction is also a core feature of the Frostbite engine and one big step forward is called levelution. This involves drastically altering a multiplayer map into something totally different. Examples given include a building collapsing or a dam breaking - anything that could be a big game-changer to a level.
Yet another new feature in Battlefield 4 is networked water simulation. It may sound complicated but basically it means that all players will see the same waves in the same position at the same time on water-based maps. This will no doubt provide an interesting dynamic when battling it out on the high seas.
We invite you to check out the video above for a complete look at what Frostbite 3 has to offer. I, for one, am really excited about what Battlefield 4 has to offer. What says you?