Battlefield 3 Texture Pack Explained

The 2nd disc contained in the Xbox 360 version will be an optional texture pack designed to “fix” the problem of hard drive-less 360s. Woe to the memory card users! In an interview with GamerZines, Battlefield 3 producer Patrick Bach explains the use of the Xbox 360 version of Battlefield 3‘s 1.5GB high resolution texture pack:

“The thing with the 360 is that you need to be able to give consumers a game where you don’t have to install it on a hard drive, because there are 360s without a hard drive. So we need to give you the option of installing it, rather than just demanding it. You could call it a ‘standard-def’ version for the 360 if you don’t have a hard-drive.”

In other words, due to streaming speed issues for high-detailing in the Frostbite 2 engine, the game requires a hard drive over traditional optical media if you want those nice visuals. Not exactly something new for the PC gamers, but it does seem to illustrate some of the growing constraints of today’s console generation, especially in regards to the 360’s 512MB of RAM. At the very least though, DICE should be commended for catering to those that are low on funds.

Source:
GamerZines