Spotting

Spotting is a concept in the Battlefield series, which appears in every Battlefield game, with Battlefield Heroes being the only exception thus far. Spotting allows a player to call out enemies on the battlefield, and in some cases reveal them to other players.

Battlefield 1942
In Battlefield 1942, spotting makes its first appearance as a series of voice commands. Players use the function keys to call out enemy players or vehicles. However, unlike later iterations the spotting will not reveal the player being spotted with any sort of marker. In order to use the spotting menu one must press, and then choose between function keys – for the enemy type.

Battlefield Vietnam
In Battlefield Vietnam, players can spot enemy soldiers and vehicles by using Binoculars, which are given to every kit except the Engineer. To spot an enemy, one simply needs to switch to their binoculars, zoom in on the target and press the fire button (default LMB) to alert all allied players of the threat on their mini-maps and HUDs, be it a vehicle, a soldier, or an aircraft. This change to binoculars from their previous use was primarily implemented due to the fact that spotting in Battlefield 1942 was much more complex with using the function keys.

Battlefield 2
The spotting mechanic returns manually in Battlefield 2 after its absence in Battlefield Vietnam. Unlike in Battlefield 1942, in Battlefield 2 the player merely has to bring up the commo rose using and clicking on the "Spotted" button. This will automatically identify an enemy if there is one to spot, and place a marker denoting the enemy's type on the minimap of every friendly player. When there are no enemies to be spotted, the message "Enemy activity spotted" (previously "Enemy forces spotted") is stated instead, and a question mark appears where the icon denoting enemy type otherwise would.

It is also possible to manually set which unit the player is spotting by pressing the right mouse button, which brings up a small drop-down menu and several unit types to choose from.

Battlefield 2142
Spotting in Battlefield 2142 uses again the Commo Rose, but uses a NetBat mechanic that is more refined and specific than in previous Battlefield games. The spotting mechanic is so-called "3D" spotting, which means that a small red diamond appears over the body of an enemy on the player's HUD, as well as a minimap marker, for a short time. Sometimes, merely targeting an enemy will bring up the red diamond.

The DysTek Pulse Meter and RD-4 Otus squad leader drone provide "static" spotting: when activated, nearby enemies are automatically spotted, but the spot does not follow the target. The Recon's Fade Delay ability allows them to continue tracking spot markers longer than other players.

A targeting assist bonus is sometimes awarded to players. Because it is buggy, it is not widely known how the mechanic actually works.

Battlefield Heroes
Though spotting is not present in Battlefield Heroes, the Commando class gets the Mark Target ability that awards extra points for damage a target takes, and can reveal cloaked enemy commandos.

Also, the Soldier class gets the Sixth Sense ability that can reveal any enemy player or vehicle's outline on the map, even through walls.

Battlefield: Bad Company & Battlefield 1943
In Battlefield: Bad Company, spotting is present, but in an automatic nature. Whenever a player looks at or shoots at another player for a long period of time, a blue message will appear in the top left corner of the HUD saying "Enemy soldier spotted", with the message changing if the spotter is looking at a vehicle or helicopter. A small blue triangle also appears above the spotted player for a short period of time. Any spots made by squad members will be shown as light blue on the HUD of members of that particular squad, while the message for each players' own spots are white.

The downside of the automatic spot system is that, while players don't need to make any manual spotting procedure, the time taken to spot an enemy player is just short of the time taken to kill that enemy player with the average weapon in-game. This results in players spotting their target, only for the spot icon to commonly disappear just after the spot message is played out.

This method of spotting is also used in Battlefield 1943. However it can also be used by looking at an enemy and pressing (for Xbox 360) or  (for PS3)

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
The spotting mechanic featured in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is the same as 2142, with the difference that instead of a red diamond, the spotted enemy is marked by a bright red triangle above their head. A remarkable difference as well is that spotting an enemy who is subsequently killed by a team mate (prior to the expiration of the spot) leads to a "spot assist", as an incentive for players to spot. Spotting is triggered by a single key, contrary to that of Battlefield 2, where it was activated via the commo rose.

Battlefield Play4Free
The spotting in Battlefield Play4Free is similar to that of ''Battlefield 2. ''Players must open up the commo rose and select the spot option.

Battlefield 3
Spotting re-appears in Battlefield 3, and is very similar to that of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, by using on PC, pressing  on Xbox 360 or  on PlayStation 3 while aiming over an enemy.

The spotted enemies appear with a red marker on the player and his teammates' HUD and in the mini-map for up to seven seconds. Spotted enemies will not be seen on friendly players' HUD if the player can't actually see the enemy.

A red star appears near the marker for Squad Leaders, that when spotted, the rest of the squad gets a spot as well. Squadmates can earn bonus points for attacking their leader's targets (20 points attack/defend order followed). Each vehicle type has its own spotting icon. Gadgets such as mortar tubes, explosives, and drones also have their own icons. Spotted gadgets may be visible up to 30 seconds. Firing unsuppressed weapons will cause the shooting player to be briefly spotted.

Spotters now need to keep line-of-sight to their target. If the target moves behind concealment such as foliage or smoke, the spot can be removed. Spots on vehicles persist for much longer, even through concealment. Vehicle users can unlock specializations that hinder spotting (such as Stealth, making it harder to spot unless firing).

Returning from 2142 for PC players is the commo rose to issue orders and request medkits, ammo, and repair from appropriate teammates. Holding down the spotting key and moving the mouse allows voice prompts to be issued.

Added is a context-sensitive "quick command" using just the spotting key—if your character is injured, they can "spot" an allied medic (carrying a medkit) to give healing. The character will speak a voice prompt, and symbols will also appear representing players who can provide assistance and the requesting player. However, this can also alert nearby enemies of your presence. This also applies when 'spotting' a friendly Support for Ammo, an Engineer to fix your damaged vehicle or even asking a vehicle driver to stop for you to get in, if there's empty slots available.

Players with certain specializations or gadgets can use laser designation for other players with guided weaponry. A large diamond-and-dot icon indicates a lock; if the icon is surrounded with a square, a teammate is able to make use of the lock.

Battlefield 4
Spotting returns in Battlefield 4, and is very similar to that of its predecessor. An animation of the player's soldier pointing towards targets has been added. On console, the spotting button has been shifted from Back to RB (Xbox 360), and Select to R2 (PS3). Compass headings are added to voice prompts, significantly improving awareness.

Trivia

 * In Battlefield 2, there was a cut spotting option for wheelbarrows. The voice response remains in the game files, and consists of the player saying 'Enemy Wheelbarrow spotted!,' followed by a laugh.
 * In Battlefield 3 there is a sound that plays when spotting in Co-Op, but the sound was removed from Multiplayer after the Beta.
 * In most games, overusing the spotting feature will block the player's communications for some time. Certain games will also use appropriate voice prompts from the Commander.