Spotting

Spotting is a concept in the Battlefield series, which appears in almost every Battlefield game, with the primary exceptions of Battlefield Vietnam and Battlefield Heroes. 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 appearence. 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 mechanic one must press "F3", and then choose between function keys 1-8.

Battlefield 2
The spotting mechanic returns 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 the Q key and click 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" 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 head 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 does get the Mark Target ability that awards extra points for damage a target takes, and can reveal cloaked enemy commandos.

Battlefield: Bad Company
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.

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 little diamond, the spotted enemy is marked by a bright red triangle. 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: Bad Company 2.

Battlefield 3
Spotting re-appears in Battlefield 3, and is very similar to that of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The spotted enemies appear with a red marker on the player and his teammates' HUD and in the mini-map.

A red star also appears near the marker for Squad Leaders, that when spotted, the rest of the squad gets a spot as well.

Trivia

 * In Battlefield 2, there was a cut spotting option for wheelbarrows. The voice response remains in the game files.