| Rock Band 3 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Developer(s) | Harmonix |
| Publisher(s) | Harmonix |
| Series | Rock Band |
| Release date(s) | NA October 26, 2010 AU October 28, 2010 EU October 29, 2010 |
| Release type | Console exclusive |
| Genre(s) | Rhythm |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, Co-op, Multiplayer |
| GameID(s) | BLES00986 (IRD), BLUS30463 (IRD) Demo NPUB90505, NPEB90291 |
| Quick links | Check Compatibility Open Issues Search Google Wikipedia Page |
Rock Band 3 is a game in the Rock Band series. It is a sequel to Rock Band and Rock Band 2, announced for release on October 26th, 2010. In March 2015, Mad Catz and Harmonix announced Rock Band 4, a sequel to Rock Band 3, and was released for Xbox One and PS4 on October 6th, 2015.
Distinguishing it from all previous rhythm music games, Rock Band 3 features "Pro" mode, which is designed to accurately mimic playing of real instruments. In Pro mode, real guitar and bass players have to match specific fingering on frets and strings, drummers have to strike cymbal pads in addition to snare and toms, and keyboardists have to use precise fingering across the whole keyboard. Mad Catz manufactured a 102-button controller with 6 strings meant for bass and for lead guitar Fender lent a real Fender Squier stringed guitar modified with built-in electronics and enhancements to support Pro mode. Real instruments and original Basic controllers can be played simultaneously in various combinations within the game to simulate playing in a real band. Before a song starts, the players choose which instrument they will represent within the song. If the right note is hit or played, it is heard in the audio. If notes are missed, they are not heard.
Configuration
Options that deviate from RPCS3's default settings and provide the best experience with this title are listed below.
GPU configuration
| Setting | Option | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Write color buffers | On | Fixes broken character textures. |
Audio configuration
| Setting | Option | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Audio buffer duration | 100 | Lower values (16 ms to 32 ms) are suggested to reduce distracting echo when playing as a vocalist. |
| Microphone type | Disabled | Use "Standard" or "RockSmith" for vocals/karaoke gameplay. Up to three microphones are supported. |
Network configuration
| Setting | Option | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Network status | Connected | Prevents long pauses when choosing songs. |
Advanced configuration
| Setting | Option | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Driver wake-up delay | 20 | Prevents crashing between songs. Some machines require higher numbers in increments of 20. |
| Vblank rate | 60 | Past 60 Hz, vocals detection works erratically and online play has connection issues. |
Known Issues
Flying off hair, instruments
- Instruments, hair, and other accessories may fly off of the character depending on the current vertically-scrolling note highway scroll position and the music venue authoring. Happens to a significantly lesser degree when only playing vocals. This occurs to a lesser degree on real PS3 hardware as well, but is exaggerated in RPCS3.
Native Interface causes softlocks with instrument controllers
- The Native Interface may cause softlocks in the scenarios it pops up, which include naming things and sending or receiving invites. This is due to some instrument controllers not being able to interact with the interface. Either use an alternative input method, such as a keyboard or standard game controller, for these menus, or disable the Native Interface in the Emulator tab of Rock Band 3's custom configuration.
Crash entering Practice Mode
- If Quickplay is played, a race condition will cause the game to crash when entering Practice as guitar or bass. This can be fixed by installing the Rock Band 3 Deluxe mod.
Crash during online interactions
- If UPNP is enabled in the Network tab of Rock Band 3's custom configuration, the emulator can crash when going online, searching for others, or accepting/receiving invites. Disabling UPNP will restrict you to only finding two players. Manually forwarding port 9103 (UDP) in your router settings is recommended if RPCS3's UPNP function is causing crashes.
Special Notes
Controller settings
The "Rock Band" drum class results in unresponsive controls. Use "Rock Band Pro" instead, even if you have non-Pro drums. If you are using a Rock Band 2/3 drum kit or real ekit, do not forget to map the drum pad modifier and cymbal modifier buttons to ensure drum pad navigation works. See this page for details. You may need to manually edit your input configuration in a text editor for this. Other platforms' keyboards cannot be mapped in RPCS3's controller settings.
USB passthrough will work with a real PS3 keyboard or MIDI pro adapter, but Wii and Xbox 360 keyboards connected by wireless adapter are not currently supported. They can be hooked up as USB MIDI instruments and configured in Config > I/O > Emulated MIDI Device 1-4 with the caveat of needing to change octave to navigate menus. See this page for more details.
Netplay testing
For the complete list of games tested with RPCN, please check the RPCN Compatibility List.
| Game Version | RPCS3 Version | Connects? | Create/Join lobbies? | Match with others? | Online features working? | Requires custom servers? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.05 | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Available | Official servers and music store have been permanently shut down. Two servers exist: AshCentral and RB3Enhanced. AshCentral has functional RPCN invites, leaderboards, a DNS server to allow crossplay between PS3, Wii, and RPCS3 users, and a room code system. RB3Enhanced's server receives less frequent updates but sometimes be more stable. Switching between either is easy and both servers contribute to each other. Both servers run on GoCentral. |