| 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. |
Network configuration
| Setting | Option | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Network status | Connected | Prevents long pauses when choosing songs. |
Advanced configuration
| Setting | Option | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Driver wake-up delay | 20 | High end machines may need 40. Prevents crashing between songs. |
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. Does not happen when only playing vocals, as vocals do not use a vertically scrolling highway. This occurs to a lesser degree on real PS3 hardware as well, but is exaggerated in RPCS3.
Native user interface causes softlocks
- Native user interface may cause softlocks when naming bands and characters with instrument controllers. It can be disabled in the Emulator tab of the RPCS3 config.
Crash when entering Practice
- 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.
Crashes while playing multiplayer
- As of September 26 2023, newer builds of RPCS3 will crash frequently in online multiplayer. RPCS3 build v0.0.28-15417 is recommended for this game unless on Mac.
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 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Official servers and music store have been permanently shut down. An open-source custom server called GoCentral can be used to play online. |