We've already heard about Battlefield 3 shipping on multiple discs, and that one of said discs would include "a high-resultion texture pack" that would be a recommended installation for gamers hoping to get the most out of the game's visuals. An interview conducted by GamerZines shed further light on the subject, revealing how vital said installation will be.

Patrick Bach, Executive Producer on Battlefield 3, explained the nature of the install, noting that the process is mandatory on PS3 and PC, explaining "the controversy about this is that we actually let you do it on 360 for once." According to Bach, the effects of installation will be drastic, as "the whole engine is based around streaming textures, streaming terrain and a lot of other content. "

Bach further explained the Xbox installation process, stating "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."

While the game itself will likely still output in HD without the installation, many of the games textures would lack the quality of definition apparent in other versions. Explaining the parity, Bach said "What we let you do is let you have high-res information that gets streamed in and out of memory at all times, and that gives you a more detailed, varied and vivid experience on all platforms. We don't want to take that away from 360 players. "

The entirety of Bach's interview can be found at GamerZines. You'll be able to see how the game works with (and without) installation next Tuesday, October 25, when the game releases on Xbox 360. Any hard drive-deficient Xbox owners planning on playing the game without the install?