Battlefield Portal gets new gameplay trailer, massive blog post
Battlefield 2042‘s expansive player-driven, custom games mode, Battlefield Portal, just got a new gameplay trailer, as well as a massive blog post detailing everything players can create in its Builder.
While we did see brief snippets of gameplay from Battlefield Portal when DICE and Ripple Effect first revealed the mode, the latest trailer shows us gameplay on all six of its recreated classic maps. They include El Alamein and Battle of the Bulge from Battlefield 1942, Valparaiso and Arica Harbor from Bad Company 2, and Noshahr Canals and Caspian Border from Battlefield 3.
The accompanying blog post goes over pretty much everything you could want to know about Portal. We covered most of this information when we got to preview the mode before its reveal. But DICE has disclosed a few new details that we didn’t know previously.
Maps
When it comes to maps, Portal’s list is even more extensive than we thought. Players will have access to the seven Battlefield 2042 launch maps and the six recreated maps, but Portal also includes variations on those maps. Specifically, Portal will include medium layouts for the seven 2042 maps and 13 small layouts, one for each map. These layouts include the Axis airfield on El Alamein, the village in Valparaiso, and the iconic container area in Noshahr Canals. And yes, you can host a 128-player free-for-all deathmatch in the container area.
Note that the 7 large layouts are only available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC. Modes available at launch include Conquest Large, Conquest, Rush, Team Deathmatch, and Free-For-All. Weirdly enough, Breakthrough isn’t available at launch. It’s also still unclear if Rush will be playable on any of the maps other than those from Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3.
Guns
DICE previously revealed that Battlefield Portal will include more than 40 weapons at launch. Now we know the specific number: 75. That includes weapons from 2042, 1942, Bad Company 2, and Battlefield 3.
When creating a server, you can determine what weapons are available per team, what attachments are available per weapon, and even if there are damage multipliers per weapon in the game’s logic editor.
The same goes for the gadgets available during a match. If you want to turn off recon gadgets like motion sensors and T-UGS, you can. Heck, you can even turn off all weapons and make a launchers-only mode.
Rules Editor
There are two ways to create custom game modes. Portal’s web-based experience means you can work on your creations on your PC, tablet, laptop, and phone, whenever and wherever you want. The basic modifier lets you change all kinds of options—maps, factions, player count, available weapons, and so on—with sliders. You can even determine player speed and mobility options like whether or not sliding is available with these sliders.
However, if you want to go even deeper, there’s an entire visual logic editor available. On this menu, you can create your own mode from scratch based on rules the game provides. You can customize every rule you set and even how individual weapons and players function.
If this seems overwhelming, you can right-click on any element and select “Help” to find out what it does. And if you want a head-start, you can load any of the pre-created Experience Templates that DICE offers and tweak them in the logic editor.
Servers
Finally, DICE gave a little more information about how servers will work. While Portal won’t offer purchasable, persistent servers at launch, as long as someone is playing on a server you create, it will stay alive. Lead community manager Adam Freeman reiterated this on Twitter:
As the creator of a server, you basically function as its mod. If someone is causing trouble or cheating, you can ban them not only from the server, but also from any future creation of yours.
Battlefield Portal looks absolutely insane so far, and we don’t have long to wait to see if it lives up to the hype. Battlefield 2042 launches November 19th for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.
Michael Goroff has written and edited for EGM since 2017. You can follow him on Twitter @gogogoroff.
