During EA Play 2021, DICE finally revealed the mysterious third Battlefield 2042 mode called Portal. The recently renamed Ripple Effect Studios revealed that Portal is essentially a community-driven sandbox experience where players can build and share custom experiences. The mode lets players build new content not just from Battlefield 2042, but previous games in the franchise like Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3, as well as Battlefield 1942.
The Battlefield franchise has always been very community-focused and this mode takes things a step further. Through Battlefield Portal, players can mix and match content, highlighted by the reveal trailer where knife-wielding WW2 soldiers go up against a team of modern combat medics only armed with defibrillators. Unlike other map editors or player-built experiences, Battlefield Portal gives players complete control over their custom mode thanks to a powerful Rules Editor that takes advantage of Visual Scripting. Through this, players can add in custom rules or behaviors such as healing a player after a kill, making a small team of overpowered soldiers versus a large team of weaker soldiers, or building a unique version of gun game which switches weapons after getting a kill.
While Battlefield Portal is a very robust mode out of the box, it utilizes the live service model which means players can expect plenty more content and updates continuing to arrive long after launch. Still, there's plenty to see and do on day one, so here's a round-up of everything fans can expect to see.
Battlefield Portal Modes
When accessing Battlefield Portal, players will have three options to pick from. The first is called Official Experiences, which are custom game modes built by DICE.
The next is Community Experiences, which are a set of rotating game modes made by the community and highlighted by DICE. For those who want a more robust list to pick from, there's a browse option complete with filters to help narrow down the content that is returned.
Finally, the third option is Battlefield Builder. It is here where players can build their own custom game modes and share them once ready.
Included Maps and Modes
Whether creating or playing custom experiences from Portal, Ripple Effect has brought back 6 classic maps from past Battlefield games in addition to the 7 as part of the new game. Battlefield 1942 sees the return of Battle of the Bulge and El Alamein. Considering the game originally launched all the way back in 2002, Ripple Effect has done some updating to the maps including rebuilding all assets in the Frostbite Engine as well as adding in destruction which wasn't there originally.
The fan-favorite title Battlefield Bad Company 2 also makes its grand return, though not in the way most fans likely expected. Inside of Portal, players can play around on Valparaiso and Arica Harbor. Finally, Battlefield 3 content is also available to use along with the Caspian Border and Noshahr Canals.
While Rush is currently missing from the main multiplayer set of modes in Battlefield 2042, it is available for use in Portal as well as other fan-favorite modes like Conquest. Creative fans can even build their own game modes if the base ones provided don't quite fit.
Building A Custom Mode in Battlefield Portal
While the process could change prior to launch, Senior Design Director Justin Weibe revealed an early and in-development look at the process of making a custom game mode. Interestingly enough, anyone with an EA Account can log into the Battlefield Portal website once it is live and create game modes, though a copy of the game is necessary to play them.
Inside of Portal, players will first be picking the game mode they want to center their experience around. This includes the game modes from Battlefield 2042 as well as additional ones like the previously mentioned Rush. Following that, players will select the teams and the game they represent. While soldiers on the same team can't be mixed and matched between the various games available, players can set up matches where one side is one game and the other team represents a completely different one.
The third area when building a custom game in Battlefield Portal is where players can start to modify more of the game details such as the UI and AI settings as well as the available weapons and vehicles. Unlike the individual teams, players can opt to mix and match weapons and vehicles, pitting the classic soldier classes against the new Battlefield 2042 specialists. However, it is worth noting that gear from Battlefield 1942 is likely going to be a bit underpowered compared to the more modern tech. A Spitfire plane likely won't stay in the air long against a modern jet.
Thankfully, there are ways for the player to circumvent this shortcoming using the final part of Portal. The rules editor allows players to add logic through Visual Scripting. While this section may look daunting for those not familiar with programming, Ripple Effect is planning on creating documentation and video tutorials to assist players. Essentially, this area is incredibly powerful for adding custom rules, variables, and behaviors during gameplay. For those who want to create a particular game mode or customize a certain way to play the game, they can now create it themselves.
There's an option to share the custom logic they've created to the community. This could be a powerful option for those who want community feedback, are stuck on a certain section during the creation process, or maybe even want to collaborate on something together in a group. Every time a change is made, the original logic file isn't overwritten and is instead saved as a new file to be shared, making sure the original version is left untouched.
Once finished, the player adds a name for this new Battlefield experience, a short description, and can add a password if they want it to remain private. Tags can also be added to help players understand what kind of experience this is as well as being used for filtering when using the browse feature in-game. Finally, there's a share code that can be utilized to take players right to the game mode instead of first having to search and find it from a list.
Battlefield 2042 releases on October 22nd for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.