With consistently negative ratings and low player numbers, Battlefield 2042 (test) is far behind its predecessors. There are also real fan changes for them, such as the Reality Mod. After more than 7 years of development and with around 80 participants, it wants to make Battlefield 3 significantly more realistic.
The inspiration for the project was the “Battlefield 2 Reality Mod”, which the developers describe as a formative experience: They would have experienced the realistic approach with a significantly greater need for tactics and cooperation as immersive and exciting. The mod should also move Battlefield 3 in this direction.
Many changes
For this purpose, the shooter will be revised and expanded in many areas. A minimalist HUD is part of it, but also revised sounds, dynamic weather, day and night cycles and servers for more than 100 players at the same time. The gameplay will also adapt the mod. Players may bleed to death after hits without bandages, revives are limited. The image material underlines that the game also becomes darker as a result.
In addition, the re-entry may no longer take place directly with one's own squad, but only at fixed points, which the players can build up. Which role is played depends on the equipment, there should be nine at the beginning. The equipment can only be adjusted to a limited extent and less extensively than in the standard version of the game. In addition to handling, adjustments to weapons also include caliber, which affects damage in addition to the material the bullet hits. The trajectory of the bullets should also take ballistics more into account – and when reloading, for a “realistic” shooter this is mandatory, all unused bullets in the magazine are lost.
Communication is becoming important
Communication becomes more important in a tactical game. Therefore, the mod adds an in-game voice chat with multiple channels where squads can communicate internally as well as commanders. In addition to the squad leader, there is also a commander who can, among other things, request artillery strikes. At the start, this can be tested on five modified and expanded vanilla maps. More maps will be added later.
Version 0.1 of the mod will clarify the basic concept from July 17, 2022. In the following versions, the developers will optimize the balancing, introduce a resource mechanic, create their own maps, integrate additional vehicles – which require a crew of several people to drive them – and implement additional game modes and the commander role. There should also be a map editor. Battlefield 3 and all DLCs whose maps are picked up in the mod are required to play. In addition, the Venice Unleashed mod client must be installed, as the developer's guide explains.
Other games are already further
Alternatively, the entire concept can already be tried out elsewhere will. The idea behind the Reality Mod is similar to the one that shooters like Squad and Hell let Loose are already having a lot of success with.