The maps of Battlefield 2042 are among the major criticisms of the game. Now, developer DICE has extensively addressed this, naming the biggest problems and what improvements are planned for the future. This is well received by the players.
What is the problem with the maps? Even before the release of Battlefield 2042, there were concerns that the new maps for 128 players could be too big and empty to deliver the “typical Battlefield experience”.
With the release, some maps confirmed the players’ concerns, such as the urban Kaleidoscope map, which is often criticized for its structure, lack of cover, and the placement of strategic points.
In a large blog post, developer DICE has now elaborated on the situation and what changes will be made.
How Battlefield 2042 plans to improve its maps
DICE has identified five major main issues that they want to address in the future, gradually improving all the maps significantly:
- Movement: One of the biggest criticisms is that the paths from base to flag or from flag to flag are way too long for infantry. Players are spread out across the larger maps. This has led to Battlefield 2042 even being called a running simulator.
- Intensity: Here, especially in the Breakthrough mode, the chaos factor is often too high, and in a negative sense. Some tests on player counts have been conducted here.
- Line of sight: The criticism here is that some maps have too many areas where enemies have a clear line of sight from a distance. This particularly pertains to Kaleidoscope, but other maps also have the problem.
- Paths: Another revision will ensure that the important routes to objectives become clearer for players. Without these paths, fire from all directions would be favored, which is not a motivating gaming experience.
- Cover: Similar to line of sight, players lack objects to hide behind on most maps.
There are already some proposed solutions for all these points. They plan to shorten the paths, possibly reduce the player count in Breakthrough to 64, place more objects for cover, and provide clearer paths.
Here’s a concrete example on the Kaleidoscope map in Breakthrough mode:
Some elements have been removed or moved to address players’ criticisms. There should also be some improvements for Conquest:
How all this will affect the game remains to be seen. Keep in mind that everything shown above is “work in progress,” so it may not necessarily be implemented in the game.
When will the improvements come? DICE acknowledges that they cannot completely overhaul all maps in one update. The innovations will be rolled out gradually.
They will prioritize which maps have the most problems. The first is Kaleidoscope, and the specific update for the map is planned to be released during the first season:
Our current main focus is on Kaleidoscope, for Conquest and Breakthrough. On this map, we can improve gameplay the most comprehensively, and here you can also expect updates first. We currently plan to deliver updates specifically for Kaleidoscope during Season 1, and your feedback will not only help us optimize these changes, but we will also learn what we should improve next.
ea.com
When does Season 1 come? After the start was postponed, the first season of Battlefield 2042 is set to launch in the summer. There is still no exact date.
However, the feedback will not only influence the current maps but also the planned maps that are yet to be introduced to the game. Thus, the first map from Season 1 will also be affected. Whether positively or negatively remains to be seen.
What do the players say about it? The initial reactions are cautious but still cautiously optimistic. After the poor mood in recent months, many are glad to receive better news again.
Especially since the scoreboard update has been postponed again. The update with some “quality of life” improvements has already been postponed multiple times.
The mentioned problems and improvement ideas are also positively rated by most. However, many are still skeptical about how much of it will actually make it into the game and when.
But what do you think of this information? Do you share the criticism of the maps? What else would you improve?
