Donya Fortress, the second map for the Close Quarters DLC was revealed yesterday. A map that focuses on villa/courtyard style combat, with a bit of underground action thrown in. The trailer presented featured the “Conquest Domination” game mode—somewhat similar to conquest. Today, we have some various screen shots of this new Battlefield 3 map:

Battlefield 2 was one of the first games to offer unlocks and ranks to players in-game, this style has continued on into other games as well. And continuing in that fashion was Battlefield 3, if you’re a frequent player of BF3 then you probably have many unlocks already, but what are the setups for your gameplay style?

In the most recent “Inside DICE”, Alan Kertz (core gameplay designer) discusses what it takes to keep BF3 balanced. Kertz also covers how the most recent patch has changed gameplay, while retaining balance. Are you a close quarters style gamer, run and gun, or a recon player? Check below for tips on what kit modifications will help you the most.

The most important part of Battlefield 3’s gameplay design is/was maintaining balance between players. Gamers may think that balance is a simple issue and that there’s no real need for it, but balance has been a critical component of the series. There is no silver bullet in any of the series’ games, everyone can be taken down. BF3 and it’s predecessors have utilized a rock, paper, scissors method of balancing, this is evident in the BF1942 cover (the one below is my GoTY edition):

Click for massive version

Some fans of the series think that the “Vehicle Disabled” bonus is some sort of realism induced point bonus to garner CoD fans when in fact it’s a critical balance measure. BF3 may have large landmass maps, but the simple truth is, is that the gameplay takes place in extremely tight areas, and this is a problem on vehicle maps (Caspian Border for example). If a tank could move at full speed with 1% health, then tanks, APC’s, etc. could quickly move from base to base while destroying the enemy. The normal approach to this in past games would be to simply spawn in at the same or different base with C4 or and AT rocket. The bases in BF3 are simply too small and too close together, players can easily be taken out by the vehicles. To help combat the situation, one well placed Javelin or RPG can drop a tank in health, rendering it near immobile—an effective method of balancing.

But how can you attempt to tilt the balance scheme in your favor while not destroying gameplay? Weapon customization is the answer if you’re on foot. Looking to take on all enemies? Equip a flash suppressor and foregrip, want to take out enemies from afar? Equip a heavy barrel and bipod. Check out the useful table below to help you optimize your Battlefield 3 experience:

Ziba Tower was the first map for the up and coming Close Quarters DLC to be previewed, today we now have a trailer for Donya Fortress. This map appears to be set in a villa setting, players will engage one another in tunnels, a court yard, and of course hallways. The HD destruction really shines with dust raining from the ceiling and papers flying about.

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The trailer shows off the new Conquest Domination mode and another new weapon, the JNG-90:

So what’s your opinion on Donya Fortress and Battlefield 3: Close Quarters?

If you’re an active gamer on the PC, chances are that you have Steam installed and probably have a couple Steam games. One game you don’t have on Steam is Battlefield 3, which is a bit sad considering how smooth Steam’s in-game menu really is. Origin does offer a few of the features such as a web-browser, but it fails to offer a light weight menu and a screen shots gallery. Below is a guide to enable Steam’s in-game menu in BF3.

(Prior to starting, you should quit Origin by right clicking the icon in the system tray and selecting “Exit.”)

• In your games library (Steam), select “Add A Game” from the bottom left of the window.

  

• Select “Origin” and “Add Selected Programs”

  

  If you’d like, you can rename “Origin” to a name of your liking by right-clicking Origin and clicking “Properties.”

• Launch Origin through Steam, and under settings (gear icon), go to the in-game menu and uncheck the checkbox.

• Join a server through Battlelog as usual and enjoy Battlefield 3 with the Steam in-game overlay!

  

If you’re still using a default BF3 wallpaper, you’ve probably gotten a little bit bored of it, time for a new one! Community member, JonsDesignz has produced a stunning background that focuses on the latest games in the series, plus the BC2 Vietnam DLC. The full wallpaper is 1280×720, check out the original thread here.

Since the patch was released a few weeks ago, many weapons have become a lot more balanced. However, some weapons have been strengthened, a bit to much. The M26 MASS is one such weapon, well attachment that has been strengthened. Chances are, you’ve noticed more people using these weapons with a substantial effect on the game.

Demonstrating the M26’s new found power

Let alone being devastating to enemy players, often one hit kills, it is also incredibly accurate. Sure enough, the community has noted the issue and the developers have taken note:

It’s not all bad news, DICE has done a great job with the last patch and the amount of satisfied players has certainly increased. A few days ago, DICE released a server side patch that fixed MAV riding, TV missiles, and AA missles.

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A huge majority of fixes were taken care of, the community probably shouldn’t expect another major patch until the next round of DLC is released in June.

If for some reason you or someone you know doesn’t have BF3 yet, it’s a great time to save big on a copy of the game. Amazon is currently running a sale and selling the game at an incredibly low price, $29.99.

BC2, BF2, and various BF:H products are heavily discounted as well.

Battlefield 3 was one of EA’s largest game launches, quickly selling millions of copies. The number is now sitting at 13 million units sold. The game’s competitor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is rumored to have sold some 20+ million copies since it’s launch on November 8, 2011.

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Still, BF3 had an excellent launch, and EA poured another $30 million into the game post launch. SWTOR was another hit by EA, but the company may have overstretched itself and reportedly had a disappointing fiscal year. Major layoffs were rumored, but EA has quickly denied these and has stated that it’s team is still growing.

Earlier today, Battlelog for iOS was released on the app store by surprise. As of last week, the app was considered a myth, but EA has surprised the community once again. The app comes with most of the features that the desktop website comes with, featuring a full-fledged news and stats platform.

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