Venice Unleashed, a server emulator for Battlefield 3, is now accepting beta signups (opens in new tab) . Created by NoFaTe (opens in new tab) , Venice promises control "over a wide set of features and settings that were initially hidden," including spectator mode and other "half-implemented or disabled game features." According to the signup site, Venice also supports the creation of mods and new gamemodes "without the need of performing complicated and game-breaking file modifications."
Venice emulates BF3's Blaze networking backend, but it is not a DRM workaround—the Emulator Nexus (opens in new tab) network repeatedly stresses (opens in new tab) that a licensed, up-to-date copy of BF3 is required to play. Nexus and NoFaTe are also behind a Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (opens in new tab) emulator and custom client.
The two videos below are, respectively, a preview of the emulator working (dubstep threat level severe, adjust volume) and footage of the native spectator mode in action.
