liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK
Now on Wiki!       <--- Click to see the Wiki version

What follows below is a selection of useful tips and information for Battlefield 2

Contents

Command Line Commands added to shortcut path to gain additional features

Automatic Login Using the command line to log in automatically when BF2 is launched

Disabling the Intro Movies Disable/Remove intro movies and menu movies

Config. Files Information on Config. files

Punkbuster Updating and tweaking punkbuster

Multiplayer Server Browser Icons Information on the Icons in the server browser

Patching Instructions on correctly patching BF2

Having two versions of bf2 Instructions on how to run an old version as well as the current one

To extract the BF2 loading music and any other sound for that matter

Changing account details! Changing email/password of BF2 account


-------------------
Command Line
-------------------

There are a range of commands - mainly designed for servers running BF2 - which can be activated via the BF2 command line. You can use these commands by going to your main Battlefield 2 shortcut you use to launch the game, right-click on it and select Properties. Then in the Target box, after the "C:\Program Files\EA Games\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 text, insert another space, then use any of the commands below. Each command must have a single space between it and the next command.

For example, one of the most commonly requested commands is to run BF2 in 1280x1024 resolution (or another custom resolution) - particularly for LCD displays which display the best image at their native resolution. To do this, change your command line to look like this:

"C:\Program Files\EA Games\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +szx 1280 +szy 1024
Note: The addition of the +szx and +szy commands which respectively set the width and height of the resolution to be used. Substitute other values for other resolutions (e.g. +szx 1900 +szy 1200). Also note that as of the 1.03 Patch, 1280x1024 is now a supported resolution and can be selected within the in-game settings, so you don't need to use the +szx/+szy commands to force it anymore.

The following are the known command line commands for BF2, and descriptions where possible:

Note: For those of you not familiar with commands such as these there is one thing you need to know: After a command enter a space and add the value. For most of these commands the value you will have to enter is 1, thus activating the command. To deactivate the commands either delete them or replace the 1 with a 0 (zero). The exceptions to these include commands such as 'playerPassword', mostly, the exceptions speak for them selves.

+playerName - Set the player name

+playerPassword - Sets the player password

+joinServer - Join a server by IP address or hostname

+port - Used in conjunction with +joinServer to join a server

+fullscreen - Start game in full screen mode

+nosound - Start game without sound

+szx - Set resolution width

+szy - Set resolution height

+dedicated - Start in dedicated server mode

+multi - Allow starting multiple BF2 instances

+password - Set the server password when joining a server

+config - Sets path to the ServerSettings.con file to use

+maplist - Sets the path to the MapList.con file to use

+lowPriority - Run the game with slightly lower priority

+loadLevel - Set the level to load

+wx - Position game window on the screen at certain x-position

+wy - Position game window on the screen at certain y-position

+demo - Sets the con-file with demo options

+maxPlayers - Sets max players

+gameMode - Sets the game mode

+modPath - Sets the mod path (default /mods/bf2)

+help - Displays help

+ranked - Allows GamSpy snapshot sending

+playNow - Use PlayNow functionality

+port - Specifies the network port to be used

+pbPath - Set the path to use for PunkBuster on multi-instance configs

+hostServer -

+checkForAvailablePatch -

+checkForPatch -

+ai -

+restart - skips intro movies
Note: You must use the correct case for these commands to work - for example the +playername command only works if used thusly: +playerName - note the capitalized N. These all work as of the latest version, including commands like +joinServer.

As you can see, most of these commands are really only useful for those running BF2 servers, and the descriptions are fairly vague.

Perhaps the most useful command in this list is the "+restart" command. As it disables the intro movies completely without any risk from punk buster bans.

--------------------
Automatic Login (using command line)
--------------------

If you want to automatically be logged in each time you launch Battlefield 2, edit your BF2 Command Line as follows:

"C:\Program Files\EA Games\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe" +playerName your playername +playerPassword your password
E.g:
"C:\Program Files\EA Games\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe" +playerName DogMaN +playerPassword Banana1
Basically by using the +playerName and +playerPassword parameters in your command line - along with any other entries you want to put in there - you will automatically be logged in as soon as you start the game, skipping the requirement to click Login on the login screen.

Important For this to work, the playerName and playerPassword commands are case-sensitive. That is, you must enter them exactly as shown, for example +playerName, not +playername. Furthermore your user name and password are case sensitive as well, and must be entered precisely as you have them shown on the login screen.

------------------------------
Disabling the Intro Movies
------------------------------

The introductory movies to BF2, although fun to watch the first couple of times, fast become quite annoying, adding to the startup times for the game, as well as the memory usage (the main movie is 135MB in size). To disable them permanently, I don't recommend deleting the movie files - this may cause problems with verification of client information on certain servers and/or with Punk-buster.

Instead, simply rename the relevant files in your \Program Files\EA Games\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2\Movies\ directory to something else (e.g. rename the Intro.bik to Intro.backup). The files to rename are: Dice.bik, EA.bik, Intro.bik, Legal.bik and Welcome.bik. This will mean the intro movies are all skipped as BF2 starts to load. If you find the movies playing in the background of the Login screen and Settings screens annoying, you can also rename the menu.bik and menu_loggedin.bik to something else as well.

If you've also renamed/removed the menu.bik and menu_loggedin.bik movies, and don't want a dull grey background in the in-game menus, then download this small BF2 Menu Movies .zip file, and extract the contents to your \Movies directory. These small files (100KB each) show the BF2 logo in the background, and look much nicer.

Removing all the original movies from the game can save over 250MB of data being loaded up during the start of the game and being placed into memory - this will help smooth your game play particularly for those with less RAM. If for any reason you experience any problems with the game after renaming the movies, simply rename them back to their original names.

Note: Instead of the above, you can simply use the +restart command line command in your BF2 startup icon.

-------------
Config Files
-------------

C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2\Settings
Most of the settings in these .con files can and should be altered using the in-game options. However there are a few things you can adjust which are unique to the .con files:

Video.con

VideoSettings.setResolution 1280x960@75Hz
This setting controls your current resolution in Battlefield 2. The format is Width x Height@Refresh Rate. If you cannot start up BF2 and change the resolution from within the game, try altering it here to help you startup the game. In particular when you want to launch BF2 for the first time and the game just crashes back to desktop, you can change the resolution from its default of 800x600@60Hz to one your monitor supports. Note, however, that certain resolutions are unsupported and entering them here will not work

VideoSettings.setTerrainQuality 4

VideoSettings.setGeometryQuality 4

VideoSettings.setLightingQuality 4

VideoSettings.setDynamicLightingQuality 4

VideoSettings.setDynamicShadowsQuality 4

VideoSettings.setEffectsQuality 4

VideoSettings.setTextureQuality 4

VideoSettings.setTextureFilteringQuality 4
All of the above settings can be adjusted from within the in-game Video settings. However the highest they can be set to is High from within the game (a value of 3). By setting them each to 4 in Video.con (as shown above), you will have them displayed as 'Videosettings_Ultrahigh' in the in-game Video settings screen, and some people believe this increases the graphics quality to Ultrahigh levels. I didn't see any impact from this change, but if you want the absolute best quality in BF2 give it a try.


Profile.con

This file contains details of your on-line account including the user name (GameSpyNick), the Email attached to that name, and the Password (encrypted). You can't change these details here - doing so will have no impact on your on-line account, except maybe cause problems logging on or with Punk buster.
You may find this file useful if you have forgotten your e-mail address associated with your account


General.con

GeneralSettings.addServerHistory
This settings show you the last servers you have successfully connected to. This list is handy because it provides the server names as well as the IP Number and Port Number. You can use these details in the Server Browser window to quickly connect to the same server again. The quickest way however is to simply go to the ’Favorites’ tab which has a record of the last 20 servers you've played on as well as any servers you've tagged as favourites. See the Multi-player section of the In-Game Settings section for more details.


Controls.con

This file contains all of the control mappings for actions in the game. The file structure is quite complex, and rather than cover it at length here, I recommend you see this detailed thread on the Planet Battlefield Forums: Anatomy of Controls.con.

-------------
Punkbuster
-------------

Updating your punkbuster

When an update for punkbuster is released it will automatically download through Battlefield 2. Although this process saves you the effort of updating punkbuster your self, it will give you lag as the update downloads. The updates are not necessarily big but there are lots of them. Instead of Battlefield 2 manually trying to do it in game, quickly do it with this easy fix (may not work if its already updated). This tweak will work for America's Army and also any other game that uses punkbuster. Punkbuster also changes issues in performance in their patches so it is well worth downloading the latest driver.

This is relatively simple to do. Once you have downloaded the file I recommend you keep it and use it regularly

Step 1: Visit this site and scroll down to the pbsetup.exe link

Step 2: Either run or save the program. I recommend that you save it.

Step 3: Click add game and select "Battlefield 2"

Step 4: Click Update

------------------

Reducing the number of punkbuster hard drive checks

Punkbuster scans your hard-drive for problems every 20 seconds. As you may have guessed, this causes a lot of lag. This process will increase the amount of time in between punkbuster checks to 500 seconds (the maximum). By the way, in case you were worried, this is 100% safe with punkbuster, and will NOT cause any problems with Punkbuster thinking you are a cheater. Punkbuster even recommends this on their website.

Step 1: Join any BF2 online server which is running punkbuster, preferably a ranked one.

Step 2: Once you are in, and respawned somewhere, press the ` key. This key is located on most keyboards above the tab key and to the left of the 1 key

Step 3: Once you have pressed this, a large white box should drop down with a load of text in it. Type "pb_sleep 500" (without the quotation marks) and hit the enter key

Step 4: Once you have done this, make sure the box is still up and type pb_writecfg to save your settings

-------------------

Info
For more information on the way that punkbuster works visit there website.
You can also go to there tutorial pages for players and Admins for more information on punkbuster commands

--------------------------------------
Multiplayer Server Browser Icons
--------------------------------------

https://img118.imageshack.us/img118/4287/icons2di.png

Ever wondered what these icons mean? Here are some simple explanations of the icons in order of left to right

Server Load

The bar icon on the far left of the server browser indicates the load on the server machine. It is common for this icon to be red.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Server OS Icon

This next icon appears as a computer box, a penguin or a '64'. These icons represent the OS the server is running on.

The Box icon represents all Windows servers
The Penguin icon represents Linux servers
The 64 icon represents Linux 64 bit CPU servers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Game Mod/Mode Icon

The next icon represents the game mod/mode being run on the server. If there is an exclamation point the server will be running a modified version of Battlefield 2.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ranked Icon

The icon that appears as military chevrons represent whether the server is ranked or not. If the icon is not present the server is not running a ranked version.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

VOIP Icon

The headphones icon represents whether a server has player Voice Over IP Communication activated. If the headphones are present then VOIP is turned on. If the icon is not present then there is no VOIP communication on that server.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PunkBuster Icon

The PunkBuster logo icon indicates when a server is running PunkBuster software to help prevent player hacks. Always make sure to play on servers running PunkBuster to ensure a quality play experience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Content Check Icon

The monitor icon represents whether a server has content check enabled. Content check prevents players with edited files from playing on these servers. To further ensure a quality play experience players should always look for servers with content check enabled.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Password Icon

The lock icon indicates whether a password is set for accessing the server.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------
Patching
----------

As many of you will know the patching system in battlefield 2 sucks immensely. In this section I will show you how to install battlefield 2 without getting any errors.

Note: I would recommend always using the full patches rather than the incremental patches, they are a lot less buggy. Also downloading them from a reliable source such  as BF2S ;-) will help

Just BF2.

1) Install BF2.
2) Patch to the latest version.

BF2 + BF2:SF

1)For those that have BF2:SF with version 1.12.
    a) Install BF2.
    b) Install Special Forces – SF will automatically patch to 1.1, and then install itself; thus installing patch 1.12.
    c) Patch to the latest version – Either 1.12-latest (incremental) or the latest full patch.

2)For those that have BF2:SF with version 1.2.0
    a) Install BF2.
    b) Install Special Forces – SF will automatically patch to 1.1, and then install itself; thus installing patch 1.2.
    c) Patch to the latest version – Either ‘1.2 to latest’ (incremental) or the latest full patch.

BF2 + BF2:SF + BF2:EF

1) Install BF2
2) Install BF2:SF
3) Patch to version 1.21 (I think)
4) Install BF2:EF
5) Patch to the latest version

BF2 + BF2:EF

1) Install BF2
2) Patch to 1.21 (I think)
3) Install BF2:EF
3) Patch to the latest version

More Help

A program that automatically patches
The EA Downloader should tell you all the information you need


-------------------------------
Having two versions of bf2
-------------------------------

This is relatively simple. All that is required is to duplicate your Battlefield 2 directory, I will explain:

If, for example you would like to run version 1.03 and the latest version, do this:

1)    Completely uninstall
2)    Install BF2
3)    Make a copy of “C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2”
4)    Name the copy “C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2_1.0”
5)    Patch to 1.03
6)    Rename “C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2” to “…Battlefield 2_1.03
7)    Change “C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2_1.0” back to “… Battlefield 2”
8)    Patch to 1.3
9)    You now have a normal BF2 directory running 1.3 and directory running 1.03
10)    Make shortcut to v1.03 on your desktop (duplicate normal BF2 one); change the target to:
"C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2_1.03\BF2.exe" +menu 1 +fullscreen 1
If you also want to run SF, AF and EF then simply don’t patch the normal BF2 folder, like I stated above, straight to 1.3. Just go through the normal process of installation

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first time you install BF2, I recommend  duplicating the installation folder and calling it bf2_1.0. Doing this will enable you to a sort of system restore if you need to

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


------------------------------------------------
To extract the BF2 loading music
------------------------------------------------
1) Download this program and get this plugin
2) Navigate to:
C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2\Common_client.zip
then:
Sound/Menu/music
3) Open "load_MEC_music.ogg" with Audacity and save it as an mp3 (to, for example, your desktop)
4) That's it, your done!


---------------------------------
Changing account details!
---------------------------------

I have discovered a way to change the details associated with your BF2 nickname. Some people may have already known this but it seems that most don’t. This is a list of the details you can change:
First Name
Last Name
Email Address
Birthday
Country
Zip/Postal Code
Password

The following items are associated with GameSpy website and Arcade only and will result in mail
Connection Speed
Gender
Address
Street Address
Street Address (cont.)
City
State or province
Homepage
To login and start changing your details follow this process

1)    Go to the GameSpy login page
2)    Under the “Existing Users – Log in Here” section: leave the first box selected and enter your email (the one associated with your bf2 account) and your bf2 account password
3)    One logged in click ‘Update Profile”
4)    The next part is self explanatory: enter the details you want changed, you will have to fill in your name and Postal/Zip code (don’t panic you don’t receive an junk mail)
5)    Once finished enter your current password and click “Save and Finish”

You may have noticed that there is a nickname field. I made a test account (so I did not screw up my other account) and tried this out. It did not work, it looked like it was going to but it didn’t.
It has occurred to me, however, that it may take time to update on the servers. If this is the case then I will let you know ASAP.


The final step is to delete your account (from the log in screen on BF2) and retrieve it again, this will update your profile and it's information



----
End
----

I do not want to take credit for creating all of the information in this guide. some of it came from TweakGuides.com and some of it was collected from other sources. However I have added much of my own material
------------------------
There are many more things that you can do with your Battlefield 2 to improve it, such as:

Change your Localization Files - Changing the text on you HUD
Reducing Lag - Tips on how to minimize lag whilst playing Battlfield 2
More BF2 Lag Reduction...
Modifying maps to your taste - Spawning extra vehicles etc.

---------------
liquidat0r

Last edited by liquidat0r (2006-06-25 16:03:09)

Breez
AKA: badhq
+937|6602|Derby, England

Niceeeeee +1 from me Bro Great tips.

Peace Boris
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK

badhq wrote:

Niceeeeee +1 from me Bro Great tips.

Peace Boris
ty.
Starfleet1403
...to bodly spawn where no one has spawned before!
+66|6593|Born in West-Berlin
Nicely done. Thanks.
k1LLr_M
Prone to Own
+118|6563|Houston, TX
gj, here's your karma
Talon
Stop reading this and look at my post
+341|6731
Perhaps credit is due to the BF2 Tweakguide? A lot of your text and quotes seems rather lifted.
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK

Talon wrote:

Perhaps credit is due to the BF2 Tweakguide? A lot of your text and quotes seems rather lifted.

liquidat0r wrote:

I do not want to take credit for creating all of the information in this guide. Most of it came from TweakGuides.com.
No 1 Gooner
coopj Dependant
+98|6542|England
Nice work mate! +1 to you!
did you type all that? your digits must be killing you! lol
Avarice
Member
+41|6543|London, UK

liquidat0r wrote:

+playerPassword - Sets the player password
I can change my password by changing this command line?
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK

Avarice wrote:

liquidat0r wrote:

+playerPassword - Sets the player password
I can change my password by changing this command line?
no. after +playerPassword you enter your current password. If you enter an incorrect password it will not automaticaly log you in.
SuB
Member
+50|6646
a simple link would have sufficed instead of copy pasting and putting the credits in... tbh karma to tweakguides on this, a nice find but a link would have been better. considering there are pictures and other such comparisons on that site which would make it 10x better
nice find all the same, been around a while now though
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK
Some more stuff added about punkbuster...
Mj.Blindfisch
Bulletdrop-Buddha
+338|6667|Germany

liquidator wrote:

If you want to change your on-line account name, email, or both, the correct way to do so is by going directly to the GameSpyID site
So it actually is possible to change your account details?
Because I have to change my e-mail address and I even think about a nickchange...

Has anyone here actually done this before,I don't wanna mess up my account.
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK
Updated...
SargeJp
Member
+87|6720|Canada
+1
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK

Starfleet1403 wrote:

Nicely done. Thanks.
thanks

k1LLr_M wrote:

gj, here's your karma
thanks

No 1 Gooner wrote:

Nice work mate! +1 to you!
thanks

SargeJp wrote:

+1
thanks

*takes a deep breath*
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK
Added some stuff on patching...
mattajohnstone
Member
+15|6758
hey dude great stuuf +1
and also does that name changeing really work with keeping your stats??
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK

mattajohnstone wrote:

hey dude great stuuf +1
and also does that name changeing really work with keeping your stats??
i'm still working on this one. atm it seems that this is only for changing your gamespy arcade details
mattajohnstone
Member
+15|6758
thought so oo well gd guide anyways
ikillyou9090
Member
+24|6518
Heres a tip fer u tards........

if you dont like it.. to bad.

learn to play on single player before  u get ur lame ass on a RANKED server..
and u ppl WONDER why ur stats are like


Assault: 1 kill 9,058 deaths?
gimme a break..=/
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK
Added some stuff about running two different versions of bf2. e.g. 1.01 and 1.3
(T)eflon(S)hadow
R.I.P. Neda
+456|6799|Grapevine, TX
Can I get some help, please. For the Auto login to work do I add

"D:\Battlefield 2" +playerName (T)eflon(S)hadow +playerPassword  xxxxxxx

   to the shortcut? I can't seem to get this to work. Nice work, +1 Karma 4U.
liquidat0r
wtf.
+2,223|6597|UK

(T)eflon(S)hadow wrote:

Can I get some help, please. For the Auto login to work do I add

"D:\Battlefield 2" +playerName (T)eflon(S)hadow +playerPassword  xxxxxxx

   to the shortcut? I can't seem to get this to work. Nice work, +1 Karma 4U.
that is correct. Are you sure your username and password are completely correct?
Angel.C-sq
Member
+24|6659|Computer Chair
I may be stupid but isnt D:\Battlefield 2 not supposed to end with bf2.exe?

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