First Look

[Albereth]

Picked up my copy (and for CD) and for Nerdboy (cos he is going drinking at the Jolly Roger tonight).

The installation is straightforward - single DVD and the key is on the back of the manual (flimsy few pages stapled together). Got a cool rat pad and the mem stick is rather nicely done in a presentation pack - haven't touched that yet.

Installation is quick. Couple of yes choices to be made re licenses, asks for gamespy comrade and updates directx.

Log on with account from EA - this automatically links to the veterans program and your nick will be ready waiting for you. Nice touch. I installed the game and then did the patch before firing it up. I also installed for CD and fired up first - it told me there was a patch available and the I could get it through downloader. Again nice albeit annoying that there is a patch so soon.

Did the options thing. There is no 1280x1024 option which is annoying because that is the native resolution of my LCD. I'll have to look at the con files tonight.

I didn't check the | things but RN says they work in the demo. I'll look tonight.

There is no SGS server at present and if you type in the ip for the demo server it tells you that your version is later than that. Well I'd expect that but I'd also expect SGS to have pulled a finger - where do they get their admins?

I went off to Belgrade in Holland or Germany? Wasn't paying attention. I needed to render the graphics. This is a very much snowy feel map. The buildings are cool - not just ladders on the side any more - you go up flights of stairs onto corridors. Wasn't there too long - just long enough to die twice - I was pinging around 500 but it wasn't noticable - except I couldn't hit a barn door from the inside.

I looked at single player - I think that of the 10 maps there are 6 available in single player. Bot ability is controlled by a slider.

Running seems annoying and I am going to have to change that minimap - I prefer it to be fixed rather than orientating itself on me.

[Albereth]

A bit more:

The |WrG| tag does work, you can either type it in the clan space or edit the con file. Not that you'll see the bars in the clan space.

System freaked out and led to a reinstall when I tried setting the graphics res I wanted. It worked fine going in the firs ttime but the game itself tried to be clever and then we ended up recycling.

Mini map is sorted

There are 3 game modes, conquest, titan, and conquest co-op. Not all the maps are available for all of these game types.

Went and annoyed the ints because this time the lag sucked major league. Killed one just for fun.

I applied the little mem stick thing - you get a rank up. There is another bonus available in the world for a unique weapon. You have to have pre-ordered from Best Buy and they give you a weapon that is only ever going to be available through that offer.

Wonder what cool things will come in the future?

[rainy]

My copy has been shipped. Should be able to pick it up tomorrow.

[rainy]

Got my copy, busy installing as I type.

The USB stick looks spiffy, but as someone said, chances are you have a bigger flash drive already. It does come in a nice black leather box (prolly not genuine leather tho) and contains a text file with your preorder code (they could have done it a bit nicer).

The mousepad is nothing worth mentioning. It comes from the country of El Cheapo and looks a lot less good than on the preview pictures. I won't be using it.

Game installed, running for the first time. Takes a moment to start up, showing a black screen in the meantime. Accoutn details entered, contacting EA master server... My firewall doesnt say anything - hold on, it does. Just blocks the app silently. Need to correct that. There we go. My soldier from the demo is already there - loading. There's my promotion and unlock. Gonna select it quickly - hmm, do I go for the APM or C4? I want to get the Scope Stabilizer and advanced sniper rifle, so the APM is the way to go. But let me just enter my preorder code first and then see what happens.

Code entered, restarting the game, logging in - there's the second promotion. I am selecting APM and the DysTek scope for unlocks. The rest can wait - need to start playing first ;)

Giving it a quick bash in single player. The first run takes ages for the shader optimizing - and I havent even changed my graphics settings yet :( Nice one though: unlocks can be used in Single Player mode.

Will write more when I've had some time to get into the game.

[Albereth]

Even after the patch, for many members of the community, including myself, who have been experiencing crashes, there is a solution that may fix it. In the readme file attached with Battlefield 2142 you'll notice it saying:

"Players who have the Windows security update KB917422 installed may suffer from an application error when running Battlefield 2142. This error can be solved by uninstalling the KB917422 update."
If you head on over and look at Microsoft's website you'll notice what this specific security update does:

"A security issue has been identified in the Windows Kernel that could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it."
Fear not, you won't have to uninstall the Windows security update. Microsoft has posted up a hotfix for this update. Here's what the update has to say about explaining the issue:

"After you apply security update 917422, programs that limit the application stack size to 2,048 bytes might not run. You do not receive any error message when this problem occurs."
To take a look at the full article as well to download this hotfix, click the link below.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924867/

[gus]

Anybody figured out how to set it to 1280x1024 resolution?

I promised myself not to moan, but here goes: I cannot believe that the native resolution which, if the analysts are to be believed, is the one on about half all monitors currently being sold, is not avialable in the video config. :(

[rainy]

How did all the gaming sites benchmark the game at 1280x1024?

The problem with 1280x1024 is thta it is a 5:4 resolution instead of 4:3. The proper 4:3 resolution would be 1280x960.

[rainy]

Take a look at this:

http://forums.tweakguides.com/showpost.php?p=50162&postcount=118

[Albereth]

I tried it changing the video.con file to that res. Freaked out the game and I had to reinstall.

[Albereth]

Take a look at this:

http://forums.tweakguides.com/showpost.php?p=50162&postcount=118

DO NOT trust this post. It was done when the demo was out and the demo did have the ability to set the res to 1280x1024. The game doesn't.

And +restart does not work.

[spAc3dd]

Apart from my login complaints, the little that I have seen with there being no fracking SA server available yet seems pretty cool.

Funny thing though - my more expensive DVD-RAM drive doesn't read the disk properly, but my cheap DVD Writer does...

Strange...

[gus]

I tried it changing the video.con file to that res. Freaked out the game and I had to reinstall.

Yes, I had to change the setting back before the game would start.


DO NOT trust this post. It was done when the demo was out and the demo did have the ability to set the res to 1280x1024. The game doesn't.

And +restart does not work.

Yes, the "+szx 1280 +szy 1024" does not seem to work as far as I can tell. Game looks great, but I am sure it can look better without the interpolation thing.

[gus]

Apart from my login complaints, the little that I have seen with there being no fracking SA server available yet seems pretty cool.

Funny thing though - my more expensive DVD-RAM drive doesn't read the disk properly, but my cheap DVD Writer does...

Strange...

You should maybe look if there is a new firmware for your DVD-RAM. A friend of mine had to update recently before he could load Flatout 2.

[Albereth]

I tried the 'putting it back' as it was deal but no go. Could be that I also tried the +restart thingy too.

Anyhow, at the moment she aint broke, so I aint fixin.

Come on patch 1.02. BF2 had same video issue in early days

[spAc3dd]

The damn intro video thingy works like a charm. Thank goodness. Nothing irritates me more than being forced to watch some lame intro sequence I have seen a million times.

Tried the resolution thingy on my laptop. Didn't cause any damage, but it didn't work either...:(

Thanks for that Microsoft hint. I uninstalled it and it looks like it fixed some issues I was having with my Z-Board drivers too!

[rainy]

By the way - someone said you only get one APM. That's not true - you get two as in BF2 with the claymores.

[rainy]

Just played two rounds online - map was Verdun.

Had some lekker sniping going on there - the swaying scope throws you off a bit at first, but you get used to it. Got the Combat Efficiency Pin in the first round and ended one kill short of Basic Recon Service. The scope stabilizer is definitely my next unlock. Currently I have a K/D ratio of 2.75 global and 11.0 on the sniper rifle.

Still have to do some tweaking - had quite a bit of lag happening, and my mic isn't set up yet. But all in good time. So far I can say, it's a good game.

[Albereth]

I got Air Defence badge by trashing ground targets with it - yeah I did get 3 kills in the air. And I got a 3rd unlock too

[rainy]

Didn't get enough points for another unlock. Will happen next time I play.

What bothers me about the sniper rifles is the reloading - the rifles are a kind of futuristic bolt-action, but they don't unzoom between shots like the ones from BF2. And especially on the Russian rifle the reload sound is so soft that you can hardly hear it. Maybe I have to tweak my sound settings a bit, but it is a bit confusing as to how to know when to fire the next shot. I guess that with experience one will get the timing right though...

[gus]

The reload on the basic sniper/recon rifle bothered me a lot when I tried it in single player. I did not play much supply in BF2, but it looks like that is going to be my favourate class in BF2142, from trying out all the classes in single player. Will now see how it goes online. Another thing I found interesting is that one do actually use the pistol a fair bit, while in BF2 is was only really used for getting the badge(s).

[rainy]

The pistol is more powerful than in BF2 and more efficient in finishing hurt targets off.

[Albereth]

Yeah, got me a few (or a couple) of pistol kills on the int server.

I don't know that this game stacks your killls - so, if you are in armour you get armour kills but not your kit kills - or so it seems

[rainy]

That would be a good thing if it was true.

[Sabre]

Damn still can't believe Alb and I were on till 3 this morning.

Game seems cool, just frustrated at the unlocks..they really seem like a waste of time given the time u spend trying to get them

[Albereth]

If I was on until 3 this morning then there is a problem. I am sure I went to bed at midnight. Hope I am not sleep walking again. ;)

[Bass]

Hehe .. sounding good guys - I'll hopefully be on this evening (bought the game earlier on today) :D

Anyone know if/where the patch is lying round on the SGS servers ?

[TG]

Bass - the patch is only 17mb, doesn't take long to download.

[gus]

Anybody got a rank up yet, other than the pre-order stuff?

[Bass]

Aha ! Great - thanks - have downloaded & installed - just waiting for a free slot on our two servers .....

[Brawler]

hmmm lets see, got it this afternoon from CNA @ R199. Installed alright and began to mess about offline and kept on getting disconnected. Downloaded patch(only found once viable site to download it from at 5kb/s). My first online game i was like woah wtf is going on, its sooo much diferant to BF2. Played a good few games and got my rank up a few and actually started to kill people. One thing though my pc isnt half bad and it seems to struggle at max gfx settings(or is it lag?) like in the titan its very bad.

But overall im satisfied, but still prefer BF2 ;)

[JAWS_Firefox]

Loaded the game - no prob.
Logged on and it notified me of the patch.
D/L'ed (to another drive where I store all my D/Ls)
Unzipped and ran the patch. (Went thru the install wizard but no bars filling up like previous BF2 patched)
When I log on, I get another notice that there is a patch available.
Ignore that and go to where I enter the SGS server IP.
Says the server has a newer version than my machine.
Redid - same. Redid again - same.
AAaaarggghhh !!

[Albereth]

Probably a West Rand thing

[JAWS_Firefox]

No, probably needed rebooting. Ran patch again this morn and voila!

BTW The "West Rand thing" kicked your butt this morn.
2-0 !!!

[gus]

Anybody got a rank up yet, other than the pre-order stuff?

I got my rankups this morning, but some of my pins, badges and medals from yesterday seems permanently lost.

[spAc3dd]

You should maybe look if there is a new firmware for your DVD-RAM. A friend of mine had to update recently before he could load Flatout 2.

Thanks bud. I followed your advice, and WHALLA... It works like a charm...:D

[Brawler]

Starting to get the hang of it a bit more now. When the server is half full its great but as soon as it fills up laaaaaaaaaag

[SaintMg]

stoke got us a copy from cna for only 199 :woot:

played till late got a few kills and hate the way he stabs :grr:
only cause i was lying on the floor behind stoke took 2 slashes at him, must have heard me and got up and started shooting me then he ran out of ammo (camping the titan) i tryed to slash him a few more times got the wall (no not (w4lll) got the light hit a friendly stoke relises his guns she not shooting pulls out his pistol and wacks me in the head

IT WAS A GOOD DEATH

then i was playing AT and killing stuff like left right behind everywhere when i relised my heart was beating so hard i though i was going to have a hearte attack and then i died and heard a heart beat in the game i think it was controling my heart must investigate more..

[rainy]

I have yet to see if my promotions come through - but my badges and pins have not appeared in BFHQ so far. :mad:

[rainy]

Got my promotions and unlocks, but the badges are still missing.

[gus]

For me three badges, one pin and one bronze medal came through, but two gold medals and a bunch of other pins and badges have disappeared. I am obviously especially sad about the two golds. :(

[TG]

None of the badges and pins I've received so far have come through, but I've got all the ranks/unlocks.

[rainy]

Same here. Got my rankups, but Titan Excellence, Support Service and Titan Defense are gone, apparently forever.

[SlappY]

I found a bug. I keep dying. A lot. It must be a bug....
But the game dynamic is very different to BF2. I like the way the recon dude can carry explosives and cloaking camo...it just makes so much sense.
Hide by the wall, wait for the tank to drive past, strap on some boom boom, and click the switch. Easy!

[rainy]

The camo is pretty useless. Maybe in the dark it would be different, but in th elight of day you cans ee them clearly. Even more so than un-camoed soldiers because the interference sticks out like a sore thumb.

[gus]

Yes, I also think it easier to see camo-ed soldiers. And now I have the unlock to show them up even better. They are now easy kills. :D

[TG]

Heh yeah, I killed me a camo dude that thought he was safe. Walked straight passed me, and casually lay down next to a silo. He probably didn't realise that he stuck out like a sore thumb. Cool effect though.

[stoke]

That Camo is for uber hiding in a dark corner.
Also - I watched a dude lying on top of a hill - obviously hiz silouette is visible.
He snipes then dissapears ... snipes .. dissapears. Berry effective.

[SlappY]

I can testify that it works well. I was laying down, when 3 guys came and lay down NEXT TO ME!!! I thought it was a tag bug at first then realised they just hadnt seen me. So I knifed the friggin lot! Also great for tactical explosives.
Or in a building, hide by the door, guys run in, you uncloak and pick em off one by one from behind whilst running up the stairs or whatever. Although it is much better for low player count games, cause you can focus more and not have to worry about a ton of other peeps running around.

Put it this way... I never got many knife kills or explosive kills in BF2. I have had 2142 for a day and a half and I got me a dozen dog tags, and several explosive kills.

[Pios]

Yea,

I like the EMP granade, makes even infantry go all wobly !!1

[gus]

yes, it is not fun being EMP-ed. It is like drinking ale during a fight in GW. :D

[Pios]

yep :)
except the ale wears off you MAY be alive still !!!

[spAc3dd]

Hey man. I am getting sick of random disconnects and crashes to my Windows Desktop.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

[TG]

Yeppers! It's frikkin' annoying!

[stoke]

Tonight was smoooth sailing .. not one crash, only got slightly laggy once ... I wish I could remember which server it was. :slap:

[SaintMg]

i think it was sunday evening i got disconected from the EA Master Server i then reconected and use the buddy list to connected to where stoke was playing and i had just got into the map and about a 1min later stoke got the same disconnect

Coincidence ??? (could someone spell that rite for me plz)

[stoke]

Yea ... and if you recall ... you started your 2142 about a minute before I started mine, which means you were logged into the EA master server about a minute before me. Which kinda suggests that our connection to the EA master server simply timed out. Damn morons !

[Nismo007]

I bought game, installed and then installed the patch,,

Last night when I played, everything was working fine but as soon as I go into the Titan where the reactors are... Every thing turns BLACk,,, I can't see a thing..

I don't know if is a bug or something..

I still don't know if I like it more than BF2 :D

[sss]

why is my soldier such a fat dumb oaf!

this game feels to random to me, i'm either in some big clunky armour shooting at some area and randomly killing bad dudes or i'm on foot being smashed by big missiles and stuff.

can't get this flow going of where you really have control of what you are doing

[FeralBanana]

:rofl: Just grab a chopper and start pwning, SSS... it'll ease you into the game :p

I haven't had any CTDs, but the servs have crashed quite a few times (losing my field upgrades :grr:) and i've lost connection to the EA master serv as well... :(

[Askari]

Im not liking 2142 at all. I know what SSS is talking about when he says its feels random. I shoot people they dont die. I throw rockets at walkers they dont die. I get in a walker i die. Im sure its the unfamiliarity but hells teeth....

[Stool]

We did the chopper theing feralbananna but most of the time they clip us with some sort of emp. so instead of flying we gliding/falling outa the sky.

funny at first but it gets old quickly.any1 know of a way to recover fromt that?

[stoke]

Askari ... shoot people like in BF2 - aim carefully and fire, unless you're support in which case - FIRE and spread the bullets around.

To take a walker out, hit it on it's grill on the back ... you'll get to recognise the waek spots, and - nail walkers legz .. they die much quicker. Oh .. and i've seen a turbo buggy push a walker over by pusing the left leg out .. ROFL.

You can take out any tank with 1 shot to it's bum [also has a grill] .. in the middle sirrel.

But yea ... it takes about 12 rounds to get used to the game.

[Askari]

Thanks Stoke. Ill take that advice and read the tips thread again.

[SlappY]

Anyone know whats up with parachutes??? Are they in the game? How do you deploy it????

[sss]

the ctd's are getting a bit annoying.. the you have lost your connection to ea are getting really annoying.. the end of round you have lost connection is even more annoying.


i'm sick of firing emp's and big missle kind of things, thats what this game is about.

the grip factor is just not there.

even playing and scoring medals hardly feels satisfying.


and dont let stool fly that hoverjet thingy!!!

[gus]

Anyone know whats up with parachutes??? Are they in the game? How do you deploy it????

Yes, use spacebar.

[Bass]

:rofl: Had exactly the same problem last night Slappy .... the first jump off the titan ..... ground starts rush up ..... hit X (my BF2-mapped key) .. nothing ...... in desperation pound all the keys from 7 through to backspace trying to hit 9 ....... BLAT ! meet the ground.

Went to options, and then remembered it's just space bar ... duh ! :D

[SosmanSA]

Was in BF2 last night.... took a jump off TV Tower.... jump ... then deploy chute with "jump" key.... before I realised it was back to "9" I'd been introduced with the ground !!!

[FeralBanana]

Not a very friendly chap, is he? ;)

(The ground, that is :p)

[w1z4rd]

Not a very friendly chap, is he? ;)

(The ground, that is :p)

Its what happens when gravity develops a personality and gets a crush on you (T.Prachett)

Will buy the game tomorrow, and hopefully be able to play as soon as work ADSL line is in.

[FeralBanana]

:rofl:

Awesome mate! :sharp:

[Paragon]

bought the game finally :D

tried to create an account but it kept timing out :( TG mentioned a work around...cant find it/the thread though...anyone got the link? :)

[TG]

Basically, it involved going onto battlefield2.com, go to the booster pack download thingy, and where it asks you to buy now, go there, and when it prompts you, create an account.

Once you're done creating an account, close the browser etc, and use that account to sign in to bf2142.