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Battlefield 2

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Battlefield 2
Battlefield 2 cover
Developers
DICE
Special Forces DICE Canada
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Engines
Refractor 2
Release dates
Windows June 21, 2005
Reception
Metacritic 91
IGDB 93
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, FPS
Vehicles Automobile, Flight, Helicopter, Naval/watercraft, Tank, Transport, Truck
Art styles Realistic
Themes Contemporary
Series Battlefield
Battlefield 2 on HowLongToBeat
Battlefield 2 on IGDB
Battlefield 2 guide on StrategyWiki
Battlefield 2 on MobyGames
Battlefield 2 on Wikipedia
Battlefield 1942 2002
Battlefield Vietnam 2004
Battlefield 2 2005
Battlefield 2142 2006
Battlefield Heroes 2009
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 2010
Battlefield Online 2010
Battlefield Play4Free 2011
Battlefield 3 2011
Battlefield 4 2013
Battlefield Hardline 2015
Battlefield 1 2016
Battlefield V 2018
Battlefield 2042 2021

Warnings

GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).

Battlefield 2 is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action and FPS game in the Battlefield series.

The game received a major expansion pack, Special Forces, in November 2005, and two booster packs, Euro Force and Armored Fury in March and June 2006, respectively. The two booster packs were integrated and made available for free to all owners of the base game with patch 1.50 in September 2009.

The official GameSpy servers were shut down in 2014. The Revive community offered a custom master server, but in late 2017, after a legal notice from publisher Electronic Arts forbade the distribution of game ISOs, the service was shut down.[1][2] BF2Hub took over shortly thereafter and is operational as of October 2023.

In addition to server lookup, some users may find issues with mouse skipping/stuttering for which there is no known fix, as well as compatibility issues with multi-core processors and potential rendering issues.

General information

Battlefield 2 hub on Planet Battlefield
The Battlefield series on Battlelog - PC section.
EA Answers HQ
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
CD key
SafeDisc v3 DRM - Removed by the official 1.50 patch.
Can be redeemed on Origin through the EA Support.
Icon overlay.png
Windows
Origin (unavailable)
Origin
Windows
Steam (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
CD key
Complete Collection
Icon overlay.png
Windows
This game is no longer available digitally.

Version differences

Disc-based versions require a CD-key which has to be typed in when installing. Individual CD keys are required for each expansion, except for the Complete Collection as mentioned below.
The Complete Collection includes the expansion pack Special Forces, along with the two booster packs Armored Fury and Euro Forces. Only one CD key is available for all the expansions.

Monetization

Type Notes
Expansion pack The major expansion pack includes a separate set of maps featuring different gameplay. The minor booster packs include new standard multiplayer maps, factions, vehicles, infantry gear and awards. Initially a separate purchase, booster packs were integrated with the official 1.50 patch.
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Armored Fury Included in the 1.50 patch and the Complete Collection
Windows
Euro Force Included in the 1.50 patch and the Complete Collection
Windows
Special Forces Included in the Complete Collection.
Windows

Essential improvements

Patches

The Origin and Steam versions are already patched.

Patch 1.41

Includes a new map, fixes bugs and exploits.
Includes prior patches.
The retail version of the Complete Collection is on this version.

Patch 1.50

Version 1.41 has to be installed beforehand.
Removes the disc check DRM and adds widescreen support.
Includes the Armored Fury and Euro Forces expansions for free.

Patch 1.50 Hotfix

Fixes a crash issue when using Alt+Tab to switch to desktop.

Online play support

The BF2Hub client allows the game to be played online after the shutdown of the GameSpy online service.
Download and install the BF2Hub client[3]

Notes

Changes done by the client can be reverted at any time.
Includes fixes for crashes on startup.

PunkBuster updates

Support for the anti-cheat software PunkBuster in BF2 has been discontinued by Evenbalance.
Update PunkBuster manually[3]
Make sure the PunkBuster service is installed and working properly by using the PunkBuster Service Installer (pbsvc). A reboot is required if it is installed for the first time.
  1. Download the PunkBuster files for Battlefield 2.
  2. Extract the contents to <path-to-game>\pb\, overwriting any older files.
  3. Enable PunkBuster in-game in the lower right corner of the server browser.

Skip intro videos

Use the +restart command line argument[3]

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Battlefield 2\Profiles\<user-id>\
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/24860/pfx/[Note 1]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Origin
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
See Widescreen resolution. Use BF2 HUD fix if you experience stretched HUD.
Multi-monitor
Use Widescreen Fixer and BF2 HUD fix if you experience stretched HUD.
Ultra-widescreen
Use Widescreen Fixer for FOV adjustment and BF2 HUD fix if you experience stretched HUD.
4K Ultra HD
See Widescreen resolution. Use BF2 HUD fix if you experience stretched HUD.
Field of view (FOV)
Use Widescreen Fixer.
Windowed
See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Labeled as "Texture filtering", High is 4x.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Up to 8x MSAA. SGSSAA available on Nvidia systems with flag 0x40000000.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Add renderer.vsync 1 to GameLogicInit.con, otherwise if forcing through driver control panel does not work, use D3DOverrider instead.
60 FPS
120+ FPS
Capped at 100 FPS. See High frame rate, which may also fix crashes on high refresh rate displays.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Widescreen resolution

Included in version 1.5 of Battlefield 2.
Use the +szx 1920 +szy 1080 +menu 1 +widescreen 1 command line arguments[3]

Windowed

Use the +fullscreen 0 command line argument[3]
Use +wx (number) and +wy (number) command line arguments to position your window

High frame rate

Use console command[3]
  1. Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Battlefield 2\Profiles\Default\Video.con in a text editor and change the 60 in VideoSettings.setResolution 800x600@60 to the display's refresh rate.
  2. In-game, press ~ and the command console will appear.
  3. Type Game.LockFps XX where XX is your desired frame rate (e.g. Game.LockFps 0).
  4. Press Enter to activate the console command and press ~ again to close the console.

Notes

This data can also be put into Global.con in the profiles folder (needs write protection).

Ambient occlusion (HBAO)

The inspector tool.
The inspector tool.
Use Nvidia Inspector tool[4]
  1. Download the NVIDIA Inspector Tool.
  2. Extract the files to any new folder.
  3. Open nvidiaprofileinspector.exe.
  4. From the drop down list next to Profiles select Battlefield 2.
  5. Select the Ambient Occlusion compatibility line.
  6. Set SettingValue to 0x00000003 (Fallout 3) from the drop down menu.

Notes

This tweak might not work with the previous 1.4 patch.

DirectX API Wrappers

Some modern Windows systems may experience glitches or crashes with old DirectX games. Some have had success with the following DirectX wrappers. They are usually installed by extracting override DLLs alongside the game EXE file in the game installation folder.

  1. DirectX to OpenGL: WineD3D for Windows

Input

In-game general control settings.
In-game general control settings.

Audio

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Missing from Windows Vista and onward. See Surround sound.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
EAX 2, EAX 5[5] (via OpenAL)[6]
Royalty free audio

Surround sound

Only Creative X-Fi cards support surround sound by selecting Creative X-Fi as audio renderer in the in-game audio settings. This may lead to game crashes however.
Replace OpenAL files[7]
  1. Launch the game and set the audio renderer to Hardware.
  2. Go to <path-to-game> and create a backup of the file BF2OpenAL.dll.
  3. Install OpenAL.
  4. Copy the file OpenAL32.dll from %WINDIR%\SysWOW64 (when using a 64-bit OS) or %WINDIR%\System32 (32-bit OS) to <path-to-game> and rename it to BF2OpenAL.dll.
  5. Download and extract OpenAL Soft to a temporary folder and copy the file soft_oal.dll from inside bin\Win32 to <path-to-game>.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
Dutch
French
German
Hungarian
Fan translation, for base game and 'Euro Forces', for 'Special Forces'.
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Russian
Fan translation - download
Spanish
Swedish
Thai

Network

Servers can optionally use PunkBuster anti-cheat protection.

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
64 Versus, Co-op
Online play
64 Versus, Co-op
The official GameSpy service has been shut down; see Online play support.

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Dedicated server software available for Windows and Linux.
Direct IP
In-game via Connect to IP or through the +joinServer parameter.

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 80,1024-1124,4711,27900,29900,29901
UDP 1024-1124,1500-4999,16567,27900,27901,28910,29900,55123-55125
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

In-game Novint Falcon settings.
In-game Novint Falcon settings.
3D modes State Notes
Native 3D
Nvidia 3D Vision
[8]
TriDef 3D
iZ3D
vorpX
G3D
User created, see profile introdution.
Devices
Novint Falcon
Requires Patch 1.50.

Issues unresolved

Mouse skipping/stutter

Battlefield 2 suffers from mouse skipping and acceleration when standing still and looking left/right. Skipping will not occur if moving forwards/backwards but will when strafing left/right.

There is no known fix for this.

Issues fixed

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game.

Newer version already installed

Download and install Patch 1.41 before 1.5[9]

Can't find install folder

Patch 1.41 won't install ("Can't find install folder")[10]
  1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Electronic Arts\EA Games\Battlefield 2.
  2. Create a new string by right clicking in the folder and select New > String Value, label this string InstallDir.
  3. Right-Click, Modify the string, and in the Data Value field, input the installation folder (e.g. G:\Battlefield 2).

Game crashes often

Disable desktop composition for bf2.exe[11]
Set core affinity for bf2.exe to one core[12]

Game crashes to desktop at launch

Set frame rate in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Battlefield 2\Profiles\Default\Video.con to match the display's refresh rate; see High frame rate[citation needed]

Game crashes when entering a game

Multiple input audio devices can lead to crash when entering a game. Remove all input devices like Bluetooth headsets the one.

X-Fi related sound issues

On 64-bit Windows 7 systems with a Creative X-Fi sound card, severe audio corruption or crashes may occur when running under X-Fi Audio Mode and Ultra sound quality.
Reduce sound quality to high or change it to hardware mode[13]
Some maps fail to include the file Sounds.con which leads to broken EAX on X-Fi hardware and the X-Fi MB3 virtual sound card (see <path-to-game>\mods\bf2\Levels\Dragon_Valley\server.zip\Sounds.con). This file contains the line sound.setReverb "common/sound/levelambients/Openlandscape.eax" ("City.eax" for some maps).
Extract Sounds.con from a map's server.zip file and put in maps that do not have it[14]

Invalid CDKey

Some people get kicked from every game with an "Invalid CDKey" message. This also happens with the Steam version, where the key is bound to be correct anyway.
There is a thread on the Steam forums containing some fixes for this. To manually resolve this issue, see this guide from EA.

Rendering issues

Certain graphics card drivers cause visual issues with the game.[15][16] These include black terrain and/or models, objects, black spots on map, and more.
Set "Terrain" quality to low[17]
Download updated shader ".fx" files[17]
  1. Download a new "shaders_client.zip".
  2. Go to <path-to-game>\mods\bf2, make a backup of shaders_client.zip and replace it with the downloaded file.
  3. Delete the cache folder in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Battlefield 2\mods\bf2. This will force Battlefield 2 to recompile the shaders.

Notes

Applying this fix will not allow the game to be played on PunkBuster-protected servers.

Connecting to account server takes a long time

Delete server history[3]
  1. Go to the configuration file(s) location.
  2. Open General.con with a text editor.
  3. Delete all lines starting with GeneralSettings.addServerHistory.

Fix stretched HUD in widescreen resolutions

Use "BF2 HUD fix" by marekzajac97[18]
  1. Download the latest release.
  2. Make backup copies of Battlefield 2\bf2.exe and <path-to-game>\mods\bf2\Menu_server.zip.
  3. Open the zip file, and copy hudfix.dll, BF2.exe and hud_config.txt to <path-to-game>.
  4. Copy the contents of the Menu_server folder within the zip file into <path-to-game>\mods\bf2\Menu_server.zip.
Only supports patch 1.50.
As this includes a modified bf2.exe, consider using a DLL injector to create a custom patched executable.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0b
Shader Model support 1.4
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio OpenAL, Speex
Cutscenes Bink Video, Swiff Player
Multiplayer GameSpy
Anti-cheat PunkBuster

Automatic login

Use the Command line argument +playerName YourName +playerPassword YourPassword[19]

Notes

It might be necessary to log-in at least once.
The command and login data is case-sensitive.
Doesn't work on offline accounts.

Mods

Forgotten Hope 2

Forgotten Hope 2 is an award-winning World War II mod for Battlefield 2, covering all aspects of land, air and sea combat, with a focus on realism and historic accuracy.

Project Reality

Project Reality reworks Battlefield 2 to create the most realistic and demanding virtual combat environment for PC gamers possible. Does not require BF2 to be installed.

Allied Intent Xtended

AIX aims to deliver an amazing array of content which is 100% bot compatible for use in single player and coop game modes.

Heat of Battle: RUSH

Heat of Battle is a BF2 mod focused on delivering top-tier animation, sound, and lighting, as well as fast-paced, intense gameplay to make it more in-pair with modern releases in the series. Does not require BF2 to be installed.

MoRoZ Rebalance MOD

MoRoZ Rebalance is a mod that rebalance various aspects of the single player game, already added and is compatible with all the maps from Special Forces expansion as well as extra maps from Point of Existence mod which also added Russian factions. Weapon kits are also rebalanced, notably the PLA which has now the correct weapons for each class.

BF2:Sandbox

Sandbox is a mod that lets you use the BF2 engine to build structures, set up racetracks, ramps, and much much more. This is all done from an easy Command Rose interface in-game.

Eve of Destruction 2

Based on the Vietnam war, it features a variety of weapons, over 40 brand new vehicles and diverse maps ranging from dense jungles to overgrown rice paddies.

Battlefield 1943

A recreation of the console exclusive game.

High Definition User Interface

The main goal is to improve original UI include Fonts, minimap icons, crosshairs etc. while still keeping the original look of the game.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 4 1.7 GHz
AMD Athlon XP equivalent
System memory (RAM) 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 2.3 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce FX 5700
ATI Radeon 9500
128 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0b compatible


Notes

  1. File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/24860/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (24860) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

  1. Thank You - last accessed on 2023-10-03
  2. Revive Network - Notice - last accessed on 2023-10-03
    "(...) In other, more legal-styled terms, please stop distributing copies of our game clients and using our trademarks, logos, and artwork on your sites.
    (...)
    IP Counsel
    Electronic Arts Inc.
    "
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Verified by User:Waschbär on 2018-05-06
  4. PR:BF2 Guide to Best Possible Graphics with nVidia GPU - Project Reality Forums - last accessed on 2018-06-05
  5. Xtreme Fidelity Audio in Battlefield 2 - SoundBlaster.com (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
  6. Creating the High-Tech Audio of Battlefield 2 - SoundBlaster.com (retrieved) - last accessed on May 2023
  7. How to enable BF2 true surround sound for Vista/Win7 - Battlefield SinglePlayer Forum - last accessed on 2018-05-12
  8. Battlefield 2 - GeForce - last accessed on 2018-05-06
  9. Patch 1.5 can't be installed / can't play PR - Project Reality Forums - last accessed on 2018-05-06
  10. Can't find Battlefield 2 install folder - IGN Boards - last accessed on 2018-05-06
  11. BF 2 1.5 September 1st - last accessed on 2018-05-21
  12. BF2 random closing :: Battlefield 2 General Discussions - last accessed on 2018-05-06
  13. [XP] BF2 CTD when selecting X-fi in sound options - Project Reality Forums - last accessed on 2018-05-19
  14. Creative X-Fi audio renderer - Project Reality Forums - last accessed on 2019-06-26
  15. SOLVED Black terrain spots - Page 2 - Project Reality Forums - last accessed on 2018-05-20
  16. 334.89 issue in Battlefield 2 - GeForce Forums - last accessed on 2018-05-20
  17. 17.0 17.1 Black Spots in map - Battlefield SinglePlayer Forum - last accessed on 2018-05-20
  18. GitHub - last accessed on May 2023
  19. TweakGuides.com - Battlefield 2 Tweak Guide - last accessed on 2018-05-06