Battlefield Vietnam

This page is for the 2004 game. For Vietnam DLC, see Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Battlefield Vietnam

Developers
	DICE Canada
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Engines
	Refractor 2
Release dates
Windows	March 14, 2004
Reception
Metacritic	84
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
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	Asia, Cold War
Series	Battlefield

Warnings

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see Availability for affected versions).

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

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

General information

Battlefield Vietnam hub on Planet Battlefield

The Battlefield series on Battlelog - PC section.

EA Answers HQ

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v2 DRM.

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
World War 2 Mod	See Mods.

Essential improvements

In-game profile settings.

Patches

The latest updates bring Battlefield Vietnam up to version 1.21. This requires installation of:

• Battlefield Vietnam Patch 1.2 (Full)
• Battlefield Vietnam Patch 1.21 (Incremental, Requires 1.2 to be installed)

Online play support

Either downloading a patched executable or editing the Windows hosts file will restore the in-game server browser functionality.
Alternatively, it is also possible to join a server directly by using the "Add Server" feature of the in-game server browser (for a list of servers visit the Game Tracker page).
Or see GameSpy for universal solutions.

Download the patched executable (uses Qtracker server)

Edit hosts file (Qtracker)
Go to %WINDIR%\System32\drivers\etc. Open hosts with a text editor running as administrator. Add the following lines and save the file. 65.112.87.186 bfvietnam.available.gamespy.com 65.112.87.186 bfvietnam.master.gamespy.com 65.112.87.186 bfvietnam.ms0.gamespy.com

PunkBuster updates

Support for the anti-cheat software PunkBuster in BFV has been discontinued by Evenbalance. Most servers do not have it enabled anymore, so it is recommended to move the contents of <path-to-game>\pb to a backup folder to avoid any disconnects by its service.
If an up-to-date version is required however, follow the steps below.

Update PunkBuster manually
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. Download the PunkBuster files for Battlefield Vietnam. Extract the contents to <path-to-game>\pb, overwriting any older files. Enable PunkBuster in-game in the lower right corner of the server browser.

Skip intro videos

Launch the game with +restart 1 parameter

Modify intro video files
Go to <path-to-game>\Movies Delete or rename the files Dice.bik, EA.bik, Intro.bik and Legal.bik.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Mods\BfVietnam\settings\Profiles\<user-id>\

Video

In-game video settings.

A method of Frame rate capping is recommended, as the game has no FPS limit and does not support Vsync by default.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Widescreen resolution. HUD slightly stretched.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			See Widescreen resolution. HUD stretched but playable.
4K Ultra HD			See Widescreen resolution. HUD slightly stretched.
Field of view (FOV)		See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Set to windowed and use external tools, see glossary page.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Use dgVoodoo 2 and choose between 2x-16x under "Texture Filtering".
Anti-aliasing (AA)		MSAA can be forced in graphics card control panel, or through dgVoodoo 2.
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See Vertical sync (Vsync).
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.
Color blind mode		No general support but crosshair color can be adjusted.

Widescreen resolution

Any form of widescreen resolution will, aside from a stretched HUD, cause a minor animation glitch when firing handheld weapons.

Download and extract the patched executable

Widescreen resolution
Launch the game and create a new custom profile. Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open the folder to the desired profile. Open Video.con and change the values of game.setGameDisplayMode to desired resolution (for example game.setGameDisplayMode 1920 1080 32 0).

Field of view (FOV)

Edit VideoDefault.con
Go to <path-to-game>\Mods\BfVietnam\settings. Open VideoDefault.con with a text editor. Modify the line renderer.fieldOfView with a new value. 1 - 4:3 (default) 1.33333 - 16:9 1.2 - 16:10 1.25 - 15:9 1.75 - 21:9

Windowed

Windowed mode
Go to <path-to-game>\Mods\BfVietnam\settings. Open VideoDefault.con. Change the value of renderer.setFullScreen 1 to 0.

Vertical sync (Vsync)

Edit VideoDefault.con
Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open Video.con with a text editor. Add the line renderer.VSyncEnabled 1 and save the file. Notes Introduces noticeable input lag.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		No acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		Only for vehicles. Mouse look can not be mapped to analogue sticks.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

• 

  In-game common controls settings (1).

• 

  In-game common controls settings (2).

• 

  In-game infantry controls settings.

• 

  In-game air controls settings.

• 

  In-game land and sea controls settings.

Audio

In-game sound settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		Up to 7.1. See Surround sound.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		EAX 1, EAX 2, EAX 3.
Royalty free audio

Surround sound

Surround sound is only available when using EAX as sound provider in the audio settings.

Install IndirectSound
Download IndirectSound and extract the files to <path-to-game>. Open dsound.ini and change eax1 = false to eax1 = true. Start the game and set the sound provider in the audio settings to "Creative Labs EAX (TM)", choose your speaker configuration and click "Save" to confirm the changes.

Use ALchemy (Creative sound card required)

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Hungarian				Fan translation. Download available on magyaritasok.hu.
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

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

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated		Dedicated server software available for Windows (+Patch) and Linux.
Self-hosting
Direct IP

Ports

Protocol	Port(s) and/or port range(s)
UDP	15567

Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision

Issues fixed

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

Blackscreen/crash at launch

Modify VideoDefault.con
Go to <path-to-game>\Mods\BfVietnam\Settings. Open VideoDefault.con. Change the value of renderer.allowAllRefreshRates 0 to 1.

Missing sound effects

Battlefield Vietnam is missing some audio, like radio commands and vehicle music on all Windows os since Windows Vista. The fix below consist of lying about the windows version.

Install compatibility profile
Download and install the compatibility profile. Remove any compatibility mode setting on the games executable.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0b

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	GameSpy
Anti-cheat	PunkBuster

Custom music

To play custom songs for the vehicle radios, place .mp3 files inside the folder <path-to-game>\My Music and they will become available in the radio menu. Other players will still hear the default music even if they use the same songs.

Console commands

The console can be accessed by pressing ~. Below are some common commands, for a more extensive list visit the TweakGuides.com Tweak Guide.

• fps 1 Shows frames per second.
• hud 0 Disables heads-up display.
• freecam 1 Unlocks the camera while waiting for spawn (if allowed by server).

Mods

Mod DB landing page for Battlefield Vietnam

World War 2 - official modification by DICE which includes new maps, weapons and vehicles based on Battlefield 1942.

Point of Existence - a total conversion which is based on a fictional conflict between Russia and the US in the early 21st century.

Eve of Destruction - additional content based on the Vietnam war.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98	ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	933 MHz	1.2 GHz
System memory (RAM)	256 MB	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	2 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 3 64 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0b compatible