Battlefield 2 Demo is HERE

[Mr Bean]

I am thus far unimpressed with BF2 for the simple reason THAT IT WON'T FUCKING RUN. Hard to enjoy a demo when you start the game, screen flickers twice, and then dumps you on the dekstop with no messages at all.

I should be two hours away now, instead I'm twelve hours away because the @$%@4 download quit at the 82% mark and firefox can't resume downloads to good.

[Arrow]

I am thus far unimpressed with BF2 for the simple reason THAT IT WON'T FUCKING RUN. Hard to enjoy a demo when you start the game, screen flickers twice, and then dumps you on the dekstop with no messages at all.

Try setting your monitor to 60Hz or go to "Battlefield 2 Demo\mods\bf2\Settings\VideoDefault.con" and set the line "renderer.allowAllRefreshRates" to 1. BF1942 and BF:V did the same fucking thing to me if I didn't change this setting. What a stupid fucking design...

[Alyeska]

That didn't work.

I rather with EA had a fucking e-mail address that I could contact for support.

[Hamel]

That didn't work.

I rather with EA had a fucking e-mail address that I could contact for support.

What's your video card?

[Alyeska]

NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200

[Hamel]

NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti 4200

That's your problem. The demo and final game require a minimum pixel shader version your card doesn't have.

Radeon 8500 and up are supported on the ATI side.
FX5700 and above required for NV cards.

[Alyeska]

I don't fucking believe it. Its a two year old card and they don't fucking support it at all?

Fuck BF2 then. I have no intention of spending money on just a fucking video card to play the game.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Got it, been playing single player. My impressions:

• 3 billion times smoother infantry combat. It no longer feels like you're fighting underwater.
• Halo 2-style AA MGs, i.e., they track separately rather than with the turret as in the previous games.
• Wolfenstein-style medic class. Woe unto my enemies, for now I am once more the ultimate battlefield medic!
• Automated mobile support functions like healing, rearming, etc. Helps capture the differences in modern combat.
• Simple but effective commander mode. Reminds me of the old DOS game Muzzle Velocity if anyone's heard of it.
• Nice squad system. AI isn't too good at carrying out tactical orders though.
• Weapon balance seems solid, though the M24 is perhaps a little underpowered. The M16A2 and M4A1 (and their equivalents) are rightfully dominant, with the M249 lacking their accuracy, MP5 their power, and the shotgun, well, it blows (that's a good thing in my book). M203 doesn't seem to be overpowering like it can be in America's Army.
• Massive overhaul to the vehicle system. No air or sea units in the demo, but tanking is very different. The Abrams is a little too flimsy IMO (especially when up against the glorified soup can better known as the T90), but other than that it seems pretty cool. Very, very straight and fast main cannons now, co-axial is a little more dependable, and the AA gunner can duck into the turret and is tougher and harder to hit to boot. The map was a bit up-close-and-personal, so it was hard to get a feel for the true armor-on-armor dynamics.
• Machine guns in general are much more useful. Gone are the days of the Huey 'Slick' with peashooters on the doors, now MGs are earning their keep. They overheat much slower than in Vietnam thankfully, are more accurate as a result of the smoother play, and in general have much more stopping power. I look forward to running missions in a Blackhawk with my friends on the door guns.
• Vehicles are more durable in regards to the environment and rough terrain. No more touching a puddle with your jeep and detonating violently.
• Physics too are improved. Haven't had a chance to test the various exercises in insanity that 1942 inspired (such as 'riding' B17s around), but seems to be much more robust in general.
• The only bad thing I can think of is the damned interface and the even worse control configuration, though this is a demo.

[Mr Bean]

I don't fucking believe it. Its a two year old card and they don't fucking support it at all?

Fuck BF2 then. I have no intention of spending money on just a fucking video card to play the game.

The stated that when they were making the game, you must have missed the memo, the BF2 grahpics engine needs that shader to pull of its visuals and not have shitpoor frame-rate

[Captain tycho]

How well should my system handle BF2 at default levels?
AMD XP 2600+ Barton at 1.9ghz/3dforce 6600GT AGP 128mb.

[Alyeska]

BF is not the sort of game that should be going for stunning visuals. For fucks sake, I can play Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 on this computer. BF2 is supposed to be for large outdoors combat and should NOT tax the video card as much for being a game not even a year older then even Doom 3.

[Mr Bean]

How well should my system handle BF2 at default levels?
AMD XP 2600+ Barton at 1.9ghz/3dforce 6600GT AGP 128mb.

No ultra settings for you but you should have a nice smooth frame-rate for everything except flying/sniping(Were your CPU will be you limiter)

BF is not the sort of game that should be going for stunning visuals. For fucks sake, I can play Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 on this computer. BF2 is supposed to be for large outdoors combat and should NOT tax the video card as much for being a game not even a year older then even Doom 3.

Age does not have much to do with a graphics engine Alyeska, "Big Muther Truckers" and Doom 3 are a year apart but the details and demands of each are far diffrent.

Battlefield 2 has to
1. Render massive outdoor(Farcry)
2. Do all sorts of fun water and matieral reflections, Ragdoll physics (Half-Life2)
3. Do massive bumpmap terrians(Doom3)
4. Flight sim/Tank sim/Car sim/Ship sim(The last one is in the Engine for modders but not in the game)
5. And it also does destructable terrian, this is engine possible but not in the main game(Because DICE when playtesting discovered that every building was knocked flat, and it looked like the moon about ten minues in, plus having to update joiners midgame with the in effect "updating customap" was not possible except in LAN games)

[Julhelm]

The demo does have boats and aircraft/helicopters in it. You have to go multiplayer to try them out, though. Needless to say, the aircraft are much better than in BF1942/DC.

[Butterbean569]

Knock down the system requirements to a GeForce 5600. That's what I have and it runs perfectly. Well, on min settings...but it goes 30 fps I wonder if the fact that my card has 256 MB of memory has anything to do with it? I always thought I got screwed by that gimick, thinking the card was too slow to use that extra memory..but maybe I was wrong?

So far it's pretty sweet. I've played a few rounds on single player and it's pretty fun. I'm going to go where the meat is, though...MULTIPLAYER!

So far I'm not overly impressed. But who would be playing 8 v 8 single player, low detail settings, and on a small map with few vehicles?

As stated above, the infantry combat is MUCH better. Kinda a cross between the old BF and America's Army. More realistic, but still kinda arcadeish. I like it so far.

Off to try my hand at the multiplayer

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

The demo does have boats and aircraft/helicopters in it. You have to go multiplayer to try them out, though. Needless to say, the aircraft are much better than in BF1942/DC.

Yeah, I just noticed, tried out some MP (after a couple rounds I was consistently top or near-top of the team, as well as alpha squad leader). Certainly interesting, the usual frustrations are there of course, but I think the greatest thing I've noticed is the unit cohesion. Now, so far Commanders and squad leaders that do anything are pretty rare, to my knowledge I was the only one issuing orders and directing my unit. Nevertheless, my squad stuck together a lot, spawning off me, and generally doing what I wanted them to do (the inevitable clueless and tards aside). Likewise, our bases were attacked many many times by cohesive infantry teams - which led to some awesome firefights, the likes of which I have frankly never seen consistently reproduced in any other FPS, save maybe CoD. The abilitity to spawn on your squad leader as well as the Wolfenstein-style medics really adds to this, hooah to DICE.

I didn't touch the sea/air units yet, as I was perfectly content directing my unit about, attacking points, counterattacking, defending... was a lot of fun seeing the little green dots for the most part respond to my orders. The squad leader interface is a little clunky and the commander's a little moreso, but it isn't bad, really, considering its usefulness. The popup radial is too difficult, so you have to stop and open the squad menu to issue orders, which means sitting still for a bit, but it's usually not too big of an issue.

The only major beef I have with it so far (save for annoyances present in any game of this type, e.g., stacked teams, spawn killing, etc.) is the fact that medics often can't reach someone in time before they spawn, and there's no control over it. A medic was nearly to me once, and as I was the squad leader my presence was important (else everyone has to walk back again), but the spawn timer ran out and it forced me to spawn on the other side of the map.

[Julhelm]

My main gripe is that people are playing as if it were DC. The helis and jets have new guided missiles for the gunner that require steadiness, so realistic helicopter tactics should be used to get the most out of them, rather than DC-ish circlestrafing.

Oh, and I love how you can kill people with the defillibrators

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

My main gripe is that people are playing as if it were DC. The helis and jets have new guided missiles for the gunner that require steadiness, so realistic helicopter tactics should be used to get the most out of them, rather than DC-ish circlestrafing.

Oh, and I love how you can kill people with the defillibrators

I'd be more enthusiatic about gunship work if they'd included the friggin' Apache Longbow, FFS. Bah to Super Cobras. And the VTOL on the jets. Hopefully they'll support BF2 like they have 1942 and to a lesser extent Vietnam, and add Longbows, Kiowa Warriors (:luv:), Bradleys, etc. I'm also sad to see the stupid T90 instead of the T80U.

[Alyeska]

Well this fucking sucks. Since I tried installing the demo today along with the Nvidia patch, when I play DC my entire system locks up for 10 seconds at a time, then lets me play again.

[InnocentBystander]

I'd certainly like to try the game, but I'm in a similar boat as Alyeska... only i'd have to shell out about $2600 for a new machine, rather than just a new video card.

[Hotfoot]

Sniper rifles are fucking GARBAGE. I shot several people six times, quite often in the head, and did not kill them. Bullshit.

[Kamakazie Sith]

Sniper rifles are fucking GARBAGE. I shot several people six times, quite often in the head, and did not kill them. Bullshit.

Everytime I've hit someone in the head, they've died. Therefore, you are missing.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

Keep in mind that like in the previous games, you'll get a little crosshair flash to signify a meaningful hit. The sniper rifle is a little underpowered, IMO, but 3 shots will almost always take down an armored class (assault, support, etc) and 2 for an unarmored (special forces, medic, etc), and those are body shots.

[Mr Bean]

I'd be more enthusiatic about gunship work if they'd included the friggin' Apache Longbow, FFS. Bah to Super Cobras. And the VTOL on the jets. Hopefully they'll support BF2 like they have 1942 and to a lesser extent Vietnam, and add Longbows, Kiowa Warriors (:luv:), Bradleys, etc. I'm also sad to see the stupid T90 instead of the T80U.

They are actualy support this game better than BF1942 and Vietnam from all indications(Shipping with the editor, promising the SDK) meaning your going to see some crazyshit mods

Off the top of my head, Eve of Destruction, Forgotten Hope, Battlegroup are all moving to BF2

[Laughing Mechanicus]

They are actualy support this game better than BF1942 and Vietnam from all indications(Shipping with the editor, promising the SDK) meaning your going to see some crazyshit mods

Off the top of my head, Eve of Destruction, Forgotten Hope, Battlegroup are all moving to BF2

Yes, as you can imagine over at the FH dev forums we are tearing this demo to pieces trying to work out how it ticks. I must say it looks very, very promising for being able to do alot of things with this that BF1942 prevented us from doing.

[Mr Bean]

They are actualy support this game better than BF1942 and Vietnam from all indications(Shipping with the editor, promising the SDK) meaning your going to see some crazyshit mods

Off the top of my head, Eve of Destruction, Forgotten Hope, Battlegroup are all moving to BF2

Yes, as you can imagine over at the FH dev forums we are tearing this demo to pieces trying to work out how it ticks. I must say it looks very, very promising for being able to do alot of things with this that BF1942 prevented us from doing.

I feel a need to use the word Huzzah, but thats not a word I use, so instead fuck yes!

Like all of the Battlefield games up till now, most of the fun will be had from the out-standing mods rather than the intial game.