BF2: Widescreen & Community Questions

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AtramentiA

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Have been considering getting back into BF2 while waiting for other things, but wanted to check on a couple of things first.

1) The widescreen fix, downloadable/discussed at Widescreen Gaming claims that widescreen is now "unofficially" supported by both EB (PunkBuster) and EA.

Has anyone found it to work?
And has anyone found themselves kicked or banned by PB still at this point if it detects any widescreen fix?

Supposedly that was happening a while back, but since it's unofficially supported at this point, I'd like to know ahead of time. Even with the widescreen "fix" of adding info to the shortcut command line, it doesn't render actual widescreen correctly on it's own, but simply adds more vertical pixels. Supposedly the downloadable fix allows for actual widescreen.

The widescreen issues is one of the things that finally drove me off, and now I'm running even bigger @ 1920 res and refuse to play stretched or squished.

2) It would appear from Game Tracker that there are a lot more U.S. based servers than I remember there being the last time I played. It was getting to the point of being difficult to find any good number of decent servers based in the U.S. to play on regularly at one point. Another reason I left. So how is the community and decent server count at this point?

Reason I have to ask these questions is because I no longer physically have BF2, so I'd have to buy it again, and possibly for my wife, who also enjoyed BF2 for a while and had shown some interest in getting into it more than she had a chance to before.

Wish they'd be working on BF3. I've been playing the series since it's inception, and it's one that, for what it is, hasn't been matched yet. So, I keep feeling drawn back to BF2.

Thanks in advance.
 
Supposedly there's a 1.5 patch coming out which will have proper widescreen support, much like the one for 2142.

I haven't played in a while, so I'm not sure how the community is at this point.
 
The time I checked (cared), their reasoning for not officially supporting widescreen was fucking retarded.

I've been wanting to jump back in, but I'm also running at 1920x1200 and there are many modern FPS'ers that support widescreen (damn you TF2) that I really don't have time to go back to BF2.
 
If you want to set widescreen, for ex. 1920x1200 or 2560x1600 see this post.

Worked for me, fraps screenies confirm that I game at 1920x1200.
 
this is what i do

"C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe" +menu 1.15 +widescreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200
 
Thanks for the info.

Unfortunately, unless you've actually really gotten it to work with what they call a "hack" (the downloadable file) some people are not actually running in true widescreen, it's just filling your screen a little more.

As the poster above asked about the FoV, people rarely actually get BF2 to run in actual widescreen mode, so while it's filling your screen, you're not running the appropriate FoV, unfortunately.

Some have, however, gotten BF2 to run as actual widescreen from what I've seen, using the "hack", which is "unofficially" supported, as I mentioned earlier. Everyone else seems to be noticing that while it's filling the screen, the FoV is still off, so it's not true widescreen.

...and yeah, EA's reason for not supporting widescreen - that it would give other players advantages - is absolutely fucking stupid. Especially considering 1) Since when does EA give a fuck about the consumer's experience and 2) I cant even think of a gamer I know who is not running a widescreen monitor of any resolution these days, with very few exceptions.

So, anyway...

If there's supposedly a patch coming out, the 1.5, that supports true widescreen, maybe I'll wait until then and see what happens for others.

I've definitely been wanting to get back into it, but all this nonsense... 500MB patch to re-download and install, PB issues, widescreen issues, wondering about lack of servers etc. ...eh, maybe I'll just wait for what else is to come.
 
Theres still a lot of servers that are populated 24/7 for USA based.
 
P3N1X0R said:
this is what i do

"C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe" +menu 1.15 +widescreen 1 +szx 1920 +szy 1200
Click to expand...

In 2142 that little trick works perfectly for me.

But in BF2 it crops the 4:3 image. So you are not getting the full widecreen view.
and from what I hear it is impossible to change the FOV in the game without it messing up.

4:3
800px-Battlefield2-1024.jpg


16:10
800px-Battlefield2-1440.jpg



Note that the wooden table the gun is mounted to is missing in the widescreen fix.
and the palm tree is way less visible then in the 4:3 image.

I simple FOV change would fix this. But. That change currently does note exist.

This same fix in bf2142 works and corrects the FOV.
indexphps.jpg


Sorry for the large pics
 
Exactly... that's the problem. The widescreen "fix" added to the command line does not work properly, as the FoV doesn't scale correctly to the res, so while the picture fills more of your screen it's cropped a bit and stretched.

Supposedly, the "hack" prog I mentioned is the one thing that's gotten people to actually run it in widescreen, and is supported by EB and EA due to the fact that, as mentioned above, their supposedly releasing a patch to support widescreen. However, most have not had any luck even getting to work.

Depending on what you're using and even what's put in the command line, even though EB/EA are "unofficially" now saying they're "OK" with people using widescreen, there are apparently still people getting kicked and banned if PB detects the changes made to the .exe, shortcut or the prog used for widescreen, which doesn't even work for most. Was reading up on this last night after I posted.

Total nonsense... don't think I'm even going to attempt going through the hassle. Perhaps if BF2 got a graphical upgrade with the new engine they used to make the upcoming "revamp" of 1942 coming up, it'd be worth it. That'd be nice... but otherwise, eh... perhaps I'll just wait for that, and it's free, so hopefully it's not plagued by any DRM, or the new "version" of PB used for another game that purportedly reads every file on your system.
 
lol...that sucks. So I'm still only playing at 1600x1200 res on my 26"....
 
a little cropping and stretching doesn't null the fun that BF2 provides. i say go pick it up anyway and enjoy your hours of entertainment.
 
There has never been a widescreen fix for BF2, all you can do is force the resolution to be a 16:10 aspect ratio. But the FoV will colapse vert- and basically crop parts of the screen to achieve your view, where as widescreen done correctly should expand the horizontal fov out.

I can't see pb would have a problem with non-standard resolutions, if you've customised your resolution in any way, you'll only get equal or more likely less viewing angle than the standard ones.
 
Porter_ said:
a little cropping and stretching doesn't null the fun that BF2 provides. i say go pick it up anyway and enjoy your hours of entertainment.
Click to expand...

I agree, i play all the time, using the shortcut options for 1680x1050. no probs with punkbuster, view seems fine to me too. FYI when i did a reinstall recently i had to do a manual update of punkbuster, file is here http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=dl-bf2.php
 
I might have to start another thread but...

Will other games that don't have (easy) widescreen options work with that option? Mostly FPS. Are there other fixes? I just have demos so far, e.g. Prey and... AVP 2, lol. But Prey was cool other than the screen changing around and being 4:3.

And how come the BF series is lacking but CoD does things right?

Did HL2 always have widescreen and the very high resolutions (which would be awesome) or did they amend source (which is also good)? It seems like a 2004 game dusts many others (though Psychonauts surprisingly had my res). Riddick 1 also is good.
 
Well, it is all in the past now, patch 1.5 has allowed native support up to 1920 x 1200. I actualy reloaded BF2 today and patched it, from clean install > patch 1.4 inclusive > patch 1.5 and voila' in the game on my Dell 24". :D
 
T3ch said:
Well, it is all in the past now, patch 1.5 has allowed native support up to 1920 x 1200. I actualy reloaded BF2 today and patched it, from clean install > patch 1.4 inclusive > patch 1.5 and voila' in the game on my Dell 24". :D
Click to expand...

Yeah, but it's still BETA. Any idea when the official release is?
 
oh that’s why I can’t find it, I thought he was talking about a final patch, anyway I didn’t even knew about that 1.4 comprehensive! Downloading… (link 1 or 2)
 
thanks, I saw the link but I mint I couldn’t find the final 1.5, do you think I will be able to join the online servers if I installed 1.5 beta?

whatttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt.... patch 1.5 is 1.2GB, never mind I’ll wait for the final release :( They should call it an expansion pack not patch
 
firas said:
thanks, I saw the link but I mint I couldn’t find the final 1.5, do you think I will be able to join the online servers if I installed 1.5 beta?

whatttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt.... patch 1.5 is 1.2GB, never mind I’ll wait for the final release :( They should call it an expansion pack not patch
Click to expand...

I really don't understand why people bother installing it. There are few servers and people and when the final comes out they'll have to reinstall the game.
 
ya specially when you see the enormous size :confused: after I finished downloading 1.4 I found out 1.41 is available, deleted 1.4 and downloading the newer one, what a waste of bandwidth :mad:
 
Yeah, sorry if my post led to confusion.:eek: There is a 1.41 inclusive that does the job nicely straight from vanilla, and the only problem i had with the 1.5 patch was that there were only a few (40-50) servers patched by it and only about a dozen were populated. As a side note one of the reasons the patch is so big is it contains a new Map named Blue Pearl. Kinda interesting map it includes a few destructible bridges that are in key locations. A quick Google of Bf2 1.5 patch notes will reveal the full extent of changes, as there are quite a few, below is some of what I found, not necessarily complete/correct.

=================
XI. VERSION NOTES
=================

============
Update v1.50
============

FEATURES
- Additional support for Windows Vista.
- Added Highway Tampa as a required map.
- Added a new map called Operation Blue Pearl.

GAMEPLAY TWEAKS
- Changes made to both the J10 and F35B to make them more balanced. Please note that the J10 is a superior dogfighter to the F35B and as such these two aircraft will never be equally matched.
- AA targeting tweaked to make it more effective.
- Added checks to prevent "runway grieving".
- Various changes made to prevent cheating.
- Tweaked the hit detection, hits will be more accurate to the model.
- Added support for the Novint Falcon controller.

SPECIAL THANKS
- Special thanks to Blackbird at the TV2 community

* Consensus to revert to 0.3 second delay between jump and prone - Fixed
* Mouse wheel acceleration on jeeps and APC’s - In Test
* Mouse wheel acceleration on parachutes - In Test
* Falcon controller prevents joystick controls being assigned to work especially on jets and helicopters. Falcon always acts as primary controller for pitch and roll. Resets to Falcon at the start of every round. - Fixed
* The jets on Highway Tampa were replaced with attack choppers in 1.50 - Fixed, Highway Tampa is now as it was in 1.41
* The graphics for Highway Tampa are the same as Mashtuur City on create a local match in the menu and load screen. - Fixed
* Picking up the kit of a player who disconnected causes crashes - In Test
* Audio settings do not always save after clicking APPLY - Fixed
* Registry Version remains at 1.4 after Update 1.5 is installed - Fixed
* BF2OpenAL.dll was version 1.1.1.0 - Fixed - Updated to version 2.1.8.1
* ch_gas_station collision mesh on Dragon Valley was inconsistent with other gas station buildings - Fixed
* MEC artillery piece on Operation Clean Sweep changes to the USMC's control when they capture the Airfield flag - Fixed
* Challenger2 HUD icon was incorrect showing M1A2 HUD icon instead - Fixed
* Road to Jalalabad has PLA FAV spawn in place of a MEC FAV - Fixed
* Dragon Valley Chinese artillery used default respawn time instead of 360 seconds as other artillery uses - Fixed
* Bizon (PP-19) had no delay time after weapon switch - Fixed (this now has a delay of 0.666)
* F35B had a lock delay of 1.5 compared to 1 second lock delay of other aircraft - Fixed
* Incorrect camo Humvee was being spawned in Taraba Quarry - Fixed
* UH-60 (Black Hawk) guns had 0.25 splash damage setting, down from 3 making it difficult to hit infantry. - Fixed (this is now set to 1.5 to improve the UH-60's usefulness while not allowing it to dominate)
* It was impossible to pass a claymore unless an engineer disarmed it first. - Fixed (players can now go prone to pass the claymore)
* Allow BF2.exe to use more than 2Gb RAM on machines that support it - Fixed
 
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