Battlegroup42 released their first public alpha of their Battlefield Vietnam mod. The flame tank looks to be pretty cool, and finally full on AA guns for the US. Full information is here: Battlegroup42
Also more on the “Official” WWII mod coming from DICE tomorrow was posted at planetbattlefield. You can view the sneak preview here: WWII Mod Sneak Peak
I am not sure how I missed this, but yesterday EA and Dice announced that their World War II Mod for Battlefield Vietnam would be coming out THIS FRIDAY (W00t!), August 20th, 2004!
EA GAMES | Battlefield Vietnam
From the EA Announcement:
Have you ever wondered what Wake Island or Iwo Jima would look and play like with real tropical foliage? Do you love Battlefield Vietnam but you want to be able to relive the classics without having to dig up your 1942 disks?
ATI released version 4.8 of their Catalyst Driver package today. This release introduces an interesting new feature called “Geometry Instancing” which, to quote their release notes:
“This new feature provides assistance when a game has to render many objects where the geometry is highly similar. Geometry Instancing allows the VPU to create multiple objects from a single geometric model, rather than passing an entire new model for each item on the screen. This increases the rendering speed of images such as leaves, or grass. “
Wonder if this will help with Battlefield Vietnam Framerates?
You can read the entire release notes here: 8.042 CATALYSTâ„¢ Release Notes
And download the driver set directly here: ATI Technologies Inc.
Battlefield 1.1 Server File Update Release – An updated Battlefield 1.1 server file is now available for download from EA/DICE. This update addresses the conflict involving NVA Spawn Tunnels and XML Logging. If your server has been crashing with XML Logging turned on, this update should alleviate the issue.
To apply this update, simply extract the included file into the root folder of your server install (typically this is C:Program FilesEA GAMESBattlefield Vietnam Server).
EA and DICE announced yesterday that they were doing some final tweaking of the Battlefield Vietnam 1.1 Patch and needed to extend their testing period one week as they shake down a new build of the patch. Their only comment on when it would be released was “quite soon”.
To placate those that would otherwise be calling for their heads, they also released some before and after screenies of the upcoming official WWII mod for Battlefield Vietnam. See if you can tell which is which. I know that many people (myself included) are more excited about this mod than about the 1.1 patch itself
Here is a comparison shot of Wake Island:
Invasion of the Philipines
and finally, Iwo Jima
The full update can be read at EA GAMES | Battlefield Vietnam
We have been enjoying (probably too much) The Pirates Mod for Battlefield 1942 over the last few days on the Gamers Radio Server. Now, the Battlefield Pirates Mod Team has released a promised patch for the 0.30 version of the game. The list of fixes from the readme is below, but include correcting one major bug, tweaks to many maps, and entirely new map for high seas mayhem. Visit PlanetBattlefield – Pirates Mod to download the patch.
Read me beta .31
-SkullClan Carpenter now has StoneAxes like he should instead of the PegLeg Throwing Knives.
-Fire delay for both the StoneAxes and Throwing Knives now reduced slightly. Seems there is a problem with the netcode where the delay could end up being so long that you could kill your oponent before you ever saw the knife.
-Shark Frenzies now do 50% more damage. Theyve sharpened their teeth and are now hungrier than ever.
-And the one major bug: In Beta3, you could actually sink a Galleon by slicing an ammo keg about 30 times with your cutlass! Yaar! That thar exploit be no more!
EA and DICE have released the 1.02 Patch for Battlefield Vietnam. Lets hope that this resolves the Crash to Desktop issue and that we have have seen the last of these “events”, especially during TWL matches.
You can read the update and download the patch ——> here
Little slow on the uptake with this EA community announcement posted on 6/4/04
“Battlefield Vietnam Update 1.02 Coming Next Week
DICE has been able to track down the Crash to Desktop issue that has been reported by the members of our community since the 1.01 update. We will be releasing a new BFV update that addresses this issue next week. Please note that this update is meant only to address the Crash to Desktop issue (along with a related disconnect issue).”
Maybe there is hope for this game after all as this is the fastest turn around resolving a game issue so far in the history of the Battlefield series. Look for the 1.02 patch later this week.
Full community update can be read here.
EA posted a community announcement this afternoon regarding the immenent release of the first Battlefield Vietnam Patch (version 1.01). I have included the entire update in the read more section (except for the “lease a server ad”), so read more to find out what its all about. Continue reading EA Battlefield Vietnam Community Announcement
ATI has released the latest version of their Catalyst Drivers (4.4) and they are available for download here.
There are a number of fixes listed in the Release notes and “Fixed in this Driver” documentation. These include the following for games (from ATI):
– Intermittent texture corruption and flashing is no longer seen when playing the game Battlefield 1942
Continue reading New ATI Catalyst 4.4 Drivers
Spent some time browsing the Epitaph Records website recently and found some things of interest on a number of bands….
Hepcat: For those who dont know Hepcat, they are an L.A. band that play an infectious style of ska that resurrects the rythms and swagger of the Studio One music that came out of Jamaica in the 1960s. They are re-releasing their first album Out of Nowhere and are celebrating with a few rare tour dates. If you are anywhere near any of these shows I recommend that you go see them. I saw them on the original Out of Nowhere tour in the early 1990s and they just blew me away. If you cant see them live, check out the CD or at the very least get the free mp3. You can find out more here. Continue reading Epitaph Records Music News
As inspiration for mods and maps (not to mention numerous player handles) for Battlefield 1942, the HBO Series Band of Brothers ranks very high. For those of you who did not get to see it on HBO (or on dvd/video since then), you will now have your chance. Beginning on Sunday, April 11, at 9:00pm/8:00c the History Channel will be showing the series in its entirety starting with the “Currahee” episode. No word on whether it will be commercial free or not. You can sign up for an email reminder on the History Channel Website.
EA has announced the winners of their map contest and the top 5 out of the more than 130 entries that they received are:
1st Place – Nuenen by “bleibringer”
2nd Place – Kasserine by Caleb “Danish Monkey” Doughty
3rd Place – Battle for Guam by LSCIncognito of the Lost Sleep Clan
4th Place – St Sauveur by John “PacketlossPete” Buskohl
5th Place – Battle of Hurtgen Forest by Robert Kozura
The full announcement can be found here: http://www.eagames.com/official/battlefield/1942/us/editorial/community_message_45.jsp
Evil Homers Deathtrap and some EA servers have been dedicated to running these maps, and I found some of them populated last night and was able to play a few rounds. So is our server, GamersRadio.com 1.6 Pure .Ed Continue reading EA Battlefield 1942 Map Contest Winners Announced