BF2142 v1.40 Beta Released
EA / DICE unexpectedly released v1.40 beta for Battlefield 2142 today. The beta includes Highway Tampa as well as the highly requested autosave feature for kits. Since this is a beta be sure to backup your game before you install this patch.

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XIII. UPDATE 1.40
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– Fixed an exploit that would allow commanders to call Orbital and EMP strikes before it had fully recharged.
– The Clark RDX Shotgun can now detonate other nearby explosives.
– EU Assault Rifle recoil and deviation have been slightly reduced.
– Bianchi and Shuko LMGs recoil reduced.
– Clark Shotgun rate of fire increased.

FEATURES
– Added an autosave to kit customizations. After you customize a kit and spawn in with that kit, the customization will be automatically saved until you change it and spawn in again. Note that you must spawn in with a particular kit for it to be saved.
– Added a new map, Highway Tampa.

Full (367.5 MB)
Incremental (v1.25 -> v1.40) (98.6 MB)

It has come to our attention that the BF2142 Booster pack has been leaked several days before it's official March 8th release date.

Word from Electronic Arts is anyone caught running the Northern Strike maps on their server will have their IP blacklisted.

Our initial search of the torrent sites turned up nothing, so we are not sure where you can download BF2142 Northern Strike early, but it is out in the wild somewhere.

EA has released the 1.05 patch for Battlefield 2142.  This patch addresses a number of issues including problems with players using game exploits to boost scores:

Today we release the 1.05 update for Battlefield 2142. As previously communicated this update will among other things make the experience better when playing Titan mode. It will also solve the transport exploit that some players have taken advantage of. Overall the update includes over 25 fixes. The fix list can be found at the end of the update.

Rest assured that we will continue to take action against players using exploits to boost their scores. We will also soon begin to ban accounts completely from online play. While we would prefer to not have to take this step we recognize it is necessary to ensure that players who use exploits and hacks in Battlefield 2142 are not allowed to continue ruining the play experience for others. As always, we are carefully monitoring how the game is being played to be able to prevent any exploits that are found. 

Download mirrors can be found at the EA link above. 

Here's the change list:

Fix List

• Fixed Ground Defense kills to properly count towards the Ground Base Defense Ribbon
• Fixed an exploit with using the Air Transport to gain points at an unnatural rate
• Fixed a issue that caused scores and ranks to be improperly displayed in the front end
• The Silver Titan Destruction Badge will now be properly awarded when the core is destroyed
• The PAC Duty Ribbon will no longer be awarded randomly when a player enters a server
• Single player End of Round screen will now display round stats properly
• Enemy Squad Leader Spawn Beacon is now visible on the 3d-map
• Crouch may now be bound to the same key for both common use and land vehicles (Battlewalkers)
• Fixed an issue which allowed the Titan guns to be re-supplied for points
• Players may no longer repeatedly spam a squad leader with requests to join a locked squad
• Accept and Reject prompts will no longer be displayed in the debug console
• Titan Survival pin will now be correctly rewarded to players who safely escape a titan after the core is destroyed
• Fixed the issue that prevented players from reviving team mates in a moving Titan
• Fixed an exploit that allows players to use tanks to enter building geometry
• Players may now play single player offline mode when EA master servers are down
• Fixed issues with Battle Recorder Playback and Camera control
• Fixed the issue that caused missile silos to appear in the wrong locations on players’ HUDs.
• Fixed the issue that caused the Squad Leader Spawn Beacon to not be usable after map and round rotations.
• Added the proper game information to the Swedish install for when a mutiny occurs against the commander
• 2142 will no longer show up as Battlefield 2 in the Windows Firewall Exception List
• Altered some player collision inside the Titan. This should improve many of the Player / Titan interactions
• Adjusted the Deviation per bullet on the Assault Rifles. This will allow the AR weapons to be more effective in medium to short range fire fights.
• Titans will stop moving once the Titan shield go down
• Battlefield 2142 will now close after a player selects “OK” in the patch prompt.
• Added additional support during map load to prevent EA Master Server disconnects during map load times
• Client Version is now displayed at the Login Screen

A Message From the DICE Live Team

Greetings!

There is a lot happening in the Battlefield Universe. Our work with the update has now moved into active Closed Beta testing with the Combat Studios team to verify the fixes in a live environment. We wanted to add a few more items to the listed fixes for 1.05 for everyone to review prior to release:

• Assault Rifle Improvement: We have made slight adjustments to the deviation of the Assault rifles to increase the accuracy of short burst fire. Long duration full auto fire will still create significant deviation. These changes will help the assault burst-fire performance in medium range fire fights.

• Server Stability Improvements: We have made some improvements to the server stability. These improvements are currently being Beta tested by our ranked server partners in an effort to have a solid final release. We will continue our effort to provide increased stability with each new BF2142 Update

• Fixed an issue with the Silver Titan Destruction Badge not being awarded when core is destroyed

• Fixed an issue with the ground defense kills not being properly counted towards the Ground Defense Ribbon

We would also like to thank the entire crew at Combat Studios and Multiplay.co.uk for their tremendous efforts in helping with our Beta Testing of 2142. If you would like to help out with future Beta Testing of 2142 Update releases please sign up here.

For our European Clan Players the Battlefield 2142 Cup is beginning. Your clan can sign up until November 18th at the Clan Base website for your chance to win great prizes. We look forward to watching the competition and cheering you along.

There have been some questions regarding stats sites for Battlefield 2142. We will be allowing these stat sites to provide the services many of you have enjoyed with BF2. However we are currently taking steps to ensure that the activity of these sites, specifically the additional traffic they create for the Stats Database Servers, does not negatively impact players in game. Over the course of the next few weeks we will be finalizing the steps needed to ensure a quality experience for all players.

We will also be finalizing patch 1.41 for Battlefield 2. More information regarding the content and final release date for this patch will be released next week.

To wrap this up we also wanted to note that the next round of the Battlefield:2 ModLight is coming up with its review of the BattleRacer mod. Please join us in appreciation of another great BF2 mod!

Be sure to keep your eyes on this space for all your official Battlefield Updates!

-Your DICE Live Team

EA posted an update in their community forums yesterday describing the upcoming patch, and more importantly, their approach to supporting the game.  It certainly sounds like progress from the mess that was BF2 support.

 EA Community Update 11/02/06

Attention soldiers,

We would like to explain here how committed we are to increasing everyone’s experience with Battlefield, especially regarding the updates for Battlefield 2142. We acknowledge that the patching process could have been smoother for Battlefield 2; we have listened to the feedback and learnt from it.

To accomplish this goal Dice has recently formed a Live Team with the purpose of making sure your playing experience on the Battlefield is as solid as possible after the game is launched. Among other things, the team works closely with the community and handles the patching process, together with the Ranked Server Providers.

Your Dice Live Team is located at the Dice Studio in Stockholm and is made up of key people from the game project teams. This means that the same people who actually built Battlefield 2142 will be responsible for updating it. It has the clear advantage of involving people who are fully knowledgeable about the code and design of the game. The patches will also be thoroughly tested in closed beta tests before being released.

The patches will also be entirely dedicated to correcting bugs and making fixes instead of introducing new gameplay mechanics, thus significantly reducing the risk of introducing new bugs with the patches.

With all this said, we would like to announce patch 1.05 for Battlefield 2142. The patch includes more than 25 fixes which will improve every player’s experience on the Battlefield.

The following fixes will be included, along with many others:

* Titan will no longer be able to move once its shields are down, so that lag within the titan should be significantly reduced and revive inside the titan shouldn’t be a problem any more

* Changes in EA master server communication to greatly reduce disconnects

* Players are now able to receive the Titan Survival Pin

* All players will see the same missile silo location numbers in Titan Mode

Patch 1.05 is scheduled for release later in November so keep watching this space for detailed release information. Also, stay tuned for more information on an upcoming competition allowing you to make your mark in 2142.

See you on the Battlefield!

/Your Dice Live Team

The reviews of Battlefield 2142 are starting to come in.  Thought I would consolidate and share the ones that I have seen so far.  Updated to include 13 reviews now.  Enjoy.

Gamespot 8.1 out of 10

Gametrailers 9.1 out of 10 (based on 275 user submitted votes)

Worthplaying 8.9 out of 10

Gamespy has held off on a final verdict pending more testing.

ActionTrip 8.5 out of 10

Boost Mobile Gaming 70%

Game World Network 86% 

Firing Squad 73%

Xtreme Gamer 89% 

GamingExcellence 8.3 out of 10

TrustedReviews 8 out of 10 

Game Chronicals 8.8 out of 10

3DAvenue 4 out of 5 stars 

And you guys think I make this stuff up. Battlefield2142.nl is reporting the following:

"Heads-up for everyone who ordered the DVD version of BF2142. Battlefield 2142 needs to be patched before online play can begin. The EA downloader version already has this patch build in.

This new patch is not yet available on EA Downloader, unlike the messagebox says. We expect the patch to be available at the same time as the EA Downloader version of Battlefield 2142 is available for online play."

Seriously, I can't write comedy material this funny…..

Tomorrow is the release date for the next game in the Battlefield series. It also marks the first time I will not be buying a Battlefield game since the original Battlefield 1942. I figured a lot of other people feel the same way, but EA's Marketing department will probably be at a loss for why the game flopped. To help them understand, I wrote 13 reasons Why I Am Not Buying Battlefield 2142. 

13. EA lies to you soldier! Their Quality Assurance department bombs you instead.

12. Official Ranked server program has taken the fun out of the Battlefield franchise.

11. Complete lack of support for easy to install Custom Maps that could lengthen the lifespan of the game.

10. Still smarting from my purchase of Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons.

9. EA absorbing DICE, especially considering all the great developers they purchased and ran into the ground previously. Origin, Westwood, Bullfrog and recently DICE Canada one day after the completion of the DICE/EA acquisition.

8. Lack of mod support for BF2 including buggy, hard to use mod tools.

7. Slick doublespeak Marketing tactics disquised as an appeal to the Battlefield Community.

6. The BF2142 Demo causes Crash To Desktop (CTD), which was a bug they "fixed" in BF2 previously!

5. Apparently $50 is not enough to insulate a person from in game advertisements or the ad tracking spyware installed with the game.

4. The "revolutionary" new "Titan" game mode has been around for years in the form of "Onslaught" for Unreal Tournament 2004 ($9.95 no less) as well as, objective mode in Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons and numerous mods for Battlefield games.

3. Still no Capture The Flag (CTF).

2. Terrible unlock system designed more like a MMORPG instead of great, "quick fix" First Person Shooter (FPS).

1. As a Battlefield Fan who has purchased every Battlefield game and expansion since Battlefield 1942, I have finally got it through my thick skull that EA is going to promise the world before the game is released, then two weeks later announce their next great Battlefield game where they are moving all of the BF2142 coders who could have helped release patches in a timely manner leaving the battlefield community to wonder when we will receive a patch to fix all of the same problems that have been present since Battlefield 1942.

Post your thoughts on this in our forums. 

Just spotted this on the Planetbattlefield news page… 

Today at 9am PST FilePlanet will open the Battlefield 2142 beta to the general public. If you do not have a key here is your chance to get one. A new build of the beta is also being released. If you already have the beta, you simply just download the new build from FilePlanet. In order to install the new build you must uninstall the old. More updates will be posted throughout the today and #BF2142 on Gamesurge for the latest info.

A promotional video for Battlefield 2142 has surfaced. Looks like Mechwarrior meets Battlefield. From what I can see it looks like there are some cool features, but I am guessing that it in the end it will be BF2 with lasers.

Overall, I cant help but be intruiged by it even though it causes me great pain. Anyway, go check out the video and let us know what you think in the forums.

BF2142 Promo Video on Youtube