BF2 Newb questions

Hi All,

I recently installed BF2 and have some newb questions.

Is moving forward supposed to stop at random times? I press the W key and I'll move forward a short distance and then just stop until I release and repress the W key. I'm not referring to the double tap for sprinting. That works fine. Just normal moving. It's really annoying because the distance you move between key presses varies and I can't figure out what the deal is with it.

Is the shooting accuracy as random as it appears? I like using the support kit because I love throwing huge amounts of lead. Too many time I can pick off a guy at long range as he's running across my field of fire, and other times can't kill a guy when he's running straight at me and kills me with a knife. The whole time he's running up on me I'm doing full auto right into his center mass. Then I figured out that when a guy is close to switch from machine gun to pistol and kill him with one shot. This just doesn't make sense.

Are helicopters indestructible? I unload multiple busts of machine gun fire into a helicopter and nothing happens, but I can kill a small vehicle with a third of the ammo.

Are these design/balance issues or am I doing something wrong?

Hey Rasguy! Nice to see you back around.

BF2 implement a higher level of random deviation than previous BF games. It's probably one of the biggest complaints I have with the game. Too many times, I've gotten the jump on someone, yet they kill me with one or two shots.

A few things that can help slightly. Laying prone or taking a knee will slightly increase your accuracy, albeit with some random deviation still involved. Going full auto will also increase the random deviation. Sometimes, tapping a full auto weapon or picking someone off with a single shot can be more effective.

Helicopters are tough. They have been rebalanced multiple times, but it seems like pilots overcome any limitations imposed and the really good pilots can pwn at will. If you have 2-3 M50's all firing at a helo, you can take it down, but it takes work and there is always the random deviation factor to consider.

The W sounds like a keyboard issue. Open word and hold your W down. Does it do the same thing? I'd remap forward to a different key and test it. If it improves, I would say it's a keyboard problem. Do you have a wireless keyboard? If it doesn't improve, try changing the batteries.

Let us know how the testing goes.

Atomm gave good advice. I don't have anything really to add, except that I wanted to say hi, and feel free to drop by and ask more questions if you have any. Most everyone here has put in a GREAT DEAL of time in BF2, and other games, so we might as well put it to good use.

Oh, wait. I have an idea:
There's a bar on the bottom of your screen. This bar is your endurance, or energy bar. You use energy to run, and you use chunks of energy when you jump. When you run out of energy, you stop running. If you press the run key again, it may let you run for a few steps again, and then you'll be back to walking.

You have to not run, or jump, for awhile to build your energy back up. You can walk and still build up your energy, but stopping, crouching, or lying down does not help you recover energy any faster than just walking. There's a limit on how long you can run, and some classes can run farther than others. Snipers, I think, run furthest, Anti-Tank, least of all. Support class can't run very far either, but farther than Anti-Tank.

It's possible you're running out of energy, and are not aware of this, so when you keep trying to run, you run for a few steps, run out of energy, then start walking again almost immediately. That's my best guess.

Thanks for the tips.

I do have a wireless keyboard and mouse. I did the word test and didn't see any issues with holding down the movement keys. I changed the batteries. Still having the same problem of randomly stopping no matter which direction I try to move A/W/S/D. It's frustrating to try strafing or circling and just pause for no reason.

In the instruction manual it only describes moving forward and sprinting. Is there a difference between running and sprinting? Sounds like there are 3 modes of forward movement walking/running/sprinting. Right now I press and hold a single movement key for walking and double tap W for sprinting. Could I be in a "run" mode without realizing it?

I really liked the missle hardpoints once I figured out how to guide the missle with my mouse. Being able to shoot the missle under a tank and bring it up into its belly is just too much fun.

Being pwnd by an artillery barrage when trying to capture a flag is just not cool. I've been killed by artillery more than just about anything else.

I need to figure out how to get into command mode so I can use some arty.

Rasguy wrote:Thanks for the tips.

I do have a wireless keyboard and mouse. I did the word test and didn't see any issues with holding down the movement keys. I changed the batteries. Still having the same problem of randomly stopping no matter which direction I try to move A/W/S/D. It's frustrating to try strafing or circling and just pause for no reason.

BF2 is a really badly bloated program. I'd say dump the wireless key/mouse as BF2 is using most of your system resources and it can't keep up with your keystrokes.

Rasguy wrote:Thanks for the tips.

I do have a wireless keyboard and mouse. I did the word test and didn't see any issues with holding down the movement keys. I changed the batteries. Still having the same problem of randomly stopping no matter which direction I try to move A/W/S/D. It's frustrating to try strafing or circling and just pause for no reason.

In the instruction manual it only describes moving forward and sprinting. Is there a difference between running and sprinting? Sounds like there are 3 modes of forward movement walking/running/sprinting. Right now I press and hold a single movement key for walking and double tap W for sprinting. Could I be in a "run" mode without realizing it?

I really liked the missle hardpoints once I figured out how to guide the missle with my mouse. Being able to shoot the missle under a tank and bring it up into its belly is just too much fun.

Being pwnd by an artillery barrage when trying to capture a flag is just not cool. I've been killed by artillery more than just about anything else.

I need to figure out how to get into command mode so I can use some arty.

There are TWO movement speeds in BF2: walking and sprinting. Sometimes ppl call sprinting "running", I know I usually do, just remember they're the same thing.

I usually use the SHIFT key for sprinting. I hold it down with my pinky finger and press W, and it makes me sprint. Let up on the SHIFT key, and I walk. If you are SPRINTING, and you run out of energy, you shouldn't stop, just slow to a walk.

If you have issues where you are pressing the forward key and you can't continually move forward (you just stop), you may have some driver/hardware issues. See if there's a new driver available for your keyboard at the company website. BEFORE you do that, though, it might be easier to just plug in a WIRED keyboard and see if you have the same problem, if you have an old keyboard laying around.

Do you have problems with moving forward with any other games you play? What other games do you play? What kind of wireless keyboard are you using (brand and model)? It's not a generic $19.99 Wal-mart special, is it? I don't use wireless keyboards, but I guess there's a reason why some are $20 and others are closer to $100.

I suggest you go into your controls and get get a good idea about what is available to you. The manual for BF2 sucks. Once you take a look at the controls, play some single-player games and play around, see what you can do. Press some of those keys you don't understand, see what happens, get used to the controls.

Thanks for all the feedback. I do have an old wired keyboard that I can try. I did figure out it must be something with my controls because I experience the same issues when driving a vehicle. I'll be moving along and then just stop for no reason.

My current wireless gear is the higher end Microsoft combo. I fell in love with the ergo shape and the key touch/feedback. I'm a bit of an old school button smasher so I like a keyboard with a little more tension. The newer keyboards just feel too mushy to me. Now if I could find one with the old "click" feedback I would be really happy.

I figured out how to apply for the Commander position. I enjoy being able to call in arty strike and control the UAV. When I'm using the UAV, does my team get the benefit of seeing where the bad guys are on the mini-map? I wish there was a better why to direct the AI guys to coordinate their movements.

I switched back to the Assualt kit from the support kit. The accuracy is so much better with more reliable kills. I also tried sniping a few times but snipers seem to have a short life span due to artillary.

Rasguy wrote:I figured out how to apply for the Commander position. I enjoy being able to call in arty strike and control the UAV. When I'm using the UAV, does my team get the benefit of seeing where the bad guys are on the mini-map? I wish there was a better why to direct the AI guys to coordinate their movements.

I switched back to the Assualt kit from the support kit. The accuracy is so much better with more reliable kills. I also tried sniping a few times but snipers seem to have a short life span due to artillary.

Your HUMAN team would get the benefit of the UAV, but I don't think the bots recognize it. The AI is a pill. . .there's no good way to get them to do things reliably. If you need a medic bag, shoot the nearest medic, take his kit and throw some out. Pick up your old kit again if you want to. Need ammo? Do the same thing with a support dude. Don't feel bad about doing it to the bots. You're their best player anyway. 🙂 Heck, there's been times I've done that to clueless HUMANS in-game, but I wouldn't recommend that. . .it tends to hurt your popularity. 😱

Atomm gave some good advice earlier about accuracy.

A few things that can help slightly. Laying prone or taking a knee will slightly increase your accuracy, albeit with some random deviation still involved. Going full auto will also increase the random deviation. Sometimes, tapping a full auto weapon or picking someone off with a single shot can be more effective.

Lying prone is a great way to increase your accuracy. In fact, it got to the point where players would spot each other 20 feet away, drop to a prone position in the middle of the street, and shoot it out. Something's wrong with a game when ppl do that, IMHO.

Crouching or 'taking a knee' as Atomm says, also increases accuracy, but not as much as going prone.

Shooting while standing still is more accurate than shooting while moving.
Shooting while crouched is more accurate than shooting while standing.
Shooting while lying down (prone) is more accurate than shooting while crouched.

The best tip Atomm gave you is when he talked about using full-auto increasing random deviation, but I don't think he stressed the importance of it enough. It should be written like this:

Going full auto will INCREASE THE RANDOM DEVIATION!!!!!!

You could walk up behind someone with the support heavy machine gun, start firing full-auto from 3 feet away, and there's a chance that person will turn around and kill YOU. Not fair, but it happens, so don't do it.

Short controlled bursts, or single shots, hit the target. Full auto just tells the enemy where you are.

Try your old, wired keyboard. It should be easy to try, and it will quickly determine if it's a game problem, or a keyboard/driver problem.

Let us know what you find out.

If all of this fails, see if there is a USB driver update for your Mobo. This could be a strange Interrupt issue on the USB.