Windows My BF2142 Nightmare-what is your experience?

[Djpuk]

So I was less than impressed with the demo but as I had pre-ordered it what was I going to do but play it?

Unfortunately being in the UK meant that I had to wait the extra couple of days to play so I was there at midnight on the Thursday waiting for the release, having pre-downloaded it I presumed no issues from here.

Well how wrong could I be, after waiting for 20+mins for the data to be decrypted I then hit the install button.

Three quarters of the way through the install it failed on a corrupt zip file. With the smaller hours still fast approaching I figured I would try and run the game anyway as I was not going to stay up just to download 2GB again!

So I double clicked and immediately I got the EC:5570 error, a visit to the EA support forums told me that this was related to the EA downloader. I then un-installed and re-installed this as per their instructions.

OK things are moving, game now launched, watched the intro video and ready to go for it.

First game lasted about five minutes before it crashed to desktop, second and third games the same. Well it was a long shot anyway with the time now about 2:30am, hugely disappointed that I could not play on release after the effort of pre-ordering and pre-downloading I gave up.

The next day I completely un-installed, re-downloaded and re-installed. It played now without crashing to desktop every time (though it is still frequent) but then I found the next problem, when I went on to the Titan and went into the ship all of my graphics simply disappeared to be replaced with pure black surfaces??? This was really very annoying.

I contacted EA support, first couple of suggestions from them were promising but it became pretty clear soon enough that the support technician dealing with my call had absolutely no idea what to do and this is still unresolved as of today, the last suggestion from them believe it or not was to double check I was running the right version, I mean please....how could I even be on the servers to see the issue if I was not.

However I did find that if I turned off dynamic light and shadow, despite looking worse that I know my system can handle the Titan graphics would stay in play allowing for some titan mode action at long last.

That was until Thursday just gone when I now get kicked by Punkbuster for a duplicate CD Key every time I join a server, YOU WHAT EA? how can this be when I ordered from your EA downloader and never even had a CD key!

Evenbalance eventually had the courtesy to reply yesterday that this is an issue that EA and DICE are working on and they will get back to me when it is sorted, nice of them hey, I didn't really want to play anyway

So I shelled out for a game early, pre-downloaded it and over a week later still cannot play it, this is on top of all the advert/spyware issues and the fact that guns in the future appear to be far less accurate than they are now and continuing annoying crashes, inability to get your unlocks etc etc etc.

Well that is my nightmare so far, how about yours? …… is it just me or will this go down as one of the worst game releases ever?

[AlexB]

I dont understand why anyone would buy BF2142 now they know about the adverts and spyware. I wouldnt pay full price for a game with such prominent adverts. There's plenty of other great shooters out there.

That story is really bad though, it shows where EA get their rep from.

I hope you get it sorted.

[BioSniper]

[rant]

The "spyware" that doesn't even show adverts for every UK resident that I know playing the game?
Planetside had similar advertising technology added to it about a year ago and that was pay to play monthly. Sure people complained at first then they realised that it doesn't actually matter that much.

My point in all of this is that you pay £7 (or what ever your local charges) per ticket at the cinema to sit through around 15mins of adverts to then be hit by a film that is almost 100% going to have product placement in it of some kind.
Also, nobody complains about buying branded clothing to only have a massive Nike tick across the front of their t-shirt. You are buying a piece of advertising AND wearing it!

[/rant]

On another note sorry to hear about the problems you are having. I do know the EA downloader version has had far more issues than the CD purchased one in terms of the duplicate CD key error.

As for the CTD's another fix that worked back in beta (and also works for me now) is to turn DEP off for the game specifically.
Oh yes, there is also a patch for Windows which fixes certain crashes relating to CD/DVD protection in games generally of which the specific type of DVD protection was used for 2142. You can grab that patch over http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924867/ at the MS site
Also try turning EAX off as I found that is liable to cause crashes (but then again that's probably just my crappy SB LIVE! card :P )

Hope that may help towards your crashing.

Obviously the above rant isn't meant to seem like a flame or anything and sorry if it does. I'm just sick of all the bashing by people that probably haven't actually got the retail version of the game and are just going on what has been reported around the web.
Another reason for the continuous bashing seems to actually stem from the fact that people can't really identify with sci-fi weapons like they can with real life counterparts (bf2).

Anyway. Ill stop going off on a tangent

[bllt2bnry]

Originally Posted by BioSniper

[rant]

The "spyware" that doesn't even show adverts for every UK resident that I know playing the game?
Planetside had similar advertising technology added to it about a year ago and that was pay to play monthly. Sure people complained at first then they realised that it doesn't actually matter that much.

My point in all of this is that you pay £7 (or what ever your local charges) per ticket at the cinema to sit through around 15mins of adverts to then be hit by a film that is almost 100% going to have product placement in it of some kind.
Also, nobody complains about buying branded clothing to only have a massive Nike tick across the front of their t-shirt. You are buying a piece of advertising AND wearing it!

[/rant]

But if we don't play Planetside, agree with product placement or wear corporate clothing then it's okay to moan.

As for the cinema thing, that makes perfect sense, it's how the cinema itself makes its money as most of the ticket sales will go to the companies that made the film.

First person shooter games seem to have got by okay before without this kind of advertising (minus Planetside), even if it hasn't been implemented yet, I'm sure it will in the future?!

[Neogumbercules]

Outside of Steam, I never trust that digital purchase crap. I even have the CDs for HL2, regardless of whether or not I can just DL the game. When I pay money for something I want to have it in my hand. I especially wouldn't trust anything EA put out as far as digital purchases go. Look at what happened to you. Sorry, not trying to put salt in the wound, just pointing out my point of view.

[Fr4nk]

Well this seems very strange, its kinda of hardware picky by teh looks of things, I downloaded 2142 from EA downloader, took ~2hrs on my 10mbit connection, installed, patched fine aslo if it took 15 mins to unpack your system seems abit slow only took like 3 mins for me as for teh in game adverts, who teh hell cares, all these people complaining about them, are actually goign to pay arttenion to them ? It's not like it's going to scream at you saying "OMG BUY X PRODUCT" it's it, just a bill board, ignore it, it will just blend into the game IMO... As for CTD's and disconnections I've been on a few servers that have crashed but you've gotta find the right servers, my clan has just bought one, its a Rackage.com server, so far these are teh best servers I've seen low pings of 9 - 15, no crashes but CTD's seem very computer based, I've only had them where I've ALT- TAB'd out....


-Fr4nk

[inZanity]

I bought the game at by local EBGames and installed it. (I hate the downloaders) And have had ZERO problems since day one.

I have read people being kicked by punkbuster, CTD, duplicate CD-key errors, installation problems, and the list goes on and on. I am very glad that I have not had any of these errors.

Now, as for the ingame ads..... people are calling it spyware. This is incorrect, it is not spyware. It is not following your internet browsing habits. It just puts ad's that other companies pay for into the game onto billboards and then tracks how many times you see this billboard. Now whether you are spinning in a circle and it lasts less than a second on your screen or you stop and stare at it for 5 mins. That is one view.

If you want to skew stats on this. Get in a jeep and find a billboard. Start driving around in circles so you see the ad every 5 seconds or so and the ad server will record this.

But it is up to you if you want to look at these ads or just play the game. It really does not hinder gameplay for me as I could care less if they are there. I am too busy shooting other people.

[bllt2bnry]

I think it's just principle for most people, not whether they see the advert or not.

[AlexB]

I think there is a BIG difference in wearing a nike t-shirt than getting ads in game. Like my car for instance, I have 1 sticker on it - for a local tuning firm. I support the firm, and imho they do a good job, so i'm happy to advertise for them. I dont, however, have loads of stickers from loads of random companies who i know nothing about. I dont support them.

If i was to buy a nike t-shirt (and i wouldn't) - wearing it is like saying 'i like nike products'. This situation is more like having a little elf follow you round, telling someone else how often you wear the t-shirt, and swapping the nike logo for whatever the logo of the highest bidder is.

[BioSniper]

Opps. Looks like I really did spark off a bit of an arguement. Sorry!

Any joy with your crashing game or CD-key issues yet Djpuk? I hear EA are working on the CD-Key problems at the moment. Still. Its a bit of a pain in the back side.
Another thing that may stop crashing is disconnect any joystick(s) or pads you have connected to the system. My old pad used to cause crashes all the time before the drivers were updated

[keir]

the CD key is a random PB error, you need to manualy update it.
http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php...ort-bf2142.php

Good luck

And about the in game ad's



There the only two I've seen so far.

[BioSniper]

It appears as of some time yesterday those "adverts" were switched on. I feel that those add to the game environment as its relatively believable adds keeping in theme with the game but its when we start to get Pepsi or Itunes ads its going to look a little daft. But then again. I hardly even notice the current ads as it is!

::Edit:: how did you get your game to re-colour some of the text in the upper left like that? It looks rather good as its easier to pick out information, or is it a server side mod?

[keir]

yus

The text thing is Dan's Localization Files V 2.5

Adding to the nightmare thing, I just tried playing and I cant log into the EA downloader to play!

[Djpuk]

Originally Posted by BioSniper

Any joy with your crashing game or CD-key issues yet Djpuk? I hear EA are working on the CD-Key problems at the moment. Still. Its a bit of a pain in the back side.
Another thing that may stop crashing is disconnect any joystick(s) or pads you have connected to the system. My old pad used to cause crashes all the time before the drivers were updated

Hi Biosniper,
todays update is:
I cannot use Dynamic Light and Shadow with my 5950 chipset, fair enough but why they could not tell me that on day one and why I can use it in BF2 is still puzzling me, I asked the question when I placed the call and they said yeah no problem it should work with those settings?
I have been manually updating punkbuster as it does not seem to auto update but still seem unable to play on any server for more than a few minutes.
I think that the CTD is due to overclocking for some reason, again using the same settings I do for BF2 seems to disagree with 2142, I have clicked down to normal FSB and multiplier settings and CTD in single player mode (the only one I can use right now) seems to have dissapeared.

This is obviously one picky application.

Thanks for all suggestions and comments so far, it is the punkbuster issue that is really driving me crazy now.

Guess my DX10 updgrade cannot come soon enough to be able to see this game as I hope to.......

[Chuff_72]

/basks in the warm glow of the 360 circle of light safe in the knowlegde that I will never have to compromise the integrity of my purchased game...




/sends 360 back to Microsoft with said game trapped inside the fried machine...

[Veles]

Originally Posted by bllt2bnry

But if we don't play Planetside, agree with product placement or wear corporate clothing then it's okay to moan.

As for the cinema thing, that makes perfect sense, it's how the cinema itself makes its money as most of the ticket sales will go to the companies that made the film.

First person shooter games seem to have got by okay before without this kind of advertising (minus Planetside), even if it hasn't been implemented yet, I'm sure it will in the future?!

EA still has to run to upkeep all of thier servers, although they do get a bit of money from each ranked server not owned by them anyway. Plus they are a company, the whole purpose of a company is a way for lots of rich guys to get even richer by doing nothing.

This whole spyware thing is just negative propaganda against EA, it only really looks at where you are in the world.

I'm more surprised people wern't put off by BF2142 by how much of a mess BF2 is, and how much it looks like BF2 with a mod.

[JesterQ]

i think i've had a pretty good run so far with this.

But the last couple of days i've had the following.

- Stall's on joining servers. Will join and get first screen but then stall's. Have to reboot box - pain.
- V slow connecting to EA to verify account and sometimes fails
- the most annoying one i've had so far was last night logged in and it had forgotten all about me ! player settings, login, video, controls etc and the config was gone

[Djpuk]

Update:
This has fixed my duplicate cd key problem
Link

[overdosedelusion]

you know, even with ipod ads and coke ads if they ever turn up, i think it will still add a sense of post apocolyptic worlds, look at the movies judge dredd, Blade Runner, films like that, it just adds to a sense of corporation(s) imposing on you. i think its a class idea.

[BioSniper]

Originally Posted by Djpuk

Update:
This has fixed my duplicate cd key problem
Link

Ahh, nice one
Glad you got it resolved.

Through several tweakings I've also found that lowering light levels in the game to low/off REALLY speeds up loading times. Random.