Battlefield 1942 patches

Patch notes and updates for Battlefield 1942.

Patch 1.6
NEW CONTENT

Liberation of Caen is a new map for BF1942 owners. It includes a whole new army, the Canadians. The army includes the Sexton SPA and the Lynx scout car, as well as new skins, flags, voice overs, and a new Assault rifle, the Johnson M1941 LMG. The Germans in this map are also equipped with a new scout vehicle, the Kettenkrad.

Raid on Agheila is a new map playable only by owners of the Secret Weapons of WWII expansion pack. This exciting map adds a bevy of new vehicles, including mobile spawn points, stationary rocket launchers, a new tank, new self-propelled artillery, and the Flettner, an experimental helicopter. Battle of Britain can now be played using Objective Mode. Secret Weapons of WWII expansion pack is NOT required to play Battle of Britain in this mode.

Invasion of the Philippines has been slightly revised. The Japanese Destroyer has been rotated to face North, giving the Japanese a better chance at the start. The out of bounds area has been pushed back, and ticket bleeds have been slightly reduced. The famous Russian dive bomber Ilyushin IL-2 has replaced one of the Yak 9 fighters in Kursk and Kharkov.

CLIENT SPECIFIC CHANGES / BUG FIXES

Added support for Punkbuster anti-cheat software. - Visit http://www.evenbalance.com for more information

In-game HUD player and map voting interface via scoreboard: - To access the new scoreboard features either enter the spawn interface and click the Scoreboard button, or press TAB. (NB- clicking the right mouse button while holding down TAB will give you a cursor- clicking on the 'lock' button will lock the scoreboard onscreen.)

Features of the new scoreboard: - Add buddies. - Vote to kick players. - Vote to kick a player on your team (only your team can vote). - Vote for maps. - All players can be seen through scrolling the score list. - Integrated vote dialog to respond to vote requests. - Added two new key bindings map to Yes and No for the vote response dialog (default: Yes: 7 and No: 8). - Added a new key binding for quick access to the map vote dialog (default: INSERT). - Please note that if you already have these keys bound in your custom profile you will need to assign these functions to other keys or use for them to work.

Improved server browser: - Support for favorite servers as a separate list accessible from the filters pane. NOTE: The favorite servers list must be refreshed manually to reflect the latest information from these servers. - Added button to place server in favorites list. - Much better filters and updated performance. - Added new filter buttons: - Populated only - Favorites - Pure Servers (Content Check) - PunkBuster only - Fixed the "Add server" button in the in-game server browser- now works for servers that use the standard GameSpy BF1942 ports. - Added button which takes you to the server rental service website. - Added LEGEND button (looks like question mark). This details what the main icons represent in the Server Browser Interface. - Server Information pane will now detail which mods are present in the server rotation

Other Fixes / changes : - The game.listPlayers command shows the cd key hash of the local player - Slightly improved loading speed of maps - Fixed sinking destroyer bug - Changed APC exit point to minimize certain exploits - Fixed an exploit involving damage to Aircraft Carriers - Fixed crash bug when a dead bot was thrown through a window or door.

DEDICATED SERVER SPECIFIC CHANGES / BUG FIXES

Added support for Punkbuster anti-cheat software. - Visit http://www.evenbalance.com for more information

Win32 dedicated server implemented through back-port of the Linux dedicated server. - Runs in console mode displaying a status monitor with an interactive console. - The server uses a different binary than the game (bf1942_w32ded.exe). - Status monitor changes (compared to Linux server 1.5): - Added chat feedback. - Added number of tickets and current round number. - Added game state (playing, paused, etc.). Added support for mixing mods, maps and game modes in the maplist. - As a result of this the game.serverGamePlayMode command in the ServerSettings.con file and the +game command line argument are now obsolete for dedicated servers and should not be used. - The Maplist.con was changed to allow three arguments: game.addLevel , i.e.: game.addLevel Gazala GPM_CQ bf1942 ** NOTE : the following commands now also use this functionality: - admin.changeMap - admin.setNextLevel - Updated the DedicatedServer.exe launcher program to allow for creation of maplists with the new functionality. - Please note that all old maplists are incompatible with this new feature and will have to be created again. Running the server with an old map list will not work.

Added installation sanity checking that will tell you about common installation errors such as missing files. The sanity checking is done automatically at startup.

Added more readable error messages for common errors such as misspelled level names.

Updated chat system: - Fixed "chat lag" by streaming messages over a high-priority channel. - Added basic flood protection which prevents players from taking to much chat bandwidth by "spamming". - Added chat text as messages to the status monitor console.

GameSpy/ASE host reporting changes: - Added (kills/deaths) to ASE score format. - Added roundTimeLeft to GameSpy keys. - Added reporting of cd key hashes to GameSpy keys. - Added active_mods key showing all mods in map cycle. - Added content_check key showing content checking mode. - Converted GameSpy reporting keys to lowercase and replaced spaces with underscores to facilitate filtering in external browsers.

Upgraded XML logging format to 1.1: - Added support for CD key hashes for players. - Fixed a few spelling errors for keys. - Fixed a bug where compressed XML logs where sometimes being corrupted. - Escapes non-printable characters as bf:nonprint tags. - Added chat text messages to the XML stream.

Updated banning system: - Bans can be set on CD key hashes as well as IP addresses. - Timeouts can be specified in these ways: admin.banPlayerKey  [timeout] Where timeout can take one of these formats: - Omitted or 'perm' meaning that the ban is permanent - An integral number meaning the number of seconds the ban will be active (i.e. 3600 means one hour) - 'round', meaning the ban is active until the next map - An integral number prepended by a colon (i.e. :1234567), meaning the epoch exporation time of the ban (number of seconds since 1 Jan 1970). This option is most usable by external tools. - IP address bans continue to work as earlier but include the new timeout options as well. - Bans are stored as absolute times in banlist.con. Existing bans in banlist.con will be interpreted as permanent bans. The game.listPlayers command lists cd key hashes of connected players when running in internet mode. The game.showPorts console command can be invoked to display the ports currently used by the server.

Updated content crc generation: - Generation bat files are now created only for the mods you select. The new bat files are named getcrc- .bat.

Updated remote console output: - The remote console now mirrors text written to the main console by prepending each mirrored line by a hash character (#). This is useful to capture chat text from external tools that periodically send commands to the remote console. - Please note that if several remote connections are made, the state of the mirroring is cleared so that mirrored console lines can easily be lost. Thus if you plan to use this feature in a tool, please only connect with one remote console connection at a time to ensure that you will get the correct results.

Added overlayPath feature to support running multiple server instances from the same installation directory. To set up an instance, please follow these steps: - Create a new, empty directory to hold the instance, for instance C:\Server1 - Copy the mods\bf1942\Settings directory from the main installation to the new directory - Create a new, empty Logs directory in the instance directory - Start the server with the overlayPath argument in a shortcut: bf1942_w32ded.exe +overlayPath C:\Server1 - Please note that the working directory for the server must still be set to the main installation directory. - Also please note that if your overlayPath contains spaces you will need to quote the path in the arguments in one of these ways: - bf1942_w32ded.exe +overlayPath 'c:\path with spaces\server1' (single quotes) - bf1942_w32ded.exe +overlayPath """c:\path with spaces\server1""" (note that these are three double quotes)

Patch 1.5
CLIENT FIXES -No more swapping CD's. Any installed Battlefield 1942 expansion pack or community mod can be played using any Battlefield CD. -Fixed an issue that would cause severe lag when going from a vehicle ladder directly into a vehicle position. This was especially prevalent with the MG positions on Destroyers. -Fixed Omaha Beach ammobox-bunker exploit.

NEW FEATURES -New map - Invasion of the Philippines, complete with all new Patrol Boats. -A new US Marines skin replaces the USA army skin in the Pacific theatre. -US Marines Engineer is equipped with the M1 Garand. -Japanese Engineer has been retrofitted with the Type 5 semi-automatic rifle. -Kubelwagen replaced with the Black Medal Scout Car for the Japanese forces. -Hanomag replaced with the Ho Ha APC for the Japanese forces.

Patch 1.45
** IMPORTANT INFO INVOLVING AIR CONTROLS IN PATCH 1.45 **

Patch 1.45 has introduced 3 new AIR controls, located under CONTROLS in the OPTIONS menu, on the 2nd page of the AIR tab. If you have applied the 1.45 patch to an existing, previously played install of Battlefield 1942, you will need to define keys for these controls in order for them to work while playing.

For reference, if you apply the 1.45 patch to an installation of Battlefield 1942 that has not been previously played, the keys are setup by default as follows :

AIR Control Default Key --- --- GO TO POSITION 4 Key 4 GO TO POSITION 5 Key 5 GO TO POSITION 6 Key 6

NETWORK/SERVER FIXES -game.listPlayers will now display client IP addresses when run from the server console

CLIENT FIXES -Support for Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII expansion pack -Land vehicles will not respawn if player is too close to spawnpoint. -Def Gun now has shell icon instead of rocket. -Fixed issue with using the mouse wheel as a control. -AI skill no longer resets to EASY when browsing menus. -Dropped kits stay on static objects such as bridges, houses, etc. -Fixed issue with disappearing buttons after activating a custom game. -Tooltips added for Def Gun, stationary MG42 and stationary Browning. -Kits can no longer be picked up from a distance. -Fixed force from explosions on vehicles which were sometimes wrong, and caused vehicles to roll over. -AI players don't count when voting in COOP. -Possible to select position 4, 5 and 6 in aircrafts. -Console background does not disappear after switching to main menu. -Changing camera view while shooting or leaving water works. -CO-OP briefing text now displays the specific conquest type for each map (Assault, Head-On or Hybrid) -Names with line-feeds are now valid. -Fixed floating exploit. -Fixed first person animations, which sometimes stopped prematurely. -Fixed crash when changing camera view under certain conditions.

Patch 1.4
NETWORK/SERVER

New Features -Added ability to reserve slots with a password. -Added spawn points for some airfields.

Bug Fixes -Support to use the same remote console port on two different BF1942 servers. -Remote console now works on Windows98/Me. -The free camera is now predicted on the client to give better control. -Underscores now work for remote commands executed from the in-game console.

CLIENT FIXES

New Features -The console command Soldier.CameraShakeFactor  1.0> toggles the camera shake in 1st person on/off. -Two new weapons replacing earlier weapons used in the game -Type 99- Japanese Assault rifle -DP 1928- Russian Assault rifle

Improvement of game feeling -Slight delays when turning, jumping and pulling out new weapons for a smoother and tighter experience. -Recoil animations changed. -Improved Death Cam: can now be configured to disable `Reveal Killer' mode.

Gameplay Fixes -AA Guns do not cause splash damage when hitting sandbags. -Mines now detonate when vehicles go in reverse over them. -Infantry can now aim a full 180 degrees up and down in the 1st person view. -Camera shakes when firing weapons mounted on vehicles. -A pixel added to the center of the cross hair (server option). -Disabled ability to repair land-based vehicles in hangars. -Rear gunner for Stuka/SBD/Ai-chi-val now has cross hair. -Added friendly mine indicators to HUD. -Increased bayonette damage to cause instant kill. -Deviation time goes back to normal after running faster. -Less damage to planes from stationary machineguns. -Road to Rome bombers re-balanced.

Physics improvements -The collision bug where you could push another player into an object or building as been looked over and fixes have been added.

Graphical Improvements -New and improved parachute landing animation in 1st person view. -Lightmaps on ships implemented. Radeon cards might not render these correctly. -Increased visual effect for AA-gun airplane hits. -Improved hit particle effect when shooting at infantry. -Road to Rome British soldiers get the Sten Gun. -Faulty Defgun death effect fixed. -Fixed a bug with B17 flaps that caused them not to appear on clients. -Bazooka/Panzerschrek smoke trails changed.

Optimizations -Improved pre-caching when loading maps, reducing stalls when new objects are loaded in during game.

Sound improvements and optimizations -New and improved Sounds in 1st person view *Increased volume of impacts *Louder explosions for grenades *New Sound for the Axis Assualt rifle STG44

Menu -Scoreboard now shows current server's name, IP address and Map name. -Scoreboard now lists player ID for all players. -Buddylist is now saved to profile and retained between maps. -Text messages and kill messages from buddies are color coded green. -Bug causing the display of text messages and playing of radio messages when map start in a MP game fixed. -Screenshots can now also be taken of the score board. -Paste (Ctrl-V) in 'Add Server' box added. -Voting system feedback improvements *You can see what vote is currently active (which map or player is being voted for). *You can see how many votes that have been cast and how many that are necessary for the votes to be successful. *When a vote has failed you get to know which one and why (how many voted for it and how many were necessary).

AI improvements -AI bots more responsive to radio commands.

OTHER ISSUES -Content check currently only works with official Battlefield 1942 and RTR files/maps. If you try to run a server with a user created map/mod installed and turn content check on, clients might not be able to join. -If you try to connect to a Road to Rome server that is running a Road to Rome map and you don’t have Road to Rome installed, you will see a "data differs from server" message.

Patch 1.31
*** IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR SOUNDBLASTER AUDIGY OWNERS ***

There are known issues with Audigy cards and this patch. These problems can be avoided by enabling HARDWARE ACCELERATION in the sound options menu.

NETWORK/SERVER FIXES -Fixed Co-op crash when restarting map -Removed default Remote Admin Password for servers -Changed Object collision system To prevent Exploits involving players hiding inside of objects

CLIENT FIXES -locked out console.showClientPredictionStatus console command to prevent exploit

Patch 1.3
NETWORK/SERVER FIXES

-Optimization of server priorities to improve Net Performance -Smoother object movements -Remote Control Improvements *Sending strings instead of ascii. If you start the remoteconsole with -m it will not wait for the server to respond for every keypress -No Lag prediction if soldier is sitting in vehicle. This fixes the problem of pilots getting shot out of the cockpit when in a plane.

CLIENT FIXES

-New and improved Sounds in 1st person view *Bar 1918 *Thompson *MG42 *Browning -New streamed sound implementation increasing performance and decreasing memory usage. -Problems with SoundBlaster Live on WinXP and Win2000 systems are solved
 * 1) Sound improvements and optimizations

-New and improved fire animations in 1st person view *stg44 *bar1918 *mp18 *mp40 -New and improved models in 1st person view *stg44 *bar1918 *MG42 *Browning
 * 1) Graphical Improvements

-damage to airplanes from the following has been decreased by 50%: *BAR *StG44 *Thompson *MP40 *AA GUNS -Spreading when walking and shooting increased on *BAR *StG 44 -Reloading time on sniper and engineer rifles reduced by 33%. -Rate of ticket decay when a team holds more than half of the command points has been increased on Head-on maps -Rate of ticket decay when Attacker holds all the control points on Assault Maps has been reduced by 40%, leaving a better chance for the defender to retake a CP. -Rate of ticket decay when the defender holds the map reduced by 40% on assault maps. -Attacker / Defender ticket ratio changed slightly to defenders favor on assault maps -When going outside of the map boundaries, soldiers will take 20% of their full health of damage per second (after being warned)
 * 1) Gameplay tweaks

-Decreased Loading times for the game and map changes. -SafeDisk check only when starting game and not when changing maps
 * 1) Optimizations.

-Bots are more concerned about close range enemies than long range ones, especially when their current weapon is not suited for long-range -Radio and voice command display now has a 'greyed out' look for commands that the bots do not respond to.
 * 1) AI optimization

-Message window has been modified and is now separated into three parts: 1) User generated chat (radio and chat text) - 4 rows 2) Game Info (capture control point etc.) - 2 rows 3) Kills (x killed y) - 3 rows The number of lines for each message window can be changed as long as it is at least 1 line and the total amount of lines for all message windows do not exceed 12. These chat windows can be manipulated through new console commands (where 'int' is any number between 1 and 12) chat.setChatMessageSize No. of lines for chat messages display chat.seGameInfoMessageSize No. of lines for game info display chat.setKillMessageSize No. of lines for kills info display chat.setChatHistory  Sets the no of lines for all 3 message displays at once chat.chatInfo Returns status on how many lines each message window in using. chat.OldChatListStyle If set to 1, the the old (v1.2) message window model is used. chat.OldChatListHistory No. of rows used if the old message window model is used -New Ignore input Commands You can ignore radio messages, radio sounds and also ignore specific players using the following commands: chat.ignoreRadioText If 1, No radio text is printed. chat.ignoreRadioAudio If 1, No radio sounds are played. chat.setIgnoreRadioAudioAndText If 1, both radio sounds and radio text is supressed chat.getIgnoreRadioAudioAndText Prints status for these settings chat.addToIgnoreList Ignores a specific user's chatting. chat.removeFromIgnoreList Stop ignoring a specific user's chatting chat.ignoreList Returns the list of ignored players NOTE: you can find a user's ID by using the 'game.listPlayers' command in the console -Implemented TK Forgive and Punishment system. By default, players have to wait 1 extra spawn wave for every TK they commit and when they have made 5 TK's that are not forgiven they will get kicked from the server. By default, the server is in punish mode. There are 2 modes: 1) If you are killed by a teammate, you can forgive the killer. The forgive options expires when you die again (auto-punish) 2) If you are killed by a teammate, you can punish the killer. The punish options expires when you die again. (auto-forgive) Admin Console Commands: admin.spawnDelayPenaltyForTK The number of extra spawn waves applied (1.0 = wait 1 spawn wave, 1.5 = wait 1.5 spawn wave.. and so on) admin.banPlayerOnTKKick When set to 1, players are also banned when kicked for TK admin.nrOrTKToKick The number of punished TK's before being kicked admin.tkPunishMode 0 : Punish Mode - Players are punished by default, until the victim forgives the TK 1 : Forgive Mode - Players are forgiven by default, until the victim punishes the TK Client Console Commands: game.TKPunish Punish a TK (works only in Forgive Mode). game.TKForgive Forgive a TK (works only in Punish Mode). -Vote announcement has new text color and icon. -Possibility to tag specific players as a 'buddy' and make them more visible in the minimap Client Console Commands: game.addPlayerToBuddyList  Add a user with to the buddy list game.removePlayerFromBuddyList  Removes a user from the buddylist game.buddyList Prints a list of your current buddies.
 * 1) Menu

-You can disable tri-linear filtering by adding the line "renderer.useTrilinearFiltering 0" to your Settings/VideoDefault.con -Kyro Card Support -SiS Xabre support -Stripping and vertex-cache optimizing terrain patches. Increases performance for vertex cache enabled T&L cards that are vertex transform bound in BF. I.e. it reduces slowdown somewhat when lots of objects are displayed on screen. -Optimization of the font writer, decreasing memory usage. -Possibility to add lightmaps on ships and boats which can higly increase the visual effect.
 * 1) Rendering optimization

FREEBIE -New Map: Coral Sea A cool Carrier war map on the sea and in the air.

Patch 1.2
NETWORK/SERVER FIXES -Low close combat hit accuracy due to network lag is much improved. -Some Server CPU usage optimizations: Multiple server instances should perform better. -Fixed currently connected players being dropped at map switch in favor of new connections. -Remote Console application is now fixed. -Release of bound sockets works correctly. -Bug causing missing spawn points and Gray flags that do not change is fixed. -Bug causing soldier animation states to be dropped is fixed. -Reconnection problems fixed. -The ASEHost.dll "Failed to execute ASEQuery_init" error is fixed. -No longer need to reissue the admin.enableRemoteConsole and enableRemoteAdmin commands every time the server restarts. -Bug in Standalone Server causing "Corrupted Data" error when hosting CTF on Bocage is fixed. -Added hit detection feedback: Client crosshairs blink with a small dot in the crosshair and additional cross-lines when the server registers a successful hit. -Dedicated server settings are saved properly. (Note: if Friendly Fire checkbox is turned off, the next time the dedicated server is started the check box will be checked, but the percentages will all be at 0%) -Remote Admin (admin connected to server as a player) does not have to authorize every time a new map starts anymore.

CLIENT FIXES

-Ensures easy implementation of mods and expansion packs. -There is a bf1942.pid file that includes the process id for the battlefield game running. -Jeeps more sensitive to shells (one shot equals one kill). -Increased B17 rate of fire for better carpet bombing. -Grenade damage versus tanks is 40% less powerful. -AA Gun Damage vs Infantry is increased (1 shot equals 1 kill in torso/head). Also removed splash damage versus infantry. -Slightly increased knife damage distance. -Slightly decreased deviation when walking and shooting with side arms. -Increased damage for Machine Gun 42 and browning versus infantry. -Increased damage for Plane Machine Guns versus other planes. -Tiger tank health increased by 25%. -Fixed M10 being treated as a jeep for splash damage. -Slightly increased damage for MP40, MP18 and Thompson versus infantry. -"Long View Distance" cheat fixed. -"Wireframe" cheat fixed. -"Turning Off Fog" cheat fixed. -Irregular looping sounds and/or loss of sounds bug has been fixed. -Redundant sound state changes removed. -Mine placed on jeep causing jeep to sink through ground no longer possible. -Bots do not jump in and out of vehicles anymore. -Bots have improved mobility and behavior while sitting in tanks: close range enemies now make the AI drive further away and fire from distance instead of just hopelessly circling around the enemy. -Several small tweaks and improvements for bot control *Major improvements to artillery. *Improved path selection (less prone to go on rough terrain). *Major improvement of the fire behavior. *Fixed bug in SAI's bot ordering update. *Fixed AI handgun sound effect. *AI will not favor planes on a runway which is blocked by other vehicles. *Decreased AI view distance. *Several tweaks of .con-files for more accurate description of the game elements. -New Button "Custom Game" lets the player play a custom made mod game or Expansion Pack games. -Server browser "Backfire" setting displays properly in server details window. -The in-game console stays in front of game text and is less transparent for improved visibility. -Improved In-game server browser filters. -TAB button works so players can see their own score even if they didn't make the top-3. -The Minimap arrow yellow flash lasts longer when a teammate uses a voice or radio command. -Dedicated Server menu has an added function called "Automatic Restart". When checked the server will automatically restart if it crashes or is turned off any other way than pressing the stop server button. -Billboard trees for GeForce 3-4. -Hardware shadows on all cards (GeForce 1-4). -Hardware skinning on animated meshes (wheels, flags, soldiers) (GeForce 3+ and hw vertexshaders cards). *New option to put into videoDefault.con (if wanted) renderer.forceSwSkinning 1 (default is 0 = use hardware if available.) -Tri-stripping (optimizing meshes to improve FPS). -GeForce4 MX support fix that eliminates desktop crashes occurring on some computers.
 * 1) Totally new file structure
 * 1) Gameplay tweaks
 * 1) Cheats removed
 * 1) Sound improvements and optimizations
 * 1) Memory usage optimizations.
 * 2) Physics engine improvements
 * 1) AI optimization
 * 1) Menu
 * 1) Rendering optimization

Patch 1.1
SERVER FIXES -Improved server stability. -Fixed bug that caused server to say it was full when it wasn't. -Servers started from in-game now use settings from dedicated server tool if those settings are not in the in-game Create Game front-end. -LAN servers no longer report to Gamespy master server. -Limiting the bandwidth now works from the dedicated server CLIENT FIXES -All Seeing Eye server browser support added. -Fixed refresh rate locked to 60 hz in Win2k and XP machines. We're working on getting this fix for Win98 and ME machines. To enable this on Win2k and XP machines do the following: -Open the videodefault.con file found in Settings\VideoDefault.con -Edit the line: renderer.allowAllRefreshRates # (where # can be replaced by 0 or 1) -Changing this value to one will allow you to select the refresh rates from the Options>Video section of the in-game frontend. NOTE: the game will default to 640x480. -Fixed bug that caused ammo-boxes and health-cabinets to not work occasionally. -Considerably faster internet in-game browser. -Added icon in the in-game browser for dedicated servers. -Added icon in the in-game browser for password protected servers. -Added icon in the in-game browser showing server CPU status, if it's doing well or if it's bogged down by too many players for it's capacity (this is dependant upon the CPU not the bandwidth). -Added server CPU info in the in-game browser under the server info>rules tab. -Chat text in-game has it's own color so it's easier to see. -Server version number will show correctly in server info> rules tab -Fixed some instances of the internet browser crashing when pressing yes to update to newer version on a 98 machine. -Fixed player ability to sink Kubelwagens into the ground. -Fixed free spectator camera does not turn off, even when unchecked in the server.