Communication

Communication in Battlefield 1942 and Battlefield Vietnam refers to sending radio commands using the Function keys F1 to F8. The player first chooses the category of message to be sent with a Function key, and then chooses the specific message with another key.

From Battlefield 2 onwards, use of the Function keys has been replaced by the Commo Rose.

Battlefield 1942

In Battlefield 1942, the communication interface can be hidden using F8, which is mapped to On/Off, though even when off, messages can still be sent normally. Likewise, if a category of messages is already chosen, one can also use F8 to cancel and return to the larger list.

Bots do not react to messages sent by the player.

Broadcast

Broadcast messages are global. They are played through a filter, and coordinates of the player who sent the message are displayed in the chat.

• F1 Confirm: Yes or no.
  • F1 Roger: “Roger that”
  • F2 Negative: “Negative”
• F2 Request: Requests for various kinds of support.
  • F1 Pickup: “Requesting pickup”
  • F2 Reinforcement: “Requesting reinforcements”
  • F3 Anti-Tank: “Requesting anti-tank support”
  • F4 Naval: “Requesting naval support”
  • F5 Air: “Requesting air support”
  • F6 Artillery Ready: “Artillery ready for barrage”
  • F7 APC: “Requesting apc^[sic] support”
• F3 Spotted: Warnings of a nearby enemy that the player has spotted.
  • F1 Armor: “Enemy armor spotted”
  • F2 Infantry: “Enemy infantry spotted”
  • F3 Unit: “Enemy unit spotted”
  • F4 Ship: “Enemy ship spotted”
  • F5 Submarine: “Enemy submarine spotted”
  • F6 Airplane: “Enemy airplane spotted”
  • F7 Scout: “Enemy scout spotted”
• F4 Game: Tactical commands for the whole team. All game modes except Capture the Flag share one set of commands:

• F1, F2, F3, F5, F6, F7 Capturable control points on the map. In the chat, the name of the control point is written in brackets, followed by “Attacking!” or “Defending!” depending on the ownership of the control point.
• F4 Closest: The closest control point to the player.

The commands for Capture the Flag are as follows:

• F4 Go for enemy flag!: “Go for the enemy flag”
• F5 Protect flag!: “Protect our flag”
• F6 Get flag back!: “Get our flag back”
• F7 Protect flag carrier!: “Protect the flagcarrier^[sic]”

Shout

Shout messages are local. They are played without a filter and are only audible to players nearby.

• F5 Confirm: Yes or no, in addition to whether the player is defending or attacking a target.
  • F3 Defending!: “Defending!”
  • F4 Attacking!: “Attacking!”
  • F5 Roger!: “Roger that!!”
  • F6 Negative!: “Negative!”
• F6 Alarms: Warnings of potential dangers.
  • F1 Wait!: “Wait!”
  • F2 Fire!: “Fire!”
  • F3 Hold fire!: “Hold your fire!”
  • F4 Fire in the hole!: “Fire in the hole!”
  • F5 Medic!: “Medic!” (Out of vehicle) / Need repairs!: “Need repairs!” (In vehicle)
  • F6 Take cover!: “Take Cover!”
  • F7 Bail out!: “Bail out!” / Abandon ship!: “Abandon ship!” (In a naval vehicle)
• F7 Tactics: Commands for nearby players to cooperate, increasing the effectiveness of the group.
  • F1 Cover me!: “Cover me!”
  • F2 Hold position!: “Hold this position!”
  • F3 Go for enemy flag!: “Go for the enemy flag”
  • F4 Fall back!: “Fall back!”
  • F5 Stick together!: “Stick together!” (Out of vehicle) / Get in!: “Get in!” (In vehicle)
  • F6 Follow me!: “Follow me!”
  • F7 Go!: “Go go go!”

Battlefield Vietnam

The communication system in Battlefield Vietnam extends the system in Battlefield 1942 with some additional commands. A new setting option called "Expanded radio commands" needs to be applied if the player wishes to use the full set of commands. This can be changed during an ongoing game.

• F1 Confirm (Broadcast)
  • F1 Roger: “Affirmative”
  • F2 Negative: “Negative”
  • F2 Thank you: “THANK YOU”
  • F2 Sorry: “SORRY”
• F2 Request
  • F1 Pickup: “Requesting pickup”
  • F2 Reinforce: “Requesting reinforcements”
  • F3 Support
    • F1 Armor: “Armor Support”
    • F2 Airstrike: “Air Strike”
    • F3 River: “River Support”
    • F3 Helicopter: “Helicopter Support”
  • F4 Cease fire: “Cease Fire”
  • F5 Airlift: “Requesting Airlift”
  • F6 Req. Target: “Requesting a Target”
• F3 Spotted
  • F1 Air
    • F1 Helicopter: “Enemy helicopter spotted”
    • F2 Airplane: “Enemy airplane spotted”
  • F2 Land
    • F1 Infantry: “Enemy infantry spotted”
    • F1 Scout: “Enemy scout spotted”
    • F1 Armor: “Enemy armor spotted”
    • F1 Artillery: “Enemy artillery spotted”
  • F3 Naval
    • F1 Ship: “Enemy ship spotted”
• F4 Game: The player needs to first manually choose the message to be sent, followed by the control point. There is no longer the option to detect the nearest control point.
  • F3 Cleared: “CLEARED”
  • F4 Attack: “Attack”
  • F5 Defend: “Defend”
  • F6 Attack!: “Attacking!”
  • F7 Defend!: “Defending!”
• F5 Confirm (Shout)
  • F1 Roger!: “Roger that!!”
  • F2 Negative!: “Negative!”
  • F4 Attack!: “Attacking!”
  • F5 Defend!: “Defending!”

The two commands above, Attack! and Defend!, require the player to specify a control point.

• F6 Alarms
  • F1 Taunt: No text is displayed in the chat.
  • F2 Wait!: “Wait!”
  • F3 Fire!: “Fire!”
  • F4 Hold fire!: “Hold your fire!”
  • F5 Take cover!: “Take Cover!”
  • F6 Bail!: “Bail out!”
• F7 Tactics
  • F1 Cover me!: “Cover me!”
  • F2 Hold!: “Hold this position!”
  • F3 Go for flag!: “Go for the enemy flag”
  • F4 Retreat!: “Fall back!”
  • F5 Gather!: “Stick together!”
  • F6 Follow!: “Follow me!”
  • F7 Go!: “GO !”

If "Expanded radio commands" is turned off, the range of commands will be limited. Two or three commands are mapped to each Function key, and the player can access the different commands by pressing the key once, twice or thrice rapidly in succession.

• F1 Roger / Negative
• F2 Reinforce / Pickup / Airlift
• F3 Req. Target / Enemy
• F4 Follow! / Cover me!
• F5 Cease fire / Taunt
• F6 Go! / Gather!
• F7 Thank you / Sorry

Singleplayer

However, in singleplayer, the number of available commands has been reduced greatly.

• F1 Pickup
• F2 Reinforce
• F3 Hold!
• F4 Follow!
• F5 Go!
• F6 Bail!

In Battlefield Vietnam, bots near the player start to reply to the player's Request and Tactics commands with a simple "Roger" or "Negative", neither of which is accessible by the player in singleplayer (though they are available in co-op). All bots near the player will reply at once. However, bots will not issue their own commands.