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- 8) Common Questions      -
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)) Gameplay ((
----------------------------

<< When is the next patch coming out? >>

- Patch 1.05 will be coming out around the end of November. It will fix a few
stability issues, and some stat padding issues will be addressed. The Titan
Survival Pin will be introduced as well.

<< Will there be an expansion pack for Battlefield 2142? >>

- Most likely. There have been rumors that a third faction will be added in the
upcoming expansion, along with a few North American maps where the ice has
covered most of the continent. It would only make sense as just about every
other Battlefield game has had an expansion month released within half-a-year
after the game's initial release. Also expect potential booster packs to be
released instead.

<< What would you rate Battlefield 2142? >>

- To be frank and simplistic, a [9/10]. My review is a bit biased as I played
Battlefield 2 for one year, and thought that game was a gift from the heavens.
It was. Battlefield 2142 is basically a polished BF2. It takes what went wrong
with the BF2 product, and fixes it. Ranks and point requirements are just about
balanced. I enjoy how each rank gives me a point to earn towards a new unlock.
Most of all, the game has a futuristic element that adds a higher fun factor.
Bashing people on the head with escape pods, the new Titan game mode, and a few
new maps is what really inspired me to get it. Now, most people will claim the
game is just an expansion pack for BF2. Well, in a sense it is. It's like a
total-conversion mod, except better than a mod, and polished more efficiently.
It's still not perfect, but it's getting there.

<< How does the gameplay actually play out? >>

- It plays a lot like Joint Ops, BF2, BF1942, or any other game that involves
infantry combat & vehicles meshed together. Since this is in the future,
everything is pretty much identical, just a tad more fast. Spaceships are there
rather than choppers. Spacesuits are equipped rather than traditional clothes.
The game has what every gamer wants, lots of flag capping, lots of killing, and
lots of explosions.

<< Are there any other versions of Battlefield 2142? >>

- No, this was released exclusive for the PC as of right now.

<< Did this game only come out in the DVD version? >>

- Yes. Originally, BF2 came out in a 3-CD set or DVD disc. BF2142 only came out
in the DVD version. If you do not have a DVD drive, then do not get this game.

<< How good are you at this game? >>

- I'd say I'm better than 70% of the players out there. While ranking is mainly
determined by how much time you invest, I tend to play a wide variety of
classes, and generally end up in the top 3 on my team during a solid round of
gameplay. Unfortunately, due to the overwhelming amount of stat padders, it's
hard right now for anyone legit to really show their earnest rank compared to
anyone non-legit. My strengths lie in sniping, engineer vehicle destroying, and
assault rifling abilities. I rarely play support unless equipped with the
shotgun.

<< What's your character name? >>

- My character name is antseezee. Right now I'm a Chief Petty Officer Gold. I
would be a higher rank, but have taken some time off to play an alternate
character. Like I said, I generally enjoy VOIPing with other squadmates and
kicking butt for the victory.

)) Troubleshooting ((
---------------------

<< I'm getting a horrible FPS, or stuttering frames when playing online? >>

- You probably have close to 512MB of RAM, or a stalling hard-drive. The coders
for BF2142 actually optimized the gaming engine to use less resources, and it's
true. If you compare loading times between BF2 & BF2142 with identical
settings, you'll notice the "Verifying Client Data" bar takes much less time.
Texture loading at the beginning of your first game will eat up less time as
well, which means less stutter lag. I'd recommend at least 1GB of ram. Either
that, or make sure your Hard-drive & video card drivers are up to date.

<< How do I know if my video card works with this game? >>

- Read the official list. You gotta google for it. I know for a fact that
anyone who could run BF2 with a video card can also run BF2142.

<< Are there any other ways to increase BF2142 performance? >>

- Press CTRL + ALT + DEL, and get rid of any unnecessary programs. Quit any
programs in your taskbar, especially file sharers. Make sure your virus scan
programs aren't working in the background. Altering the in-game options can
also increase FPS, or reduce stutter lag. Try putting the textures setting on
Low, but put everything else on High, with exception to Shadows (turn them
off), and Lighting (Low). The game will work significantly well, despite cruddy
textures. You'll get great landscape and appearances for the most part.
Obviously, keeping the base resolution on prevents slowdown issues. Stretching
your resolution out can cause extra unnecessary slowdown.

<< How do I set a custom resolution? >>

- If you're using a laptop, or widescreen display, go to the Battlefield 2142
shortcut, right-click, and look for the command line. After the normal mumbo
jumbo, put +szx (resolution in X, get rid of parentheses), put +szy (resolution
in Y, get rid of parentheses). While the game won't actually reinforce a custom
resolution per say, it will stretch the in-game setting display to match your
screen size. I did this for awhile but tuned it back since it looked awkward.

<< Why isn't my BFHQ updating? >>

- There are two reasons; you must complete a round to get your score recorded &
give it time. BFHQ only records stats on ranked servers. Make sure you did not
play on a non-ranked server. Secondly, you cannot quit during a round and
expect the score to be added. EA only records stats after a round has ended,
and you reach that goofy scoreboard screen. That brief loading process is
actually EA recording down the stats to the respective accounts. Finally, I
have noticed during busy times (a new patch or update) that BFHQ may take up to
two hours to update. Just check it out the next time you log in.

<< I bought the game. Where's the CD Key? >>

- It is located on the back of the instruction manual inside the BF2142 case.
You should see black text printed on the top of the back cover of the
instruction manual. If 2 users with the same CD key log on at the same time,
only one will be permitted to play. The other one will get locked out with a CD
key in use message. Be careful when buying this game on eBay for that exact
reason.

<< My ping is pretty bad. How do I lower it? >>

- Find a better server. Better yet, filter out filled servers, and then click
on the Ping tab at the top to order them from lowest to highest. Only join
servers that give a green lighted bar. Yellow means you'll have close to 100
ping to about 175ish. Red will appear as anything close to 200 or greater.

<< BF2142 starts up and immediately boots back to the desktop. >>

- This means your video card is not sufficient for the game. About 70% of the
time this is the cause. The brief black flash after startup means there's some
incompatibility issue. You most likely have an outdated video card, one not
supported, or possibly outdated drivers. Try updating the drivers. If it
doesn't work, reinstall the game.

<< BF2142 boots to the desktop after playing for awhile. >>

- Probably spyware or a background program running. This is actually happening
on my laptop as of right now, and I'm trying to isolate the process causing the
problem. If you have a wireless mouse, and the batteries are low, the game may
minimize for the mouse drivers to take priority.

<< How do I view my FPS? >>

- Type renderer.drawfps 1 in the console. It will show some red numbers in the
upper left corner. You can turn it off by pressing the same command but putting
in a 0.


)) Tips ((
----------

<< How do I play Recon efficiently? >>

- Use the default sniper rifles for long-range firing, or the Lambert for close
range maps. Use APMs & RDX on defense, or use RDX & the cloak on offense. Go
with a light armor setup with this class.

<< How do I play Assault efficiently? >>

- Try to use the default rifles or the Voss. Get the defibrilator and PK74
Rockets as your equipment setup. These guys make great defenders or great
attackers.

<< How do I play Support efficiently? >>

- Use the LMG on defense, and the shotgun on offense. Use the IPS Shield &
Sentry Gun as your equipment combination. These guys make excellent Titan
defenders.

<< How do I play Engineer efficiently? >>

- Use this class with armor, or when you want to destroy armor. Use this class
during the first half of a Titan round when the enemy's shield is up, then
switch classes when their shield is down. Repair your own vehicle in a safe
spot after a combat-intensive fight. Roller Mines & the Microprocessor are the
2 best equipment combinations.

)) How to Report Cheaters ((
----------------------------

<< How do I report them? >>

- Find a cheater in the game. Now, look at them with their name visible and
take a screenshot (press Print Screen button on top of keyboard near top
right). This will put a screenshot in My Documents/Battlefield
2142/Screenshots/ folder. Take another screenshot of the person performing the
action, and one more of the scorebox showing their name (hold down TAB and
press Print Screen key). Go to:

http://www.bfroe.com/

And then fill in the appropriate information in the box. Upload the screenshot
pictures as proof. If you need a file host for the pictures, go to
www.imageshack.us and host the pictures. Submit the report. The person will
generally have their stats wiped or be deleted within 3-7 days. It seems like a
long process, but it takes 15 minutes, and it rids of one cheater or stat
padder.

<< How to identify cheating? >>

- I will not go into the specifics in fear of revealing an exploit. But
generally cheaters will have points along these lines:

   >> example: 40 Teamwork Points, 2 kills, 1 death
   >> example: 200+ points in a round, mostly all teamwork points

- Stat padders generally hover around your titan guns with an ammo pack
dropped. Stat padders may rack up points via a helojet near a titan with a
specific action occurring. Stat padders may isolate themselves in sections of
the map with an enemy, and kill/revive.

<< Are there rules against exploiting? >>

- Yes, it's in the EULA. EA is clearing names right now. I had someone who I
reported for stat padding. Their entire account was cleared down to 0 points.
Poor guy played one round for 5 points, then never touched the account again.
EA will most likely fix the exploit problems in patch 1.05.

<< How many people on the leaderboards are cheating? >>

- Look at their stats. Anyone with an excessive amount of Resupply points most
likely has cheated. There was a rumored stat that over 60% of people on the
leaderboards were stat padders.

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