BF2 expansions: some more due in Spring 2006

[DAve]

Battlefield 2 Special Forces an online success
Digital Illusions CE AB (publ) 2005-12-22
Digital Illusions’ expansion pack Battlefield 2 Special Forces was launched in the end of November 2005. This was the first product Electronic Arts sold directly to consumers over the internet.

The test was so successful that the PC game – another expansion pack to Battlefield 2 – planned for launch during spring 2006 now will be changed to booster packs to be sold online.

Every tenth copy of the expansion pack Battlefield 2 Special Forces was over the Internet, and the rest of the copies were sold to retailers. When games are sold online directly to consumers Digital Illusions earns more money per product than if they are sold through retailers.

- We see online sales as a very interesting channel in the future. Digital Illusions work together with EA to find the best solutions that favours both the consumers and retailers, said Patrick Söderlund, CEO of Digital Illusions.

The Battlefield 2 expansion pack planned to be launched during spring 2006 is now replaced by two booster packs. The change means slightly lower project revenues during the fourth quarter 2005 than during the third, due to a lower development budget. The anticipation though is that this will be compensated by higher royalty revenues during the first six month 2006.

The expansion packs in the Battlefield series have new maps, vehicles and weapons. Each Battlefield booster pack will have new but fewer maps, vehicles and weapons. Instead they are sold to a lower price: 9.99 USD. An expansion pack is usually sold at between 19.90 USD and 29.90 USD. Today at least two Battlefield 2 booster packs are planned for spring 2006.
http://global.dice.se/press/pressreleases/?article=f0e81a34-bd1a-45e7-837a-2b5f22f50eda

In happier news, is anyone BF2-ing tonight?

[--Mogwai--]

just got BF2 the other day, obviously been playing it non-stop since. hopefully some of you guys will be up for a game tonight, show me the ropes when it comes to squads.

[Strings]

Cant make it tonight.. have a couple of ladder matches on ED. You'll pick it up quite intuitively Mogwai. Will take you about 45 minutes... and you will be hooked etc etc 8)

[Bluepixie]

Just make sure you have nothing else to do because it will eat you! Watch for flash-bangs. Spec Ops monkeys.

[--Mogwai--]

its blatantly all about the medic, sooo many free points. also a pretty sweet rifle unlock. can you guys post IPs of your regular servers??? my s/n is -x-m0gw4i-x-, incase you see me. most likely being a jet-n00b. apparently not crashing takes some geting used to.

[Strings]

The in game server browser is so shite IMO, I just go to whatver server is playing a nice map with the best ping. Tends to be Multiplay ones... i think.

[Bluepixie]

I wonder how many souls EA got for Christmas this year?

[DAve]

http://www.ea.com/official/battlefield/battlefield2/us/editorial.jsp?src=communityupdate_011106


Community Update 1/11/06

Hello everyone and a Happy New Year to all of you.

Today we have some big announcements that we’re excited to share with you! First of all, news about 2 new booster packs that will expand the battlefields of Battlefield 2, Battlefield 2: Euro Force and Battlefield 2: Armored Fury.

Euro Force will be released on February 8th and sees the introduction of the all-new European Army in 3 new maps. Each Euro soldier will come equipped with a new primary weapon, from the FNP90 to the Benelli Tactical Shotgun. There will also be 4 new vehicles, including the (in)famous Eurofighter. The 3 maps are “Operation Smoke Screen�, “The Great Wall of China� and “Taraba Quarry�.

Armored Fury will be released on March 28th and the focus is on large mechanized battles, harking back to the El Alamein style maps on BF1942. There will be 3 new maps – “Midnight Sun�, “Operation Harvest� and “Operation Road Rage� – but also 2 new vehicle classes. Attack Jets and Recon Helicopters, which can spot nearby enemy units, will make their debut.

Both packs will be available exclusively online at www.downloader.ea.com at $9.99 each (€9.99 in Europe and £5.99 in the UK).

As well as these booster packs, we are of course still utterly devoted to providing updates to Battlefield 2. We can’t say it enough; thank you all for your support and dedication! Update 1.2 is currently undergoing public beta testing and will be released very soon. As with the first list, this second list includes confirmed fixes only:

* Helicopter now carry 8 missiles rather than 14
* TV-Guided missile now have a shorter range
* Hit points on all air vehicles has been reduced
* AA missile lock has been improved
* Support kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
* Sniper kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
* Anti-Tank kits have had their primary weapons adjusted for accuracy
* "Dolphin Diving" is no longer possible
* Players can no longer jump and shoot at the same time
* "Prone Spamming" is now fixed
* "Sprint exploit" is now fixed
* The Sa80 weapon has been improved
* The G3A3 weapon has been improved
* Reload while sprinting has been enabled
* Chinese and MEC APCs can now shoot through penetrable materials
* Damage decreased for the M134
* Medic defibrillator paddles have been adjusted. They now reload while not in use.
* Server search filters now work properly
* All mines (Claymore, Anti-vehicle, C4) can now be picked up by the same class that dropped it by using the “G� key.
* Mines can no longer be destroyed with other explosives
* Flash bang effect radius decreased
* Added unlocks for Sniper and AT kits
* Fixed a bug in terrain rendering with night vision, whereby terrain was still dark in dark areas.
* Fixed a bug whereby mods that are not bf2 or not xpack permutate shaders every time a level is loaded.
* Fixed a bug whereby non-xpack mods cannot use xpack shaders.
* Fixed bug in TV guided missiles of Havoc helicopter
* Bug in MP7 fire rate fixed. Ammo count increased and mag count and damage decreased
* APC Update – “Chinese and MEC APCs can now shoot through penetrable materials�. This fix was a miscommunication to the patch team. Chinese and MEC APC’s have been reverted and the LAV25 now no longer shoots through penetrable materials.
* Vehicles no longer disappear when viewed from some vehicles with a HUD (e.g. Tanks).
* Performance gain found in static mesh rendering.
* Detonation radius from grenade launcher explosions has been reduced.
* Grenade launcher projectiles now have a minimum time before arming.



As always, thanks for your support and keep talking – we’re listening.

Your friends at EA and DICE

[Bluepixie]

All sounds good, there is hope for the game yet. Not sure about these new add on packs though. :?

[Exuus]

Anyone feel like buying Euro Force for me as a birthday present? :P

[Sideshow]

* AA missile lock has been improved

Yay.


* "Dolphin Diving" is no longer possible

Huh?


* Players can no longer jump and shoot at the same time
* "Prone Spamming" is now fixed
* "Sprint exploit" is now fixed

Thank Christ!


* Reload while sprinting has been enabled

You always could do this - start the reload, then hold sprint.


* Server search filters now work properly

Also yay.



I actually think I'm gonna get both the booster packs. Not getting Spec ops though. Assholes.

[Strings]

Glad they've fixed the server filters... definitely one of my biggest complaints.

But to everything else.... :D

[Fyndir]

I actually think I'm gonna get both the booster packs. Not getting Spec ops though. Assholes.

Why not? 0_o

I have it, got it for Christmas, it's pretty fun.