f13.net

So I buy it today, DVD version, install it now that I'm finally home after a work function, and when I try to run it the fucker asks me to insert the BF2 installer disc in my drive.

It could be the same protection bullshit that Doom3 had which (after a lot of forum checking) required me to remove some program or another, maybe alchohol, maybe nero, who the fuck knows get a no-CD crack off the net to play the fucking thing I bought.

If it's the same thing here again, and after reading that GTA San Andreas will kill your DVD drive, I feel like I might as well just fucking pirate my PC games from here on in.

My DVD player is fine, I've been playing GTASA a whole hell of a lot.

Moral of the story: the internet is retarded. Don't believe what you read ;) My friend was sure HL2 "burned up" his computer, brought it to me for repairs (I had built it). I dusted it and reseated his RAM and expansion cards, reset all the cables and it ran like a champ (along with a defrag and whatnot). Easy money.

Dunno about BF2 DVD, it should arrive in my town in another few days, I won't even bother looking until the weekend. Yay shitville.

I believe Battlefield 2 uses Safedisc 4 along with something else.

I've got NERO 6 on my machine with a single DVD+/-RW drive and it seems to work. I've seen games refuse to work with a DVD Combo drive but no problems with BF2.  However, my knowledge is coming from using the DVD version of the game. The security algorithm might be slightly different with the CD version.

I also have the DVD version. I've uninstalled daemontools, since I never used them anyway. I went through alchohol 120% turning off all the emulation stuff they require, I don't have cloneCD at all, so that shouldn't be an issue.

For some reason I've had a "ghost/virtual" CDrom drive show up on my machine for ages, more or less since I got it and installed my first pile of crap on it, it never did anything, so I just ignored it. So anyway, I put discs into my two drives (DVD drive and DVD-RW) to make sure I knew which drives are the real ones, went into properties, and disabed the "ghost" drive. Still no love. reboot.

Into properties again and nuked the ghost drive, and again no worky.


I also bought Sims2 + University tonight for my GF, Im expecting the same rigamarole bullshit from that to happen when I try to install it as well. Aside from playing online, I'm not seeing a reason I should support these fucks with my money anymore.

Looks like the no-cd has popped up in the last hour while I've been fucking around deleting shit off my computer.

Shame I have to use No-CD patches regularly to play games I've just bought off the shelf and installed 100% legit. pigfuckers.

How bad or intrusive is copy-protection for this game? Does it try to install anything without asking first? I was considering picking up a copy of it.

And if it does install corporate spyware, can it be easily bulked from the system?

I don't download illegal games, music, whatever. Since I don't break the law, I expect the courtesy of being able to control what's on my own damned hard drive. If I can't, I will not purchase BF2.

*cranky luddite who votes with his wallet*

Since I had posted about GTASA destroying my drive, let me post a follow up:

I wound up taking my PC to a shop and throwing money at it. My Pioneer DVD burned apparently took a shit on it's own and it was simple coincidence. The Toshiba I replaced it with that I couldn't get to work was bad from the factory. The second Toshiba burner I got on exchange for the first bad one was also bad. I said fuck it and bought a Sony burner at Walmart and it worked fine. Talking to the tech guys at the shop, apparently DVD burners are still pretty unreliable in that they may or may not work from the factory and they just aren't as reliable or durable as CD burners are/were. From what they were saying, at the level of use I put mine through (between 20 and 40gigs a day on average), it was a miracle it lasted almost a year.

The f13.net/thew0rld.com retail server is up @ 209.59.137.153:16567

Enjoy.

Do we have a definitive answer on the copy protection/spyware/anal rape installation yet? I want one of you clowns to take the bullet for me and warn me not to pick up my preorder  :evil:

I'm going to pick up the DVD version now. After I get home I'll run a protection detector thingy on it and see what it is.

I'm playing it no-cd patched right now. The gameplay is good, it's crashed to desktop once so far, and the ingame browser sucks donkey balls. It's like every decent thing that was part of the BF'42 browser has been removed. No friends tracking, no favorite servers, no easily-refreshed lists. worst.browser.ever.

I do think the version 1.1 patch should have been out on release day though..  :roll:

fun game though, I feel guilty enjoying it so much considering how fucking unpolished the game is. I wish someone would do a proper BF knockoff and do it well. I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet really. Not like "FPS+tanks+choppers+sand" is a watertight IP or anything...

Scanning -> D:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\BF2.exe
File Type : Exe, Size : 7401174 (070EED6h) Bytes
-> File has 1486038 (016ACD6h) bytes of appended data starting at offset 05A4200h
[!] Safedisc 4.00.001 detected !
[!] Possible CD/DVD-Key or Serial Check -> cdkey
- Scan Took : 0.344 Seconds

Scanning -> D:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 2\CoreDLL.dll
File Type : Dll, Size : 1487063 (016B0D7h) Bytes
-> File has 1465559 (0165CD7h) bytes of appended data starting at offset 05400h
[!] Safedisc 4.00.001 detected !
- Scan Took : 0.844 Seconds

Yah, I'm the same way. My preorder is in but I might just wait until they release a patch. I can play the demo to hold me over.

The server browser is the thing I hate the most. What a piece of crap! For crying out loud, it's not that hard!

I also hate SafeDisc crap: it doesn't prevent people from pirating, it just annoys the hell out of people who own legit copies. I can't believe companies still buy that load of marketing crap. Surely that licensing + implementing budget could have been allocated towards making a slick, kickass server browser.

I'm not buying it. Too many customer complaints on the day of release. Also - the packaging is the shittiest big release packaging I've ever seen.

EA just sucks. Period.

Any of this in any way harmful or spy-ware-ish?

Not like Starforce.

So it's essentially the clap as opposed to full on AIDS?

Most importantly would it come off if I rub my penis with some soap?

More like some genital herpes. All you need is a trip to the free clinic and a handful of Valtrex. If it's good enough for Ron Mexico...

A lot from your store as well? Please share, if so.
I'm wondering if the (SD4?) issue I'm having has been common.

Packaging? Just the oversized EA dvd case as per usual?

And yes. Yes they do.

Yes, Yes, yes, and yes.

I got game... serves me right for caving in and buying another EA product. It is buggy and slow. For me it crashes to desctop every 30 mins, loads levels very sllooooow even on minimal everything settings with my ADM64 1G DDR Radeon9800 WinXP. IMO avoid this title or stick to demo.

If you have the video card for the game, it is fun.

I'm running an AMD64 with 2gb memory and a X800 XL.

I'm having fun.  Nyah nyah nyah.

You don't deserve fun though. I hope it has the EA_666 virus.

Remember when I said you can talk about movies anymore? I'm going to amend that to cover everything.

To sum up:

Shockeye bought an EA Game, likes Dune, and doesn't like eggs.

Ok, BF2 has crashed to desktop twice now after getting a game started on the Linux server.

The server is still running, but the game crashes.

I want my money back.

During my one session of playing it so far, I got randomly disconnected from servers 4 times, and a desktop crash once.

The BF formula is in dire need of being ripped off by/the inspiration of a dev who gives a shit about their games.

I guess it's going to be a bit of a guilty pleasure.  :x

Sodomizing yourself with a bag of grapefruits is a guilty pleasure. Supporting EA is another thing entirely.

I endorse neither.

But know which one I'd choose at gunpoint.

At least with Shadowbane you got a sb.exe error...

GONORRHIFIC MEERCAT BALLSWEAT.

I don't know where Haemish is.

It's supposed to be red, but the content is there.

I still play SB, haven't had SB.exe for few months now. I used to hate SB.exe, since most SB.exe happened was right before important fight. Well SB.exe is not fun, I'm glad its almost gone. Sb.exe.

You must be trying to get banned.

Back on topic: I've so far had no technical problems, but my card is supported so that could be a reason I guess.  The interface is fucking horrible, and I'm getting more pissed off by the second because of not knowing how to do half the shit in the game(such as activate/enable/whatfuckingever voicechat).  So far I'm playing like a tribes newb and smashing flying vehicles into infantry half the time and crashing while trying the other half.  Who the fuck thought that not inverting flight controls for the jet would be a good idea?  Only every flight sim before this game has the controls inverted for pitching up/down.

I agree, however you really really need a joystick for the aircraft - especially the choppers.

Stick to tanks and other ground vehicles if you don't have a joystick, you'll enjoy them a lot more.

You can set your controls per vehicle.  Just go to Controls, then the Aircraft tab, and click the Invert button on the bottom left.

My card's supported, yet I've had 1 crash to desk.

It's just not a polished game. The voicechat key is "B". It's a click-to-talk, not a toggle.
Not having the invert for flying as default is silly, but it's just a click in the plane and chopper controls. That's the least of the game's issues ;)

I just wish the game had proper stingers, like in DC. And some large flat maps a la Desert Storm/73 Easting/El Alamein

My card is supported, but I still crash to desktop. I never had that problem with the demo.

Thanks DICE/EA.

Thanks for the heads up.

Yet another game for me to not buy when I get back to the US.

GW and MtG:O it is, then.

More bitching about BF2 can be found in this thread. (http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=3744.0)

Seeing as how ranked servers are all but unplayable because of the warping and rubberbanding, I returned my copy of Battlefield 2 to the store. After getting store credit for the buggy POS, I got a Gamecube game for my kid and a Logitech wireless Xbox controller for myself.

Avoid this game. The promise is great, the delivery is shit.

I may look at it again after a few months of patching and a price reduction.

Sweden, you're on thin ice.

Make sure to rename EA.bik in Battlefield 2/mods/bf2/movies unless you want to "challange everything" every time to load the game. Keep files to pass PB. Anyone figured out a way to speed up loads?

Runs fine for me so far, but I didn't play a whole lot last night.