article

Battlefield 1942 is an expansive first-person shooter (FPS) set in World War II developed by Digital Illusions CE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows (2002) and Apple Macintosh (2004). The game can be played single-player against bots, but most playtime has been in its multiplayer Internet games.

Battlefield 1942 combines realistic 3D computer graphics with extensive gameplay . Players are able to fly fighter aircraft and bombers, navigate capital ships and aircraft carriers, man coastal defenses, drive tanks and jeeps, control stationary weapons on the battlefield or aboard vehicles or just fight as one of five classes of infantry. Some believe that Battlefield 1942 had one of the most realistic physics and game engines available in FPSs on the market when it came out in 2002; however, this is debatable as tanks tended to lob shells (which should have had a very flat trajectory) and target leading was arguably due to game and network lag rather then programmed physics.

Each battle takes place on one of several maps located in a variety of places and famous battlefields in all of the major theaters of World War II: the Pacific, European, North African and Eastern Fronts. While the combat is always Axis Powers versus Allies, the location determines which specific armies are used (for example, on the Iwo Jima map, it is Japan versus the United States, while on the Battle of Britain map, it is Germany versus the United Kingdom). The maps in Battlefield 1942 are based on real battles, but are not necessarily realistically portrayed.

The gameplay has a more cooperative focus as it is not only important to kill the opposition but to also hold certain "control points" around the map. These control points allow players and vehicles to respawn as well as reduce the enemy's reinforcement pool if enough are held. Unfortunately, the gameplay suffered from some serious issues such as: lack of spawn protection, team killers/griefers, various map and engine abuses, as well a lack of team play mentality from players on public servers.

In 2005, there were more than 1,500 servers running Battlefield 1942 at a time, with up to 64 players playing on each. The number of servers has dropped as of April 2006 - around 800-900 servers with about 2,500 players online - though this is still quite respectable for a game of such age, testament to the games lasting appeal. Some contribution to this extended popularity may be attributed to the fact its sequels (Battlefield Vietnam and Battlefield 2) has yet to be ported to the Apple Mac platform, and many players prefer the WWII setting of the game as opposed to the more modern weapons and vehicles of its sequels.

Expansion packs

The creators of Battlefield 1942 have released expansion packs entitled Battlefield 1942: The Road to Rome and Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII. Both add various new gameplay modes and design concepts. Road to Rome features a focus on the Italian battles and Secret Weapons of World War II focuses on prototype, experimental, and rarely used weapons. Downloadable patches fix bugs in the game and sometimes add extra content (such as the aforementioned Battle of Britain map).

Mods

Since its release on September 11, 2002, there have been a large number of mods (modifications) developed by independent gamers and studios (see list of Battlefield 1942 mods). Each mod changes the gameplay by adding new content, gameplay balance, or both. There are dozens of a large content total conversions and many times that number of smaller gameplay, texture, and sound modifications. The most famous of these, Desert Combat, moves the setting to modern combat in the Middle East. Modern helicopters and tanks were introduced for the first time. The creators of the Desert Combat mod were hired by EA to work on Battlefield 2. Desert Combat itself has been the subject of several modifications such as Desert Combat Realism Mod, and other gameplay and realism mods. Forgotten Hope is a popular mod that centers on delivering a realistic World War Two game experience.

BF1942 mods have greatly aided the success of the game, driving sales and popularity of the game later into its life cycle. Players of the many modifications typically outnumber those playing the original game online (see Bftracks' mod statistics). Early on there was little mod support by the developers and no SDK to work with. The release of a Battlefield Mod Development Toolkit (MDT) offered some support, though early versions were criticized as not being extensive enough. Battlecraft42, a tool for creating maps (also for Battlefield Vietnam), was also released for the game. BF has also spawned a modding wiki for the game. *. The Mac OS X version of Desert Combat, SilentHeroes and other mods are available from Macologist.

Comparisons of Battlefield 1942 mods

For a graph comparison of the popularity of currently played BF mods see: BF Tracks. Another tracking site, Csports.net also offers comparisons of BF42 and other computer games statistics.

Development

Battlefield 1942 was a development of the less successful Codename Eagle (2000) computer game which was set in an alternate history World War I. It featured single and multiplayer modes. The earlier engine had more arcade-style physics and a less realistic focus than its sequel. A fan-made port of the game to the Battlefield 1942 engine, compatible with the 1.45 patch was made though. In continuation of the series, Digital Illusions developed a sequel to Battlefield 1942 called Battlefield Vietnam. It has conceptual similarities to the Desert Combat mod, except that instead of present-day helicopters and tanks, it features Vietnam War-era weapons comprising the game's arsenal. Its new features include a new game engine that heavily uses normal mapping, multiple weapons for most classes, and new maps. The most recent game in the Battlefield series is Battlefield 2 which has a Desert Combat-like theme, some changes to gameplay, and an updated graphics engine. The extreme demand for the Battlefield 2 demo upon its release crashed servers around the world as fans flocked to download it.

More patches and maps may still be released in the future for Battlefield 1942, and a Macintosh compatible version of BF1942 was also made and released in mid-2004. A huge amount of content is available in the form of its many mods, with an unknown amount still to be added. With the release of new battlefield games, another full-blown expansion pack for Battlefield 1942 is unlikely. The Macintosh port by Aspyr Media, and especially the 1.61d patch which added full mod support, added a new influx of players as do the periodic releases of mods.

Gameplay statistics and player rankings

Player statistics and rankings are not officially colated by EA/DICE; however, there are third-party websites which have similar functionality.

Milestones

  • June 28, 2004 - Aspyr begins shipping the Apple Macintosh Version of Battlefield 1942
  • March 15, 2004 - 3 million copies sold, BF1942's sequel, Battlefield Vietnam released
  • October 10, 2003 - 2 million copies sold
  • September 4, 2003 - Secret Weapons expansion pack released
  • August 8, 2003 - Battlefield 1942 Secret Weapons demo released (Hellendorn map)
  • February 2, 2003 - Road to Rome expansion pack released
  • 2003 - 6th annual Interactive Achievement Awards, BF1942 receives awards for:
    • "Online Gameplay"
    • "Innovation in PC Gaming"
    • "PC Game of the Year"
    • "Game of the Year"
  • September 10, 2002 - Battlefield 1942 released
  • August 16, 2002 - Battlefield 1942 multiplayer demo released (Wake Island map)
  • July 19, 2002 - Battlefield 1942 single-player demo released (Tobruk map)

Weapons

Vehicles

Maps

See also

External links

2002 computer and video games | First-person shooters | Multiplayer online games | Windows games | Mac OS games | Electronic Arts games | World War II games | Cancelled Xbox games | Computer and video games featuring cooperative gameplay

Battlefield 1942 | Battlefield (Computerspiel) | Battlefield | Battlefield 1942 | Battlefield 1942 | Battlefield 1942 | バトルフィールド (コンピューターゲーム) | Battlefield 1942 | Battlefield 1942 | Battlefield 1942 | Battlefield 1942 | Battlefield 1942

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Battlefield 1942".

Home Page • arts • business • computers • games • health • hospitals • home • kids & teens • news • physicians • recreation• reference • regional • science • shopping • society • sports • world