(I thought I'd move this off the article on the main page and start a forum thread.)
I have a couple of suggestions for the BF2 server, if you don't mind.
Could you allow the map vote system to work when only one human is playing? Right now it takes two humans.

Can you increase the tickets? Two hundred tickets go fast, especially with more bots on one side. Games seem to be over very quickly. If this was intentional, so be it, I can live with it.

I've enjoyed playing on it, even though it is hard as hell for me! This is the most I've played the Hard Justice mod. (I prefer AIX, but that's me. However, there are a lot of AIX servers running, and only a handful running HJ).

I have not seen any other humans in the game yet, but hopefully that will change soon. Look for me in-game as Aknot_the_bot.

Thanks!

GP: Thanks for starting the new thread.

The map vote system seems to have a minimum of 2 players, which is lame. I tried pushing it down to 1 player but it just throws an error. If you know of a way around this, please let me know. If all else fails, I'll try to set things up so you can switch maps using admin commands from chat.

The current number of starting tickets was just the default, I believe. Either that or it's something I arrived at long ago. Perhaps it would be helpful if I could get a sense of how long you think a map should last. You may have noticed that there's currently a time limit of one hour. I can always remove that, but does an hour seem about right to you? When you say 'too quickly', just how much time are we talking about? Anyway, I'm okay with changing the ticket numbers, but I'd like to have some kind of plan first.

BF2 in general is difficult. The bots in BF2 are much smarter than in BF42. Note that while the bots on TPU are cranked up as far as possible, the bot AI on TPUBF2 is only at 80%. I've tried playing against 100% AI bots, and it's a bitch. Keep me posted on how you're doing with the difficulty level; if you think of it, let me know what specifically you're finding most difficult.

When I first fired up the BF2 server, three random players showed up and played for a while. Since then I've seen you (not-a-bot) and a few others. I think people join, realize it's co-op vs. bots, and leave. Oh well, their loss.

Also please let me know how you're joining the server and whether it shows up in various server lists.

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-- Jeff (boot13)

Jeff, I was concerned that the mapvote system was something that could not be changed. Boy, some of the decisions the BF2 developers had were really stupid!
I chuckle when I see the map max is 1 hr, because I never get close to it. A map may last 10 or 15 minutes. That's not exact, but I definitely know it is less than 30 minutes. The enemy bots take control of the flags very quickly and then concentrate all their forces on the human team's main base. I'm not sure what the US bots are doing, but they can't hold flags. I know that the Commander bot is pretty awful. He/it is constantly changing objectives. If/when more humans find the server and join, it will be okay.

I have been joining the server directly through the in-game server list. I manually added the IP to my favorites in xfire, so I can see it there.

On another note, my game crashed to desktop a couple of times when I tried to join the server when running the Alcatraz map. I'm still investigating to see if the problem is on my end. I have never played that map before. I'll let you know....

Thanks!

Thanks for that. I extended the ticket ratio from 200% to 300% so that should help with the round length. Right now I'm trying to figure out why the BF2 dedicated server program is crashing so much. It seems to go for long periods without any issues, then crashes repeatedly. I thought it might be when I join, so I'm going to join via the LAN instead of via the Internet, which should help. Meanwhile the other problems is that when the server crashes, it throws up a crash dialog that has to be acknowledged before the server can auto-restart. I'm working on that.

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-- Jeff (boot13)

Cilens and I (and Marcel for a bit) were on together Sunday. Cilens and I both had lag and freeze issues. I'm on the US East Coast and they are in Europe, so our pings are understandably high. The game did crash while we were on.
I wish Basrah wasn't the first map in the rotation. That map is hard, even with three of us playing, and I have to keep playing it when the server reboots. It quickly goes to a defensive fire fight at the main base until the tickets bleed to zero (pity me!).
I haven't been able to test Alcatraz again on the server. Like I posted earlier, my game crashed to desktop when trying to load the map. With the server issues yesterday, I have not gotten that far into the map rotation again. I do know that I was able to run the game in singleplayer mode. It is a 64-player map, which is system-intensive, so my fps were pretty darn low.

I'll remove Alcatraz from the rotation for now. I'm still working on getting the server to restart properly when it crashes. Currently it sometimes sits there waiting for someone to click the OK button on the crash dialog, and nothing moves until that happens. I will also choose a different map for the first one besides Basrah.

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-- Jeff (boot13)

Let's move the discussion here, shall we?

I tried out the Desert Patrol Vehicle; entering the 3rd position doesn't give me a crash, however you'll find an M16A2 with an M203 attachment (the assault kit in vanilla BF2) there as a static weapon and its locked in the grenade launcher firing mode. You guessed it...firing it gives an immediate CTD .
Does this happen to you too Jeff?

I did forget; Point of Existence 2 and Battlefield Pirates 2 seem to be good mods too.
Also a semi-offtopic question: How do you manage to play at 95%/2:1? You yourself said that at 80%/3:2 it's impossible to win.

The intentional server crashes seems to be something EA/Dice doesn't care about.

Yes, thanks.

I will check out the M16A2/M203. I definitely confirmed that attempting to enter an A10 causes the server to crash and all clients to lose their connection. So let's stay away from A10s for now. I also started a local co-op HJ server on my client machine and was able to enter an A10 in that context, so the problem appears to be with the HJ server files.

I also did a totally clean, new install of the BF2/HJ server files on the server and the A10 problem remains.

Okay, thanks. I've added them to the list to check out.

When I used to play with my buddy we always had 90% (not 95%, sorry) bot skill but we also used even teams. We won about half the time, but it would have been difficult without the two of us.

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-- Jeff (boot13)

I would say Basrah is easier now with even teams. It doesn't fix the friendly bots' apparent aversion to holding flags, but at least there are more of them.
Taking out pilots from the ground is very possible, and a cool challenge. On the AiX mod, I've sniped helo pilots from the deck of the carrier. But yes, in HJ, aircraft are under constant attack from ground forces (AA) and they are darn accurate.
I have yet to try POE, but I have tried Pirates 2. Boy those pirates are mean!

We should be on lookout for anyone trying to crash the server this way.


It might become too easy when there are more players on.


I play a lot as commander so I know what you mean. They really love the Hotel flag at Basrah and defend it to their death (which is soon because they like to clutter up so a grenade or gas easily takes them out). I also noticed they behaved much better when you were there as a medic with them. It seems they need players as Squad Leaders to be efficient. Without them I can get them to move but they usually get killed in the alleyways.


...especially the Tunguska-M1 which fires a salvo of AA missiles. They can bypass your flares.


I've been testing both a bit and Pirates 2 seems a no-go...it has limited bot support and what little it has seems to crash a lot...Pity because its kind of fun.
POE2 on the other hand hasn't crashed on me at all. It has some well-made atmospheric maps like Pripyat (Chernobil) and the whole setting is quite believable (and German forces in the Ukraine area is a rare occasion anyway ) The story also kind of adds to the original POE from BFV.

Speaking of other Battlefields; Jeff when will EoD be on as wildcard? Just asking since I like BF1918 the same (maybe even more).