As posted on Planet Battlefield...

The special announcement hinted at yesterday has been revealed, and as many guessed the Battlefield 2 booster packs are now free for everyone. Also announced is the release date, which is September 1st. Full changelog can be found below.

After nearly a year of development and three public beta tests Battlefield 2 v1.50 is ready for release. The update will be released on Tuesday 1st September at 5pm UK, 6pm Europe. Stay tuned for release announcement in the near future!

As part of Update 1.50 we are glad to announce that not only is Highway Tampa now a required install included in the update but Euro Forces (Great Wall, Taraba Quarry and Operation Smoke Screen) and Armored Fury (Midnight Sun, Operation Harvest and Operation Road Rage) is now FREE for all Battlefield 2 players. Including the brand new map, Operation Blue Pearl this brings EIGHT new maps that everyone can play and will be added to ranked Battlefield 2 servers world wide. The Booster Pack content is included in the update and has made the file just over 2Gb in size.


Server providers around the world will have access to the client file so find your closest host for best download speeds. To install Battlefield 2 Update v1.50 you must have Battlefield 2 updated to version 1.41 or Battlefield 2 Complete Collection from EA Store installed. Thank you to all of the EAUK Forums (http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-2/) members who have given feedback and requests during the development of this update. The full change log for Update 1.50 is as follows:



Features:

  • Additional support for Windows Vista.
  • Added Highway Tampa as a required map.
  • Added a new map called Operation Blue Pearl.
  • Added Euro Force and Armored Fury as free to play content for all Battlefield 2 players.
  • Added Widescreen support
  • Allowed BF2.exe to use more than 2Gb RAM
  • Added support for the Novint Falcon controller (http://www.novint.com).


Gameplay Tweaks:

  • Changes made to both the J10 and F35B to make them more balanced.
  • AA targeting tweaked to make it more effective.
  • Added checks to prevent "runway grieving".
  • Various changes made to prevent cheating.
  • Tweaked the hit detection, hits will be more accurate to the model.
  • Occasional connection drops after being on a server a couple of minutes - Fixed
  • Prevented use of mouse wheel to provide speed boost to vehicles
  • Prevented use of mouse wheel to exploit parachutes
  • Players can now pass claymores by going prone
  • Update the HUD on TV Guided missiles to increase visibility on maps like Dragon Valley
  • Added Battlefield 2142 style prone deviation (going prone will now cause reduced accuracy for a brief period)


Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed the issue where picking up a players kit would cause CTD
  • Updated BF2OpenAL.dll from version 1.1.1.0 to version 2.1.8.1
  • Updated ch_gas_station collision mesh on Dragon Valley to be consistent with other gas station buildings
  • Fixed the issue where MEC artillery piece on Operation Clean Sweep changes to the USMC's control when they capture the Airfield flag
  • Updated the Challenger2 HUD to show the correct icon instead of the M1A2 HUD icon
  • Changed a PLA FAV to MEC FAV on Road to Jalalabad
  • Tweaked the artillery respawn time on Dragon Valley for to 360 seconds as other artillery uses
  • Included a delay after weapon switch for the Bizon (PP-19) to 0.666
  • Updated the F35B's lock delay to 1 second instead of 1.5 seconds to match other aircraft
  • Changed the Humvee camo on Taraba Quarry to be the correct design
  • Increased the splash damage of the UH-60 (Black Hawk) guns from 0.25 to 1.5
  • Updated the G36E HUD to react the same as other weapons during sprint