Patch 1.3 English file - Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2

Ghost Recon by Red Storm - English retail v1.3 patch

WHAT'S NEW
==========
If you have any problems with this patch, please contact Ubi Soft Technical
Support at Support.ubi.com

Thanks for purchasing Ghost Recon. This patch was created to address problems
experienced by and concerns voiced by the Ghost Recon community. We've worked
to improve the Ghost Recon multiplayer and single player experience while still
maintaining the realism and gameplay that is our hallmark.

You must install the same language version of the patch as your copy of Ghost
Recon -- users with the English language version of Ghost Recon must install
the English patch, users with the French language version must install the
French patch, etc. Once this patch is installed, your Ghost Recon will no
longer be compatible with earlier versions.

**** WARNING ****
Replay files from a previous version of Ghost Recon will no longer work once
the patch is installed. However, saved campaigns and other settings WILL work
without problems after patching.

Enjoy Ghost Recon and we'll see you online.

-The Ghost Recon Team

WHAT'S NEW
==========

NOTE: Replay files from a previous version of Ghost Recon will no longer work
once a mission pack or patch is installed. However, saved campaigns and other
settings WILL continue to work normally.

Version 1.3
-----------

GENERAL
-------
- New command map quick view modes, N and M by default
- Replay playback speed controlled with +/-, pause/unpause with P
- Headshots should kill more reliably
- Changing to or from underbarrel weapon is instantaneous
- Added reticule impulse when switching to a firearm
- Binoculars are now standard equipment, L key by default
- Added UI for Software Sound option
- Multiplayer kits now available in quick mission
- Improvements to the loading screen
- Can change your actor names in a campaign
- Campaign kit assignments are now properly remembered
- No longer leave crawling sounds behind when stand up during crawl
- Confirmation dialogs added on End Mission and Quit
- Increasing mod priority in options maintains selection
- Now get 4 stat points in quickmission game types
- Improved quickmission screen layout
- Map selection now preserved across game type change when possible
- Fixes for prone collision & camera placement
- Fix for walking backwards through some walls
- Fix for reducing grenade roll time
- Now setting initial ROF whenever you switch who you control
- Fixes to weapon fire messaging for more accurate bullet count and effects
- Dead guys no longer make enemies appear on the map
- Fixed issues associated with going prone on stairs
- Kit index now resets when changing class in setup
- Added option to toggle off threat indicator in single player
- Level up/down keys for command map are now remappable
- Maximum wounds is now properly determined by stamina
- Shots that do no damage due to armor now cause a visible reaction
- Reworked footstep sounds
- Improved load time for some maps
- Platoon setup screen no longer loses data when returning from Options
- Leg wound limping motion removed
- Leaderboard is available in coop game types
- Fixed stability and performance issues in the after action
- Show dead bodies option cannot be changed in the action
- Stationary gun hits are now counted in stats
- General improvements to sound emitters and shell music playback

GRAPHICS
--------
- Action UI scales with resolution, options for HUD and command map
- Motion popping bug fixed
- Additional motion improvements and fixes
- Action icons no longer remain after quickload
- Command map now shows dead with non-blended icon
- Command map now shows look direction not torso facing
- Vertical placement of smoke effect on game type zones is now correct
- Dust/sand effect behind vehicles
- Particle effects involving alpha blend optimized
- High LOD shadow implementation optimized
- Night vision no longer reduces effect of fog
- Threat indicator waypoint tick will now flash on changes
- Added grenade throwing and door opening reticules
- Primary weapons now attach to characters when not in use
- Main tank gun firing effects fixed
- Command map displays are now bilinear filtered

AI
--
- General AI improvements, including more enemy cooperation
- AI can now strafe around corners
- AIs will drop grenades if shot while in the action of throwing
- Improvements to AI suppression
- Improved memory management in AI
- AIs now detect dead friendly bodies more reliably
- Bug fix for some AI running during a replay
- Enemies may play taunt sound cues when they have you suppressed
- Improved sound propagation for interior spaces
- AIs now acknowledge and react to non-wounding shots

IGOR
----
- Campaign file editor added
- Kit restriction file editor added
- Actor and vehicle counts displayed in Igor
- Briefing sound file now specified in Igor
- Added new scripting triggers, responses, and queries

MULTIPLAYER
-----------
- IP banning added
- Server option to disallow voting
- Vote hijacking bug fixed
- Chat during respawn bug fixed
- Multiplayer bases are assigned by company color
- Leaderboard display bugs fixed
- Server setup screen reworked
- New after action timeout option
- Tweaks to the join screen
- Dropped player loses respawns - prevents "ai cannot respawn"
- Motions preloaded on startup to avoid slow starts by new clients
- Replays can be saved on dedicated server
- Improvements to the multiplayer after action screen
- Zone marker smoke effects dynamically change color with team ownership
- Optional chat beep notification
- Game status now announced as Debrief when in AAR
- Max and min respawn times added as server options
- Option for limited invulnerability after respawn (cannot do damage while
invulnerable)
- Waiting screen improvements
- Ping indicators in multiplayer pregame
- Warning is sent when setting infinite respawn without time limit
- Doors and glass reset properly for rematches
- Fix to make sure temp directory is always created before trying to write to
it
- Ready indicators in multiplayer lobby
- Disabled name changing while connected to server
- List of active mods is dumped to chat log on join
- Company color assignments persist across mode changes
- Various fixes for receiving bad gunshot messages
- Fixed a multiplayer crash in observer mode
- Fixed a client crash when exiting a server from the action phase
- Kit restriction files are now additive across mods
- Vehicle turrets generate much less network traffic
- Dead or observing players can now see all after action chat
- Improved clock management for better interpolation
- Fixed grenades bouncing off glass on clients
- Request eject button is now correctly enabled after a rematch
- Fixed kit restriction bugs involving different restrictions per platoon
- Redundant kits removed from No Explosives kit restriction
- Added No Sensors kit restriction
- Some additional cheat prevention measures

Version 1.2.10.0
----------------

GENERAL
-------
- Rocket launcher is now visible on character when not in use
- Removed limit on number of campaign state files
- Added support for mapping additional mouse buttons
- Increased tolerance of reticule IFF rollover
- Tuned ai investigation behavior
- Prone ais will no longer attempt to switch to rocket launcher
- Input mapping fix to avoid getting stuck in command map mode
- Decorations are no longer lost when viewing a replay in campaign after action
- Auto-assignment of combat points now always assigns all points possible
- Fixed a crash when trying to view a replay with none selected
- Fixed a listing error when deleting replays
- Fixed a problem with the simulation not registering a fired burst
- Added a check to prevent the game from losing mouse focus
- Changed the naming convention for screenshot files
- Tweaked the binoculars animation to line up with the character's head
- Cosmetic improvement to the model for the m16m203
- Slight improvements to several textures, including groundcover, spotlight,
vehicle shadow, and handheld objects

SOUND
-----
- Added team male voice 3
- Software sound option added for legacy hardware (must set SoundInSoftware to
TRUE in options.xml)
- Shell music playback reworked
- Sound effect positioning corrected
- Heavy wind sound now dies down in buildings
- Many sound effects tweaked
- Sound propagation through portals improved
- Updated vehicle and footstep sound generation

MULTIPLAYER
-----------
- Now interoperable with the Desert Siege mission pack (can join DS servers
created with the 'mp1' mod inactive)
- Added a leaderboard, accessed with B by default, which displays scoring
information and time remaining
- Multiplayer uniforms are now assigned per company, not per platoon
- In team respawn games, players now respawn at one of three zones near their
starting bases
- Respawn in solo games is now less likely to place players near enemies
- Improvements to multiplayer stability, especially in high lag
- Rematch feature added to allow server to re-launch the game quickly with the
back button in the after action screen if no new players are waiting
- Added HTML stat generation to after action (missionstats.htm)
- Added class-based combat stats to the multiplayer actors
- Shell characters now hold non-firearm items properly
- Ownership of the central zone is indicated by company color on the command
map in team hamburger hill
- Coop mission failure due to insufficient demo charges or rockets now accounts
for respawns and arcade mode
- Removed the unnecessary reset of the multiplayer briefing that interrupted
scrolling
- Added the -serverscript command line option to specify a server configuration
- Fix for inability to launch multiplayer game after server aborted during
previous launch
- Improved vehicle state updates in multiplayer and replays
- Prevented rare situation resulting in the appearance of unlimited ammo in
team and solo multiplayer games
- Vehicle headlights now appear properly on clients
- Fixed the display of map/mission name in the multiplayer briefing tab
- Fixed loophole allowing certain cheat codes to be active in multiplayer
- Fixed server crash involving shooting sensors in a respawn game
- Fixed a cheat involving peeking
- Fixed a cheat involving the perform action button
- Fixed client drops due to an unreliable system clock
- Geometry cheats removed from M14 Mountain

MODS
----
- Added support for shotguns
- Improved mod support for new strings, sounds, and shell graphics
- Added ability to specify character attachment models
- Added character scaling
- Can now specify initial stat points for campaigns
- Armor values, when specified in the combat model, are now handled properly
- Added support for multiple unlocked hero sets
- Fixed memory leak related to modding kit restrictions
- Multiplayer actor files are now properly updated when mods are active
- Can no longer create multiple campaign states with the same name
- Kits can now be properly overridden through the mods system
- Mods settings should now always revert to defaults if the mods settings file
is not found
- Active mods display code rewritten to avoid rare shell crash bug
- The SoundVol editor has improved mod support
- Command map zone color can now be set through scripting
- Company colors can be queried through scripting
- Corrected the display of circular zones on the command map
- Campaign outro movies can now be specified in scripting

Version 1.1.5.0
---------------

PERFORMANCE FIXES
---------------------------
* Overall game performance has been increased through the elimination of a
number of memory leaks.
* Fixed a bug that could cause popping sounds on some Sound Blaster cards.
* UI menu text is no longer distorted on computers with Voodoo 3 graphic cards.

PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS
----------------------------------------

* Added the "Mipmap Textures" setting to the Graphics Options screen. Enabling
this setting may increase the visual quality of the game and remove the
"sparkle" effect at the expense of some texture memory and some blurring of the
scene. You may have to turn down other graphics settings to compensate for the
video memory consumed by enabling mipmapping.

* Improved compatibility with the Game Theater XP sound card.

* A "software only" option has been added to the Sound section of the
options.xml file (located in the same directory as the game executable).
Enabling this option will eliminate some stability issues with certain older
sound cards such as Aureal Vortex and Montego Bay. To do this, perform the
following steps.

1. Open the options.xml file (located in the Ghost Recon folder) with Notepad
or a similar text editor.
2. In options.xml, locate the setting.
3. Edit this setting to read TRUE instead of FALSE.
4. Save the file and launch Ghost Recon.

GAMEPLAY FIXES
----------------------
* Made a number of map fixes to eliminate geometry holes and potential
multiplayer exploits.
* Eliminated a potential exploit caused by an ability to "peek" through some
walls and objects under certain circumstances.
* Enemy AI no longer automatically knows your location when you detonate a
claymore.
* Viewing only part of a replay will no longer keep that mission's specialist
from being unlocked.
* The vehicle destroyed by the airstrike in mission 8 now shows up as "out of
action" on the command map.

GAMEPLAY ENHANCEMENTS
-----------------------------------
* Mouse sensitivity has been decreased when zoomed in to make sniping easier.
* The reticle now expands more slowly when the player turns around.
* Binocular zoom has been increased to 10x.
* Sensor range has been increased from 30 meters to 40 meters. (See page 30 of
the Ghost Recon manual.)
* Improved the accuracy of the Threat Indicator. (See pg. 32 of the Ghost Recon
manual.)
* Pathfinding through forested terrains has been improved.
* An "Always Run" option has been added to the Gameplay Options screen.
Enabling this will cause your character to always run when moving except for
when the second mouse button is held down, which will cause the character to
walk.
* An "Initial Rate of Fire" option has been added to the Gameplay Options
screen. This lets you set your default rate of fire to single, burst, or full
auto.
* A "Load Last Save" button has been added to the After Action screen to allow
the user to load the most recent saved game point.
* The "Next Selective" function in the Input Options screen has been renamed
"Rate of Fire" to better reflect its purpose.
* The MP5SD weapon information has been changed to reduce its lethality at
longer ranges.
* The L96A1 weapon information has been changed to increase its lethality at
longer ranges.
* A message will now alert the user if a specialist has been unlocked after
completing a mission. (See pg. 51 of the Ghost Recon manual.)
* The mission name is now displayed for a few seconds in the upper-left corner
of the screen after the mission is launched.
* The "Toggle Command Map" function can now be bound to any key.
* Improved multi-monitor support.

AI ENHANCEMENTS
------------------------
* Added range-based error to enemy AI's firing to make their accuracy more
realistic.
* AI characters are now more "intelligent" when running for cover.
* Enemy AI will use grenades for suppression more often.
* Friendly AI will now behave more intelligently when they are fired upon.
* AI teammates will no longer stand up when their Rules of Engagement are set
to assault or suppress. (See pg. 35 of the Ghost Recon manual for more info on
the Rules of Engagement.)
* AI teammates will remain focused on their player-assigned cover arc instead
of looking around.
* When you switch out of a team that you've issued the "hold" command to, they
will stay in place and not run for cover.
* Friendly AI wingmen will no longer walk into the line of fire when your
player is strafing sideways past cover.

MOD ENHANCEMENTS
---------------------------
* The Ghost Recon game editor, Igor, has been fixed so that active mod settings
are not lost when leaving the mods dialog.
* Fixed a crash that could occur when a client tried to join a game where the
server had an activated mod that was on the client but not active.
* When activating or deactivating a mod, the highlighted mod will now be
selected rather than the first one in the list.
* Changes to a mod in Igor are no longer lost once the mods dialog is closed.
Previously, the default mod settings were being loaded.
* Activated mods will now always find the correct instance of a file to be
used. Previously, a mod would only use one instance of a particular file name,
causing problems with mods that have identically-named files.
* Fixed a crash that could occur when a client joined a multiplayer game with a
kit restriction, and then later tried to join a game with a different kit
restriction.
* Fixed a crash that could occur with mods that have large number of
multiplayer actor files.

MULTIPLAYER FIXES
--------------------------
* Made a number of map fixes to eliminate geometry holes and potential
multiplayer exploits.
* When a platoon leader is killed during multiplayer, the command map will work
correctly for the newly-assigned leader.
* Chatting during multiplayer games will no longer cause key commands to be
issued while chatting.
* Observer mode will no longer be randomly reset in the Multiplayer Player
Setup screen.
* Server status is now displayed correctly to clients viewing the server list
in the Multiplayer screen.
* Fixed a multiplayer bug that caused a user to be listed in the in-game roster
even if that user exited while the game was loading.
* Cover arcs assigned by the server to a client will now appear on the client's
command map.
* Fixed a problem that would cause chat text to appear distorted under some
resolutions and settings.

MULTIPLAYER ENHANCEMENTS
---------------------------------------
* Character skins have been modified so that it is easier to tell teams apart
in multiplayer.
* Added the "Names" option to the IFF setting in multiplayer, which, when
enabled, will display friendlies' names over their head at all times. (See pg.
48 of the Ghost Recon manual for other IFF options.
* Changed a number of spawn points throughout several of the maps.
* In-game chat messages now indicate whether they are sent to "team" or "all."
* Improved the accuracy of the Threat Indicator. (See page 32 of the Ghost
Recon manual for info on the Threat Indicator.)
* Multiplayer Player Setup screen "remembers" your previous soldier and kit
selection from previous multiplayer sessions.
* A tab has been added to the client pre-game screen containing the briefing
text of the selected mission/map and game type.
* Multiplayer co-op missions that require special equipment will now
auto-assign that equipment if it has not been selected by any of the players.
* In the Multiplayer Player Setup screen, chat typed by the server has been
changed to white to differentiate it from other players.
* In combat, chat typed by the server has been changed to blue to differentiate
it from other players.
* The Multiplayer Player Setup chat window now displays a countdown message for
the five seconds before game launch.
* Multiplayer After Action screen will now display a list with the names of who
last shot whom. (See pg. 40 of the Ghost Recon manual for info on the After
Action Review.)
* The voting messages in the chat window have been made yellow to stand out
from regular chat.
* If a user enters an incorrect password when trying to join a multiplayer
game, a dialog will pop up and allow the user to attempt to re-enter the
password correctly.
* The Page Up/Page Down keys will cycle an observer through all players in the
observer's platoon.
* At least one non-observer player must be in a multiplayer lobby for the game
to launch.

SERVER FIXES
------------------
* The server now validates players' kit selections based on the current kit
restrictions.
* Eliminated a number of lag-creating issues in the dedicated server.
* Replays have been disabled in dedicated servers to eliminate a potential
crash.
* Saved server scripts will now launch the correct gameplay mode.
* Fixed a bug that would cause game servers on a dial-up connection to crash
under laggy conditions.

SERVER ENHANCEMENTS
-------------------------------
* Added a server check to ensure that the client's map files are identical to
the server's.
* The server now has the option to cancel an in-progress vote and launch the
game.
* Server information is summarized in the chat window after the server settings
have been edited.
* Changed the Multiplayer interface so that loading a saved server script is
more intuitive. Clicking Okay now accepts a new server script and clicking
Cancel will cancel the selected server script. (See page 49 of the Ghost Recon
manual for more info on saved server settings.)
* Server passwords are now stored in the saved server scripts and will be
enabled when the script is loaded.
* CPU usage of the dedicated server has been streamlined.

SOUND CARD SETUP
-----------------------
The following is a list of some of the more common sound cards, and
suggested setups.
NOTES:
1. If you have copied over or replaced the EAX dll that shipped with Ghost
Recon, please replace it with the shipped version from the root of the
distribution CD. Using a different dll will cause crashing and other problems
with GR.
2. Make sure and go to: Control Panel | Multimedia | Audio | Advanced
Properties and set proper speaker configuration. This will result in better
performance, particularly when the driver sets up 3D positioning with
headphones. If you sound card has a configuration application (found in the
Control Panel), make the adjustments there instead, and use the applet's test
capability to verify that the speakers are setup properly.
3. To set sound volumes in the game, first set the windows sound volume
(either from the taskbar or control panel | multimedia applet) to a comfortable
base level, and then adjust sound types within the game to suit your taste. I
generally set my speaker volume by walking in a grassy area within the game and
then setting my volume so that my own footsteps and that of my wingmen are
distinct, but not too loud.
4. Users with Creative Live! series or Audigy series cards should run the
AudioHQ application in the control panel and :
+ Run the "EAX Control Panel" applet.
+ Your settings for the Master Tab should already read:
Audio Effects Pulldown Menu: "No Effects"
Chorus 0%
Reverb 0%
Original Sound 100%
(NOTE: If you have an Audigy, but your EAX Control Panel has only a
Master Tab, skip this step)
+ Now switch to the Source Tab.
+ Switch the Source Pulldown Menu to: Wave/DirectSound
+ Change your settings to read:
Chorus 0%
Reverb 0%
Original Sound 100%