What is DUST 3.1 Combined Arms?
DUST 3.1 is a single player only 'hardcore' modification for Battlefield 2 with a focus on tactical gameplay rather than run n' gun. It features a completely reworked environment based mainly on vanilla BF2 assets.
DUST 3.1 Promotional Video by Dukern
Dust 3.1 gameplay video by Mohammed Furqon
You can find the DUST 3.1 download link at the bottom of this page.
Hardcore
In DUST, the AI is aggressive and accurate. Weapon damage is high and players have less body armour than in vanilla BF2. If you find Dust too hard? Ask for help!
Tactical
The new map layouts aim to make winning a round more challenging. Work as squad leader, and use tactics such as flanking to undermine or distract the enemy.
Use cover as you move, avoid crossing large open areas, and take roundabout routes to the CP that you want to capture.
Find good defensive positions and choose your loadout wisely based upon the situation.
This will give you the best chance of success on the battlefields of DUST.
Assets
DUST consists mostly of vanilla BF2 assets reworked by me over the last roughly 7 years.
Nearly all of the middle eastern buildings and props, including vegetation, have been retextured and enhanced.
DUST - Oman
DUST - Oman
DUST - Oman
DUST - Karkand
DUST - Karkand
DUST - Factory
DUST - Abandoned Town
Maps
The maps in DUST are a mixture of classic vanilla BF2 maps and maps made by other modders. All have been completely reworked by me. They have new colourmaps, details, lightmaps, vegetation, undergrowth, and lighting. They also have unique custom effects such as waves, dust storms, and custom sounds.
Control Point layouts have been arranged specifically for single player and, as far as possible, make use of the whole map.
N.B. The 16, 32, and 64 labels are a legacy of vanilla BF2 and have no meaning in terms of size or player count in DUST. They are simply different gameplay layouts, some more challenging than others.
Vehicles
Most of the main vanilla vehicles have been completely reworked with new textures, including custom alphas, normal maps and new HUD's. They have also had a lot of mesh edits to improve their appearance.
DUST - T90
DUST - T90
DUST - M1A1
DUST - M1A1
DUST - LAV25
DUST - LAV25
DUST - F18
DUST - F18
DUST - AH1Z
Handheld Weapons
The carbines, pistols, marksman's rifles and rpg's have been ported from other versions of Battlefield and elsewhere. This is because I believe the that vanilla weapons are mostly of too poor quality to use.
Factions
Viper (a western coalition) and Claw (a middle eastern coalition) are the two factions that battle over the arid dusty territory of DUST. They are not based on any particular nation or ideology.
Effects
Effects are an important part of DUST, and these are all custom made by me. They include new explosions, fire and smoke, bullet hits, ambient sounds, radio messages, and many other ingredients that add to the general atmosphere.
What are the requirements to run DUST?
DUST needs an unmodified copy of Battlefield 2 with all patches and DLC's.
N.B. Trying to run DUST on a modified copy of BF2 will probably result in crashes.
Because DUST uses mostly vanilla assets, and all new assets have been optimised, you should have no problems running DUST even on an old PC. I've tested it on my 12 year old PC and it runs at around 90 fps with all graphics set to high.
Credits
I've been creating DUST for a long time, and there are a few minor assets that I've downloaded over the years but have lost trace of the original makers.
So, I want to say a collective thanks you to all the BF2 modders who've shared their work with the community.
Thanks to the makers of the USI mod who kindly allowed me to use their assets: Link to USI mod
Most of the handheld weapons were ported to BF2 by Ponysaurus_Rex: Link to his moddb page
Custom maps
Abandoned Town: original map Abandoned Village by Jones
Airbase: original map Airport by SPFreak & ShaneJohn
Al Janna: original map by dennis75 and StrykerJ
Blackhawk: original map Operation Blackhawk Down by pro.bf2|Du$t
Factory: original map Kubaysah Cement Factory from BF2 Australian Forces
Kirkuk: original map Battle of Kirkuk Oilfields by ImTheHeadhunter
A special mention to my friends and fellow modders Dukern and Mortarty for their tips, advice, tweaks, and testing!
Custom aerodynamics for the Dust jets were created by Mortarty.
Last but not least thanks go to my wife, who has an intimate knowledge of dry, dusty desert environments, and gave me a lot of advice when it came to recreating the maps in DUST.
N.B. If you spot something of yours in DUST, please let me know so that I can credit you.
Important
You may not reupload any of my original work without my explicit permission.
I am, however, always ready to help other modders where I can.
Important: Sound Settings
Make sure you use the following sound settings or you may have problems with distant gunshots sounding as if they're right next to you.
Download Dust 3.1 HERE
Articles
Making a Desktop Shortcut for Dust
Part 1.
Open the Dust 3.1 folder at: 'Battlefield 2\mods\Dust_3.1'
Find the file named 'PLAY DUST.bat'
Right click on 'PLAY DUST.bat' and select 'Send to' > 'Desktop (create shortcut)'
Now go to your desktop and find 'PLAY DUST.bat – Shortcut'
Right click on 'PLAY DUST.bat – Shortcut' and select 'rename'
Rename it to 'Play Dust' or another name of your choice
Right click on your new shortcut again and go to 'Properties', then click on 'Change Icon'.
Click 'OK' on the change icon box that pops up, then go to 'Browse'
Browse to the 'Dust 3.1' folder and select the icon named 'DUST.ico'
Click 'OK' then 'Apply' and 'OK' again in the Dust 3.1 properties window.
If you've followed all of the steps above correctly you will now be able to start Dust directly from your new desktop icon.
Part 2.
You can use this technique to create shortcuts for other BF2 mods. Here's an example for the 'BF2 Conflicts' mod.
Copy the 'PLAY DUST.bat' file and paste it into the main 'Conflicts' folder (or main folder of the mod that you wish to make a shortcut for).
Right click on 'PLAY DUST.bat' and select 'edit'. In order to do this you'll need to choose notepad or similar.
Once the 'PLAY DUST.bat' is open for editing you'll see the following lines of code:
@echo off
cd ..\..\
bf2.exe +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +modPath mods/Dust_3.1
You need to change the mod name from Dust_3.1 to Conflicts (or the name of whichever mod you are making a shortcut for) so that the third line of code looks like this:
bf2.exe +menu 1 +fullscreen 1 +modPath mods/Conflicts
Now follow all of the steps in part 1. of this tutorial except that this time you can choose the 'conflicts_icon.ico' located in the root Conflicts folder.
If the mod that you are creating a shortcut for doesn't contain an icon you can use the default 'BF2.ico' which can be found in the root 'Battlefield 2' folder.
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Download Dust 3.1 here
Dust 3.1 - Combined Arms
News 16 commentsFourteen months after the release of Dust 3.0, Dust 3.1 - Combined Arms is almost ready for release.
F18 Development
News 5 commentsThe exterior model of the F18 is now complete. Here's a series of images showing how I developed it.
DUST 3.1 Development Update
News 18 commentsIt's been a while since my last update, but that's not because there's nothing new to share with you!
Dust 3.1 Dev Update September 2023
News 12 commentsRead the latest news about the development of Dust 3.1.
Files
Dust 3.1 - Combined Arms
Full Version 64 commentsDUST 3.1 – Combined Arms is the successor to Dust 3.0 which I released some 14 months ago. If you already have Dust 3.0 you can safely delete it and...
Factory - Outdated - Download Dust 3.1
Singleplayer Map 11 commentsFight for control of a factory which is being used to manufacture IEDs.
Dust - Janat Alqanaas - Outdated - Download Dust 3.1
Singleplayer Map 5 commentsA 'Dust' style remake of the classic BF2 map 'Mashtuur City'. With its numerous vantage points, Janat Alqanaas really is a sniper's paradise. Play on...
DUST - Sharqi Peninsula - Outdated - Download Dust 3.1
Singleplayer Map 1 commentHere's another redux BF2 map for DUST, the classic Sharqi Peninsula, with three new single player layouts and an atmospheric early evening light.
DUST - Jalalabad - Outdated - Download Dust 3.1
Singleplayer Map 3 commentsWelcome to Jalalabad! Here's the next of my redux BF2 maps with 3 different gameplay layouts for you to experience.
DUST - BF2 - Outdated - Download Dust 3.1
Full Version 48 commentsDUST is a single player only 'hardcore' modification for Battlefield 2 with a focus on tactical gameplay rather than run n' gun. It features a completely...
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I keep having my game crash on the Factory 32 map once I click deploy. Everything else seems to work... haven't made any changes I'm aware of. Does anyone else have this problem? Have tried reinstalling the mod, haven't tried reinstalling the base game yet.
No error msg in window mode.
I did notice this map has 23 vs 17 for bots/teams compared to the usual setup. Could my settings outside the mod be interfering?
Thanks.
"Could my settings outside the mod be interfering?"
If you're getting 23 vs 17 bots it's because you've modified the ai AIDEFAULT file.
Dust ai can't be modified in this way, if you do it will cause crashes.
In order to change the bot count you have modify the specific map's level (16, 32, 64).
The reason for this is that it simply doesn't make sense to have the same number of bots on maps of different sizes and strategic layouts.
My bot numbers are tailored to each map's specific gameplay layout.
Here's an example of how to change the number of ai on the sp16 layer of Janat Alqanaas, The same procedure applies for all other maps.
Go to 'Battlefield 2\mods\Dust_v3.0\Levels\Janat_Alqanaas\server.zip\GameModes\sp1\16\AI\'
Now open the StrategicAreas.ai with notepad or similar.
At the top of this file you'll see:
aiSettings.overrideMenuSettings 1
aiSettings.setMaxNBots 33
aiSettings.maxBotsIncludeHumans 0
rem *** Create strategic areas ***
aiStrategicArea.createFromControlPoint CP_32Players_Mashtuur_Alleyway 5 50
aiStrategicArea.layer 1
aiStrategicArea.createFromControlPoint CP_32Players_Mashtuur_Archway 3 50
aiStrategicArea.layer 1 ........................ etc. etc.
Change the setMaxBots number as you wish, but make sure you set it to an odd number in order to have balanced teams.
Remember:
Less bots = less computing power needed and simpler pathfinding, hence more intelligent/strategic gameplay.
More bots = more chaos, and more distractions that prevent ai from reaching strategic areas.
It's always best to have a lower bot count. If you observe the bots in free camera mode with different bot amounts (as I have for many hours whilst creating Dust) you'll be able to see how less bots work better for a satisfying strategic gameplay experience (the objective of this mod).
This is also related to what I told you about ESAI and using squad commands.
Anyway, feel free to experiment, but remember, it took over 7 years of intense modding for me to achieve Dust 3.1, and many of my innovations don't follow vanilla BF2 conventions, therefore you may well encounter crashes and glitches.
If you have ideas about modding things for yourself feel free to ask.
I figured it out. The strategicareas.con file for the map in question (Factory sp2) has an extra set of AI settings at the top of the file. Removing them fixes the crash.
Quote: "The strategicareas.con file .... has an extra set of AI settings at the top of the file."
Most level in Dust have that coding in the SA file to set the ai count for that particular level, it's not a duplicate, it overrides the generic AIDEFAULT in order to set the optimal amount of ai for that specific level.
However, if you change the bot count in the AIDEFAULT (Dust default 49) it can cause crashes, as happened to you.
The 'Factory' map has been extensively tested and is perfectly stable, Either you tweaked the bot count in the AIDEFAULT or Dust is reading from another file in your root directory and conflicting, which is possible because BF2 has a nasty habit of reading code from strange places.
This is why I recommend a completely vanilla installation of BF2 to run Dust on.
My bad, I made a mistake in that comment.
The extra set of AI settings is not in the 'strategicareas.con' file, it's in the 'gameplayobjects.con' file.
I just checked the original Dust archive, and it's present in the 'gameplayobjects.con' file for Factory sp2. I'm pretty sure it's what's causing the crash, as removing it fixes it and putting it back causes it to crash again.
"aiSettings.overrideMenuSettings 1
aiSettings.setMaxNBots 39
aiSettings.maxBotsIncludeHumans 0"
is the text in question, at the top of 'gameplayobjects.con', as opposed to 'strategicareas.con', which I mistakenly referenced.
It's present a line above;
"rem ********** Object Spawner **********"
Apologies for the mistake in the original comment. Also apologies if I'm mistaken as to this causing the crash somehow. I downloaded the archive 6/8/2024.
Ah, now that makes sense, well spotted!
Yes, that line shouldn't be there, and it's obviously conflicting with the correct line in the SA file.
I had quite a few people beta testing for me before I released Dust 3.1, perhaps none of them played on the 32 layer of Factory.
It's incredibly hard to catch all the bugs and little mistakes without help from other people.
I'll have to get you to beta test my Close Quarters expansion when it's ready. :-)
It's a lot to keep track of no doubt lol. I was thinking maybe it just got added somehow by mistake at some point.
But sounds good glad I could help out somehow.
Yes, it was definitely my mistake.
Whenever you edit a gameplay area in the BF2 editor it deletes those lines which set the ai numbers in the SA file. This means that you have to add them back in after you've finished in the editor. In a moment of inattention I must of added them into the wrong file.
Before releasing the mod to my beta testers I ran all of the maps through in bf2 debug mode (not windowed mode but the full BF2_r.exe debugger), but I mainly concentrated on the problematic maps where I'd occasionally had ctds.
As Factory had never given me any problems I probably skipped over that layer when I was debugging. Ironically it turns out to be the one with a mistake!
Do you think it would improve the AI experience at all if the acog variants had different AI templates with slightly more range?
Also have you encountered bots using AT mines at all?
Strangely it's just the one map though, the Factory 32. All the other maps are working fine. Checked to make sure the aidefault was the one included in the Dust archive.
It would actually be kind of cool to have the option of uneven teams sometimes though, to simulate certain scenarios and whatnot.