What is DUST for BF2?
DUST 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 Promotional Video by Dukern Best watched in HD
You can find the DUST 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. Using run n' gun style gameplay will mean that you die ... a lot!
Too hard? Ask for help!
Tactical?
The new map layouts aim to make winning a round more challenging. Work as squad leader, and use intelligent 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 load-out wisely depending on 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 6 years.
Nearly all of the middle eastern buildings and props, including vegetation, have been retextured/recoloured.
DUST - Oman
DUST - Oman
DUST - Oman
DUST - Karkand
DUST - Karkand
DUST - Factory
DUST - Abandoned Town
Maps
The maps in DUST are mostly classic vanilla BF2 maps completely reworked by me. They have new colourmaps, details, lightmaps, vegetation, undergrowth, and lighting. They also have custom effects such as waves and dust storms, and in some cases custom sounds.
Control Point layouts have been arranged specifically for single player and, as far as possible, make use of the whole map.
DUST comes with two classic maps: Gulf of Oman and Strike at Karkand.
Further maps will be released as they are finished.
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, in fact, 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 and 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
'Borrowed' Assets
The only non-vanilla assets in DUST are the small arms: carbines, pistols, marksman's rifles and rpg's have been taken from other versions of Battlefield and elsewhere. This is because the vanilla weapons are mostly of too poor quality to use, and I have neither the tools nor time to fix them right now.
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, sounds, radio messages, and many other ambient effects that add to the general atmosphere.
What are the requirements to run DUST?
DUST need 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 the 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 maker.
So, I want to say a collective thanks you to all the BF2 modders who've shared their work over the years.
A special mention to my friends and fellow modders Dukern and Mortarty for their tips, advice, tweaks, and testing!
Last but not least, thanks go to my wife, Mrs. 'Gattobuono', 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.
BF2 still has a lot of untapped potential ... let's get creative!
Gattobuono
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.
Articles
The Dust 3.1 F18 is based on the BF3 model ported to BF2 by emaozipujing.
Software used: Paint.net, BfMeshview
1. The exterior model before I began work on it.
2. I used F18 blueprints as reference for panel lines, hatches and so on.
3. First I drew in the new panel lines and hatches (seen in BfMeshview).
4. Panel shading was added.
5. Dirt streaks, runs, more shading, the base undercarriage colour, plus a few decals for placement.
6. I began detail work on the undercarriage which had very complicated UV mapping!
Find out about UV mapping here. 
7. I created more decals,refined the undercarriage, and added many more small details
8. The finished F18. It includes a completely new normal map and custom alpha channel.
Find out about normal maps here.
Find out about alpha channels here.
A screenshot of the cockpit can be found in my last dev update: DUST 3.1 Development Update.
If you don't already have it, you can download Dust 3.0 here: DUST 3.0
DUST 3.1 Development Update
News 10 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.
Redux BTR90 for Dust
Feature 15 commentsAfter several weeks of work, the DUST BTR90 is finally nearing completion!
Dust Development Update - July 2023
News 13 commentsNew content in development for my next version of Dust.
Files
Factory
Singleplayer Map 11 commentsFight for control of a factory which is being used to manufacture IEDs.
DUST - BF2
Full Version 46 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...
Dust - Janat Alqanaas
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
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
Singleplayer Map 3 commentsWelcome to Jalalabad! Here's the next of my redux BF2 maps with 3 different gameplay layouts for you to experience.
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When will be version 3.1 released sir, any time soon?
Hi, sorry I only just saw your comment.
Debugging took a bit longer than expected, but I now have a beta version that will be ready to send to my testers within the next week.
After that, if no serious issues arise I'll be able to release it here on moddb fairly soon.
Thanks for you interest. :-)
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how can I change the number of the bots ? I modified the ai file change the bot numbers to 63 and go back to the game but nothing happened with 24 bots only...
The number of ai on my maps is carefully chosen to maximise their tactical potential based on the Control Point and Strategic Area layout.
Increasing the number of ai will result in them being less 'intelligent' and the overall gameplay being less tactical.
N.B. *Setting the ai to 64 (63 bots) will seriously degrade the quality of the gameplay experience*
However, in order to change the number of ai on one of my maps you will need to go to the specific map and change the layer that you want to modify.
For example, to change the number of ai on the sp16 layer of Janat Alqanaas 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.
Each layer (16, 32, and 64) of each map is set up in this way. You cannot increase the ai globally without going through each map and deleting those lines in the individual StrategicAreas.ai. which would kind of defeat the concept of having three different layouts for each map.
This mod is absolutely excellent! It's always good to see new original content which is a breath of fresh air for modding community unlike many other copy-cat mods. Keep it up!!!
Thanks, that's really encouraging!
Are you, by any chance, the author of Spec Ops Warfare?
That used to be a favourite of mine.
It has a very nice KA-50 in it, which I extracted with the idea of using it in a future mod, if that's ok.
Any idea who made it (if you were indeed involved in SOW)?
Thanks a lot! Yep, I started SOW, later on it turned into Heat of Battle :)) Sure, feel free to KA-50 in your mod. I believe there should be credit file which indicates who the author is. It's been so long ago that I don't recall who made it.
Ok, great mod, I especially enjoyed the gunplay. The KA-50 will probably appear in a future mod once I've finished Dust ... if I ever do ... 🤪
I'd like to do something in a green environment for a change, and I have a few ideas, but first I need to publish 3.1.
I must say that I love what you're doing, judging by the screenshots and presentation you truly are all about quality and passion, it's great to see. You Sir are original and you put your soul into this, hats off to you. It's a very rare sight in modding communities which often just steal and paste assets from others or compile whole addon section together calling it a mod. I truly respect your work, modder to a modder.
I have a dev build of Combat mod from 2019 which has a lot of weapon animations based on vanilla weapons, if you'd want to use any of them and have a look, just hit me up and I'll link you up.
Here is a preview of them - Moddb.com
Thanks for your kind words, it's very encouraging.
The copy and paste 'mod' mentality, which seems to have taken over from the good old days when modders tried to come up with fresh ideas, is really a bit pathetic.
But we live in a world of pre-made commodities where people generally aren't required to use their imagination too much.
That's why I feel that it's important for those of us who have the skills and knowledge to encourage a high standard in the community.
I'll bear your kind offer in mind, thanks, Gatto :-)