Author Topic: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD  (Read 18624 times)

Offline gavrant

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Gentlemen, start your engines, here comes the third patch for FH 2.45 Singleplayer and Coop.

Download link (354 MB): http://fhdev.dyndns.org/files/FH_2.45_SP_Patch_C.exe

Reserve link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sl5agbk14tf4a43/FH_2.45_SP_Patch_C.exe?dl=1

INSTALLATION
Just run the installer, select your FH2 folder (e.g., C:\Program Files\EA Games\Battlefield 2\mods\fh2) and click the "Install" button.

NOTE: The patch is cumulative. In other words, it includes all the stuff from 2 previous patches/hotfixes for FH 2.45. You don't need to install or delete these previous patches.

WARNING 1: As with Patch B, Patch C is not multiplayer compatible. If you try to join any multiplayer server with this patch installed, most likely you'll get kicked. So creating a copy of your ...\Battlefield 2\mods\fh2 folder before the installation is strongly recommended, if not for the sake of multiplayer, but at least for backup purposes.

WARNING 2: To avoid CTDs on some maps (Ramelle, specifically), add ...\Battlefield 2\ForgottenHope2.exe to the Data Execution Prevention (DEP) exception list. How to turn off DEP for an individual program: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-sg/windows-vista/change-data-execution-prevention-settings (the instructions there are for Vista, but are also suitable for Win 7 and Win 8 ).

WARNING 3: In game, try not to leave a vehicle if you are the driver, the vehicle has some AI passengers and is parked in some narrow place or on a steep slope. There is a high chance that such areas have no vehicle navmeshes (AI pathfinding for vehicles), so the game will instantly crash to desktop. Sadly, it's the price for having somewhat improved overall AI pathfinding. Roads and flatlands are relatively safe for leaving vehicles.

CHANGELOG

Completely rebuilt maps
  • Alam Halfa - 64 and 16 *
  • Bardia - 64 and 16 **
  • Battle of Brest - 64 *
  • Battle of Keren - 64 and 32 (night infantry) *
    There is a bug on Keren 64 - bots get stuck in the Keren station building (one of the final flags). Sorry, we couldn't fix it before the release.
  • Eppeldorf - 64 and 32 (night) **
  • Fall of Tobruk - 64 **
  • Meuse River - 64
    The map is rebuilt as a mix of the old, pre-2.45, flag layout (4 flags to capture instead of 5) with the new, 2.45, vehicle layout.
    This map has not received new navmeshes. The old ones have some flaws, but are rather tolerable.
  • Operation Hyacinth - 64 **
    Built around the 2.4 version, that is, with flags and without objectives. Objective tanks and planes are still there, you may destroy them, but they don't play any strategic role.
    The minefields were removed to avoid rush hour traffic jams on the roads.
  • Ramelle-Neuville - 64 *
    To balance the teams, the Winchester shotgun in the American bazooka kit was replaced back with the Colt (on this map only).
    The map is not recommended for sensitive people, children under 17 and nursing mothers, as it contains intense and persistent violence and provokes hard language and drug abuse. Seriously :P
  • The Battle for Sfakia - 64 *
* - The map got new navmeshes.
** - The map uses updated navmeshes from the previous patches.

Sorry, guys, still no new navmeshes for Mareth Line and Crete.

Miscellaneous maps changes
  • New navmeshes for Siege of Tobruk.
  • Fixed Hurtgen Forest, Siege of Giarabub and Sidi Bou Zid missing from the Singleplayer map list.
  • Other relatively minor updates for the previously released maps.

Vehicles
  • Fixed the Universal carrier (probably the cause of CTDs on Port-en-Bessin).
  • Fixed winter variants of SdKfz 222 (a German armoured car) being immune to AP shells.
  • Improved AI behaviour for Cannone da 47/32, Pak35/Pak38 mobile and static.
  • Improved AI accuracy with AA guns (namely, Flak 38, Bofors, Breda 35).
  • Decreased hit points of some emplaced MGs (the German bipods, the Lewis gun and Breda M37) to make them more easily destructible.

Weapons
A lot of changes were made in handheld weapons. The most notable are:
  • An attempt to decrease bots tendency to freeze for a couple of seconds while aiming rifles and SMGs was made. As a side effect, now bots are more accurate with these weapons to the degree when a SMG head shot from 50m is not a rarity.
  • Significantly improved AI accuracy with LMGs, especially with deployable ones (e.g., MG42, which means less teamkills for the Germans). The same was applied to AT rifles, Bazookas and Panzerfausts, but with far more limited success, still a work to be done.
  • Melee weapons - significantly increased ranges, which means that bots can stab you from further distance or while you're lying on the ground.
  • Explosives - bots try to escape the explosion zone, at least once in a while.
  • Prevented bots from using smoke grenades. Welcome to the smokeless world!
  • Fixed No3 Mk1 Very (a flare gun) (the cause of CTDs on Hyacinth).
Considering the changes above, especially the rifles and SMGs part, you may review the bot skills you play with, as it becomes harder to survive on the battlefield.

Changelogs for the previous patches
Patch B (Dec 2012): http://fhpubforum.warumdarum.de/index.php?topic=18569.msg283257#msg283257
The Singleplayer 2.45 hot fix (Patch A, Nov 2012): http://fhpubforum.warumdarum.de/index.php?topic=17570.msg260931#msg260931

CREDITS
  • Remick04 - navmeshing, vehicles and weapons AI.
  • ballard44 - navmeshing, vehicles and weapons AI.
  • gavrant - coding, map rebuilding, vehicles and weapons AI.
As usual, special thanks go to the FH Dev team, especially to Mayhemic.MAD for file hosting and to Kev4000 and Spitfire (fh_spitfire) for general advice and assistance.
« Last Edit: 28-04-2013, 16:04:26 by gavrant »

Offline jrivett

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #1 on: 26-04-2013, 15:04:18 »
Excellent! You guys have been busy. I'm planning to switch my server over to patch C in the next few days and will report back here. Presumably anyone who isn't running the same patch as the server will not be able to connect - is that right? Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any easy way to check what version a client is running (or a server for that matter).

Offline Skr13

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #2 on: 27-04-2013, 12:04:09 »
Very Nice Job!
I'm a big fan of Patch B, and for sure Patch C will be better.
There is any chance of Singleplayer Patch's become integrated in future official FH releases?
BTW, sometimes in some maps with high hedgerows, It gets very difficult to survive, since bots can shoot me from long distance, and I can't see them, but I'm afraid this could be difficult to fix.
« Last Edit: 27-04-2013, 14:04:56 by Skr13 »

Offline jrivett

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #3 on: 27-04-2013, 17:04:34 »
BTW, sometimes in some maps with high hedgerows, It gets very difficult to survive, since bots can shoot me from long distance, and I can't see them, but I'm afraid this could be difficult to fix.
From what I understand, this is a limitation of the game engine. I found it incredibly frustrating at first, but now I just watch for - and fire at - muzzle flashes and smoke. I also try to find high ground and hull down positions, and work on flanking. Much more challenging and interesting than a straight head-on slugfest anyway.

Offline gavrant

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #4 on: 27-04-2013, 18:04:09 »
Thank you, guys, for killing the Dropbox account! :) Actually, it was suspended for some time because of "Links that use up more than 20 GB/day". Note, there's nothing dodgy in the primary download link (fhdev.dyndns.org). That server is owned by the FH Devs and has quite broad bandwidth, with unlimited traffic.

Presumably anyone who isn't running the same patch as the server will not be able to connect - is that right? Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any easy way to check what version a client is running (or a server for that matter).
Yes, an attempt to join the server without installed Patch C most likely will end up in CTD or very buggy gameplay. I just tried to join your, Jeff, server from vanilla FH 2.45 copy, instantly got CTD. Let's hope that most of Coop players will migrate to Patch C soon.

There is any chance of Singleplayer Patch's become integrated in future official FH releases?
It's one of our primary goals and, considering that we have 2 developers in the Singleplayer team, the likelihood of that happening is fairly close to 99%.

BTW, sometimes in some maps with high hedgerows, It gets very difficult to survive, since bots can shoot me from long distance, and I can't see them, but I'm afraid this could be difficult to fix.
From what I understand, this is a limitation of the game engine. I found it incredibly frustrating at first, but now I just watch for - and fire at - muzzle flashes and smoke. I also try to find high ground and hull down positions, and work on flanking. Much more challenging and interesting than a straight head-on slugfest anyway.
Jrivett is right, with the exception of the 'limitation of the game engine' part. AFAIK, it's a property of FH overgrowth. Rumors say that it can be fixed, but would require major updates on at least half of the maps. And, TBH, after years of playing I consider bots seeing through vegetation as a natural part of FH Singleplayer. Think about it as a compensation for bots being dumb in other aspects.

Offline jrivett

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #5 on: 27-04-2013, 18:04:24 »
And, TBH, after years of playing I consider bots seeing through vegetation as a natural part of FH Singleplayer. Think about it as a compensation for bots being dumb in other aspects.
Exactly! Although the improvements to bot aiming in patch C are going to shift the balance in favour of the bots, I suspect.

Offline gavrant

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #6 on: 27-04-2013, 18:04:26 »
And you haven't seen the December version of weapons. At the time I had to test maps with 10% bots skill. After that, everything else is a piece of cake :)

Offline blarg

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #7 on: 27-04-2013, 19:04:17 »
Thanks for this patch, I have played through a couple of maps now in coop mode, and really enjoyed some of the maps I haven't been able to play before, like operation hyacinth.  Great work! :)

Offline Skr13

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #8 on: 27-04-2013, 19:04:19 »
Thanks for the answers guys!

About the vegetation & hedgerows bots skills, I'm used to, but sometimes get's difficult to escape the shooting, specially when no cover around, or the prone position is insufficient.

About the Singleplayer Patch, I'm glad to using it for months, since I usually play Normandy scenario maps, like Purple Heart Lane(my favorite), and it's more challenging/fun to play against bots that spread all over the map, instead of running only on the main road :)

I remember another thing to talk about: mortars, bots sometimes use the mortars efficiently, but only when and where they want, I mean, they never follow my binoculars coordinates for a target, which would be great if they do.




Offline Turkish007

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #9 on: 27-04-2013, 20:04:44 »
I remember another thing to talk about: mortars, bots sometimes use the mortars efficiently, but only when and where they want, I mean, they never follow my binoculars coordinates for a target, which would be great if they do.

Im not a SP developer, but I think that would be pretty hard to implement, and may be impossible. I would like the bots to also use the heavier guns like that.

Offline EpicFoodEpic

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #10 on: 29-04-2013, 06:04:49 »
Uhm,i cant play coop with my friend,our pc's are network and our fh2 are patched with the hotfix c...help?

Offline gavrant

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #11 on: 29-04-2013, 07:04:01 »
EpicFoodEpic, what is the problem? One of you can't connect to another's server? The game crashes?

Offline EpicFoodEpic

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #12 on: 29-04-2013, 09:04:12 »
EpicFoodEpic, what is the problem? One of you can't connect to another's server? The game crashes?
err..everytime i create a Co-op server the other pc cant detect it..even ive tried refreshing the list....

Offline |7th|Nighthawk

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #13 on: 29-04-2013, 09:04:37 »
Did you check your connection (ping)? Is it possible for you to play vBF2 in coop? You should also take a look at the firewall. Sometimes it still blocks FH2 or BF2. Turning it off and retrying sometimes fixes the issue.
"I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that..."

Offline TGK

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Re: Singleplayer Patch C for Forgotten Hope 2.45 - DOWNLOAD
« Reply #14 on: 30-04-2013, 10:04:44 »
So just to re-iterate, I should grab and install this if I only plan on playing FH2 singleplayer or co-op LAN?