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Call of Duty 2

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Call of Duty 2
Call of Duty 2 cover
Developers
Infinity Ward
macOS (OS X) i5works[1]
Publishers
Activision
Brazil Electronic Arts
OS X Aspyr Media
Engines
IW 2.0
Release dates
Windows October 25, 2005
macOS (OS X) June 1, 2006
Reception
Metacritic 86
IGDB 84
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, FPS, Shooter
Vehicles Tank
Art styles Realistic
Themes Europe, World War II, Historical
Series Call of Duty
Call of Duty 2 on HowLongToBeat
Call of Duty 2 on IGDB
Call of Duty 2 guide on StrategyWiki
Call of Duty 2 on MobyGames
Call of Duty 2 on Wikipedia
Call of Duty 2003
Call of Duty 2 2005
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (series)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (series)
Call of Duty: Ghosts 2013
Call of Duty: Online 2013
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare 2014
Call of Duty: Heroes 2014
Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare 2016
Call of Duty: WWII 2017
Call of Duty: Warzone 2020
Call of Duty: Vanguard 2021
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 2022

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

Call of Duty 2 is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS and shooter game in the Call of Duty series.

General information

Official Call of Duty series site
CallofDutyMaps - A detailed Website for all included multiplayer maps.
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
CD key
Campaign executable uses SafeDisc 4.60 DRM[Note 1], CD key required for install and multiplayer servers but the multiplayer executable has no DRM. Released on 6 CDs or 1 DVD.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
GamersGate
Icon overlay.png
macOS (OS X)
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Gamesplanet logo.svg
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Mac App Store (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
macOS (OS X)
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
A singleplayer demo is available here.
The North American retail edition has 6 CD-ROMs to install, while the European retail edition and all special editions are just a single DVD-ROM.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch is 1.3.

LuKeStorm's Custom Patch

Fixes startup issues (e.g. long black screen startup), removes "Optimal Settings" and "Run in Safe mode" messages and disables intro, it can be downloaded here.

PunkBuster

To play on protected servers, multiplayer requires a PunkBuster update which is no longer hosted on EvenBalance's website. Obtainable here.

Skip intro videos

Use the +seta com_introplayed "1" command line argument[4]

Tweaks

There are 3 ways to insert commands.
Use the in-game console[4]
  1. Enable console in the "Game Options".
  2. Open it with ~.
  3. Type command and press Enter.

Notes

If commands aren't sticking, try putting "seta" before them.
For multiplayer, a common slash / is needed before the commands.
Use command with +set prefix as command line arguments[4]
Edit directly the .cfg files[4]

Game data

In-game general settings.
In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\main\players\<user-id>\*.cfg[Note 2]
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2630/pfx/[Note 3]
config.cfg contains single player settings.
config_mp.cfg contains multiplayer settings.

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\main\players\[Note 2]
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2630/pfx/[Note 3]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game graphics settings.
In-game graphics settings.
In-game texture settings.
In-game texture settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
See the WSGF entry or use Widescreen Fixer.
Ultra-widescreen
See the WSGF entry or use Widescreen Fixer.
4K Ultra HD
Set resolutions above 2715x1527 in-game if the game crashes.
Field of view (FOV)
See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed
See Windowed.
Borderless fullscreen windowed
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Default is x8. It can be increased up to x16 with r_anisotropy, or editing the config file.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Up to 4x MSAA, can use SSAA with r_aaAlpha "2", in-game antialiasing can break, only showing a gray screen at higher refresh rates, force antialiasing through the GPU control panel if this happens.
High-fidelity upscaling
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Called Sync Every Frame.
60 FPS
No frame rate cap in single player. A FPS cap be specified using the com_maxfps command.
120+ FPS
Multiplayer is capped at 91 FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Field of view (FOV)

Change FOV with console command[5]
  • Use the console command bind w "+forward;cg_fov XX".
Change FOV with hex editor[6]
  • To change FOV for singpleplayer:
    1. Open CoD2SP_s.exe (v1.2 latest) with a hex editor such as HxD.
    2. Go to address 000A11A0 and change A0 42 (which is 80) to B4 42 for cg_fov 90.
  • To change FOV for multiplayer:
    1. Open CoD2MP_s.exe (v1.3 latest) with a hex editor such as HxD.
    2. Goto address 000BDF00 and change A0 42 (which is 80) to B4 42 for cg_fov 90.

Notes

To get a higher value than 90 use this Floating Point Converter.

Windowed

Enable windowed mode using the console[7]
  1. Press ~ and the in-game console will appear (if the console doesn't appear, go to Game Options and make sure the console is enabled).
  2. In console, type in /r_fullscreen 0 to enable windowed mode (or /r_fullscreen 1 to enable fullscreen mode) and press Enter.
  3. Type in /vid_restart and press Enter to restart the game's renderer and apply new settings.

Notes

This only applies to the single-player component of the game. For multiplayer component of the game, use the CoD2MPWindowed or iw2clientdll.
Enable windowed mode by editing the config file[8]
  • Look for seta r_fullscreen "1" in config.cfg and change "1" to "0".

Frame rate (FPS)

Remove 91 FPS cap in multiplayer
  • Look for seta com_maxfps 85 in config_mp.cfg and set 85 to 0.

Input

In-game key map settings.
In-game key map settings.

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
On/Off toggle in "Look" settings. Can be further adjusted with cl_mouseAccel parameter.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Controller types

Audio

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
EAX 1.0, 2.0, 3.0; A3D 1.0 and 2.0 can be forced with mss_3d_provider Aureal A3D 2.0 (TM) or mss_3d_provider Aureal A3D Interactive (TM) and snd_restart commands.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
Croatian
Fan translation; download #1, download #2.
Czech
Retail only.
French
German
Swastikas and other details get censored when selecting German on Steam. An Uncut Patch is available on the CompiWare forum.
Hungarian
Fan translation, download here or here.
Indonesian
Fan translation, download.
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Retail only.
Portuguese
Steam downloads the English version when the Portuguese language is selected.
Brazilian Portuguese
Fan translation, download.
Russian
Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Slovak
Fan translation, download.
Spanish
Thai
Retail only.

Network

In-game multiplayer settings.
In-game multiplayer settings.

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
LAN play
64
Online play
64 Requires manual PunkBuster update for protected servers.

Connection types

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 28960
UDP 20500, 20510, 28960
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
vorpX
G3D
User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.
Devices
3RD Space Gaming Vest

Issues fixed

TweakGuides has created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game.

Possible fixes for general crashing

Crashes when launching the game (possible fixes)[citation needed]
  • Turn Steam overlay off in properties.
  • Turn off any program that overlays a GUI in the game (teamspeak GUI overlay) etc.
  • Turn on stereo mix under recording tab in sound properties.
  • For the multiplayer crashing, plug in any speaker, headphone, or microphone into the microphone port.

Force CoD2SP_s.exe or CoD2MP_s.exe to run on only one CPU core
The problem isn't exclusive to multicore processors however, as it happens even on Pentium 4 CPUs with Hyperthreading.
Setting CPU affinity from Task Manager doesn't seem to work.
FMV freezing[citation needed]
  1. Download imagecfg and extract it into <path-to-game>.
  2. Make a backup copy of CoD2SP_s.exe.
  3. Open a command prompt window and change the working directory to the game's installation folder.
  4. Enter this command: imagecfg -u CoD2SP_s.exe.
  5. If it worked, a message appears saying the affinity has been set to a single processor. The -u switch makes the application only run in uni-processor mode.

Getting automatically kicked from servers

Turn Steam overlay off and update PunkBuster[citation needed]
  1. Turn Steam overlay off in properties.
  2. Update PunkBuster manually.

Game does not start on Windows Vista and higher

On some systems, the game will not start on Windows Vista, 7 or higher.
Set CoD2SP_s.exe and CoD2MP_s.exe to compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3[citation needed]

Low fps when using compatibility settings

Because running in compatibility-settings gives DirectX some unnecessary flags, in-game-fps can be highly reduced on some systems.
Advanced FPS fix for when running in compatibility mode[citation needed]
  1. Get the Compatibility Toolkit from this Microsoft page and install.
  2. Run the Compatibility Administrator (32-bit).
  3. Select New Database (1) and press Fix.
  4. Fill in the vendor name and the program name, as well as the location of the program.
  5. Press next.
  6. Tick Compatibility Mode and choose Windows XP SP3.
  7. Press next.
  8. Untick fix DXMaximizedWindowedMode, it will give a warning, press Yes to continue.
  9. Select fix DXPrimaryEmulation, click Parameters, enter: -DisableMaxWindowedMode and press OK.
  10. Press Next. After that press Finish.
  11. Press Save, select the database name and save it to a location.
  12. Press File - Install.
  13. Close Compatibility Administrator.
  14. Because it will conflict with what was removed, revert the compatibility fix that was done to CoD2SP_s.exe and CoD2MP_s.exe above.

Game crashes when changing any graphics setting

Set the "Rendering Method Preference" to DirectX 9 in the graphics option menu
If the game crashes when trying to change the renderer, either modify the game's configuration file manually with a text editor or apply compatibility settings (see Game won't start on Windows Vista and 7 for details).
Directly modify the config file to set the graphics preference to DirectX 9
  • Look for seta r_rendererPreference "none" in config.cfg and change "none" to "dx9".
Set compatibility settings[9]
Start a new game and then change graphics settings from there

"Failed to find Steam" error

Get the Steam.dll file[10]
  1. Go to <Steam-folder>.
  2. Copy Steam.dll and paste it into <path-to-game>.
  3. Run the game.

Reduce visual popups in the distance (less strict LOD limitations)

Use .dll files from the mod
  1. Download the Single Player Improvement mod.
  2. Extract gfx_d3d_x86_s.dll from the downloaded archive into <path-to-game>.

Notes

Requires the game to be run in compatibility mode for Windows 7.

Fix gray screen

Disable AA
  • Go to graphics a set the Anti-aliasing option to "Off".

Other information

Mods

Back2Fronts

Adds new models, textures, sprint mode, firing mode switch, weapons, sounds and new missions.

Back2Fronts visuals

Adds Back2Fronts graphics to main game.

Merciless MatadoR CoD2 Single Player Mod

Adds lots of gore in the game.
Not compatible with other mods such as: Back2Fronts.

Ultra Effects CoD 2

Adds blood in the game.
Fully compatible with other mods such as: Back2Fronts.

Letlev Edition

Adds HD fonts and icons, sprint mode, pre-release content, bug fixes, etc.

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c Also includes a Direct3D 7-compatibility mode[12]
OpenGL 2.0 macOS only.
Shader Model support 3
ExecutablePPC 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
32-bit only.[11]

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Audio Miles Sound System, Speex 6.5e

?.
Cutscenes RoQ[1] Only PC version (Xbox 360 uses Bink Video).
Anti-cheat PunkBuster

Console commands

See command line arguments on how to use the following options.
Command Description
ai_corpsecount [1-64] Controls the amount of dead bodies on the screen.
g_brass 0 Disables the shells flying out of the gun when firing.
cg_marks 0 Disables bullet holes and explosion marks.
cg_drawFPS 1 Show FPS counter.
com_hunkMegs [num] Adjust the amount of memory used for graphics. Higher values may decrease loading times. It is not recommended to use more than half of total memory.
com_maxFPS [num] Adjust the FPS cap.
r_drawsun 0 Disables the "sunblind" effect.
r_lodScale [1-4] Adjusts the rate that objects lose detail, lower is better.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 2000
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium 4 1.4 GHz
AMD Athlon XP 1700+
System memory (RAM) 256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 4.6 GB
Video card (GPU) 64 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.7.5
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz
System memory (RAM) 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 4 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 7300
ATI Radeon X1600
128 MB of VRAM
Supported ATI chipsets: ATI Radeon 8500, ATI Radeon 9000, ATI Radeon 9200, ATI Radeon 9500, ATI Radeon 9600, ATI Radeon 9700, ATI Radeon 9800, ATI Radeon X300, ATI Radeon X550, ATI Radeon X600, ATI Radeon X700, ATI Radeon X800, ATI Radeon X850
Supported Nvidia chipsets: Nvidia GeForce2 Ultra, All Nvidia GeForce 3/Ti Series, All Nvidia GeForce 4/Ti Series, All Nvidia GeForce FX Series, All Nvidia GeForce 6 Series


Notes

  1. SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[2] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[3]
  2. 2.0 2.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
  3. 3.0 3.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/2630/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (2630) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References

  1. Call of Duty 2 Officially Announced - IMG News Discussion - Inside Mac Games Forum - last accessed on 2016-7-23
  2. Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
  3. Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 TweakGuides.com - Call of Duty 2 Tweak Guide
  5. [citation needed]
  6. [citation needed]
  7. Verified by User:Tecc on 2021-04-29
  8. Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2024-01-25
  9. Reference
  10. Steam Community Discussions - Multiplayer Startup issues - last accessed on May 2023
  11. MacOS Catalina, 64-bit, 32-bit, and related Questions – Aspyr Support - last accessed on 9 June 2023
  12. Verified by User:Aemony on 2022-12-06
    Based on testing using MSI Afterburner, the "DirectX 7" rendering mode of the game still uses D3D9, so seems to be a backwards compatible rendering mode to allow low-end GPUs or older GPUs that disables a few newer hardware features.