Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 Tweak Guide

[Page 4] Patches & Mods



Official Patch


In what is likely to be the last patch for GRAW 2, a 1.05 Patch has been released with a range of changes as detailed here. This patch is recommended for all GRAW 2 MP players, and note that using this patch removes your campaign saved games, but leaves fixed save points intact.


Since the game is designed to detect and ask you to download relevant updates when you are connected to the Internet, both the developers and I recommend that you allow the game to patch itself this way rather than manually patching it yourself. Any patches downloaded through the auto-updater can also be found under your \Program Files\Ubisoft\Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2\ directory if you wish to back them up.


As more patches are released, I will update this section to inform you of them so check back here regularly for details.



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No-CD Patch/Copy Protection


In a move which is sure to please all GRAW fans, Ubisoft have decided not to include a disk check for the game. This means that you do not need to keep your original DVD in the drive, whether you want to play multiplayer or singleplayer. Since the multiplayer component of the game is protected via the requirement for a valid CD key, as long as you're using a legitimate copy of the game then you will not be bothered by any intrusive copy protection measures in GRAW 2. Kudos to Ubisoft for taking this step.



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In-Game Advertising


It appears that GRAW 2 has an in-game advertising system, judging by the ad billboards founds in several maps for example (see screenshots above). This is confirmed by the line <advertisements value="true"/> found in the context.xml file under the \Program Files\Ubisoft\Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 directory. However in general I have not found many real or intrusive advertisements in the live multiplayer maps as yet, so perhaps the system hasn't been switched on or fully populated with real ads for the moment. I will provide more details of precisely what this ad system entails as I investigate the full version of the game further.



Modifications


As of the 1.03 Patch, GRAW 2 now provides official support for modifications. You can access the GRAW 2 Editor by running the GRAW2_Editor.bat file found under the main GRAW 2 directory. Other modding tools are under the Program Files\Ubisoft\Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2\public_tools directory. Importantly, tutorials on how to use the editor and the tools are found under the \tutorials directory, and should be read first before attempting any modding.


For the moment, if you want to download mods such as custom maps for GRAW 2, check the Downloads section of GhostRecon.net.


As more information comes to hand on prominent mods you can download for use with GRAW 2, I will provide them here.



The next section of the guide looks at the In-Game Settings for GRAW 2.