New Player Guide for Battlefield 1942


Newbie. n00b. We've all been at the receiving end of these words when we first start to learn how to play a game online. It more or less means you've just started playing the game, and you are called this when other more experienced players sense you're a new player. They then use this term to try and put you down, (because they didn't get any help when they were just starting, and they were called the same thing, its like some ancient tradition.). So in a way, in their minds by calling you a newbie, n00b, whatever, they are basically telling themselves 'I am not a newbie anymore, and can call people it to get my small revenge!'. And it's unfortunate. So let's try to break this ugly trend.

What follows is a guide for all of you new players out there, but even experts should take the time to glaze over the tips, just as a small reminder. This guide will cover just the basics, but there's allot of 'basics' in this game, and trust me, once mastered, this game will reward you ten fold. This guide is designed around multiplayer online play. And you may even wish to write some of these tips on a piece of paper, you can easily look on the paper while you play in game, and once you're mastered the basics and can throw the paper out.

First Things First
The first thing you should do, before anything, is go into your controller options menu.
Don't be alarmed - there are A LOT of controls - and it's easy to feel overwhelmed. I myself was surprised by the amount of controls. I know the online battle is calling to you, but take the time to go over the lists. At first glance allot of the listed controls will not seem important, until you start to play and realize that they certainly are important. And the last thing you want is to have to jump back to the control menu in the middle of an all out Multiplayer war.

So in an attempt to lessen this 'shock' phase, here are some of the most asked questions about controls I hear in-game from frustrated new players.

Basic 'first time playing' questions.

Question: I just entered a game, but it's not spawning me! What do I do?
Answer: When you first enter a game, you will see a map. This is the entire top down view of the level you are on. You have to select a spot to spawn at by using the mouse. Look for white dots, then click on one. You will see in the middle top of the screen a countdown, and it will say 'Spawn point selected' Also note you can change your spawn point at any time by pressing the "ENTER" key for the map, the re-selecting your spot to spawn at. This is a critical skill to master to be effective for your team!

Question: How do I use my Parachute? I keep falling to my death! splat!
Answer: The Parachute opens with the "9" key. Using your Parachute and having it on a key where you can hit it very quickly is important, more so if you plan to fly planes allot. I myself have the button mapped to the middle mouse key, which the game reports as 'Mouse 3'. It's really easy to open your parachute this way. If you don't have a mouse with a middle button, set it close to your movement keys.;

Question: How do I lower the Landing craft's door?
Answer: To lower the Landing craft's door, you hold down the UP arrow key. Strange, but that is the default key. Since I am hardly in a landing craft as the pilot, I kept it to that key. Also, you can raise the door by holding the DOWN arrow. If you desire to Captain Submarines, these same keys raise/lower the Sub!

Question: How do I enter a Vehicle?
Answer: Stand close to your Vehicle of choice, and press the enter/exit key. I suggest mapping this to a key close to your movement keys, such as E or Q. I have mine on E. But it's up to your tastes where to put it.

Question: How do I switch spots when I am in a vehicle such as the Landing Craft, Bomber, or Ship?
Answer: The keys 1,2,3,4,5, and 6 move you from spot to spot. For example, if you were in a tank, in the main gunners spot, and want to move to the machine gun on top, you would press 2. The larger the craft, the higher up the numbers go, so if you wanted seat 6 in the APC, you would press 6.

Question: How do I drive a Ship? The stupid thing wont move!
Answer: To drive a Ship, you must first be in the front gun position. Once you are in spot 1, the front guns, give the ship some time to move - they take time to get up to speed. Here is a small tip as well. If you are on the back of a Ship, and do not feel like walking to the front gun to drive, jump into the rear gun, then switch to the front gun using the 1 key.

Question: How do I view the map?
Answer: To view the map, press "M". To zoom in on the mini-map, press "N"

Question: How do I switch my view when I am in a Vehicle?
Answer : Keys F9, F10, F11, and F12 change your view. You can also set one key to cycle through all of the views. If you want the 'nose cam' when you are in a plane, press F9.


General Gameplay Questions.

Question: How do I get more ammo?
Answer: To load up on ammo, find a small crate lying on the ground, with weapons spilling out of it. You will also see a ammo icon on the right of your heads up display (HUD), that signals to you that you are standing near an ammo crate, and are being reloaded.

Question: How can I heal my wounds?
Answer: There are two ways to heal your wounds. The first is to find a medical cabinet in certain buildings, and stand close to it. Just like how the ammo crate works. The second way is to ask a Medic on your team to heal you. To do this with the default controls, press F6, then F5. If that person knows what they are doing, they should run over and start to heal you.

Question: Why can't I hit anyone with the Sniper rifle?
Answer: The Sniper rifle in this game is unlike most other games, you really have to lead your shot depending on how far away the target is. The bullets in this game actually take time to reach their targets. Just keep trying, and soon you will find the range.

Question: How does the Base capture work?
Answer: In conquest mode, to capture a flag point, you must stay near the flag for a certain period of time, you'll know if you're near a flag when you see a white flag icon on the right side of your HUD. If there are no enemies around it will transfer the Base to your team, and you will see your flag on the map. But if there is an enemy hiding around the flag, say in a building, then the flag will remain white until either you kill the enemy, or he kills you.

Question: Where do I take the flag once I grab it from the enemy Base in a CTF ( Capture the flag) game?
Answer: What you need to do is get back to YOUR flag, and touch the pole - while your teams flag is on the pole. If you grab the flag, call for your team to help you by pressing F4, then F7.

Question: How do I hurt Tanks? They keep killing me!
Answer: To destroy a Tank, you must use something with power, such as another Tank, bombs from a Plane, a Rocket Launcher, or a Grenade. Basically anything that is not a light machine gun can hurt a tank to a degree.

Question: I erhm...damaged my Jeep/Tank/APC, how can I fix it?
Answer: To fix any Vehicle, select the Engineer class, then the wrench icon, and hold down the button near your vehicle. Watch as it's health bar goes up! If you are not an Engineer, press F6, then F5 to call out for one to repair your vehicle.

Question: This is stupid! Why do I keep blowing up for no reason when I am driving!
Answer: You probably hit a landmine. They destroy even Tanks with one blast! Be careful when you are driving, and look for mines in front of you when you're driving. Also note that you can indeed drive over a mine, but only if you slow down and drive over it as slow as possible, then you can hit the gas and make out like a bandit.

Question: Ok, I keep crashing when I try to take off with a plane. What gives?
Answer: Did you fiddle around with your mouse settings? Keep playing with the mouse sensitivity settings, until you can take off. They are in the options screen, under 'Mouse'

Question: I am a Medic, I love to help people. How can I tell who needs healing?
Answer: Sometimes people scream out for a Medic, but not often. If they do, look on your mini-map and you will see a Medic icon from the person who needs treatment. The other way to heal people is to look at each of their names, and heal people who's health is below 100%. There is another way to heal people, but you might not find it as rewarding. Just run around when the bullets start to fly with the button held down while you have your Medic kit out. You might not see the person you're healing, but you can see that you ARE healing people by looking at their health bar on the bottom left of the screen.

Question: I hate Tanks. How can I destroy them quickly with the Anti-Tank class?
Answer: All Tanks have the most armor at the front, and a good amount of armor on the sides as well. But the place to hit Tanks where it hurts is behind them. Their armor there is very weak, and it's the best place to hit them. Also, if by chance a Tank flips on it's side, and you see it's exposed underbelly, shoot there! Tanks have hardly no armor on the bottom!


Technical issues

Question: The gameplay is laggy! What gives!
Answer: This is a pretty complex question, but I'll try to cover all of it. First, you need to identify if it is internet lag, or client lag.

Internet lag is when your connection to the server is bad, and you see people and vehicles 'jumping' around. Client lag is when your computer is having a hard time running the game code, because it is not powerful enough. It's also possible to have both internet lag and client lag going on at once, which is really unfortunate. But there are several things you can do to help yourself.

Internet Lag:
First, let's talk about what you can do when you are getting internet lag. If you are on 56k modem, the best thing I can suggest is to upgrade to some form of broadband service, such as a Cable modem, a DSL line, or even ISDN can help. If these are not an option for you, what I suggest you do is to make sure all other programs that use the internet are closed, su