Battlefield 2142 (BF2142) marks the eighth entry in the Battlefield franchise. EA and DICE, once again, used a variety of GameSpy technologies to bring their vision for Battlefield 2142 to life, including a mix of standard technologies and custom services, as well as GameSpy's capabilities outside the game itself.

Standard Services

Battlefield 2142 uses a number of standard GameSpy technologies to provide a compelling feature set for the game. These technologies are available to all licensees "out-of-the-box" as standard solutions. No additional licensing fees or custom engineering is required to implement this functionality.

Standard technologies implemented in BF2142 include:

Account Linking & Remote Authentication

Battlefield 2142 uses the EA Online's account system for player authentication. GameSpy's account linking and remote authentication functionality enable use of both EA and GameSpy systems transparent to end users.

Buddy Lists / Instant Messaging SDK

Users are able to build buddy lists in-game to communicate and manage relationships created within the game. Buddy list is available from main online interface. Users are notified of messages while in-game. Tab out to main online interface in order to read and respond to messages.

Buddy list SDK provides instant compatibility with Comrade, an external messaging client. Allows users to one-click follow to game servers, message users in-game, view stats, etc.

HTTP SDK

Used to pull player statistics, MotD, etc. into game for display/rendering by game engine. Can also be used as lightweight library for file downloads, SOAP messaging, etc.

Matchmaking SDK (Server Browsing)

Matchmaking accomplished via GameSpy server browsing SDK. Allows users to quickly retrieve, sort and filter list of game servers. Filtering key capability for a game like 2142 with thousands of game servers. Uses both server-side filtering to shorten the list of game servers to be retrieved and queried as well as client-side filtering for quickly narrowing results based on user input (ping, num players, maps, etc.)

Stats & Tracking SDK

Standard SDK is used to collect and submit snapshots. Custom services used for processing, storage given size/scope of stats and volume of stats reporting. (See Stats, Ranking and Unlock System.)

Usage Analysis SDK

Provides basic metrics on installs and uses on a daily basis. More detailed data available via custom reports from Stats & Tracking data. (See Stats, Ranking and Unlock System.)

Voice SDK

Communication on squad level is available by voice using GameSpy's Voice SDK. Voice data transmitted separately from game network traffic via custom voice server running along side game server. May exist on same or different physical machine to minimize bandwidth requirements on game server.

Custom Services

While GameSpy's standard technologies provide a comprehensive feature set, the size and scope of what EA and DICE wanted to accomplish with Battlefield 2142 required custom development and infrastructure to meet their requirements.

GameSpy was involved in intensive design and planning sessions on-site with DICE to fully understand their requirements and offer input based on our extensive experience with other games and developers. Following the design session GameSpy, EA and DICE began a multi-month effort to provide the following custom features:

Stats, Awards and Unlock System

DICE introduced player stats in Battlefield 2 and brought the feeling of persistent-world games (MMO's) to the session-based world. A player's performance from day-to-day did have an impact on gameplay via the unlocking of new weapons based on experience, the selection of squad leaders and battlefield commanders based on rank, etc.

Players are rewarded with badges, ribbons and medals for achieving notable goals within the game. These awards encouraged repeat game play (time-based awards), playing through all content ("campaign" based awards) and experimenting with different classes (class-based awards.)

The average time spent with the game per player dramatically increased as a result of these new game mechanics and a major goal with 2142 was to take this mechanic to a higher level. Additionally, we created new design options to provide:

In-game stats collection, processing and retrieval

As previously mentioned, the collection of stats in-game is accomplished via the standard GameSpy Stats & Tracking SDK. Given the size and volume of data to be processed and stored per player GameSpy developed and hosts custom infrastructure to provide near real-time results - a key requirement for 2142.

GameSpy developed secure services to make all data available in-game. As the community matures we will again provide account-based feeds for community at a later date so that external fan sites (a la bf2s.com) will be able to build their own stats sites.

Multiple Leaderboards

GameSpy maintains multiple leaderboards - one for each class, each weapon, each vehicle, each kit, etc. Leaderboards may be filtered to show only buddies, only users from the same country and only those who's dogtags have been collected. These various leaderboard and filtering options provide the user a wide variety of ways to "be #1." (Leaderboards are also available via feed for in-game display as well as external use on 2142 portal. (see Designed and Launched a Battlefield Franchise Portal for more information)

Custom Awards

Players are awarded badges, medals and pins for satisfying a variety of criteria in-game. Medals are available in three tiers to encourage players to continue progress once awarded. Custom services developed to provide in-game notification and award of medal at time of meeting criteria vs. awarding on next play.

Hierarchical, Class-based Unlocks

Developed hierarchical unlock system such that players must first unlock one level before proceeding to the next. Developed backend services and in-game calls to do this in near-real time vs. requiring fully processed game results.

Official EA Ranked Servers Program

While any user may run a Battlefield 2142 server EA allows only "trusted partners" to operate Ranked Servers that contribute to player statistics. GameSpy developed a "white list" for approved ranked servers such that only data submitted from these servers are counted towards statistics. EA/DICE can manage the white list via the admin console. (see BF 2142 Admin Console for Development, Production and Launch Support below)

BF 2142 Admin Console

GameSpy developed several web-based Production Support tools to aid the worldwide EA Support and Operations team to:

• Support an official Rank Server Program that allows EA to pre-select, enable and monitor official rank servers operating world-wide. The persistence system is only supported for players playing on Ranked servers.
• Enable the EA-Customer support to view and manage all aspects of the Player's persistent world.
• Enable the Developer team to quickly review progress of backend processing to aid in debugging.

Marketing Services

EA, DICE and GameSpy worked closely together on a variety of marketing initiatives surrounding the release of Battlefield 2142. These ranged from designing and building the franchise's home page, creating incentives for existing Battlefield 2 players to upgrade and working with pre-order partners to help set them apart from the fold.

Battlefield Franchise Portal

EA turned to GameSpy to design, build and host the web presence for the entire Battlefield franchise. GameSpy worked closely with EA's marketing leads to match the look, feel and tone of the 2142 universe.

Pre-release the goals of the website were to provide a single source for fans of the franchise to learn more about upcoming titles (2142, Bad Company) as well as keep them informed of events surrounding the existing titles.

Post-release the intent was to turn the site into the primary web-based vehicle for Battlefield 2142 players to view their personal statistics and awards, as well as view leaderboards. The portal will serve as the launching point for tournament services planned for 2007. Similar stats and award views will be available from the portal for Battlefield 2 by the end of the year.

Key portal features:

• Launch point for Battlefield 2142, Battlefield 2: Detailed game information available to those who are not currently players of the game. Includes editorial, image and video content.
• Localized for US, UK, French, German: The Battlefield franchise has global appeal. GameSpy worked closely with world-wide marketing leads to provide all content on the site in English, French and German.
• Detailed and Interactive Player Profile: Battlefield 2 and 2142 players are able to view their stats, rankings and award information from the website, mirroring all functionality in-game and adding new level of interactivity such as:
• Player History: Players are able to view charts of their progress within the game over time.
• Award Criteria and Progress Charts: Players are able to obtain all criteria for awards and view their progress towards each requirement (i.e. time spent as engineer)
• Player Comparisons: Players are able to select any players from the leaderboard and provide a side-by-side comparison of themselves to the other players.

The primary goal of these features is to keep the player interested and involved in the community - even when not actively playing the game.

BF2 Veterans Program

Rewarding those players migrating players from Battlefield 2 to 2142 was a requirement for both EA and DICE. GameSpy developed backend webservices as well as a web-based frontend that allowed players to register their Battlefield 2 nickname for Battlefield 2142 prior to the game's release. Players received a custom icon next to their player names in-game and were able to select a "free" unlock as soon as they started the game.

BF 2142 Pre-Order Program

EA ran an extensive pre-order campaign for Battlefield 2142 and rewarding those who pre-ordered was an important part of their strategy. GameSpy developed services and a web-based frontend that enable users to receive in-game incentives (Rank Up, Weapon Unlocks, etc) based on pre-orders. The unlock differed based on where the user's pre-order was placed.

BF 2142 Open Beta

As both a marketing exercise and a true beta test for the game, EA ran a beta test for 2142 via FilePlanet's Beta Program. Selecting from a pool of known users with previous beta testing experience and the desire to provide feedback, FilePlanet distributed 50,000 beta keys and the game client within 36 hours.

Users tested the game heavily for two weeks prior to the game demo being released and provided invaluable feedback to EA, both via the FilePlanet beta bug submission form, as well as via a stress testing of backend systems. EA was able to identify and resolve numerous client issues as well as backend bottlenecks prior to the full retail release.

GameSpy Comrade

GameSpy also delivered a Battlefield 2142-branded version of its next-generation gameplay software, GameSpy Comrade, for distribution with the game.

Comrade users were able to leverage a unique account linking system that enabled them to access to their Comrade buddy lists in Battlefield 2142, exchange messages between the Comrade desktop client and the in-game buddy list as well as view their BF2142 stats in their Comrade user profile.