Warnings
- GameSpy online services have been shut down (see Network for solutions).
Key points
- Frame rate is capped at 30 FPS.
- GameSpy online server browser deactivated on December 31, 2010 due to Electronic Arts losing the Lord of the Rings license.[1]
General information
- T3A:Online - fan-hosted multiplayer server replacement
- BfME II section on GameReplays.org - home to the unofficial 1.09 patch
- BfME II: HD Edition
- BfME II RotWK section on GameReplays.org - home to the unofficial 2.02 patch
- BfME II RotWK HD Edition
Availability
- SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
- This game is no longer available digitally. It was taken down from digital stores, as Electronic Arts lost the Lord of the Rings license at the end of 2010.
- Physical copies used to activate on Origin, they no longer do.[4]
Demo
The free demo can still be downloaded here or here.
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
| Name |
Notes |
|
| The Rise of the Witch-king |
|
|
Essential improvements
Skip intro videos
|
Skip intro videos
|
- Go to
<path-to-game>\data\movies\
- Delete or rename
CS01.vp6, EALogo.vp6, TE_LOGO.vp6, NLC_LOGO.vp6 and NewLineLogo.vp6.
- For languages other than English the EA logo file played is a localised version extracted from the archive file
<path-to-game>\lang\LanguageName.big. To remove the video you would need to edit this file, for instance with a custom tool such as FinalBIG or OS BIG Editor.
|
Official patches
- Patch 1.06 is the latest official patch for the base game.
- Patch 2.01 is the latest official patch for The Rise of the Witch-king.
Widescreen mods for BFME2 without 1.09
- Maintains developer-intended gameplay.
- Not used by users online.
- For no DVD requirement, use the modified game.dat from the 1.09 patch.
Unofficial 1.09 patch (BFME2)
- Does not require the disc.
- Adapts the main game interface for widescreen resolutions and fixes a lot of the bugs and imbalances left after the official 1.06 patch.
- Includes a patch switcher for switching between the official 1.00 and 1.06 versions, as well as 1.09.
- Breaks compatibility with the Rise of the Witch-king expansion.
- Changes visuals extensively.
Unofficial 2.02 patch (RotWK)
- Does not require the disc.
- Adapts the main game interface for widescreen resolutions and fixes a lot of the bugs and imbalances left after the official 2.01 patch.
- Active multiplayer community.
- Requires the BFME2 1.09 unofficial patch to be deactivated to run.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
| System |
Location |
| Windows |
%APPDATA%\My Battle for Middle-earth(tm) II Files\options.ini
%APPDATA%\My The Lord of the Rings, The Rise of the Witch-king Files\options.ini |
Save game data location
| System |
Location |
| Windows |
%APPDATA%\My Battle for Middle-earth(tm) II Files\save
%APPDATA%\My The Lord of the Rings, The Rise of the Witch-king Files\save |
Video
General settings menu (the expansion has an identical menu, with a different theme)
Custom graphics settings menu
Input
Audio
| Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
| Separate volume controls |
|
|
| Surround sound |
|
|
| Subtitles |
|
|
| Closed captions |
|
|
| Mute on focus lost |
|
|
| EAX support |
|
|
Localizations
| Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
| English |
|
|
|
|
| Simplified Chinese |
|
|
|
|
| Traditional Chinese |
|
|
|
|
| French |
|
|
|
|
| German |
|
|
|
|
| Italian |
|
|
|
|
| Norwegian |
|
|
|
|
| Polish |
|
|
|
|
| Russian |
|
|
|
|
| Spanish |
|
|
|
|
| Swedish |
|
|
|
|
| Thai |
|
|
|
|
Issues fixed
Game not starting on Windows Vista and later
- When first starting the game after the installation, the game instantly crashes with an error.
|
Manually creating options.ini[6]
|
- Locate the default folder for the
options.ini at %APPDATA%\My Battle for Middle-earth(tm) II Files and %APPDATA%\My The Lord of the Rings, The Rise of the Witch-king Files
- Right click, create a new Text Document and name it
options.ini
- Open your the file and insert the following lines:
AudioLOD = High
FlashTutorial = 0
HasSeenLogoMovies = yes
IdealStaticGameLOD = High
Resolution = 1024 768
StaticGameLOD = High
TimesInGame = 6
- Make sure to change the Resolution value to your preferred resolution.
- 4. Save your changes
- 5. You should now be able to start the game normally
|
Network
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Ports
| Protocol |
Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
| UDP |
16000 |
- Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.
Other information
API
| Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
| Direct3D |
9.0c |
|
| Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
| Windows |
|
|
|
Middleware
|
Middleware |
Notes |
| Cutscenes |
On2 VP6 |
|
| Multiplayer |
GameSpy |
Shut down in 2011. |
System requirements
| Windows |
|
Minimum |
Recommended |
| Operating system (OS) |
XP | |
| Processor (CPU) |
1.6 GHz
| Intel Pentium 4 3 GHz
AMD Athlon XP 3 GHz |
| System memory (RAM) |
256 MB |
1 GB |
| Hard disk drive (HDD) |
6 GB | |
| Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce 3
ATI Radeon 8500
64 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9.0c compatible
| Nvidia GeForce 7800
128 MB of VRAM |
- Online mode requires 512 MB of system RAM.
Notes
- ↑ 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]
References
