Call of Duty 2

Call of Duty 2

Developers
	Infinity Ward
macOS (OS X)	i5works
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

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		Campaign executable uses SafeDisc 4.60 DRM, CD key required for install and multiplayer servers but the multiplayer executable has no DRM. Released on 6 CDs or 1 DVD.
GamersGate
Steam
Amazon.com (unavailable)
Mac App Store (unavailable)

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

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.

Demo

A singleplayer demo is available here.

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch is 1.3.

• Windows (mirror1) (mirror2)
• macOS

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

Tweaks

There are 3 ways to insert commands.

Use the in-game console
Enable console in the "Game Options". Open it with ~. 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

Edit directly the .cfg files

Game data

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\main\players\<user-id>\*.cfg
macOS (OS X)
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2630/pfx/

config.cfg contains singleplayer settings.

config_mp.cfg contains multiplayer settings.

Save game data location

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

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game graphics 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 singleplayer. 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[citation needed]
Use the console command bind w "+forward;cg_fov XX".

Change FOV with hex editor[citation needed]

To change FOV for singpleplayer: Open CoD2SP_s.exe (v1.2 latest) with a hex editor such as HxD. Go to address 000A11A0 and change A0 42 (which is 80) to B4 42 for cg_fov 90. To change FOV for multiplayer: Open CoD2MP_s.exe (v1.3 latest) with a hex editor such as HxD. Goto address 000BDF00 and change A0 42 (which is 80) to B4 42 for cg_fov 90. Notes In order to have FOV greater than 90, use this converter Floating Point Converter. Type the fov you want into the Decimal Representation. To get the value for use with hex editor, take the first 4 digits from Hexadecimal Representation. Valid only if you input a value without decimal points and less than 648. For the value of 90, you will get this 42b4, which are two bytes representing the value of 90 in float. You will need to invert the order of bytes like this b4 42 to use it in hexadecimal.

Windowed

Enable windowed mode using the console

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). In console, type in /r_fullscreen 0 to enable windowed mode (or /r_fullscreen 1 to enable fullscreen mode) and press ↵ Enter. Type in /vid_restart and press ↵ Enter to restart the game's renderer and apply new settings. Notes This only applies to the singleplayer component of the game. For multiplayer component of the game, use the CoD2MPWindowed or iw2clientdll.

Enable windowed mode by editing the config file
Look for seta r_fullscreen "1" in config.cfg and change "1" to "0".

Frame rate (FPS)

Remove 91 FPS cap in multiplayer[citation needed]
Look for seta com_maxfps 85 in config_mp.cfg and set 85 to 0.

Input

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.

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 - 1
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. 2 3
Spanish
Thai				Retail only.

Network

In-game multiplayer settings.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		Xbox 360 version only.
LAN play		64
Online play		64	Requires manual PunkBuster update for protected servers.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

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 (e.g: TeamSpeak's GUI overlay). 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.

Game freezes during FMV movie clips such as the intro with spinning Activision logo

Force CoD2SP_s.exe or CoD2MP_s.exe to run on only one CPU core[citation needed]
Notes 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]
Download imagecfg and extract it into <path-to-game>. Make a backup copy of CoD2SP_s.exe. Open a command prompt window and change the working directory to the game's installation folder. Enter this command: imagecfg -u CoD2SP_s.exe. 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]
Turn Steam overlay off in properties. 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]

Get the Compatibility Toolkit from this Microsoft page and install (You can choose to only get the "Application Compatiblity Tools" features). Run the Compatibility Administrator (32-bit) from the Start Menu/Search. Select New Database (1) and press Fix. Fill in the vendor name and the program name, as well as the location of the program. Press next. Tick Compatibility Mode and choose Windows XP SP3. Press next. Untick fix DXMaximizedWindowedMode, it will give a warning, press Yes to continue. Select fix DXPrimaryEmulation, click Parameters, enter: -DisableMaxWindowedMode and press OK. Press Next. After that press Finish. Press Save, select the database name and save it to a location. Press File - Install. Close Compatibility Administrator. 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[citation needed]
Notes 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[citation needed]
Look for seta r_rendererPreference "none" in config.cfg and change "none" to "dx9".

Set compatibility settings[citation needed]
Set compatibility settings for CoD2SP_s.exe and CoD2MP_s.exe and check the box that says Disable Fullscreen Optimizations (see how to disable Fullscreen Optimizations for details).

Start a new game and then change graphics settings from there[citation needed]

"Failed to find Steam" error

Get the Steam.dll file
Go to <Steam-folder>. Copy Steam.dll and paste it into <path-to-game>. Run the game.

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

Use .dll files from the mod[citation needed]
Download the Single Player Improvement mod. 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

Go to the graphics settings and set the Anti-aliasing option to "Off"[citation needed]

Other information

Mods

Letlev Edition (CoD2SP-Mod)

Quality of Life improvements: adds HD fonts and icons, sprint mode, pre-release content, bug fixes, etc.

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.

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c	Also includes a Direct3D 7-compatibility mode
OpenGL	2.0	macOS only.
Shader Model support	3

Executable	PPC	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)				32-bit only.

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System, Speex	6.5e ?.
Cutscenes	RoQ	Only PC version (Xbox 360 uses Bink Video). [1]
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.
r_glow 1	Re-enables bloom effects.

System requirements

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium IV 1.4 GHz AMD Athlon XP 1700+
System memory (RAM)	256 MB	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	4.6 GB
Video card (GPU)	3D hardware accelerator 64 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible	Nvidia GeForce 7 series
Sound (audio device)	16-bit DirectX 9.0c compatibility

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

macOS (OS X)
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	10.7.5	10.12
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz	Intel Core i7
System memory (RAM)	512 MB	1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	4 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce 7300 ATI Radeon X1600 128 MB of VRAM

Call of Duty 2 on Mac is English only.

Intel Integrated X3100 and GMA 950 are unsupported.