First Strike is a Star Wars-themed total conversion of the FPS game Battlefield 2142 by DICE Sweden. As of April 2009, it's set to the events of Episodes IV to VI and features the Rebel Alliance and the Galactic Empire, each with a wide range of ordnance and vehicles. It implements space combat with to-scale capital ships, and comes with a unique gameplay approach totally different from that of Battlefield 2142. First Strike is free to download and play, and is designed to fall within the conditions set for Star Wars modders by LucasArts.
The mod currently features Multiplayer only. An unofficial standalone download adds single-player, however, and work is underway to make Single Player an official built-in First Strike feature.
The mod's web site is at www.fsmod.com.
System Requirements[]
Any computer which comfortably runs Battlefield 2142 should be able to handle First Strike. Battlefield 2142's requires the following specs:
- Windows XP or Mac OS X (Intel based) operating system, 1.7 GHz processor, 128 MB DirectX compliant video card with pixel shader 2.0 and above (AGP and PCIe only), 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c or higher, broadband internet connection
- Windows XP operating system
- 1.7 GHz processor
- 128 MB Video Card with the following minimum specs
- DirectX Compatibility
- Pixel shader 2.0 or above
- At least 512 MB RAM
- DirectX 9.0c or above
- Broadband Internet Connection
First Strike regrettably does not currently support Macintosh or Linux. Vista computer owners have experienced problems running at least one map, but a workaround has been posted on the First Strike forums. It is also worth pointing out that the mod does not replace your regular Battlefield 2142 installation - you will not need to uninstall the mod to play Battlefield 2142.
Installing First Strike[]
To install First Strike, first ensure that you have your Battlefield 2142 installation patched to 1.50. Then, download the First Strike launcher bundled with the Version 1.4 Full Client Installer from this page. 1.14 GB of free hard disk space is required to download the mod and launcher.
Launch the executable file you downloaded, and it will install first the mod, and then the official First Strike launcher, which automatically keeps your installation of First Strike up-to-date and provides you with news on the project, as well as some launch options for advanced users.
Getting Started[]
Recreation of the famous opening scene from Episode IV using ingame graphics
Here are some additional steps you should look through before hopping on.
- Before you start playing, you may want to browse through the rest of this Wiki, which currently serves as the mod's instruction manual and explains most features of the mod. It is also recommended that you take a look at the User Guides, as they offer advice to new players. 7 Tips for First Strike Recruits and the Rookie's Guide to Starfighters are particularly recommended.
- Go into Options - Video and change View Distance to 100%. This is required for space maps to run correctly - if the mod renders everything pitch-black in a space map, you've forgotten this step.
- To find servers, go to the "FIRST STRIKE SERVERS" tab and pay attention to which filters you have enabled - several will have labels telling you to disable or enable them. Toggle filters as requested and then tell the game to update the server list. All servers running the mod should then be listed.
- As a final note, make sure to always read the Gamemode instructions when loading a map you've not played before. First Strike makes generous use of map-specific special rules and new game modes, which often confuse newcomers.
Tech Support[]
- See also Troubleshooting
A common problem experienced by new users is the Modified Content Error. Most often, this can be solved by launching First Strike using the launcher, for then to exit without starting a game. If the problem persists, you may be trying to join a server which does not run your version of First Strike - try joining other servers and the problem should go away.
The official Client Support forums at www.fsmod.com offer additional help.
Development Team[]
The First Strike team is divided into three departments - The developers, who create the mod, the testers, who test new content for problems and issues and provide feedback, and the media team, which creates extra media for use in PR and trailers. If you are interested in helping out, see the First Strike Forums forums for more information..
The core members of the First Strike dev team, as of their trip to DICE Sweden