-STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II--STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II--STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II--

THE ALMOST ULTIMATE STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT II SYSTEM LINK FAQ

Version 1.3

created by Mortal_Esteban

Since Star Wars: Battlefront II was released around October-November of 2005,
many people have tried to system link their Xbox's together.  Many, if not all,
of these people have had trouble of some kind.  So this FAQ is here to cover
many of these problems and to give advice to make system link play with Star
Wars: Battlefront II more enjoyable.

Sites currently allowed to host this guide:  www.gamefaqs.com and
www.supercheats.com

All questions or comments about this guide may be emailed to me at:
[email protected]

INDEX:

TITLE (use ctrl+f and enter this letter / number combo to skip to this section)

MY EXPERIENCES (A1)
SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT (B2)
GETTING STARTED (C3)
RECOMMENDED PLAYING OPTIONS (D4)
JOINING AND PLAYING THE GAME (E5)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (F6)
VERSION HISTORY (G7)
LEGAL JUNK (H8)

*******************
MY EXPERIENCES (A1)
*******************

I've been hosting and setting up LAN (Local Area Network) parties since Star
Wars: Battlefront I first came out in September of 2004.  I average about one
per month and anywhere from 2 to 20 people. People bring their Xbox's and tv's
while I bring my networking equipment.  We sit down, set up the Xbox's and tv's
and then using ethernet cables and routers, we network them all and play
system link games of Star Wars: Battlefront II.  It's really not that
complicated so, after reading this guide, you'll probably have the knowledge to
system link Xbox's on a regular basis with no problem.

************************
SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT (B2)
************************

When I plan to system link Xbox's for Battlefront: 2 (or just about any game
for that matter) I set up a network using a hub, switch, or router.  I
recommend the following equipment:

Either a cat 5 or cat 6 crossover cable when connecting two and only two Xbox's

or

1.  Cat 5e and / or Cat 6 cables (one per Xbox)
2.  A switch or router
3.  A crossover cable when connecting switches or routers
4.  At least one Xbox per every four people
5.  One copy of the game per Xbox (please note that original versions of the
   game are incompatible with platinum hits versions of the game).

Obviously, you'll need the right number of tv's, av cables, power cables, and
power outlets.  I recommend Cat 6 cables over Cat 5 cables as Cat 6 cables
are supposedly faster.  The switch or router should be 10/100 or 10/100/1000
speed.  Hubs will work instead of a switch or router but are slower.  If you
will be having more Xbox's than the number of ports on your switch or router,
you can connect multiple switches or routers through the use of a crossover
cable.

You can get routers, switches, hubs, and ethernet cables at almost any
electronics store.  The best place to get this kind of equipment is from online
refurbishing warehouses.  A good price is less than one US dollar per foot. I
would suggest getting many ethernet cables with varieties of lengths.
Sometimes you may only need shorter cables but more often than not, you'll need
long cables.  I would suggest at least two 25 foot cat 5 cables as these will
give you more options of where to play from. Also get several 10 foot cables so
that you will never be short on cables.  If you already have networking cables,
but don't know what kind they are, the information should be printed on the
cable.  Basically, you have Cat 5 or Cat 6 cables and Crossover or patch /
straight-through ethernet cables.  Use crossover cables when connecting two
Xbox's directly without a hub, switch, or router and when connecting hubs,
switches, and routers.  Otherwise, you'll always want to use the patch /
straight-through cables.

********************
GETTING STARTED (C3)
********************

NOTE:  From this point forward, I will no longer say hub, switch, or router, I
will only write router and use the term to apply to all three.

First, you'll want to decide where to have the Xbox's and tv's at.  Then,
depending on how far that distance is and the lengths of cables you have, find
a location to place your router (or routers) that will allow all of the Xbox's
to connect to the router.  Then, before turning any of the Xbox's or routers on
hook up all of the Xbox's to the router (or routers) using your (Cat 5 and
Cat6) ethernet cables and, if using multiple routers, connect them using a
crossover cable.  If you're only connecting two Xbox's and using a crossover
cable, connect them now.  Next, after all of the devices are connected, plug in
and turn on your router (or routers).  After they have been on for one or two
minutes, turn on the Xbox's, place Star Wars: Battlefront II in the disc trays,
and load the game.

IMPORTANT: Note that the activity lights on the router should be flashing or
lit up to indicate that the Xbox connected to that port is connected to the
network.  Also notice that the ethernet port on the Xbox has lights on it.
The left light indicates that the Xbox is connected to a network or another
Xbox and the right light will flash when the Xbox is sending or receiving
information.  If these lights are not on or flashing, make sure that the power
is turned on on the Xbox and router and that all of the cables are pushed into
the ports all of the way.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO XBOX LIVE PLAYERS:
Before loading Star Wars: Battlefront II, on the Xbox Main Menu (or dashboard)
go to SETTINGS and then down to AUTO-SIGN IN and make sure that it is
disabled otherwise, when you load your Battlefront II profile, it will attempt
to sign you into Xbox Live automatically and you will not be able to play
system link.

After loading the game, decide who's Xbox will host the game and have that
person select their profile, select MULTIPLAYER, and then SYSTEM LINK.  After
that, have all of the other people that will be playing on that Xbox select
their profiles and then press "A" to continue.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Next, select OPTIONS, and then make sure your Xbox is set to
the following settings:

Appear: Online (This will enable others to see your game and that you're
       connected)
Hosting Bandwith: (any of the DSL/Cable options will do fine)
Network Performance Icon: ON (This shows what everyone's connection to the game
                         is)
TV Voice Volume: (On if you want things said on the headsets to come through
                 your tv.  Off if you don't want to hear your friends being
                 annoying.)

After verifying your settings, select CREATE MATCH.  Choose any maps and
gametypes you want.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If the host Xbox has downloaded and still possesses a map or
gametype that another does not have (such as Assault on Kashyyyk, or the $5.00
pack which includes Assault on many old maps (such as Mygeeto and Naboo) as
well as the addition of new maps (Rhen Var: Citadel, Rhen Var: Harbor, Yavin
Arena,and Bespin)), they must make sure not to select any map or gametype
that a joining Xbox does not have.  Otherwise the Xbox (or Xbox's) without
those updates will not be able to join the match.  So Assault is safe on Mos
Eisley for sure, Kashyyyk if the free update has been downloaded, and all maps
if the $5.00 pack has been downloaded.  But if the host chooses Hunt on Rhen
Var, then all Xbox's that don't have Rhen Var, will not be able to join the
match even if the game being played at the time is something they have (like
conquest on Naboo).

After choosing the maps or gametypes you want, you should change some of the
settings.

********************************
RECOMMENDED PLAYING OPTIONS (D4)
********************************

Playing system link, Xbox Live, and instant action all have the same lists of
options to choose from with the exception of system link and Xbox Live having
the "HOST" category.  The "HOST" list of options is as follows:

Map Playlist: (play in order, or random order)

NOTE: This will determine whether the maps and games will be played in the
     order they appear on the list or in a random order.  Random order has a
     set pattern to it.  For example, if you select all maps, all gametypes,
     all eras and random order, you will play the maps in a certain order
     which can be replicated by selecting all maps, all gametypes, all eras
     and random order again.

Dedicate Host: (on or off)

NOTE: Simple, select ON if you want the Xbox to simply be hosting the game
     and OFF if you want people to be able to play from it.  This is supposed
     to reduce lag though whether or not it really does it debatable as at one
     system link party I went to, the game lagged really bad when we had an
     Xbox set up just hosting the game.  But later, we came back and played
     without dedicated host turned on and with the same options and same
     number of people (8) and there was hardly any lag.

Max Players: (2-32)

NOTE: Set this number at the maximum number of people you might possibly have
     playing in your game (or the max number that you want in your game).  The
     lower the amount of players, the less lag (generally).

Warm Up: (0-120 seconds)

NOTE: This determines how long players have to explore the map and such before
     the game really starts.  Players will spawn instantly and cannot die.
     Setting this at 0 means players can spawn within 15 seconds of the game
     starting while AI unitsw will spawn immediately.  For best results, set
     this at five seconds so that players and AI will have 5 seconds for a
     warm-up and then will have 10 seconds before the first wave of players
     and AI units spawn.

Voting Threshold: (disabled-%75)

NOTE: This decides what percentage of the players in the game must vote against
     a player to boot him.  Booting of one player results in the booting of an
     entire Xbox.  For system link, disable this to prevent people from
     getting kicked out of the game and frustrated.

Team Damage: (on or off)

NOTE: ON means betrayals will be an every-battle occurance while OFF means that
     they will be harder to perform (although they still are possible through
     the running over of a teammate).

Show Player Names: (on or off)

NOTE: When enabled, the name of human players will appear above their heads.

Teams: (auto-assign or player select)

NOTE: This options allows the computer to choose teams or each individual
     person (although if a player cannot decide they can simply select the
     auto-assign button to let the computer decide for them).  With player
     select, players can change their team part-way through the game by
     pressing the "B" button while at the command post selection screen.

Min Players to Start: (0 to number of max players)

NOTE: Set this number to the number of people that you know for sure will be
     playing.  That way the games will not begin until everyone has joined.

The option to play as a Hero in Star Wars: Battlefront II can be very
controversial.  The hero can easily sway the battle in one team's favor.  So
when you plan on playing intense and competitive games with people, either turn
the Hero off completely or make it so that the Hero can only be unlocked after
a large number of points (such as 25-50).

While some players enjoy games that go on forever, many players do not.
Consider setting a time limit on your game or reducing the score limit.

Once all of your games are chosen and your settings are correct, choose the
"LAUNCH" option to begin the game.

*********************************
JOINING AND PLAYING THE GAME (E5)
*********************************

Once the game has been "launched" by the host, the remaining Xbox's should
attempt to join.  Have one person select their profile, then MULTIPLAYER, and
then SYSTEM LINK.  Next, have the remaining players on the Xbox select their
profiles.  Finally, select SEARCH.  A screen should appear that will show a
list of all of the available games.  If you put the cursor over an available
game, it will give you all of the information of the game such as the number
of players, the host's connection, what map is currently being played, and
what the settings are.  Select the game you want and join it.

NOTE: When joining a game, it may give you a message along the lines of
     "Network conditions may affect this game."  Ignore this message and join
     the game.  If there is lag, inform the host of this so that they may
     reduce the number of max players and/or the number of AI units to reduce
     lag.  Sometimes the network simply needs reset.  When resetting the
     network, unplug all ethernet cables, turn off all Xbox's, and turn off
     all routers.  Wait two minutes before turning anything back on.  While
     waiting, connect all Xbox's and routers again.  Then turn on the
     router(s) and wait another minute or two.  Next fire up the Host's Xbox
     and start the process all over again.

NOTE: Once in the game, any player can press start and open up the PLAYERS
     LIST which will show who is in the game and what team they are on.  From
     this menu, they can select a player's name and choose whether or not they
     want to listen to what they have to say through their headset.

NOTE: When teams are set to player select, a player may change teams at while
     choosing a command post to spawn at by simply pressing "B."

The host and all other players in the game will get a message saying who has
joined the game.  Similarly, when players leave the game, the remaining players
will get messages saying "so-and-so left the game"

Also, whenever a human person dies, it will inform all players of this.

*******************************
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (F6)
*******************************

Q: I'm trying to system link and I've followed everything in the guide.
  What's going on?!?!?!
A: If this is the case, then you're probably using an original version of the
  game with a platinum hits version of the game.  Unfortunately, these are
  incompatible via system link.

Q: Should I purchase <insert networking item here>
A: I don't know, e-mail me as much information on the item as you may have and
  I'll try to get back to you.

Q: It won't let me join or start a system link game.
A: I covered most of the reported problems in sections B2 and C3.  Try reading
  through those sections.
  Basically,

  1. Make sure the cables are the correct kinds
  2. Make sure the cables are pushed in all the way
  3. Make sure to plug in the cables, turn on the router, and then the Xbox's
  4. Make sure the activity lights are lit up or flashing on the router
  5. Make sure the the light on the left of the ethernet port of the Xbox is
     lit up
  6. Make sure that Auto-Sign In is turned off on your Xbox main menu.
  7. Make sure that the host Xbox has not chosen any of the maps or gametypes
     that the joining Xbox does not have
  8. Make sure that the host has launched the game before joining

Q: Can you system link a regular Xbox with an Xbox 360?
A: I did system link five regular Xbox's with a 360 once with no problem. We
  were, however, only playing Halo 2.  We didn't try Battlefront II.  However,
  I would think that it would work fine as long as you follow this FAQ.

Q: Can you really system link with just a crossover cable?
A: I have only used a crossover cable with other games (such as Halo 2) so I do
  not know for certain but I would assume that it will work as long as you
  follow the instructions in this FAQ.

Q: I don't want to listen to what other people are saying through their
  headsets.  What should I do?
A: You can play with the sound muted, play with the "tv voice volume" option
  set to "off" and then don't use your headset, or once they say something
  like that, go into your players list and mute them.

Q: It won't let me download the new maps to my 360?
A: Some say that they downloaded the content just fine while others cannot.
  The DC may require a Gold membership and may not be supported by a trial
  membership.

  Jbennet1 might just be onto something:

  "well when i got my xbox360 i bought the 13 month prepaid card so i had no
credit card assigned to my account so i did what most people did i bought ms
points and added the card through that and still downloading the expansion pack
did not work so today after reading about the billing issue thing i went into
my account for gold and looked at the membership info it only showed the
prepaid card so i hit modify account it has something like add payment option
so i selected it and it brought up my credit card the same that i used for
the points so now it is set up that after my prepaid runs out it will bill my
credit card i started up battlefront II and downloaded the expansion pack on
the first try."


Q: Do people still play on Xbox Live anymore?
A: Nope. Microsoft has discontinued the Xbox Live service for original
  Xbox games.

Q: My headset stopped working.
A: This is a glitch with the game.  I heard that to fix this, after every game,
  remove your headset from your controller and then reinsert it once the next
  game starts.  I also heard that setting the mic audio option to tv output
  from the Xbox dashboard might fix this problem as well.

Q: The sound stopped working on my tv.
A: This is yet another glitch with the game that can be fixed by resetting your
  Xbox.

Q: I have a question, comment, problem, solution, etc. that you did not address
  in this FAQ.  What should I do?
A: E-mail me ([email protected]) or post your problem on the
  Star Wars: Battlefront II message board at gamefaqs.com--I'm there alot.

********************
VERSION HISTORY (G7)
********************

Version 1.0 - 9/15/06 - Completed
Version 1.1 - 9/26/06 - Updated copyright information and added supercheats.com
version 1.2 - 10/24/06 - Added to the "content download" FAQ, thanks jbennet1!
version 1.3 - 10/06/12 - It's been six years. Why not update?

***************
LEGAL JUNK (H8)
***************

Copyright 2006, 2012 Stephen Hopper

This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.

The only sites allowed to host this FAQ are gamefaqs.com and supercheats.com
If you would like to host this FAQ on your website, e-mail me at
[email protected]

Special thanks to: gamefaqs for hosting this, the guys on the message board,
for encouraging me to make this, my friends for playing system link with me,
and you for reading this.

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