To get started, you're going to need to get Discord setup, and install Battlefield 1942 (if you don't have it installed already).

Discord

Join the Shacknews Discord server by clicking https://Discord.me/shacknews  and clicking the Join Server button.

Once you've joined the server and gotten logged in, setup your profile and test out your headphones and mic. To actually communicate with other Shackers in-game, you'll want to join the #SHACKBATTLES voice channel before firing up the game.

Battlefield 1942

If you have the game on Origin, you're in luck. Download it to your library and you're good to go. 

If you don't have it, you're entering murky waters. For whatever reason, there's no legal way to buy BF1942 unless you somehow find a CD-ROM version and activate the key in Origin. Someone might be able to help you find it and read all of Beastrabban's post for instructions to install it and get started.  

Connecting to the Server

The server's address is BF1942.duckdns.org and is configured to use BF1942's default port (14567). 

To connect to the server, click Multiplay -> Internet -> Add Server and enter the server address and port into the right fields.

The game server uses the same password we've been using forever. If you don't know it, ask around -- anyone who has joined a Shackbattle in the last decade should be able to tell you the password.

Widescreen Fix

BF1942 doesn't take advantage of widescreen monitors by default, so you have to do some config file hacking. 

1. Open the location of your BF1942 install in File Explorer
   If you have Origin and you're not sure where the game's installed, go into Origin, click on the game, and when the panel slides out, click the gear and choose to "move game" from the menu. This exposes the current location where it's installed.
2. Enter "video" into the search box. This should return about a dozen files with names like "Video.con" and "VideoCustom.con" and others.
3. Open the files in an editor better than Notepad.
   • The author of the guide I followed said to use Wordpad, which often handles extended ASCII better than Notepad.
   • I used VSCode by selecting all the .con files, then right-clicking, and selecting Open with Code from the context menu.
4. Flip through all the .con files, and look for resolutions in all the files, and change it to "1920 1080" to at least get you 1080p everywhere you see them. I used "2560 1440" to suit the native resolution of my monitor.
5. .\Mods\bf1942\Settings\VideoDefault.con has a variable named "renderer.fieldOfView" - change it from "1" to whatever matches your aspect ratio below:
   • 4:3 = 1
   • 16:9 = 1.33333
   • 21:9 = 1.75
6. Save all of the files you edited.
7. Select all of the video*.con files that should still be shown in File Explorer, right-click, select Properties, and check the Read-only attribute then click OK. 

After you make the change, fire up the game and make sure it worked. Keep in mind the intro videos and menus will still be in 4:3 aspect ratio - you have to actually get into the game to see if the fix worked. 

Kill the Videos on Launch

Never want to see that Challenge Everything EA intro again?  Open up your BF1942 folder and rename or delete the Movies folder.