Project Reality

Project Reality
Developer(s)	Project Reality and Black Sand Studios
Engine	Refractor 2 Engine
Platform(s)	Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Release date(s)	August 7, 2005[1]
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Singleplayer, Multiplayer (Advance and Secure (AASv4), Command & Control (CnC), Co-operative, Insurgency, Skirmish, Vehicle Warfare)
Distribution	Download PR (5.8GB)

Project Reality (abbreviated to PR) is a series of tactical first-person shooter video games which aim to create a realistic combat environment and place great emphasis on teamwork and cooperation. Project Reality includes two modifications for the computer game Battlefield 2 on the PC, a modification for the computer game ArmA 2, and an unreleased standalone sequel Project Reality 2 built on the CryENGINE 3, still in production.

Project Reality: Battlefield 2 (PR:BF2)

Focus on Realism

The weapons and vehicles in Project Reality have their properties modified for increased realism. Ballistics are adjusted to reflect those of real weapons, including characteristics such as bullet drop. Project Reality features a locational damage system. If a vehicle suffers heavy damage to its tracks, it will likely be immobilized. Likewise, damage dealt to the turret of a tank will immobilize the turret. Additionally, there is no health meter as in the original BF2, and players who are wounded but not disabled by enemy fire will slowly have their health degrade unless they are treated by a medic, to the point that they can die from exsanguination.

Focus on Teamwork

Although Project Reality started as simple realism mod (called mini-mods), its continued success mostly stems from its heavy focus on teamplay and adding new elements to the game that force players to cooperate and work together to be successful (including requiring a minimum two-man team to capture control points, making it impossible for individual players to capture one alone). Many new additions to the mod and game engine allow for tighter teamwork. The game mechanics in Project Reality have been greatly modified from standard Battlefield 2 in order to reward players that use teamwork and punish players that "lonewolf". In this way Project Reality is unique to most games, and is what continues to attract a wide global audience.

Focus on Communication

Project Reality has its own built-in VOIP communications. The top servers, where teamwork and cooperation are key elements to their popularity are in some cases enforcing the use of Mumble, other servers kick non-mumble users to make space or for other reasons. Mumble is an excellent way to communicate with other Squad Leaders, Squad Members, nearby team members and the Commander, the enemy cannot listen in. Most regular PR players prefer PR Mumble v1.9 (download link) to any other communications package currently available.

Game Modes

Project Reality features five game modes. Two of the game modes involve capturing and holding control points, similar to the Conquest mode of Battlefield 2, although control points must be captured in a certain order, AASv4 randomly chooses a capture route (a series of capture points) for a battle, giving many different areas on a map for firefights and replayability. Vehicle Warfare mode gives AAS a twist, by putting full emphasis on heavy vehicles, and restricting access to infantry kits. The Command and Control mode removes all control points, instead focusing combat around player built fortifications. The Insurgency mode, intended to simulate asymmetrical warfare, involves a conventional forces team searching for and destroying illegal weapon caches while the other team, the insurgents, try to defend them. The mod also features a co-op mode, where human players may play alongside or against computer controlled players. Co-op can also serve as a single-player mode (with bots standing in for teammates). Partially due to the inclusion and limitations of the A.I., co-op is played with more relaxed rules (e.g. reduced timers, some limited kits can be selected on spawn, etc.) that also apply to human players.

Spawning

Players can no longer spawn at flags which their team is in control of, nor can players spawn on their squad leader. In PR, players can spawn at a permanent spawn point at their main base, at their squad's rally point, or at Forward Operating Bases.

Rally points are spawn points placed by the squad leader of a squad (as long as one other squad member is near the leader and the squad lead has an officer kit). Only the squad members of that squad may spawn on the rally point. These are primarily for regrouping the squad temporarily, and as such they expire after a short period, or if enemies get within a certain distance.

Forward Operating Bases are special player deployable assets. Squad leaders may place Forward Operating Bases if they have one supply crate dropped from a Logistics Truck or helicopter and an officer or combat engineer kit. A Firebase (as it tends to be called) can be reinforced with deployables when two supply crates are present, such as razor-wire fences, foxholes, an AA-turret, anti-tank wired-missile installation, mortar emplacements (two per team), and up to two heavy machine gun nests (per forward base). The Taliban faction is limited to an SPG-9 anti-tank gun, and mortars (two per team). These assets can be placed by any friendly squad leader (regardless of which one built the original outpost), and have to be built using the shovel, a tool most individual soldier kits carry.

Rally points and Forward Operating Bases may be overrun or destroyed. The one permanent spawn a team has is at their main base. This is typically the last flag able to be captured by the opposing team (other times the main base is close to the last flag, but not the flag itself). Almost all vehicles spawn at the main base of team.

The exception to all this is the insurgent team on the Insurgency game mode. In that case, the insurgents get spawn points on their weapons caches (or time-limited 'spawn caches'), however they lose the ability to spawn there if the weapons cache is destroyed or the enemy force gains intelligence about the cache. Along with these points, the insurgents can deploy and construct destructible Hideouts to spawn at, which act in a similar way to the Forward Operating Bases the Blufor can deploy.

Kits

Players can no longer spawn with all the kits that are ultimately available. A player may spawn as an Officer (with or without scope on the primary weapon), Rifleman (again with or without scope), Combat Medic (limited to one per squad), Rifleman Specialist (not to be confused with special forces; he only carries some extra equipment like a shotgun and grappling hook, limited to 1 per squad as of .95), or Automatic Rifleman (limited to one per squad). In order to spawn with the Officer kit, a player must be a squad leader of a squad with 2 or more members. Other, more specialized kits such as the Heavy Anti-Tank, Light Anti-Tank, Anti-Aircraft, Sniper, Marksman, Grenadier, Rifleman Anti Personnel, and Combat Engineer have to be requested (Officer, Automatic Rifleman and Combat Medic can be obtained in this fashion as well). This is done from a friendly APC and/or a friendly supply crate dropped by logistic trucks or larger transport helicopters. All these kits are limited in the amount that are available. The exceptions are Crewman and Pilot kits (see below). Kits can also be picked up from dead enemy soldiers, which is useful as taking a specialized kit will deny the enemy that kit until the soldier using the kit loses it. As of 1.0 enemy kits can no longer be used.

Crewman and Pilot kits are needed to drive armored vehicles and pilot aircraft respectively. They are unlimited in number and may be requested from the entry points of the appropriate vehicle, or from a friendly supply crate.

Some specialized kits may be pickup kits. Pickup kits are laid on the ground and may be picked up as the name suggests. These are especially prevalent for the insurgent team. This is because the insurgents may not request kits in the normal fashion.

Vehicles and Weapons

Although Project Reality reuses some of the models from Battlefield 2, it also features many new weapons and vehicles (with some of the existing hardware from the original game being revamped to make it more realistic). But with some blunders that make the game worse than a bad arcade, how to disable the gun if you do not at least 2 players present inside the vehicle: pilot + gunner.

Maps

All of the maps in PR are new, including some based on real life locations, such as Basrah, Beirut, Fallujah, Karbala, Kufra, Mestia, Muttrah, the Korengal Valley, Helmand Province, the Gaza Strip, Vadsø, and some based on generic fictional locations in the Middle East, East Asia, and around the Black Sea.

In April 2011, a set of single-player maps were released that include refurbished versions of maps from the original BF2, including "Operation Road Rage", "Operation Harvest", "Midnight Sun", and "Road to Jalalabad".

In December 2011 a multiplayer map pack was released, containing four new maps ("Black Gold" (4 km²), "Operation Marlin" (2 km²), "Pavlovsk Bay" (4 km²) and "Vadsø City" (4 km²)), in addition to bringing back three revised old maps ("Assault on Mestia" (1 km²), "Operation Ghost Train" (1 km²) and "Tad Sae Offensive" (1 km²)).

As of October 6, 2012 the Falklands Map was released, with an all new faction the Argentine Army. And the British Armed Forces, both 1980's versions. The Falklands map is based on the Falklands War which took place off the coast of Argentina in the Falkland Islands.

Factions

Project Reality currently includes thirteen factions. These factions are categorized as conventional forces, militia, and insurgents. Current conventional forces included are:

• The United States Army
• The United States Marine Corps
• The British Armed Forces
• The French Armed Forces
• The Russian Army
• The Israel Defense Forces
• The Bundeswehr (German Army)
• The Canadian Forces
• The Middle Eastern Coalition (a fictional alliance carried over from the original Battlefield 2)
• The People's Liberation Army

Current militia included are:

• The Militia (represents resistance fighters from former Warsaw Pact countries)
• Hamas
• African Resistance Fighters (represents guerrilla fighters from countries such as Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

There are only 2 insurgent factions, these include:

• Taliban
• Iraqi Insurgency

Included in the newly released "The Falklands":

• 1980 British Armed Forces
• 1980 Argentine Army

Included in the "Vietnam" add-on:

• 1960's United States Army
• 1960's United States Marine Corps
• 1960's North Vietnamese Army

Included in the "Normandy" add-on:

• 1940's United States Army
• 1940's Wehrmacht

Project Reality 2

In early 2009 it was revealed through the official Project Reality forums that a standalone successor Project Reality 2 is in pre-production.^{[citation needed]} A license for the C4 Engine has been purchased as of 2010. There is no set release date for the game.^[2]

An entry for a game called "Project Reality 2 - The Beaten Zone" has been posted to the official Crytek developers community crytek.net, stating that the game would be using the CryEngine 3.^[3] Project Reality staff have dismissed the supposed engine change as rumor, and did not acknowledge any connection to the crydev.net posting.^[4]

However, new announcements from the Dev Team, made sure that PR2 will be in fact using the CryENGINE 3, since most of the people involved on the development of the game on the C4 Engine thought it's not so good to work with it, and they have chosen the CE3 as their new engine to work on.

Project Reality: ARMA 2 (PR:ARMA2)

Project Reality : ArmA2
Developer(s)	Reality Studios
Engine	Real Virtuality 3
Platform(s)	Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8
Release date(s)	September 2nd, 2011
Genre(s)	Tactical shooter, Military Simulation, Open world
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Distribution	Download PR:ARMA2 (528MB)

It has been announced by the Developers of Project Reality that a version called Project Reality: ARMA 2 will be released for the ARMA 2 game. The main aim for PR:ARMA2 is "to create an immersive modification for ARMA2, which focuses on encouraging teamwork through gameplay".

The following information is quoted from the official Project Reality website in reference to the new mod.

As with Project Reality's original conception on the Refractor 2 engine, at this stage PR:ARMA2 should be classed as a Mini-Mod; we have to start somewhere! Don't be fooled though, this release will by no means disappoint, due to the large number of high quality art assets already created by the Project Reality Team, and the considerable experience of the PR:ARMA2 Development Team on the Real Virtuality 3 engine!

PR:ARMA2 exists as a standalone modification requiring both ARMA 2 and ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead.^[5] It remains self-contained, self developing and does not rely on or use externally held add-ons from other sources where at all possible. What that means to the player is that it is a 'one stop shop' as an installation package, with no requirement for additional multiple add on packs.

PR:ARMA2 v0.1 BETA was released on September 2 which was shortly followed by the release of PR:ARMA v0.15 beta on March 16, 2012. A year later on March 1, 2013 0.16 version was released including two new terrains (maps). With the release came the news of a cease in development with the ARMA2 mod and a movements of efforts towards ARMA 3.^[6]

Project Reality: Vietnam (PR:V)

What was thought of as an April Fool's joke^[7] turned out to be quite real. In an announcement^[8] by Trahn Lee Liao, a developer of Eve of Destruction Devs Team, which makes one of the premier Vietnam mods for the Battlefield series, it was stated that PR:V was in fact real. It states that PR:V is a joint co-operative effort between the mod teams of Project Reality: BF2 and Eve of Destruction. It was later also announced on www.realitymod.com. On April 1, 2012 www.realitymod.com announced that the first Project Reality Vietnam beta would be released April 6, 2012. It contains four maps (including one based on the battle of la Drang) and features the North Vietnamese Army, United States Marine Corps and the US Army as playable factions.^[9] The Vietnam addon is now in its second beta stage. Two other mini-mods have been announced; PR: Falklands, based around the Falklands War, and PR: Normandy, a World War II mini-mod. All 3 which have been released in a first version included in the 0.98 patch of the core game. It has been said that the next version will include Vietnam in its final version with Falklands and the ww2-minimod to be released later.

Reception

Critical Response

Major game review websites, IGN and GameSpy have both reviewed Project Reality. IGN review states "why all BF2 players should download this mod."^[10] while GameSpy says that "the mother of all realism mods [has] arrive[d] for BF2".^[11] PC Zone Magazine also reviewed Project Reality, saying that "not only does it make the virtual warfare harsher, Project Reality also adds fantastic new maps, vehicles and weapons to the fray".

Awards

In 2006, Project Reality won Mod DB's Silver Spanner in the Mod of the Year 2006 awards, with 80,000 votes in total, and out of 4,000 mods PR came in second place.^[12]

In 2007, Project Reality won a variety of awards, including GameFlood's $25,000 Mod & Map Contest in the category "Best FPS Mod", and ^[13] Total Gaming Network's "Best Modification of 2007 Award".^[14] Furthermore, Project Reality won Mod DB's Silver Spanner in the Mod of the Year 2007 awards.^[15]

In 2008, Project Reality won both Mod DB's Editors Choice of Best Multiplayer Mod^[16] and the Mod of the Year,^[17] which is player's choice. Project Reality was also included in Mod DB's Mod Hall of Fame (which lists the best game mods over the past fourteen years) in December 2010.^[18]

In 2010, Project Reality: Arma 2 won Mod DB's Players Choice of Best Upcoming Mod of the Year Award.^[19]

Press Coverage

Project Reality has been featured in a variety of magazines. It was featured in the February print edition of Computer Games Magazine, a magazine distributed in North America. Project Reality was published in the March issue of GameStar as well as being distributed on a CD with the magazine. It was also featured in the April 2008 edition of the Soldier Magazine, the official magazine of the British Army. The game was also featured in the October 2010 issue of the Australian gaming magazine PC PowerPlay, including interviews with the development staff.

Requirements

Project Reality: Battlefield 2

• Battlefield 2 with 1.5 patch
• Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8
• 2.0 GHz CPU or higher
• 1GB RAM (4GB or higher recommended)
• 6GB hard disk space or more
• DirectX compatible 256MB graphics card (512MB or 1GB recommended)
• Microphone (recommended)
• Joystick (optional)

See also

• Battlefield 2
• Battlefield (series)
• ARMA 2

References

External links

• Official Project Reality Website
• Project Reality forums