Experiences in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter I. & II.

Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter I. and II. (GRAW1 released in 2006, GRAW2 released in 2007) are both older games, but just as good as any tactical shooters from their release era (2005-2008).  In some aspects, they can be comparable to other tactical and military shooters such as Joint Operations, Delta Force Xtreme and Battlefield II.

As with all Ghost Recon games, there are many command keys, which makes the overall operation and game play a bit more complex.  If you are a casual gamer or prefer more simplistic game play then maybe these ares not exactly compatible with your idea of gaming fun.

The STEAM digital download versions of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter I. and II. are pretty good deals.  Even if you try one or both and do not care for either, at under $10 USD, you are not really going to loose out on the money.

GRAW I: Command Button Fix

While playing Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (GRAW1) for the first time, the middle mouse button does not seem to allow for the proper execution of certain commands.  To fix the problem, a file called "ctrl_set_def.xml" in your "...\Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter\Settings" folder needs modification.

Change the XML line:

Code:

<button id="hud_select" binding="2" device="mouse" group="misc"/>

Into:

Code:

<button id="hud_select" binding="2" device="mouse" group="tactics"/>

GRAW I: Skipping the Intro Movies

The STEAM GRAW I. version intro. and logo videos took up nearly one minute for me.  After following the below information... start up under 25 seconds.

To skip the intro. and logo videos:

Go to ...\Program Files\Ubisoft\Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter\Data\movies and rename the following files to something else or just archive (.zip/.rar) the following files:

1. GRAW_HDEU.bik
2. grin_logo.bik
3. SIGNATURE.BIK

Now download the following archive containing blank movie files.  Note that each one is a blank .BIK movie, not a renamed .txt file...

==> http://www.tweakguides.com/files/SkipIntro_GRAW.zip

Extract the contents into ...\Program Files\Ubisoft\Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter\Data\movies. Now whenever you start GRAW there will be a black screen as the game loads up, however you should reach the main menu quicker without the annoying intro movies.

GRAW I. & II. Patches, Maps & Mods Information:


GRAW I. Official Patch - This 273MB patch contains all the fixes from previous patches and map packs.  It contains fixes for multiplayer, which includes coop. STEAM auto installs updates and patches for all games including GRAW, but needless to say it should be installed by all GRAW players.

GRAW I. => http://www.fileshack.com/file.x/9201/Ghost+Recon+3:+Advanced+Warfighter+1.35+Patch

GRAW I. & II. Mods - An up to date GRAW I. and II. includes a Map Editor which allows users to create custom maps for the game.  A boat load of pre-made mods and extra maps are available as well.  I recommend going to Ghost Recon.net.

GRAW I.  => http://www.ghostrecon.net/files2/index.php?act=category&id=26
GRAW II. => http://www.ghostrecon.net/files2/index.php?act=category&id=46

The website has a large block of advertising in the top half of every page.  However, scroll down the page and pick a category like "mods-maps" or "weapons," etc. ... those are all the free downloads!

The addition of an anti-cheat option for servers can cause problems with mods and maps. This option checks to make sure that the game files or folders on your PC match those on the server.  So depending on what mod or map is installed and the files it modifies, servers without the same files might kick or punt you.