Faulty US editions of the OFP Gold CD.

At the start of March 2002, numerous posts began hitting the OFP forums and newsgroup about people unable to play OFP or unable to upgrade past OFP version 1.30.

Codemasters issued the following announcement on March 7,2002:

The master disk for the North American version of Operation Flashpoint Gold Edition contains a flaw that prevents it from loading.

This problem does not affect the Gold Upgrade or any other version of Operation Flashpoint in any territory.

When Codemasters discovered the problem they immediately withdrew the product from sale throughout North America. A new, correct, master has been created and perfect product will go on sale across North America next week.

For those that have already bought the flawed disk Codemasters have implemented a replacement system. Any legitimate owner should contact Codemasters customer service in the USA, who will make quick security checks before sending out a replacement disk. 

USA:

Any queries regarding games, release dates, technical support etc. can be sent to our Customer Services Department at: 

[email protected]
US Technical Support Queries relating to Codemasters' games can be made to the following numbers. Lines open Monday through Friday, excepting recognized holidays, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Pacific Time.
Tel: +1 559 683-4468

On March 8, I was made aware of this OFP Gold Edition Flaw site that Codemasters set up in order to deal will CD replacements: http://www.ofp-goldedition.com. As of mid-March 2002, people began receiving their replacement CD copies in the mail.

Codemasters support informed some customers that they can verify whether they have a flawed CD by turning the CD over to the shiny silver side and checking the CD's "hub" code. The "hub" is the hole in the center of a CD and there is some information imprinted around the hub. If there's a hub code that starts with "B", you've got a faulty CD. A good OFP CD has a hub code that starts with "M".

The newly produced CD's are identifiable by their universal product code (UPC), printed on OFP's outer packaging:

• OFP Gold Edition large re-work stock,  UPC: 767649400454
• OFP Gold Edition mini-box re-work stock,  UPC 767649400461 

So before you start searching through The FAQ to resolve some major problem, check to see if you may have purchased a copy of the faulty US edition of OFP Gold.

To summarize:

• The faulty CD is the game CD in the US (North American) OFP Gold full edition. All prior OFP editions, as well as the European version of the OFP Gold full edition and all editions of the OFP Gold Upgrade do not have this defect.
  
• There are 2 CDs in the OFP Gold edition. The defective CD is the OFP game CD and not the OFP Gold Upgrade CD.
   
• CDs having a "hub code" that begins with "B" are bad.
  
• The defective OFP game CD will let you install OFP but not play or upgrade OFP.
  
• You should contact Codemasters by phone or by email, or through their flawed CD web site, as above, to obtain a replacement CD.