Anything I should do after installing OFP?

Anything I should do after installing OFP? Are there any patches or upgrades available?

Yes. First check the BIS download page, and Codemasters patch page and upgrade page. Future patches, containing fixes and add-ons, may follow, although BIS has announced that this is unlikely.

If you've installed from either the OFP: Resistance version 1.75 CD or from the OFP GOTY Edition version 1.85 CD, the most recent patch, released in March 2003, will upgrade you to version 1.91. There are separate upgrade patches for the Resistance and the GOTY versions. You need to download the one for your CD. The results of applying them, however, is the same, with exactly the same fixes and features being installed.

In addition, for OFP Resistance CD installations only, there is a Campaign 1985 update patch as well as a Red Hammer Compatibility patch. If you've already applied these after an earlier patch upgrade (e.g., 1.85 or 1.90), you should not apply them again.

If you're planning on hosting OFP multiplayer games, be sure to download the latest version of the dedicated standalone server as well.

For those of you who have installed the Resistance or GOTY edition, skip down this page and continue reading from the title "Codemasters Advice".

For those of you who have only installed the original version of OFP Cold War Crisis, the last patch for that version, OFP Ultimate Upgrade 4, upgrades OFP version 1.30 to version 1.46. The patch can be downloaded from one of the links on the pages mentioned above.

Prior to installing OFP Ultimate Upgrade 4, you'll need to have already installed or upgraded to OFP version 1.30 using either the OFP Ultimate Upgrade 3 patch, the OFP Gold CD or the OFP Gold Upgrade CD. If you inadvertently installed the Red Hammer Campaign from the OFP Gold CD after installing OFP Ultimate Upgrade 4, don't worry - read this.

The OFP Ultimate Upgrade 3 patch can be downloaded from one of the links on the pages mentioned above. The Ultimate Upgrade 3 patch will update OFP version 1.20 directly to version 1.30. You must already have installed OFP version 1.20 before installing this upgrade. Before you take the plunge and install Ultimate Upgrade 3, I suggest you first read about my experiences, just to be on the safe side.

If you have purchased and installed OFP Gold or the OFP Gold Upgrade, you already have version 1.30 and you do not need to install Upgrade 3 or any prior official addons.

If you currently have OFP version 1.20 installed and want to install OFP Ultimate Upgrade 4, you must first upgrade to OFP version 1.30 using the Ultimate Upgrade 3 patch.

If you currently have OFP version 1.00 or 1.10 installed and want to install OFP Ultimate Upgrade 4, you must first upgrade to OFP version 1.20 using the Ultimate Upgrade 2 patch. (OFP version 1.00 users do not have to upgrade to version 1.10 before upgrading to version 1.20). After successfully installing the Ultimate Upgrade 2 patch, you must then install the Ultimate Upgrade 3 patch prior to installing OFP Ultimate Upgrade 4.

Codemaster Advice

Codemasters is urging gamers to download OFP patches only from the official site or recognized mirror sites which can be found at www.codemasters.com/flashpoint or at www.flashpoint1985.com.

Rich Blenkinsop, external producer at Codemasters comments: "We are aware that the recently released patch has been hacked by people trying to circumvent the FADE anti-piracy system. However, using one of these hacked versions on authentic copies of the game, will render them unplayable. We would advise gamers who own a legitimate copy of Operation Flashpoint to use the Codemasters site as a first port of call for information on genuine patches and upgrades."

The warning above about hacked versions of OFP refers to no-CD cracks as well. If you're using one, you stand the risk of having FADE ruin your OFP gameplay experience.

If you receive error messages during the upgrade installation process, this might be caused by one of the following:

The copy of the upgrade patch file that you downloaded is damaged.
Your computer has problems copying OFP's large files. See this FAQ item on CRC/checksum errors.
The upgrade patch file is fine, even though the error messages say otherwise. However, if you previously installed an unofficial upgrade, addon, patch or other file, these messages might be displayed. If you have installed an unofficial upgrade and you cannot fully uninstall it, you should reinstall OFP (make sure you have your CD key readily available) and then run all required upgrade patches.

I personally recommend that everyone, regardless of the Windows version that you have, should reboot their computer at this time before initially playing OFP.

After you've patched or upgraded OFP, I highly recommend that the run the OFP preferences program, OPFLASHPREFERENCES.EXE, and click on the AUTODETECT button. This will cause OFP to check your system's configuration and adjust OFP's execution parameters accordingly. The OFP preferences program can be found in OFP's main directory.

If you're getting file error messages when installing an upgrade patch, look here.