Your own files, a new engine
Beachhead ships engine code only. Levels, models, sounds and scripts load in place from your own legally owned installation. Nothing original is redistributed.
Open source · in development
Beachhead – Eras of Conquest
The Refractor-era Battlefields, rebuilt from the ground up.
An open-source engine that plays your own copies of Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Vietnam, Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142. Perfectly preserved, carefully remastered.
What it is
A new engine for an old front line
Beachhead reads the games you already own, straight from your install, and plays it in a brand new engine. Same maps, same vehicles, same rules. Native ultrawide, modern renderer, and an engine that can finally grow.
Faithful first
Torque curves, wheel grip, wing lift, fall damage, the HUD and its animations: every rule is recovered from the original and written down before the new engine implements it.
Then better
Once an era plays like the original, a Modern ruleset layers on top: a simulated ocean, volumetric skies, dynamic weather from clear skies to torrential storms, destruction and the fidelity of today's shooters.
One engine, four eras
Every game on Refractor
Beachhead covers all four Battlefield games built on the Refractor engine, expansions and booster packs included: two Refractor 1 eras in development today, two Refractor 2 eras next. Each keeps its own HUD, weapons and feel.
In development · Refractor 1
Beachhead '42
Battlefield 1942
With the expansions The Road to Rome and Secret Weapons of WWII. Wake Island leads the way.
Development progress16%
In development · Refractor 1
Beachhead Vietnam
Battlefield Vietnam
From Operation Irving's rivers to the helicopters.
Development progressNot yet measured
Next · Refractor 2
Beachhead Escalation
Battlefield 2
With the Special Forces expansion and the Euro Force and Armored Fury booster packs. Commanders, squads and jets.
Development progressNot yet measured
Next · Refractor 2
Beachhead Future War
Battlefield 2142
With the Northern Strike booster pack. A new ice age, walkers, titans and the war after next.
Development progressNot yet measured
Two ways to play every era
Classic & Modern
ClassicThe game you remember
A preservation of the original, presentation and gameplay alike. The menus and HUD are the game's own menu files, run by a reimplementation of its interface runtime, animations included.
- Original physics, damage and weapon rules, recovered
- Original HUD, spawn screen and minimap, from the game's files
- Original sound scripts, water, sky and lighting
- Classic quirks kept, so muscle memory still works
ModernThe game it could be
A new experience layered on each finished Classic, aiming at the fidelity of today's Battlefield. Servers pick the ruleset for the match.
- Three-cascade FFT ocean with swell, surf and translucent crests
- Volumetric clouds, a full 24-hour sky, dynamic weather from clear skies to torrential storms
- Deformable terrain and destructible buildings on the roadmap
- PBR materials, global illumination and volumetric smoke planned
Wake Island · one beach, one camera
Around the clock
A continuous day on a single clock: drag through it.
In-engine, today
Gallery
In-engine renders of content from the developer's own copies. Work in progress.
Under the hood
Built to outlive the originals
Recovered physics
Engines and gears, springs, grip, wings, buoyancy, drag and propeller thrust, each traced to the original before it is written.
The original interface
The game's own menu files run on a reimplemented interface runtime: spawn screen, HUD, minimap and their animations.
Original sound
Engines, footsteps and landing gear play from the original sound scripts, placed in 3D, with surface-aware steps.
No old limits
Original formats are importers into a general engine: bigger terrain, longer view distances, native ultrawide.
Fair at range
No concealment culling: full 3D trees to 2.5 km and screen-space-error terrain, so nobody hides behind draw distance.
Made for modders
A Godot editor plugin opens any level as an editable scene, with assets kept at their original paths.
Coming next
Online, the way it should be
Built for players who remember running their own servers. Host from the game and friends join with a code, or run a dedicated box and it shows up for everyone.
- 64players by default
- 128for custom servers and mods
- LANwith automatic discovery
- Win · Linuxdedicated server with remote admin
The plan
Classic first, all four
Every era reaches its Classic before any new Modern work begins. One era at a time, one map first, then the full catalog.
- Now
Beachhead '42 on Wake Island
Gameplay and presentation to near 1:1, checked against the original.
- Then
Beachhead '42, every map
The full official catalog, The Road to Rome and Secret Weapons of WWII included.
- Then
Beachhead Vietnam
Operation Irving already runs; Classic parity follows, then all maps.
- Shared
Dedicated servers and multiplayer
One server for every era, LAN to internet.
- Next
Refractor 2: Escalation, then Future War
Battlefield 2 and Battlefield 2142, with new importers for the second-generation engine's formats.
- After
Modern, per era
The Modern ruleset layered on each finished Classic.
Questions
FAQ
Do I need the original games?
Yes. Beachhead contains no original assets. You point it at your own legally owned installation of Battlefield 1942, Battlefield Vietnam, Battlefield 2 or Battlefield 2142 and it reads the content from there.
Is it free?
Beachhead is an open-source engine reimplementation, in the tradition of OpenMW and OpenRA. The license is still being decided.
When can I play it?
There is no release date yet. Wake Island and Operation Irving are playable in development builds today.
Will my mods work?
Mod support is part of the plan. Beachhead keeps the original virtual paths, and its editor plugin opens levels as editable scenes for new maps and mods.
Who makes it?
ZALIAS™, a Software & Audio Engineer who has experience modding the Refractor Engine Battlefield titles since 2005
Is this an official Battlefield project?
No. Beachhead is independent and unofficial, and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Electronic Arts or DICE.