Why you should download Gametoast's Conversion Pack 2.0
Posted by: Darth Danno 10.22.08 12:01am

Modding – it's sort of like the video game equivalent of fan fiction.

For the most part, mods are glitchy, unevenly designed novelties that squeeze a few more hours of amusement out of a game you no longer enjoy playing.

There are exceptions, however, like the highly-professional and sensational "Conversion Pack" updates that the fan site Gametoast has been rolling out for Star Wars Battlefront 2.

Under the direction of a master modder named after the Mormon hero Teancum, Gametoast has had a long history of keeping the Star Wars Battlefront PC franchise fresh. It is with a sweet sorrow that I learned that the Gametoast gang has brought its unofficial improvements on Battlefront 2 to a close with the release of Conversion Pack 2.0 back in September.

The purpose of the Conversion Pack was originally to recreate the levels and environments of the first Battlefront game so that they could be played with the features of Battlefront 2, but the Gametoast crew took their modifications beyond simply reconstructing BF1 to bring us a host of new playable characters, new battlefields, and a whole lot of fun.

Among the most noteworthy additions to the game are spot-on renditions of Durge and Commander Cody, both with new skins and frames and working jetpacks. You'll also want to check out the Republic Commandos, who carry their famously customizable rifles from the RC game. You'll spend hours just playing levels and Hero Assault modes for the surprise of finding custom versions of Assajj Ventriss, Shaak Ti, and the cast of KotoR, among others. Some levels even have an Order 66 feature, allowing you to play as clones versus Jedi. As a finale, the Gametoast crew also threw in self-portrait mods in a battle arena.

By far, however, the most fun is to be had on Ord Ibanna, where you'll get to have Durge face off with Nien Numb (and only modders would think to give us a Sullustan player character) or Wedge confront Bossk. You'll also want to uncover the playable easter egg of Millenium Falcon in the Battle of the Death Star II (you have to take down about 30 enemy bogies and fly around to a secret hangar on the other side of your command ship).

Downloading mods is not for the weak of heart, or the sentimental, however. Mods will sometimes glitch or permanently alter your game. For instance, I've discovered that many skins have been altered even when I'm playing standard levels in multiplayer. For the Imperials, the Conversion Pack swaps the Death Star Gunner skin with the Commander, replacing the commander with a custom Officer Skin. All of Grievous' body guards now have flowing capes, and all of my clones are in 501st colors. The old Clone Commander, which once was a Marine, has been replaced with a clone bearing a shoulder pauldron. In other words, the new skins are actually more movie accurate, but they might take some getting used to (although I wish Mygeeto had an all Marine corps).

Occasionally, you'll encounter some tedium in battlefields that have been made ridiculously large (Haruun Kal for instance). I don't find it much fun to march five minutes between command posts only to get picked off by one of Gametoast's customized invisible snipers.
To list all of the modifications would take up too much space, and half of the fun really is discovering them (like IG-88 lurking about Kamino with his fully operational grappling hook, or the TIE crawlers that have been inserted in the Dune Sea conflict). It might be more fun to play these custom boards online, except that the biggest drawback I've found at the moment is that multiplayer servers running Conversion Pack 2.0 are few and far between (my main purpose of promoting Gametoast here is in the hopes that I'll have other people to play next time I log on).

So, if you have a high speed Internet connection, and some hard drive space to spare, download Gametoast's free Conversion Pack 2.0. It's the closest thing you'll get to BF3 until BF3, and I guarantee it's a whole lot cheaper.
See you on the ice fields of Rhen Var!