I found a workaround if you purchased the game elsewhere and actually have a CD key. The game seems to be looking for a key when joining a multiplayer server, and since it doesn't find one, prevents you from joining the game. So all you have to do is provide the game with one. For the retail version, CD keys are located in the windows registry.
Step-by step solution :
1. Open regedit. Open the windows start menu and type "regedit". Right-click regedit.exe and select "Execute as administrator". Be careful when manipulating the registry ! Do not delete anything and stick to the instructions below.
2. Navigate to the the following directory:
If you have a 32-bit version of Windows, go to : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\
If you have a 64-bit version of Windows, go to : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\
3. Insert the key in the registry.
This is the tricky part. Since GOG doesn't provide a cd key, the installer did not create a registry entry for it. My guess is that when you try to join a multiplayer server, the game looks for a entry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\LucasArts\Star Wars Battlefront II\1.0 (this seems to be the registry entry for the retail version)
So we have to "trick" the game by creating the right entries ourselves so that when we try to join a multiplayer server, the game looks in the directory mentioned above, finds the cd key, and proceeds to connect to the server. I am not sure if it really is the reason, but it worked for me anyway.
Here's how to do it :
- Navigate to the directory mentioned in step 3.
- In this directory, look for another directory named "LucasArts" and navigate to it. This directory should exist only if you have other Lucas Arts-related software installed on your computer. If it doesn't, you'll have to create it. To do this, right-click on the parent directory (either SOFTWARE or Wow6432Node depending on your version of Windows) and select "New -> Key". Type "LucasArts" and press enter.
- Once in the "LucasArts" directory, create an other directory named "Star Wars Battlefront II" following the same procedure as before, and navigate to it.
- Create another directory called "1.0". Even if the GOG version is patched to 1.1, the directory's name must be 1.0
- Inside this directory, create a new string value called "CD Key". To do this, right-click on the parent directory (The "1.0" directory that we created earlier) and select "New -> String value". Type "CD Key" and press enter.
- Double-click on the newly created entry and in the "Value data" field enter your cd key. Click ok. You must enter the cd key exactly as it appears, including dashes and lower-case and upper-case letters.
4. Exit regedit and play the game !
Note : this method worked for me because I bought the game in retail back when it first came out and I still have the manual with the cd key on it. I do not know if this will work with keys obtained from "alternative" means (ahem) or completely random keys. If you want to try with a random keys, the format seems to be xxxx-xxx-xxx-xxxx-xxxx with only alphanumeric characters.
Post edited October 27, 2015 by vaalc4r