After a few weeks of anticipation, EA Games has released the MOD Editor for Battlefield 2. They have released some samples of light maps for modders to fool around with as well.

Battlefield 2 MOD Editor (Open Beta)

[DOWNLOAD NOW - 49.3MB]

Battlefield 2 Editor Open Beta Release!
EA and DICE are pleased to announce that today, after two weeks of Closed Beta testing, we are releasing the first public version of the Battlefield 2 editor! Over the last couple of days you've probably seen some of the outstanding work that the Closed Beta teams have created using the tools, and now we're giving everyone else the chance to join the fun. Keep in mind that we are considering this release "Beta" software, so it’s still a little rough around the edges, though we’ve worked out many of the kinks. Also, though most core functionality is editable as of this release, there are several more advanced areas of the tools that are still being worked on. One example of of a tool to be delivered in a future update is the Single Player Editor.

Also worth noting is that the current Battlefield 2 Dedicated Server files are not yet compatible with Mods. DICE is already working on a fix for the Dedicated Server files that will be included with the 1.03 patch. In the meantime, this will not prevent Mods from being tested over the Internet entirely. For testing purposes, Mod Teams can still create a non-dedicated server game through the regular in-game multiplayer interface that will allow anyone to connect to your game, either locally or over the net, provided that the rest of the team connects by IP .

In the days ahead we will be announcing the Official Battlefield 2 Mods home page, which I will be very proud to make my "home". Our intent for this page is to make it "the" place for mod teams and mappers and community members to gather and exchange help, problem reports and feature requests regarding all facets of BF2 Editing. The site will also host the BF2 Editor manual, my editing tutorials, and a repository for community editing guides. We are also excited to be able to offer a variety of forums for new or established modders, mod team showcases and support. The site will also stand as a centralized source for downloading mods and maps as they are presented to the community. I'll be providing more information on this as we get closer to launch. For now, I invite everyone to join in the temporary forums we started for closed-beta testing. These will be maintained until the official site is up. There are a lot of great guys there that would be happy to share their experiences with you and get you going. To join, just go to forums and register.

Whether you’re new to the Battlefield experience or a seasoned modder, I invite everyone to download and try out the tools and I hope the accompanying documentation proves helpful for any and all. Happy Modding!

-Lawrence Brown
-Battlefield Mod Coordinator
-lbrown@ea.com

MOD Light Map Samples (710MB)

For those of you wanting to generate lightmaps for maps using the retail version of Battlefield 2 objects, you will need the LightmapSamples.zip file (provided here). Just unzip and read the ReadMe contained inside for placement instructions. Note: this file is 700MB in size and you do not need it for anything other than generating shadows on the retail version of Battlefield 2 objects. Even without this file, you will still get terrain shadows from all objects in your scene.

Download Light Maps - EA GAMES

MOD Tutorials (23.3MB)

(included are tutorials and an end-user manual)
Download Tutorials - EA GAMES

Great release guys! Thanks for getting this out to the community so all of the mods can further their work. Good luck with finding and fixing the bugs in the editor, I'm sure the community will help you out with that. For more information on Battlefield 2, head on over to the official site.

Source: Official Battlefield 2 Website