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Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.



Welcome to the Team Fortress 2 thread!

The long awaited pyro/jungle update just dropped so there's no better time to dust off the old game and get back to duking it out with your favourite mercenaries!



New Players
TF2 is a team-oriented, class-based FPS with a strong focus on working together to complete simple territorial objectives. Players pick one of nine classes and work with their team to secure capture points, push giant bomb carts or steal intelligence briefcases from the enemy team. It’s totally free to play forever, no-strings-attached, with every gameplay changing item being easily acquirable without you needing to spend a penny.

There is no stat-levelling in TF2 so you can switch freely between the nine classes mid-game, depending on what your team needs and what you enjoy.



Returning Players
Depending on how long you've been gone, you might've missed the removal of quickplay and the disabling of joining Valve servers via the server browser. While you can still use the server browser to join community servers, Valve servers are only accessible through the casual matchmaking system. This can make it kinda inconvenient to play with friends unless you organise queueing in advance since you can't just join their Valve server mid-game but that's how it goes now.

There's also a competitive matchmaking queue which puts you in Valve servers to play 6v6 on a curated maplist. It's gone relatively unplayed for a while with most people preferring to stick to casual but could get a resurgence in popularity in future updates (read: if there are competitive contracts)? Stranger things have happened.

The core game is the same as it's ever been though and no matter how you decide to play or what's changed since you last booted up TF2, it should feel familiar in no time.



The Servers
Active community servers are getting quite rare these days so instead of maintaining a server list here, I'm just gonna recommend you post in the thread asking for current recommendations and/or find fellow goons to queue with for casual matchmaking. Be aware that if there's a campaign happening and you want to complete your contracts, you have to do that in Valve servers via casual matchmaking.



Items and Trading
We used to have a goon trading thread but it's long since dropped into the archives. Feel free to post trading things here for now, if it gets to be too much then feel free to make a new PGS trading thread.

Here are a few other sites to check out for all your item and trading needs:
TF2Outpost - The biggest trading site at the moment. Be wary for people trying to scam you by offering super low prices on your items as this is prevalent here.
Bazaar.tf - Similar to TF2Outpost but with a smaller user base.
TF2TP - A goon-run item trading site. Not as popular in the trading scene as the above two sites any more but still gets traffic.
Scrap.tf - Automated trading with bots, stocks everything from weapons to unusuals, at reasonable prices.
Backpack.tf - Lets you find out the value of TF2 items. Take all prices (especially for unusuals) with a grain of salt as they are community submitted and approved.
Missing.tf - A site that lets you find out which TF2 items you do not own, made by Otacon.
TF2Tags - A name and description tag posting and voting site by Dr. Dos.
If you plan to trade in unusuals and/or real money, PLEASE ASK FOR ADVICE HERE, people will try to scam you out of your hats/$$$.



Custom HUDs
While the default HUD is more than serviceable, lots of custom HUDs are available if you would prefer to use them. Check out huds.tf for a collection of current, up-to-date HUDs or ask in the thread if you want any specific recommendations.



Demo Recorders
There's a per-life replay feature but hardly any community servers and no official servers support it right now so the only way to record your gameplay from in-game is by using the demo recording functionality to save your gameplay POV to file for rewatching/recording later. This is first person only and it lasts until a stop console command is sent, instead of being only one life. You can manually record demos with the "record <demoname>" and "stop" console commands or use P-Rec to automatically record them. Check the README for that when downloaded for additional instructions in configuring it.

Zero! fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Oct 20, 2017

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Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.


Hints, Tips and Console Commands
A lot of options and settings in TF2 are disabled or set to sub-optimal values by default, here are some recommended things to change to improve your gaming experience. Anything with a next to it is a super highly recommended setting.

How to enable the developer console (used for changing settings that aren't present in the options menus)
Make a file called autoexec.cfg and save it in Steam/steamapps/<your name>/Team Fortress 2/cfg. Any console commands that you put in this file will be executed every time you start TF2, ensuring that your settings are not lost.
If you want any of these settings to be class specific, put the command in each of your <class>.cfg files with the value that you desire.


Commands
• fov_desired 90 - Sets your FOV to the maximum, 90, letting you see as much as possible. Default is 75.

• viewmodel_fov ## - Effectively changes how much room your weapon takes up on your screen. Changing it to 0 or 180 makes the viewmodel disappear, default is 54, change it to whatever you like best.

• tf_use_min_viewmodels 1 - Turns minimal viewmodels on, change to 0 to revert to normal viewmodels.

• tf_dingalingaling 1 - Plays a sound when you hit someone and do damage, even if you don't see anyone get hurt. Default is 0.

• tf_dingaling_pitchmaxdmg 5 - Changes the pitch of the hit sound for maximum damage. Default is 100 so 5 would make the sound low pitch on high damage.

• tf_dingaling_pitchmindmg 150 - Changes the pitch of the hit sound for minimum damage. Default is 100 so 150 would make the sound high pitch on low damage.

• hud_combattext 1 - Shows the amount of damage done to an enemy on hit. Default is 0.

• sensitivity ## - Changes your in-game sensitivity. This is complete personal preference but it's recommended to be able to turn at least 180° in-game without needing to pick up your mouse.

• cl_autoreload 1 - Turns autoreloading on. In TF2, you're able to fire your weapon while reloading so there's not much reason to leave this off. Default is 0.

• bindtoggle <YOUR KEY HERE> "r_drawviewmodel" - Toggles viewmodels on and off when you press a key.

• zoom_sensitivity_ratio ## - Controls how your mouse sensitivity changes when scoped in as a Sniper. Can be set to decimal values (0.5, 0.9, etc). Default is 1.


Performance Configs
if you're running TF2 on a toaster
If you find that your Frames Per Second is consistently pretty low even with all of the in-game graphics options set to their lowest setting, check out Comanglia's Config FPS Guide. One of the configs in that thread might help. To revert to the default options if you find that it doesn't really help, remove any FPS config files you've copied into your TF2 folders and add "-default" to your game launch options in Steam.


Engineer Fast-Building Scripts
You can pick one, two or all of them.

Put this in your autoexec.cfg posted:

bind <YOUR KEY HERE> "destroy 2; build 2" // Sentry
bind <YOUR KEY HERE> "destroy 0; build 0" // Dispenser
bind <YOUR KEY HERE> "destroy 1; build 1" // Teleporter Entrance
bind <YOUR KEY HERE> "destroy 3; build 3" // Teleporter Exit


Medic Team Radar
Hold a key down to temporarily raise your autocall threshold to 150% so you can see where all of your teammates are.

Put this in your autoexec.cfg posted:

alias "autocall_default" "hud_medicautocallersthreshold "75""
alias "autocall_all" "hud_medicautocallersthreshold "150""
alias "+radar" "autocall_all"
alias "-radar" "autocall_default"
bind <YOUR KEY HERE> "+radar"


Null-Cancelling Movement Script
Prevents you from stopping cold in your tracks when you hit two opposing direction keys at once.

Put this in your autoexec.cfg posted:

// TF2 Null-cancelling movement script
bind w +mfwd
bind s +mback
bind a +mleft
bind d +mright
alias +mfwd "-back;+forward;alias checkfwd +forward"
alias +mback "-forward;+back;alias checkback +back"
alias +mleft "-moveright;+moveleft;alias checkleft +moveleft"
alias +mright "-moveleft;+moveright;alias checkright +moveright"
alias -mfwd "-forward;checkback;alias checkfwd none"
alias -mback "-back;checkfwd;alias checkback none"
alias -mleft "-moveleft;checkright;alias checkleft none"
alias -mright "-moveright;checkleft;alias checkright none"
alias checkfwd none
alias checkback none
alias checkleft none
alias checkright none
alias none ""


Network Settings
Better network settings than the default. Use one of these to improve hit registration. Good connection block is optimal but can cause laggy in-game models if your connection is bad. Use either the good connection block or the bad connection block, not both.

Put this in your autoexec.cfg posted:

// Good connection
cl_cmdrate 66
cl_interp 0
cl_interp_ratio 1
cl_lagcompensation 1
cl_pred_optimize 2
cl_smooth 0
cl_smoothtime 0.01
cl_updaterate 66
rate 60000

// Bad connection
cl_cmdrate 40
cl_interp 0
cl_interp_ratio 2
cl_lagcompensation 1
cl_pred_optimize 2
cl_smooth 0
cl_smoothtime 0.01
cl_updaterate 40
rate 35000


Voice Commands
Type "bind <YOUR KEY HERE> <ALIAS NAME>" to assign a voice command to a key.

Put this in your autoexec.cfg posted:

// Voice commands
alias v_medic "voicemenu 0 0"
alias v_thanks "voicemenu 0 1"
alias v_gogogo "voicemenu 0 2"
alias v_moveup "voicemenu 0 3"
alias v_goleft "voicemenu 0 4"
alias v_goright "voicemenu 0 5"
alias v_yes "voicemenu 0 6"
alias v_no "voicemenu 0 7"
alias v_incoming "voicemenu 1 0"
alias v_cloakedspy "voicemenu 1 1"
alias v_sentryahead "voicemenu 1 2"
alias v_teleporter "voicemenu 1 3"
alias v_dispenser "voicemenu 1 4"
alias v_sentry "voicemenu 1 5"
alias v_chargeme "voicemenu 1 6"
alias v_uberready "voicemenu 1 7"
alias v_help "voicemenu 2 0"
alias v_battlecry "voicemenu 2 1"
alias v_cheers "voicemenu 2 2"
alias v_jeers "voicemenu 2 3"
alias v_positive "voicemenu 2 4"
alias v_negative "voicemenu 2 5"
alias v_niceshot "voicemenu 2 6"
alias v_goodjob "voicemenu 2 7"

If you want to bind these to your keyboard's numpad as you're probably not using it for anything else, the names of those keys are as follows.

Put this in your autoexec.cfg posted:

bind KP_INS // 0
bind KP_END // 1
bind KP_DOWNARROW // 2
bind KP_PGDN // 3
bind KP_LEFTARROW // 4
bind KP_5 // 5
bind KP_RIGHTARROW // 6
bind KP_HOME // 7
bind KP_UPARROW // 8
bind KP_PGUP // 9
bind KP_DEL // .
bind KP_ENTER // Enter
bind KP_PLUS // +
bind KP_MINUS // -
bind KP_MULTIPLY // *
bind KP_SLASH // /

The Shitterbinds
Okay listen up for a second: the automated, randomized text bind is an ancient and noble tradition in the world of Team Fortress gaming and entertainment. However, like all good things, it is abused and ruined by people who have less sense than creativity. Below, for sake of posterity, you'll find the binds in question.

Please make your binds clever and inspirational.

Put this in your autoexec.cfg posted:

// POVOHATS RANDOM SHITTERBIND SCRIPT v1.0
// 22nd of January, 2010 (friendship edition)
// ---------------------------------------

bind <YOUR KEY HERE> "+smiley_dice"

alias smiley1 "say BEEP BOP BOOP"
alias smiley2 "say BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"
alias smiley3 "say BEEP BOOP"
alias smiley4 "say BLARP-A-BARP"
alias smiley5 "say BLEEP BLOOP"
alias smiley6 "say BLEEP BLOP BLOOP"
alias smiley7 "say BEEP BEEP BOOP"
alias smiley8 "say BLORP-A-BORP"
alias smiley9 "say ROBOT NOISES"
alias smiley10 "say BEEP"

// Don't change these
alias shittalk_waiton "alias diceroll smiley_next; smiley_next"
alias shittalk_nowait "smiley_cycle"
alias smiley_diceroll_1 "alias smiley_result smiley1;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_2"
alias smiley_diceroll_2 "alias smiley_result smiley2;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_3"
alias smiley_diceroll_3 "alias smiley_result smiley3;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_4"
alias smiley_diceroll_4 "alias smiley_result smiley4;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_5"
alias smiley_diceroll_5 "alias smiley_result smiley5;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_6"
alias smiley_diceroll_6 "alias smiley_result smiley6;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_7"
alias smiley_diceroll_7 "alias smiley_result smiley7;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_8"
alias smiley_diceroll_8 "alias smiley_result smiley8;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_9"
alias smiley_diceroll_9 "alias smiley_result smiley9;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_10"
alias smiley_diceroll_10 "alias smiley_result smiley10;alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_1"


alias +smiley_dice "alias waitcheck_pass shittalk_waiton;alias waitcheck_fail shittalk_nowait;waitcheck_test"
alias -smiley_dice "smiley_result;alias diceroll "
alias smiley_next "smiley_cycle;wait 5;diceroll"
alias smiley_cycle smiley_diceroll_1

// Wait-checking script
alias waitcheck_fail "echo >> WAIT DISABLED ON SERVER"
alias waitcheck_pass "echo >> WAIT ENABLED ON SERVER"
alias waitcheck_test2 "wait 10;alias waitcheck_result waitcheck_pass"
alias waitcheck_test "waitcheck_test2;alias waitcheck_result waitcheck_fail;wait 15;waitcheck_result"


Pyroland Compatibility Tweak
Force pyroland on in all maps of your choosing.

The Kins posted:

Here's a quick tweak from Facepunch: Create a file in your cfg folder called mtp.cfg and paste this into it:
code:
"VisionFilterShadersMapWhitelist"
{
"arena_badlands.bsp" "1"
"arena_granary.bsp" "1"
"arena_lumberyard.bsp" "1"
"arena_nucleus.bsp" "1"
"arena_offblast_final.bsp" "1"
"arena_ravine.bsp" "1"
"arena_sawmill.bsp" "1"
"arena_watchtower.bsp" "1"
"arena_well.bsp" "1"
"cp_5gorge.bsp" "1"
"cp_badlands.bsp" "1"
"cp_coldfront.bsp" "1"
"cp_degrootkeep.bsp" "1"
"cp_degrootkeep.bsp" "1"
"cp_egypt_final.bps" "1"
"cp_fastlane.bsp" "1"
"cp_foundry.bsp" "1"
"cp_freight_final1.bsp" "1"
"cp_gorge.bsp" "1"
"cp_granary.bsp" "1"
"cp_gravelpit.bsp" "1"
"cp_gullywash_final1.bsp" "1"
"cp_manor_event.bsp" "1"
"cp_mountainlab.bsp" "1"
"cp_steel.bsp" "1"
"cp_well.bsp" "1"
"cp_yukon_final.bsp" "1"
"ctf_2fort.bsp" "1"
"ctf_doublecross.bsp" "1"
"ctf_sawmill.bsp" "1"
"ctf_turbine.bsp" "1"
"ctf_well.bsp" "1"
"koth_badlands.bsp" "1"
"koth_harvest_event.bsp" "1"
"koth_harvest_final.bsp" "1"
"koth_lakeside_final.bsp" "1"
"koth_nucleus.bsp" "1"
"koth_sawmill.bsp" "1"
"koth_viaduct.bsp" "1"
"koth_viaduct_event.bsp" "1"
"pl_badwater.bsp" "1"
"pl_barnblitz.bsp" "1"
"pl_frontier_final.bsp" "1"
"pl_goldrush.bsp" "1"
"pl_hoodoo_final.bsp" "1"
"pl_thundermountain.bsp" "1"
"pl_upward.bsp" "1"
"plr_hightower.bsp" "1"
"plr_nightfall_final.bsp" "1"
"plr_pipeline.bsp" "1"
"tc_hydro" "1"
"sd_doomsday.bsp" "1"
}
Now Pyrovision works in all of the official maps! Although you might want to remove manor_event, apparently it looks terrible.



You can use this to add Pyrovision support to whatever custom maps you want, too.


Voice and text chat toggle
Click a single button to shut the entire server up!

Put this in your autoexec.cfg posted:

//Chat Toggle
alias "chattoggle" "chattoggleoff"
alias "chattoggleon" "chaton; alias chattoggle chattoggleoff"
alias "chattoggleoff" "chatoff; alias chattoggle chattoggleon"

alias "chaton" "hud_saytext_time 12; voice_modenable 1; voice_scale 0.8; echo Chat On"
alias "chatoff" "hud_saytext_time 0; voice_modenable 0; voice_scale 0; echo Chat Off"

bind <YOUR KEY HERE> chattoggle


Miscellaneous

Interested in Mapmaking?

nerdbot posted:

TF2maps has a lot of good resources even if it is pretty dead by now. Here's an outdated, but still very helpful, premade gallery of skybox/lighting effects so you can just dump them into your map and get the same lighting as on official maps. This is a list of decompiled Valve maps to poke around in, but do keep in mind that decompiling causes several optimization objects and other level elements to be removed, meaning recompiling one of these isn't going to turn out very well. Also, if you DO end up just making koth_watchtower or koth_offblast or something, DON'T POST ABOUT IT ON TF2MAPS. They hate revised maps.

Most importantly, :siren:you seriously should not bother with TF2 mapping without the Ultimate Resource Pack,:siren: which saves you a lot of headaches and confusion with Hammer.

TF2maps recently added a "map graveyard" where they toss their old map files up for download that they don't plan on finishing, for others to pick up and use. The quality and completion level of these can vary wildly, but I recommend poking through some of those too because looking at decompiled Valve maps can be very, very intimidating. It'll give you a good idea of what a map should look like early on.

Lastly, and probably the thing I should've linked first, this guide from Valve's developer wiki on mapping. It's from the game's launch in 2007, and thus it's fairly dated, but it's what I used to learn how to do maps and you may or may not find it easier to digest than some of the guides on TF2maps. If you have any questions, you can ask on the TF2maps forums, and while I might not be able to field mapping questions very well I'd be happy to try (and I'm sure a bunch of other guys around here would be, too).

Network Graphs
What they are and how to use them.

Hats Wouldnt Fly posted:

This is a network graph:



Specifically, this is net_graph 4. It provides a lot of information, and using it you can quickly determine whether your problems are on your end or the server's.

FPS and ping are self explanatory. The in and out numbers are just bandwidth usage and safely ignored.

In the upper graph itself, the spikes are communication between yourself and the server. Of particular note, the lower bits of green are other players, and the red is hats. None of this matters. What's important is the gaps in it. The even spaces near the left side are choke. For whatever reason I do not have enough frames to display all of the incoming data. Farther to the right, the large uneven gaps are packet loss. These occur because I live in the middle of nowhere.

My lerp is orange. This can be bad. Orange lerp means if I lose packets or have a framerate dip my game will stutter. The blue and red bars at the very bottom edge show how smoothly the game is running. Blue going down is good. Orange going up means my client is lacking sufficient information and just guessing where everything is. You can see these coinciding with packet loss and choke. These moments of gameplay were a stutterly, laggy mess.

If your game is running badly and you notice a lot of packet loss, something is probably wrong with your internet. Make sure there aren't any torrents running on your network or whatever. If you only notice it on one server, though, it may be on their end. If nothing else is using your bandwidth and it happens on multiple servers a call to your ISP may be in order. If you have a lot of choke, your net settings probably need adjusting. Keep in mind bursts of choke are normal at the beginning of new rounds.

Now, if this is all in order, you should check the SV at the very bottom. This is the framerate of the server you are currently on. If you see this changing a lot, or dipping into low numbers, leave.

There are also four numbers to the right. The top and bottom (both 67/s) are my requested cmdrate and updaterate. The numbers between them are what I'm actually getting. If these numbers are not very close together, something is wrong. Usually, that something is the server you're playing on having a lovely internet connection. Find a new one.

How to Take Beautiful Screenshots of Your Mercenary

quote:

Instead of taking a screenshot of the bland, brown loadout screen, check out Reiley's comprehensive guide on how you can use replays to create beautiful screenshots that you can show all your friends and fellow posters. Consider giving it a try next time you want to share a picture!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Good luck and have fun!



Thanks to Zoolooman and Reiley for maintaining the TF2 threads of years gone by and The Dark One for being the OP of the "bad original" TF2 thread.

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.

Joining on friends in Valve servers is kinda back?! :toot:

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.
Geel, of scrap.tf and various other trading related sites, posted this excerpt from a talk with Jill from Valve about competitive matchmaking and the lack of any changes being included in this update:



Might be the 2018 update...?

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.

Broken Cog posted:

Well, the item servers have gone down in preparation for the update, so I'm guessing it's pretty close now.



Just a few hours away now probably?

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.
1.2GB update just went live! :toot:

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.

There definitely should be a cfg folder, it keeps a bunch of other configuration files for the game too. What folders can you see in your Steam/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf folder?

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.

Countblanc posted:

TF2 is suddenly detecting my ps4 controller and as soon as I join a game it locks out my mouse so I can't navigate menus (like picking a team), any idea how to disable this without just unplugging my controller every time I boot the game up

It looks like they're doing some auto detect -> force controller bindings thing even when everything's disabled as far as I can tell. I've had to unplug my PS3 controller and stop the service I have running that fakes it being a 360 controller to get full KB+M controls back.

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.

Jose Mengelez posted:

turns out chris' configs are still all good i was just forcing two different types of AA on top of each other.

Comanglia's config has been updated a lot more recently than Chris', might get better results with that too.

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.
I'd really like engineer to get some medic-tier support options. Don't get me wrong, dispensers are good for some stationary AoE healing and teleporters are useful and all but nothing beats the medigun and ubercharges for both offence and defence.

That's the one thing TF2 really could do with that Overwatch has nailed, providing a variety of effective support classes. Just having a second class that can reasonably be a dedicated team healer would be a breath of fresh air.

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.

FalloutGod posted:

Anyone have any cool direct hit videos? I've started using it and it feels like a slower quake rail gun. Its super satisfying to get kills with it but I'm always bottom-mid scoring. I mean that poo poo ultimately doesn't matter if you're able to push the game objective the same way you can otherwise but still... I mainly play on 32 person servers so I'm sure that has something to do with it.

I think kaptain has a few other great clips interspersed with stock RL gameplay in other videos but here's a play:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHrNSGO0ee4

Alternative joke answer,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbX_v6gSxy4

Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.

Jabor posted:

Sniper should always bring the Bushwacka if you're bringing Jarate, being able to go for guaranteed melee crits is a really useful defensive option. The fire downside is meaningless unless you're getting hassled by a flare gun pyro - it's not like having the regular knife will save you if a pyro catches you at close range.

They actually changed the downside a while back (2015 according to the wiki?? how has it been 4 years).

Instead of +20% fire vulnerability, it's +20% damage vulnerability while active, so there's almost no reason not to run it. Any times that you're actually needing to pull it out, you're probably dead if you don't land the first melee (or two) anyway.

Shame too, I really enjoyed getting the bonus +20% damage when firework counter-sniping with my Detonator... :hellyeah:

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Zero!
Apr 13, 2011

You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT.
Latest update added a new main menu music track and statues on pretty much every map as memorials to Rick May:



o7

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