TF2 Sniper and Spy updates

[DJ711]

Few Questions:


How do I unlock new items?


How to I put it on DX 8 mode?



Also I can't play as the spy or see him in charecter info in the main menu. Is there a way to fix that?

[bicostp]

DX 8 mode:

Right-click TF2 in Steam, select properties. Click "Launch options". Put this line in there.

Code: Select all

-novid -console -dxlevel 80

(Novid disables the Valve logo so it loads faster, Console lets the console come up when you press tilde, and -dxlevel sets the DirectX level.) Remove -dxlevel 80 from that line after the first time you run it, or else it will reset your video settings every time you launch.

Also, there's a bug where if a sniper hits you with Jarate, your screen turns solid white and you're completely blinded in DX 8 mode. Don't be surprised when it happens.

I run everything on low, except for character models and textures (medium). I can post my .cfg file later, if you want. (I managed to milk about 20 average FPS out of my 2.0 ghz Turion / Radeon Xpress 200m laptop, and its video system is barely better than the GMA 950.)


Spy not showing up in Character Setup: No idea. What resolution are you running at?

EDIT: About item unlocks, they're not tied to achievements anymore. Now the game arbitrarily decides when to give you the items, and which items to give you. (It doesn't care if you have an item or not, so you could get 5 KGBs in a row.) You know how people pray to the AI Director in L4D? Well, fall on your knees to the RNG Gods for forgiveness and Razorbacks.

That decision deserves a 21 facepalm salute.

[DJ711]

800x600


I can't even see the spy as someone else!

[nightwheel]

is someone going to start a Benheck sever today?

[bicostp]

I don't know, but Blue Turret has a lot of fun people, tons of custom maps (including some novelty maps like Wacky Races, cp_pacman_wtf, and Donkey Kong), and they're always looking for people to come on their servers. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if a few of us dropped by.

http://www.blueturret.com/home/news.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[samjc3]

That decision deserves a 21 facepalm salute.

[XCVG]

I just don't like TF2 much. You die way too much, the game emphasizes teamwork but the players seem to emphasize individual achievements. The achievements are near-impossible. And because the old unlock system sucked, they replace it with something worse? WTF? Also, there are a zillion custom map servers and ONE 2fort server. That's just fail there. The server browser sucks, why couldn't they use the same one they've been using for years? Also, the spy is useless. And explosions don't do enough splash.

On the upside, the graphics are unique, the class system is one-of-a kind, and the game is overall still fun. Let's hope Valve fixes the issues instead of exasperating them (like SO MANY OTHER DEVELOPERS).

[bicostp]

the game emphasizes teamwork but the players seem to emphasize individual achievements.

Play on some clan servers, generally it's only the pubs that are full of idiots.

The achievements are near-impossible.

Not really. Most of them happen incidentally.

And because the old unlock system sucked, they replace it with something worse? WTF?

It's broken. Robin Walker (lead TF2 developer) acknowledged that. And they're working on it.
http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=2535" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also, there are a zillion custom map servers and ONE 2fort server. That's just fail there.

That's because 2Fail sucks. Seriously, though. There are hundreds of 2fort servers out there.

The server browser sucks, why couldn't they use the same one they've been using for years?

It's still there. There's a check box in the server browser that disables the stupid "search by map thumbnail" system. Once you disable it, it's exactly the same as every other online Valve game (CS, Gmod, HL2:DM...)

Also, the spy is useless.

N00bspy.

And explosions don't do enough splash.

Splash damage was nerfed over the last couple years because of player feedback. (Mostly due to the Demoman's winbombs.)

[nightwheel]

I don't know, but Blue Turret has a lot of fun people, tons of custom maps (including some novelty maps like Wacky Races, cp_pacman_wtf, and Donkey Kong), and they're always looking for people to come on their servers. I'm sure they wouldn't mind if a few of us dropped by.

http://www.blueturret.com/home/news.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I'ma coming shortly

[Twilight Wolf]

Still no dice getting my PC to run the game at more than 5 FPS... I at least got to see someone get their brains blown out with the Ambassador, though, and I got Jarate'd a few times.

I hate my laptop sometimes.

EDIT: I've been doing yet more tweaking and got a mild performance increase. I also scored a Cloak and Dagger! My first unlockable... wow.

[DJ711]

I'm buying it tomarrow. However it seems to crash everytime I join a game with a lot of people in it. Plus not being able to play as the spy sucks!

[ghosstt]

K. Running on my crappy PC. (Intelgrated graphics) Can someone post launch options and a config file that will let me run it?

[bicostp]

What integrated graphics do you have? (Post a GPUz screenshot, please.)

I'll post my config file in a bit. 2.0 ghz single-core laptop with Radeon Xpress 200m (barely better than GMA 950) at 20 FPS in 16v16 servers.

It also helps, on low-end PCs, to kill unnecessary background tasks with Task Manager. Kill firewalls, anti-virus apps (especially Norton the CPU Hog and AVG), kill explorer.exe, and set Steam.exe to run in low priority mode. (Right-click it in Task Manager.) Disabling the Steam Game Overlay isn't convenient, but it helps increase performance somewhat.

Also, bind F6 to "jpeg 100", so you can easily take screenshots as JPEGs instead of .TGA files.

[ghosstt]

dxdiag gave me this:

Intel(R) 82856G Graphics Controller

96MB approx. Memory

[bicostp]

Nope. Ain't gonna happen. Even if it does run, it's going to run like a pile of fecal matter. Buy a real video card if it's a desktop (and forget about it if it's a laptop).

Basically unless you have a GMA X0000 series, you're not going to play TF2 at a playable FPS with Intelgrated video.