TF2 History

The first Team Fortress game was made in 1996 as a mod for Quake. The game was a hit, and in 1998 the developers announced Team Fortress 2, which would be a stand alone game on Valve’s GoldSrc Engine. Valve first contracted, then employed, two of the original developers – Robin Walker and John Cook. In 1999 Team Fortress Classic was released, a port of the original to the GoldSrc Engine. Work was still being done on TF2 at the time, which at first had a modern, realistic, military game, with innovations including command hierarchy, a commanders birds eye view, parachute drops, and VoIP. In 2000, TF2 was delayed again when Valve announced they would be switching to their new game engine, now known as Source.

Nothing was really heard about TF2 after that until 2006, when it was revealed TF2 would be shipped with HL2:E2. This was the first time the new cartoon style graphics were shown, with Robin Walker saying later that they had actually developed 3-4 games before they decided on the final design of the game. In October of 2007 TF2 was finally released as part of The Orange Box, included with HL2 and HL2:Episodes 1 and 2, and Portal.

The Basics

TF2 is a class-based game, with 9 different classes split roughly into 3 roles, Offense, Defense, and Support. The Offensive classes are the Scout, the Soldier, and the Pyro. Defensive classes include the Demoman, the Heavy Weapons Guy, and the Engineer. The Support classes are the Medic, the Sniper, and the Spy. Just because a class is a certain role doesn’t mean a Defensive class won’t be good on offense or vice versa, you will often see Demos and Heavies on the offensive, along with Pyros defending points. Valve is in the process of adding unlockable weapons and achievements for all the characters. So far the Medic is the only class done, with 39 Achievements and new weapons after 12, 25, and 39 Achievements are unlocked. Valve has announced the Pyro will be the next class to get achievements and unlocks. Each class has their different strengths and weaknesses, as do the unlockable weapons.

The Scout .:. The Soldier .:. The Pyro

The Demoman .:. The Heavy Weapons Guy .:. The Engineer

The Medic .:. The Sniper .:. The Spy

There are currently two different teams, Reliable Excavation and Demolition (RED), and Builders League United (BLU). The two companies fight on 9 different official maps with several different game types. The game types are CTF, CP, TC, and PL.

CTF (Capture the Flag) maps have the teams on either end of the map, with each team trying to capture the others intelligence briefcase that is located in their base. Each time the Intelligence is captured the capping team gets a point, by default the first team to 3 caps wins the round. (ctf_2fort, ctf_well)

On CP (Control Point) maps the objective is to capture control points, with a few variations available. Some maps have RED owning all the points while BLU must try to take them, capping A and B before being able to cap C (cp_gravelpit). Others have 5 control points, BLU owning 2, RED owning 2, and the middle point free (cp_granary, cp_well, cp_badlands). The teams fight for control of the next point they don’t own, while defending the points they do. The last CP type has different stages of the map, with BLU needing to take two ponts in order before being able to move through to the second and third stages (cp_dustbowl).

TC (Territory Control) maps have a single control point per area that either team can capture. Teams must take all the territory areas before being able to attack the enemy’s main base. (tc_hydro)

PL (Payload) maps are the newest gametype available. BLU must push a cart on tracks through the map to control points while RED defends. The cart is moved by BLU players standing near it, RED can stop it by standing near it, and if no BLU player has touched the cart in 20 seconds it starts rolling backwards. The cart also acts as a dispenser, healing and refilling ammo for the BLU team. (pl_goldrush)

cp_badlands .:. cp_dustbowl .:. cp_granary

cp_gravelpit .:. cp_well .:. ctf_2fort

ctf_well .:. pl_goldrush .:. tc_hydro

Getting Started

TF2 is on the updated Source Engine, known as the Orange Box. Instead of setting your name in the options or a config file, it is tied to your Steam Community name. Ingame it will show your Steam Community name and avatar, and your Community profile page will have your TF2 stats and achievements displayed.

Field of View 75 & Regular HUD .:. Field of View 75 and Minimal HUD

Field of View 90 & Regular HUD .:. Field of View 90 and Minimal HUD

In the Multiplayer Advanced menu I turn off Suicide after selecting a class, this will only change your class when you respawn. Instead of killing yourself and switching immediately, why not just rush in and try to take out an enemy or two before you switch? You could help out your team and you will spawn a little faster by not commiting suicide. Other options are having the Medics Medigun continueously heal instead of having to hold down your fire button, and having the Sniper rifle automatically re-zoom after firing. Personally I like having to hold the fire button to heal when a Medic, I think it is a little easier to switch between different players to heal them with that off. I do set the Sniper rifle to automatically re-zoom after a shot, as most of the time it isn’t a problem, and lets you recharge your shot for that next crit headshot.

The last part of Getting Started are just some general in-game tips that are good to know before you hop in for your first game of TF2. No one wants to be that noob running around the server with no idea what they are doing. Before playing a multiplayer game for the first time, I always like to create my own server and run around a little, just to get to know the general layout of maps. Join both RED and BLU and run around the map so you have a general idea of where to go.

1.Teleporters

If you run out of spawn and see a teleporter in front of you, don’t just run to it and take it. Some classes need a teleporter more than others. If you are a Scout and you steal a ride from a Heavy, you should be slapped. You can run almost 60% faster than a Heavy, who then must wait for the next teleporter or walk to the frontlines. If you are a Sniper, don’t take a teleporter from a Soldier or Demoman. While you will be hanging back trying to get that perfect headshot, the Soldier and Demo need to be up front trying to cap or defend.

Heavy, Soldier, Demo, and Medic should have the first priority for teleporters due to them being the slower classes that are most needed on the fron lines. Pyro, Engineer and Sniper should only take teleporters when they are the only ones spawning or the classes listed before have already taken teleporters. Spy and Scout should never take teleporters. Spies used to leave a trail when exiting, and it’s hard to be cloaked or disguised when you have a glowing trail following you. This was changed in an update recently, but Spies should still defer to other classes. As for Scouts, well, every time you do a kitten is killed (not war kittens either, regular cute kittens, baby cats). So don’t take teleporters. You can run across the whole map, die, respawn, and still beat a Heavy that has to walk to the front lines.

2. Class Awareness

After you join a game and choose RED or BLU, before you select your favorite class be sure to see what classes the rest of your team are. If there are a couple Snipers already, don’t be a Sniper. If your team has no Soldiers or Demos, choose one of them. If you have too many of one class it makes it hard to win rounds.

The core of your team should be Soldiers, Demos, Medics, and Heavies. Too many support classes and your team will have a hard time capping or defending. At the same time, having no Medics or Engineers can make it difficult to win as well due to players dying when a Medic could have saved them, or not having a teleporter to get you to the action faster. It is all about balance, and having a well balanced team is often the reason why one team beats another.

3. Sentries

Sentries can sometimes be the only thing between a win and a loss. Having no sentries can let the attacking team roll through unopposed, while not being able to take out a sentry can stop you from getting to that cap point or intellingence. This goes along with the class awareness, especially if an enemy sentry is denying you from advancing. There are a few ways to effectivly take out sentries, the first being a Demo+Medic combo. Detonating a few sticky bombs will take out the sentry, along with the Engineer, dispenser, and anything else nearby. An Ubercharged Pyro is also a great way to take out sentries, providing they can get close enough to do damage. The way to do this is have the Medic run in first, allowing him to take the pushback from the sentry so the Pyro can get close enough to burn the sentry and Engineer. To make it even easier to destroy sentries, have a Spy sap it right before your attack. This will cause the sentry to take damage and distract the enemy, as they will be trying to kill the Spy while you can attack the sentry.

If you are playing as an Engineer, before you build your sentry, build your dispenser first. This will allow it to build up metal to use when upgrading your sentry. Also try to build with your back to a wall in order to defend against Spies; if you build in the open, they will have an easier time sapping and backstabbing you. Another thing to take into consideration when you build is what direction will the enemy come from, and where your teammates sentries located. Having good crossfire between sentries will make it easier to frag, and harder for them to be destroyed. If there are 2 or more sentries in a small area, a single Demoman will be able to take them out easily with stickies.

4. Ubercharges

Ubercharges allow you to be invincible for 8 seconds, or have 100% critical hits for 10 seconds, depending on what the Medic has equipped. In order to use an Uberchage the Medic first needs to fill up the Uber bar by healing his teammates. Teammates with less health will fill up the bar faster, while players who are already overhealed will fill the bar slower. During setup time the bar fills at a faster rate, enabling you to have an Ubercharge ready when play begins. A Medic equipped with the Ubersaw will also be able to f

ill their bar when they hit a player with their Ubersaw, with each hit filling up the bar by 25%.

When you have an Uber charged up and ready to go, think before you use it. Make sure the player you are going to uber knows you are ready, and pick out some specific targets. Be sure he also has enough ammo and has just reloaded – being invincible doesn’t do a lot of good if you have no ammo to shoot. If you are trying to take out a sentry, the Medic should first to take the pushback, allowing the other class to get in closer to do more damage. If an enemy pair comes at you and Ubers, try to hold off deploying yours as long as you can. When their Uber runs out, you will still have enough left to frag them and any others that are nearby. When you are Ubercharged, ignore the Ubered enemies, you won’t be able to kill them, so go after the players you can frag.

5. Achievements and Unlocks

Valve has recently added Achievements and Unlockable Weapons to TF2. So far the only class enabled is the Medic, while it was just announced the Pyro would be next in line. There are currently 56 Achievements, 17 general achievements and 39 that are Medic specific. After unlocking 12, 25, and 39 Medic achievements you are able to unlock the new weapons, one primary, one secondary, and one melee.

The Blutsauger is the primary weapon that replaces the Syringe Gun. You won’t be able to get critical hits, but each hit you do will give you 3 health. The secondary weapon is the Kritzkrieg. While the Medigun it replaces will make you invincible for 8 seconds, the Kritzkrieg will make your healing target fire 100% critical hits for 10 seconds. Last but not least is the Ubersaw, which you unlock after getting all 39 achievements. It fires 20% slower than the default Bonesaw, but each time you connect with an enemy your Ubercharge bar increases by 25%. The only news about the Pyro’s acievements and unlocks is the Axtinguisher. Replacing the default Fire Axe it will do 50% less damage, but after you light an enemy on fire you will be guaranteed a critical hit with the Axtinguisher. This may change however, as the first details about the Medics unlocks were the Overhealer, which would let you heal someone to 200% permantly, but was scrapped after testing.

That is all for this installment of Team Fortress 2 101, the next segments will be up soon, and focus on the different classes and maps in the game. Once again, if there is anything you would like to see in the future, please let me know.

Insurgency is a new total conversion mod for Half Life 2, currently on Beta 1.1. It is a realism mod, so you can’t just run and gun like you can in Counter Strike. Teamwork is neccesary to win. I’ve been playing this for a while now and love it, for an early beta it is great. There are a few bugs and glitches, but nothing that makes it unplayable. If you haven’t played INS yet, go download it and try it out. You can get it from FilePlanet, first by downloading and installing the Beta 1 Full Installer, then the Beta 1.1 Patch. If you don’t like FilePlanet, there are plenty of mirrors available here. Total it’s about 750MB, so just start the download before you go to sleep, then install it the next day.

Once you’ve installed the game fire it up and start setting the controls how you like. If you have a CS:S autoexec, most of it will work in INS. A few things different from CS:S control-wise:

To play around with the controls go to Create Server and load up test_shootingrange. Take some time to get used to the controls, also tweak any graphics settings if your FPS is a little low. After you get everything set up the way you like, you’ll probably want to hop right into a server and start playing. Instead, take some time to learn the maps. There are no ingame maps, so you need to have at least a general idea of the layout and where to go so you don’t end up looking like a moron. Create a server and run through the maps to get an idea. One of the next INS101 articles will go over the maps.

This is what your HUD will look like ingame. There’s not much to it, no health bar, no ammo indicator, just the basics.

Here is what you should be looking at on the HUD. A shield means to defend an objective. If the enemy holds an objective you are trying to take, you will see crossed swords instead. The triangles are for waypoints your commander has set, which will show up as as blue triangles when you can see the waypoint. Your commander will be represented by Captain’s bars (looks like railroad tracks or an H).

This is what you communications menu looks like as a commander, just press G to bring it up. Other players get a more limited menu when bringing up the menu. Just scroll your mouse to highlight and left click to select. For waypoints, you will need to point in the direction you want to place it, then left click again. There are times you may want to tell your team to attack/defend an objective that is not shown in the menu. To do so, just select another objective first and others will appear.

Gametypes

There are 4 different gametypes in INS, Battle, Firefight, Push, and Strike. Unlike some games where the different multiplayer gametypes are completely different, and some are hardly ever played; INS’s gameypes are very similar, yet each offers a little something different from the other gametypes, but all are fun to play.
Battle maps are large and can go back and forth, as each team is able to capture objectives, but objectives must be captured in order, ie. A, then B, then C for the Insurgents team, or C, then B, then A for the USMC team. Your spawns also move forward as you take more objectives. (ins_baghdad)
Push maps are linear, where you are either attacking, or defending. The attacking team must take all objectives in order to win, the defenders need to stop the enemy from taking new objectives until time runs out or they are out of reinforcements (more on that later). Your spawns move forward as you take objectives do as well. (ins_almaden, ins_karkar, ins_sinjar)
Firefight maps are smaller maps with fixed spawnpoints, where you are able to take objectives in any order. This means there could be a huge firefight on one side of the map, while on the other 1 person is taking an objective. To win you must control all 3 objectives, I’ve seen games take literally a few seconds, or go back and forth for an hour. ins_haditha, ins_hillah, ins_ramadi)
Strike maps are a mix between Push and Firefight, though there are currently no Strike maps. They will be small/medium sized maps with fixed spawns, like Firefight maps. Like Push maps, one team is attacking, the other is defending.

Squads, Classes, and Reinforcements

Right now there are 2 teams in INS, the Insurgents, and the USMC. There are two 8 man squads able to use on each team, a Rifle Squad and a Special Weapons Squad. The classes depend on what the map maker has implemented, the official maps use the default squads of:

Reinforcements

When you are killed ingame, you respawn as a reinforcement. The reinforcement timer and the amount of reinforcements can be changed depending on the map. You can see how many reinforcements are remaining on the top of the HUD. Your commander/cell leader can call in extra reinforcements when the automatic waves are depleted, but they must be alive and actually know they can (which most do not unfortunately). Another way to get more reinforcements is to capture objectives.

Coming Soon

I’m working on the next 2 INS101 articles, going more indepth on the weapons and the maps in Insurgency. Be sure to check back soon to learn more about Insurgency. If you have any questions, let me know.

Official Game Trailer

To start your buy script, open up a text editor like notepad. Personally I use PSPad as my text editor. Once you have your editor open go to C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\USERNAME\counter-strike source\cstrike\cfg and open up your autoexec.cfg (If you don’t have one, read Source 101 – Getting Started)

Binds

For our first script, we are going to bind your F1 key to buy an M4.  At the bottom of your autoexec, type bind “F1″ “buy m4a1″. Now when you are ingame, pressing F1 will buy an M4. However, you still have to buy your ammo, armor, and grenades. To bind multiple commands to a button, seperate them using a semicolon (;). To buy ammo with your M4, change the line to bind “F1″ “buy m4a1; buy primammo”

Since you can only buy an M4 as a CT, let’s change our bind to the following: bind “F1″ “buy m4a1; buy ak47; buy primammo”. Now when you press F1 you will buy either an M4 or AK47 with full ammo depending on what team you are on.

Using this script you can buy any combination of weapons and equipment, as long as you have the money available. Also, be sure not to buy an M4 and AUG, or any 2 weapons you can buy normally, or it will buy both. Only have a CT weapon and T weapon bound to the same key. Below is a list of the CVARs to use when buying weapons.

Aliases

Aliases are another part of creating your buyscript. You can use an alias to give a CVAR name to a command or series of commands to use. I have more on aliases later as general things to make it easier for you. For now, the basics:

To create an alias type alias “rifle1″ “buy m4a1; buy ak47″. Now when creating your buyscript, instead of typing buy m4a1; buy ak47, you can just type rifle1. I generally set up aliases for tmp/mac10, fiveseven/elite, famas/galil, m4a1/ak47, aug/sg552, the autosnipers, and full primary/secondary ammo.

The way I have my buyscript set up is so I use my keypad. I use a basic setup with my weapons, equipment, and ammo seperate so I can get exactly what I need. While having a setup where you buy everything with one key would work in a pub, in matches where money is an important part of your strategy, having everything seperate gives you a little more control.

Here is the actual script that I use, with comments showing exactly what the binds do.

bind "DEL" "buy defuser" //Buys a defuser
bind "KP_HOME" "buy scout" //Buys a Scout
bind "KP_UPARROW" "buy_autosniper" //Buys an Autosniper depending on team
bind "KP_PGUP" "buy awp" //Buys an AWP
bind "KP_LEFTARROW" "buy_rifle1" //Buys a FAMAS or Galil depending on team
bind "KP_5" "buy_rifle2" //Buys an AUG or Krieg depending on team
bind "KP_RIGHTARROW" "buy_rifle3" //Buys a M4 or AK depending on team
bind "KP_END" "buy_ammo" //Buys full ammo
bind "KP_DOWNARROW" "buy deagle" //Buys a Desert Eagle
bind "KP_PGDN" "buy mp5" //Buys a MP5
bind "KP_ENTER" "buyammo1" //Buys 1 Clip of Primary Ammo
bind "KP_INS" "buy vesthelm" //Buys full armor
bind "KP_DEL" "buy vest" //Buys light armor
bind "KP_SLASH" "buy flashbang" //Buys a flashbang
bind "KP_MINUS" "buy smokegrenade" //Buys a Smoke Grenade
bind "KP_PLUS" "buyammo2" //Buys 1 Clip of Pistol Ammo

Things to make your life easier

Here are a couple of scripts that I use that make a few things easier. I use my MOUSE4 to switch to my primary weapon and MOUSE5 to switch to my secondary. Instead of binding both MOUSE4 and 1 to slot1, I use these aliases:

alias use_primary "use weapon_mp5navy; use weapon_m4a1; use weapon_m249; use weapon_p90; use_primary2"
alias use_primary2 "use weapon_scout; use weapon_awp; use weapon_g3sg1; use weapon_sg550;  use_primary3"
alias use_primary3 "use weapon_sg552; use weapon_aug; use weapon_tmp; use weapon_mac10; use weapon_ak47; use_primary4"
alias use_primary4 "use weapon_ump45; use weapon_xm1014; use weapon_m3; use weapon_famas; use weapon_galil"
alias use_secondary "use weapon_usp; use weapon_glock; use weapon_deagle; use weapon_p228; use weapon_elite; use weapon_fiveseven"
alias buy_ammo "buy primammo; buy secammo"

Now I can have 1 bound to slot1 and bind MOUSE4 to use_primary. When I press either button it will switch to my primary weapon. Same thing with 2 and MOUSE5 after using the alias, either one will switch to my pistol.

Another thing I use aliases for is joining servers. I know you have gone to play on your favorite strafeRight server and found that all of your Favorites are gone. This makes it so you can always join your favorite servers. All you need to know is the servers IP (or DNS name) and the password if it is a private server.

alias "/roto" "connect 209.40.96.71:27015"
alias "/office" "connect 209.40.96.71:27016"
alias "/assault" "connect 209.40.96.71:27023"
alias "/private" "connect 209.40.96.70:27020;password serverpwd"

Now whenever you want to join the strafeRight 24/7 Office Server, just type /office in your console, hit enter and you’re in.

The other 2 scripts that I use are for demos and movie making. They allow me to push 1 button to start recording, a second push to stop, and a third push to start recording another demo or movie, so on for up to 50 demos.

Also, instead of placing all my aliases in my autoexec, I made another config with all the aliases in it and added a single line to my autoexec: exec alias.cfg. I do the same with my demo and movie scripts so my config files are short and clean.

It is now 4:20AM, so I am off to grab a little sleep (or more likely go play some Source) before work tomorrow. If you have any questions about scripts,
binds, or aliases let me know and I’ll do my best to answer it. As always, if you would like to see something in Source 101 be sure to let me know.

Recording your demo

To start recording your demo, open your console and type record demoname. On the next line you should see Recording to demoname.dem…. Once you see that, it will record everything you see until you stop the demo. If the next line reads Cannot record demos while a smoke grenade is active. you must wait until there are no smoke grenades before recording.

While you are recording your demo, you may notice the gameplay is choppier than before. There are a few steps you can take to reduce this. The first is to reduce the settings you play at. Reducing your resolution and/or graphic settings will smooth the game out. Another way is to add a number after record demoname. record [incremental] This will tell the engine to record at that number of ticks per second. Instead of recording at the tickrate of the server (for example the sR servers run at 66 tic) it will record at the tic you enter. In the past there have been some problems reported with using this method and the demos have been corrupted. I have not heard of any problems recently, but be aware your demo might be damaged. Common values to use for this are 10 and 33.

When you want to stop recording your demo, open your console and type stop. The next line should read Completed demo, recording time xxxx.x, game frames xxxxx. This tells you how long the demo was as well as the number of frames in the demo. If you are recording and the map changes, the demo will automatically be stopped and a new demo named demoname_2.dem will be recorded when you rejoin the server. Demos are also stopped when you disconnect or quit the game. All the demos you have recorded can be found in C:/Program Files/Steam/SteamApps/username/counter-strike source/cstrike.

Watching your demo

After you are done playing and want to watch your demos, disconnect from the server and go to the main menu. A demo is just a recording of what happened while playing and needs the game engine to be viewed. There is no stand alone player to watch your demos. There are two ways of loading your demos. You can either type playdemo demoname in console which will start the demo, or use the Demo UI. This can be accessed by typing demoui in console or by pressing Shift + F2.

Once the Demo UI is up, press the Load button to find the demo you wish to playback. Once the demo loads you can pause, stop, increase or decrease playback speed, or skip to a certain frame using the Demo UI. You can also access the Edit and Smoother tools.

When I playback my demos, I like to watch the entire thing, only pausing to write down certain times or frames to go back to later to get a better look. Once I finished running through it the first time, I go back to review the parts I noted earlier. This time I watch it at 100% speed a couple times, then slow it down to get a better picture of what happened. Sometimes I will pause the demo and use the Drive button to move around. When the Drive button is enabled, hold down left click and you can navigate using your movement keys and the mouse to look. This lets you see different angles to get a better view of what happened. It is also a great tool to use when you want to see how a nade bounced off a wall into a certain area.

I do this for every part of the demo I want to review, then go back and watch again at 100% speed to see if there was anything I missed. For me, reviewing demos has been a great tool to improve my game, as well as my teams strats. It has made me a smarter player by noticing where I get the most frags, how to throw a nade off walls and around corners to do the most damage, and many other things.

Where to find demos

There are many places you can find demos of other players, including the Downloads Section here. We do not have many demos up right now, but when the next season rolls around we will upload our demos for you to check out.
One of the best places to find great demos is at GotFrag. You can find demos from most of the CAL-Invite and CEVO-Professional league matches, as well as many Main and Open demos as well.

As always, if you would like to see something in the next Source 101 let me know and I will get it done.

From there select the Set Launch Options tab. Here you can set up some different things. One of these is heapsize. You want to set this to half of your RAM, for example if you have 1 GB of ram, you would enter -heapsize 524288 . The next option I like to use is -condebug. This creates a log of your console in your cstrike directory. I also use several mouse commands here in addition to the CPL Mouse Fix, which takes out all mouse acceleration. These commands are -noforcemspd -noforcemaccel -noforcemparms. Put it all together and this is what my Lauch commands are:
-heapsize 524288 -condebug -noforcemspd -noforcemaccel -noforcemparms

Other options to use in the launch options are:

-autoconfig

Restores video and performance settings to default for the current hardware detected. Ignores settings inside any .cfg files until this parameter is removed.

-dev

Enables developer mode. Also disables the automatic loading of menu background maps and stops the quit dialog from appearing on exit.

-condebug

Logs all console output into the console.log text file.

-console

Starts the game with the developer console enabled.

-toconsole

Starts the engine directly in the console, unless a map is specified with +map.

-dxlevel

Forces a specific DirectX version when launching the engine. 50, 60, 70, 80, 81, 90 or 95

-32bit

Forces the engine to start in 32-bit mode. Only useful on 64-bit Operating Systems.

-fullscreen

Forces the engine to start in fullscreen mode.

-windowed or -sw

Forces the engine to start in windowed mode.

-w

Forces the engine to start with resolution set to .

-h

Forces the engine to start with resolution set to .

-refresh

Force a specific refresh rate.

-heapsize

Specifies the heapsize (in kilobytes) the game will use.

-nocrashdialog

Suppresses some ‘memory could not be read’ unhandled errors.

-novid or -novideo

When loading a game with this parameter, the Valve intro video will not play.

-nosound

Forces the specific game to not use the sound card.

-nosync

Forces the specific game to not use VSync.

-low

Forces the specific game to launch in a LOW process priority.

-high

Forces the specific game to launch in a HIGH process priority.

-noforcemparms

Disable the forcing of mouse parameters on startup.

-noforcemspd

Disable the forcing of mouse speed on startup.

-noforcemaccel

Disable the forcing of mouse acceleration on startup.

Once you have added any launch options to Source, start up Source and selct Options from the main menu.

From here you can set your name, the spray you wish to use in game, and your crosshair options. One thing to note is the Translucent checkbox is backwards. Selecting the box turns off Translucent crosshair and makes it dark. When it is unselected, then your crosshair is translucent. Everytime you enter the options menu, it will uncheck the box. I think this has been fixed in the latest update, but you might want to double check.

Selecting the Advanced tab brings you to more settings, however I have a custom menu GUI, so I’m not 100% sure what options are in the default GUI.

From this menu you can select your weapon alignment, either left or right-handed. It is all personal preference as to which one you use, personally I use left handed weapons. You can also choose where player names will show up, either in the center of the screen or the bottom left. The biggest reason to go into the Advanced menu is the Automatically switch to picked up weapons. If you only have a pistol and run over a primary weapon it will switch to it, same for any weapons that are more powerful than the weapon you currently have. For me, I always have this off, as do most of the players I know. The reason for this is because if you are in a fire fight, you do not want to switch to another weapon until you want to. If this option is on, you may be shooting at someone then all of a sudden find yourself switching to an empty MP5 instead of continuing to fire your deagle. Most of the time it should’t affect you, but the times it does will be enough to turn it off.

After you modify any options in the Multiplayer tab, switch to the Keyboard tab to change any setting you like.

After you have set up your controls how you like them, select the Advanced tab again. This allows you to enable the console and fast weapon switch.

Turning the console on allows you to check the damage stats after you have been killed, as well as enter in CVARs to change settings. Fast weapon switch allows you to switch between weapons using only 1 key. With it off you press 1, then must left click to select your primary weapon. When it is enabled, pressing 1 will bring out your primary weapon right away, allowing you a little more time to frag.

The Mouse tab is where you can change your sensitivity. This is all personal preference, and depends on a lot of different factors including resolution, refresh rate, windows mouse settings, mouse driver settings, mouse DPI, and mouse polling rate. So comparing different players sensitivity will never be exact. The best way to compare your sensitivity with others is to go ingame and turn 180 degrees, then measure how far it takes you. For example, my sensitivity is at .56 and it takes me about 20 inches to do a 180 degree turn.

The Video tab allows you to change your resolution as well as your graphic settings.

Personally I use 800×600 with all settings on High except for Reflections and HDR, or High Dynamic Range lighting. Reflections have no influence on gameplay, so I lower them to save a few frames. HDR on the other hand changes gameplay a lot for the maps that are HDR enabled. It also destroys framerates so I turn it off.

The Audio and Voice tabs are mostly self-explanitory, so I won’t go into those here. There are some important CVARs to use for you config file though.

Once you have changed all your settings hit OK to save them, then go ingame and test them out, as well as having the game create your config file. Next up – creating your autoexec.

Using an autoexec config is a great way to make sure all your setting stay the same. Some updates may reset your config, or an abusive admin could change it via an admin mod (just another reason to play on the sR servers, n
o admins will do that to you!). Either way, an autoexec is a great idea. Any settings you always want to be the same when you start up Source should be in there.

To get started with your autoexec open up a text editor such as Notepad. Below is a copy of my autoexec with explainations of all the commands.

//-----------
// NETCODE
//-----------
cl_cmdrate 100 //Changes the amount of packets you send to the server
cl_interp 0.01 //The interpolation value, default for CAL/CEVO
cl_interpolate 1 //Interpolate 0 is best, although most leagues lock it at 1. Will be very choppy on lower tick servers.
cl_timeout 30 //You will timeout after this long, I lower it from default.
cl_updaterate 100 //Changes the amount of packets you get from the server.rate 25000
//-----------
// OTHER
//-----------
cl_autowepswitch 0 //Disables auto-switching to picked up weapons.
cl_crosshairalpha 999 //Sets crosshair alpha - 99 is the darkest
cl_crosshairusealpha 1 //Whether to use the crosshair alpha
cl_crosshairscale 1680 //Crosshair scale. Bigger value = smaller crosshair
cl_downloadfilter "nosounds" //Will not download all those crappy sounds from a server. Using "none" will not download anything.
cl_dynamiccrosshair 0 //Whether your crosshair will expand while ducking/moving.
cl_logofile "materials/vgui/logos/strafeRight.vtf" //The spray file you use.
cl_minmodels 0 //Uses only 1 model per team
cl_min_ct 1 //Specifies the model used for minmodels
cl_min_t 2 //Specifies the model used for minmodels
cl_righthand 0 //Weapon alignment - I use lefthanded
con_enable 1 //enables console
jpeg_quality 100 //Quality of screenshots
hud_fastswitch 1 //Allows you to switch to weapons only using 1 key
name "sR -> Username" //My ingame name
net_graph 3 //The netgraph, shows FPS and netcode information
net_scale 4 //The netgraph scale
net_graphpos 2 //The netgraph position, 2 is the bottom center
sensitivity .56 //The sensitivity I use ingame
violence_ablood 1 //Makes blood show up better
violence_agibs 1 //Makes blood show up better
violence_hblood 1 //Makes blood show up better
violence_hgibs 1 //Makes blood show up better
zoom_sensitivity_ratio .75 //The sensitiviy when you are zoomed in, expressed as a ratio.
//-----------
// GRAPHICS
//-----------
cl_phys_props_enable 0 //Gets rid of all the little garbage
cl_phys_props_max 0
cl_ragdoll_collide 1 //Ragdolls collide with each other
cl_ragdoll_physics_enable 0 //Ragdolls are not shown - bodies disapear when dead
cl_show_splashes 0 //Does not show splashes in water
fps_max 101 //Caps my FPS at 100
mat_hdr_enabled 0 //Disables HDR
mat_vsync 0 // Disables VSync
r_drawdetailprops 0 //Gets rid of detail props
//-----------
// AUDIO
//-----------
snd_mixahead .1 //Synchs the audio
//-----------
// BINDS
//-----------
bind "TAB" "+showscores"
bind "ESCAPE" "cancelselect"
bind "SPACE" "+jump"
bind "'" "+moveup"
bind "*" "buy hegrenade"
bind "0" "slot10"
bind "1" "slot1"
bind "2" "slot2"
bind "3" "slot3"
bind "4" "slot4"
bind "5" "slot5"
bind "6" "slot6"
bind "7" "slot7"
bind "8" "slot8"
bind "9" "slot9"
bind "`" "toggleconsole"
bind "a" "+moveleft"
bind "b" "buymenu"
bind "c" "+duck"
bind "d" "+moveright"
bind "e" "+use"
bind "f" "impulse 100"
bind "g" "drop"
bind "CTRL" "+voicerecord"
bind "m" "chooseteam"
bind "n" "nightvision"
bind "o" "buyequip"
bind "q" "lastinv"
bind "r" "+reload"
bind "s" "+back"
bind "t" "impulse 201"
bind "u" "messagemode2"
bind "v" "radio3"
bind "w" "+forward"
bind "x" "radio2"
bind "y" "messagemode"
bind "z" "radio1"
bind "~" "toggleconsole"
bind "SHIFT" "+speed"
bind "F1" "autobuy"
bind "F2" "rebuy"
bind "F5" "jpeg"
bind "F10" "demo"
bind "DEL" "buy defuser"
bind "KP_HOME" "buy scout"
bind "KP_UPARROW" "buy_autosniper"
bind "KP_PGUP" "buy awp"
bind "KP_LEFTARROW" "buy_rifle1"
bind "KP_5" "buy_rifle2"
bind "KP_RIGHTARROW" "buy_rifle3"
bind "KP_END" "buy_ammo"
bind "KP_DOWNARROW" "buy deagle"
bind "KP_PGDN" "buy mp5"
bind "KP_ENTER" "buyammo1"
bind "KP_INS" "buy vesthelm"
bind "KP_DEL" "buy vest"
bind "KP_SLASH" "buy flashbang"
bind "KP_MINUS" "buy smokegrenade"
bind "KP_PLUS" "buyammo2"
bind "MWHEELDOWN" "invnext"
bind "MWHEELUP" "invprev"
bind "MOUSE1" "+attack"
bind "MOUSE2" "+attack2"
bind "MOUSE4" "use_primary"
bind "MOUSE5" "use_secondary"echo "Autoexec Loaded"

To save your autoexec go to File… Save As… and be sure to select All File Types, otherwise you will end up with a text file. Save it as autoexec.cfg. The autoexec file is stored in C:/Program Files/Steam/SteamApps/USERNAME/counter-strike source/cstrike/cfg depending on where you installed Steam. After you have saved it, head ingame and all your setting will be the way you want them. If for any reason while playing something gets changed, simply go in console and type exec autoexec and the autoexec will be reloaded.

That’s all I have for right now, if you have any questions on this or anything else about Source that you would like to see in the next Source 101, either email me at yankeedeuce ^@ straferight ^dot com or PM me on the sR forums with your question. In addition to anything the community has questions about, I’ll be going over other basics – weapons, maps, strats, etc. as well.