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With the final day of the Medic update, not only did we get to see the eagerly awaited ‘Meet the Medic’ video, but one other bombshell was dropped – Team Fortress 2 is now free for anyone to play.
Yup, you heard that right, totally free to play! The game appears to be divided into 2 types of account right now, with buyers of the game labelled as having a ‘Premium’ account, and free players having a…free account. To convert a free account, all you need to do is purchase one item from the Mann co store in game.
Despite the many misgivings people have, this will surely bring a wealth of brand new players to the game, injecting some much needed fresh blood into both competitive and public play alike.
Read on to find out more on getting the most out of your TF2 experience!
Maximise your FPS
First of all, you’ve gotta be prepared to tweak TF2 a bit, especially if you’re not running a great computer setup. However, for those of us who aren’t technically minded, the lovely Chris has built an entire set of configs, with great instructions, that will get you enjoying the game with the minimum of fuss, and the maximum of FPS. You can find these configs over at: http://www.fakkelbrigade.eu/chris/configs/ – but please make sure you follow the instructions carefully.
Competitive Play
Tf2 has a dedicated competitive playerbase, and whilst there are people that feel the need to constantly complain about the state of competitive TF2, the majority of the rulesets are fair, and map pools are varied. It is relatively easy to get into playing competitively, with teams constantly recruiting, and even creating your own team is relatively painless, as long as you know 5 other players!
Some great resources to get into competitive play can be found at the primary EU leagues, ETF2L, who have their season 10 starting very soon – so just enough time for you to download TF2 and register your team/apply to join a team.
If you’re after information on the goings on within the Competitive TF2 scene, VanillaTF2 is a great resource, covering everything from upcoming matches to latest gossip and news. VanillaTV covers many of the higher profile games in real time, with a great lineup of casters involved.
For more US orientated gossip, GotFrag is the place to visit, as long as you don’t mind putting up with a high amount of trolling.
Finally, if you want to jump straight into learning to play competitively, head on over to TF2Lobby, join a lobby and get playing!
Custom Huds
While the default HUD is pretty nice, there are alternatives out there – there is a thread here that covers most of them, but to single out a few of the more commonly used ones – broeselhud, Community HUD (this is the one I use), gmang Hud, M0reHUD. These are all used to a certain extent by the community as a whole.
Frag Videos
If you needed more persuasion to download and install a free game, there is a huge selection of videos showcasing the game available.
Some of the best:
Lan Trilogy – by far and away one of the most epic TF2 movies, featuring frags and action from insomnia 40, one of the largest UK lans. http://video.alienwarearena.com/movie/1390/TF2_Lan_Trilogy__i40/
7 brothers who aren’t brothers – widely accepted by many as the definitive TF2 frag video, this contains footage from one of the longest running teams (now defunct), broder. http://video.alienwarearena.com/movie/1085/7_..._brothers/
Auto Aim – A great sniping video by one of the best snipers in TF2, Jh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkZLJeQ1Nhc
All credit belongs to Trell and Darn.
TL;DR
TF2 is f2p now and you have a unique opportunity to test your skills in competitive tf2! Sites that should help you track tf2:
http://www.vanillatf2.org/
http://etf2l.org/
http://www.esl.eu/eu/tf2/
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