How To Make TF2 Look Better Through A Simple Console Command

[Sharkle_Bunwich]

So my friend (Souly) showed me this link to the Zombie Master Forum about how to make source games look better. I literally shat myself at what I saw and quickly tried it out in TF2. It's really nice and there's barely any FPS drop while playing online.

Okay so, in options there is 4 levels for texture quality: low, medium, high, very high. In the console, this is known as mat_picmip. 2 = low, 1 = medium, 0 = high, -1 = very high.

You can type -2 and it keeps getting better. In fact, you can type any negative number between -1 and -10 to make it better. -10 is the best. Here are some screenshots.

[img]http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/5601/tf2compare1pp2.jpg[/img]

[img]http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/2784/tf2compare2wo4.jpg[/img]

These are picmip -3 (I didn't make them).

Key things to check out:
> Shooting water (Awesome effects with -10)
> The spy's magnum
> The heavy's minigun
> The engi's buildings (especially teleport, that one is the best).

Also, here's a screenshot from what EP2 looks like with this.

[url]http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/1342/ep2outland020003th4.jpg[/url]

Note that this only works on Source games using the orange box. Games like EP1, HL2, CSS, etc won't work. Also, the better the graphics card, the better everything looks.

I've also tried in Gmod and it works well too. Most of the low res crap became clear and had very hi-res and smooth textures.

Have fun with your better graphics!

[QUOTE=Souly]Name your friend, killz. :q:[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the link.

[XENOLITH]

I'm gonna try "mat_picmip -8000", maybe I'll open a wormhole.

[Links]

So this would work in Garry's Mod, correct?

As it now uses the Orange Box's engine?

[Sharkle_Bunwich]

[QUOTE=Links]So this would work in Garry's Mod, correct?

As it now uses the Orange Box's engine?[/QUOTE]

Yep.

You may not notice much of a difference with the HL2 ragdolls though. Like the rebels and combine.

[Dr_Chippay]

[QUOTE=Links]So this would work in Garry's Mod, correct?

As it now uses the Orange Box's engine?[/QUOTE]
[quote=the first post]I've also tried in Gmod and it works well too. Most of the low res crap became clear and had very hi-res and smooth textures.[/quote]
yeah i think it does

[DrDarko]

I remember when the original thread about this near when Team Fortress 2 came out, but I never tried it.

Is the frames pretty much the same as on low? Because I can't run TF2 on anything higher than low without having 10 FPS. :uhoh:

[FredFuckstone]

I've been looking for this since I got my new rig. Thanks man! :D

[Links]

[QUOTE=DrDarko]I remember when the original thread about this near when Team Fortress 2 came out, but I never tried it.

Is the frames pretty much the same as on low? Because I can't run TF2 on anything higher than low without having 10 FPS. :uhoh:[/QUOTE]
This is also a good question.

Verification would be awesome before I go nuts with this command.

[Sharkle_Bunwich]

[QUOTE=Links]This is also a good question.

Verification would be awesome before I go nuts with this command.[/QUOTE]

Ahem.

[QUOTE=Myself]It's really nice and there's barely any FPS drop while playing online.[/QUOTE]

There is no FPS drop while alone, but there are MINOR drops (2-3 FPS maybe) when online.

[Links]

[QUOTE=killz2much]Ahem.

There is no FPS drop while alone, but there are MINOR drops (2-3 FPS maybe) when online.[/QUOTE]
Oh wow, how did I miss that?

Cool, now to go nuts.

[Ghosevil]

Tried mat_queue_mode 2, didn't notice much of a difference and it cut my FPS from locked 60 to locked 15 (surprisingly smooth still).

[Sharkle_Bunwich]

[QUOTE=ghosevil]Tried mat_queue_mode 2, didn't notice much of a difference and it cut my FPS from locked 60 to locked 15 (surprisingly smooth still).[/QUOTE]

That's for dual core... :downs:

[b]EDIT:[/b]

Are you in the wrong thread?

[Ghosevil]

I'm glad you know what my computer specs are mr. telepathy :downs:.

[b]Edit:[/b]

Infact, I restarted TF2 and found my FPS released back to locked 60 with barely any graphical improvements upon what I could tell.

Your ass-hattery was for naught.

[Sharkle_Bunwich]

[QUOTE=ghosevil]Infact, I restarted TF2 and found my FPS released back to locked 60 with barely any graphical improvements upon what I could tell.

Your ass-hattery was for naught.[/QUOTE]

The reason why I said that is because this thread is about mat_picmip commands, not mat_queue_mode 2

[hl2pooV2]

Holy shit this looks awesome. Trying it out in Gmod. Thanks. :)

[Guyblunder]

You are my fucking hero. :love:

[Golden-Death]

[QUOTE=ghosevil]I'm glad you know what my computer specs are mr. telepathy :downs:.

[b]Edit:[/b]

Infact, I restarted TF2 and found my FPS released back to locked 60 with barely any graphical improvements upon what I could tell.

Your ass-hattery was for naught.[/QUOTE]

Seriously, what are you smoking? :v:

[Guyblunder]

I'll try positive 10, maybe it'll just be color fill textures. :downs:

[Roswell34]

[QUOTE=ghosevil]I'm glad you know what my computer specs are mr. telepathy :downs:.

[b]Edit:[/b]

Infact, I restarted TF2 and found my FPS released back to locked 60 with barely any graphical improvements upon what I could tell.

Your ass-hattery was for naught.[/QUOTE]
Wow read his post

[Sharkle_Bunwich]

[QUOTE=Roswell34]Wow read his post[/QUOTE]

The guy has to be stoned out of his fucking mind. Best just to ignore him.

[borisvdb]

Does the console command stay permanent or do you have to type it in every time you start the game?

[NewEntity]

[QUOTE=borisvdb]Does the console command stay permanent or do you have to type it in every time you start the game?[/QUOTE]
Add it to:

...tf/cfg/autoexec.cfg

[John Edwards]

[QUOTE=borisvdb]Does the console command stay permanent or do you have to type it in every time you start the game?[/QUOTE]
console is every time you start the game
cfg files are permanent

[LeYang]

Source games should save directly into the configuration file the moment their changed.

GoldSrn game only save if you exit the game right (Alt+F4 or using Quit Command prevents it from writing).

[borisvdb]

Forgot about the cfg, thanks.

[esrande]

Hia guyz ish mah grafiks kard goood?
[img]http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/8560/ctf2fort0004sk1.jpg[/img]

I set it it to mat_picmip 2000 and it froze up :downs:

[Zeke129]

I set everything to -10, and I only lost 5FPS. Now why didn't Valve do this in the first place?

[ihatecompvir]

LOL
I was playing Half-Life 2 Episode 2, and I used mat_picmap -9999999
And this happened!
[img]http://www.craphound.com/images/halflife2reenactment.jpg[/img]
EVERYTHING LOOKS REAL

[XENOLITH]

[QUOTE=Zeke129]I set everything to -10, and I only lost 5FPS. Now why didn't Valve do this in the first place?[/QUOTE]
It may only work with some video cards.

If that is the case, and it [i]was[/i] set to default, Valve would have a lot of angry consumers.

[John Edwards]

[QUOTE=Zeke129]I set everything to -10, and I only lost 5FPS. Now why didn't Valve do this in the first place?[/QUOTE]
had to keep make it so the majority of PC's could run it