Setup A Client

Installation

Playing TeamFortress requires: Quake. Download and install Quake Shareware, or obtain Quake from Steam. TeamFortress Mod. Download and unzip MegaTF into your Quake folder. (Optional: Files can be automatically downloaded upon joining a server) Modern client: Download and install the latest EzQuake. Available for Windows, Linux, MacOS. Legacy clients: Download and unzip one of the the official ZAP versions of ezQuake! ezQuake 3.2.3 ZAP (Win), ezQuake 3.2.3 ZAP (Linux), or ezQuake 3.1 ZAP (Win. Includes fixed WinAMP compatibility) into your Quake folder. (ezQuake replaces the old QWCL.exe as your Quake Client. Other modern QuakeWorld Clients exist, which you may use at your discretion, but we highly recommend the ZAP ezQuake as it fixes a few things the ezQuake team has removed for MegaTF/Quake 1. Editor note: this statement needs to be reviewed for relevance in 2025) Before you play, setup your Configs - Mega TeamFortress has a lot of commands to bind. Then, Launch "ezquake.exe" in your Quake folder to play! Use the server-browser to find a TeamFortress game near you! Or find a server at Active Servers or quakeservers.net and connect manually from the console with connect <ip address here>.

Optionally choose a pre-configured installer package: *recommended for new players* Install nQuake For all Operating Systems. Download Aphasia's pre-configured packages Note: It is not recommended to install FortressOne in the same folder as nQuake or EZQuake as they may overlap and cause conflicts.

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Tip: Run your EZQuake graphics on "eyecandy" for a graphical upgrade! Also visit the Graphical Replacements page for high quality texture replacements.

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Optional:

TeamFortress servers will download maps, models, sounds and other files to you as you need them on a case-by-case basis. However, there are some files servers do not distribute when you join.

The TFMegaPack (95MB) contains optional files that you WON'T get automatically from a server for colored lighting (.lit), location data (.loc), skyboxes, and high-res textures.

Sometimes, a server may be missing a file - or you may just want to save yourself the wait time and get to fragging. In which case, download:

TFMegaPack XL (180MB) - All of TFMegaPack, plus the most common maps and add-on files.

TFMegaPack XXL (640MB) - All of TFMegaPack_XL, plus a TON of maps and everything else.

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Linux:
Install nQuake for Linux.

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MAC:
Install nQuake for MacOS.

Client Commands

Useful client commands that are independent of any mod. You can review these and choose how you would like to configure your client.
Changes should go in ../fortress/config.cfg
See Configs for full info.

EZQuake

EZQuake 3.6 Warning

EZQuake developers recently implemented a command to remedy security issues in EZQuake 3.6. Unfortunately the client now spams users on TF servers regarding these false warnings, so this variable must be copy and pasted manually into your main config to suppress the warnings (usually put it in quake/fortress/config.cfg):

cl_remote_capabilities "+attack,-attack,alias,bf,changing,cmd,color,download,exec,fullserverinfo,impulse,infoset,ktx_infoset,ktx_sinfoset,nextul,on_admin,on_connect,on_connect_ctf,on_connect_ffa,on_enter,on_enter_ctf,on_enter_ffa,on_matchend,on_matchstart,on_observe,on_observe_ctf,on_observe_ffa,on_spec_enter,on_spec_enter_ctf,on_spec_enter_ffa,on_spec,_matchend,on_spec_matchstart,on_unadmin,packet,play,rate,reconnect,say,sinfoset,skin,skins,team,tempalias,track,wait,cl_movespeedkey,m_forward,m_side,cl_backspeed,cl_forwardspeed,cl_sidespeed,v_idlescale,v_cshift,fov,bind,gl_polyblend,v_iroll_cycle,v_ipitch_cycle,v_iyaw_cycle,v_iroll_level,v_ipitch_level,v_iyaw_level"

v_viewheight

v_viewheight is the level of your eyes as the player bobs up and down while running. Maximum range is -7 to 4. Most people have bobbing turned off. The level of your gun doesn't change during the bob cycle, just your eyes. At -7, your eyes are at the same level as your gun. Rockets are aimed right at the crosshair during their entire path. As the level of your eyes goes up, close range aim becomes more inaccurate. At -5 to -4, if you try to shoot down over a ledge, the rocket will hit the ledge, and if it's close it will blow up in your face. At a value of -6 and -7 you can aim precisely over a ledge and shoot rockets properly at enemies feet to pop them in the air. It mainly matters for rockets and sniping but is generally recommended. A drawback of lower viewheights is that lightning gun shafts tend to be coming right at your face: not a problem in MegaTF. Low viewheights make you feel short and high ones make you feel tall and you can see over more obstacles.

Some useful cvar options

r_fastsky 1 //sets sky to a solid color, less distracting, easier to see players outline in the sky.
r_skycolor x x x //RGB value of sky color (Default is "40 80 150" for light blue)
r_fastturb 1 //sets all liquids to a solid color based on texture, less distracting, cleaner looking map.
v_viewheight "-7" // Some lore about this one. This lowers your view as much as possible, with the idea of being exactly in line with your rocket trajectory, instead of above it. The idea is that your crosshair is more accurately where the rockets will hit in the distance.
s_khz "44" // attempt to sample all sounds at 44khz, crisper audio, and needed for the replacement sound pack.
s_ambientlevel "0" // removes annoying looping background noises
cl_bob "0" //removes screen bobbing
cl_bobcycle "0" //removes screen bobbing
cl_bobup "0" //removes screen bobbing
cl_rollangle "0" //controls how much your screen tilts when strafing.
etc.

FTEQuake

A select few commands for optimization / quality of life. FTE has an extensive feature set that is not covered here. Pro-tip use /find <term> in the console to search and read through documentation.

cl_yieldcpu "0"         //Attempt to yield between frames. This can resolve issues with certain drivers and background software, but can mean less consistant frame times. Will reduce power consumption/heat generation so should be set on laptops or similar (over-hot/battery powered) devices.

r_viewmodel_fov "105"   //field of vision for the viewmodel only, allows you to set a different fov and gun size, 1-170 degrees, standard fov is 90, nquake defaults to 108.

r_glsl_precache "1"    //Force all relevant glsl permutations to load upfront. Should prevent mid-game stutters in some cases at the cost of longer load times.

seta r_replacemodels "glb md3 md2 md5mesh"    //A list of filename extensions to attempt to use instead of mdl. Allows for higher quality model replacements.

r_temporalscenecache "1"    //Controls whether to generate+reuse a scene cache over multiple frames. This is generated on a separate thread to avoid any associated costs. This can significantly boost framerates on complex maps, but can also stress the gpu more (performance tradeoff that varies per map). An outdated cache may be used if the cache takes too long to build (eg: lightmap animations), which could cause the odd glitch when moving fast (but retain more consistent framerates - another tradeoff).
                            //0: Traditional quake rendering.
                            //1: Generate+Use the scene cache.

fs_cache "1"    //0: Do individual lookups.
                //1: Scan all files for accelerated lookups. This provides a performance boost on windows and avoids case sensitivity issues on linux.
                //2: like 1, but don't bother checking for external changes (avoiding the cost of rebuild the cache).

cl_lerp_players "1"     //Set this to make other players smoother, though it may increase effective latency. Affects only QuakeWorld.