Optical delicacies

WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR TF2?
THEN GET THIS SHIT*

Customizing Team Fortress 2 is the act of exploiting the modular nature of Source Engine games to modify settings and game files in the Team Fortress 2 directory that could not be done in-game using the built in settings or developers console. Personalizations and useful edits to the HUD, game, and control settings can be made to customize the player's gaming experience.

*Disclaimer: Modifying configuration files may leave Team Fortress 2 in a broken or otherwise unplayable state. Do so at your own risk and discretion.

>PERFORMANCE
Config file: Its a file that sets the value for certain variables (from video rendering to animations, audio and so on) that directly affect performance. Choosing the right one will considerably boost your FPS, at the cost of visual quality.

http://fakkelbrigade.eu/chris/configs/ - Chris' TF2 configs, one of the most popular for those with little to no experience on this kind of things. Wouldn't hurt to open it (I recommend Notepad++, but microsoft's notepad can open it too) and reading what's inside, you might want to tweak a thing or two.

http://configs.eu/teamfortress2/ - cfg's the 1337 g4m3rz use. There are more pages like that, this is just the 1st result google gave me.

There are other cfg's out there, just try and see which one you prefer.

Some people might recommend http://clugu.com/tf2mate/ . Don't use it. Just don't.

>ADBLOCK
Tired of getting cockblocked when joining a server and being made to wait? Suffer no more!
Step 1 http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=33803688&postcount=1
Step 2 http://nopinion.tumblr.com/
Step 3 Create an empty file in your tf directory named textwindow_temp.html and make it read-only (this prevents the motd from being saved & loaded)

>ADVANCED LAUNCH OPTIONS
Here's a fine tutorial for that
http://etf2l.org/forum/customise/topic-16829/?recent=393545

>CUSTOM HUDS
While not exactly performance improvement per se, having a nice HUD with the elements placed just where you need them will make improve your gaming experience.
I will list some of the more populars here, try them to see which one is the best for you:
http://code.google.com/p/kbnhud/ - kbnHUD
http://ozfortress.com/showthread.php?t=42719 - pvHUD
http://code.google.com/p/broeselhud/ - broeselHUD
http://steamcommunity.com/groups/frankenhud - frankenHUD
https://github.com/omp/tf2hud - ompHUD
http://www.sdx-gaming.eu/?page_id=4097 - Assload of different HUD's under the same roof

Google will produce even more, I am sure.

>SCRIPTS
Scripting is the use of configuration files (.cfg) to create new keybinds and aliases automating complex behaviors and console command sequences. Scripting is built into Team Fortress 2 and is not banned by VAC (Valve Anti Cheat).
http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Scripting - Basic info here, you can take it from there.
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=709568 - ^^^
Just for reference, I use a medic radar script (gotta admit I see no difference) and a quick sentry build thingy, but there are scripts for the most simple things, to rebuild how a whole class works. Having basic scripting knowlegde (IE reading the basic info pages) will help you have an understanding of how to customize and even improve scripts so they are better suited to you.

http://gamebanana.com/tf2/scripts has a fairly amount of good scripts.

>TIPS
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1302143 - Useful stuff, coming from SPUF that is.

>EYECANDY*
Some of this stuff is supposed to give you a performance boost, but I don't buy it. I am a visual guy, so I installed them anyways. Most of them are little tweaks of thing Valve in all their laziness have not see nfit to fix. All hail the useful members of the community.
Keep from installing HD skins if you want performance.
*Does not apply for sv_pure 2 servers.

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1URgEtYCsqdpFdbWPMNqNJIZngSbUUCCtSQ03AuHrcBE - Shitload of fixes. I recommend actually checking what every and each of them does so that you dont end up with a bunch of unwanted skins, or worse, HD skins/effects that may affect performance.

Serious eyecandy ahead.
http://tf2tip.maxofs2d.net/ - Improvement of textures. May have an impact on performance.
http://gamebanana.com/tf2/skins/105972 - HD Payload. May have impact on performance.
http://gamebanana.com/tf2/skins/76818 - Electric signs
http://gamebanana.com/tf2/skins/82149 - Animated Capture Point. I like this one.
http://gamebanana.com/tf2/skins/69848 - Enable water reflections (Avoid this is you want performance)
http://gamebanana.com/tf2/skins/92782 - Cinematic Lightwarp. Highly Recommended.

If you find/know of other stuff that you feel would have a place on this shitty pastebin, by all means, let me know.
Come at me @ steamcommunity.com/id/not_a_bot/