Advanced Installation Instructions

Contributors that want a cleaner, more 'stock' build might want to follow these instructions instead.

Keep in mind that you are downloading a complete installation of TF2. You'll need at least ~22GB of free space.

Methods 1 and 2 require logging into your Steam account with third-party utilities. These applications are completely open-source, but if you don't trust them, sticking with Method 3 is perfectly fine.

Note: If you launch TC2 with Steam Cloud Sync enabled for TF2, Steam will restore your current TF2 config.cfg to TC2, and some obscure cvars may cause performance problems or even crashes. It is advised to keep TF2's Cloud Sync disabled for the time being.

If you would like simpler instructions, use the basic instructions from the README.

Method 1: DepotDownloader (recommended)

1. Download the latest release of DepotDownloader. (depotdownloader-.zip, not source code)
2. Extract it, open Command Prompt (or PowerShell) in its folder (shift+right click in File Explorer), and run the following command, replacing USERNAME and PASSWORD with your Steam credentials:
   • dotnet DepotDownloader.dll -app 440 -os windows -dir TC2 -username USERNAME -password PASSWORD
     • You may be prompted for Steam Guard if you have it enabled on your account.
     • This command will take a long time to complete as it downloads the entire game; roughly 10GB of data needs to be downloaded.
3. Once the game download is finished, download game_clean.zip from the latest TC2 release.
4. Extract the files from game_clean.zip into the TC2 folder, overwriting existing files.
5. Launch with .\start_tf2.bat.
   • Note: Steam must be running in order to connect to servers, including local ones. Demos will load without Steam running, however, for benchmarking purposes.

Method 2: SteamDepotDownloader-GUI

1. Create a new folder where you want the TC2 installation to be.
2. Download the latest release of SteamDepotDownloader-GUI.
3. Extract it, and launch .\SteamDepotDownloader-GUI.exe.
4. Click Choose Install Directory on the right side, and select the TC2 folder you created in step 1.
5. Select Team Fortress 2 in the Apps list.
6. With branch set to public, select each of the following depots from the list:
   1. TF2 Client server shared, and click Download Depot (this one takes the longest)
   2. TF2 Client, and click Download Depot
   3. TF2 Windows client, and click Download Depot
7. Once all of the depots have finished downloading, download game_clean.zip from the latest TC2 release.
8. Extract the files from game_clean.zip into the TC2 folder from step 1, overwriting existing files.
9. Launch with .\start_tf2.bat.
   • Note: Steam must be running in order to connect to servers, including local ones. Demos will load without Steam running, however, for benchmarking purposes.

Method 3: Steam Client Console

1. Visit steam://open/console (e.g. put it in your browser address bar) to reveal the Console tab in your Steam client.
   • Make sure you have at least 22 GB of free space on the drive that the Steam client is installed to.
   • You can move the files after downloading them.
   • To avoid having to do this each time you want to use the console, launch Steam with -console.
2. Run the following commands in your Steam console, in order:
   1. download_depot 440 440
   2. download_depot 440 232251
   3. download_depot 440 441
3. Create a new folder where you want the TC2 installation to be.
4. Once the downloads are complete (check your Downloads tab in Steam for network activity), go to %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Steam\steamapps\content\app_440 to find three folders: depot_440, depot_441, and depot_232251.
   • Note: For 32-bit Windows, it will be at %ProgramFiles%\Steam\steamapps\content\app_440
5. Open each folder, and copy (or cut) its contents to your desired TC2 folder, essentially "merging" the three folders.
6. Download game_clean.zip from the latest release.
7. Extract the files from game_clean.zip into the TC2 folder, overwriting existing files.
8. Launch with .\start_tf2.bat.
   • Note: Steam must be running in order to connect to servers, including local ones. Demos will load without Steam running, however, for benchmarking purposes.