Team Fortress 2, also called TF2 by many, has been ported to 64-bit by Valve after 16 years of release. This update also brings major performance improvements.
Team Fortress 2 is among the most liked multiplayer game out there. Released way back in 2007, along with the original Portal game, TF2 has stood the test of time.
Not only it’s famous, but it still remains among the highest played games on Steam as per Valve.
The reason is simple. It’s funny, easy, cartoonish, massively deep and has a lot of variety, both in gameplay and maps. Not to forget loads of user generated content like maps that one can play.
One more interesting thing about TF2 is, unlike other games which are pay to win, TF2 remains free of such things.
The only optional things one can pay for is cosmetics like hats and other stuff. This alone has a huge market and earns Valve millions. Otherwise, the game is pretty balanced, irrespective of how much money one puts into it.
However, a big problem with TF2 is that while it’s liked by many, it hasn’t received as many major updates as required. The game has remained massively buggy, its public servers are filled with bots and the performance issues are big too.
However, in January this year, news came out that Valve is testing a 64-bit version of TF2. Looks like that update is finally out for everyone.
TF2 Gets Updated To 64-bit Mode
In an official update release announcement, Valve has announced the availability of the 64-bit mode for the TF2. The short but important announcement says:
An update to Team Fortress 2 has been released. The update will be applied automatically when you restart Team Fortress 2. The major changes include:
- Added 64-bit support for Windows/Linux client and server
- Should include performance improvements for most users
- Bugs can be reported here: https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Source-1-Games/issues
- Fixed an exploit related to uploading invalid custom decals that would crash other clients
Firstly. It might come as a surprise to many that, one of the most played multiplayer games in the world, was only available in 32-bit version. So a support for a 64-bit mode is much welcome. Especially in this day and age.
Second, the improvements in performance is said to be massive. Some users on Reddit reported to that improvements are going to be somewhere around 18-24%. Which is not small to say the least. In fact, someone tested the pre-release update on Linux and got around 28% increase in FPS.
Performance Improvements
How does the performance increase happen though. Well known user mastercoms on TeamFortress.tv has a detailed answer for those who want to read. Those want to watch a video explaining things can also watch Tyler McVicker’s video on YouTube.
The idea is simple. This update brings many important and long overdue changes to the TF2 game as a whole and those changes result in a significant improvement in the performance of the game.
In our own quick tests, we found the newly updated 64-bit version of TF2 to be quite quick and good. Both in UI and game performance. Our preliminary tests made us felt that we are gaming on a different PC, or a different game altogether. Though more testing is required to be sure about it.
Another thing is, the new TF2 update doesn’t seem to break mods – HUDs for example, most things except some are expected to continue to work as they should without any issues.
Though, some users are reporting that their AVs are flagging some files of the updated version. Some are reporting issues starting the game. All these are likely to be fixed soon. Update: Valve seems to have fixed these issues with a small update.
Conclusion
Team Fortress 2 has received so little updates that it’s been a frustrating experience for its players. The TF2 community right now will take whatever improvements that Valve is give to them.
But a big performance improvement in the name of support for 64-bit is something they required but never expected Valve to deliver on them.
So this update is a much welcome move from Valve. It shows that they have not completely forgotten it and users are going to like it too.
