Help:Accessing the game files
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Accessing the game files can be done by anyone who downloads Team Fortress 2. The accessible files consist of textures (for backpack icons, HUD elements, decals, etc.), voice lines (for all classes, the Administrator, Halloween bosses, etc.), models (for props, weapons, classes, etc.), and other miscellaneous files. These files are all contained in .vpk
(Valve Pack File, also shortened to simply Pack) files, which require special programs to open. Note that any files used on community-created maps are contained within the .bsp
file instead. All content should be licensed under the {{ExtractTF2}}
license, unless mentioned otherwise.
Contents
Accessing the files
.vpk
files require a special program to open, some examples of programs that can open them:
- GCFScape (also supports opening
.bsp
files) - VPKEdit
- Gibbeds VPK Extractor
These programs open the vpk files and show the contents, but may not be able to open the files contained within. To find the .vpk
files for Team Fortress 2, navigate to steamapps\common\Team Fortress 2\tf
. There are many files, but the _dir
files will contain everything that is in the other files too. There are 4 different types, tf2_misc_dir.vpk
, tf2_sound_misc_dir.vpk
, tf2_textures_dir.vpk
, and tf2_sound_vo_[lang].vpk
(this file depends on your in-game voice language setting. Supports English, Russian, Spanish, French, and German. Only the language you've selected will appear in your folders).
Texture files
Texture files are stored in .vtf
files, some examples of programs that can open them:
The texture Pack files contain textures for most things in the game, such as the classes, background images, HUD elements, backpack icons, etc. Certain HUD elements using team colours or other colours may appear in black and white instead of their coloured variant. Kill icons are all contained in the same few files together (with the name dneg_images
or d_images
).
Wiki usage
Artwork images (such as those used on the Casual menu) should be licensed under the {{ArtworkTF2}}
license. Other textures should be licensed under the {{ExtractTF2}}
license.
- Strange Filter images
- Map Stamp images
- Backpack icon images
- Kill icons
- HUD images
Sound files
Most sound files are stored in .mp3
or .wav
files. These files can be opened using most programs that play sound files. There are 2 different Packs with different sound files, the "vo" (voice over) sound files and the "sound misc" sound files.
As the name suggests, "vo" contains voice lines such as the Responses, commands, and other voice lines (note that community announcers are contained within their own map files). This Pack will contain only one language's voice lines, the in-game setting (Options > Audio > Audio (spoken) language. Only supports English, Russian, Spanish, French, and German) must be changed in order for that language's .vpk
file to appear.
The "sound misc" files contains the rest of the sounds, such as audio cues, environmental ambience, footstep noises, main menu startup music, etc.
Wiki usage
Audio files should be licensed with the {{AudioTF2}}
license.
- Audio cues
- Voice commands and voice responses
- Weapon and Building sounds
Miscellaneous files
The miscellaneous files Pack contains several different types of files, such as models (.mdl
), config (.cfg
) files, facial expression presets, material files, and many more. These files share a similar file structure to the /tf/
folder.
Wiki usage
- Files for cosmetic image renders (see also: Model Viewer)
Map files
The aforementioned GCFScape can be used to open up .bsp
files, however, extracting the files does not work. Every map file contains a .zip
file, which can be extracted from the map file, then unzipped in a desired location to obtain all the map files. Map files usually include textures, models, materials, VScript scripts, and anything else the map needs.
Wiki usage
- Community-made posters
- Map-specific announcer voice lines
- Loading menu photos
VScript files
As mentioned before VScript files are contained in the map's file, they come in the .nut
format (associated with the Squirrel programming language, for documentation see this website). VScript files can be opened using programs such as Notepad++ or other text editors. Values found in VScript should always be referenced in the following format: vscripts\folder\file.nut:L1-10
, replacing folder
and file
with the folder and file name respectively, and the relevant line numbers after the colon. Function names/specific values are not required, but can be added for extra clarity. Example reference: vscripts\infection\infection.nut:L525-526
. If a page has a VScript reference, add {{VScript refnote}}
at the top of the references section.
Wiki usage
- Figuring out specific values (such as Zombie Infection abilities, or Versus Saxton Hale specifics).