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[TF2] Tips for recording Demos

Useful?

  • Yes!

    Votes: 15 93.8%
  • No :(

    Votes: 1 6.3%

  • Total voters
    16

Chris TCC

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Herro people! This is a short little thread where I will give my personal tips to recording demos and reporting people!
Personally, I play a lot of Jailbreak, where almost every 3rd round there is some kind of rule breaker. I recommend that you record every game you play, no matter what gamemode it is. You never know if you might catch a cheater, and starting a recording would be too slow!
Because my tf2 is partially broken, meaning it will corrupt my demos past a certain point (a new round starting on JB) I needed to start a new recording for every new round. Since the manual way is pretty tedious, I found a script that will partially automate the process!
(BTW, for anyone that asks, no, ShadowPlay does not support my graphics card, and other recording software cause massive FPS drops.)

Firstly, you need to access your autoexec file in TF2's directory:
[steam directory]/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/cfg
If there is no CFG file with the name autoexec, just make a file with the name and change the file extension to .CFG.

Then paste this script into it:
//demo recording tool
alias demorec "demorec1"
alias demorec1 "stop; record tmpdemo1; developer 1; echo Demo #1 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec2"
alias demorec2 "stop; record tmpdemo2; developer 1; echo Demo #2 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec3"
alias demorec3 "stop; record tmpdemo3; developer 1; echo Demo #3 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec4"
alias demorec4 "stop; record tmpdemo4; developer 1; echo Demo #4 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec5"
alias demorec5 "stop; record tmpdemo5; developer 1; echo Demo #5 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec6"
alias demorec6 "stop; record tmpdemo6; developer 1; echo Demo #6 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec7"
alias demorec7 "stop; record tmpdemo7; developer 1; echo Demo #7 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec8"
alias demorec8 "stop; record tmpdemo8; developer 1; echo Demo #8 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec9"
alias demorec9 "stop; record tmpdemo9; developer 1; echo Demo #9 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec10"
alias demorec10 "stop; record tmpdemo10; developer 1; echo Demo #10 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec11"
alias demorec11 "stop; record tmpdemo11; developer 1; echo Demo #11 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec12"
alias demorec12 "stop; record tmpdemo12; developer 1; echo Demo #12 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec13"
alias demorec13 "stop; record tmpdemo13; developer 1; echo Demo #13 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec14"
alias demorec14 "stop; record tmpdemo14; developer 1; echo Demo #14 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec15"
alias demorec15 "stop; record tmpdemo15; developer 1; echo Demo #15 recording on...; wait 100; developer 0; alias demorec demorec1"
bind "o" "demorec"
bind "p" "stop"

Pretty much what this script does is record a new demo when you press o, and stop the demo when you press p. If the round ends, just wait a bit then press o without stopping the recording, then the script will stop the current demo recording and start a new one!
The script will make 15 demos before it will start overwriting existing ones, but will reset the process whenever you launch TF2. This means once you finish TF2, delete the recordings and then next time you start up TF2, the demos will start with number 1.
The location for the demos is [steam directory]/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf.
Alternatively, you can right click on TF2 in steam, click properties, local files, then browse local files and open the TF folder.

If a rulebreak happens, and you caught him on a recording, type "status" in console and copy their steamID. This is to prevent any mistakes when trying to find their profile later.

If you want to find the ticks for reports, make sure that the developer console is enabled in TF2's advanced settings, then turn it on with `. then you need to type demoui or demoui2, and you'll get the demo play tool. You can then proceed to load the demo and search for the tick in the demo.
You might notice that your voice is not captured in the demo. If you want your voice in, type voice_loopback 1 into the console. The only side effect is that your voice gets played back to you when you talk, meaning it might make talking near impossible for some. Until I can find a solution to mute yourself, you need to either not have your voice in the demo, or live with the echo.

Hopefully this is useful to you, as I've not had any issues with the script so far.
If you have any issues, just comment below and I'll try to assist!
(please note: the game will freeze for a second when the demo recording starts.)

Edits:
- added the directory for the demos
- added basic instructions to finding ticks in demos
- added instruction on how to record your own voice
- added tip to get their steamID
 
Last edited:

Warrak

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How do I find the exact ticks(or time) to direct staff to the event of digression in the demo? Is there any pause, play, fastforward, and timeshown menu that I don't know about?
 

10000 Cold Knights

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How do I find the exact ticks(or time) to direct staff to the event of digression in the demo? Is there any pause, play, fastforward, and timeshown menu that I don't know about?
I believe you are looking for Demoui and demoui2, sir. Typing either into console will give you a little pop-up that shows you the current tick and also lets you skip to specific ticks, as needed. Theres a lot of other stuff they can do, but I'm new to demos myself, so thats all I got ;p
 

Chris TCC

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How do I find the exact ticks(or time) to direct staff to the event of digression in the demo? Is there any pause, play, fastforward, and timeshown menu that I don't know about?
I believe you are looking for Demoui and demoui2, sir. Typing either into console will give you a little pop-up that shows you the current tick and also lets you skip to specific ticks, as needed. Theres a lot of other stuff they can do, but I'm new to demos myself, so thats all I got ;p

Yep, DemoUI is the one I use, since you can jump to specific tick points, or use the slider to speed up the playback.
If you need something that was offscreen, as long as it's within close proximity, you can use the drive button, then use WASD to move the camera. It needs to be within the area, or else the action is not rendered in, meaning you got nothing. All this is actually useful for is when someone MFK or something behind your back. Then you can just move the camera and see the action.
 

Chris TCC

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Even though I have a new PC that is capable of using shadowplay, I still prefer this script because demos are smaller and more flexible, allowing you to manipulate the camera when replaying it to see things that were out of your field of vision.
If anyone still has problems with the script, please let me know, I'll see what I can do to help.
(also yes necro to get this back to the front page)
 

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