I have been asked how to idle without actually connecting to a remote server, as they are frequently full.
Turns out, there is no good reason to use an idle server. It is much easier to do it locally, and with this technique, you can also idle when you are doing other things.
make a file with the name "steam.bat" and put it on your desktop or somewhere else convenient for you to find.
edit it, and insert the following text all in one single line:
C:\Games\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 440 -textmode -nopreload -nosound -novid -nopix -silent +map itemtest
you may have to alter where your games folder is; a common location is c:\program files\games but you can figure that part out by just searching for it.
then click on the steam.bat and it will launch a tf2 instance for you, complete with an internal server, then free up the computer display etc for you to do whatever you want.
what this batch file does:
launches TF2 in textmode, with no sound, no video, no nothing, using the internal game map itemtest. Since it doesnt matter which map you use, nor if you die periodically (contrary to what others think) this will work fine.
and if you want to monitor your progress to see what drops you are getting, simply use a program such as www.tf2b.com. it will show you the drops you get even before they go into your backpack (the transfer only does happen when you die, which is what fools people into thinking you have to actually die to get the drops.)
this takes very little memory and cpu overhead since pretty much everything is turned off.
i have attached the file to make it a bit easier for you. Just unzip (had to zip as the forums wont allow .bat attachments) and edit the directory name to point to where YOUR games directory is.
then click on it and enjoy server free idling!
mark
Turns out, there is no good reason to use an idle server. It is much easier to do it locally, and with this technique, you can also idle when you are doing other things.
make a file with the name "steam.bat" and put it on your desktop or somewhere else convenient for you to find.
edit it, and insert the following text all in one single line:
C:\Games\Steam\Steam.exe" -applaunch 440 -textmode -nopreload -nosound -novid -nopix -silent +map itemtest
you may have to alter where your games folder is; a common location is c:\program files\games but you can figure that part out by just searching for it.
then click on the steam.bat and it will launch a tf2 instance for you, complete with an internal server, then free up the computer display etc for you to do whatever you want.
what this batch file does:
launches TF2 in textmode, with no sound, no video, no nothing, using the internal game map itemtest. Since it doesnt matter which map you use, nor if you die periodically (contrary to what others think) this will work fine.
and if you want to monitor your progress to see what drops you are getting, simply use a program such as www.tf2b.com. it will show you the drops you get even before they go into your backpack (the transfer only does happen when you die, which is what fools people into thinking you have to actually die to get the drops.)
this takes very little memory and cpu overhead since pretty much everything is turned off.
i have attached the file to make it a bit easier for you. Just unzip (had to zip as the forums wont allow .bat attachments) and edit the directory name to point to where YOUR games directory is.
then click on it and enjoy server free idling!
mark