What is considered cheating? Is anything I have not okay?

[Hanenbow]

Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but I need to make sure.

Using a gaming mouse is not cheating, correct? I have a Roccat Kone XP mouse. I've mapped some of the buttons to the mouse. The four side buttons, for example: the big two are now swap weapon up or down (instead of the scroll wheel -- I also disabled the weapon menu in-game for quicker swapping), and the smaller two are reload and previous weapon. I might try to map more buttons to the mouse. Is this okay?

I have become aware that macros are a thing, and they are not allowed. I don't even want to touch them.

But the driver for my mouse is Roccat Swarm, which does have macro functionality. I clicked on the macro menu out of curiosity and backed out before I could touch anything. I do not want that, because I do not want to cheat. But Roccat Swarm does other things for my mouse.

These adjustments include: vertical scroll speed, including the option to scroll one page at a time; horizontal tilt speed for tilt mode; double-click speed; windows pointer speed, including the enable mouse acceleration and display pointer trails (I currently have mouse acceleration enabled); a DPI switcher; button assignment; polling rate; distance control unit; debounce time, whatever that is; angle snapping; and so on. Many of these I currently have enabled, though I doubt I've touched Swarm's button assignment at all. It also supports the creation of different profiles, illumination, and other things I assume are peripheral. Are any of these options not safe or okay for me to use?

My mouse also has physical buttons for switching DPI on the fly and for something called EasyShift[+], which can apparently allow for more button mapping(?). It can also tilt the mouse wheel, and maybe it can do other things I'm not aware of. Are these buttons okay as well? Are there any unsafe features in my mouse that could be built in that I wouldn't even know about?

I downloaded Swarm mostly because I was trying to solve a weird mouse issue in a different game, and support suggested a polling rate issue. I didn't know such drivers for mice existed until then. But is such software okay and safe to use? I just don't want to cheat or own something that gives me an unfair advantage against others.

...

There are a few other programs I have questions about. I have an Acer Nitro 5 laptop with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600 H with Radeon Graphics. I have used and made graphics (and other) adjustments using the NVIDIA control panel, NitroSense, and Geforce experience, the latter of which includes "Geforce Game Ready Driver" downloads and optimization settings for TF2. I have other peripheral stuff like MSI Afterburner, and of course whatever I can adjust in Windows settings... but as for things that adjust the game, this is all I can come up with. Are these all okay for me to use?

I guess my only other pieces of hardware are my beyerdynamic DT 770 Pro 250 ohm headphones and my magni amp that goes with it (and I plan on either using a clip-on Sony mic or my Rode USB mic for chatting in game), but I know there can't be any issue with these.

Any other adjustments are through the available settings in-game.

I don't believe I have forgotten anything, and I hope I haven't. And I'm really sorry to make such a wordy discussion post. But I get so worried about this kind of thing, and I really don't want to accidentally cheat or have some unfair advantage. I just tried the game for the first time yesterday, and I really hope I didn't somehow screw up and play unfairly. I don't wish to exploit anything, but I get very worried.

Thank you for reading and for your time.

...

TL;DR: I have a Roccat Kone XP mouse and Roccat Swarm; my laptop is an Acer Nitro 5 with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600 H with Radeon Graphics. I have used and made graphics (and other) adjustments using the NVIDIA control panel, NitroSense, and Geforce experience. Are any of these things cheating or exploitative or unfair? What should I do next?

[RedReimu]

I ain’t reading all of that.

[lavalobster93]

nothing you have is unfair or cheating
i think you're just being a little too paranoid

[Eighteen-Counts Trevor]

Iirc, the game only detects software which directly modifies the game while it's running as cheat software.

[MegaMan]

Gaming mouse & macros are allowed, not sure what you're talking about. They're easy to set up in the console too. Nothing you have is an issue. If you had software that locked onto enemies, or you could see through walls, or other things that are outright impossible in game, you'd have a problem.

[alg]

just dont install funky stuff or use autoclicker on uncletopia servers

[narwhals]

dont sweat it so much. long as you arent using hacking software, youre good. mouse macros are about the same as rebinding a key to be closer to your WASD; youre just making it easier to reach :) i did this binding fast weapon switch to E and later when i got a buttony mouse, the button right above my thumb :P

[n]

breathing its cheating

[The deadly Cutsman]

Not wearing an eyepatch when playing demo is considered cheating.

[Hanenbow]

Thank you all for your help. I grew up as a console gamer, so not only is TF2 new to me, but PC gaming in general. I'm used to everything being laid out as-is and not having so many options, I suppose having so many options has overwhelmed me.

By "macros," I meant sequences of multiple button presses that you can program into one button press (perhaps I used the wrong term). Of course, all I've done is map single keyboard keys to my mouse buttons, but I just got worried because the "macros" option was available in Swarm and I didn't know if that meant it was unsafe/ could be used as cheating software.

But if there's no reason for my worry, then I'll try to let it go. Thank you all again.

[alg]

Originally posted by The deadly Cutsman:

Not wearing an eyepatch when playing demo is considered cheating.

not getting drunk/sober while playing demo is cheating too

[Sapz]

Pretty sure none of that is considered cheating, so I think you're good mate

[Rockpilled Cavechad]

i was vac banned for plugging in my gaming mouse

[Hanenbow]

Originally posted by Foog, God of Britannia:

i was vac banned for plugging in my gaming mouse

You were? That's horrible, I'm sorry kind person. What kind of mouse was it?
...or are you pulling my leg? It's hard for me to tell sometimes on the internet, aha. But I apologize if you're being serious. I can't imagine the kind of panic attack that would create in someone.

[Falleax]

I got a warning from Valve for turning the rainbow lights on for my gamer keyboard, stay safe out there folks.

[Eighteen-Counts Trevor]

Originally posted by rainbowonpaper:

Originally posted by Foog, God of Britannia:

i was vac banned for plugging in my gaming mouse

You were? That's horrible, I'm sorry kind person. What kind of mouse was it?
...or are you pulling my leg? It's hard for me to tell sometimes on the internet, aha. But I apologize if you're being serious. I can't imagine the kind of panic attack that would create in someone.

Nope, foog is serious. Check her profile, says she's been VAC banned.