Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2

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Unable to launch TF2 after 64bit update fix
By Neptune ⁧⁧♥
After the 64 bit update TF2 won't launch if certain config settings are set, mainly the dxlevel.
This guide will show you how to fix this issue.
   
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How to fix the issue
AN UPDATE WAS RELEASED FIXING DXLEVEL COMMANDS

This guide is most likely no longer needed.

After my friend who uses dxlevel 8 tried to play the game after the update.

The fix is pretty simple and is just to do with the launch options of the game.

In your steam library simply right click TF2, open Properties and in General there will the the launch options box.
If you have previously edited the dxlevel there will be a command "-dxlevel xx"
After the update it seems dxlevel 8 will no longer work and you will need to change to dxlevel 9

All you need to do is change the command to one of the following;
-dxlevel 90
-dxlevel 91
-dxlevel 95
-dxlevel 98

The differences between them is small, personally I use 95.
Before launching the game if you have a config you may also need to check if you have changed the mat_dxlevel.

Simply enter the game files > tf > cfg and edit any config you may have. If you have changed the mat_dxlevel to 80 or 81 simply change it to the number you entered in the launch options and save.
If your config doesn't have mat_dxlevel don't worry about changing it at all.

If method above doesn't work


When I fixed this for my friend I did it with an alternative method which I will show here and I am adding just in case the method above doesn't work, however I am pretty certain it will.

First you want to access your game files (right click on TF2 in steam, Manage... and browse local files). In here you should see 2 .exe files

"tf2.exe" and "tf_win64.exe"

Right click the "tf_win64.exe" and create a shortcut for it.

Once you create the shortcut, right click it and go to Properties.

Now you want to edit "Target" which should be the directory for the game.

Go to the end of what is entered in target and simply enter -dxlevel and the number you want (90,91,95,98).

Once you have added this at the end of the Target line, simply open the shortcut and your game should be in dxlevel 9.
After this you can launch the game from steam and it should work fine and you can delete the shortcut. (Make sure that the steam launch options have the same dxlevel as the shortcut.)

If you have the nod3d9ex command in your launch options also and these solutions don't work, try removing this command as well.
13 Comments
NIBRIS May 14 @ 11:27am 
I've tried this and neither method works for me
Neptune ⁧⁧♥  [author] Apr 23 @ 5:01am 
Update was released yesterday fixing dxlevel commands, you can probably go back to dxlevel 80 if you like.
Ink0r Apr 21 @ 3:17pm 
mine opens but it takes a bit to actually load and just stays as a black screen.

other than that the update gave me a very good performance boost when actually in a game.
froglover Apr 21 @ 1:38pm 
fuckers done took away my dx 8 :jarate:
my fictional friends Apr 21 @ 2:04am 
it doesn't launch with -vulkan
my fictional friends Apr 21 @ 2:03am 
my 32 version works as well, but 64 version crashes even after i fully reinstalled the game. it crashes when im clicking on the options button and when i'm trying to join the server, what can i do?
Neptune ⁧⁧♥  [author] Apr 20 @ 3:31am 
Hmm, not exactly sure why that would have happened. If it is still an issue let me know and I will try help you out.
hippie genocide Apr 19 @ 8:09pm 
it says that im playing in insecure mode.. how do i get out of it??
Lenny Summers Apr 19 @ 2:19pm 
GIGA CHAD
Thanks