TF2 FAQ

Here's the FAQ from the TF2 website (www.teamfortress2.com) . It should answer any questions people have.Q: WHAT IS THE GUN METTLE CAMPAIGN?A: The Gun Mettle Campaign is a limited-time event that will run at least three months (and maybe a little longer). Purchasing access to the campaign will automatically put a Campaign Pass in your inventory that, when activated, converts into a Contract Coin and officially makes you eligible to receive contracts. Participating gives you access to two contracts a week for the duration of the campaign that, when completed, will earn you campaign-exclusive weapons and unlockable weapons cases.Q: WHAT ARE CONTRACTS?A: Contracts are skill-based challenges you receive that award you Contract Points (CP) as you progress through the challenge. You can earn up to 100 CP per Contract doing normal objectives, at which point you can turn the Contract in to receive either a Contract-exclusive weapon, or an unlockable weapons case. Once you've earned 100 CP, you also have the option to earn an additional 30 CP by doing "Advanced" objectives to level up your Contract Coin faster. You'll need 1000 points to level your coin to bronze, 2000 to level it to silver, and 3000 to level it to gold.Q: WHAT IS A CONTRACT COIN?A: A Contract Coin is a non-tradable coin that will track your contract progress (and various other stats) throughout the campaign. Your coin keeps track of your progress on active contracts, levels up as you complete them, and shows off your progression level to other players on the Scoreboard.Q: WHAT KINDS OF WEAPONS WILL I GET FOR COMPLETING CONTRACTS?A: Completing contracts earns you weapons or unlockable weapons cases of various wear and rarity grades from one of four collections. Weapons from the TeuFort and Craftsmann collections are available through completing contracts, while weapons from the Powerhouse and Concealed Killer collections are only available in weapon cases.Q: HOW RARE ARE THESE WEAPONS?A: Campaign-exclusive weapons are one-of-a kind. Every weapon is given a uniquely placed paint job so that it will always look a little different than your friends'. Weapons further come in six grades of rarity (Civilian, Freelance, Mercenary, Commando, Assassin or Elite) further modified by five levels of wear (Factory New, Minimal Wear, Field-Tested, Well-Worn and Battle Scarred). Completing contracts will earn you either a weapon from a collection with rarity grades 1-4, or an unlockable weapons case that has weapons with rarity grades 3-6. Campaign-exclusive weapons found in unlockable cases will also have a chance to contain Strange capability, a rarer chance at being Unusual, and a highly rare chance to have both.Q: WILL THESE WEAPONS AFFECT GAMEPLAY AND/OR GIVE ME A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?A: No. Campaign-exclusive weapons are purely cosmetic.Q: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CRATES AND THESE NEW WEAPON CASES?A: Crates are dropped randomly and contain a random selection of items. Weapon cases are only accessible through participation in the campaign, are exclusive to the campaign and can only be received as direct rewards for completing contracts. Crate keys will not open weapon cases. Only campaign-specific case keys will open weapon cases.Q: THE GUN METTLE UPDATE STARTED A FEW WEEKS AGO AND I JUST HEARD ABOUT IT. WHAT HAPPENS IF I BUY A CAMPAIGN PASS NOW?A: Purchasing access further into the campaign will still earn you the same number of contracts as someone who purchased access on day one. Access will no longer be available for purchase through the last month of the campaign.Q: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE CAMPAIGN IS OVER?A: You get to keep all weapons cases, keys, weapons and other items you have accumulated during the course of the campaign. However, you will no longer be able to complete contracts once the campaign is over.Q: WILL THE CAMPAIGN AFFECT EXISTING TIMED DROPS IN-GAME?A: No. Crate drops, timed drops and item purchases are all still fully functional. The Gun Mettle Campaign is entirely additive to your play experience. Nothing goes away.Q: CAN I TRADE OR SELL THESE WEAPONS AND CASES?A: Yes. Campaign-exclusive weapons and cases have identical functionality to existing economy items.Q: YOU MENTIONED SOMETHING ABOUT MAPMAKERS GETTING A PORTION OF PROFITS. I'M A MAPMAKER! HOW DO I PARTICIPATE?A: A portion of profits from the sale of Campaign Passes will go to the creators of the maps featured in the campaign. If you would like your map to be considered for future campaigns, submit them to the Maps Workshop.Q: I RUN DIRECTX 8 AND I TRIED TO BUY A PASS. THE GAME SAID SOMETHING ABOUT IT BEING INCOMPATIBLE?A: The majority of the update works just fine for DirectX 8. Contracts, drops, coins and maps—they all work! Unfortunately, the uniquely decorated weapons do not. When you are playing with DirectX 8, you will only see the basic, undecorated weapons. This is true both of your own and others' weapons. To gain access to unique weapon decorations, run Team Fortress with DirectX 9. Players running DirectX 8 should remove mat_dxlevel from their config files and add -dxlevel 95 to their launch options.