TAS Plugin

[nolem]

This is a plugin by myself and Larry for creating tool assisted speedruns in TF2 via the use of a checkpoint system. It supports rocket, cow mangler, sticky, and pipe rewinding.

Download Link (Updated 2022-08-30)

Installation:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Long guide:
1) Download the latest stable build from here: http://www.metamodsource.net/downloads.php?branch=stable
2) Extract it and put it in your TF2 game installation directory. If you extracted correctly you should have a folder tf/addons/metamod/bin and a file tf/addons/metamod.vdf
3) Download the tas plugin and put the file (tas.dll) in the addons folder (should look like this: tf/addons/tas.dll)
4) Open up your steam library, right click TF2, click properties, then set launch options, then add " -insecure" to that (you'll have to take this off to be able to connect to other servers once you are done).
5) Launch the game and make a listen server with "map jump_rush" or something
6) Type "meta load addons/tas" to load the plugin
7) Use the commands below and that's it

Quick guide:
Get the latest stable metamod snapshot to your game directory (not a dedicated server). Put the .dll in tf/addons. Launch with -insecure then you can load it with meta load addons/tas

Really Quick guide: (but often out of date, so make sure you redownload the tas.dll from the link above)
Go to: https://jump.tf/forum/index.php/topic,3294.0.html (updated fork of  http://jump.tf/forum/index.php/topic,2407.0.html) and install it that way. I don't manage either of those, so if the plugin appears broken it may be because the pack needs to be updated.

Commands (type `tas` to list this in game):

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: [Select]

tas
    record                - Start a new recording. Overwrites any currently loaded recording.
    stop                  - Stop recording/playing.
    play                  - Play back the current recording.
    rewind <ticks>        - Rewind playback the specified number of ticks. Enters playback mode if not already playing.
    frame
        save              - If recording or stopped, saves a checkpoint at the last tick. If playing, saves a checkpoint at the current tick.
        save <tick>       - Save a checkpoint at the specified tick of the recording
        goto              - Resume recording from the latest checkpoint.
        delete            - Delete the latest checkpoint.
        goto_tick <tick>  - Resume recording from a specific tick, saving a new checkpoint at that tick.
        list              - List all saved checkpoints.
        undo              - Undo the most recent `tas frame goto`.
    list                  - List all saved recordings on the current map.
    save <name>           - Save the current recording to disk.
    load <name>           - Load a recording from disk.
    ghost_ticks <ticks>   - Set the number of playback (ghost) ticks before player regains control prior to a checkpoint. (min: 2)
    hud                   - Toggle the HUD. (default: on)
    show_path             - Toggle visualization of the player's recorded path. (default: off)
    show_projectiles      - Toggle visualization of the paths of recorded projectiles. (default: off)
    rainbow_paths         - Toggle colored indicators along player and projectile paths. (default: off)
    hud_show_commands     - Toggle displaying all commands on the HUD. (default: off)
    json_export <name>    - Export a JSON representation of the current recording to disk.
    json_import <name>    - Import a JSON recording from disk.
    csv_export <name>     - Export a CSV representation of the current recording to disk.
    debug_frame <tick>    - Output all saved information about a frame of the recording to console.
    force_teleport        - Toggle teleporting the player every frame during playback. Can cause desyncs when disabled. (default: on)
    replay_ammo           - Set ammo/clip of players when resuming from checkpoints and when playing recordings. (default: on)
    step_mode             - Toggle tick-by-tick advance mode while recording. (default: off)
    frame_count           - Toggle logging the current frame number to console. (default: off)


Binds I use:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

f - tas frame save
e - tas frame delete
mouse2 - tas frame goto
mouse5 - tas rewind 240

And for tick-advance-mode:
mouse3 - tas step_mode
q - host_timescale 1

Misc:

The plugin does not currently resolve non-deterministic aspects of the game. Random spread, projectiles (including rockets, although they are often reliable), lag during recording/playback, and map logic can cause issues. To circumvent this problem, during playback the player is teleported every frame along the recorded path so long as `tas force_teleport` is on (it is by default). A future version of the plugin may address these issues, but for now it is worked around.

Stay tabbed into the game when recording demos of runs with this plugin. Demos will appear choppy otherwise.

If you want to make a checkpoint and you passed where you want it to be just play back the recording (using tas play or tas rewind X) and use `tas frame save` where you want the checkpoint to be. Rewind won't overwrite anything.

When you save and load recordings, if you do "tas save test" then it might save as jump_rush-test.recording but all you have to do to load it is "tas load test", you don't have to add the mapname in when you load it.

If you get a strange module error (typically after a fresh Windows install), install the latest c++ redistributables from Microsoft.

POV demos are detectable - I'm not sure about stv. Basically, if you're doing legit stuff offline, record POV to avoid any issues. You should be doing this anyways - I don't think its a big deal. Use http://pastebin.com/zMkNVmH8 to detect it. This shows input commands. This doesn't fake input commands so if it is legit you'll see commands line up with keypresses and whatnot. If it's TAS nothing should be there.

[AI]

[catfoosh]

god you people are overdramatic, it worked in every other game with no visual cues whatsoever

[Washed up hack]

its over


also >blatently
smh dude... -_- smh

[TomSinister]

Yayyyy! thank you Nolem. Going to start working on my jump_sinister TAS.

[Brock]

no!!!!!!! im not special anymore! 

[TomSinister]

is there anyway to use frame/tick advance with this software? can you use slowdown with host_timescale, or does that mess up the input file?

[nolem]

is there anyway to use frame/tick advance with this software? can you use slowdown with host_timescale, or does that mess up the input file?

You can record with a reduced host_timescale but if you do that I would recommend being very careful because it can make things look very jerky. Remember rules 3 and 4! : Be smooth, Don't not be smooth

[nolem]

To people making videos with the plugin - remember to run "tas hud" or unload the plugin(meta unload addons/tas) so that the text doesn't show up in he upper left.

[Vexon]

nice signature

[nolem]

nice signature

thx

[nolem]

If anybody gets a bug where STV playback studders and looks as if you went through a teleport mid recording please send me that .recording. I haven't been able to replicate that bug in a while.

[Combustion]

im just waiting for someone to modify this plugin and make it undetectable. When that happens, gg

[plep]

Will surely try it out sometime but heh, I kinda regret that day eventually came

[Intrets]

Hey nolem why is your plugin not working?

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I wonder...

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Hey what's this?

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Let's try again.

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What's this m80?