Team Fortress 2 Available for Mac

Jun 9, 2010 - 13 Comments

team fortress 2 for mac
The wait is over, Team Fortress 2 has been released for Mac OS X. Often called TF2, Team Fortress 2 is a fun multiplayer first person shooter that has cartoony graphics and fast paced gameplay.

TF2 System Requirements

The system requirements to run Team Fortress 2 are similar to other Steam games; Intel processors only, newer versions of Mac OS X, and a decent video card. Obviously the better your Mac the better the game will run. Read on for some tips you can use to improve the performance of TF2 in Mac OS X (the tips work for Windows versions too btw).

TF2 Performance Tips & Tweaks for Mac

If Team Fortress 2 performance is a little slow on your Mac (either lagging graphics or low FPS rating), give these tips a try:

  • Turn off Anti-Aliasing (AA) support – this typically gives the biggest frame rate boost
  • Disable HDR (high dynamic range) in graphics options
  • Change graphics settings to Low or Off
  • Lower the game resolution to a setting below your displays capability
  • Update to the most recent version/patches
  • Restart Team Fortress 2

Performance reviews of Team Fortress 2 on a Mac have been mixed so far, while some gamers say the app runs great, other users are reporting choppiness, general bugs, lagged network play, and lower frame rates than they’d expect. Much of these problems are likely the result of growing pains, as this is the first version of TF2 to show up on the Mac platform. It’s safe to assume that most of these complaints will be ironed out in update patches released over the coming weeks as Valve refines the Mac user experience, so hang in there if you’re experiencing anything unusual!

team fortress 2 mac

Release announcement

Valve was a day late on the release (not that they ever set a definitive date for TF2 for Mac), the protocol had been that every Wednesday a new Steam game is available for Mac gamers to download. I don’t hear anyone complaining though, everyone is just excited to get their hands on the fun filled FPS.

The announcement came on June 9 in a peculiar manner from Valve’s TF2 blog:

Big things are happening RIGHT NOW at Valve. Things involving cultivated tree-fruit. BIG things. Things that rhyme with “grapple.” Things that rhyme with “Speem Gortress zmavailable on the Babac.”

Not today. But tomorrow. BIG THINGS. Stay tuned…

Obviously cultivated tree fruit rhyming with ‘grapple’ is Apple, and this is indeed pretty big news for Mac gamers. TF2 has been a big hit in the Windows world, and now Mac users will get to join in the multiplayer fun. So when you launch Steam you’ll be able to download the Mac TF2 client, awesome huh?

Here’s a screenshot of Team Fortress 2 in the Mac section of Steam:
tf2 for mac
For a limited time the price is $9.99, or you can get it as part of the larger Orange Box for $29.99. The game was actually free to play until June 14th, and you’ll get a free set of in-game earbuds as well (not sure how that works exactly).

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Posted by: Paul Horowitz in Games, Mac OS

13 Comments

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  1. Some Random Guy says:

    No way! Comments with appropriate grammar and correct use of periods, commas and question marks? Wow – this is an extremely rare sight. Blessed are those who witness such an event

  2. Swift says:

    Any updates on how TF2 runs on MacBook Pros now?

  3. lala loopsy says:

    Actually it doesn’t work so….. ha ha.

  4. lala loopsy says:

    This game works perfectly. I have no idea what you are talking about.

  5. Jeff Rad says:

    ok not to be rude but. Theres a crap load of errors that they need to fix.

  6. […] gaming world, where the acceleration curve can lead to unanticipated mouse movements in games like Team Fortress 2 and Starcraft […]

  7. Archer says:

    TF2 and Portal both run just fine on my 2.26 ghz mbp, i have turned all the graphics options to the minimum however just because i personally prefer smoother frame rates

  8. Rudy N says:

    Game runs great on my MacBook Pro.. Valve did a great job here although it isn’t perfect yet. For example: The loading times are way slower then on windows (I compare it to my desktop) although my mac has 4gb DDR3, and my desktop has 4gb DDR2

  9. Austin says:

    Actually, it’s not even a day late. This was announced almost a week ago:

    “Hey guys, sorry we weren’t clearer about the lack of titles this week, watch for what we are releasing next Thursday (not Wednesday, WWDC is getting in our way).”

    http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php?p=15272070&postcount=101

  10. Aaron says:

    Wim, I have no idea what you’re talking about, but all of the Valve games run great on my MacBook Pro.

    • moofie says:

      I’m glad. TF2 and Portal and HL2 run much more poorly under OSX than they do on Boot Camp on my computer.

      I’m sure the situation will improve, but this is an issue for me.

  11. Anonymous says:

    Wim Pete, this is the first version we’re seeing. OS X does not limit graphics performance. I suspect performance will get better later on as Valve gets its games optimized.

  12. Wim Pete says:

    Sadly, the best way to run Steam games on a mac is to install a windows partition with boot camp.
    Benchmarks prove that the MAC OS X environment still can’t cope very well with hi-speed 3d renderings.
    (they tested Steam on the same macbook with OS X and with Windows bootcamp)

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