• Problem is caused by Source Engine not realizing the `U+033F` character in your font (Verdana by default). The system usually finds a fallback font but due to some bugs it crashed instead.
• Solution is to install a fallback font


I've tried many fallback fonts but TF2 just loves to use this one specific font, `WenQuanYi Zen Hei`, even after modifying the WenQuanYi Zen Hei configuration files. That's why we'll be going for that font.

To install it, do
Note that Arch Linux uses wqy-zenhei (Ubuntu code edited thanks to sobaque)

There's this one thing about the font WenQuanYi Zen Hei, is that the font itself doesn't have the character needed for your "daily pleasure". Take a look at this lenny face:

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

As you can see, the mouth of the face (character U+035C, in Combining Diacritical Marks), won't show up inside the in-game chat window after installing the font WenQuanYi Zen Hei. Reason being that the font was a Chinese font. It includes most glyphs that you would normally see inside CJK fontsets (Noto CJK for example). To save spaces, the font didn't have the U+035C glyph. And of course, Source Engine decided to ignore that instead of crashing or falling back to a font, just do annoy the heck out of you.

If you're like me (aka spams a lot and uses lots of Unicode characters) or you want to see what Windows users see (but in a greater appearance), then this step will help you.

1. Download the new `wqy-zenhei`
   

   Originally posted by "Remove Space between mega and .nz":

   https://mega .nz/#!cIMnAIjK!IjrbpEKN9FYmUwfIJu04DAnYkAibAJD8yJ3ssoQhRpM

2. Type in Console `sudo nautilus`
   
3. Copy the wqy-zenhei.ttf file to /usr/share/fonts/truetype/wqy/ (overwrite the old .ttc)

This step is recommended, since TF2 uses Verdana but the font is built on Noto Sans
Go to

~/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/common/Team Fortress 2/tf/custom/YOUR_HUD/resources/chatschemes.res

Then open up that file, Find all Verdana and replace it with WenQuanYi Zen Hei (use the Find and Replace tool). It makes the fonts look much better.
If you don't have a HUD, then just download a HUD (preferably Improved Default HUD if you want to) then grab the chatschemes.res file only.
A: Please just do it. The font was built on Noto Sans (open source) and Arial Unicode MS (don't sue me please). If you mix the Noto Sans font with Verdana, it looks really ugly.

A: Noto Sans regular, Noto Sans Canadian Aboriginal regular, Noto Sans Thai regular, Arial Unicode MS regular (since it only has regular style, do NOT use other styles and do NOT use this font in documents, go for something else like Noto Sans CJK or Arial Unicode MS)

How the ♥♥♥♥ am I suppose to help you? Alright, I'll try

1. `mat_phong 0` and `mat_bumpmap 0` (phong is ugly without bumpmap)
   
2. `mat_picmip 2` and `r_lod 1`
   
3. `mat_queue_mode -1`

Easy, use a performance configuration, preferably Rhapsody's (Cowmanglia's exists but Rhapsody's ones update more often)

Website here, go check it out for yourself: https://rhapsodysl.github.io/perfconfig/

Make sure to open up and READ THE DAMN FILE! The file is very customizable, and if you customize it properly, it will give you massive FPS boost while maintaining appearance.

WARNING! PROCEED WITH CAUTION! YOU HAVE TO USE NVIDIA'S PROPRIETARY DRIVER FOR THIS!

1. Resolve screen tearing without VSync
- Generate `xorg.conf`: https://askubuntu.com/questions/217758/how-to-make-an-xorg-conf-file
- Go there, find this and add

New line(s):

TripleBuffer and ForceFullCompositionPipeline helps reduce screen tearing greatly with minimal input lag. It also applies to the entire system, even when you're watching YouTube videos.

2. Boosting performance
Open up NVIDIA X Server Settings, go to the OpenGL settings inside the X screen 0 section and make the following changes: