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Counter-Strike: Source

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Counter-Strike: Source
Developer(s)Valve Corporation
Turtle Rock Studios
Publisher(s)Valve Corporation
EngineSource engine
Platform(s)PC
ReleaseOctober 7, 2004
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single player, multiplayer

Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) is a team based first-person shooter which is a part of the original Counter-Strike mod for Half-Life in the Source engine that was used in Half-Life 2. The game was originally a total conversion mod made in the GoldSrc engine. All the Counter-Strike games pit a team of counter-terrorists against a team of terrorists in rounds of competition won by completing an objective or eliminating the opposing team. A more in depth explanation on the rules and gameplay of CS:S can be found on the Counter-Strike page.

History

In 2004, original Counter-Strike developers Minh Le and Jess Cliffe, along with members of Valve and the Day of Defeat team, brought Counter-Strike into the Source engine as an obvious choice for the multiplayer component of Half-Life 2. Following a period when the game was available to select "beta" testers, the alpha version of the game was released on October 7, 2004.

Counter-Strike: Source (CS:S) was released to ATI Radeon Voucher holders, in Half-Life 2 bundles available on Steam, and with the boxed retail version of the game. Changes include the improvements inherent to the Source engine (such as better graphics and physics) as well as updated models, animations, maps, sounds, and some small gameplay changes.

For what Counter-Strike and its popularity is concerned the new Source engine heralds a new beginning for the most popular first-person shooter in history, a game which has been played throughout the world for more than six years.

Changes and additional features

The updated Counter-Strike came with a few changes, some welcomed, others questioned. The riot shield introduced in 1.6 is gone, and dead players now drop grenades just like other weapons (as was introduced in Condition-Zero). The popular maps, such as de_dust and de_aztec, have approximately the same layouts and size, but are revamped with many aesthetic additions such as glass bottles and 50-gallon drums. Other maps such as de_inferno appeared noticeably different.

At this point, Valve hasn't given the ability to make assassination maps (prefix "as_"), however, LDuke has created a server plugin so you can play the VIP scenario on Counter-Strike: Source.

Counter Strike: Source includes the "Official Counter-Strike Bot" for both online and offline gameplay. The AI of the bot is carried over from Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and offers 4 difficulty levels, from "Easy", "Normal", "Hard", and "Expert". For most casual players the "Normal" setting will offer an adequately challenging game and using keyboard commands can operate quite effectively, the level of difficulty chosen affecting reaction times, accuracy and tactical play.

Additionally, holstered weapons and grenades are visible on player models when not in use. This is a useful addition as a player can scope out what his team mates are carrying during the initial seconds of the game as most players "rush" with small arms, knives or grenades and their primary firearms are attached to their back. This new feature enables players to consider strategies and plan accordingly.

Havok Physics in CS:S

File:Counter Strike Source2.png
Screenshot from Counter-Strike: Source. A screenshot of a typical firefight seen in a multiplayer server on the map cs_office. Pictured is the GIGN skin along with the original SEAL Team SIX and 'Phoenix Connection' Terrorist skin.

The implementation of the Source engine and the promise of Havok physics in CS:S led to much speculation about the increased tactical opportunities opened up by the use of physics objects.

It was originally believed that because objects in a map could be moved and had realistic properties, this would provide greater gameplay flexibility; for example, in the map cs_office, the Terrorist players could "camp" in a room and barricade the doors with cabinets or chairs. In reality, however, physical objects are rarely used for such strategic purposes. The manipulation of them is hindered by coding which causes players to 'bounce' off any physical items and the inability to pick up any objects (as a player could in Half-Life 2). There is a limited server side command, sv_turbophysics, which allows minor manipulation of the physics, however players can only 'punt' objects around rather then pick them up. On cs_office for example, terrorists can form a reasonably effective barricade in a storage room

However some hardcore fans have pushed aside this fact and created some appealing maps, such as de_soccer1_knives, which places Ts and CTs on opposite sides of the field and they use knives to "kick" a soccer ball into goals. The team who scores causes the opposing team to be subjected to a series of instantaneous deaths. The Havok engine has also been useful in the making of the semi-popular "glass" maps, where most of the battlegrounds are made of breakable glass. Creators place objects such as walls that can be tipped over, causing all the glass layers underneath to break under its weight (and causing anyone unlucky enough to be standing on that glass to fall to death).

There are several reasons that objects have been coded to keep players at a small distance away. First, computations by the server would be extremely complicated when several people interact simultaneously with the same object. Secondly, network traffic to clients would have to increase by quite a bit to reflect the current state of the object(s). Thirdly, and the most problematic, the client-side prediction of objects would suffer to the point where visible and player movement anomalies would constantly be causing serious issues for players. For example, an object would seem to go in one direction for a short time and then suddenly appear right in front of a person thus causing the client to reverse that player to a previous position.

Prior to the March 1 2006 update, some critics noted that the muted physics in the standard configuration of CS:S were causing player death animations to be limited and predictible, affecting the immersion of the player in the game. The March 1 update to CS:S's ragdoll physics created more random death postures.

Criticism

At present CS:S attracts about one third of the players that the original Counter-Strike still manages to claim, due to a number of factors including hardware demands, a die-hard CS 1.6 fanbase who feel that the new incarnation is too different or buggy or incomplete.

Professionally, Counter-Strike: Source is experiencing a cold reception. Many notable professional players and clans are opposing a universal shift to Source at this point. This is reflected in the CPL's (Cyberathlete Professional League) decision to use Counter-Strike 1.6 in preference to the newer Source for its World Tour in 2006.

Notable Updates

Maps and new releases

As noted, the only two officially supported modes of play for CS:S are maps prefixed with "defusal" ("de_") and "Hostage Rescue" ("cs_"). At the moment there are 18 official maps available, and most of them are remakes of popular maps from earlier versions. In an update on February 24, 2005 update, the map cs_compound was added, the first original official map to be released for Counter-Strike: Source.

While Valve may continue to create new maps, Turtle Rock Studios continues to remake classic maps, although it is not known which maps they are working on, Below is the list of official maps for Counter-Strike: Source. Since the release of de_nuke on December 2, 2005, Valve's policy regarding all future maps seems to be the inclusion of High Dynamic Range (HDR) visuals.

Furthermore, in a news update on March 11, 2006, Valve reported that "We're also planning on going back to some of the older Counter-Strike: Source maps and giving them an HDR pass. Soon you'll get to play maps like de_dust with full HDR lighting." It can be presumed that eventually, the entire official CS:S map catalogue will be rendered in HDR.

There is also a group of maps in which less serious players like to fool around or hang out in: player-made custom maps, anything from ag_battleships, cs_justice, and helms_deep to de_simpsons_css and aim_map_duelies. Thanks to Source, many new possibilities have opened up for custom map-making.

List of official CS:S maps

Below is a list of maps available to CS:S players as of today, most of which are maps that have been carried over from Counter-Strike. de_tides, de_port and cs_compound are of interest, de_tides having only appeared previously for Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. cs_compound and de_port were first released for CS:S, making use of the source engine's ability to produce longer draw distances than those of the GoldSRC engine of Counter-Strike. Both of which have also received heavy critisism.

Clan gaming

Additionally, many Counter Strike: Source players have gotten together and created teams such as "clans". In gaming clans, players get together to challenge other clans in matches usually known as "scrims" (short for "scrimmages"). Scrims are usually played in stock maps. A good example of a map usually played is de_dust2. Matches or "scrims" are usually played on one clan's server. They may play for respect, money, or simply fun.

See also

Official websites
Community Sites
  • Counter-Strike Nation
  • FPSBANANA - FPS Customization — The site has over 15,000 custom skins, maps, GUIs, etc on Counter-Strike. Formerly known as CS Banana, this site has expanded to other first person shooter(FPS) games.
  • Counter-Strike France — The site is the largest community in France for Counter-Strike Source french players, maps and customs download.
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