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Valve are doing a small celebration for 20 years of Counter-Strike

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Has it really been 20 years? Madness. Counter-Strike started off life as a Half-Life mod in 1999 and the series is still going strong. Pretty amazing really, to think something that started off as a modification in 1999 for another game by two people has later spawned four games: Counter-Strike (2000), Counter-Strike: Condition Zero (2004), Counter-Strike: Source (2004) and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012).

Writing on the official Counter-Strike blog, Valve posted:

Twenty years ago, a humble Half-Life mod changed the gaming world. Constantly evolving and shifting over the years, Counter-Strike has never lost its fundamentals: it’s easy to learn, takes a lifetime to master, and is supported by a massive global community.

You can celebrate the history of CS with a retro version of Dust II, currently available in the Casual Dust II map group. There’s also a new sticker capsule featuring the unsung heroes of CS – chickens!

You know what's more impressive? The fact that the original Counter-Strike still manages to pull in over ten thousand people most days to play it! Counter-Strike: Source also still sees a healthy player count at over five thousand most days, but the majority now of course play Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with it being free and pulling in over five hundred thousand regularly. Condition Zero doesn't see such player numbers, but even so it's still grabbing hundreds of people per-day.

I have to wonder, where will Counter-Strike go next? It will be seven years this August since Global Offensive was released and since then Valve have continued to add maps, fine-tune the balancing and do major updates like Danger Zone to bring some of the Battle Royale audience over. Do you think Valve will ever do another or continue to work on Global Offensive like some sort of ever-evolving live-service?

I remember spending a likely unhealthy amount of hours in the Xbox version (I know, blasphemy) but I really did like the Miami map. Naturally, since being on Linux now I've enjoyed even more hours and most of them now in Global Offensive's Danger Zone, Valve have managed to again make something quite unique with it and it really does get ridiculously intense.

Since we're here, what's your fondest memory of Counter-Strike (any of them)?

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: FPS, Steam, Valve
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ageres Jun 19, 2019
I had been playing CS 1.6 very much when I was a University student. I played rather well on LAN servers. I wish I spent time more on studying than on Counter-Strike though. My favourite maps were aztec and cbble.
I still keep screenshots made those years (2005-2007). But when I saw Call of Duty 4 multiplayer first time, I immediately realized how outdated Counter-Strike was and lost interest in it.

ElectroDD Jun 19, 2019
Just try to play 1.5 if you can still find the mod.
You'll feel like you're VERY VERY bad even if you're a top player against bots a middle difficulty x)
1.5 was not the hardest to learn and play, but you could say that your score was reflecting your skill.
After trying 1.6, source and GO... You can't say that anymore...
Remember that in official matches, we had 5 sec to buy equipment... And autobuyers and macros and scripts were forbidden in tournaments. There was a config files check before the match begin.
babai Jun 19, 2019
Counter strike LAN parties were my childhood!
dvd Jun 19, 2019
Quoting: ageresI had been playing CS 1.6 very much when I was a University student. I played rather well on LAN servers. I wish I spent time more on studying than on Counter-Strike though. My favourite maps were aztec and cbble.
I still keep screenshots made those years (2005-2007). But when I saw Call of Duty 4 multiplayer first time, I immediately realized how outdated Counter-Strike was and lost interest in it.

I could never get into those games. CS was so good because it had fun gameplay, and it ran even on your toaster. Can't say the same of the new ones (Source, GO), even though i still like them. I don't really understand the argument that it was dated, since before GO none of it's successors or other games offered a comparable experience. (for me at least)


Last edited by dvd on 19 June 2019 at 8:12 pm UTC
Zelox Jun 19, 2019
Im sure we will see another counter strike in the future. Even if the game and the different versions of it has aged very well
Mumrik93 Jun 20, 2019
I played the original mod once.. didn't like it that much.. never played CS ever sine xD Pretty fun to see it still going so strong thou!
ageres Jun 20, 2019
Quoting: dvdI could never get into those games. CS was so good because it had fun gameplay, and it ran even on your toaster. Can't say the same of the new ones (Source, GO), even though i still like them. I don't really understand the argument that it was dated, since before GO none of it's successors or other games offered a comparable experience. (for me at least)
All you can do in CS is shoot and crouch behind boxes (I'm not saying about tactics, just about basic controls). In CoD4 you can go prone, crawl, aim down sights, use perks, unlock stuff, play more game modes. I hoped Valve would release a modern online FPS, but CS:GO appeared to be a CS:S reskin. It's not a bad game, just inferior to other online games for me.
Quoting: ElectroDDRemember that in official matches, we had 5 sec to buy equipment... And autobuyers and macros and scripts were forbidden in tournaments.
It takes only one second to b42o2o4.
dvd Jun 22, 2019
Quoting: ageres
Quoting: dvdI could never get into those games. CS was so good because it had fun gameplay, and it ran even on your toaster. Can't say the same of the new ones (Source, GO), even though i still like them. I don't really understand the argument that it was dated, since before GO none of it's successors or other games offered a comparable experience. (for me at least)
All you can do in CS is shoot and crouch behind boxes (I'm not saying about tactics, just about basic controls). In CoD4 you can go prone, crawl, aim down sights, use perks, unlock stuff, play more game modes. I hoped Valve would release a modern online FPS, but CS:GO appeared to be a CS:S reskin. It's not a bad game, just inferior to other online games for me.
Quoting: ElectroDDRemember that in official matches, we had 5 sec to buy equipment... And autobuyers and macros and scripts were forbidden in tournaments.
It takes only one second to b42o2o4.

Yes but all those game modes aren't all that original, most of them are just taken from quake or cs. Pretty much the only exciting concept left in online games is class-based games like team fortress or overwatch.

--

I don't really play many online shooters nowadays, as i find most of them are too boring. Even on CS i only play the occasional match. I prefer games like wasteland 2 or xcom these days. I would also like games like TES, but those never seem to come out for linux, except for the witcher 2.


Last edited by dvd on 22 June 2019 at 5:42 am UTC
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