CS: Source - Minireview

[Seeruk]

I started the pre-load last night and also got CS:Source which you can play straight away. Thought I would give it a whirl and braced my self for uber l33t tards aimboting my ass off till I got bored. But I actually quite enjoyed it

Truth is I only saw one tard in 4 hours of play, nobody was botting my botty off and although I was shite I got a few kills and actually quite liked it! It?s come a long way, the graphics are greatly improved without being revolutionary. If you wanna see what the new engine is really capable of there is a sort of benchmark to be run from the main menu which goes through all the uber surfaces, bump maps, effects, and cool tricks the engine can do. Sadly most of them are unused in CSS. Although I did get killed on more than one occasion admiring the translucence of the tiling, or the perfect realism of the hardwood floors. With the X800XT and my AMD 64 3500+ I was playing at 1600x1200 res with everything on highest settings (except for FSAA which was at 4x and AF which was at 8x) and got a steady 90fps outdoors and 120fps indoors!!! It was all the more stunning cos the amount of objects for you to blow around with the physics engine is immense in some maps (sadly lacking in some others though!). It?s sh1t scary to be crouched behind a barrel and then have someone blow away your cover with a couple of stray bullets?. Sort of like being caught mid-cr@p as you find yourself suddenly exposed in a compromising position! Being safe and secure behind a wooden crate is no longer so safe and secure as weapons of a high enough calibre will punch straight through it and nestle in your chest as you collapse to the floor wheezing ?Why why whyyyyyY?

So graphics good, physics great, ermmm sound excellent. Everything has been given the full 5.1 surround treatment and the weaponry really does have the audible power it deserves now (always sounded sorta tinny to me in the earlier incarnations?). My only real complaint from a full session is the maps. WHY THE FooK DO THEY JUST RELEASE THE SAME DAMN TIRED OLD MAPS. I was playing these in the 1st incarnation of CS. Perhaps it was to compare and contrast the graphics engine but to be honest it just left me feeling bored earlier than I should have done. The only one significantly improved over the old ones is The Office and that is only because there filing cabinets to knock down and use as cover and so on. Why not create all new maps that really take advantage of everything the engine can do?? Smacks of laziness and tbh a lack of respect for the players intelligence to farm out the same old sh1t. Anyway what I am really looking forward to is the mods and especially a new TFC But for now CS is an interesting blast around the new engines capabilities but I doubt I will be playing longer than a few weeks.

 

[whistleclient]

why? because they've spent all their time developing the source engine and half life 2. porting CS and DoD has been a secondary concern. maybe they'll add new maps later (?)

 

[Seeruk]

I agree that it was a secondary concern - but with all the talent there is in the modding community out there, surely it wasnt too much to ask for something fresher? Seeing as how they have spent the time basically recreating something that already exists (its not like they have done a file>save as>save as type CS:Source lol!) that time could have been spent creating something new and still keep a couple of classics. Not much point taking the development in house if you ask me...

 

[Czar]

by having it the same as before they can pull the current CS community right into the new engine without any problems or bitching from people who think the new maps suck and so on. This happened with UT for example, people who played the original UT just didnt want to switch to the new game because it was for the most part different.

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: Czar
by having it the same as before they can pull the current CS community right into the new engine without any problems or bitching from people who think the new maps suck and so on. This happened with UT for example, people who played the original UT just didnt want to switch to the new game because it was for the most part different.

:thumbsup:

 

[Slogun]

Originally posted by: Modeps

Originally posted by: Czar
by having it the same as before they can pull the current CS community right into the new engine without any problems or bitching from people who think the new maps suck and so on. This happened with UT for example, people who played the original UT just didnt want to switch to the new game because it was for the most part different.

:thumbsup:

:thumbsup::thumbsup:
(This coming from a daily CS player/server operator these past 5+ years)
Wise of them to not mess too much with a good thing, only updating it and making it better.
I look forward to some adminmod/statsme/hlguard support before I switch my 1.6 server over to Source.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Seeruk
Being safe and secure behind a wooden crate is no longer so safe and secure as weapons of a high enough calibre will punch straight through it and nestle in your chest as you collapse to the floor wheezing ?Why why whyyyyyY?

That's not a new feature. Rifles > boxes even in the original engine.

- M4H

 

[Seeruk]

Furry muff about the boxes - remember now I only been dipping into CS every 6 months or so in recent years just to see if anything was new so you tend to forget

Still I cant believe people are still playing the same old maps after like 4-5 years. Maybe I overestimate the intelligence of the average gamer and/or people are just too cosy in the comfort zone of the same 4 walls.

The point at which most games have got dull for me is when every map I played, I could walk around blindfolded and still know where I was. No challenge, no fun, no new tactics required. I knew I could walk a certain route, that enemy player x would come round this corner almost to the millisecond and I was shooting before he even registered me. At that point the game is DULL!!!!

Perhaps thats why I prefer large environments like JointOps as its never the same 'run' twice. Yeah i understand that some maps stand the test of time. I mentioned the office is a whole lot better for the new features, just like the old 2forts in TFC gets reinvented every time. But I really thought/hoped/expected something new would come and I am bitterly dissapointed if thats the best Valve can do.

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: Seeruk
Furry muff about the boxes - remember now I only been dipping into CS every 6 months or so in recent years just to see if anything was new so you tend to forget

Still I cant believe people are still playing the same old maps after like 4-5 years. Maybe I overestimate the intelligence of the average gamer and/or people are just too cosy in the comfort zone of the same 4 walls.

The point at which most games have got dull for me is when every map I played, I could walk around blindfolded and still know where I was. No challenge, no fun, no new tactics required. I knew I could walk a certain route, that enemy player x would come round this corner almost to the millisecond and I was shooting before he even registered me. At that point the game is DULL!!!!

Perhaps thats why I prefer large environments like JointOps as its never the same 'run' twice. Yeah i understand that some maps stand the test of time. I mentioned the office is a whole lot better for the new features, just like the old 2forts in TFC gets reinvented every time. But I really thought/hoped/expected something new would come and I am bitterly dissapointed if thats the best Valve can do.

Please, stop complaining. I dont even like CS, and think that they did the right thing. Wait till HL2 is officially released, you wont care. I'd rather they put their effort into a solid engine with great graphics, physics, and gameplay along with a killer story than having to focus on making brand new CS maps. Chances are, they'll release new ones later.... and if not, you've got the entire mod/mapmaking community that will love building new stuff to appease people like you. There are reasons why certain maps are insanely popular.

 

[Seeruk]

Why is discussion of a topic complaining?? Jeez with some people if it aint all roses and puppy dogs its stir up a flame time - PUT YA HAPPY HAT ON DUDE


You will notice that the vast majority of what I said is POSITIVE and I quote myself:

"Anyway what I am really looking forward to is the mods and especially a new TFC But for now CS is an interesting blast around the new engines capabilities but I doubt I will be playing longer than a few weeks."

I don't doubt that HL2 will be great... but then that wasnt the topic was it

 

[Slogun]

Originally posted by: Seeruk
Still I cant believe people are still playing the same old maps after like 4-5 years. Maybe I overestimate the intelligence of the average gamer and/or people are just too cosy in the comfort zone of the same 4 walls.

A few smiley faces does not mask your condescending attitude.
This graduate-school educated adult professional who happens to be a long time CS player/server operator does not find your negative comments amusing.
We have 96 maps on our server and guess what...the game is not all about shooting, on many servers it is also about community.

I suggest you think twice next time before writing something.
And you might also do well to read the last line in my sig.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: Seeruk
Still I cant believe people are still playing the same old maps after like 4-5 years.

People have also been playing chess on the same old map for centuries. I don't think you're going to overestimate Kasparov's intelligence. :roll:

It's funny because you can play 100 games on Dust and each will end up differently. The diversity brought to C-S is from the players in the game.....not the maps. The map's job is to add challenge and not imbalance things.....which is tough to do which is why when it's done right you stick with it.

 

[Turkey22]

Man you guys should stop jumping all over somebody who has a well thought out opinion about a game you happen to like. His viewpoint is right on the money with many other people like myself who used to play the game and enjoy it, but found other things to do after the game became incredibly stale. The people from valve who made the game and cs are not the same people who remapped the old maps. I'm sure the mappers have had plenty of time to look at other maps. Also the main point he made was that he wished they had redone the classic maps with more new features like they did with office. I like the inclusion of the old maps, but it would have been nice if they would have added more new features in each. I'm sure many people will jump at the chance to make customs, but until then many of us trying to give cs another chance will probably be disenfranchised with it again.

 

[styrafoam]

Back before CS went commercial I think that a good number of the new maps added when a new beta came out were community made; not all were made by full time members of the mod team. While it doesn't prevent them from adding new maps it makes the situation a little different, they would have to come up with a way to pay somebody for 1 map.

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

Cliff's Notes: Cheating isn't bad (yet)?

 

[Slogun]

Originally posted by: Turkey22
Man you guys should stop jumping all over somebody who has a well thought out opinion

The problem with this thread is in the way the originator is belittling the intelligence of his responders, not the converse.

Well, he's a noob here at AT and I'm outta this thread.

 

[43st]

Ah Counter Strike... always bringing the best out in it's community members.

 

[imported_jediknight]

Originally posted by: tangent1138


why? because they've spent all their time developing the source engine and half life 2. porting CS and DoD has been a secondary concern. maybe they'll add new maps later (?)

Well, I certainly hope they'll add more maps for DOD:Source since we have to pay extra for it.

 

[Seeruk]

Jeeeeeez tough crowd

Originally posted by: Slogun
A few smiley faces does not mask your condescending attitude.
This graduate-school educated adult professional who happens to be a long time CS player/server operator does not find your negative comments amusing.
We have 96 maps on our server and guess what...the game is not all about shooting, on many servers it is also about community.

Whilst I see nothing wrong with smiling (and lets face it one of them was a tongue ) nor the reasons for your apparent lack of confidence in your own education, I will agree that often its the community that counts.... perhaps though its the childish outbursts on a perfectly reasonable topic of conversation that is typical of the CS community and its 'reputation' is done no good by such an apparent diplomat!

Take an enormous chill pill, dont take something on a forum so personally, put on TWO happy hats and read over your 'contributions' to this post, then realise the irony in

I suggest you think twice next time before writing something.
And you might also do well to read the last line in my sig.