Padchuckr

Although not a newcomer to Counter-Strike, I’m unlikely to proclaim myself to be Old School. I never played the beta. Many people say they played the beta; they probably did. This does not automatically qualify them as Old School, though.

To be truly Old School you need to have suffered every update. Diligently played through and adapted to each change; in the bad old days, before Steam, when an update went out you had to live with it. Not everyone liked these updates. Whether it was an issue with hit registration, or game play, even the slightest alteration to the game was unacceptable.

Old Schoolers have learned to live with the ebb and flow of the updates, though. They never gave up. Whether they stayed with CS 1.6, or moved on to CS:CZ or Counter-Strike: Source is largely irrelevant – they sucked up each update and learned to live with it.

There aren’t many Old Schooler’s left. Even if I had started playing during the Beta’s, I couldn’t truly consider myself Old School, because I’ve turned my back on CS many a time.

For me CS 1.3 was perfection: the game was quick and fluid, hit registration seemed top notch, and I was getting a ping of 120ms on my 56k dialup connection. Finally I was able to play the game properly.

When 1.4 was released my ping skyrocketed. It wasn’t just a recalibration by the programmers, the game was laggy and my shots wouldn’t hit anymore. I got fed up.

I stopped playing the game. I’d waited for one update to fix the problems caused by the previous release and was sorely disappointed with the results of the offering. I gave up CS. I played some of the Steam beta, but by that time I’d forsaken it for Raven-Shield and America’s Army.

When I stopped playing CS it didn’t die. It got better. Although I played the early Betas of CS 1.6 on Steam, I never really gave it a chance. The initial problems with Steam, which wouldn’t download on 56k at all, were too off putting; the shield sucked; the hitboxes had been fixed, and I couldn’t be bothered to relearn how to aim – again.

While I wandered around playing other games, everyone else just got used to it and enjoyed the new releases. The real Old Schooler’s got used to the changes in the game. Between the release of CS 1.6 on Steam, and that of Counter-Strike: Source, there were a huge number of updates for people to get used to. Unlike the old days, though, these updates didn’t stay in use for over a year at a time. These updates came in flurries, quickly fixing the bugs introduced by earlier patches, and adding new gameplay elements – like the scoreboard where you couldn’t tell how many enemies remained alive.

The scoreboard update only lasted a scant few months, from January 16 2003 to June 24 2003. Eventually, due to great demand (also known as whingeing) from the CS players, the original scoreboard was reinstated. Blissfully, I missed these teething problems. The Old Schoolers, however, braved the storm, staunchly refusing to toss the game away.

Whatever their reasons for this, the faithful were eventually rewarded with a stable and finished version of Counter-Strike. The people who continue to play the game say it’s perfect. The only thing you hear being whinged about are shields, and most people are content to just disable them serverside.

The reason for the lack of change in CS is because active development has shifted to the Source version of the same game. Counter-Strike:Source is reviled by hardened CS players. One perspective might complain that it’s an extension of CS, but in reality it’s a new game. Much of the things competitive CS clans rely on, like Wallbanging.

Wallbanging is an exploit. It comes about because CS lacks penetration physics, so bullets and grenades are either allowed directly through the material or are stopped. This allows experienced players to kill camping enemies without presenting themselves as a target. While Wallbanging has become an accepted part of the game, it’s still an exploit. You can confirm this by flying through de_inferno, and observing the massive steel wall that lies between the terrorist and counter-terrorist’s spawns.

Artefacts of this ilk reside in many CS maps, to fight against the Wallbanging exploit. However wall penetration, sound, experience, and the skills required to use them are central to the game. People learned tactics to counter Wallbanging in matches, and admins decide whether it’s an acceptable practice or not on their own servers.

It’s not in CS:Source, though, because the engine includes a superb penetration model. This alone is enough to dissuade many CS players and clans from moving to CS:Source either for match or public play. While the reasons players state are wider reaching, involving the speed of the game (too slow, too fast), the hitboxes (too big, in the wrong place), the requirements (too high) or just the fact that they need to learn how to play the game all over again – because it’s just not CS.

Unfortunately it is CS, it’s the version Valve actively supports, and the one that’s still evolving. Old School players will tell you that CS was always evolving while it was still being supported, and that was just something you had to live with. In truth before the release of VAC, the week of an update was the only time you were ever guaranteed of a hack free game. More importantly you were given new maps, or the balance of the game was incrementally changed.

Sometimes this sucks, like when the Autosnipers went from a one shot head-shot weapon that only a select few could use, to the lamer spam cannon we all know and love today. People got used to it, and stayed with the game.

CS may not be dying, but it has stagnated. Clinging to the old engine for match play is like clinging to an old and forgotten past. Nothing has changed significantly in CS 1.6 for two years or more; it’s time to move on. New, more interesting screw-ups are coming through in CS:Source.

The latest change, the radar revamp which pinpoints spotted enemies on the radar, was much maligned before its release. In practice, though, it’s a great idea. It allows players unaccustomed to using voice-coms to point out their spotted targets automatically. This hasn’t affected public play or clan play adversely, we all just learn to make the most of it.

The next change, which will change the cost of guns with regards to popularity, is unlikely to be used in match play – and if Valve doesn’t allow players a way to disable it then the community will object furiously. Then the pricing system will be modified again – just like the blip when scoreboard deaths disappeared then reappeared.

The community, by virtue of collective will, pushes CS onwards. If you’re still clinging to Wallbanging and CS 1.6, then you’re stuck in a rut. The graphics are dated, and big companies will become less and less interested in sponsoring events and clans who compete using an engine, which doesn’t help to sell their hardware or services.

To do that you’ll need to be playing the latest, prettiest game. In the CS universe that’s Counter-Strike:Source. Wallbanging may be dead, but the rest of the game is not. Move on up to CS:S, it’s not new and buggy any more – honestly. It may not be 100% suitable for match play yet, but it needs your support if it’s ever going to get there.

CS isn’t going to change. It’ll still be there for you when you get back, just as you left it. Take another peek at CS:S and start badgering Valve until they get it right. Just don’t ask for them to put Wallbanging back in – that’s just silly. Those of you who are Old School, and those who still aspire to be, need to give it up – for New School.