Search

[wallworm]

I've been playing CS since it first came out (I bought it on a CD and first installed it on Windows 98!). It's been the cornerstone of my gaming this whole time. And although lately I've played BF4 mostly, CS is still my game.

There are some things creeping in that I just don't like, though.

First it was the removal of the flashlight and the retarded replacement of F  for LOOK AT MY GUN. Removing the flashlight removes an entire element to the game (and the types of maps you can build -- oh, and remember Night Vision?). Adding the Inspect Weapon action adds NOTHING to the game. It only plays into the new weapon skin addition to CS. This really bothers me--one that Valve did this and two that there must be enough people who care more about the nothingness of skins vs the diversity of gameplay options.

Now this week I noticed that when you get shot there is a giant, annoying red halo on the screen. WTF is this all about? If I wanted to see that I'd watch teenagers play CoD4. At least in CoD the blood splatter reminds me of raspberry jam.

Maybe I'm just getting old and grouchy. But come on! Just because I'm getting old doesn't mean that CS isn't also starting to get juvenile :/

PS: While I'm ranting, bring back VIP mode.

[Joris Ceoen]

Well, there are a few things I could mention as well. I've first seen CS:S when it was released in 2004, on a computer of a friend of mine. I was literally blown away. Not to mention that shortly before that I had my first time experience with Half-Life 2, something which has changed my life since.

Back in the time I didn't know anything about game engines, or how the game was even made. At one point I cared more about the skins and replacing them when I got my own copy (2-3 years later, can't remember exactly), because I was young and I didn't even realise that I was the only one who saw them. I even remembered that at some point I thought players saw some my guns, but that was because I saw them in world model (some had a world model, some didn't) leading me to believe as if that was actually the case... Ah well.

I also remember the first time I tried to open a level from CS:S in Hammer, at the time my PC simply crashed. I did it for fun and to goof around, although that lasted just a few seconds. That one spare moment though, came back to me later, and I would never have believed I would be at the place I'm currently at (though I still have a long way to go  ::))

However, funny enough, if all the thousands of houres I spent in CS:S really ment something to me, it was because of the Zombie Escape gameplay, something which I have spent some of the best years of my life in. I literally have a few lifetime memorable moments from that gameplay, and it was all CS:S. A big part of the CS:S community was evolving around that: custom modes.

Rant in 3... 2... 1...

Personally, this is one of MY complaints about CS:GO. It did everything to discourage those unofficial gamemodes, at the start including ZE. Now it's tons better, but it's never going to be nowhere as good as optimal, simply because some of the core movement changes in CS:GO that cannot be changed for the highly embraced competitive mode.

Surf, is something which I haven't seen a lot anymore, at least not as prominent as in CS:S. Given the fact that you instantly stop when landing is one nightmare, but the airacceleration is just not what it used to be.

Wtf happened to Gun Game. It's now Arms Race, it's something I've never touched anymore and personally it didn't quite boost the mode, simply because it's mixed with other modes that have become known to CS:GO. If you talk about GO, no one mentions these gamemodes, it's casual, competitive or OPERATIONS (which are one of the greater things of GO!!).

I have to admit though that the skins aren't the greatest problem. In fact, to my liking, honestly said not only did it increase the popularity of my videos (because everyone asked me to buy some to spice it up), but it improved the playstyle of some of the guns. I literally realised that the default AK makes me almost not notice it on the screen, whereas a Vulcan skin allowed me to aim more precisely. I haven't a good explanation for this, but the fact that I went out and simply bought a few of these skins (which I tested beforehand) and improved my gameplay is a valid reason for me. The other is simply supporting modders as an additional reason I give to skins.

Same for the operations which have almost given level designers jobs who definitly deserved the spots. It's an opportunity that Valve actively promotes. Valve also made sure that not only the most competitive at heart won, but also some of the more casual, fun maps. They look out to give chances to a wide range of mappers to see if their popularity can grasp off the floor. Some return almost every operation, some only appear once.

Lastly, the graphics are obviously improved, at the cost of some of the more interesting things such as detail props essentially removed or translucent materials casting full shadows :'(

I have never played the VIP mode but I heard a looooot about it. I wish I had the chance to play it before it vanished, but to my experience it never returned not in CS:S or CS:GO to date. It's sad that such a seeminly popular gamemode is never even considered.

About those red halo's, can you elaborate on that? I've never seen that, although I haven't played CS:GO a lot for this week.

[wallworm]

That artists get to participate more officially with adding skins or new levels into the game is a good thing. But it's really my opinion that the skins (and things like the hats in tf2) are really something that speaks about the odd psychology of humans--and the psychology of the company to take advantage of it. That people are willing to pay for weapon skins is akin to buying new jewelry--but far worse. Jewelry somehow affects real life social status, self-esteem or breeding opportunities.

A weapon skin does what in most cases?

It changes some RGB values on pixels.

Of course, at a superficial level that is what all games and applications do. But traditionally, we've been spending money on a game or a tool that does something we couldn't do before. I know you said that you can aim better with a certain skin for the AK. Maybe that could be true. But my guess is that is a very extremely minute aspect of any of the weapon skin "world".

That's an aspect I don't get. Every time I try to understand the mentality of it, I just can't get it.

That aside, again, it's that an actual function of the game was removed (needlessly) to accommodate it that bothers me. I don't mind skins themselves. I just don't like them being made into an important aspect of the game itself--as the game play is the only really important part.

In terms of the red Halo... it was a large red hit indication that has been added. It may only be in the AR mode... not sure. It's quite annoying and distracting.

[Redskull]

I wonder if they removed the flashlight so they could add it as *new content*. You know maybe something like a flashlight mod you can add to your guns. I really hope valve doesn't discard features for the sake of microtransactions. That is the underling problem with video games nowadays and why developers can get away with being less creative. Don't get me wrong I'm all for supporting them but if you remove game features for the sake of selling anything but the actual game, then you've lost sight of what you should be focused on.