It’s difficult to think the original Counter-Strike was launched 11 years ago, 11 years back. To put it in simple terms the game, formed online gaming as it is today. The simplicity, the addiction level. Many sleepless nights and insomniacs were caused by Counter-Strike.
So it’s not surprising that back in 1997, the release of CS Source, was a top seller for Valve, who took over development of the game in 2004, at the same time WON was shut down. In its high days, no other game compared to CS Source in when it came to players online and gameplay hours racked up.
Six years on, CS Source isn’t far behind COD 6 when counting the number of of online game servers and gamers. It’s doubtful COD 6 will boast in in another six years compared to the same top game at the time. It’s perhaps the openess of the game that has added to its ongoing achievements. Not considering the actual binaries, gamers can add custom maps, mods, configs. you have the option to alter and edit the game engine to your liking via editing cvars. CS:S dedicated gaming servers differ in gameplay unlike any other gaming server (although Garys Mod fans will probably argue on that view!). Just a few examples of CS Source running modifications include:
- Surf Servers
- Warcraft
- RPG
- Hide n Seek
It’s this variation, and option to run the server by your rules, and make your own fun that make CS Source so incredible. To play CS Source, You just need a STEAM account, and to buy CS Source, which at this moment of writing is only £12.99 – bargain! You will require a fairly good spec PC, and gfx card, although from experience, most laptops will now play the game quite happily. If you wish to go past just playing on other gamer’s CS Source game servers, you perhaps consider hosting your own game server from a game server host that specializes in hosting CS Source servers.
What you’ll want to think about is the server ping. Your ping to a server is the length between you, and where the server is physically hosted. The lower the ping, generally, the smoother your gameplay. Usually, any ping of 100ms or lower is more than ok for online gaming.
You might also think about apply for a gaming clan. A gaming clan is a group of gamers that form a ‘clan’ and game with each other. Usually a clan will game competitively- i.e. play wars against other clans, sometimes for money. If that’s not your kettle of fish, you could think about setting up a community. A gaming community like a clan, game together, but usually not competitively, and more for fun. Some CS Source communities boast members counting over 500.
Finally, something to think about is when you first game, you will without fail find you get beaten really bad. Here’s a hint- don’t take it too hard. Some of the guys that play CS Source online have been doing so for an eternity- for hours every night. With any game, becoming brilliant at CS Source takes lots of experience. And practise makes perfect when it comes to being pro on CS Source servers.
