Counter-Strike: Source - Walkthrough Guide, Secrets, Weapons, Bots, etc.

What's new in Source?

Before addressing the mass of compliments to the game, let's first mention two heaps of fly in the ointment: the most important change in Counter-Strike: Source is the graphics. Of course, I would like something more radical than switching the game to a modern engine, but, on the other hand, nobody canceled Counter-Strike 2. And the insatiable Valve will never miss the opportunity to earn a million or two paper images of presidents for campaigning for the contempt of money and the fight against the capitalization of the world, as we have already seen, and more than once.

Do not believe! The Source engine supports all DirectX 9 special effects. What does this mean? And the fact that if your graphic card is not far behind the rapid technological progress, then you will be lucky to see the whole range of modern special effects. Depending on the location of your card in the evolutionary chain of graphics adapters, I advise you to make some adjustments to the settings before starting the game. To do this, go to the menu Options>Video>Advanced and increase or decrease the values ​​of model detail, textures, water, shadows, anti-aliasing mode, filtering, and v-sync.

Now everything is ready to load some location. The first impression after a few minutes of playing is that there is no feeling of limited space. Objects located behind the map are now 1999D. To verify this, it is enough to fly outside the map in the spectators mode and see the renegades of the architectural ensemble, which during the game make up the "environment". As you can see, the level building structure on the Source engine is not far from the level of XNUMX, and it is very disappointing to realize that in reality this is nothing more than a clever cheat to hide the flaws of the engine.

As expected, the creators of the game tried their best to demonstrate the beauty of the engine. Valve did this in a classic way - bottles, barrels, nets, tires and other objects are scattered around the map, which are very realistically amenable to physical laws. In theory, it is enough to shoot from a slingshot at a barrel standing on a cliff so that it effectively falls down. I sincerely believe that if these ill-fated "cliffs" were on the Counter-Strike maps, then Valve's level designers would not forget about the mentioned popular trick and would not deprive us of the pleasure of witnessing wonderful progress in terms of cinematic graphics. And so ... In general, some barrels are located in such inconvenient places that now, with a "high-speed" movement to an advantageous position, you will have to change the usual trajectory of the run. Although there is some benefit from these barrels - they can be “driven” by shots to some narrow passage and thereby barricade it. True, we must not forget that the barricaded themselves can shoot, which means that these barrels will not stand there for a long time without your supervision. In addition to barrels, a bunch of other utensils are scattered on the desert maps, which makes the atmosphere much more comfortable and enjoyable to spend time.

This is a bug: buy a shotgun or some other powerful weapon. Sit near any standing barrel and, aiming at its upper part, shoot. As a result, you will see how the barrel freezes for a split second and only then falls.

What really came out great were the secondary special effects, like bloodstains, bullet holes, pillars of dust, splashing water. Finally, the game uses the rag-doll model, which allows the models to “habitually” interact with the surrounding space. Saying the word “habitual”, I don’t suspect you at all that every single day you take up arms and go to smash your neighbors, whose bodies then slowly slide down the walls, leaving traces of connective tissue with liquid intercellular substance.

It is important: console command cl_ragdoll_collide 1 allows corpses to lie on top of each other, thereby reducing the effect of falling into each other. By default, its value is zero, so I strongly recommend that you enter the above command.

Another noteworthy detail: the thrown weapon has become a physical object. Decryption: if your teammate, standing on the opposite side of the aisle, does not have a weapon, then you can deliver a trophy to him from the battlefield with shots. By the way, in the section of the obvious and the incredible: if you shoot at the model of a lying weapon, then a dent will appear on it. To fix it, just pick it up from the ground and throw it back. This, I understand, is realism! Let the shutter of the Kalashnikov assault rifle be on the left side, but how detailed it is!

It is important: Now Counter-Strike: Source has a sound that plays when you press the jump key. Previously, in Counter-Strike 1.6, sound was played only at the moment of landing.

But the animation of the models is really above all praise. You can watch how the player smoothly and clearly shoots from a Beretta or runs, brandishing a knife. There are only one models for each team so far, but, according to Valve itself, it seems that the models are already on our hard drive in an encoded form, waiting for the next Steam update.

This is interesting: in the beta version of the game, the possibility of boosts was removed. That is, if you jump on someone's head, you will slide off. However, after a lot of criticism on this score, Valve decided to return to Source what has become an important component of the Counter-Strike gameplay for a long time.

Shadows in Counter-Strike are no longer just black dots on the floor, but real distinct outlines of a figure. Please note that from now on, holding [Shift] does not guarantee you an imperceptible approach to a player sitting in cover. After all, this bad person will be able to detect you by the shadow, which will certainly outstrip your approach by several centimeters of the monitor. At the same time, it's strange that when you illuminate the player's figure with a flashlight (by default, the [F] key), the outlines of his silhouette do not appear on the wall opposite to you.

Realism in Source is on the verge of fantasy, so fantasy itself is prohibited. Now you will not be able to jump down and immediately shoot at the local adversaries. First of all, you should wait a couple of seconds, during which you will be flattened, and only then will you be allowed to save the world. By the way, if someone had minor brakes on Internet servers (the so-called “lags”), then it will be easier for them to get used to the state that the player falls into as a result of a fall from a great height.

Weapon

This will not happen again - the tactical shield has been sent for recycling.

You probably will not be particularly surprised by the news that there are no more weapons in Counter-Strike: Source. But here is the news that its number has declined... Yes, yes, the tactical shield that appeared in version 1.6 did not fit into the concept of the game and was sent for recycling.

Now more important information. After the release of the beta version of the game, Martin Otten, one of Valve's programmers, conducted internal tests, the main theme of which was the recoil of weapons. All test results presented for three barrels (MP5, m4a1 and AK-47) in two positions (normal and on the run), as well as graphs built on them, Martin posted on the Internet (for example, www.csnation.net/files/news/16_vs_src_stats.xls). In short, I can say that the basic behavior of the trunks has changed very slightly. So, the recoil of the m4a1 increased slightly and decreased for the AK-47 and MP5. At the same time, all three weapons are more accurate on the run.

Since we have already described the weapon itself more than once, we will consider only the most popular types of barrels that can be used not only in bloody battles on Internet servers, but also in professional championships.

Glock 18 Select Fire

The Terrorist Starter Pistol is perhaps the most controversial weapon in Counter-Strike. Many players claim that killing someone with this gun is simply unrealistic. On the one hand, this is true - Glock has little power and is practically useless in open spaces. But let's not forget that the Terrorist standard is one of the best weapons for jump shooting, as it has almost no recoil. In addition, the gun has 20 rounds. So in the pistol round, a player who runs out of ammo becomes easy prey for a fighter armed with a Glock.

The pistol has the ability to fire in two modes: in the first (semi-automatic) it fires one round per shot, in the second (burst fire) three bullets fly out at a time. I would advise shooting in burst fire mode only for especially well-aimed players. And one more "for" in the question of choosing a standard pistol for terrorists - the stopping effect of his bullets.

USP .45 Tactical

The main advantage of the USP is its high rate of fire and excellent hit accuracy. Remember that after the first shot, the sight goes up with slight deviations to the right, then to the left, therefore, it is best to aim from the USP at the shoulder or neck of the enemy. When using a pistol with a silencer, its power drops, but the accuracy of shooting increases.

Desert Eagle

Many players, instead of going into battle with the standard issued at the start, are purchased precisely by the “desert eagle”. Extremely powerful and accurate, the Desert Eagle is the only pistol in the game that breaks through walls and doors.

The most important thing when shooting from an "eagle" is to hit the enemy from the first two or three shots, and after that all the other bullets will surely fly to the target. But the Desert Eagle has two significant drawbacks. The first is a small clip with only seven rounds, the second is a rather low rate of fire. Therefore, when shooting from this pistol, you should aim very carefully - every bullet counts.

MP5 Navy

At a price of $1500, the MP5 can be bought even after a series of lost rounds. It shoots accurately, quickly and even with little recoil. Its accuracy is practically unaffected, which means that at medium and short distances you can simply unleash a continuous stream of bullets on the enemy.

The assertion that weapons are useless at long distances is incorrect - you just need to shoot, releasing three rounds each. Despite all these advantages, weapons are practically not used in championships.

AK-47

From the very first versions of Counter-Strike, the domestic machine is simply out of competition. Huge firepower, high rate of fire, relatively low price of $2500. However, firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle is far from easy. To begin with, remember that the first round flies straight at the target, the second round goes a little higher, the third too, and the fourth and subsequent rounds go well above these three rounds and at the same time quite accurately. This is what the flight of bullets looks like when firing a burst. From this we can conclude that the AK should be fired with a small amount of rounds. There are two ways to shoot at medium and long distances: fire one round exactly at the target or shoot in small bursts. At medium distances, use bursts of 3-5 rounds. At particularly long distances, you need to shoot 2-3 rounds per burst. And after it, it is advisable to wait until the sight completely converges. Indeed, at large distances, the spread will be felt much more significantly.

Colt m4a1

30 rounds, minimal spread, breaks through almost all walls and boxes. At medium range, the accuracy of hits from m4a1 even exceeds the corresponding indicators of AK. The main plus, which makes the weapon the most popular in terms of usage statistics, is that successful handling of the m4a1 is available even to beginners, since, unlike the AK, you do not need to make allowances for the barrel recoiled.

Operation "anti-terror" is in full swing.

I would advise you to use the silencer for m4a1 only in those cases when you are the only one left alive from your entire team. And then only so that the opponents do not hear how you shoot their comrades one by one. In normal combat, using a silencer is simply useless, as it reduces the power of the weapon.

Steyr Scout

First, a few general notes regarding the changes to optical and semi-optical rifles. From now on, switching to aiming mode does not happen instantly - now you can see the process of zooming. Sniper rifles no longer have the red dot on their scopes, but aiming without it is no more difficult thanks to the two lines that form the crosshair.

This is interesting: when the zoom is off, the glass on the optics reflects what is happening behind you. True, it is not so easy to notice the enemy approaching from behind.

The Scout is often referred to as a poor man's sniper rifle (the weapon costs only $2750). A huge plus of the rifle is mobility. With Scout you can run very fast, even faster than with a knife... Surprised? At first I didn’t believe it either when information about this funny bug slipped through the network. The easiest way to check this is by having fun starts with some player. Having let a friend with a knife go ahead, you can easily catch up with him if you have the sniper rifle in question in your hands.

This is interesting: running speed with any pistol is equal to running speed with a knife, and running speed with FAMAS is exactly the same as with AWP.

Considering that Scout, unlike AWP, accurately hits not only with static fire, but also on the move, has a fast reload and shoots relatively quietly, we can safely say that in Counter-Strike: Source Scout will find its fans, although it will become real an alternative to the AWP rifle is not destined.

AWP

The most powerful sniper rifle kills with one shot in any part of the body, except for the limbs. Breaks not only walls, but also the bodies of players. You can easily load up to four enemies in one line with lead with one shot. At the same time, the rifle is not automatic, that is, after each shot, it takes time to reload.

It is important: don't forget the team zoom_sensitivity_ratio, which adjusts the mouse sensitivity in aiming mode.

Another important point is the ability to imagine where the target will be. Try to aim without zoom, that is, imagine where the scope of the rifle would be in aiming mode.

This is interesting: now the AWP (like any other sniper rifle) in the aiming mode, the glass seems to be a little dirty.

Pomegranates

As you know, there are three types of grenades in Counter-Strike: fragmentation grenade (HE), dazzling (flash) and smoke (smoke). All three grenades in Source have undergone some changes that are worth mentioning separately.

If you fall within the range of a flash grenade, your screen becomes completely white for a few seconds, and high tones are played in the speakers. When the action of the grenade ends, the frame imprinted in your mind before the explosion appears on the screen, which gradually merges with what you actually see.

If a HE grenade explodes near you, then you, as in the case of a flash, are jammed. Moreover, for a couple of seconds you will not be able to move. In addition, a grenade explosion tends to scatter barrels, weapons, corpses and other "utensils" in the room.

From now on, smoke grenades look very natural. The smoke fills a larger space and changes color depending on the incident light. Another feature: grenades do not extract smoke immediately, as in an explosion, but release it gradually. It goes without saying that the handling of grenades will have to be retrained. This applies to all grenades, since the physics of their flight is noticeably different from the usual.

The night Watch! Everyone get out of the darkness!

This is a bug: buy any grenade, hold down the left mouse button and release it after a while. At the same moment, use the hotkey to switch to the previous weapon - as a result, the grenade will disappear.

As in Condition Zero, you can pick up grenades from corpses. It is interesting that you cannot throw them away when sharing with a friend. It's strange, actually, if you take into account the fact that Valve tried by hook or by crook to make the game more realistic.

Cards

Map de_dust

In this chapter, I will briefly talk about the strategy for playing the most popular of the 9 maps presented.

de_dust

You could admire de_dust even during the release of the beta version. Having run off in utter loneliness for more than one hour, your insubordinate servant was beside himself with delight caused by the appearance of a dynamic environment and the general beauty of the landscape. de_dust behind number one, which used to be a yellow arena halfway to nowhere, but has become part of a war-weary town somewhere in the Middle East. The conclusion about the geographical location of the map can be made if you look at the poster on the wall near the passage under the bridge (from the terrorists) - it is easy to notice the image of a person very similar to one famous Saddam.

So, let's discard any possibility that the terrorists are sitting on the base - in this case, the game loses its zest (so small, brown and shriveled). This applies to all de-cards. The script is what the script is for, so that everything develops strictly according to it. Of course, this does not mean that all terrorists are obliged to flee to certain death in the first minutes. If it’s already completely unbearable, then you can “merge” one or two rounds, saving yourself on a good weapon in the next round.

One of the most important components of winning on de_dust is considered to be the quick capture of key positions. Terrorists, for example, can make a swift attack through the tunnel on A. However, the map is built in such a way that, depending on the “birth”, CT players are able to run into the tunnel first, thereby delighting their counterparts a lot. Another option for the course of events is to turn right from the tunnel, remove the sniper above the bridge, and then split into two groups (some of the players jump under the bridge, the rest go on top). The main thing, do not forget that after a couple of rounds the enemy will see through your tactics and begin to set traps . Nevertheless, the geography of de_dust favors the CT team - it is enough for them to hold the main points of the tunnel and the position above the bridge.

de_dust2

Map de_dust2

If in the first dust the balance was significantly shifted towards counter-terrorists, then on de_dust2 everything is quite the opposite. The peculiarity of the map is that it is impossible to completely block both laying points on it - several paths lead to each bombplace, and they are located far from each other, due to which, in case of unforeseen circumstances, it will not be possible to quickly run from one base to another.

Now in order. Terrorists have four really possible options for getting to the laying points: attacking base B through the tunnel, attacking A through the wooden door leading to it, attacking A through the parapet, attacking any of the two bases through the central wooden gate. The easiest way is to take base A, since two relatively safe paths lead to it. But it is much more difficult to seize control of point B, since, if desired, counter-terrorists can create an almost impenetrable defense there.

It is important: terrorists can throw barrels at the bomb, thus gaining precious seconds from the poor fellow sapper.

When playing on Internet servers, the main component of victory is surprise. Let's say that the terrorists are tearing the meat of the CT team, which has little resistance to their rapid attacks. The most effective move of the team in this situation is to arrange one "eco-round" (do not buy anything, saving money for good weapons in the next round), after which the whole crowd attack the enemy through the wooden gate and parapet. Using flash grenades and the surprise effect, most of the terrorists will die, waiting for your usual defense game.

de_cbble

de_cbble map

Unlike de_dust2, both bombplace maps are relatively close to each other. Moreover, they are separated by one room, in which counter-terrorists can shoot rivals running from both sides. By the way, in Counter-Strike: Source, part of the door leading to the mentioned room from the far side of the bookmark was removed, which made it easier to observe B.

When playing on Internet servers, counter-terrorists have a good opportunity to sit out in the room above the stairs (opposite their base), and then go to the rear of the terrorists running from below. In addition, CTs can attack through the tunnel on the left side. True, only one seasoned sniper sitting on the tower can interfere with your insidious plans.

The terrorists on this map are in a less advantageous position. There is only one passage leading to B, the exit from which is often well guarded by an enemy sniper. It will be almost impossible to break through to the bookmark if the enemy has concentrated all his forces here. Despite this, capturing A can be an even more difficult task for your team. In such a situation, the following tactic is applicable. In the first seconds of the round, you need to create the illusion of your presence at each of the strategically important points and try to lure the counter-terrorists out of their positions. At some opportune moment, at the command of the leader "go, go, go", attack the CT players who have already lost their vigilance with the whole team.

de_aztec

de_aztec Map

If in Condition Zero the most beautiful card was de_inferno, then in Source the immortal creation of Barney intercepted the palm. De_aztec now really looks like an abandoned Aztec city. By the way, according to Aztec beliefs, human blood is the food of the gods. So now Counter-Strike players have the opportunity to sacrifice their rivals to the gods, smearing them over the pyramid built on the map.

It is important: to disable rain use console command r_raindensity 0. To return rain, set the command value to 0.001. If you try to enter a larger value, then you will simply be thrown out of the game.

At the moment, de_aztec looks like this.

Starting from the very first versions, the balance on the map is shifted towards counter-terrorists. True, in version 1.6, the creators of the map tried to even out the starting advantages of the teams, but still, the task of CT seems to me to be simpler.

Most often, the terrorists try to swoop down the entire team to capture bombsite B. This tactic is especially typical for the first rounds, when long-range barrels are not yet available and you have to rely only on melee weapons. Another common technique used by terrorists is the water attack. In this case, as a rule, some of them climb the ladder to attack point B, while the rest try to get through the stairs to the tab A. In such a situation, the counter-terrorists have a little more difficulty.

Another nuance is the bridge. CTs can easily control the bridge if some of the terrorists do not start attacking their position from the water. For the guys at the top, the first fear factor is stray bullets, the second is HE grenades.

de_chateau

Map de_chateau

De_chateau is a typical example of unbalanced maps where one of the sides obviously has an advantage. In this case, the CT team has the advantage.

All the main events of the game unfold on three fronts - the struggle for control of the bombplaces and the fight near the opening in the wall. With a proper alignment of forces, the terrorists will not be able to break through the defense, since in all positions they are inferior to their rivals.

Transit point for terrorists to enter the rear.

Tip: if you slowly leave the window shown in the figure, you step onto a thin ledge. On it you can get to the hillock, after which you can move to the opposite side of the mountain. Thus, you can not only catch the enemy by surprise, but also significantly speed up the time of moving from the window to the bookmark point located inside the building.

Like you, I really hope that immortal creations like de_inferno, de_nuke, de_storm, de_train, de_prodigy, cs_estate and cs_militia will appear soon. Although, given that all this goodness is already encrypted on my hard drive, then I just have to launch a decryption campaign ...

There are two more "maps" in the game: test_speakers, test_hardware. You can at least load them with the standard changelevel console command.

This is interesting: according to Eric Johnson from Valve Software, the studio is actively working on porting several classic levels to Counter-Strike: Source and creating one original map. They have already made one truly “original” map (we all remember de_airstrip). I hope their current development will be a little less "original".

The general impression of the change in Counter-Strike terrain: the depressing feeling that we were sent to a field exercise on a desert island, fenced on all sides by a wall, has disappeared. Of course, over time, all these barrels and broken cars that stand in your way will start to piss you off, but without them it was worse than with them.

Bots

Counter-Strike: Source, like Condition Zero, has built-in bots. To tweak the meager intelligence of virtual players, type bot_difficulty # (here # from 0 to 3). Below is a list of the main console commands for managing bots:

bot_add - add a bot;

bot_add_ct — add a bot to the counter-terrorist team;

bot_add_t — add a bot to the terrorist team;

bot_join_teamct — bots join only for the team of counter-terrorists;

bot_join_team t — bots join only for a team of terrorists;

bot_kill - kill all bots or a specific bot (enter its name);

bot_kick - remove all bots or a specific bot from the game (enter its name);

bot_quota# — total number of bots, where number # is from 1 to 32;

bot_knives_only 1 — bots play only with knives;

bot_pistols_only 1 — bots use only pistols;

From now on, the trick with discount bombs under the parapet will not work.

bot_snipers_only 1 — bots use only sniper rifles;

bot_all_weapons- all weapons;

bot_allow_grenades 1 - grenades;

bot_allow_machine_guns 1 - automatic machines;

bot_allow_pistols 1 - pistols;

bot_allow_rifles 1 - rifles;

bot_allow_shotguns 1 - shotguns;

bot_allow_snipers 1 - sniper rifles;

bot_allow_sub_machine_guns 1 - machine guns;

bot_zombie 1 — bots will not run and shoot;

bot_chatter off (minimal, radio, normal) - set the level of talkativeness of the bot;

bot_defer_to_human 0 — bots are trying to fulfill the goal of the game;

bot_stop 1 - freeze bots;

bot_memory_usage - displays (in the console) the amount of memory used for bots;

bot_show_nav — displays the boundaries of the navigation network;

bot_goto_mark - sends the bot to the specified navigation zone;

nav_mark — mark the current navigation zone for further use;

nav_save — save the current navigation network;

nav_load — load the navigation network.

Sorry for the bird! The missing chicken on cs_italy caused a storm of indignation among Counter-Strike fans. Players demand the return of the legendary bird and have already created a site www.bringbackthechickens.tk, which is designed to gather around itself all those dissatisfied with the lack of chicken. The authors of the resource are collecting signatures in a special petition, the text of which is given below: To: VALVE Bring back the chickens in cs_italy (put them in Counter-Strike: Source cs_italy). Sincerely." Interestingly, the creator of cs_italy DigiChaos on the side of the protesters. Most likely, Valve will satisfy the request of the workers, and the chicken will be returned to its historical homeland. Here are the results of the work of a PC operator with AK-47 skills. "Detailed" computer Global computerization and the rapid introduction of high technologies into everyday life have left their mark on cs_office. Nowadays, every child knows what a computer consists of. Naturally, Valve has not forgotten about this either. Realizing that the first thing people would do was test the interactivity of the new engine, the developers endowed computers with the ability to disintegrate into details. Shoot the pieces of iron on cs_office, and you will see how a sound card, cd-rom, RAM, a processor cooling device, a graphics adapter (it is clearly visible that this is a Radeon 9800), two hard drives and a motherboard fly out of the system unit in turn (AGP Socket 939). This changing world... One of the main components of an interesting game in Counter-Strike is a balanced map. With the release of Source, Valve pleased us with the news about the appearance of dynamically changing maps, the first of which was cs_havana. What is so special about these cards? Everything is extremely simple - every round some of the possible passages on the map will be blocked. That is, now teams cannot act the same way over and over again, because you never know in advance which path is open. I am sure that such innovations will cause resentment among professional players, but will add fun to the Internet servers. By the way, at the moment cs_havana is the only dynamically changing map. There is only one difference, but what a significant one! My life Here is the chronology of the development of Counter-Strike. Beta Version 1.0 - June 19, 1999 Beta Version 1.1 - June 27, 1999 Beta version 1.2 - July 20, 1999 Beta Version 2.0 - August 13, 1999 Beta Version 2.1 - August 17, 1999 Beta Version 3.0 - September 14, 1999 Beta Version 3.1 - September 16, 1999 Beta Version 4.0 - November 5, 1999 Beta Version 4.1 - December 1, 1999 Beta Version 5.0 - December 23, 1999 5.2 Beta - January 10, 2000 Beta Version 6.0 - March 10, 2000 Beta Version 6.5 - June 5, 2000 Beta Version 6.6 - June 22, 2000 Beta Version 7.0 - August 13, 2000 Beta Version 7.1 - August 26, 2000 Version 1.0 - November 8, 2000 Version 1.1 - March 10, 2001 Version 1.3 - September 19, 2001 Version 1.4 - April 24, 2002 Version 1.5 - June 12, 2002 Version 1.6 - September 15, 2003 Condition Zero - March 23, 2004

There is no crime in keeping people happy with a simple but polished gameplay for five years. But to hope that this formula will become the key to longevity for centuries ... According to statistics, the mass buyer is much more willing to purchase a puppy with a cute face than an outlandish breed with a non-standard appearance. Counter-Strike: Source resembles such a puppy with a bow around his neck, who has mastered a few modern tricks and uses all his charm to beg for a sweet bone.

I am not enthusiastically optimistic about the next reincarnation of Counter-Strike, and I really do not want the game, despite all its popularity, to complete its development without leaving evolutionary descendants.