The title pretty much sums it up. A quarter of a century ago,
"Counterstrike" was aborn as a Half-Life mod. It's been going strong
ever since, and remains one of the most popular PC games since.

And, honestly, it's not that "Counterstrike" has reached 25 years that
I find so surprising, as that it's only six years older than Doom.
That's the era of games we're talking about. And yet it still
inexplicably remains a top-performer on Steam.

(Okay, not really so inexplicable. It's a fun game, sure, but it's
real draw is as the engine for the gambling industry that has grown up
around it. So long as it remains a viable source of income for so
many, it's never going to drop off the most-played charts).

I never really got into "Counterstrike". I'd burned myself out playing
online matches of "Doom" and "Duke Nukem" and "Quake" and "Unreal
Tournament" and by the time "Counterstrike" became anything but that
weird mod the kids in the corner were playing, I was distancing myself
from online gaming.

(I did play a bunch of "Tactical Ops", though, the long-forgotten
"Unreal Tournament" clone of "Counterstrike". Better graphics, better
bots, and smoother gameplay. But it lagged in maps and a smaller
development team meant it never achieved parity with its better known
"Half Life" rival).

And nowadays, even if I were able to show interest in the gameplay,
I'm so outside the community (and -lets be honest- aging reflexes mean
I couldn't compete with those damn whippersnappers anyway) that I'd
have a hard time getting back into the scene.

So I can't really get myself to care about "Counterstrike" anymore. It
was never really my game, and it certainly isn't offering me any
incentive to become my game today. But happy birthday anyway. Even if
it's for all the wrong reasons, remaining popular for 25 years is
something of an achievement.

I couldn't get this series. :(

Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

> The title pretty much sums it up. A quarter of a century ago,
> "Counterstrike" was aborn as a Half-Life mod. It's been going strong
> ever since, and remains one of the most popular PC games since.

> And, honestly, it's not that "Counterstrike" has reached 25 years that
> I find so surprising, as that it's only six years older than Doom.
> That's the era of games we're talking about. And yet it still
> inexplicably remains a top-performer on Steam.

> (Okay, not really so inexplicable. It's a fun game, sure, but it's
> real draw is as the engine for the gambling industry that has grown up
> around it. So long as it remains a viable source of income for so
> many, it's never going to drop off the most-played charts).

> I never really got into "Counterstrike". I'd burned myself out playing
> online matches of "Doom" and "Duke Nukem" and "Quake" and "Unreal
> Tournament" and by the time "Counterstrike" became anything but that
> weird mod the kids in the corner were playing, I was distancing myself
> from online gaming.

> (I did play a bunch of "Tactical Ops", though, the long-forgotten
> "Unreal Tournament" clone of "Counterstrike". Better graphics, better
> bots, and smoother gameplay. But it lagged in maps and a smaller
> development team meant it never achieved parity with its better known
> "Half Life" rival).

> And nowadays, even if I were able to show interest in the gameplay,
> I'm so outside the community (and -lets be honest- aging reflexes mean
> I couldn't compete with those damn whippersnappers anyway) that I'd
> have a hard time getting back into the scene.

> So I can't really get myself to care about "Counterstrike" anymore. It
> was never really my game, and it certainly isn't offering me any
> incentive to become my game today. But happy birthday anyway. Even if
> it's for all the wrong reasons, remaining popular for 25 years is
> something of an achievement.

--
"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." --Matthew 6:20. Is it time to go without Earth stuff yet? Incoming heat wave!
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/ /\ /\ \ Please nuke ANT if replying by e-mail.
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Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 15:56 this Friday (GMT):
>
> The title pretty much sums it up. A quarter of a century ago,
> "Counterstrike" was aborn as a Half-Life mod. It's been going strong
> ever since, and remains one of the most popular PC games since.
>
> And, honestly, it's not that "Counterstrike" has reached 25 years that
> I find so surprising, as that it's only six years older than Doom.
> That's the era of games we're talking about. And yet it still
> inexplicably remains a top-performer on Steam.
>
> (Okay, not really so inexplicable. It's a fun game, sure, but it's
> real draw is as the engine for the gambling industry that has grown up
> around it. So long as it remains a viable source of income for so
> many, it's never going to drop off the most-played charts).
>
> I never really got into "Counterstrike". I'd burned myself out playing
> online matches of "Doom" and "Duke Nukem" and "Quake" and "Unreal
> Tournament" and by the time "Counterstrike" became anything but that
> weird mod the kids in the corner were playing, I was distancing myself
> from online gaming.
>
> (I did play a bunch of "Tactical Ops", though, the long-forgotten
> "Unreal Tournament" clone of "Counterstrike". Better graphics, better
> bots, and smoother gameplay. But it lagged in maps and a smaller
> development team meant it never achieved parity with its better known
> "Half Life" rival).
>
> And nowadays, even if I were able to show interest in the gameplay,
> I'm so outside the community (and -lets be honest- aging reflexes mean
> I couldn't compete with those damn whippersnappers anyway) that I'd
> have a hard time getting back into the scene.
>
> So I can't really get myself to care about "Counterstrike" anymore. It
> was never really my game, and it certainly isn't offering me any
> incentive to become my game today. But happy birthday anyway. Even if
> it's for all the wrong reasons, remaining popular for 25 years is
> something of an achievement.

Yeah, the game is way too competitive for me to enjoy it. Of course,
CS "2" doesn't help either.
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
> I never really got into "Counterstrike". I'd burned myself out
> playing online matches of "Doom" and "Duke Nukem" and "Quake" and
> "Unreal Tournament" and by the time "Counterstrike" became anything
> but that weird mod the kids in the corner were playing, I was
> distancing myself from online gaming.
>

Neither did I. Back then I did not have internet at home, and seeing
literal kids obsessed with the game and reciting every weapon as if they
were the 151 "pockey-moons" was cringe enough to completely avoid it
when I finally got DSL at home.

I still play classic quake, though. I did buy CounterStrike: Source to
complete my collection of Valve games, but I have never played it. And
the less it's said about Global Ops or the new thing that came later,
the better.

On 6/21/2024 8:56 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
> The title pretty much sums it up.

Never heard of it.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 15:56 this Friday (GMT):
> >
> > The title pretty much sums it up. A quarter of a century ago,
> > "Counterstrike" was aborn as a Half-Life mod. It's been going strong
> > ever since, and remains one of the most popular PC games since.
> >
> > And, honestly, it's not that "Counterstrike" has reached 25 years that
> > I find so surprising, as that it's only six years older than Doom.
> > That's the era of games we're talking about. And yet it still
> > inexplicably remains a top-performer on Steam.
> >
> > (Okay, not really so inexplicable. It's a fun game, sure, but it's
> > real draw is as the engine for the gambling industry that has grown up
> > around it. So long as it remains a viable source of income for so
> > many, it's never going to drop off the most-played charts).
> >
> > I never really got into "Counterstrike". I'd burned myself out playing
> > online matches of "Doom" and "Duke Nukem" and "Quake" and "Unreal
> > Tournament" and by the time "Counterstrike" became anything but that
> > weird mod the kids in the corner were playing, I was distancing myself
> > from online gaming.
> >
> > (I did play a bunch of "Tactical Ops", though, the long-forgotten
> > "Unreal Tournament" clone of "Counterstrike". Better graphics, better
> > bots, and smoother gameplay. But it lagged in maps and a smaller
> > development team meant it never achieved parity with its better known
> > "Half Life" rival).
> >
> > And nowadays, even if I were able to show interest in the gameplay,
> > I'm so outside the community (and -lets be honest- aging reflexes mean
> > I couldn't compete with those damn whippersnappers anyway) that I'd
> > have a hard time getting back into the scene.
> >
> > So I can't really get myself to care about "Counterstrike" anymore. It
> > was never really my game, and it certainly isn't offering me any
> > incentive to become my game today. But happy birthday anyway. Even if
> > it's for all the wrong reasons, remaining popular for 25 years is
> > something of an achievement.

> Yeah, the game is way too competitive for me to enjoy it. Of course,
> CS "2" doesn't help either.

Don't forget CS:S(ource) that used HL2's engine like in The Orange Box. :)
--
"Noah did everything just as God commanded him." --Genesis 6:22. We all need to do the same! o/` The Heat is On o/`
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( )

H1MEM <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:
....
> I still play classic quake, though. I did buy CounterStrike: Source to
> complete my collection of Valve games, but I have never played it. And
> the less it's said about Global Ops or the new thing that came later,
> the better.

FYI. Quake 1 is 28 yrs. old according to https://x.com/daytechhistory/status/1804484489202000034. :O
--
"Noah did everything just as God commanded him." --Genesis 6:22. We all need to do the same! o/` The Heat is On o/`
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| |o o| |
\ _ /
( )

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote at 19:57 this Saturday (GMT):
> candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
>> Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 15:56 this Friday (GMT):
>> >
>> > The title pretty much sums it up. A quarter of a century ago,
>> > "Counterstrike" was aborn as a Half-Life mod. It's been going strong
>> > ever since, and remains one of the most popular PC games since.
>> >
>> > And, honestly, it's not that "Counterstrike" has reached 25 years that
>> > I find so surprising, as that it's only six years older than Doom.
>> > That's the era of games we're talking about. And yet it still
>> > inexplicably remains a top-performer on Steam.
>> >
>> > (Okay, not really so inexplicable. It's a fun game, sure, but it's
>> > real draw is as the engine for the gambling industry that has grown up
>> > around it. So long as it remains a viable source of income for so
>> > many, it's never going to drop off the most-played charts).
>> >
>> > I never really got into "Counterstrike". I'd burned myself out playing
>> > online matches of "Doom" and "Duke Nukem" and "Quake" and "Unreal
>> > Tournament" and by the time "Counterstrike" became anything but that
>> > weird mod the kids in the corner were playing, I was distancing myself
>> > from online gaming.
>> >
>> > (I did play a bunch of "Tactical Ops", though, the long-forgotten
>> > "Unreal Tournament" clone of "Counterstrike". Better graphics, better
>> > bots, and smoother gameplay. But it lagged in maps and a smaller
>> > development team meant it never achieved parity with its better known
>> > "Half Life" rival).
>> >
>> > And nowadays, even if I were able to show interest in the gameplay,
>> > I'm so outside the community (and -lets be honest- aging reflexes mean
>> > I couldn't compete with those damn whippersnappers anyway) that I'd
>> > have a hard time getting back into the scene.
>> >
>> > So I can't really get myself to care about "Counterstrike" anymore. It
>> > was never really my game, and it certainly isn't offering me any
>> > incentive to become my game today. But happy birthday anyway. Even if
>> > it's for all the wrong reasons, remaining popular for 25 years is
>> > something of an achievement.
>
>
>> Yeah, the game is way too competitive for me to enjoy it. Of course,
>> CS "2" doesn't help either.
>
> Don't forget CS:S(ource) that used HL2's engine like in The Orange Box. :)

Was it any good or was it another HL:S?
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

On Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:11:51 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:

>H1MEM <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:
>...
>> I still play classic quake, though. I did buy CounterStrike: Source to
>> complete my collection of Valve games, but I have never played it. And
>> the less it's said about Global Ops or the new thing that came later,
>> the better.
>
>FYI. Quake 1 is 28 yrs. old according to https://x.com/daytechhistory/status/1804484489202000034. :O

But that's not a round number! We only celebrate round numbers in
these parts!

(Well unless you count in Base 7.* Or Base 4.** Or Base 14.*** Or Base
28.**** Then I guess it's a round number. ;-)

The fact that Quake is 28 is less shocking to me. I think that's
because a) it's not really a game people play frequently, and b) it
LOOKS old. The three years between "Quake" and "Half Life" allowed a
lot of changes that resulted in one game still looking like something
I might play, and the other looking potato. Original "Quake" had a 256
color palette... and so many of those colors were brown. It wasn't a
good looking game in 1996, and it hasn't aged well at all.

I mean, yeah, original "Counterstrike" looks really rough too... but
it's got nothin' on how poorly "Quake" compares.

------
* due to a horrible accident with a threshing machine loppin' off
three fingers.
** due to a REALLY horrible accident with a threshing machine
*** due to... I dunno, your parents (and grandparents, and great
grandparents) being sister and brother?
**** due to... nope, I got nothin'

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candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
....
> >> Yeah, the game is way too competitive for me to enjoy it. Of course,
> >> CS "2" doesn't help either.
> >
> > Don't forget CS:S(ource) that used HL2's engine like in The Orange Box. :)

> Was it any good or was it another HL:S?

It looked prettier than original CounterStrike. ;P
--
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." --Romans 6:23. Hot!
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Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote at 17:02 this Sunday (GMT):
> On Sat, 22 Jun 2024 20:11:51 +0000, ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) wrote:
>
>>H1MEM <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:
>>...
>>> I still play classic quake, though. I did buy CounterStrike: Source to
>>> complete my collection of Valve games, but I have never played it. And
>>> the less it's said about Global Ops or the new thing that came later,
>>> the better.
>>
>>FYI. Quake 1 is 28 yrs. old according to https://x.com/daytechhistory/status/1804484489202000034. :O
>
>
> But that's not a round number! We only celebrate round numbers in
> these parts!
>
> (Well unless you count in Base 7.* Or Base 4.** Or Base 14.*** Or Base
> 28.**** Then I guess it's a round number. ;-)
>
>
> The fact that Quake is 28 is less shocking to me. I think that's
> because a) it's not really a game people play frequently, and b) it
> LOOKS old. The three years between "Quake" and "Half Life" allowed a
> lot of changes that resulted in one game still looking like something
> I might play, and the other looking potato. Original "Quake" had a 256
> color palette... and so many of those colors were brown. It wasn't a
> good looking game in 1996, and it hasn't aged well at all.
>
> I mean, yeah, original "Counterstrike" looks really rough too... but
> it's got nothin' on how poorly "Quake" compares.

Fair, but the original Half Life also had a lot of limitations fixed in
the Steam release.

> ------
> * due to a horrible accident with a threshing machine loppin' off
> three fingers.
> ** due to a REALLY horrible accident with a threshing machine
> *** due to... I dunno, your parents (and grandparents, and great
> grandparents) being sister and brother?
> **** due to... nope, I got nothin'

due to radiation
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

Ant <ant@zimage.comANT> wrote at 20:05 this Sunday (GMT):
> candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> wrote:
> ...
>> >> Yeah, the game is way too competitive for me to enjoy it. Of course,
>> >> CS "2" doesn't help either.
>> >
>> > Don't forget CS:S(ource) that used HL2's engine like in The Orange Box. :)
>
>> Was it any good or was it another HL:S?
>
> It looked prettier than original CounterStrike. ;P

fair
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

> The fact that Quake is 28 is less shocking to me. I think that's
> because a) it's not really a game people play frequently, and b) it
> LOOKS old. The three years between "Quake" and "Half Life" allowed a
> lot of changes that resulted in one game still looking like
> something I might play, and the other looking potato. Original
> "Quake" had a 256 color palette... and so many of those colors were
> brown. It wasn't a good looking game in 1996, and it hasn't aged well
> at all.
>
> I mean, yeah, original "Counterstrike" looks really rough too... but
> it's got nothin' on how poorly "Quake" compares.
>

The only Quake that ran poorly was the original Dos and Win versions. In
1998 I was playing GLquake on a 3dFX card with light sources, bumped up
color depth, texture filtering and animation interpolation.

Quake got "remastered" on KEX engine in 2021 and 2022, and that's what I
have been playing during the weekend. It looks beautiful, and the two
new episodes are pushing it up so much with things that were never
possible in 1.06 that it looked like a bridge between Quake and Doom
2016 (the starting level with all the red lights, burning candles...)

Thanks to the source ports, there's still a very active Quake Scene.

PS: Quake can use colors others than brown and green when it wants, as
it happens on the later levels. The community content went to the point
of doing open levels in dailight, with blue skies, animated scenarios,
huge castles with courtyards..

["Followup-To:" header set to alt.games.quake.]
On 2024-06-24, H1M3M <wipnoah@gmail.com> wrote:
> Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>
>> The fact that Quake is 28 is less shocking to me. I think that's
>> because a) it's not really a game people play frequently, and b) it
>> LOOKS old. The three years between "Quake" and "Half Life" allowed a
>> lot of changes that resulted in one game still looking like
>> something I might play, and the other looking potato. Original
>> "Quake" had a 256 color palette... and so many of those colors were
>> brown. It wasn't a good looking game in 1996, and it hasn't aged well
>> at all.
>>
>> I mean, yeah, original "Counterstrike" looks really rough too... but
>> it's got nothin' on how poorly "Quake" compares.
>>
>
> The only Quake that ran poorly was the original Dos and Win versions. In
> 1998 I was playing GLquake on a 3dFX card with light sources, bumped up
> color depth, texture filtering and animation interpolation.
>
> Quake got "remastered" on KEX engine in 2021 and 2022, and that's what I
> have been playing during the weekend. It looks beautiful, and the two
> new episodes are pushing it up so much with things that were never
> possible in 1.06 that it looked like a bridge between Quake and Doom
> 2016 (the starting level with all the red lights, burning candles...)
>
> Thanks to the source ports, there's still a very active Quake Scene.
>
> PS: Quake can use colors others than brown and green when it wants, as
> it happens on the later levels. The community content went to the point
> of doing open levels in dailight, with blue skies, animated scenarios,
> huge castles with courtyards..

I've been playing FTE Quake, as well as DarkPlaces in the past, and
this, along with some of the new mods like Arcane Dimensions give Quake
quite a visual boost. The pallet is still largely brown, but the game
renders much more complex, expansive and detailed environments with high
resolution and speed than what you saw in DOS. Quake Remastered takes
the engine to a level that you would have not though possible.

The scene is also still active, new levels are still being made. I
myself made one only a few years ago, using DS DumpTrucks progs-dump
mod.