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Half-Life Counter Strike Info
A lot of things about Counter-Strike 1.6's latest BETA remind me about the days when every version was BETA. We'd get new weapons and maps every major release, which helped change the dynamics of Counter-Strike time and time again. When the final version of CS 1.6 is released we can expect some pretty heavy balance changes due to the addition of a Counter-Terrorist riot shield, a Terrorist assault rifle with 35 rounds, and a CT rifle with the ability to burst. It's an exciting time for Counter-Strikers around the world.
Steam 2.0
To play the BETA version of Counter-Strike 1.6, you will have to download and install Steam 2.0. Steam 2.0 is scheduled to be released this Thursday (January 16th, 2003), so it's not that far off. It's important to note that due to how Steam 2.0 works, it will only be available to those on broadband connections. CS 1.6 final will work with a 56k modem, though.
Steam is a way for VALVe to circumvent the publisher and the retailer. On the publisher side, VALVe can instantly "push" patches onto clients, meaning that Sierra (the publisher of Half-Life and CS Retail) doesn't have to give approval for patches that go through Steam. For the retailer, VALVe will be able to sell games through Steam, thus taking in more profits. VALVe, of course, doesn't want to keep this boon to themselves: seemingly any game developer can make their product compatible with Steam, bypassing any publisher and retailer restrictions. By that I mean money that goes to publishers and retailers can now either be saved by you or, more likely, be given straight to the developer.
Shield on.
Shield off.
Counter-Strike 1.6 will be the last "traditional update" to Counter-Strike. We previously believed (and stated, based on older interviews) that 1.6 would see the integration of Steam and CS/HL, but that will happen for CS 1.7.
Installing Steam is a simple process. Like Steam 1.0, this new version uses a non-standard GUI but acts like a normal Windows program. Double clicking Steam's taskbar icon (in the "notification area") opens a Steam menu. This menu's functionality can also be accessed by right clicking on the Steam icon. The three main functions are "Friends," "Games" and "Servers"
Friends, formerly known as Tracker, is a nice instant message program that lets you chat with friends and join whatever game they're playing at the moment. You can even chat while you're playing the game! Friends is really one of the cooler parts of Steam, but I can't write much about it. The program does what it does very well.
Games downloads and launches a game. The download will take a few minutes. This is a good way to download CS initially and change some settings around. Servers is a server browser. This is the same browser that is used in-game.
So, how does this all fit into the gaming experience? Continue on to find out!
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Copyright © 2003 Derek M. & Kenneth E.. All Rights Reserved