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Inferno, Port, and the future of CS
Posted by MadHatter :: Fri 20th May 2005 :: 13 Comments
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Port - The scalability test
When I first played this map, the thing that really stood out was the size of it. Not just this, but the overall distance you can see in many place.
Port has become a scalability test for Counter-Strike: Source, seeing how much our current hardware can take.
Many of us screamed when we saw our FPS taking a nose-dive and landing just below 20 at points, and I'm sure Valve knew this would happen too. But as our underpowered computers start to improve we'll be sure to see the introduction of more maps like port.
Valve have always been about setting the benchmark and paving the way in games development, and port was Valve's way of dipping their big toe in the scalability bath-tub.
Was it successful?
Although only around 50% of computers were able to run port at an attractive FPS (40+), it certainly proved that larger environments are not limited by the source engine, but only by our aging computers. With this in mind Valve can begin to continue development work on the future face of counter-strike.
Size, Gameplay, Looks - The Balance
Counter-Strike has always grown up from a small-environment game, so port was a mould-breaker really. But is counter-strike, more importantly, it's players, ready for such a major change?
With the size increase of port gameplay changes drastically, to the point where it seems to feel like a different game. Long-range show-downs become the main form of combat in port, whereas most other maps tend to have a much more balanced blend of gameplay style.
Port attempted to bring this balance to the table with the use of its tunnel network, but in most of the games I've played the tunnels seem to be very under-used.
Maybe it's their dark and gloomy lighting, or their maze-like structure, but most players tend to only use the tunnels in an emergency situation.
I've tried using these tunnels as a primary strategy on many occasions, and I've found that they are only really useful for the Counter-Terrorists from the start of the round, they are mainly a covered method of getting into the warehouse. What the map really needed was an entrance into the tunnels nearer the Terrorist spawn-point. This would have encouraged both teams to use the tunnels more, and inevitably lead to more fast-paced close-quaters-combat.
Overall port has shown us that even large-scale environments are possible to run in Counter-Strike: Source, providing the gameplay still feels like Counter-Strike should.
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Posted by ||Xecutioner07|&# |
Nice article, I now know why my FPS is so bad too!
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Posted by kwejjk |
really nice article, maybe now CS will become more realistic... De_inferno someone ?
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Posted by arasse |
I see what you mean by the feal real environment. BUT with such narrow ways and so many camping spots the "public" gameplay is really aweful..
maybe something for the nextgen computers (70+ for me though)
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Posted by kwejjk |
yea, I tend to play to play on no sniper servers on port in public. That gives a more tactical feel to it.
pimpin'
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Posted by S@bre |
Sniping on Port can easily be solved. The tunnels allow targets to move quickly under cover to flank any snipers and dispose of them easily.
Trying to be a hunter-killer sniper on Port is exceptionally hard, sniping is best left for providing cover to teammates or objectives (one T with a Scout can cause mayhem for CT's trying to defuse on the tanker from the T spawn). Otherwise snipers are often killed very quickly.
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Posted by desol8 |
Dirty snipe fest? yes, i can get 20 kills on a 32 player server without dying simply from awp'ing through the spawn mesh fence on T's. Its really an unbalanced map, which always degrades into a game of who is better with the magnum
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Posted by lifer92 |
i hate inferno cuz i my ping skyrockets and thts not fun
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Posted by Jamie85 |
Any new articles coming soon?
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Posted by HonkZongo |
I agree: Too Big, unbalanced - nice look, but a and poor boring snipe fest, with me as the main cause.
Not the quick and thrilling flair of e.g. dust2 or italy
V A L V E m u s t r e s p e c t to k e e p CS's
o r i g i n s , don't they?!
Please ask for this in your next poll. : D
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Posted by dave bowman |
snipe fest? well perhaps, but its a effing game of infiltration, isnt it? and a maximum of 9 minutes per round is kind of a joke, isnt it? i mean, if i knew that there was a team of snipers out there, id try to work very carefully, and slowly with my team, wouldnt you? but cs doesnt really... support that. the game is designed to reward players for all kinds of wierd stuff that is not necessarily what would be rewarded on a battlefield, ya know. if you get in close to a sniper, you can pull his heart out, but act a clown 100 ft away and ****** take your brains. out door maps should be made LONGER. not square. its more realistic that way. the thing that bothers me about maps like de_port, its like somekind of 2dimensional world where your enemy can be behind you or infront of you, it doesnt matter, at anytime. combat is about trying to take control of a situation, not running around random trying to get lucky. its just not realistic.
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Posted by dave bowman |
btw, thats "he'll", as in '"he will" take your brains'. not an actual profanity, sorry to say.
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Posted by how do u like me now |
port is one of my fav maps ever i mean some r just unbeatable but a sick map 10/10
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Posted by Silent assasin |
yea when i first played port i loved it cause when i sniped i could just snipe like 10 players in 1 round but people camped and the person was never found until like 10 min that map is fun if every1 rushes
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