Site updated:06-Jan-2001 10:28:00

Getting Started


After installing Counter-Strike, you will want to activate it through the Half-Life menu. To do this, choose ‘custom game’ from the initial Half-Life menu, then select Counter-Strike from the list that appears. Choose ‘activate’ and you should notice that the appearance of the menus has changed.

The next thing you will want to do is familiarize yourself with the mapping of the game controls on your keyboard/mouse. Choose ‘configuration->controls’ and look over the default keyboard configuration. To change any of the default mappings, double-click on the key/button field in the window. You will then be able to enter your desired key for that function. (A warning; if the new key/button was previously mapped to another function, you will need to select a new key for that function, as it will no longer have a key mapping).

If you have no previous experience with Half-Life, it is strongly recommended that you play the excellent tutorial included with that game. See the ‘Controls’ section below for a description of what each game control does.

The Scenarios

Hostage Rescue
As a terrorist, your role in a hostage rescue level is to prevent counter-terrorists (CTs) from leading the hostages from where they are being held to the hostage rescue zone. Terrorists win hostage rescue rounds by eliminating the counter-terrorist force while preventing them from rescuing hostages.

CTs win a round by finding the hostages and leading more than half of them to freedom. CTs can get the attention of a hostage by moving near him then pressing their ‘Use’ key (see Controls, Use). The hostage will now follow the CT back to the rescue zone. If a CT wants the hostage to stop following, they need to press ‘Use’ again and the hostage will stay put. Sometimes when you have a group of hostages following you, they may block you into an area; you can push them out of the way by simply walking into them. CTs can also win a round by eliminating the terrorists.

Bomb/Defuse
In a bomb/defuse map, the goal of the terrorist is to plant a C4 bomb in the designated area then prevent the CTs from defusing the bomb. Players must remember to stay well clear of the bomb when it explodes, as it has a large and deadly blast radius. The bomb is randomly assigned to a terrorist at the start of the round. Team members can identify the bomb carrier by the backpack they are wearing and the player with the bomb will see an icon on their Heads Up Display (see HUD, bomb carrier). To plant the bomb, the carrier must be in the vicinity of the bombing target. While having the bomb as their currently selected item, the player must then press and hold their fire key (see Controls, Fire) for three seconds for the bomb to be planted. The bomb will go off after a set period of time has passed (45 seconds by default). The level is won by the terrorists when the bomb explodes (maximum payoff) or if the CT team is eliminated (smaller payoff).

CTs can win a defuse map in two ways: by defusing the bomb or by eliminating the Terrorists (if the Terrorists managed to plant the bomb before being eliminated, CTs must still defuse the bomb to win the round). To defuse the bomb, CTs must stand near the bomb, target it then press and hold their ‘use’ key until the bomb is defused. Buying a defuse kit will halve the time required to defuse a bomb.

Escape
The terrorist team starts out in a fortified location and must "escape" to one of the pre-defined escape points. The CT's must exterminate them before they can escape. The Terrorists win the round once 50% of the team has successfully escaped. They can also break into the armory to steal weapons, or just get out of there. The two teams will switch roles after every 8 rounds of play. Both sides can also win the scenario if they manage to wipe the opposition team out.

Assassination
One member of the CT team will serve as the VIP. The object is to get the VIP safely to the pre-defined escape points. If he dies, the CT's lose the round. If he makes it safely, the CT's win. The VIP has a unique skin, only carries a knife and pistol, and has ample body armor. 

The terrorist job is to assassinate the VIP, but with the other CT's guarding the VIP it is never an easy task.

Certain weapons cannot be purchased by each team in this gameplay scenario, and these will be grayed out on the weapon selection screen.

Money

Various events in the course of a Counter-Strike game can earn you money (to a maximum of $16000) or cost you money. This money can be used to buy better equipment. The following is a summary of these events and their associated cost:

Money can be spent on weapons whenever the player is standing in a buy zone. This is indicated by the presence of the buy icon on the Heads Up Display (see HUD below).

Game Flow

Prior to the round starting, there is a variable grace period (the server can change this, but it defaults to five seconds) during which players cannot move but may buy equipment and weapons. Each round of Counter-Strike lasts for five minutes. If neither team has won after this time the round is considered a win depending on the scenario:

- Hostage: If after the round ends and there is at least 1 player left on both teams, and not all the hostages have been rescued then the game will be a win for the terrorists.
- Bomb / Defuse: If the round ends, with the bomb having not blown up a target, and there is still at least 1 player left on both sides the CT's will win. 
- Escape: If the round ends, with at least 1 player alive on both teams, and less than 50% of the terrorists have escape, the CT's will win.
- Assassination: If the round ends, with players left on both teams and the VIP has not reached the escape point, the terrorists win. 

When a player is killed during a round they will enter an observer mode until the next round. While in observer mode, they can fly around the level and watch the action. There are three types of observer modes. The first is ghost mode, where the player can freely fly around the level unobstructed by anything. The second is locked chasecam. While in locked chasecam you will be locked behind the player you are observing. The third is freelook chasecam, in this mode you can freely swing the camera around the player you are observing. While in the observer modes you can use the jump key (see Controls, Jump) to switch between the three modes and the fire button (see Controls, Fire) to switch from one player to the next. If a player joins into a game when a round is already in progress, they will be immediately placed into observer mode until the current round ends.

Controls

The following is a list of he player controls, their default keyboard/mouse mapping and a description of what each does.

Weapons & Equipment

Weapons are divided into three categories: Primary (Rifles, Shotguns, Sub-Machine Guns and Machine Guns), Secondary (Handguns) and Melee (Knife). Equipment such as hand-grenades and defusing kits have their own category. Players may only carry one item at a time in each of these categories except equipment, which can have several items at once. Some weapons may also have a special action (see Controls, Special Weapon Function); these are listed in the table below.

Primary Weapons

Name	Cost	Notes
Benneli M3 Super90	$1700	Shotgun
Benneli XM1014	$3000	Full Auto Shotgun
H&K MP5-Navy	$1500	Sub-Machine Gun
Steyr Tactical	$1250	Machine Pistol
FN P90	$2350	Sub-Machine Gun
Ingram MAC-10	$1400	Sub-Machine Gun
AK-47	$2500	Available to Terrorists only
Colt M4A1 Carbine	$3100	Available to Counter-Terrorists only, use special function key to toggle silencer
Steyr AUG	$3500	Available to Counter-Terrorists only, use special function key to toggle scope
Sig SG-552 Commando	$3500	Use special function key to toggle scope
Steyr Scout	$2750	Sniper Rifle-use special function key to toggle scope
AI Arctic Warfare/Magnum	$4750	Sniper Rifle-use special function key to toggle scope
H&K G3/SG-1	$5000	Sniper Rifle- special function key to toggle scope
FN M249 Para	$5750	Full sized machine gun

Secondary Weapons

Name	Cost	Notes
H&K USP .45 Tactical	$500	Default CT weapon, , use special function key to toggle silencer
Glock 18 Select Fire	$400	Default Terrorist weapon. Special action key toggles between burst fire and semi-automatic
Desert Eagle .50 AE	$650	High caliber Pistol
SIG P228	$600	Pistol
Dual Beretta 96G	$1000	Dual Pistols

Knife

Equipment

Name	Cost	Notes
Kevlar vest	$650	Protects chest region
Kevlar vest and Helmet	$1000	Protects chest and head
Night vision goggles	$1250	Enhances vision in darkness
Concussion Grenades	$200	i.e. Flashbang. Temporarily blinds everyone in the vicinity
HE Grenade	$300	Traditional Grenade
Smoke grenades	$300	Releases a carpet of black smoke
Defuse Kit	$200	Available to Counter-Terrorists Only, On Bomb Maps Only

Heads Up Display (HUD)

Whilst playing you will always see the HUD. On the HUD you'll see:

TOP OF HUD - left to right

Radar - Useful for seeing the approximate location of your team mates. You will see five symbols on the radar:

• A purple dot = Team mate.

• A red dot = Location of the VIP (Shown only to CT's in assassination scenarios) / Bomb carrier (Shown to only to terrorists in bomb / defuse scenarios).

• A T shape =  Indicates your tame mate is a level above you.

• A upside down T shape = Indicates your team mate is a level below you.

• A yellow square = A team mate has activated a radio command.

Weapon / equipment selection menu - Will show the weapon you select. Upon selecting a weapon the menu will flash for only 5 seconds to show the weapon you select then disappear. Default keys for the weapons & equipment are:

• 1 - Primary weapon (Large guns)

• 2 - Secondary weapon (Pistols)

• 3 - Knife

• 4 - Grenades

• 5 - Bomb (Available only to the terrorist who carries the bomb in the bomb / defuse scenario)

Flashlight - All Counter-Strike players are equipped with a flashlight. Toggle it on and off by pressing the flashlight key (see Controls, flashlight). When your flashlight is on other players will see the area surrounding you glowing brightly.

BOTTOM OF HUD - left to Right

Health Meter - You will start a round with 100 units of health, and die when your health reaches zero.

Armor level - Two types of armor can be purchased; a kevlar vest or a vest paired with a helmet. The helmet is moderately affective at reducing damage when hit in the head.

Round Timer - Counts down from 5 minutes (the server can change this, but it defaults to five minutes). A round ends when either the objective of the round has been completed, i.e. in Bomb / defuse scenarios the bomb has blown, or if all the players on a team have been eliminated. If the timer reaches zero with neither the objective being completed or all players on one team having been eliminated then, depending on the scenario one side will automatically win. (see GameFlow, list).

Ammo Indicator - Your current ammo count is displayed in the lower right hand area, under the cash display. Ammo is broken up into two separate counts: the number of shots in your clip, and the number in your inventory. When your clip is exhausted, it is automatically reloaded for you. If you would like to reload before your clip before it is empty press your reload key. (see Controls, Reloading).

Cash - Your current account balance. Additions to the cash balance are briefly shown above the balance in green numbers. Fines and penalties are shown in red.

MIDDLE LEFT OF HUD 

Depending on your location you will not see all of these icons on the HUD. All these icons are colored green:

Basket (Buy Zone)- This means your in your 'buy zone'. Here pressing your buy key (default B) will give you access to the buy menu where you will be able to buy weapons, ammo, and equipment.

R (Hostage rescue Zone) - When a counter-terrorist is at the spot where hostages must be delivered, this icon will appear.

V (VIP escape point) - When a counter-terrorist or VIP is at the spot where the VIP must reach to escape, this icon will appear.

E (Terrorist escape point) - When a terrorist is at the spot where the terrorist can 'escape', this icon will appear.

Bomb - This will only be seen by a terrorist who is carrying the bomb in the bomb / defuse scenario. When the bomb carrier is within the bomb delivery zone, this icon will flash.

Defuse kit - The icon looking like a pair of wirecutters, will appear on the HUD of any CT player that has bought a Defuse Kit.

Scoreboard - Seen when pressing the score key (default key, tab). The scoreboard lists all the latest game statistics and player status. Information on the scorecard tells you who is dead or alive, who is carrying the bomb, player kills and deaths, latency and team scores.

 

Hints

Sound, Pros and Cons
Stealth is vitally important in Counter-Strike. When a player runs at full tilt (which is the default), their footsteps can be heard. To prevent this, use the walk key (see Controls, Walk) when trying to avoid detection. Also be wary of doors, ladders and elevators. These will often emit a sound that may give you or your enemies position away.

Life is Precious
Counter-Strike strives for realism. Running into a firefight all gung-ho will generally get you killed. The player can only sustain a few bullet shots before dying, depending on the type of gun (ammunition actually) being shot with, and the condition and presence of kevlar. There are also one hit kills in CS. Most guns can kill a player in one shot if they connect with the head. Savvy CS players, will take cover as often as possible and use their surroundings to their advantage. Working with your teammates to bring the enemy down is encouraged and necessary to beat the other team. Keep in mind, you only get one life per round in CS. If you die, you will be put into Observer mode until the round is over.

Know Your Gun
Counter-Strike has realistically modeled weaponry. If you run and fire at the same time, your accuracy will be horrible (changes with different guns), Standing still increases accuracy and crouching is even better. Also be aware of the guns recoil, holding down the trigger isn’t as effective as short quick bursts. It is also important to know that all the rifles can shoot through walls to some extent. The Para Machine Gun, and the Desert Eagle Pistol can as well.

Map Voting System (New to beta6.5)
There is now a way for players to vote for maps. Players can type 'listmaps' to see the maps available to vote on, and then they type 'votemap X' where X is the corresponding number of the map. Only after a certain number of players have voted for the map which one player has started a vote on, will the sever change map.

Note: Server admins who want to add new maps must also add an entry into mapcycle.txt, that allows players to vote on any new maps.

Advanced users

Console Commands
These can be entered during the game by typing them in the console. The default key to bring down the console is <`>(the tilde key ~). The following is a list of all available Counter Strike specific console commands

Server Options
These types of commands are generally called CVARS. The following CVARS are only accessible by the server. To find the status of a CVAR, enter its name. To change it, enter its name, leave a space, and then enter the new value. Note: some of these do not take effect until the round restarts.

mp_limitteams (default 2)
Maximum number of players that one team can have over the other. To entirely disable team limiting, set to 0.

sv_restartround (default 0 sec)
Time until the game restarts fresh, or 0 to not restart. This will reset all frags, scores, weapons and money to default. Use this to coordinate clan matches.

mp_autokick (default 1)
Enable automatic team-killer banning and idle client kicking.

mp_chasecam (default 0)
Limit observers to chase modes.

mp_ghostfrequency (default 0.1 sec)
Ghost update period. How long in seconds until the next update. Increase to reduce lag.

mp_c4timer (default 45 sec)
C4 timer duration. Minimum of 15, maximum of 90.

mp_freezetime (default 6 sec)
The length in seconds of the Freeze period at the beginning of rounds. Set to 0 to disable.

mp_roundtime (default 5 min)
The maximum length a round can last, in minutes. Minimum of 3, maximum of 15.

mp_friendlyfire (default 0)
Set to 1 to enable friendly fire, 0 to disable.

mp_timelimit (default 0 min)
Period between map rotations.

mp_footsteps (default 1)
Set to 1 to enable footsteps, 0 to disable.

mp_flashlight (default 1)
Set to 1 to enable the use of flashlights, 0 to disable.

sv_sendvelocity (default 0)
Set to 1 to enable complex server physics and decals ( for low lag situations), 0 to disable.

mp_tkpunish 0/1 (New to beta6.5)
if set to 1, TK'ers will sit out next round

mp_hostagepenalty X (New to beta6.5)
X = max. number of hostages you can kill before the server boots you out... setting this to 0 will shut off this command

mp_logmessages 0/1 (New to beta6.5)
used for server admins to spit out chat messages in their log files

mp_forcechasecam 0/1 (New to beta6.5)
Setting this to 1 will force chasecam to be teammate only
(useful for LAN games)

Client Options
Anyone can use these to alter their personal settings.

cl_observercrosshair (default 1)
Set to 1 to enable crosshairs in Observer mode, 0 to disable.

cl_hidefrags (default 1)
Set to 1 to hide all frag/death counts on the Scoreboard but your own, 0 to show.

hud_centerid (default 0)
Set to 1 to center auto-ID text on screen, 0 to have auto-ID text in the bottom left corner.

lefthand (default 1)
Set to 1 to use left hand, 0 to use right.

max_shells X (New to beta6.5)
X = maximum number of shells at one time

max_smokepuffs X (New to beta6.5)
X = max. number of smoke puffs at one time

fastsprites X  (New to beta6.5)
x = 0 : regular transparent smoke grenade sprites
x = 1 : simple transparent smoke grenade sprites (default)
x = 2 : VERY simple transparent smoke grenade sprites

adjust_crosshair (New to beta6.5)
Each time you type this into the console your crosshair changes colour. There are 5 colours to choose from.

con_color (New to beta6.5)
Change the colour of your HUD. Like con_color "256 256 256" numeric values can be found by looking in most paint packages.

timeleft  (New to beta6.6)
Tells you how much time is left on the map

setinfo vgui_menus X (New to beta7)
{X = 0 or 1, 0 disables VGUI menus, 1 enables VGUI menus}
(also available through the "Play CS" > "Customize" menu)

*Note: If the buy weapon system malfunctions, disable the vgui
through the "Play CS" > "Customize" menu

Infokey settings. Type "setinfo" to check the status of all infokey settings. To change one, type "setinfo <keyname> <value>".

InfoKey Keynames

dm (default 1)
Set to 1 to display map briefings after loading new levels, 0 to disable.

ghosts (default 0)
Set to 1 to see ghosts when in Observer mode, 0 to disable. Disabling ghosts can potentially improve lag in high lag situations.

ah (default 1)
Set to 1 to enable auto-help, 0 to disable. Auto-help gives the player hint messages throughout the game.

 

Credits

CS Team

Barking Dog Studios

Special Thanks

S.A.S