First Look at Age of Empires and Counter Strike

I have seen people who said "Age of Empires - aaahh enough man" and "Counter Strike - childs play"

There is no need to mention that the most active games for an year at least in the great LANs around the world are Counter Strike and Age of Empires.

The graphics of Counter Strike 1.6 are worst to compare with Counter Strike Source. But what matters is game play right.

Download Maps and Demos for CS1.6

Here are some of the methods by which you can find the Demos and Maps Downloads for Counter Strike 1.6. The search engines will help you find the maps and demos in minutes. Type the keywords exactly as shown below,

For Maps - Use the search format below,
keywords: index of /cstrike/maps

For Demos - Use this search format
keywords: filetype:dem [map names]

Here are some websites with maps,

• www.huskygaming.com/cstrike/maps/
• www.velocity-servers.net/redirect/cstrike/maps/
• www.counterstrike.ultra-boards.net/cstrike/maps/
• download.extream.ro/cstrike/maps/
• www.geclan.net/cstrike/maps/
• mugsymalone.com/cstrike/maps/ 
• cs.gamer.uz/cstrike/maps/
• www.cs-source.lt/cstrike/maps/

If you want to share more links where you want to share your demos or maps, you can share them here in this page as a comment to this post. Keep in mind to add counter strike 1.6 word in the search if you want to exclude any Counter Strike:Source maps and demos.

DigitalZone Counter Strike 1.6/Source with Valve Counter Strike

I wrote a post on Counter Strike 1.7 and 1.8 previously, in which I have mentioned the versions and updates of original Counter Strike releases. You can see that post at Counter Strike Thread

You might have seen many skins and models in Counter Strike game. You can change weapon appearances and all. Counter Strike such a game where you can edit all the files of the game as you like. The sound files, models, and config files are not encrypted. You can change them to what ever you like unofficially. The only thing is that, what ever you are doing would be only for you and would not change any one else's look even if you host the server. But there is a procedure to add more sounds or looks to the game if you are hosting the server. These modifications can be done by the plugins and addons.

Coming to the DigitalZone's Counter Strike 1.6 and Counter Strike: Source. These can only be modifications of the game and may be taken as completely same game technically. And you are asking about this game's feasibility in playing on Steam, it is possible as long as only the sounds, graphics and models are changed. If you have the same dll files, which are the core for steam to decide what game is yours, you dont need to worry. I have not seen the game by myself but have found from some one else. So, what I wrote here is what I thought about it and I may be wrong. Don't take this as authentic.

The DigitalZone's Counter Strike 1.6 video is available with DigitalPowered.info

If you want to share some information about this, you can comment to this post which would be helpful for the coming visitors to get a cleat idea on what are the changes in the game and what is completely same.

And if you want to ask which game should to try. I cannot answer as I have a different view point than yours. So, just try to explain what you liked and what not.

Counter Strike Hamachi Networks List - Join for CS1.6/CZ

Know about Hamachi:
Hamachi is a LAN Gaming application which will create a Local Area Network over Internet. It also supports computers under proxy servers. The technical process goes like this, the application should be downloaded and installed, it is Hamachi LogMeIn. The installed application will create a virtual LAN over the Internet. A separate IP will be given to each of the computer which uses Hamachi application.

Join Networks:
To join networks, you need to click on the create or join network button present in the bottom right corner of the application.

These are some of the networks which are created very recently,

Password for all the networks is 1.

1. cs24x7
2. 24x7cs
3. 24x7cs_0
4. 24x7cs_1
5. 24x7cs_2
6. 24x7cs_3
7. 24x7cs_4
8. 24x7cs_5
9. 24x7cs_6
10. 24x7cs_7
11. 24x7cs_8
12. 24x7cs_9

If the network is full, leave the network before going offline so that other new players can join and play the game. You might have got the slot in the same way too. So do it!

Creating Shorcuts for Counter Strike and Condition Zero With HL.EXE

The HL.EXE can be used to create shortcuts for the games Counter Strike and Condition Zero. This is to avoid the every time change game menu. The procedure is as explained,

Create a shortcut for the hl.exe anywhere. The shortcut should be edited by going to its properties. There the path of the hl.exe will be shown, just add few lines to it as shown below,

"c:\....\...\...\hl.exe" -game cstrike -nomaster
"c:\....\...\...\hl.exe" -game czero -nomaster

The first part of the above line up to hl.exe will be there in the shortcut and just the next parameter are to be added, now the name of the shortcut can just be changed to cstrike or czero and when ever the game is opened through that shortcut the respective game is opened directly.

Counter Strike Captions and Material for Designing a Clan T-Shirt

If you are trying to make a clan t-shirt for your counter strike clan. Here is a small image which can help you.
The Lock n Load image should be on the side of the arms of the t-shirt. That looks good. And the picture below would come in front.


The above two images are made by editing the image below in Microsoft Paint. This is done by earasing the whole brown map around the scope. If you think photoshop can do it simpler, you are an expert with photo shop and i am not so.


These images can be used to place the names of the clan on the T-Shirt. The players names will fit in the gap provided. You can see how it can be done,
The players of the clan are MAC, Temp, ToPH, Prongs and Pranay. You can place your names in these places. And the red name like above indicates player. Each player will have his name highlighted in that circle. The font of the text is Viner Hand ITC.

Here is an image which is better for the back side of the t-shirt,

The font of the text "ToPH" is Old English Text and the flames and images are from the google image search. Thaks to google. ToPH here is the player name.This image shown above is the front of the t-shirt. The name in red is slayers and it is using the parchemnt font. This font has very complex shapes for upper case letters and simple for lower case letters. Again all the images are from the web and thanks to the web. The design is done in microsft office 2007.

The next time you are playing a clan match in your college, be ready to surprise others.

Here are some Captions I thought of for Counter Strike T-Shirts,

• If you wonder why any one says everyday is not sunday, it because I am busy sleeping on sundays.
• Have your breakfast before I am hungry.
• If you were killed by that, I am sorry I cant drop that weapon.
• Best time for you to play Counter Strike is when I am busy sleeping.
• AMX is busy making a plugin for auto disconnect for noobs when I join the server.
• If the server wants the teams to be balaced, dont use autoteambalance, because server cant count me as 3 as players do.
• My enemies are asking the valve to introduce buy only helmet option. They are cautious of both money and me.
• Luck may take you to other site than i was standing, but it cant save you.
• I wonder why to buy ammo, there are only five in the other team.
  

Halo vs Mario and Need For Speed vs Counter Strike

The search terms around the world say that the Halo game is very popular from around 2004 itself and from that very time, the game Mario was a more popular search term.

Halo vs Mario

The image also shows the search information of the other games like Counter Strike and Need For Speed in Google trends. The live stats can be seen at Google Trends.

The keyword Counter Strike is much more searched than NFS. But with time the number of searches for Counter Strike is decreasing and the of NFS is almost constant.

OpenGL vs Direct3D Video Modes for Counter Strike

There are three different modes of Video output in Win XP. These are Direct3D, OpenGL and Software mode. The Software mode will run by making the video output into fragments and directly showing it as a picture or a user interface. The D3D and OpenGL are bit recommended modes for Video Output. The Software mode takes its turn when there is no possiblity for OpenGL and some incompatibility issues.

Linux uses OpenGL as there is no Direct3D option. But when there is an option for Windows PCs to have Direct3D, it is better because it is said to be faster than OpenGL. But the factor in these days not the configuration. So, OpenGL can be used for better quality of the Output Video.

OpenGL poses shows some incompatibility on Windows PCs without Graphic Cards, but there wont be any problem using the Direct3D option for 3D Gaming.

The game Counter Strike allows the users to select the required Video mode to play in. The option is shown in the Video Tab of the options window. If a user thinks his PC is slow and is resulting in low FPS, they can always switch to D3D. Also, sometimes the game Counter Strike directly reports some message after opening the application Counter Strike and return to Software mode of Video Output. The Software mode of Video output for the game Counter Strike will not have the Option to change alignment to right handed. So, the final option of the Video mode is Direct3D.

Counter Strike Joystick, Keyboard and Mouse

As you know you can have joystick for gaming in Counter Strike. So there can be a great difference between the joystick play and Keyboard and mouse play.

The main controls being Look around, fire, jump, reload, the better idea would be to practice the game with Keyboard and Mouse itself. As though a joystick cannot be used for all the controls because many keys need to be pressed at once. But players who already have good control over the joystick play can make it really good.

All the professional players do use Keyboard and mouse itself. May be you can have the combination of both instead of just joystick which i don't know much about.

With a joystick, aiming will be a greatest problem. When you are using a joystick, you need to hold it with two hands which makes you to use the joystick itself and no other device. But if you are using keyboard and mouse, you can hold them seperately.

Binding a key in Half Life - Counter Strike - Must Haves of a CS 1.6 Listen Server

Binding a key in Half Life - Counter Strike means just assigning a command to the keyboard keys.

Console: Console is the interface where you can give a command. You can get the console by tapping the "`" key, the key left to "1" key.

You can bind the keys using the console commands. Or if you want the keys to be used permanently you can add the commands in the config.cfg in the cstrike folder.

This is the command to bind a key. bind
Ex: bind p "say hello"
Meaning assingn the command "say hello" to key "p".

Sample commands in the console:

1. bind p "say hello" - when ever you tap the p key, it says hello in the chat.
2. bind kp_del "sv_restart 1" - When ever you tap "del" in the Numpad it will restart the server.
3. bind kp_5 "record map1" - Record a demo named map1.dem

So, this is how you bind a key.

The commands that a Counter Strike Listen Server must have to be used very frequently.

1. amxmodmenu - Brings up AMX MOD X Menu (Requires AMX Addon)
2. clanmodmenu - Brings up ClanMod Menu (Requires Clan Mod)
3. amx_menu - Brings up client command Menu
4. amx_gungame_vote - Brings up a vote for GunGame
5. wc3_enable - Enables warcraft 3 Mod
6. war3menu - Brings up Warcraft 3 Menu
7. skillsinfo - Used to see own skills (In case of Warcraft Mod)
8. playerskills - Shows other players skills (In case of Warcraft Mod)
9. ultimate - uses ultimate skill (In case of Warcraft Mod)
10. shopmenu - brings up power buy menu (In case of Warcraft Mod)
11. shopmenu2 - brings up power buy menu2 (In case of Warcraft Mod)
12. wc3_disable - Disables warcraft 3 Mod
13. csdm_enable - Enables Counter Strike Death Match
14. csdm_disable - Disables Counter Strike Death Match

For Plugins Download and Installation serach the blog. Site Search is the best way of navigation.

You can bind these to the following keys in the Numpad as shown,

1. bind kp_home csdm_enable
2. bind kp_leftarrow csdm_disable
3. bind kp_uparrow amx_gungame_vote
4. bind kp_pgup wc3_enable
5. bind kp_rightarrow wc3_disable

The Listen Server becomes so easy to operate that you will lose no time opening the console.

You can bind keys to chagelevels, change other setttings of the game.

For some more help... comment here...

Installing Plugins for AMX MOD X and Compiling AMX MOD X Source files

Installation and Compiling AMX MOD X Plugins

Plugins like Counter Strike Death Match, GunGame, Warcraft, Clan Match, Pychostats are to be installed in the amx folders to get the plugin running this is done in the following way...

Most Played Plugins:

1. Counter Strike Death Match
2. GunGame
3. Warcraft3 Frozen Throne
4. Warcraft3 Ultimate

Folders:

>Valve

>>czero

>>cstrike

>>>addons

>>>>amxmodx

>>>>>>configs

plugins.ini

modules.ini

>>>>>>plugins

*.amxx files (actual usage)

>>>>>>scripting

*.sma files (source files)

>>>>>>compiled

*.amxx files (output files)

These are the folders you get when you install AMX MOD X in your Counter Strike server. The tree should appear like this.

Now, if you want to install any plugin, you need to to get the package first. Any normal installation includes running an executable file to install the required package. But in the case of the counter strike addons it is not simple. Of course it is simple to install these packages. The package generally contains a source file and a compiled file. The source file is .sma file, and te compiled file is .amxx file.

The home of all the source files is SCRIPTING folder under the AMX MOD X folder of ADDONS of CSTRIKE. That is C:\Program Files\Valve\Cstrike\Addons\Amxmodx\Scripting\*.sma files

Compiling:

1. In the SCRIPTING folder, there is an executable file called "compile.exe" and a folder called "Compiled".
2. Put the *.sma files in the scripting folder.
3. Run the compile.exe file
4. Go to Compiled folder
5. Get the *.amxx files

Installing:

1. Put the *.amxx files in Plugins folder under amxmodx folder.
2. The filename of the plugin should be added to "plugins.ini" in configs folder of amxmodx folder. For example "csdm_main.amxx" is to be added to the "plugins.ini" file to start deathmatch, where the plugin exists in the plugins folder.
3. Add each line for each plugin in plugins.ini file in configs folder of amxmodx.
4. The plugins.ini file is the connection between plugins and amxmodx.
5. to remove the plugin, there is no need to remove the complete filename, just add ";" in front of the file name in "plugins.ini" folder.
6. Looks like this ";csdm_main.amxx"

This is how you add plugins to AMX MOD X.

For example, try compiling the death match plugin source and run Counter Strike death match in your server. Try installing GunGame on your server by compiling the source which you get in a package. To get the Counter Strike-Death Match, and GunGame complete help see my blog pages. Use the search.

Counter Strike and Condition Zero - Strategies Tips and Settings

Let us assume that a player is new to Counter Strike. Just after he and starts play for a day or two, he thinks he needs to change the sensitivity of the mouse. He thinks that this makes him faster as the mouse moves faster. But you know, he wont be able to make it better. This is because he cannot be accurate. He can aim at his enemies well but just after the enemy moves a short distance the crosshire starts to go somewhere as it is very difficult to move snall distance with high sensitivity. If you want to move crosshire an inch, it works with high sensitivity. But if you want to move the cross hire an mm, it doesnot work with high sensitivity. This is the case where you need to go for lower sensitivity.

Advantages of lower mouse sensitivity in Counter Strike:

• As you try to aim faster, you try to move along as the cross hire does not move faster with mouse alone.
• As you move to adjust the cross hire to aim, you will distract your enemy.
• As your enemy gets distracted, he takes time to aim you, and you'll make it faster as you aim by moving and mouse both at a time.

This is like a bonus. If you move, you can aim faster and the enemy takes time to aim you.

Aiming vs Movement in Counter Strike:

In the game Counter Strike or Condition Zero or Half-Life for that matter, what really matters is movement more than aiming. Aiming goes up to 40% and remaining 60% is for movement. Its like the game is staying alive, not just killing. If you stay for longer time, you can get many enemies to you. And you could stay longer if you move faster.

The most important point to be remembered is that you can aim while you are moving.,but you cannot move while you are aiming. That is, if you move, cross hire moves, but if cross hire is moved you won't move.

While you are moving with SMGs, you can have a plane of bullets sprayed. This won't let the enemy to escape. If you stay static while you shoot, you enemy can easily escape.

Spraying with M4a1 and Ak47 in Counter Strike:

Spraying with M4a1 and Ak47 is all right. If the target is too close to you, just spray off. If he is at a medium distance, you can spray but only in the case of M4a1. Don't spray the mediu targets with Ak47. You may not spray for farer targets.

Spraying leaves a area of bullets. This randomness is more for Ak47 and less for M4a1.

Ideal Click Rate for balancing Recoil and accuracy:

If recoil is more, accuracy is lost. So don't just go on spraying all the time. Click for shots at ideal intervals. Like with the Maverick(M4a1), you can give 3 bullets continuously and then 2 bullets slowly per secong. Ideal click rate for M4a1 would be 4-5 Clicks per second. And in the case of Ak47 it will be 2-3 bullets per second. Increase in speed more than this would result in too much of recoil. Of course, If you are aiming on his legs than you can even go for spraying to have a head shot.

Playing with the Pistol:

Playing with pistols is always good. But make sure that you go for the shots at the neck, where you have a good chance of getting head shots without losing aim.

Counter Strike 1.6 Video, Temp

There are some headshots, Guns used are M4a1 and USP, Map is fy_snow. I a trying to get the videos in best quality but it is resulting in such quality. Some suggestions for better quality of the video are in need. I use movie maker to edit these Counter Strike Videos. The Player is Temp.

Counter Strike 1.6 Video fy_snow - No Expert - No Noob

Counter Strike 1.6 fy_snow Video

Few head shots and few kills with a Maverick, not a newbie and not an expert. Just a Video of 6 MB size and 1 min in length.