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The upcoming VIP mod for CS: Source has been rousing up some anticipation in the community recently. Last night I was lucky enough to participate in a playtest of the mod and a version of Oilrig made for CS: Source. To be honest, I was actually never really a fan of the VIP mode in the original Counter-Strike, but I actually had a lot of fun playing with the VIP mod in Source.
It may have just been the people — I was playing with folks who had microphones and used them to coordinate strategy, which is an improvement when compared to the average CS player who uses their headset to test out the "Ying-Yang Twins - Whisper" ringtone that they just bought from Jamster. It could have been that the new art assets and — especially — sounds in Source create a much more tense and realistic atmosphere, which lends itself well to the cat-and-mouse gameplay inherit with the VIP mode.[break="more impressions + some screenshots!" type="viewnews"]Maybe I faked having so much fun simply to rationalize why I was spending my Friday night playing Counter-Strike, barricaded in my room after throwing the dinner my mother served me back at her. I hope the ricotta gave her second degree burns, because at this point in my life she should know how warm I like my lasagna.
I guess the most likely option, though, is that the VIP mode is actually fun with the right crowd. I never experienced that in all of my years of Counter-Strike. Until last night. Isn't that awesome? Awesome!
The Oilrig map is a fairly direct port, but is somehow still visually pleasing. The original Oilrig looked a bit like an abortion, so it's surprising that the port is actually very good looking. In terms of gameplay, the changes seem to make the game play more evenly — though the terrorists still have an easier time.
My biggest complaint with the map is its ladders. I'm not sure what the problem is technically, but when trying to dismount the ladders it sometimes feels as if Fat Albert is using your left ankle as a snowboard which obviously makes it hard to get off of the freaking thing. This issue is probably easy to fix, so hopefully we'll see that fix (or maybe it was a server lag issue). But honestly, I am reaching a bit. I enjoyed the map a bit, and the ladders are only a small nitpick.
The mod itself is fairly simple. At the start of each round, the VIP is announced to the CT team. Unfortunately, you must simply remember who the VIP is for that round because there was no obvious reminder. I think a good idea would be to append "*VIP*" or something similar to the VIP's name for the round. Due to limitations on server-side mods, VIPs can still buy (but not use) weapons and all that but the VIP can only use the USP and knife as in the original mode. The largest gameplay issue is that the VIP has no special color on the radar or anything, so if you lose track of the man, you're kind of screwed.
Beyond that, the rest of the game plays largely as we're used to from CS 1.6. Killing a random terrorist with your knife is just as thrilling as it always has been. The mod is obviously a bit more rudimentary than an integrated VIP mode from Valve — but the mod more than serves its purpose. Since the VIP mod will certainly be a niche thing anyway, these limitations won't hold VIP fans back from having fun. In my case, I had more fun with the VIP mod than any time in CS 1.6. I'm looking forward to the VIP mod's wide release in a few weeks.
You can find more information about VIP mod on its official website which I am linking to right now.
It may have just been the people — I was playing with folks who had microphones and used them to coordinate strategy, which is an improvement when compared to the average CS player who uses their headset to test out the "Ying-Yang Twins - Whisper" ringtone that they just bought from Jamster. It could have been that the new art assets and — especially — sounds in Source create a much more tense and realistic atmosphere, which lends itself well to the cat-and-mouse gameplay inherit with the VIP mode.[break="more impressions + some screenshots!" type="viewnews"]Maybe I faked having so much fun simply to rationalize why I was spending my Friday night playing Counter-Strike, barricaded in my room after throwing the dinner my mother served me back at her. I hope the ricotta gave her second degree burns, because at this point in my life she should know how warm I like my lasagna.
I guess the most likely option, though, is that the VIP mode is actually fun with the right crowd. I never experienced that in all of my years of Counter-Strike. Until last night. Isn't that awesome? Awesome!
The Oilrig map is a fairly direct port, but is somehow still visually pleasing. The original Oilrig looked a bit like an abortion, so it's surprising that the port is actually very good looking. In terms of gameplay, the changes seem to make the game play more evenly — though the terrorists still have an easier time.
My biggest complaint with the map is its ladders. I'm not sure what the problem is technically, but when trying to dismount the ladders it sometimes feels as if Fat Albert is using your left ankle as a snowboard which obviously makes it hard to get off of the freaking thing. This issue is probably easy to fix, so hopefully we'll see that fix (or maybe it was a server lag issue). But honestly, I am reaching a bit. I enjoyed the map a bit, and the ladders are only a small nitpick.
The mod itself is fairly simple. At the start of each round, the VIP is announced to the CT team. Unfortunately, you must simply remember who the VIP is for that round because there was no obvious reminder. I think a good idea would be to append "*VIP*" or something similar to the VIP's name for the round. Due to limitations on server-side mods, VIPs can still buy (but not use) weapons and all that but the VIP can only use the USP and knife as in the original mode. The largest gameplay issue is that the VIP has no special color on the radar or anything, so if you lose track of the man, you're kind of screwed.
Beyond that, the rest of the game plays largely as we're used to from CS 1.6. Killing a random terrorist with your knife is just as thrilling as it always has been. The mod is obviously a bit more rudimentary than an integrated VIP mode from Valve — but the mod more than serves its purpose. Since the VIP mod will certainly be a niche thing anyway, these limitations won't hold VIP fans back from having fun. In my case, I had more fun with the VIP mod than any time in CS 1.6. I'm looking forward to the VIP mod's wide release in a few weeks.
You can find more information about VIP mod on its official website which I am linking to right now.
. I heard good things about the VIP mod, I wanted to play as_italy and try our how they did oilrig. this sux.
made me choke on my ricekrispies on one fine sunday morning.
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