TheCatofWar recently made a very interesting video talking about whether interactive features
serve a purpose within CSGO maps.
These could include physics-based items, destructible scenery and things such as working lifts.
Do they belong in CSGO?
I think the answer is most definitely a yes.
But also a no.
Bear with me!
It doesn't serve a place in competitive play.
Valve wants CSGO to be a viable e-sport and random, unlikely events will only get in the
way of this goal.
Just look at the train on overpass and how it could have stopped N0thing's grenade and
changed the outcome of an entire game!
And this was just one small, incredibly unlikely thing.
Imagine the maps were full of things like this!
The question is where you draw the line.
What counts as a gameplay feature and what gets in the way of it?
I suspect that the community will be split on this issue, since these features can encourage
interesting tactics and counter-tactics of their own.
With the train on overpass, I believe a decoy could be used to block it, stopping it from
getting in the way of thrown molotovs.
It's pretty cool to think that teams have practiced next-level stuff like this, but
is it what CSGO is about or is it simply distracting players from the core gameplay?
And where do you draw the line?
I suspect that nobody has an issue with teams molotoving rooftops to stop certain smoke
grenades.
But is using a grenade much different from using moveable objects within the maps themselves
to gain an advantage?
You know what?
I don't want to answer this and don't have to, since Valve has spoken!
They're having none of it, first by removing the physics barrels and next by tweaking the
train so that it's predictable every round.
We have a say in the matter, yes, but ultimately it's Valve that have the final say.
They're the ones who have transformed CSGO into one of the biggest competitive games
out there.
And it looks as though their master plan for the future doesn't include interactive physics
barrels blocking doorways, or hiding the bomb from view.
They don't want a team's ability to be determined by how well they can hide in wooden pallets,
or boost their mates over walls.
They're streamlining the game, focusing on the core gameplay to determine the winners.
And physics objects aren't invited.
And I respect that decision.
Besides, we've already been there, done that with Counter-Strike: Source.
It featured physics barrels on almost every map.
When it was first released, people would spend hours on Aztec, chucking barrels around and
finding novel ways of using them to gain an advantage.
And I think that's the key word: novel.
Things like elevators, physics items and buttons can be interesting, but can quickly become
boring and can often conflict with the core gameplay.
Remember Havana?
I still don't know that map!
It would randomly open and close doors at the beginning of every round, making the layout
different every time you played it.
It was horrible, confusing and didn't work well at all.
But I think that it's a mistake for Valve to remove support for these things completely.
Just because it doesn't fit in with competitive play, it doesn't mean it doesn't serve a purpose.
CSGO is a big game and many small sub-communities have developed around it.
Look at the surf, bunnyhop and other minigames!
I'm sure that many players actually prefer these to the proper game-modes.
And I'm disappointed by Valve's attitude towards these minigames.
In the past they've been a company that has welcomed and supported modders with open arms,
yet with CSGO they've tried their best to kill these things off.
Valve has broken the support for flickering and toggle-able lights, which was always a
nice feature in jail maps.
They changed the ladder properties which broke many climb maps.
They've hidden all of these game modes around the back of CSGO, deep within the community
server finder.
I don't think that these things were done to intentionally ruin these minigames, but
the lack of care that Valve has given to these small but loyal communities is disappointing
to say the least.
All of this is worth a video of its own but I really hope that Source 2 will be of a modular
design, so these older mods won't be totally obliterated when the game jumps to the newer
engine.
So far it sounds as though I'm the boring sort who doesn't appreciate breakable stuff.
But I do!
I personally love interactive maps and would like to see more and more imaginative custom
game-modes.
Over 7 years ago I talked about how I hoped that the Source 2 engine would feature increased
support for destructible environments- imagine how cool this would make breakfloor maps!
In my recent de_sparity map, during playtesting we had so much fun finding ways out of the
level that I made an infinity version that actively encouraged this exploration.
This is a good example of what custom gamemodes should be- they're fun, but conflict with
the original gameplay so need to be kept separate.
You can't appreciate an explore a map when everybody's trying to kill each other- it's
no fun to be dead for 9 and a half minutes every round.
I've even been hit by CSGO's nerfed physics engine myself.
For Source I made a custom map type called SMASH, where the map would slowly get torn
apart by boulders that would break it apart.
The buggy physics in CSGO no longer allow these maps to work.
In fact, the way that CSGO is headed directly conflicts my childhood dreams.
As a teenager, I saw physics being implemented into games such as Half Life 2.
It was my dream to be like James Bond, using small details in the environment to give me
the advantage over my foes.
Removing the physics features feels like a backwards step, as though Valve is steering
the future away from the one I wanted it to be and back to the realms of Quake and 1.6.
I used to walk around CSS maps, dreaming of how exciting they would be in the sequel,
which would hopefully support countless new opportunities for destruction and customisation.
And yet, all we got were skins.
So here we are, with the backwards step that is CSGO.
The maps are prettier, but they're merely static battlefields.
They're fair and competitive, but they're dull for anything else.
Bunnyhopping across Dust or boosting players into the skybox remain some of my favourite
memories from my time on CSS and I miss them.
But they don't serve a place in competitive CSGO.
More isn't necessarily better.
And Valve thinks that it's better for CSGO to have fewer, but better developed gameplay
elements than to rely on cheap tricks to add complexity to the game- and given the game's
success, I'd say that they're right.
Interactive maps may one day be an important feature within a competitive game, but I doubt
it will be CSGO.
Perhaps Battlefield, Arma or Rainbow Six.
CSGO is CSGO.
Love it or hate it, it's here to stay in its current form and I doubt that the official
maps will become more interactive any time soon.
It looks as though my Tumbledrier gamemode will have to wait a little longer.