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Show HN: Cs16.css – CSS library based on Counter Strike 1.6 UI

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Re: Show HN: Cs16.css – CSS library based on Counter Strike 1.6 UI

#141

Post by jamesfinlayson »

c_r_w wrote: post #124
bakugo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, the Steam client was originally built on top of the same VGUI library used in Valve's games, and used the same style as HL1/CS/etc back then.

Was VGUI built on GTK back then? It looked exactly the same as other GTK apps I was using in the early 00s.

Not sure - the VGUI code in the Half-Life SDK was a bunch of header files and a .lib file but I'm not sure what actually implemented it. Back in the early 2000s I assume it was either Windows-specific or rendered using DirectX/OpenGL.

Re: Show HN: Cs16.css – CSS library based on Counter Strike 1.6 UI

#142

Post by jamesfinlayson »

Edd314159 wrote: post #39

Isn’t this technically the original _Steam_ UI, not just Counter Strike?

It was added to Half-Life (and not long after to Counter-Strike) in March 2000 or so. Not sure when Steam first launched but I think there was a beta from 2002?

Re: Show HN: Cs16.css – CSS library based on Counter Strike 1.6 UI

#143

Post by jamesfinlayson »

Lammy wrote: post #47

More reading about VGUI: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Category:VGUI Fun fact: in CS 1.6 it could actually be reverted to the old-style WON UI by with `setinfo "_vgui_menus" "0"` in config.cfg or in the console, or buried in the menus as "Options > Multiplayer > Advanced > Buy menu type > VGUI Menus".

Yeah the text-based menus were what Half-Life launched with in 1998. Counter-Strike used these same text-based menus in 1999 and it wasn't until 2000 that the engine was updated to include VGUI. I guess Counter-Strike left the old ones in place for those that preferred them.

Re: Show HN: Cs16.css – CSS library based on Counter Strike 1.6 UI

#144

Post by jamesfinlayson »

least wrote: post #41
phatfish wrote: post #40

This is the Steam UI (server browser and config), rather that CS 1.6 specifically i think? I'm having a hard time remembering what it looked like before Steam integration though.

CS 1.6 was exclusive to Steam; I remember waiting quite a while to register because I didn't like the idea of Steam but ultimately caved (still have a 6 digit steam id, which used to sort of but not really mean something). The server browser in CS 1.5 and below was built into the menu's on the application. This is indeed the Steam UI, not Counter-Strike. This was also back when they had games like Go built in that yo…

Oh yeah, I remember those game .dll files shipping with Steam long after they were disabled.

Re: Show HN: Cs16.css – CSS library based on Counter Strike 1.6 UI

#145

Post by jamesfinlayson »

phatfish wrote: post #40

This is the Steam UI (server browser and config), rather that CS 1.6 specifically i think? I'm having a hard time remembering what it looked like before Steam integration though.

It's VGUI2 which was created for the Source engine, re-used for Steam and back-ported to the GoldSource engine when the games were launched on Steam.

Re: Show HN: Cs16.css – CSS library based on Counter Strike 1.6 UI

#146

Post by jamesfinlayson »

IYasha wrote: post #35

Good job! But it reminds me of the dreaded VGUI.dll. (0_0) For those who wrote code for the GS engine it's probaby one of the worst experiences.

Aww, I didn't think it was terrible (though I have limited experience with UI libraries).

The documentation was almost non-existent though.

What mod(s) did you work on?

Re: Show HN: Cs16.css – CSS library based on Counter Strike 1.6 UI

#147

Post by IYasha »

nxobject wrote: post #86
GranPC wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Originally it used Windows's built-in embeddable IE thing, which as you can imagine was not stellar for security. IIRC there have been some incidents with bad servers serving up MOTDs that exploited vulnerabilities in Trident to execute arbitrary code. I believe they switched to Chromium while preparing for the OS X port. You'd think this would be good for security, but they then proceeded to update to the latest ver…

I know a lot of servers exploited that as well to play music in the background... in retrospect, the idea of a web view hanging around while you're in a game is terrifying.

Yes! And all of that just to parse some and tags? :D

Also, to be fair: it was VGUI2, which, AFAIK, was introduced with Steam UI and still used in HL2. And was never made available to modders of GS.

Re: Show HN: Cs16.css – CSS library based on Counter Strike 1.6 UI

#148

Post by no_time »

brap wrote: post #88
duxup wrote: post #6

I was watching my son play Half Life 2 recently and it occurred to me how much more real or immersive it seemed when the menus and such had this style and they look like actual computer system UI. Dated maybe, but they feel industrial and real.... and easy to use all in one. Meanwhile many games have hyper stylized menus with flowery wingdings all over them and makes it unrealistic / a horrible experience / chore.

Don’t even get me started on modern games’ menu UIs. I got the latest CoD for PS5 like a year ago and I couldn’t figure out what the fuck was going on in the menu. Incoherent mess impossible to navigate. I felt like I was going insane. I guess I’m just getting old.

The menu system of the MW2 reboot and all CODs after look like they were designed by the netflix UI people while smoking crack.

Similar horizontal scrolling list of tiles shoehorned into an interface where I'm NOT okay with just going with the flow and picking whatever is offered because I exactly know what I'm looking for. Bonus points for the little tabs

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