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The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

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Re: The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

#21

Post by zztop44 »

soupfordummies wrote: post #19
rvba wrote: post #14

In StarCraft Brood War there were normal maps, which were mostly played 1v1. That was the "true" game - it was fun but also quite difficult. Many players played for fun, so they would play team games e.g. 4v4 where skill still mattered but often the results depended more who you got on your team (I think that to a degree this is why MOBAs are so popular - in theory you get close to a 50-50 winrate, or at least win li…

Oh man Warcraft 2 used to have BGH customs too! I also remember really enjoying these “Champions” customs where you had one strong unit that was modded to be even stronger and you had to progress through a map of obstacles and enemies. It totally took the resources/build part out of the equation and just focused on movement and combat. IIRC, the entire MOBA genre was actually spawned from a Warcraft 3 custom map (the…

The original Defense of the Ancients custom map for Warcraft 3 was heavily influenced by a StarCraft custom map called Aeons of Strife (iirc). It is probably the first proto-MOBA.

It’s true that it was Defense of the Ancients (or more properly, the DotA Allstars variant) that birthed the MOBA genre.

Re: The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

#22

Post by jamesfinlayson »

kapp_in_life wrote: post #16
a_shovel wrote: post #4

> This is perhaps the central tragedy of fy_iceworld. The game industry benefits from its legacy, but the conditions that spurred its influence no longer exist. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2019 does not offer a freely downloadable level editor for players to make new custom maps, nor does it allow a decentralized network of player-managed multiplayer servers to distribute these custom maps. We can only play what som…

>it's become impossible to make a single simplistic map for an existing shooter that your friends actually play Counter strike global offensive still has a level editor. Though yeah fewer games nowadays ship with the community servers and mod tools you need to have that kind of organic community. Guess its mostly a problem with the changing monetization strategies where you want to sell microtransaction cosmetics whi…

One of the few that does. I think with Counter-Strike Global Offensive some of the better community maps get bundled up into events and... something gets sold I think? I don't think it's access to the map (because anyone can download the map) but I'm pretty sure players can pay for something.

Re: The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

#23

Post by dopidopHN »

lagniappe wrote: post #15
hackernewds wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Remember Counter Strike was not an independent game. It was a mod of Halo. Halo did not offer a downloaded level editor.

> Remember Counter Strike was not an independent game. It was a mod of Halo. Halo did not offer a downloaded level editor. I thought it was half life

Because it was. I was playing ton of video game at that time and the mod community around half life was really fun and creative.

Science and Industry was a fun mod as well. But yeah I also remember CS ad being at another level right away.

Re: The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

#24

Post by dbalatero »

rvba wrote: post #14

In StarCraft Brood War there were normal maps, which were mostly played 1v1. That was the "true" game - it was fun but also quite difficult. Many players played for fun, so they would play team games e.g. 4v4 where skill still mattered but often the results depended more who you got on your team (I think that to a degree this is why MOBAs are so popular - in theory you get close to a 50-50 winrate, or at least win li…

I played the hell out of this Taco Bell Tasty Madness SC1 map back in the day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cU2rHhwHXQ

Re: The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

#25

Post by arvinsim »

stephen_g wrote: post #10
fwlr wrote: post #5

Iceworld gave you a random weapon and you had to make do - that was a fun twist on the usual CS gameplay, and that’s all it took to be popular. Another genre in this style (possibly an evolution of iceworld itself) is “gun game”, where you all start with the weakest pistol and every kill changes you to the next weapon. This was popular for the same reason, it was a fun twist on the usual gameplay and you played with…

Yeah, I love gungame. It's deathmath style so you respawn pretty much immediately which makes it a lot more fast-paced and interesting instead of dying and having to wait out the round. There are still a decent number of people playing gungame in CS: Source around me (apparently it's not as good in the newer CS:GO but I don't have that one). It's also mostly people in their thirties so a bit better vibe than when the…

Gungame is just so much better to pick and play in public games. No waiting for teams to win, just shoot, die and respawn.

Forcing players to a knife fight endgame is just so much fun.

Re: The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

#27

Post by qup »

fwlr wrote: post #5

Iceworld gave you a random weapon and you had to make do - that was a fun twist on the usual CS gameplay, and that’s all it took to be popular. Another genre in this style (possibly an evolution of iceworld itself) is “gun game”, where you all start with the weakest pistol and every kill changes you to the next weapon. This was popular for the same reason, it was a fun twist on the usual gameplay and you played with…

We used to play one with respawns so there'd just be piles of guns everywhere (mainly the corner walls). I think we also had no money restrictions. You could buy whatever you wanted in the buy zone.

Re: The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

#28

Post by andrewmcwatters »

I wonder with all the people growing up, getting old, becoming game developers, do these people just not care about these old cool features that have gone away that entirely changed the gaming experience for kids?

I remember making friends across multiple age groups in community servers that you could always come back to because someone was kind enough to lease a server for a few bucks a month.

I remember young people creating levels ranging from totally silly to awe inspiring or a combination of both and more, and not to discount other modifications either.

I can only imagine it must be product owners or IP managers somewhere in the org chart saying, "No, we should completely own the join server experience end-to-end," etc.

Re: The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

#29

Post by qbasic_forever »

Glass floor was a worse (or more amazing depending on your view) version of this kind of map. As the name implies the entire floor was glass panels and suspended over a giant pit with a very ominous look. You could see and fire almost anywhere, including down on the glass as people ran towards you, shattering the panels and watching them drop to their death. But you had to move yourself because everyone else could see and fire on you and the floor under you too. It was a fun change of pace with a lot of anarchy.

Re: The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive, popular custom map (2020)

#30

Post by rcme »

andrewmcwatters wrote: post #28

I wonder with all the people growing up, getting old, becoming game developers, do these people just not care about these old cool features that have gone away that entirely changed the gaming experience for kids? I remember making friends across multiple age groups in community servers that you could always come back to because someone was kind enough to lease a server for a few bucks a month. I remember young peopl…

Minecraft and Roblox both have creative / extensible outlets built in to them. Both are hugely popular with "the youth."
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