Tactics and designations on Dust2. Birth story of de_dust2 Dust 2 in real life

The history behind Dust 2, a map that was never planned at all, and which at best was supposed to be a frivolous attempt to repeat the success of Dust. I decided to give her a chance.

Introduction

Despite the incredible popularity of Dust, the idea of ​​a sequel map didn't cross my mind for a long time. Someone perceived Cobble as its successor, but the card did not reach the appropriate audience, so there was a demand for a "real" second version. Dust 2 did not appear until March 2001, two years after the original was released.

It is clear that the creation of the successor to the most popular shooter card in the world is not an easy task. Even in the presence of the same textures, developed style and countless waiting players, the task seemed overwhelming. And for this reason, I didn't want to call the map Dust 2. It's common knowledge that the third part of any movie trilogy always falls short of the first, so I decided to call it Dust 3, in the hope that no one would notice. I thought everyone would just keep playing the original.

So I opened up Hammer and started designing Dust 3.

Sticking to a given theme

First of all, I had to make sure that the new map would be similar in every way to Dust, but not exactly the same. I needed to highlight the fundamental elements of Dust.

arches

Perhaps the main distinguishing aspect of Dust is the arches between the main areas. They visually divide the map, forming the entrances to the gameplay zones, and help the players to mentally map the map. From point of view gameplay they appear as narrow strategic points and block unwanted view. Here's what Dust would look like without the arches:

Remove the arches and get a deathmatch arena

If you have not yet read the text about the creation of Dust, you should start with it - there, for example, it says that I copied the arches (and a lot of other elements) from Team Fortress 2.

Roads

Stone roads in Dust acted as arteries leading players to target areas. In the new map, they are given the same role.

The importance of roads can be demonstrated by removing them from Dust:

Without roads, you won't know where to go.

patterns

The patterns along the top and bottom of the walls were probably the only element that deliberately brought a bit of variety and contrast, which is especially important when the map is painted almost in one color.

Therefore, I tried to be careful with decorative elements, using them only where they are really needed, and not just for show. I didn't want to repeat the mistakes of all those "dastlike" maps, where patterns were sculpted everywhere, overloading the visual attention of the players. Conversely, I didn't want to be too careful and end up with a monotonous and inexpressive world.

I tried to form a set of rules for myself. Patterns must not be on the ceiling, on the floor, or anywhere the player can stand. No vertical patterns. Finally, on a single wall there should not be more than two patterns (for example, below and above, but not in the middle).

Sun

This element of Dust has probably been tweaked the most: in every BETA release of Counter-Strike, the sun has been shifted slightly, lengthening the shadows. This was an important distinguishing feature of the map and added to the visual appeal. I considered going for a night environment for the second version, but that would ruin a vital aesthetic. The best thing I could do was leave everything as it is.

Design

The new Dust had to be similar to its predecessor, not only textures and lighting. It was necessary to copy the design elements familiar to the players: doors, base buildings, slopes, boxes and raised areas. I ported a few things almost unchanged to make sure the spirit of the original was preserved.

When trying to add something new, I always had to remain conservative. As a result, I settled on a semicircular staircase and a rock between the bookmark points.

There are a few more must-haves left: a tight space for close combat and a well-viewed area for protracted AWP firefights. In Dust, the central corridor and underground passage served for these purposes, and I needed something similar.

There were many experiments.

We do not complicate

Of course, the most important element that can kill or revive a new card is its scheme. It should be almost Dust, but not Dust, unusual enough to attract bored fans, but maintaining the balance and momentum of the original.

I've spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out the essential ingredients of Dust and have come to the conclusion that it's the overall simplicity and concise connection of areas. In its basic form, Dust was a regular figure-of-eight that grew a pair of arms and legs; she concentrated skirmishes in the very center, but left room for tactical maneuvers.

In order to improve the chances of a new map to succeed and make it feel and play like Dust, I needed to adopt this structure.

Begin

Oddly enough, I decided to start with sketches rather than dive straight into work. It was special card requiring careful, thorough, thoughtful and versatile planning. This whole laborious process took me just a few minutes.

One of my most notable decisions at this stage is the rock face. There were already textures for it, but I did not use them. It was a (minimum) risk, given the difficulty of creating believable mountains in the Half-Life engine, but I decided to take it. There was nothing to worry about.

Early version of Dust 3

It took several days to translate my plan into a working version of the map, since the whole process was straightforward. I relied on my habits and somewhat abstracted from a clear design, only keeping the general scheme in my head, and the scale of the rules was already in progress.

The main problem arose with the proportions of the gameplay areas. It so happened that I built a map, resting on the very edge of the space allowed in Worldcraft. But instead of moving the whole map in the opposite direction, I left everything as it is, which is why the spawn of terrorists turned out to be so long.

alpha version

Alpha Dust 3 was very close to the original design, but it lacked originality. Yes, it was clearly Dust, it contained both old and new elements, but it was far from complete.

Like Dust, Dust 2 had a brief dungeon-like appearance.

From the screenshots above, you can see that the area that I was most unhappy with was intended for the second bookmark point. It had only two exits, there were several boxes for shelters inside (as in the original), and something more was definitely needed. The road also went to the usual fork - everything, like in Dust, only in this case is harmful.

Around the same time, I asked Brian Martel of Gearbox for advice. He suggested that, in addition to markings on the ground, add arrows to point to bookmarks to make it easier to get to know the map (subsequently, arrows were added to Dust, and to all other official maps).

beta version

On the way to beta, I tweaked point B, building on the version from Dust, adding a raised platform and more boxes to break up the space into sectors and provide a variety of tactical options.

In the process, I came up with an opening in the wall leading to the road to point A. It seemed risky to me - there was no such thing in Dust, and I was not sure how it would eventually look and work in the game. But I felt that the idea was "correct", the bookmark area became much more open. In my mind, I imagined how fun it would be to sit in the opening with the Steyr Scout and take aim at the enemies coming through the gate.

I also took the liberty of experimenting with the boxes, placing them at different angles, as if scattered around. Once again, I thought this was a far too drastic departure from the strict, orderly arrangement of boxes in Dust - I was worried that even such a small thing could be decisive in the success of the original.

Today this is a commonplace, but in those years I doubted the use of irregular shapes and rounded stairs.

The stairs also made me nervous. There were no stairs in Dust, except for a couple of steps, but here it was semicircular, and even leading into a cramped space. However, I needed some kind of passage between the areas, and such a staircase could lead to interesting conflicts.

Despite all the changes, many familiar things remained. Some were even transferred almost directly.

The terrorist spawn in Dust 2 copies the CT spawn from Dust.

The bias in the screenshot above is also pretty "dusty" to me, probably because it refers to inspirational screenshots from TF2.

The underpass on the SWAT side of Dust 2 looks like the Terrorist side of Dust.

And again, a similar element is a slope that goes into a dark underground area. In Dust 3, the terrorists started the game at the top of the slope. In Dust 2, SWAT will start at the very crossing instead.

Release

Everything took place in an atmosphere of relative secrecy. I deliberately kept quiet so as not to provoke unnecessary expectations, believing that with the release of the map on a new site called GameHelper, everything would be over for her. In my eyes, Dust 3 was a failure compared to the original, and no amount of my efforts would change that.

Well, she didn't fail. Jess Cliffe pushed for it to be listed as an official map, only under the more appropriate name Dust 2. As with Dust, Jess fine-tuned the balance by redistributing spawns and planting points.

Dust 2 was released in March 2001 as part of Counter-Strike 1.1. Unlike the original, no changes have been made to its scheme since then.

General view of Dust 2 in CS 1.6

Like its predecessor, Dust 2 gained popularity, overcoming my pessimism, and also in clan matches, for which Dust was not suitable. The crown of the most popular map subsequently passed to Dust 2, and she shared it only with Aztec, and Dust got less and less attention as new maps were released. I could not have imagined that Dust 2 would be more popular than Dust for more than a couple of weeks, however, the ubiquitous “Dust 2 24⁄7” servers indicated that the map would definitely get into subsequent versions of Counter-Strike.

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero

Like its predecessor, Dust 2 is similar to the original in many ways. The map has become noticeably brighter and more colorful due to additional details. Minor changes were made, such as the placement of crates on planting points, but overall the map just looked prettier.

In Counter-Strike: Condition Zero The map has been updated with new colors.

This version of the map was developed by Ritual, but Valve added a few finishing touches just before release.

Counter-Strike: Source

A lot of changes have been added to the map here, including an improved skybox (now it really is like in the middle of the desert), improved buildings, additional details and simulated village clutter, as well as slightly corrected the position of the planting points.

In the general plan above, you can see that since CS 1.1 the proportions have changed slightly here and there: some passages have expanded and become more accessible, others have been lengthened or cut off for the sake of gameplay and performance. Some small details block lines of sight or provide additional cover, but in general everything remains close to the original.

Reworked Dust 2 in Counter-Strike: Source

Valve worked on the updated map, as well as on Dust.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

The most beautiful version of the map from the brilliant artists and designers from Valve.

In these places, you almost physically feel the breath of a light breeze.

This version was developed by Valve and Hidden Path Entertainment and is based on the proportions from CS:S (many assets migrated here from the previous game, albeit in a slightly modified form). Looks stunning.

Other games

Thanks to modders, Dust 2 can also be found in other games. One of my favorite ideas is to recreate the map in Far Cry 3 (the video shows the whole process):

Thanks

As with Dust, none of this would have been possible without the help of Joe Markert of GameHelper, Jess Cliff, Minh Le, "Gooseman", Chris Ashton, Brian Martel, Richard Gray ( Richard Gray), Kristen Perry (Kristen Perry), Ido Magal (Ido Magal) and other, very different people.

And, of course, I have to thank Valve Software for using their idea... um, .

Recreation area organizers:

For people who are looking for thrills and are ready to experience military tactics games as close to reality as possible, one hectare of land with a variety of natural obstacles has been allocated. Strikezone is a new CS De_Dust 2 training ground, which has no analogues in Kazakhstan and the CIS countries, a copy of the map from the legendary computer game Counterstrike.

Sal Garoz and Sean Snelling have created a huge database of maps for CS, but 90% of all battles take place on three or four of the most popular: de_cache, de_nuke, de_train, and de_dust2 - the main favorite for players. Design-wise, some Counter-Strike maps can be confusing, but not de_dust2: it looks pretty-complete, intuitive, and sets the pace of the game. Many players admit that the map is not easy to learn, but is good for a number of classic ambushes: from throwing smoke grenades at the premises to waiting for the enemy, sitting in front of the door. All this can be experienced for yourself.

A detailed study of all the cult details present in the military tactics game as close to reality as possible, and a huge territory will allow the organizers to build a map from the legendary computer counter strike games and to please not only the players, but also residents or guests of the capital who visited "Beybarys" for a good rest in the wild.

The opening of the recreation area "Beibarys" is planned for June 2018.

Imagine that the game has left the monitor screen in real world. You have an exact copy game cards with all the nuances. The one you controlled by pressing the buttons - you yourself are. Terrorist or commando. The task has not changed - to destroy all enemies or plant / defuse the bomb. Because it - real map de_dust from the game Counter-Strike.

It's unlikely that you know nothing about Counter-Strike (CS) at all. We will assume that since you undertook to read this article, you do not need to explain what it is.

But just in case, we recall that CS is a battle of teams of terrorists and counter-terrorists that is very close to reality.

Reaction speed, knowledge of team tactics and, finally, the ability to hit the head with any type of weapon - this is, in a nutshell, the skill set of an experienced player.

Perhaps we will take the liberty of declaring that this is the most real of this kind of game.

By the way, not so long ago there was information in the American press that Counter-Strike was actively pulling the target audience away from TVs. Gaming on servers is more appealing to young people than watching ad-laden TV shows. Advertisers are shocked. However, back to the topic.

In fact, the map is not so small. You will have to strain to build an exact copy (illustration nomanzlan.com).

In general, de_dust is one of the most popular representatives classic set cards, so you are unlikely to find a player who has not trampled down every "centimeter" here, generously pouring "dust" with his own and other people's blood.

Killed, died, planted and defused S-4 here countless times.

So, wake up the "Counterstrike" in the middle of the night, and he will tell you everything about the "Dust" without hesitation. By the way, it is possible that the game on this map is his this moment dreaming.

As already mentioned, CS is very realistic game, so there is nothing on de_dust that cannot be found in the real world.

Moreover, there are no cars and helicopters, industrial structures and other special gizmos on the “Dust”. And what is important - there is no complex landscape, for example, high mountains or deep dungeons.

Gates, something like a bridge-tunnel, a darkened room, corridors, sides and boxes. Not even doors. In a nutshell environment can be characterized as "somewhere in the East" or "somewhere in Asia".

The first impression is that everything is made of sandstone or something like that. From dust, yes. Inexpensive, frankly, the material. Why not build in "real"?

But it would be wrong to say that most players passionately dream of being on their favorite maps in real life. However, it is possible to assume that such thoughts came to at least a fifth of them. Therefore, there is no demand.

CT, this is your 4-3 (photo dentrinity.com).

True, there are serious obstacles in the way of realizing this desire. As you understand, it is one thing to shoot each other in virtual world, and the other is to be terrorists or special forces in real life. In principle, some do so, but this is not a game at all.

It remains, as many probably guessed, paintball - shooting paint. So the idea of ​​Counter-Strike Paintball was born from two terms.

Relatively recently, at least two teams of enthusiasts announced their intention to build a full-scale de_dust: the British project is called Playdust, and the German one is Target-Zone.

The British even promised in April 2003 to open the “dusty” site in August, but they did not fulfill the promises. The Germans, however, call the spring-summer of 2004 as the dates.

4-4 turned out to be plastic and with batteries in the butt (photo airsoftplayers.com).

It's hard to say if the British claim is still valid, but what they planned is this: two teams of 12 people, dressed in the same uniform as in the game, run among the plywood scenery on the airfield (Fradley Airfield) with paintball guns, the round lasts 20 minutes, 8 games per day.

"Terrors" and "counters" carry out the tasks known to them, that is, the terrorists must plant a bomb, presumably, a squeaking dummy, and the special forces must prevent this.

Players can use smoke and explosive grenades (with paint). You can bring your own weapons or rent them on site.

"Head shots don't count" is a joke, since in paintball shooting at close range is very painful and is forbidden. The jokes, of course, include the rules prohibiting “camping” and “cheating”.

Terrorists wins!

Webcams should be placed all over the map, a tent city is set up around the site, spectators follow the game while drinking the appropriate drinks. That's such fun. Children under 18 are not admitted.

It can be called a small holiday. Therefore, before you is a translation of an article written by the creator of this famous map, David Johnston!

Let's start with the fact that the map was created at the age of 18.

The very beginning.
I created de_dust. Literally a week later, a resounding success came and the popularity of the card only grew. From this popularity, I drew one simple conclusion: Not to create another card, only more committed to balance, is simply stupid!
Thoughts visited me for a long time and persistently, but I still did not take up this matter. The most important factor that pushed me to this step and stopped me at the same time was the popularity of the original de_dust . Those. I strongly doubted that I could release a really high-quality product. I sincerely did not believe that the sequel could be better than the original.
Initially, it was correct to call the map de_dust1.5, but I refused to use the original textures.
And then, at 18, I thought that the most correct name would be "de_dust 3" - that would be a great excuse. Why? Because 3 parts of films are always less interesting and of less quality in execution.

True to the original
To afford to prefix "dust" to my new project, I had to add some factors original card.
Now, "Dust" is like a virus. It infected the entire community, both CS1.6 and CS:S, even CS:CZ. Time goes on and progress does not stand still, we see the outputs of many maps where locations are made in a similar style, but most of them simply do not correspond to the philosophy of the original dust, just the same philosophy makes this map so ultra-popular.

arches
Arches are almost a key element, which is the separator of the game zones of the map.
It's hard to believe, but they were created for a reason. These arches clearly divide the map into certain zones, making it easy for players to remember and understand the structure of the entire map.
With this solution, I killed two birds with one stone:
1) Separation
2) Architecture - popular map, should be beautiful.

For comparison, what would be with DUST if it had arches:

I admit that it looks completely fine, but the arches add beauty and are much better with them.
Thanks to them, the map designer gets a lot of freedom.

Revelation
Frankly, I admit that the solution was not invented by me. And I stole this idea from the original TEAM FORTRESS. Therefore, I would like to say thank you to the designer from VALVE.

On the pavement!
When I first started working on the original de_dust, I made a firm decision that the map simply must have roads, or at least something similar to them. After thinking, the choice fell on the cobblestones that are used on pavements.
And again two birds with one stone:
1) Roads serve as direction signs
2) Design approach

Let's see what de_dust would look like without the pavement:

Drawings on the walls. Chamfers. Bas-reliefs.
Dust is made in oriental style, and what is the east without wall paintings, chamfers and bas-reliefs?
But when adding such cards, it is important to understand one thing, that when you use them, use them carefully and very carefully - this will save you from overloading the map with details.
To prevent oversaturation, I have developed strict rules for myself:
1) Decorations can be used no more than two in one place
2) Chamfers and bas-reliefs should be where they cannot be crossed

Sun
An important component that gives dust "a certain, unique style is the sun. It is moderately bright, moderately floods the location with the sun.
Most of the maps of that time were exceptionally dark. Therefore, the release of something bright and light was a success.
dust - has become an exclusively new type of map. It was he who gave the players clarity. Those. a clear understanding of the situation on the map and, most importantly, knowledge of what awaits around one corner or another.
I was approached many times with a request to create a night version of one of the dust "s, but I knew perfectly well that such a step would be erroneous.

General design
de_dust 3, then I called it that, turned out to be very difficult to create. Firstly, it would not be dust if I did not use many factors of the original map - this both pleased and complicated the work at the same time.
Let me explain, I ended up in a certain cage of restrictions, because before adding this or that component, I had to think about the general concept of the map. So, in order for the concept to be correct, I left arches, chamfers, bas-reliefs and other details of the map.

Simplicity and eight
There was another question that worried me a lot. This is how to make it. It means that I understood that if I make a lot of mistakes, the map will not become professional, and the game will lose any variety on it. And if I do it perfectly, then everyone will simply forget about the original dust
In this regard, I spent many hours studying the general plan of the original dust "a in order to have an understanding of what is the secret in this map, which made it so popular.
In the end, after many hours of thinking, I found this secret. Eight! Yes, it is the figure eight, if you look closely, the card looks like a figure eight, which has a few more passes.

Finally I realized that new dust simply must have a figure-of-eight structure + passages. This would help maintain the integrity of the concept.

For ease of perception, I made two pictures for you. The most important thing is to understand that Center 8 is the hottest place on this map.

Cape sketches. The first step in creating a map.
When you create a map like dust, you realize that you need to start with a sketch. Since such cards are not created in pieces or in 30 seconds. It is important to understand what desires you have in creating a map. What do you want. Having thrown a couple of the most important and relevant zones, I began to compare them, add them up, apply them to each other:

First sketches:

As you can see, but in the lower scan, a lot of mistakes were made. Respawns are absolutely not correctly spaced.
The biggest mistake here is that T and CT contact is possible, as early as 1-2 seconds after the start of the round.
From this scan, only one detail has survived, rep CT

On the upper scan, it is already more distinct. But there is no most important detail - the tunnel. At that time, I did not know where he would be.
It is worth noting that it was at this stage of creating the map that I realized that the rocks should be game element and not just part of the decor.

Dust 3
Just a few days, I had to spend, making the sketches become virtual reality.
But here was the problem that the location of the bombsides left no room for the Ts to turn around properly.
By the way, at that moment I had no idea what the T spawn and, in general, their side should look like.
How it got there, I can't remember.

Alpha version
Dust 3 - the earliest versions of it, clearly show a huge difference compared to modern map. Another type of bombsite, Resp T, was approximately where CT Rep is now.

Alpha version of bombside and ramp to T spawn (now it's B plant and CT spawn)

As you can see from the screenshots, the map lacked quality, there was no window on B, the plantation was too deep.

Brian Martel is the first person to see this card. He told me a lot, for example, various texture fixes, as well as more active use of drawings on the walls, so that the players understood from the first seconds.
Since dust3 was much more complex than the original, I decided to take his advice.

As already mentioned, in order to create a dast of three, I needed to use various components of the original dast. To convey the general philosophy of the map to its next version.
The most attentive players immediately noticed that many components were taken from the original map, it's not even about certain things, but about the general concept.

dust 3 did not please with its bombside, on which there was no opportunity to do anything. There was no possibility of using positions for attack, and there was nothing for defense. Therefore, I used the materials from the original map:

Stingrays:

Even before starting to create a sequel, I clearly understood that I would use ramps and various climbs.
So I knew it was possible, only given the use of a goose.

Creative
When work was in full swing new card I had no choice but to take some very dangerous and critical steps.
Rocks. Drawer emphasis on rocks. These things, I never entered into previous versions. Most of all, I was worried about the boxes that rested on the rocks. If you look closely, you might get the impression that the boxes are frozen.

dust or not dust?

Creating a staircase in Temko brought me a lot of psychological suffering, frayed all my nerves. On other versions, I've never used stairs, except for spawn and entrance steps.
But there were not a couple of steps, but a huge, long staircase! Yes, and where! In Temko, where there is horror, how little.
There was a problem here that the upper and lower levels of Temko needed to be connected. Looking at the overall dynamics and concept of the map, I understood that the stairs should not just be a descent / ascent, but a whole place of action.

Finishing touches
One of the employees, namely Jess Cliffe, was very intrigued and very interested in de_dust3. Since at that time, the original took a solid first place in the games on it.
He made his own adjustments, or rather made many interesting suggestions so that I could change the map to improve the gameplay.

Problem
As you remember, I wanted to call the map de_dust3, but the representatives told me that they were ready to include this map in the official mappack, only under the name de_dust2.
Why would they do that? Yes, because at that time people from Valve were much more far-sighted than me:
If you put a series of numbers 1, 2, 3, 5 in front of a person, then the person will ask himself the question: "where are four"?
Valve couldn't afford to mislead the players.

In the end, I realized that the map is becoming part of the eSports discipline, and if they want to rename it, then it must be done.

Nowadays
Looking back, I can say to myself: "Well done!". After all, de_dust2 has become much more popular than the original, they still play it and come up with new tactics on it.

Modern de_dust2
Dust has grown up. He is many years old, but even after so many years, he is one of the best representatives of cards where a certain balance can be traced.
It was moved to CS:CZ, CS:S.

de_dust2 in CS:S
it unique map which has gone through quite a few changes. And we can say very successful!

Translation done: