CS_HDB Preview

By Avenger - 18 April 2001

It's been a couple of months since the release of the first public beta of cs_hdb, a Counter-Strike map based on a fictional Singaporean public housing estate. Conceived by Yonk! of Clan Frag-X, cs_hdb marks yet another milestone in the local Counter-Strike map development scene.

In cs_hdb Counter-Terrorists start off in front of a bus stop that is linked to a sheltered walkway leading to the lobby of the main block. Their job? To rescue hostages that the Terrorists have trapped in an apartment on the third storey. In the meantime, the Ts keep themselves occupied by positioning themselves in certain strategic locations around the block, fortifying the building against any CT assault.

Given that cs_hdb is a fictional map, Yonk! was able to incorporate several interesting elements that are part and parcel of a regular Housing Development Board (HDB) estate and, with some creativity, transformed them into areas that enhanced the playability of the map. Features on the map that reflect the true nature of a regular housing estate include a TIBS bus docked at a bus stop, a sheltered walkway leading directly into the main block, lifts, staircases, roofs and even a common rubbish chute players can take advantage of by climbing up and catching their enemies by surprise.

Among the numerous features found on the map, perhaps the most eye-catching area would be the playground, equipped with swings, a slide, monkey bars and a see-saw which you should check out for yourself by pressing the use key. In the words of Yonk! himself, "Where else can you find a playground in CS??"

Given that this version of cs_hdb is merely in its testing phases, there are a number of details the need refining to perfect the map for gaming purposes. A factor that may affect players with slower systems would be a bit of lag due to certain areas containing a high number of polygons. Half-Life does not have support for any Hardware T&L feature that the GeForce or Radeon has to offer, thus the effect of high polygon counts in Half-Life can be quite frustrating for those on older systems.

Technical issues aside, Yonk! told me that some gripes gamers had about the map include the lighting being too dark in certain areas and that the rooms were still in an unfurnished state. He assured me that issues such as these would be fixed up in the final release which "will have fully furnished rooms, a karaoke system, VCDs on the floor, a bedroom with a PC running CS, mahjong sounds coming from some units, two apartment units accessible for hostage rescue, and some improvements in the texturing." In addition to that, Yonk! hopes to add a sewerage system and a basketball court as well if time permits.

Currently, cs_hdb does suffer from a bias in favour of the Ts due to the fact that there are only 2 entrances leading to the hostages that can be easily barricaded. Admitting that some balancing work was also in order, Yonk! assured me that he would be working on some tweaks to ensure a more level playing field for gamers to make the map "as fun as possible, and to provide a purely local feel to CS gaming."

I asked Yonk! how the public has responded to the release of the cs_hdb map since it was hosted on the PAGN Counter-Strike servers for testing purposes. Yonk! was quick to note that "most of their comments have been very positive! In fact, there are a bunch who really love the map!"

I pointed out to Yonk! that it has already been two months since the beta release and I was wondering what was holding him back from the final release, which he said he hopes to complete by the end of April.

Explaining that more time was needed to prepare the final version of the map, Yonk! said, "The main reason for it's delay would be the time factor. I'm just too tied up with work at paGn. It's tough striking a balance between work and gf. I've been telling myself to finish it everyday, but just can't seem to find any quality time to seriously sit down and finish it off."

For everybody's sake I certainly hope that Yonk! will be able to spend more time on the map in the coming weeks and produce something that all Singaporean Counter-Strike gamers can be proud of.

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