I recently had some time to
harasspolitely chat with Chet Faliszek about some of the topics we at GameBanana had on our minds in regards to Valve's upcoming Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.Below is Part One of the entire interview, Part Two can be found here
The first thing many people wanted to know is will Counter-Strike: Global Offensive support custom content and if so to what extent?
Yes Global Offensive will support pretty much everything that Counter-Strike: Source did in terms of customization.
So will be seeing an SDK for CS:GO?
Yes.
Due to the game being cross platform, what impact will this have on dedicated servers or will they become obsolete?
So we're gonna host a bunch of our own servers regardless of cross platform: PC, Mac, Xbox360 and PS3 will all have dedicated [servers]. [PC Gamers] will also be able to host their own [...] if they want.
What are the plans for server administration? Will there be a built in system such as SourceAdminMod or AMX Mod X built right into the game? Or will CS:GO use the same old rcon system as CS:S.
Yeah, right now it will be similar to CS:S.
Similarly will servers still be running VAC2 or will anti-cheat be updated and how will cross platform affect this?
Yeah, there's an updated version and also some social things that will allow you to choose who you are playing with a little better.
Will we see the return of hats and other gimmicky promotional items in CS:GO?
Uhh.. we'll see. We haven't come down 100% one way or the other on that one yet. It was funny because someone in the forums saw a thread about microtransactions in CS:GO, and everyone started off being really negative about it [...] but by then end of it they were like 'ooh yeah I'd wanna have this, that's cool'. So we'll let the community decide a lot of this through the beta, and we'll focus on working on the game.
Do you plan on having lots of DLC's for the game?
Again we'll see. You know I think we'll always try to make the game were going to ship first and then worry about that. I think the portal 2 DLC's an example of that, we didn't even start working on that or thinking about it until we had shipped portal 2.
{Random guy cutting in}: Those beta keys that your giving out will they work for [...] PlayStation or are they only PC?
Uh no they don't let us integrate in the same way, so we're just doing our beta on the PC.
About the beta, who will be eligible for it. Do you plan on opening it up to people who own previous titles in the Counter-Strike series?
No we're not doing it that way, It's going to start off with just the people with [beta access that] you get from coming to these sorts of shows, and invited guest[s]. Then it will expand out to communities such as ESL and [GameBanana], and [we will] let it grow that way. [...] We need to scale it in a sort of way that we can react to it, but eventually it will be open to everyone and [then] everyone will be able to play it.
How will people give you guys feedback from the beta, will that be done on your forums or will there be a separate system for this?
Uh, there will be community tools that will become available.
Will this new Counter-Strike be using the old .GCF files System or the newer .VPK's as in Left For Dead?
Nah there [are no] VPK files.. I believe, oh no wait sh*t... I'm not sure... I'd have to go back and check because we keep swapping back and forth on this. It's running on a new version of source that [is] post-Portal 2 and that's on a separate track that I'm not intimately familiar with. [...] With this track, there's a change at the end that I don't know the end result of. There's going to be some interesting things that you're gonna see in portal 2 and how we handle custom content, but I'll check for you guys.
When you originally went from CS 1.6 to Source, lots of die-hard fans originally hated the changes to the hitboxes, have you guys taken any time with competitive players to ensure correct hitboxes?
Yes we've tweaked them again. In CS:S it gave you the benefit of the doubt so the hit boxes are like this around your head {Makes wild hand gestures} and its like ok, you hit here {another hand gesture} [then] you got close enough [and since] there's a lot of things going on and everything else, were gonna give you that shot -- but in CS:GO you gotta hit the head.
Recently you announced the new arsenal game mode which is based around the popular server mod GunGame, are there any plans to bring other popular server mods such as VIP or Zombie mod to CS:GO?
Yeah were in talks with the other game mode [developers] and we'll work with them to see, but were not saying anything right now.
There are also rumours that you have been working with mappers to implement popular custom maps from CS 1.6 and CS:S, is this true?
We'll see about that, the first thing is to make the core game something want to play and people want to mod, then we'll worry about that stuff later.
People also wanted to know about bot AI, will hostages be more advanced NPC's? Or will they still blindly follow you though gunfire or off a cliff like in CS:S
Uh yeah, there's not much change, it's [...] similar bot code.
One guy also wanted to know (for console players without an internet connection) if there will be any kind of single player or offline mode available?
Aww hell, who doesn't have internet anymore!? Come on, are you a grandmother? My grandmother has internet! Uh no in all seriousness, there will be single player against bots and split-screen available.
Are there any plans for a story mode, like in Condition Zero?
No, that would be something else, we [want to] just kinda focus on the competitive skill-based side of Counter-Strike.
People also wanted to know if the character models will be dynamic? E.g If you buy Kevlar will that show up on the player?
Some stuff will, some stuff won't. Kevlar does not right now, currently Kevlar always shows up.
Will it run on DirectX 10 and/or DX11?
Uh I'm not sure, it's DirectX 10 [compatible] I believe, but drop me an email and I'll follow up on some of these, just to make sure. There's some underlying changes where you've got to be running a certain level of processor, GPU, that sort of thing, like in Portal 2.
System requirements, are they similar to Portal 2, or a bit higher?
Nah, they'll be similar. We [never] do testing to know what the exact specs are. What we do is we bring in a whole host of video cards and set ups and run through it, and its got to maintain a certain frame rate [throughout] that.
Last 2 questions, sorry to keep you so long. People also wanted to know will there be any real time lighting, similar to DOTA2?
Well, lighting is like what you see [in the gameplay footage]. There [are] some new effects that we [have which] are subtle [that] people probably don't know, but there's not a bunch of [actual] dynamic lighting in that sense.
Since TF2 recently became Free-To-Play, people wanted to know if there are any plans to make CS:GO/CS:S Free-To-Play further down the line?
We haven't announced any pricing plans yet, that's not something we've even thought about yet. It's something we'll consider in the New Year.
Thanks for your time. Oh, and for all the swag!
CS:GO Interview with Chet Falizek (Valve Software, September 2011) [Part 1]
For use on GameBanana.com ONLY.
Jonathan Higgins: Jon.Higgins@GameBanana.com
