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Comment by rangibaby | Hacker News Reader

> That's why it was the perfect MLG game. Every shooter these days is more and more complex.

OTOH there is Counter-Strike which turns 20 this year and is the third most popular game on Steam right now. Most of the changes to the core game since ~2001 have been about balance as opposed to adding new mechanics.

Someone who played the game over a decade ago could pick it up today and still play on mostly the same game on mostly the same maps:

de_cache 2011

de_dust2: 2001

de_inferno: 1999

de_mirage: 2004

de_nuke: 1999

de_overpass: 2013

de_train: 1999

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Pretty incredible that it's survived decades and multiple iterations of the game, and you can still pick it up and buy your trusty AK or M4 and play essentially the same game from decades ago.

it's not the same game though, movement,gun recoil,gun damage, spray patterns,economy etc have changed WILDLY since the inception of the game. maps may LOOK the same but on closer inspection, the models change rapidly - eyelines, clipping, the way objects bounce off surfaces etc etc

for some reason valve doesn't release new versions of the game but instead chooses to radically change all aspects of the game and call it counterstrike(increment code+1)

i like the model, much better than call of duty randomly naming things differently even though the games are fundamentally the same with a fresh coat of graphics on top

While I am sure for high level play every little change is a huge deal, for me as a casual CS seems much the same as it ever did. Most of the changes you list would only seem like "big changes" if you are a high level player who knows the whole thing back to front and have memorised recoil patterns and whatnot.

the game isn't that complex, if you play for more than 5 hours a week you'll become one of those "high level" players and notice the changes

when you start with a game that basically revolves around the delicate balance between five weapons, even subtle changes to the mechanics can make a very big difference to the way the game is played at all levels.

I know you probably don't care about things like movement accel curves or hitbox sizes (which have changed drastically over the years) but just look at the deagle, possibly the most iconic weapon of the franchise. the weapon went largely unchanged between 1.6 and source, but is almost unrecognizable in csgo. you simply can't use it the same way you could in the older games; it has a completely different role.

tbh those maps look heavily dofferent now: while the basic layout is the same, there are huge amount of small changes and visual enhancements to the point where it would need large time to adjust for someone coming from the original. Same for movement, ui, physics.

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