Deathmatch in Counter-Strike

Something just popped in my mind while playing Counter-Strike the other day. The game is a great game, except that sometimes, everyone dies except for the two damned campers who just wait the clock out. And everyone else just has to sit there and wait and wait and wait, and pass the time cursing at the campers and talking about what kinds of POS they are. (Oh course, the campers can't hear it. They have no idea what's going on) I mean, even the best of us can die early on in the round from some punk getting a lucky head shot with his pistol. (And you just happened to blow all your cash on armor, an AWP, 1 HE, 2 Flashbangs, and a smoke grenade)

So, why not let the dead people deathmatch for a few minutes? Patience, you say? Bah. Who needs it? It's the 21st century for crying out loud. (Okay, techically, we have a few days to go) You'd think everything would be streamlined enough to where we wouldn't need to wait for anything.

Give me deathmatch in Counter-Strike, or give me death.

For the few of you who don't know what Counter-Strike is, go play it. Despite the occasional wait, it's probably one of the best multi-player games out there.

I also realize that the CS team is probably very busy with all sorts of bug fixes, and minor adjustments here and there. Good for them. This is just an idea that might be looked into. Just as note, one of the only ways I can think of this would be to have a separate DeathMatch room, kind of like the rooms in Rocket Arena. However, that would probably require redoing all the maps, and having another huge 100 MB plus download for everyone to play. I'm wondering if it might be possible to just reload the same map and DeathMatch on it, without affecting the main Counter-Strike game. Even if it was possible, that would probably require a ton of extra programming. Yeah, so maybe my idea is flawed. But hopefully something that's implemented in Counter-Strike or whatever FPS game is out there by the time we all have 5 GB of RAM and 15 GHz CPUs.

Your idea has been set forth by a more than a few of the deathmatch whores who absolutely must be fragging at all times. Unfortunately, it has two major flaws that ensure the idea will never see the light of day.

1. Lag. Essentially, the server becomes two servers, as it is determining coordinates and actions for two completely separate games. While the deathmatch game could be integrated into the same map currently being played, and the server could just not send the information to those playing in the other game that is occurring in the game still being played by the living, this could prove to be much of a load for the server to handle. Granted, most servers could handle it, but many could not. The client suffers as the server suffers. I'm a 56K HPB, and it is tough going in the early part of a round in a large server when my connection simply cannot handle the information being sent by the twenty-some players in it. In the later parts of the round when most of the players are dead, I can play a hell of a lot better when my packet choke isn't hovering in the 50 range. If the server can't bear the brunt of the packet load, then I'm going to have lag issues just the same.

2. It destroys the magic of Counter-Strike. What makes this game special is that you get attached to your life, unlike an actual deathmatch game like Quake 3 where death is an afterthought to killing opponents. Most people probably wouldn't think about this fact, but would definitely see how less fun the game would be if it included constant respawning. Counter-Strike is set up to make surviving actually important, and that's something I think draws a lot of people to the game. Also, the death time allows for community to be built through the banter that goes on between living. Getting to know people in the game has been one of the things that makes the game that much more fun for me, as fragging a friend is a lot more satisfying than fragging Nameless Idiot #306.

Basically, if you want to be fragging at all times, go play Quake 3, or find some other game with realistic weapons and respawning. Action Half-Life, perhaps? Don't touch the beauty of Counter-Strike, because the flow of the game is flawless the way it is.