Pied Piper of CS Interview
[wp]VashTheStampede is well known in the southern california area as the man who brought CS to people's lives.
by Paintime
Photos from gamasutra.com

[wp]VashTheStampede is known around the CS community as the pied-piper of Counter-Strike. He is solely responsible for bringing the majority of southern California into the realm of playing his favorite game.

What are the many smurf names you use in Counter-Strike and what is the official name you use?

My main name is [wp]VashTheStampede. There are a lot of other people who use that name, in different clans, games, etc., but there is only one of me. When you see that name, spelled exactly as shown, its me, for sure. I have a number of smurf names, but when I play as hairman, I am totally screwing around and don’t care about my playing style. As Vash, I “try” to play a bit more serious.

How many people have you turned to CS?

Lets see: my brother, five direct friends. Each of these people went on to spread the CS influence even further to others. One of which went to open up IPX in Orange County (a fine LAN gaming center), which spread to even more people addicted to CS (including a handful of his friends). Since I started to play, I’ve met a few co-workers that either played CS or are currently playing CS.

What beta version did you first start playing CS and what was your favorite Beta version of all time?

It all started around Beta3. Planethalflife.com had their MOTW and it was CS. I was getting a bit tired of Half-Life death match, Q2CTF and Q3A. Something a bit more “real” was in order, but I wasn’t ready to play Rainbow Six, or Rogue Spear. Some “arcade-ish” realism was what I wanted.

There are a lot of cool betas, but CS has always changed for the better. The latest CS are always better than the rest, but the Beta 5.x days were too much fun to forget. Even if the P90 was such an abused gun, those Beta’s were too much fun to forget. The earlier betas had less cheater’s, less cheating accusations and less politics when it came to playing. We were just a group of people enjoying a game that hadn’t gone crazy in terms of popularity – yet.

How do you feel about the different versions of CS throughout your time?

I see the progression of CS in a few different ways. Playing so long, I see the difference in how the gun accuracy is while moving, the different maps and the movement. The gun accuracies are definitely noticeable from the earlier betas. With Beta3-5 days, you could mainly run around, jump and pretty much hit things (not quite Half-Life DM, but not like how it is now). Around Beta6.x days, is when they really hammered down the ability to run-n-gun accurately and 1.5 has really taken down the ability to jump and hit things.

With maps, it’s a very different story. Anyone play maps like cs_bunker, or cs_facility? Those maps are old school and it shows. There are basically 1-2 choke points, turning the game into more of a camping game. Sure, maps like cs_siege and cs_assault are still around and they have some major camping spots, but cs_bunker and cs_facility are so much campier than cs_assault or cs_siege. If you look at the current maps, most maps have three methods to infiltrate. Compare de_dust to de_dust2 or de_chateau. De_dust has two main choke points and de_chateau is very confusing with all the ways to get around. Heck, even de_dust2 have three main choke points to get through. The difference in choke points is what really shows the strength of the later CS betas. I prefer the newer maps like de_torn to de_dust, but de_dust is a classic that no proper CS player should forget.

Counter-Strike’s movement has gone through a lot of changes, which has changed how a lot of people play CS. The early days of CS, I see as being more Rambo-like. Fast running, faster running with the knife in hand (much more noticeable than it is in 1.5), lots of jumping and guns that can kill while you are moving at 30mph. With 1.5, it’s a bit slower paced game for the real killers. Watch any really good player and you’ll they take their time to place good shots, they take their time to check a lot of corners and they really only jump when needed. I prefer CS 1.5 the way it is for speed and movement, but if I could change only one thing in 1.5, I’d make the first jump “free” of lag. You could have one jump free, but the rest would hinder movement. It would be a good balance from the bunny hoppers and the maps that really need some jumping.

Last, but not least, are the animations. I really wish some of the older animations were in the game. The current C4 plant sucks; it just doesn’t do the original animation justice. I especially miss the hit animations from the beta7 era. If there were only some way we could have multiple levels of animations, I’d be in.

What are your favorite guns throughout and which is the current (Version 1.5) “best” gun to use?

I’m definitely a para person. One of my favorite sets of kills is on de_dust2, with a nade and para in hand. I was a CT (I typically play D), rushed up, made a right and threw a bomb at the double doors. After it landed, switched to the para and went full auto. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (mainly all fellow clan mates, at the time) dropped and I had a huge smile on my face.

My most effective weapons are the AR’s, namely the AK and M4. The M4 is a child’s toy to use, the recoil is really easy to control and lots of people can kill with it. The AK is my bitch – the recoil is why I like the weapon. Another weapon I will use frequently is the P90. With fifty bullets a magazine and a high ROF, it’s a killing machine. In the hands of especially [wp]wulf, or myself the gun is very deadly.

So what’s up with the Wulf’s Den? Can you elaborate?

Wulf’s Den is really a brainchild of my buddy [wp]wulf. I ranted and raved about CS over a year ago and he was basically not interested. Then, a few weeks later, I get an ICQ from him. He’s basically saying how he “re discovered” for CS himself. I don’t know how much later, but he started his own server, with Wulf’s Law.

In essence, its logd, parsing team wounds (only REAL CS players play with FF) over a period of time. If you are attacking your teammates at the very beginning of the round, Wulf’s Law going to slap you. After X attacks, over Y seconds (the numbers vary), you will be slain immediately. After so many TK’s, you will be auto kicked or auto banned. Those ideas all come from [wp]wulf. I’ve seen other CS servers that log the TK’s and TWs, but [wp]wulf’s system really gets rid of the punks that come in and try to ruin a FF server. Wulf’s Law also has the basic methods to forgive a TK, with forgive, slay, slap, kick or ban. I’ve been on each end of the punishment, so I know them well. Wulf’s Law doesn’t get in the way or normal CS matches, so it really only effects constant team wounder’s or team killers.

Last, but not least are the howls that Wulf’s Den has. When you hear a wolf howl, or various other sounds, it could easily be an admin setting them off. Typically, the admin’s come in and announce their presence with a howl (a few available), a scream or even Elvis.

Many strats have come up along the way including hoping like a mother, Baiting and kneeling down, what is the current top strat and what is the most popular strat currently?

To be honest, I haven’t played a lot of clan matches (not really into clan playing). When I did play, we lost, or didn’t due well due to our lack of organization. I’d definitely not be the best person to talk about strats in terms of a team environment.

However, I know some things, as an individual, which can be done well, effectively and can yield good scores. My favorite things I try to teach to any CS pupil is: PLAY SLOW. Sure, you run around at 30mph, but you can only hit targets at say 3 mph. It is nice to beat everyone to a choke point and to fire at as many guys before you die, but how is that effective? Taking the game slowly, looking at each corner, is the key to staying alive and doing well. The biggest key, in CS, to getting a lot of kills is getting that first shot off on whomever. If you are running fast and start firing, you have the worst chance of staying alive against someone who was crouching or walking. When I play with some of my friends at my place, you always hear me tell them: slow down.

Another key to CS is memorizing maps, choke points, choke point angles and timing for those spots. Take de_dust for example – I’ve logged so many hours on that map. There has been far too many times when I just “know” someone is about to pop out of a specific area – it’s the timing. I’ve started to fire through walls, or right at choke spots without seeing anyone and gotten kills. I’ve been labeled a cheater, etc, but I know people hide/camp and run out of spots so much – it is too easy to pick out the rookies. Larger maps make it more difficult to get all spots memorized, but all good players know all the maps. If you want to do well in CS, learn all the maps, as both a CT and T.

Have you been to the 7bits server and what do you think of the 7bits clan?

I played on 7bits a while ago, but not recently. I’m a regular on Wulf’s Den, so I am definitely seen there. Usually, when I pop onto other servers, I won’t be as Vash, but rather, hairman. If you want me to come and play, I certainly will. Without knowing anything about the clan or playing with/again 7bits, I have nothing bad to say at all. If The Game Lord is playing on 7bits, it has to be a decent bunch of guys to put up with him and his ego ?. Just kidding on the ego, of course.

With the acquisition of Adam Deadmarsh, there is no question that the Los Angeles Kings will win the Stanley Cup this year. Are you a Kings fan?

Unfortunately, the Kings are much like the Dodgers or Angels. They do a lot of butt kicking in the season and only to find themselves on early vacations come post season. Lets hope the Kings can pull through next year, like the rest of their LA team counterparts.

I am a LA team fan, but not really a hockey fan. I did go to a playoffs game for the Kings a few years ago (back when they were at their old place in Inglewood) and they were winning until the third period where their opponents scored about 5 goals in 4 minutes. It was not a good time to be kings fan, but it definitely appropriate for everyone to be wearing black. I’ll root for the Kings as much as I root for the Dodgers and Angels. If there would be any game I’d wear a jersey for, it’ll be for the Lakers.

DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed by [wp]VASHTHESTAMPEDE in no way represent or portray any beliefs or opinions of The Game Lord or www.gamelord.org or any of the affiliates of The Game Lord or www.gamelord.org.