Counter-Strike: Source

Developer(s)

Valve, Turtle Rock Studios
Hidden Path Entertainment (2010 update)

Publisher(s)

Valve

Series

Counter-Strike series

Release date(s)

October 7, 2004

Windows:
October 7, 2004
macOS:
June 23, 2010
Linux:
February 5, 2013

Genre(s)

Tactical first-person shooter

Mode(s)

Multiplayer

Platform(s)

Windows, macOS, Linux

Engine

Source (TF2 branch)

Steam AppID

240

Written in

C++

Mod support

Yes (custom folder)

SDK

Source SDK

Documentation

Counter-Strike: Source Level Creation

Distribution

Retail, Steam

Official website

Official Website (Archived)

Links

Steam page

ModDB page

Previous game

Counter-Strike: Condition Zero

Next game

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive

Counter-Strike: Source is a recreation of Counter-Strike inside the Source engine, and the third game of the Counter-Strike franchise. Released in October 2004, it was the first Source game to be released, preceding Half-Life 2 by some weeks as a Steam pre-order bonus. It features the Counter-Strike bot, the precursor to Left 4 Dead's AI.

As opposed to previous Counter-Strike games, there is no Assassination game mode and no riot shield included. Included are the Hostage and Bombing scenario. Originally at launch, player could purchase ammo separately until an update (between 2006-2009) released, removing the option to buy ammo separately, and instead buying any weapons will automatically gives you the ammo. Also at launch, CSS only had one character for both teams (Phoenix Connexion for T, Seal Team 6 for CT) until an update released in Dec 2005 up to Apr 2006, slowly adding G.I.G.N, Guerilla, Leet Krew, SAS, GSG9 and Arctic.

A beta version developed by Hidden Path Entertainment (later known for developing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive) and Valve, ported the game to the Orange Box engine (Source Multiplayer), which was finished and released on Jun 23, 2010 for PC and Mac OS X, replacing the older (Source 2006 version, also known as v34/1.0.0.34). The game now features 144 (now 147) new achievements, a domination and revenge system, MVP Awards, and a new scoreboard. Currently, it runs on Team Fortress 2 branch, an updated version of Source 2013 Multiplayer which includes 64-bit support, VScript, and other new features as well as bug fixes.

History

September 2003: Alpha version of Counter-Strike: Source was leaked, alongside Half-Life 2.
Before October 2004: Counter-Strike: Source was publicly available as a Open Beta.
October 7, 2004: Counter-Strike: Source was released.
Between December 2005 until April 2006: Added other characters to both CT & T team.
June 1, 2006: Around this time, CS:S had been upgraded to Source 2006 (HL2: Episode One) engine.
June 23, 2010: Counter-Strike: Source was upgraded to Source 2009 engine (Orange Box branch), replacing the Source 2006 version (CS:S version 34), while also added new features to the game, and made the game available on Mac. This new update was co-developed by Hidden Path Entertainment.
Between August 2011 and September 2011: CS:S was updated with changes to weapon accuracy, new spread pattern and balance. This change, along with engine updates, divided CS:S playerbase, leading to some servers running on either older (v34/Source 2006) or newer versions (Orange Box, and later in future, Source 2013 and TF2 branch), and players using older versions of the game in order to connect to servers running old CS:S versions.
October 19, 2011: Counter-Strike: Source was upgraded to Source Multiplayer, when the Source SDK launcher was updated, which defaults Team Fortress 2, Day of Defeat: Source and Counter-Strike: Source to Source MP.
May 2013: Counter-Strike: Source was upgraded to Source 2013 Multiplayer engine, during transition to then-new SteamPipe content delivery system. The game was also ported to Linux systems.
February 18, 2025: Counter-Strike: Source was upgraded to Team Fortress 2 branch, adding features from Half-Life 2 20th Anniversary Update, Team Fortress 2, and VScript support.

Limitations

Bug:A bug, which hasn't been fixed for over 18 years (since 2006) since the reintroduction of class selection (alternatively, selecting characters), the SAS has a weaker weapon throw due to an unconfigured ValveBiped.

Bug:Video Stress Test is currently broken with recent (Team Fortress 2 branch) update, and will crash the game.

Use GitHub in order to prevent duplicate or outdated bug reports at the wiki.

Official Maps

Counter-Strike: Source has the following official maps included.

Maps with the prefix cs_ are Hostage Rescue Scenarios, maps with the prefix de_ are Bomb Defusal Scenarios.

Map Filename	Official Map since	Remake from Counter-Strike?	Available in CS:GO?	Available in CS2?	HDR support?
cs_assault	2005-06-07	Yes	Yes	No	No
cs_compound	2005-02-24	No	No	No	No
cs_havana	2004-10-07 (launch)	Yes	No	No	No
cs_italy	2004-10-07 (launch)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
cs_militia	2006-01-18	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
cs_office	2004-10-07 (launch)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No (planned, but scrapped)
de_aztec	2004-10-07 (launch)	Yes	Removed	No	No
de_cbble	2004-10-07 (launch)	Yes	Yes	No	No
de_chateau	2004-10-07 (launch)	Yes	No	No	No
de_dust	2004-10-07 (launch)	Yes	Removed	No	Yes
de_dust2	2004-10-07 (launch)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
de_inferno	2005-03-15	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
de_nuke	2005-12-15	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
de_piranesi	2004-10-07 (launch)	Yes	No	No	No
de_port	2005-02-24	No	No	No	No
de_prodigy	2004-12-16	Yes	No	No	No
de_tides	2005-01-17	Yes (only in )	No	No	No
de_train	2005-02-24	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Unlike the maps in sister games Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Day of Defeat: Source, none of the official maps in Counter-Strike: Source were compiled with per-vertex lighting.

Test maps

Counter-Strike: Source also includes two test maps, one for audio, other for benchmarking system performance (CPU & GPU).

test_speakers: test_speakers is a map used to test your speakers configuration. This map can be loaded on "Audio" tab in Options before it was removed after Counter-Strike: Source update in 2010, requiring users to use console commands to access this maps. Ragdoll models will appear as "ERROR" because the old player models from 2004 version of CS:S has been removed.
test_hardware: test_hardware is a map used to benchmark your computer. It can be played through "Video Stress Test" button. The map itself is the updated version of a map shown at E3 2003, during Half-Life 2 development.