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Counter-Strike: Source

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike: Source cover
Developers
Valve Corporation
Turtle Rock Studios[1]
Hidden Path Entertainment
Publishers
Valve Corporation
Russia Buka Entertainment[2]
Engines
Original Source 2004
Current Source 2013 Multiplayer
Release dates
Windows October 7, 2004[3]
macOS (OS X) June 23, 2010
Linux February 5, 2012
Reception
Metacritic 88
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase
Modes Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Shooter
Art styles Realistic
Themes Contemporary
Series Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike: Source on HowLongToBeat
Counter-Strike: Source on IGDB
Counter-Strike: Source guide on StrategyWiki
Counter-Strike: Source on MobyGames
Counter-Strike: Source on Wikipedia
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike 2000
Counter-Strike: Condition Zero 2004
Counter-Strike: Source 2004
Counter-Strike NEO -White Memories- 2005
Counter-Strike Online (series)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive 2012
Counter-Strike 2 2023

Warnings

The macOS (OS X) version of this game does not work on macOS Catalina (version 10.15) or later due to the removal of support for 32-bit-only apps.

Counter-Strike: Source is a multiplayer first-person shooter game in the Counter-Strike series.

General information

GitHub Issue Tracker for Counter-Strike: Source and other Source-based games
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Icon overlay.png
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
SecuROM 5 DRM. Removed in a December 2004 update.
Initially included with all purchases of Half-Life 2.
These copies can bypass Steam if you launch hl2.msi directly.
Later got a standalone release on 4 CDs/1 DVD.
Windows
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Initially could not be purchased separately and was instead included with all purchases of Half-Life 2. Received a standalone digital release later.
[Note 1]
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Linux
All versions require Steam DRM.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use the -novid command line argument.

Enable dynamic C4 lights

Use the console command cl_c4dynamiclight 1

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\cstrike\cfg[Note 2]
macOS (OS X) <path-to-game>\cstrike\cfg
Linux <path-to-game>/cstrike/cfg/
It's unknown whether this game follows the XDG Base Directory Specification on Linux. Please fill in this information.

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud
Syncs settings.

Video

In-game general video settings.
In-game general video settings.
In-game advanced video settings.
In-game advanced video settings.

Graphics feature State WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
Has native 21:9 support.[5]
4K Ultra HD
Interface scales poorly.
Field of view (FOV)
Default FOV is 90. See Field of view (FOV) for information on changing it.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Use the -window -noborder command line arguments
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Up to 16 samples.
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
Double buffered [6]
60 FPS and 120+ FPS
300 FPS cap by default. With console, can change fps_max up to 1000; use 0 for uncapped framerate.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Rendered image uses SDR color space. In-game HDR option refers only to HDR Rendering.

Field of view (FOV)

default_fov #[citation needed]
Unless a server has cheats enabled the game will be forced to the default FOV.
  1. Open Settings from the main menu
  2. Go to the Keyboard tab
  3. Press the Advanced button at the bottom of the popup
  4. Check the box that says Enable Developer Console (~)
  5. Open the console using ~.
  6. Input sv_cheats 1 to enable cheats and then default_fov #. Replace # with your desired FOV.

Input

In-game key map settings.
In-game key map settings.
In-game mouse/gamepad settings.
In-game mouse/gamepad settings.

Audio

In-game audio settings.
In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Over-all game volume and separate music slider.
Surround sound
7.1, 5.1 surround sound, 4 speaker surround.
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
"Silence the audio while the game window is in the background" check box.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Russian
Serbian
Fan translation, download.
Spanish
Thai
Turkish

Network

In-game general multiplayer settings.
In-game general multiplayer settings.
In-game advanced multiplayer settings.
In-game advanced multiplayer settings.

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
8 Use Nucleus Co-op.
LAN play
128
Online play
128

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP
Use connect [IP address here] in the console.

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 27014-27050
UDP 1200, 3478, 4379-4380, 27000-27030
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

3D modes State GG3D Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
Devices
Novint Falcon

Issues fixed

Purple and black broken textures

Fixes to this issue can be found on our Source engine page.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9
OpenGL 2.1 OS X and Linux only.
Shader Model support 2, 3
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
This 32-bit-only macOS game does not work on macOS Catalina (10.15) or later.
Linux

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Physics Havok Heavily modified variant.
Audio Miles Sound System 9.3a
Input SDL
Cutscenes Bink Video 1.99r
Multiplayer Steamworks

Console commands

Games running on the Source engine can utilize Source Engine Console Commands for various tasks.
Enabling the console in Source games[citation needed]
  1. Launch the game
  2. From the main menu select Options
  3. Select the Keyboard tab
  4. Click the Advanced button
  5. Check the box next to Enable developer console (~)
  6. Click Apply

Notes

Press ~ to open the console.
Some commands may first require you enabling sv_cheats. You can do so with sv_cheats 1.
Many servers will not allow you to play with cheats enabled, or will disable them upon entering the server.
Users without a US keyboard could experience some problems.

Command line arguments

View this Steam Support Article regarding launch options as well as the relevant Valve Developer wiki page for further information and a list of useful Source engine launch options.
Some useful commands can be found in the table below.
Command Output
-autoconfig Restores video and performance settings to default for the current hardware detected. Ignores settings inside any .cfg files until this parameter is removed.
-console Starts the game with the developer console enabled.
-dxlevel xx Forces the game to launch in a specific DirectX version, where xx is: 80 (DirectX 8 (buggy, use 81 instead for high performance)), 81 (DirectX 8.1), 90 (DX9 with Shader Model 2) and 95 (DX9 with Shader Model 3)). Remove this argument after starting CS:S once or it will keep reseting your graphical settings. The overridden DirectX version will still be saved (mat_dxlevel).
-h # or -height # Forces the engine to start with resolution set to #.
-w # or -width # Forces the engine to start with resolution set to #.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 7, 8.1, 10 32/64-bit
Processor (CPU) 1.7 GHz
System memory (RAM) 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 2 GB
Video card (GPU) DirectX 8.1 compatible
Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, and Vista were previously supported, but as future updates for this game and Steam occurred; the support was dropped, even with retail copies.
macOS (OS X)
Minimum
Operating system (OS) Leopard 10.5.8, Snow Leopard 10.6.3
Processor (CPU)
System memory (RAM) 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 8
ATI Radeon X1600
Intel HD 3000
Linux
Minimum
Operating system (OS) Ubuntu 12.04 LTS
Processor (CPU) 1.7 GHz
System memory (RAM) 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)


Notes

  1. While the game can be launched using the -game cstrike command-line argument, no local game can actually be created.[4]
  2. When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References

  1. Counter-Strike: Source (2004) Windows credits - MobyGames - last accessed on 2018-07-26
  2. [1] - last accessed on 2023-03-22
  3. News - Half-Life 2 Steam Offers Ready Now - last accessed on 2023-07-02
  4. PCGamingWiki Community - CS: Source is not DRM Free (when launched through .exe) - last accessed on 2020-07-05
  5. Steam Community :: Group :: /r/ultrawidemasterrace Group - last accessed on 17 May 2023
  6. Black mesa vsync is double buffered - last accessed on 2024
  7. Xbox 360 Controller for CS:S - last accessed on 25 September 2022