[Basic Introduction]
Without a doubt, Counter-Strike is one of the most popular games in 2000. By perfectly mixing team tactical action elements and fast-paced gameplay, the designers of this game have touched the hearts of first-person shooter enthusiasts. Since the release of the first beta version in early 1999, Counter-Strike's user base has steadily grown to today's astonishing number. Now, at any time of day or night, players can choose to join thousands of Counter-Strike servers for gaming, with most being open continuously for 24 hours a day. What impresses us even more is that this game was largely developed by two amateur designers in their spare time. Although most Counter-Strike fans are familiar with the story of its development, few people know that a professional design team played an important role in the production of Counter-Strike. Early in its development, the game caught the attention of members of the Valve team, who then contacted Barking Dog Studios to add some new content, make adjustments to the gameplay, and optimize for the release of the fifth beta version. Barking Dog was also responsible for developing the famous Homeworld: Cataclysm, and now this team is creating their own multiplayer team-based shooting game. This game, which has been in development for over nine months, is Global Operations, using the latest version of Monolith's LithTech engine, positioning it as the professional version of Counter-Strike.
"Counter-Strike is a great game," said Jeff Barnhart, producer of Global Operations, "but our game is 100 times better." There's no denying that these two games share many similarities. Just like in Counter-Strike, in Global Operations players are divided into two teams, and they must complete a set of objectives within a certain time while ensuring the enemy does not complete their tasks. While some objectives include the now-standard hostage rescue—where counter-terrorism units infiltrate the enemy's defenses within a certain time and safely rescue a group of hostages held captive—Global Operations makes numerous interesting adjustments to the well-tested team gaming model.
"One of our favorite scripts is the South China Sea map," said Barnhart. In this level, the terrorists, playing as Indonesian auxiliary military forces, will go out to sea to attack a huge oil tanker, while the counter-terrorism team—the Australian Special Forces—must drive away the attackers and save the oil tanker. The game offers a total of 32 such realistic terrorist organizations and counter-terrorism organizations for players to choose from. However, what sets Global Operations apart is that these organizations correspond to their respective maps. That is to say, if players are fighting on a Spanish map, the counter-terrorism organization can only be Ertzaintza (the police of the autonomous Basque region), and the terrorists can only be the Basque separatist organization. According to Barnhart, this adds authenticity and draws inspiration from more serious tactical simulation games such as Rainbow Six and Swat 3. Global Operations will include 16 maps designed based on current hotspots around the world.
Although the final scripts are not yet fully completed, Barnhart introduced us to some mission objectives of the already completed maps. For example, in the capital of Lebanon, Beirut, the counter-terrorism organization, the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, needs to rescue the U.S. ambassador from a downed helicopter. In the Colombia mission, the terrorist members of the drug company must prevent the counter-terrorism forces from invading their villa and assassinating the company boss. In Belfast, Ireland, the resistance organization of the British Paratroopers needs to kidnap an officer of the Irish Republican Army and safely return him to Britain. The terrorists playing as the Irish Republican Army must stop the counter-terrorism team's actions mid-way and safely retrieve their officer. There are similar missions in the VIP mode of Counter-Strike and Team Fortress Classic, though in those games, the terrorists aim to kill the diplomat escorted by the opposing side. Interestingly, the VIPs in Global Operations are controlled by computers. The designers at Barking Dog Studios believe that the AI system they developed for the game allows computer-controlled characters to exhibit realistic behavior and even adapt to frequently changing situations. In fact, one of the key points of Global Operations is that it can replace player roles with bots. To promote online gaming as much as possible, each level recommends a number of players for both sides. If the number of players does not reach the recommended amount, Global Operations will use computer-controlled bots to fill in for the missing players. Of course, this feature is optional for gaming consoles.
Another interesting aspect of the game is the unique abilities players can choose. Regardless of which side they play, players can choose from six different specialized roles—sniper, scout, medic, heavy weapons specialist, demolitions expert, and assault soldier—each enhancing specific combat skills. The weapons players can purchase depend on the chosen specialty. Although Global Operations features over 36 licensed weapons, including 8 handguns, 6 submachine guns, 4 shotguns, 4 machine guns, 8 assault rifles, and 6 sniper rifles, initially players can only select from a few weapons. For instance, only players who choose the sniper specialty can buy the H&K PSG-1, and similarly, only those specializing in heavy weapons can buy the M-60. However, this doesn't mean that scouts cannot use sniper rifles. Barnhart said that players can pick up any weapon discarded on the battlefield, but if the weapon does not belong to their specialty, they cannot achieve the proficiency level of that specialized role. Therefore, if a player scout picks up a sniper rifle, he or she can shoot with it, but won't be as precise as a player specializing in sniping. Global Operations imposes no restrictions on choosing specialties, so if all 12 members of a counter-terrorism team on a particular map want to choose medics, they indeed can all become medics. Players can change their specialties after each round of combat. Interestingly, Barking Dog actually designed six completely different characteristics for different player models. So even though Global Operations might feature 32 different groups, each group has six unique character models tailored to match six different abilities.
In fact, there is a seventh special ability that players can choose in the game, which is the commander. Each side can only have one player with this ability, and unlike the other six specialties, the commander does not appear on the battlefield. Choosing this ability opens a unique control interface composed of many windows, each describing the real-time situation on the battlefield. These images are transmitted via cameras installed on each player's shoulder. These cameras are designed to help the commander coordinate organized attacks against the enemy more easily. The commander can zoom in on each image with a simple click and communicate instantly with the entire team or selected individual players. Interestingly, even if a player is killed, the camera installed on their shoulder can still function normally. However, these cameras are easily damaged and become ineffective when hit by a bullet or shotgun blast. Global Operations will support Voice over IP technology, making it easy to issue orders to your teammates. Additionally, since the LithTech 2.5 engine supports lip-sync technology, communications between teammates will look very realistic.
While the commander feature may sound complicated, Global Operations is consistently designed to allow newcomers to easily jump right into the game. According to Barnhart, Barking Dog believes that the unreasonable learning curve of Counter-Strike poses a barrier for interested players. The company argues that in Counter-Strike, once a player dies, they must wait until the next round to re-enter the game. Global Operations solves this problem by inserting players back into the game every two minutes. Similar to the popular Half-Life mod Firearms, players start each mission in some type of military transport vehicle, possibly a jeep or a helicopter, and respawn there after dying. Every two minutes, players respawning at the starting point can re-enter the game. This process repeats until one side completes the objective. This not only allows newcomers to quickly practice their skills but also reduces the likelihood of them falling too far behind because they are re-inserted into the game alongside other players.
The world of Global Operations will use the latest improved version of the No One Lives Forever engine, with each character model consisting of about 1,200 polygons. The levels in the game will feature various weather effects, time cycles, and dynamic lighting influences, meaning players can shoot light bulbs to better conceal themselves. Each gun is carefully recreated with authentic photo textures and sampled firing sounds. Players can buy three guns at a time—one primary weapon, one secondary weapon, and one sidearm—all of which will be clearly displayed on the player's 3D model. Additionally, players can purchase a large number of special items to enhance weapon performance. These items include night vision goggles, laser sights, and three types of armor: light, medium, and heavy. While some items are available to all players, others are restricted to specific weapons.
Global Operations is still in the early stages of development. Although Barking Dog Studios has worked on this game for nine months, Barnhart believes it won't be completed before July 2001. Currently, the company is working on the single-player portion of the game, which is essentially just multi-player maps with robots placed, along with several training levels. However, even in its early stages, it's easy to see the enormous potential of Global Operations, which could easily become the Counter-Strike of tomorrow.
Global Operations by Barking Dog Studios is widely regarded as the nemesis of Counter-Strike. It's a team tactical shooter game that borrows CS’s cash reward and weapon purchasing system, Rogue Spear’s simulation settings and extensive weapon selection, as well as Return to Castle Wolfenstein's character and target maps. Moreover, the developers have added some of their own innovative ideas. Released somewhat hastily, the game demands excessive bus bandwidth and lacks sufficient game servers, but once these issues are resolved, it promises to be an excellent game that can rank among the deepest and most satisfying multiplayer shooters currently available.
To compete with Counter-Strike, Barking Dog promised that Global Operations would feature both multiplayer and single-player modes. On this point, we can only say that Barking Dog kept their promise; Global Operations really includes a single-player mode, and that's all. In the single-player mode, players must complete the 13 multiplayer missions one by one, with the other 15 players replaced by bots. These bots sometimes pose a challenge, but most of the time, they don't play a significant role and can't pose much of a threat, even when on the opposing team. Basically, every time they realize something is happening, they act foolishly, use the wrong weapons, don't follow commands, and make unintelligent purchases, sometimes even getting stuck in one place. At such times, the computer automatically pulls them onto flat ground. These bots aren't entirely useless, but the single-player mode of the game is merely an improved training mode rather than a mature combat mode. Therefore, if anyone hopes to enjoy the single-player experience and buys Global Operations for that reason, we suggest you reconsider.
Like CS, at the beginning of each operation, players must first purchase weapons. But you must also choose a task type simultaneously, which is similar to Wolfenstein. The seven categories in the game include: Assault, Heavy Machine Gunner, Scout, Medic, Sniper, Engineer, and Commander. Each starts with a different amount of money, differing in their ability to obtain items, carrying capacity, and proficiency with different weapons. Assault soldiers are aggressive and can use many types of weapons; Heavy Machine Gunners use a heavy machine gun and can suppress enemies by lying prone and firing; Engineers can lay and defuse mines; Medics can heal injured comrades; Snipers need no explanation; and the Commander is a non-combatant role. He oversees the big picture and considers where to set up action routes. He can access the first-person perspective of any member of the team or view different angles through cameras. This is similar to the Commander in Tribes 2, and it seems no one likes to play this role.
The reconnaissance squad is probably the most successful innovation of the game and is very popular among players. A player in the reconnaissance squad automatically gets equipped with a life signal detector. When the detector alarms, it shows all moving objects within a certain range on the screen, regardless of whether they are enemies or allies, and indicates their size and distance. This function is unrestricted by obstacles, and interestingly, the teammates near the scout also receive these signals. This greatly encourages players to work in teams and makes going solo more difficult. A team composed of a reconnaissance squad, one medic, and several heavy machine gunners is quite formidable. Another creative addition is that now high-caliber weapons can penetrate thin walls. Imagine having your reconnaissance squad help you find enemies hiding behind obstacles, then using heavy artillery to blast them, how cool is that? Unlike CS, which lasts 3 to 4 minutes per round and ends with one shot, Global Operations adopts a longer round time like Wolfenstein, lasting 10 to 30 minutes, and players can regroup 90 seconds after death. This is useful for buying weapons; after death, you can collect bonuses based on the number of enemies you've killed, the number of comrades you've helped kill, and your combat time, as well as activities varying due to different troop types. Your weapons are left at the spot where you were killed. This raises an interesting question: should you start by buying weapons and begin fighting, or risk picking up a weapon on the battlefield to save some money?
The 13 missions in Global Operations are perfectly designed. These objectives include: rescuing hostages, retrieving items, destroying targets, assassination, and many levels include multiple tasks. Each mission's setting is vast, with many dead ends, and often multiple road options to reach a place, some of which can be opened with explosives as shortcuts.
Global Operations uses the LithTech engine, and despite some rough environments, it is extremely powerful, offering smooth graphics. The game also features some carefully designed visual effects, some of which add new content to the gameplay. For example, tear gas can blur your vision and cause intermittent blackouts to simulate your character blinking hard to squeeze out the chemicals. The task models and movements are well-designed; characters hit in the head will cover their faces as they fall, and those hit in the back will stretch their hands backward as they fall forward. However, these actions only occur when the character is fatally wounded; if not fatal, the character lacks visual feedback. Unpredictable killing patterns can be problematic; some characters fall with one or two shots, as expected, but in other cases, it seems you need a whole clip to take them down.
The sound effects are outstanding. The realistic sounds of the 33 simulated guns in the game are easily recognizable by their distinct sounds. Different sounds are emitted depending on the environment in each mission. Characters walking on different surfaces produce different footstep sounds. The game skillfully uses sound effects combined with visual effects to influence gameplay; for instance, players near an explosion will feel their ears ringing and suffer hearing loss, possibly missing the footsteps of approaching enemies.
Global Operations does have some flaws. The most severe one is the lack of sufficient game servers. This is partly due to hardware not keeping up with the game's requirements, but the game's design itself also has problems. The server requirements for this game are high: according to the game's self-description file, a T1 line is necessary to allow 16 players to fight simultaneously. And the server must run on a dedicated computer with only one service instance. Currently, there is no Linux server interface provided, but the developers promise to add it later. Even when connected to the network, if the server performance is poor, the game cannot be played. During testing, it was found that even good servers result in unsmooth gameplay if the workstation does not have a DSL or Cable high-speed connection. Currently, only 50 servers are running at any given time, and we can only use 6 or 7 of them. The game runs smoothly on these servers. It also runs smoothly on local area networks, but each player needs to provide a password to join the game.
The game focuses on depicting some thrilling details, such as needing to carefully consider which wire to cut when defusing a bomb; if you're careless, you're on your own. The game often exaggerates the role of certain factors without considering others. There is no voting system in the game; for example, if your teammate keeps throwing tear gas where you want to revive, no one will help you. Many weapons lack sufficient information, and there is no place to test weapons freely. Depending on the server, the range of some weapons may vary. And because there is no personal server to run the game, you have no chance to clear levels without enemies to familiarize yourself with and learn the entire game.
Now, let's summarize the game's requirements again: if you don't mind the roughness of the single-player mode, or if you have a high-speed internet connection, or if you can find a good server, then Global Operations is an excellent game. Unfortunately, not many people meet these stringent conditions because Global Operations is a revolutionary battle-team-based design game that requires more attention.