While at university, Minh Le made game mods in his spare time. One such mod of his, Counter-Strike, would go on to become one of the most popular videogames of all time
What were your favourite games when you were growing up?
I was really into all sorts of genres. Back then RPGs were a big thing – I really got into Ultima VII and the Wing Commander series. Strike Commander was also another game made by Chris Roberts; I was a huge fan of his games and they were [a] really big part of my gaming experience [when I was] growing up. Obviously, when Doom came out that took the whole industry by storm. I was one of the guys that was really influenced by that. And also, the Rainbow Six series. There [are] so many [that influenced me].
You taught yourself coding when you were still at university – were you a natural coder or was it something that you struggled with at first?
With programming, it was a bit of a struggle. The first language I learned [was] C++ and I think it took me about a year in my spare time while I was studying. I must’ve spent around 20 hours a week just picking up the basics and coming to grips with it. I guess you could say it was kinda slow.
You created Navy Seals Quake and Action Quake 2, two mods that used the original Quake C engine – was it a good engine to work on when you were still learning?
The Quake C engine is a subset of C++ and I think that helped me because it gave me a starting base. When I first picked up Quake C I actually had no programming experience – the only prior experience I had was a little bit of visual BASIC and this was even before I started university, when I was in grade 12. I was pretty raw at the time.
Did you code Counter-Strike on GoldSource? If so, how was this different?
Yes, it was the Half-Life engine. It was a bit more challenging because there were more modules involved and there was more code [to do]. There was a lot of different code for the rendering and also how it did the networking. It was completely different from Quake C, so not only did I have to learn C++, I actually had to learn how the GoldSource engine worked, which was challenging in and of itself.
At the time, what were your expectations for Counter-Strike – had you even thought of it as something that you would eventually be making some money from?
It was strictly a hobbyist mentality that I had. Even up until the point that Valve contacted us and bought us out, I actually didn’t think that they’d sell the game, I was quite naive. I just thought that they would make another version of it – a Counter-Strike 2 or something – so it kind of surprised me when they decided to just polish up the existing Counter-Strike [that I made] and actually sell it as a standalone game. At the time, the game was a free mod so anyone that had Half Life could just download it. I was shocked that they’d actually want to sell it.
What was the time frame before making Counter-Strike and Valve being in touch?
I think it was around beta4 that they contacted me. Beta4 happened [about] a year after I released the very first beta1 so I spent about two years working on Counter-Strike beta1, then I spent about three months doing beta2 and beta3 was another few months after that. I spent a few months between each beta.
How did it feel when Valve first showed interest in Counter-Strike and approached you when you were just 21 years of age?
It was completely out of this world. I think [my age] might’ve affected my judgement, I was willing to do anything for them. I think it put me in a position where I probably wasn’t thinking rationally. That said, I was elated. I really looked up to them, I still do as a developer, so for a 21-year old, you’re on cloud nine.
How different was the mod you had originally worked on to Counter-Strike as it appeared in its version 1 form?
At first it was quite bare bones. It didn’t contain the bombing scenario, it didn’t have a lot of other features, but I think the core game was already there in beta1. For me, the core game was basically all about buying your guns, without respawning, all with a focus on teamwork. I think those were my main gameplay objectives.
What is it about Counter-Strike that resonated so much with the modding community?
Back then the modding community was in its infancy and there was a lot of talent out there that had a lot of time on their hands. They didn’t really know where to direct it. When a popular game like Counter-Strike came out that they were drawn to, they saw the potential in it – the same way I saw the potential in it. There wasn’t much competition at the time in terms of popular mods, there was Team Fortress Classic, but there was really only it and Counter-Strike. I think that allowed us to have a great deal of modders to help us out.
What effect does having such a vocal community have on you as a developer?
Yeah, it’s a challenge. I mean, even today, other games that are open development face the same issues. I’m sure Minecraft had similar issues and right now I’m working on Rust, where we have the same problems. I think as a game developer you have to recognise [just] how far you can push your design. We were always listening to the community and it wasn’t often [that] they’d prevent us from trying something completely new. On this end, we’re always looking to try something different, but if the feedback is unanimously negative then we have to listen. You have to get a feel for what is truly bad and what is truly unacceptable.
For the most part, you have to experiment with your ideas and stay true to your vision. It’s important to have a consistent vision, something you have in your own mind and not something that’s totally influenced by feedback. You’re always going to get so many conflicting opinions so it’s important to have your own direction, whilst paying attention to what’s completely broken. There were instances in Counter-Strike’s development where I added a feature that almost everybody disagreed with it. It was obvious when those features came up because the amount of flack I got was incredible.
What was the feature?
It was really lame, it was terrible really. Around beta1 the players had to buy their guns at the start of the rounds. A lot of times the people who bought the guns quickest could move first. That was a big problem because the people who were able to shop quicker had an advantage in that they could move first. What I did was slow down the players’ movement[s]. It was a terrible solution! Basically, I decreased the players’ speed for the first ten seconds and folk thought it was terrible, [it was like] they were running in quicksand. I eventually made a ten second grace period where everyone was [permitted] to buy stuff. The feedback I got for that initial prototype was really negative.
You once made moves to remove bunnyhopping (where players use jumping to move quicker than running) from Counter-Strike, but you were met with resistance?
Yeah, that was a very sensitive topic for me. I thought that it really went against what I was going for in Counter-Strike. I wanted to emphasise realism and I thought bunnyhopping was almost too comical and it looked a bit too much like Team Fortress Classic. I was against it and made various attempts to mitigate it, but it was met with a lot of resistance. I had to tread carefully in that regard. Eventually, we did [reduce] the jumping, but it was never to the point where I wanted it to be. I wanted it to [get rid of it], but what we ended up settling on was something roughly halfway between what I first envisioned and what the community [really] wanted.
The eSports industry is pretty huge now. Was there a scene back then? Did you foresee Counter-Strike taking off within that?
I think there may [have been] one league, it was kind of around, but obviously nowhere near as prominent as it is today. The industry was in its infancy. As a developer, I didn’t really like eSports because it presented a lot of restrictions on my game design. It required me to balance the game in a certain way and I didn’t really enjoy that aspect of it – as a developer you want to be able to have the freedom to try out different things. At the time, eSports was fairly new so it didn’t have as much flack as Valve would have today. Everything [that] they do now needs to be eSports-friendly with Counter-Strike.
Could you possibly have foreseen Counter-Strike’s popularity lasting until today?
No, not at all. I don’t think anyone could’ve, to be honest. I think Valve saw it, realised it had a simple formula and realised it could be prolonged. The longevity of Counter-Strike is something you don’t see in a lot of other games. Part of that is the simplicity of it – it’s not too complicated, when compared to DotA or LOL.
What have you found are the main differences and similarities between working on the likes of Counter-Strike and Rust?
It’s really similar, to be honest, not a lot’s changed with regards to how the community reacts to things. Typically, communities overreact, but that’s a behaviour that’s always been [there] – it was the same way back in the early Counter-Strike days. It’s just a matter of the developer having the patience and strength to put up with the negatives for a few days. If it persists then we know we have a problem.
Your nickname is Gooseman. Where does that come from?
It’s from a cartoon that I used to watch when I was a kid. One of my favourite characters was Gooseman from [The Adventures of the] Galaxy Rangers, [which was] a sci-fi Western cartoon that was out in the late eighties. A lot of people these days haven’t heard of [the programme] and the character was kind of like Clint Eastwood.
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