
The Making Of: Dust - doppp
http://johnsto.co.uk/design/making-dust
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rangibaby
It's amazing how popular dust then dust2 have remained throughout the lifetime
of CS.

The underpass being isolated from the rest of the map was a feature in my
opinion because it gave noobs a space where they only had to worry about what
was directly in front of them. It wasn't optimal gameplay but new players
liked it.

Dust2 pioneered what is basically the standard competitive layout - one
bombsite with one entry for the Ts, one with two entrances (a short but
dangerous way and a long but safe way) and a middle part that both sides fight
for control of.

Essentially every popular map since is a variation of this kind of layout.

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nothis
This article (in older forms) has been floating around for a very, very long
time on Dave Johnston's website. I remember it inspiring me to work harder on
my own attempts at level design but also that there's a top tier skill (and
level of commitment) that I eventually realized to never reach. It's mind-
boggling to see how many considerations go into making a great (not good,
_great_ ) map, even in much simpler times before true photorealism. Yet even
then you can never predict how well it will work out in the end. It's a really
interesting discipline between game design, architecture and understanding the
technical details of the underlying engine.

~~~
archagon
To be honest, I often feel like maps in competitive games become popular for
seemingly no reason at all. As a long-time CS player, dust and dust2 have
always felt rather stale to me. I've always found the dynamic, multi-level
combat of maps like assault and office to be more fun. Fortunately, I've been
hearing a lot more people piping up in favor of traditionally unbalanced maps
like nuke these days!

(What's annoying is when people try to attribute a map's popularity to its
design. I've heard some people say that fy_iceworld is a brilliantly designed
map. Seriously.)

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acron0
Iceworld is brilliant design relative to what it set out to do - strip away
the context and provide an arena to practice your aim. The only thing it
doesn't do is provide elevation (other than if you or someone else jumps on a
center wall, but that's asking for trouble), but other than that you've pretty
much got everything else.

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anonova
The passage from underpass to central hallway described in the rejected idea
section is used in the CSGO map de_shortdust:
[https://youtu.be/rrXeowmXLMc?t=6m6s](https://youtu.be/rrXeowmXLMc?t=6m6s) Of
course, the gameplay mode used with that map is different from one de_dust is
designed for.

~~~
NeutronBoy
And it exists in the CS:GO version of de_dust as well, though it's on the
'off' side of underpass. You then have to cross the ledge above Underpass into
the hallway.

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Thriptic
After blowing so much of my youth on dust and then dust2, this was a very cool
read.

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thatswrong0
> I was still stuck. It’s at times like these where working without an initial
> design can prove extremely difficult. You look at what you’ve got, and
> struggle to see where to take it, knowing that each step in one direction is
> a step away from a solution in another direction - and you don’t know which
> way is going to turn out better. It can be tough knowing what to do next,
> and sometimes you question whether you should scrap everything and start
> again

As someone who makes music for fun, this definitely resonates with me.

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strictnein
> "Rejected: a staircase joining the underpass to the central hallway."

I always felt like there should have been a staircase there. I'll trust him
that it didn't play as well, but it just seemed like there should have been
another way out of the underpass.

~~~
eertami
>it just seemed like there should have been another way out of the underpass

In the CS:GO version of Dust there is actually a staircase leading out of
underpass, though not directly into the central hallway.

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NeutronBoy
IMO it makes the map a lot better - previously it was too hard to get out of
Underpass and it was too far away from the rest of the map to be useful.

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shiggerino
>The underpass being isolated from the rest of the map was a feature in my
opinion because it gave noobs a space where they only had to worry about what
was directly in front of them. It wasn't optimal gameplay but new players
liked it.

I only played the game briefly and very unsuccessfully back in the day. Is
this what they call camping? I never understood that concept, it seems like
basic common sense for shooting others while not getting shot, both in real
life and in the game.

~~~
rangibaby
Underpass with an AWP (a powerful sniper rifle) is one of CS's classic camping
spots, so yes.

People get mad about camping, because it's a passive, "cowardly" play style,
or "cheap".

I think calling someone a camper is just a way of trash talking and blaming
them for your own loss. Kind of like the endless accusations of "hacking"
(using cheat programs) or "smurfing" (a player playing with and dominating
lesser skilled players just for fun).

In games deathmatch or team deathmatch (Quake et al):

• Hiding somewhere and trying to kill people as they run past (camping)

• Staying near a powerful item waiting for it to respawn instead of actively
chasing down your enemies.

• Staying near player spawn points to kill them as soon as they come back to
life. (spawn camping / killing). A lot of games give a short period of
invulnerability after spawning (spawn protection) to prevent this.

In Counter-Strike:

• As the offensive team, staying at your base instead of attacking and trying
to accomplish your objective (spawn camping). CS:GO gets around this by
punishing the offensive team for letting the timer run out.

• Not trying to help your team, and instead just hiding somewhere and trying
to kill people as they come looking for you. It's dull watching someone in a
15 v 1 hiding in some ridiculous place while the timer runs down. However,
this is an accepted tactic in a hopeless situation in competitive CS (saving),
mainly because of the short timers and importance of economic management.

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Cyph0n
A very interesting read. I was always interested in how popular maps are
designed. I think their development is quite similar to that of open source
projects.

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barbs
Fascinating read. Does anyone know how Dust II came about?

~~~
sanjeetsuhag
You're in luck. There is a similar post about Dust2 :
[http://johnsto.co.uk/design/making-dust2](http://johnsto.co.uk/design/making-
dust2)

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eterm
I absolutely love dust but then he also made the sequel cobblestone which was
one of the most frustrating maps ever created!

