Long, long before we could be earning millions of dollars playing games full-time, we were skipping class and taking off our school uniforms to enter LAN shops and play the OG multiplayer first-person shooter, Counter-Strike. 

Though the kids of today might be more familiar with the modern esports-oriented Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, we had a helluva time with its earliest iteration — a home-brewed modification of the sci-fi shooter classic, Half-Life. 

This, young ‘uns, is referred to as Counter-Strike 1.6, the game that launched hundreds of LAN shops across the island, not to mention increase the rates of student truancy here. 

Though the game was still in its early days then, anyone with the know-how and programme could make their own Counter-Strike maps for players to brawl in. Enter cs_hdb, a custom map made by a Singaporean player known as Yonk, who would go on to found Geek Culture. 

The map (which looks like it was made in Minecraft in today’s graphic standards) had Terrorists and Counter-terrorists gallivanting around an HDB estate — near Choa Chu Kang Avenue 3, to be precise. The mission for the good guys? Rescue two hostages from the block of flats. 

Twenty years since the release of Counter-Strike 1.6, the interest in cs_hdb resurfaced once again thanks to Geek Culture, which posted screenshots of the map as well as gameplay footage. It’s certainly a blast from the past, with rendered models of old HDB block number signages and bus stops. 

And yes, it includes the Singlish audio pack that has voices yelling in the local patois in lieu of the standard lines. 

With memories flooding back, pioneer Counter-Strike 1.6 players chimed in the comments section other things they remember from the old days, including other Singapore-themed maps and a custom Hokkien voice pack. 

If the nostalgia is hitting hard, know that pretty much anyone with a modern computer can run Counter-Strike 1.6, a game that has measly hardware requirements in today’s standards. Heck, it can even run on Android devices these days. 

ilyas@asiaone.com 

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