http://pc.ign.com/articles/102/1028810p1.html
From CS:NATION
One big game play change being introduced in TI is the appearance of hostages. Expect active civilians within the map that run around, react to events happening around them (bullets flying by), getting in the way, and being used by terrorists as human shields. Another element is introducing dogs -- not little Chihuahuas that the civilians carry but big dogs, German Shepherds or Rottweilers that players can command. The demonstration I saw had Minh order a dog to attack a terrorist. The dog quickly ran to the terrorist, jumped up, and attached itself to his arm. A split second later, Minh dropped the terrorist with a few quick shots.
Other issues that posed problems early-on in Counter-Strike are also addressed, specifically snipers, camping, and waiting. "I hated how powerful snipers were in Counter-Strike," said Minh. "They really unbalanced the game." With players camping at sniping points around the map, Minh remembers playing and watching games that took way too long, especially for players who died early and had to watch from the sidelines. TI resolves the waiting issue in a simple manner: make the rounds faster. "I wanted to make TI faster so people aren't waiting around as much between rounds," explained Minh. "The average round should be two minutes, maybe less, so people aren't waiting around as much." I have to agree; one of the most frustrating things in the world is watching other people play while you're stuck on the sidelines. Quicker rounds means more playing time. More playing time means more fun. It also equates to me getting killed more often, but hey, I'm having fun.
Hostages, bombs, and assault rifles, what could be better?
The game reportedly runs on a heavily modified version of the Source engine. I know we've all been curious as to what Minh Le has been doing since his time at Valve, his reported work on the actual Counter-Strike 2, and how the Counter-Strike fans held him back from making the changes he wanted for Counter-Strike. For more on all of that, hit the jump!
After graduating from Simon Fraser University, Minh went to work for Valve on various Counter-Strike related projects, the biggest of which was supposed to be Counter-Strike 2. But things never really got off the ground, the project ended up being put on the shelf, and Counter-Strike 2 died there. But the pressure was there for him to do something big; pressure he didn't care for. So Minh and Valve agreed to part ways on good terms (he still keeps in touch with people there), and he started his own project soon afterwards. Then he promptly fell off the video gaming map. "I moved into my parents' basement since I had to save money," he recalled. "And for two years, I worked as much as I could." Minh moved to Vancouver and continued the new project with a small 5-man team. But things were difficult for him as he now had to come up with an entirely brand new game on his own, from coding to map-making, with no pre-existing game to rely on. Add in the fact that Minh didn't have a regular support staff to help him and the one-year project Minh envisioned died a horrible death.
Minh moved to South Korea in April 2008 after a friend put him in touch with a South Korean businessman with capital who was looking to get into the video game industry. The new partner provided Minh with an office and some capital to form a new company, allowing him to hire another programmer and some part-time staff. Now over a year later, Tactical Intervention is nearly complete. For Minh it's been a labor of love, the game he wanted Counter-Strike to be but was never able to make happen or call his own. "I enjoyed Counter-Strike," Minh recalls, "but I wanted to have my own game. I was never able to put in all the cool features I wanted because the people who played Counter-Strike would [complain] about all the changes. They liked the game as it is."
What do you guys think?
