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Bored of the default maps? Check out this compilation of the best original and user-created Counter-Strike Maps!
Table of Contents
Overview/Map Prefixes
There are quite a few different types of maps for Counter Strike, so map creators often put a prefix in front of the map name to denote what kind of map it is. Prefixes may differ from person to person, from site, to site, but there seem to be some consistently used ones. Here are some of the more common prefixes:
- as - Assassination
- cs - Hostage Rescue
- de - Bomb Defusal
- es - Terrorist Escape (now defunct, originally official)
- tr - Training maps. Only official appearance in Counter-Strike 1.5 retail.
- aim - Aim Arena has teams that are restricted to one class of weapon and have no objectives except to eliminate the opposing team. Emphasis is placed on player's aim.
- awp - AWP Arena restricts players to AWPs only
- dm - Deathmatch Arena-styled maps used by deathmatch mods for CS and CS:S. These maps are usually small and simple like "fy" maps but adapted in order to have multiple spawn points.
- fy - Frag Yard is a map with an assortment of weapons spawning on the ground versus player inventory.
- fun - Fun Map is a map with some strange objectives, contraptions or other mysterious things.
- gg - Gun game. The only objective on this map is to kill the other team. Weapons are usually bought.
- he - HE Grenade Arena restricts players to Heavy Explosive grenades.
- ka - Knife Arena restricts players to knives only.
- pa - Prepared Assualt
- surf - Surf Maps (unofficial gamemode)
- texture - Secondary prefix. Denotes a map that only uses dev textures.
- ze - Zombie mod escape maps (unofficial gamemode)
- zm - Zombie mod barricade maps (unofficial gamemode)
Making Maps
If you're interested in making maps yourself, a good resource to check out is CounterMap2.com. They have tutorials and links to quite a few useful utilities, with descriptions.
Valve has released an official editor that will work for many of their games. It was originally distributed under the name Worldcraft, but is now called Hammer. The current version supports both Source and GoldSrc, and can only be accessed via a free download of the Source SDK, which is only available via Steam with purchase of a Source-based game. Version 3.5 is available for download at Filefront here.
Another option for a map editor is Quark, which can be downloaded at Quark's site here.
Getting Maps
There's a plethora of Counter Strike Maps available for download online. Here is a selection of sites, along with examples of the maps there.
Maps here.
Maps here.
Maps here.
Note: The screenshots of the maps on this page don't seem to work, but it seems to still be a relatively popular site, with a very large selection of maps.
