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NOTE: Please maintain the following formatting of words:

Counter-Terrorist and Terrorist

The words should be capitalized, even in the middle of a sentence. Do NOT use CT or T.

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The de_dust series of maps are some of the most popular maps in the online multiplayer games Counter-Strike and Counter-Strike: Source. All of the maps feature 'defusion' (derived from 'bomb defusal') style play, where a group of Terrorists must plant a bomb at one of two locations in the map. The mission of the Counter-Terrorists is to prevent the planting of the bomb either by killing all the Terrorists, or by defusing the bomb once it is placed. If neither team fully eliminates the other, the Terrorists win if the bomb explodes; otherwise, the Counter-Terrorists win.

de_dust

de_dust was amongst the first three defusion maps, released in Counter-Strike BETA 4 (11th May 1999) alongside de_prodigy and de_nuke. By the middle of 2000, de_dust had become the most-played CS map and later the most played map of any FPS, due to its style and simplicity, which appealed to new players. de_dust is quickly fading in competitive play for newer balanced and varied maps, but remains a heavily played map in public servers. De_dust has also been recreated in other First Person Shooters, such as Unreal Tournament 2004.

Many feel that de_dust is an advantageous map to the Counter-Terrorists as they can easily cover the only two routes the Terrorists can take. Often, if the Terrorists "rush" to a given bombsite at the start of a round, they have a significant chance of victory. Therefore, many servers rotate between de_dust and the more balanced sequel, de_dust2, which has since become the more popular of the two maps.

de_dust was the only map available in the first version of CS: Source beta, and is also available in the full release.

Dust was originally designed by David Johnston ('DaveJ') with textures created by Christopher Ashton ('MacMan'). It was renovated internally by Ritual Entertainment for the game Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, and later given a far more significant reworking by Valve Software for Counter-Strike: Source.

It should be noted that de_dust is no longer prevalent on many servers due to its planting glitches. Often, it takes only two Terrorists to climb up a large box at either bombsite (this is accomplished with one Terrorist ducking, the other jumping on top of him, and then both jumping to propel the top one above to the box). This makes it impossible for a single Counter-Terrorist to disarm the bomb. The Terrorists will then kill every Counter-Terrorist except for one, flee, and reap the spoils.

de_dust2

de_dust2 is the other of the two dust maps in Counter-Strike. de_dust2 favours a more balanced approach than de_dust and is more popular on servers.

In the Counter-Strike 1.6 version of de_dust2, its creator, DaveJ, placed what many called an easter egg in the Bombsite B section to commemorate the mapper Justin DeJong (also known as N0TH1NG) who committed suicide. Justin DeJong made the maps cs_siege and cs_docks.

de_dust_pcg

The third map in the series, de_dust_pcg, was created by the original author for Counter-Strike: Source alongside tutorials for the British version of PC Gamer, but is not an official map and players must obtain it themselves if they wish to play it. It did not obtain mass appeal, partly due to its distinct departure from several key aspects of the Dust theme and non-inclusion with the game.

External links

Official Counter-Strike Website

David Johnston's Website

Planet Half-Life page about David Johnston