“When de_train has been around as long as cs_siege has been around then I will know it was a very successful map”
―Christopher Mair in early 2000[1]
Christopher Mair, or more commonly simply Chris, is a level designer for Counter-Strike. He got involved when Barking Dog Studios was given the task to develop Counter-Strike Beta 5.0 and he ended up designing Train.
Biography
When Chris was only around 8 years old he used to draw detailed versions of video game worlds on graph paper.[2] Eventually he moved on to actual level design when he discovered Wolfenstein 3D and its editor MapEdit.[1] He would then move on to designing levels for Doom.[1]
In 1995 Chris got his first job in the industry at Radical Entertainment.[3] There he would work professionally in level design on titles including Grid Runner.[4] On the side, he also designed levels for Duke Nukem 3D and Quake, which is how he got introduced to Worldcraft.[1] Chris eventually left Radical to start Barking Dog Studios.[3]
Barking Dog Studios got involved with Counter-Strike when Valve Software asked if they were interested in helping out Minh Le in developing Beta 5.0 and they were eager to help out.[5] Chris ended up designing the map Train at this time and the map was such a success that it would be included in all future releases of the original Counter-Strike and has also been remade for sequels. As Barking Dog was paid by Valve Software for their work on Beta 5.0, Valve already owned the rights to the map when Counter-Strike was released at retail.[6] Chris was excited that more people would get to play his map as a result of the retail release, but was disappointed that Barking Dog was only credited as special thanks.[7]
After Barking Dog Studios eventually became Rockstar Vancouver, Mair left the studio and formed Hellbent Games in 2006.[3] This studio focuses on developing both mobile and console games.[8]
List of maps
Official maps
| Map name | Game(s) | Responsibilities | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Train | 
|
Level designer | 1999 |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Counter-strike.dk - Interviews - Chris Mair. Archived from the original on 2000-10-23.
- ↑ CS-Sweden - Intervju med Chris Mair. Archived from the original on 2001-12-22.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Burnaby Now - Love of arcade games sparks venture
- ↑ MobyGames - Christopher Mair Video Game Credits and Biography
- ↑ Counter-Strike.de - Interview mit dem Author von de_train. Archived from the original on 2000-10-31.
- ↑ Team Fortress 2 Sweden - Intervju av WereWolf med Chris Mair
- ↑ [ Counter-Strike.ch - Interview with Chris Mair (Original, in English) ]. Archived from the original on 2001-05-22.
- ↑ Hellbent Games
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||