“Engage in sprawling outdoor firefights and underground close-quarter battles in this re-interpretation of a hostage rescue classic.”
―Global Offensive Map Description[1]
Canyon Siege (cs_siege) is an official hostage rescue map featured in Counter-Strike. Due to numerous sniping positions, the size of the map, and the difficulty in escorting the hostages successfully to the hostage rescue zone, it is one of the less popular Hostage rescue maps.
Valentin Levillain and Marc Bidoul remade the map for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, and it was added to the game as part of Operation Bravo, named simply Siege.
Official Description[]
Counter-Terrorists: Enter the POW stronghold and rescue the hostages. Take out the Terrorists without jeopardizing the hostages.
Terrorists: Prevent Counter-Terrorist force from rescuing the hostages.
Other Notes: There are 4 hostages in the mission.Development[]
Counter-Strike[]
Siege was created by the late Justin de Jong. In the first version of this map, most wall textures and models were reused from Half-Life. One notable example is the automated doors within the facility that were taken from the chapter Anomalous Materials and the parking lot strongly resembled the basis of Forget About Freeman.
First released in Beta 1.0, the original version had no sewer network, located the rescue zone well within the CT base, allowed players to climb the nearby tower, and featured cameras in the T base that let players remotely observe other parts of the map.
In Beta 1.1 a sewer network was added. Siege had its custom textures placed in a separate WAD file, and aside from minimal texture work the map remained the same.
The Beta 2.0 update sealed off the CT tower with closed doors and kept the rescue zone at CT base. This patch also added a small vent leading into a lab room to the right when entering from the car park door, a feature that persisted in subsequent versions.
From Beta 3.0 forward the rescue zone was relocated to the map centre, now positioned outside the garage ramp entrance. The sewers were lightened and appear noticeably brighter from this point. The CCTV cameras in T spawn enabling remote observation of other map areas that had been present since Beta 1.0 were removed with this Siege update.
Beta 4.0 reopened the CT spawn tower. The update also installed a new exterior ladder on the mid map building that contains the lift and a sewer entrance, offering an extra path onto the roof. As the rescue zone had been moved nearby in the last update, terrorists pushing out of the spawn could leverage the roof to attempt control of the rescue zone. It's possible that the new ladder was added to give players another way to contest the rooftop control, reflecting the building's increased tactical value.
Siege moved to a night setting in Beta 6.0. A new gap in the CT bridge appeared, giving it a damaged look. The CT tower remained climbable. The update designated the whole lift as a hostage rescue zone and placed an undrivable APC in the CT base garage.
Beta 7.0 rolled out a major texture refresh. The CT bridge still showed the gap and the overall colouring shifted toward green, producing a look much like the current Siege. Players could still use the CT tower. The CT base decorative APC was removed in this build and the time of day was adjusted from night to an evening setting.
In Beta 7.1 an Armored Personnel Carrier was added back into the map and made fully functional to transport CTs to the car park. The formerly damaged section of the bridge was filled in, probably to allow the APC to pass. The greenish hue persisted and the CT tower remained accessible.
With Counter‑Strike 1.1 the APC was removed and the lighting was warmed relative to Beta 7.0 and later. This update also eliminated the lift rescue zone that had been added in Beta 6.0. Access to the CT base tower was again closed off with locked doors. Furthermore, the sections of the stairs leading from the sewers up to the car park were reworked. The door at the car park end is now permanently open, unlike in all previous iterations of Siege starting from Beta 1.1 when the sewers were first added, where the door was closed and opened only on player contact. Before the patch an attacker opening the door could not look into the car park until the last moment, had almost no time to react or retreat, and was effectively trapped because cover was far away. Those in the car park could easily spot and shoot through the doorway, and teammates clustered behind the opener became liabilities themselves since a packed stair corridor made everybody vulnerable. The new layout lets a player peek into the car park before committing, fall back safely if required, take more time to pick targets, and avoid being pinned or shot through a contact door, thereby making the sewer flank substantially more viable. Among minor tweaks, the "Authorized personal only" warning at the car park lab door, present since Beta 1.0, was removed in this patch. The map has remained unchanged since.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive[]
The map was remade and changed into an industrial setting secluded in a jungle environment. Balancing issues were addressed and partially fixed to ensure the Counter-Terrorist team was no longer pinned down by Terrorist snipers, especially in the garage at the Terrorist Spawn Zone. Throughout the map, players are given more infiltration routes to take in order to avoid snipers. Moreover, at least one hostage will not spawn at the security center/bunkers and is usually found near the garage.
The official factions are the Pirates and the SWAT Team.
Trivia[]
- This is the oldest map in Counter-Strike series that is still played, and the second oldest map ever, before cs_mansion.
- The Counter-Terrorist bots in Counter-Strike: Condition Zero may accidentally fall down the hole just in front of the spawn point, causing severe damage or even death. However, this is very rare as CT bots cannot progress further if they descend down the hole and attempt to travel through the mines as they are unable to use the button to activate the elevator at the end of the mine.
- Bots and hostages (in Condition Zero) tend to become stuck when they are attempting to enter the vent above the SUV from the facility, thus wasting time. When this happens, one should crouch below that bot. This does not work for hostages however.
- Bots can become stuck at the automatic door next to the elevator as well. They will attempt to walk through it.
- The elevator in the mines should be used with caution, it is easy to get hurt in this area.
- In the early beta versions of Counter-Strike, Siege was set in the morning. In Beta 6.1, it was changed to night. In Beta 7.1, it was changed again to evening.
- In Beta 7.1, it is possible to drive the APC at the Counter-Terrorist spawn area.
- Unlike the other Hostage Rescue maps in the beta, Siege featured several routes for infiltration.
- This is the one of the few official maps that has an operational elevator for players to use, though bots will never use the elevator.
- If the player forces the hostage to enter the elevator and then leaves them locked in the elevator, the hostage will jump up and down frivolously.
- In the GoldSrc Counter-Strikes, there is a secret in the mines. Using free look spectate mode or noclip, reach the entrance that is covered by wooden planks and then move behind far enough to look at the direction the blocked entrance is facing to see the developer names.
References
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