Play Counter Strike 1.6, with full multiplayer, in the browser

I recall installing CS from CDs. I was so excited to play, but my internet was so slow it took basically the rest of the day to download the updates. Then, when I got into the game, some servers had mods and maps to download which took forever.

Needless to say, once I was playing I felt so gradified and cool. My dad brought home a 'flat' CRT a few months later from his work. It felt life changing at the time.

A while later, I thought it would be fun to try out some of the cheat packs.. It didn't take more than 15 minutes for a ban. Still have a VAC ban on record with Steam. 6,400ish days ago. Its an odd reminder, and badge of honor.

At a LAN party I hosted, I'd typically demolish my friends at CS. So one time, unknown to me, they installed a hack on their side (aimbot?) and always started headshotting me. I remember getting flustered (I was and am a competitive person) and then just broke out laughing.

A cousin brought me a CD with cs beta 0.6, had not heard about the game before that. Spent several days downloading a half life patch on 33.6k modem. Recall having very low fps (p1 133mhz) and 200ms ping. Also tried out hacks later on but made sure to do that on servers without anti cheat enabled.

Still have a VAC ban on my account for 5402 days from 1.6. Never downloaded cheats and no idea how I got it. I'm kinda proud of it now but was devastating at the time. Still astounds me knowing that my account has been around for that long.

I remember attending a LAN party a friend was hosting (I couldn't bring my computer because it was a family computer but the friend had an extra PC) but because I would just demolish them, they switched my display to a projector that was projected on the ceiling. Still demolished them.

I miss those times a lot.

Similar, but for HL2. I was hyped for years, only game I've bought on day one. And then it required Steam and I had to download something for two or three days until I could play it, because of 56k.