1)What first gave you the idea for the Counter Strike mod?

I was visiting websites about terrorism (at the time , I had a small interest in the theme), and it hit me that this would make an awesome game

2)Do you or any of your team have experience with prior mod or game development?

I've been involved in Action Quake2, and Navy SEALS for Quake1. Cliffe was really involved in running a map depot for AQ2, and I believe he was jiggy over some Jedi Knight Mod thingamabomb

3)If you can possibly narrow it down to one thing, what was the most difficult part in the initial development of CS?

I'd have to say preventing servers from crashing. It was a pretty big issue in the early stages of CS development, but thankfully we've been able to minimize it in the recent releases

4)What are some of the things that make Half Life such and appealing game/engine to work with?

The support from Valve has really helped.. Not to mention the list of features that the HL engine offers mod authors. There's so many to name… Perhaps the only gripe I have about the HL engine is the limited map size, and the lighting model looks a bit dated compared to some of the more recent engines out there.

5)Are there any plans to ever move the mod over to another game/engine?

I've seen the TF2 engine and it has me drooling to do a mod for that engine but it's too early to say what's gonna happen.

6)Where do you obtain all the info and stats about the guns in CS?

Magazines, web-sites.. Wherever I can, really.

7)Are you or any of your team firearms buff's in real life? Do you go to the firing range, read ‘Guns and Ammo’ magazine or anything like that?

I'm a modest firearms aficionado. I pick up various magazines on the subject whenever I can. Most of the guns in CS were included because they appealed to me aesthetically.

8)If you could choose one CS weapon to take on a desert island which would you choose?

hmm.. that's a tough one. My first choice would be the MP5/N.. My second choice would the SG-552 Commando since I love how that gun looks.

9)Do play much Counter Strike yourself?

Yeah, I play with my friends whenever I can. It's a blast when you play with people you know..

10)What is the first game (computer, console or arcade) that you can say you really fell in love with?

Might have been Ultima 7, or Betrayal at Krondor.. When it comes to FPS , I'd definitely say Outlaws.. I was so engrossed by the theme of that game and it was pretty damn fun to boot.

11)Favorite video game right now, besides CS?

I honestly don't have one. I rarely have time to play any games since my schedule is tight as hell. I can say that I've been very impressed with Hitman:Codename 47 demo.. The immersion factor in that game is very high..

12)I bet you probably hear plenty of gripes from CS players, well now it is your turn. What is your biggest gripe about the CS community?

They're pretty quick to judge each BETA and say how the last one was better than the newest one. I guess that's a bit of a gripe I have..

13)What changes, if any, will your deal with Valve to release a retail version of your mod bring about?

I just sort of see it as another version of CS, albeit, one of the most feature packed versions of CS. CS 1.0 is gonna feature a ton of new stuff. New player models, new animations, 3 new guns..

14)What are the future plans of the CS team?

We're taking things day by day so I can't really say what the distant future holds for us..