November saw the release of the monstrous Beta 4.0, which towered over Beta 3.0 in awesomeness and content. I’ll start with the small stuff. Two new guns were added, the Sig P228 and the notorious(ly ghey) Steyr Scout. High explosive grenades were also introduced (sure, these could’ve gone in the previous sentence, but grenades aren’t guns). Gooseman also stopped gunrunning in this beta by removing all loose guns at the end of each round. Money tweaks were also added: the losing team was given more money so they would still have a chance at winning and hostage money was altered, giving someone $500 for touching a hostage ("use” key), $1000 for rescuing a hostage, and $500 for a helping team bonus (sounds odd, but I like to keep lists parallel). They also modified the rescuing of hostages, in which saving 50% resulted in a CT win. The ammunition system was changed here so that you could buy primary and secondary ammo (meaning for pistols and everything else). New maps were also tossed into this update: cs_station, de_nuke, de_prodigy, and the infamous de_dust. And this, my dear readers, brings me to the best part of the update: bomb defusal maps (de) were added. The change log for Beta 4.0 includes the rules for this new type of game play, but all of you reading this are more than familiar with it, so I won’t go into it. However, the one interesting thing about it was that you could plant the bomb wherever the hell you pleased. It was major fun: whenever I was the last man alive and had no hope of winning, I would plant the bomb where I was and took out the CTs that came to hunt me down.

**Note: There is a discrepancy in CS-Nation’s time line. The flash/bang grenade was included in Beta 1.0, as a tweak is shown in Beta 1.2/1.9; however, Beta 3.0 shows the addition of a concussion grenade that sprays shrapnel and sets off a blinding flash. It cannot be determined if this is a mistake or if the concussion grenade was actually a different weapon.

About a month later, Beta 4.1 entered onto the scene, but like the other X.Y betas, this one wasn’t very big, but included some important things. Probably the most important change was that the terrorists could pick up a bomb that was placed improperly (as bombs could be planted anywhere, like mentioned above). The C4 timer was given a default of thirty-five seconds and the P228 was "toned down” and came standard with thirteen rounds. (I don’t recall that gun being so powerful, but I guess it was.) They also fixed it so that team chat would work while dead, that way dead players could work out a plan for the next round without the enemy knowing. Either that or bash the other team.

On Christmas Eve (12/23), Gooseman and the team gave the world a present: Beta 5.0, so chock-full of new stuff that it made Beta 4.0 look like Twiggy against Schwarzenegger in his prime. The new weapon of this update was the automatic newb cannon, the Benelli XM 1014 automatic shotgun. Two new maps, including de_train, were added and numerous ones were updated. The hostage model was revamped and was given two new skins, and the HUD also got a facelift with new icons for everything. The HUD was updated to show zones in it as well; these are places where ammo can be bought, hostages rescued, and bombs planted. Game play also had massive updates. Many changes were made revolving around the C4: it could only be planted in the bomb zone, it became an equipment item, it got a different diffusal method (I’d explain it, but I don’t know the original to compare it to), it could be dropped for teammates, and it could be diffused in five seconds with the diffusal kit, or ten without. Progress bars were added to the planning and diffusing of the bomb (the former took three seconds). The CTs no longer start with the diffusing kit; this was when everyone had to start purchasing it. A plus for CTs was that diffusing the bomb gave them the win, but if the Ts were able set us up the bomb and it blew, they won (like always). An interesting addition was included here: ghosts could be seen by other ghosts as floating orbs of light. I thought this was present from the start, but I guess I was mistaken. But back to the new, fancy pants updates: three observer modes (the same ones now used) were added, new radio messages and organization of them were added, and reload sounds were added (you could hear when someone else was reloading). A comprehensive help system was included that included auto IDs that showed teammate’s name and health, enemies’ name and health (when observing), and hostages’ health (as well as pointing out that it was a hostage).

January 2000 saw Y2K, in which all computers and electronics were destroyed. Just kidding. Beta 5.1 wasn’t too exciting; mostly it just included bug fixes. Though, the scoreboard began being showed at the end of every map.

March produced the next sizable update, Beta 6.0. The Mac-10 and Steyr Aug were added to this beta, and they gave the NVGs back, though there is no record of when they were removed. Two new game types were added: assassination and escape. I never played escape and am under the impression that it didn’t last very long. However, the name says it all: terrorists started in one place and had to escape to another while the CTs tried to eradicate them. Apparently, the Ts could find an armory to shoot back, but fleeing seemed like the thing to do. Assassination was a stellar game type that really needs to be brought back. One player played the role of the VIP, armed only with the umbrella, and tasked with escaping the map. The CT team had to protect him from being killed by, you guessed it, the Ts. New maps were also added, including the always fun cs_747. New models were added, along with radio chats, and players could now decide if they wanted to be left-handed or right-handed (i.e. which hand the gun is held in).

They day after my fourteenth birthday (3/23 being my birthday), Beta 6.1 came out, but it was a server-side only update (meaning only servers had to download it), and it didn’t include much. However, NVG were improved and the MP5 and TMP ammo reserves were limited to 120 rounds. Beta 6.2a came out around here (no date is given), but was minuscule and again only server-side. It included nothing substantial or noteworthy.

Ironically, on June 5, Beta 6.5 was released. The most important additions were the smoke grenade and new maps, including the ever popular cs_italy. Gun models were changed on several weapons and a new player model (Guerrilla Warfare) was added. New commands were also added, but these were basically irrelevant to game play.

The next few updates were small. Beta 6.6 came out on June 22, adding the "timeleft” command, adding new sniper crosshairs, and fixing many cheats. Betas 6.7 and 6.8 fixed a few exploits (including godmode); though, no release dates were given.

Beta 7.0 came out on August 27 and included one of my favorite guns, the dual Beretta 96g Elites; the knife model was also redone and given a secondary "fire” mode. The VIP was given a USP, which proved to be quite interesting because many times a skilled player would be able to get a kill with it. But the 200 Kevlar helped keep them alive. This beta also produced my then-favorite-map, de_jeepathon2000, in which players could drive vehicles around the map.

September 13 saw Beta 7.1 emerge. This was mainly a bunch of bug fixes, but also gave cs_siege an APC that was drivable and put in a new headshot icon.

On November 18, updates were no longer called "Beta;” they now became versions. This day had the release of Version 1.0. The H&K UMP .45 submachine gun, FN Five-SeveN pistol, and Sig SG-550 sniper rifle were the most notable additions. The rest of the update was new models and incorporation of new Valve blending technology (whatever that means).

It was a while before the next update, but March 10, 2001 gave the world Version 1.1. As with more or less every other update, Version 1.1 came with bug fixes and added CVARs. But few people care about those, unless of course the bug fix took squashed a major problem, like the fixing of many cheats included here. Two of the most substantial changes were decreased accuracy while jumping and AWP leg shots becoming non-lethal. This meant that bunny hoppers couldn’t score an easy skill and neither could those pesky snipers armed with the famed AWP. Four new maps, including the insanely popular de_dust2, were tossed into the mix and numerous ones were upgraded. Other small, though somewhat important, changes were the re-addition of the C4 backpack and diffuse kit, as well as the removal of crosshairs on sniper rifles when not zoomed in. Models were given swimming animations in this update as well. On April 4, Version 1.1c came out, but it only gave a partial fix to incorrect hitboxes.