Welcome to CS101: Demos. In the next few minutes you will learn everything you need to know about Counter-Strike demos.

What is a demo?
Usually demo means a trial period, an evaluation product if you will. When it comes to Counter-Strike, however, it means something quite different. A CS demo is a previously recorded file of in-game action primarily used for entertainment and analysis purposes.

Are there different types of demos?
There are actually two types of demos, Point of View and Half-life Television.

• POV: Point of View demos are recorded files from a first person perspective. You see exactly what the file recorder saw in his/her match. Most every major online league requires a player to record himself in matches for anti-cheat review purposes.

• HLTV: Half-life Television demos are recorded files of the HLTV experience. Perhaps the most entertaining, HLTV demos allow the user to actually follow the previously recorded in-game action from anywhere he desires. The ability to change camera modes and players is very much apparent; the only difference between an HLTV demo and HLTV itself is that demos are not live streams.

How do I record a POV demo?
It is as easy as 1, 2, and 3.

• 1) Connect to any server you like, or create your own Local Area Network game.

• 2) Once connected, bring up your console (~) and type, “record demoname”, without the quotations. If you are recording a demo of a match or scrimmage you may want to name it “Me-vs-Team”, replacing “Team” accordingly.

• 3) When you want to end the demo, simply type “stop” in the console. This will end the demo recording and place it in the appropriate folder for you to retrieve at a later date.


How do I record an HLTV demo?
There are a few ways to do this. Two ways of which I will cover here. The most advantageous and the most common.

Original Method
The original method is the most simplistic and most common in demo recording. In fact, It might just ring a bell.

1) Connect to an HLTV.
2) type "record demoname" without the quotations in console, submit and enter.
3) type "stop" when your demo is completed.

HLTV Tool
Over at hltv.org a rather neat little program was released not long ago. HLTV Tool allows a user to record and label their HLTV demos more efficiently than ever before.

HLTV Tool is designed for users who possess rcon access to their own, or another's server.

- Features

+ immediate and accurate recording controls
+ hot keys for recording and stopping the demo
+ announce start and end of demo recording
+ announce number of spectators
+ auto-refresh HLTV option
+ ExtremGUI (TM)
+ Quick Links
+ automatic update notification
+ manual update check
+ easy resetting to defaults
+ feedback sounds
+ improved performance and functionality

A simple guide is provided to help users unfamiliar with HLTV Tool. It can be viewed by scrolling down through the page provided below.

You can find HLTV Tool right here

 

Where are demos located?

Upon completion, demos are stored in your “Cstrike” folder.
(C:\Program Files\Valve\Steam\SteamApps\you@email\counter-strike\cstrike)

• Click “start” on your taskbar -> My Computer -> Your Hard drive -> Program Files -> Valve -> Steam -> SteamApps -> Your Email -> Counter-Strike -> Cstrike

If you cannot find the folder, it is very likely you installed Steam to another directory, simply adjust the path to fit your folder location.

 

How do I view a demo?
Counter-Strike demos (or Half-life demos for that matter) cannot be viewed in any conventional video player. To watch a demo you must do it from within CS. With that said there are two methods of viewing, playdemo and viewdemo.

• Playdemo: Playdemo is the most basic way to play a demo. There are no control features (such as fast forward and rewind). You watch a demo in it's entirety.

- How? In console type, “playdemo demoname”, without the quotations to play the wanted demo.

Useful Tidbit: Less fickle than viewdemo can be.

• Viewdemo: Viewdemo is the more user-friendly counter-part to playdemo. With viewdemo you can fast forward, rewind, slow down or speed up the game play.

- How? In console, type “viewdemo demoname”.

Useful Feature: Unlike playdemo, viewdemo allows the user to have more control over their viewing experience. By typing viewdemo by itself in the console the “Demo Player” bar will pop up. From here you can click the “load” icon. This doesn’t actually load a demo, but rather a list of demos in your Cstrike folder. This is very handy in case you forget the name of a demo and do not want to spend time navigating the Steam folder.

As you can see, I only have one demo available at the moment;
Team 3D versus Complexity.


Also try Rewelator

Demos must still be viewed in-game with Rewelator. However, it does provide many useful features to make the experience more personalized than before.


Known Bugs & Issues
Demo voice playback is choppy, can I fix this?
Certainly! This is a well known bug that is very easy to fix. It is just another three step process.

1) Start a “New Game” on the map of your choice.

2) in console, type and submit “sv_voicecodec voicespeex” then “sv_voicequality 5” without the quotations.

3) Lastly, repeat the play/viewdemo process and voices should now be fixed!

Useful fact: The same process can be used to fix live HLTV voices (if applicable).

Models do not appear in demo
Many people use a command known as “cl_minmodels 1”. What this does, is limit one player model per team (Counter-Terrorist or Terrorist). By having this command active, and watching a demo, you are unable to see many different player models. To fix this, simply do the following:

1) Open up the console (~) either before or during demo playback.
2) Type “cl_minmodels 0”, submit and enter. Your problem is now fixed!

Demo appears to be sluggish or laggy
Upon initially loading a demo, one may experience weird or slow performance. While there is no official reason known for this, one can assume it is due in part to all the demo resources being processed for the first time and at once. To solve this problem simply let the demo run and it will correct itself. Remember, with viewdemo you can always rewind to see what you may have missed.

My old demos will not play
This is not a bug, but rather a compatibility issue. Over the years Counter-Strike has received many changes to it's code and supporting engine. As a result, older demos may not be fully compatible with the latest version of CS. This is not a quick fix, and the only known way to view such demo would involve possessing an older copy of CS on your computer and placing the demo appropriately. With that said, it is not a very practical solution. Unfortunately many will be out of luck here.

I cannot hear my own voice upon demo playback
Another simple fix. If you want to record your own in-game voice in your demos you need to turn on a certain command; voice_loopback. Voice_loopback does just what it says, it loops back your voice for you to hear and your demo to record.

1) Open console before recording
2) Type and submit "voice_loopback 1"
3) Record your demo!

I can't see the scoreboard

In order to see the scoreboard in a demo, you must have entered a game of CS at least once prior to the demo viewing session. That is to say, when you start up CS you must either create or join a game at least once before attempting to view a demo. This is because many files needed to properly view demos will stay in the cache until they are needed, and for some reason demos don't ask for these files. Simply start a game at least once, and then your demo will become viewable.

I cannot use spaces in my demo
A common issue, easily fixed. Usually when recording a demo you can type "record mydemo", however, when you want to use spaces you must put the demo name in quotations.

Example
record "my demo" - Right
record my demo - Wrong

Where can I find demos?
There is no better place to be right now if you are asking that question. GotFrag is the world's leading eSports coverage site, as such our demo database is so big it would put even the most well endowed to shame.

Select Counter-Strike from the filter list on the main page. From there, choose "demos" on the left hand tool bar. Boom! Done!



As you can see, GotFrag makes it easy! Sort by game, event, even map! Do not forget that specific search either!

Also try HLTV Dot Org

Another day, another CS101 completed! So congratulations! You have just learned more than you ever wanted to know about CS & Demos. Look for more 101's in the future!