This was an interview done by Anomoly via email.  This was sent on December 30.  Due to the holidays and a busy schedule, I received the answers back January 12.  I have asked Jess some more questions and hope to add them to the this soon.

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview. Please introduce yourself.
Hello. I am Jess Cliffe, co-creator of Counter-Strike now working at Valve.

This question will be kind of broad, but where do you see Counter-Strike heading in the next couple of years?
One of the cool things about Counter-Strike is that is in a constantly evolving development cycle, and we have every intention of continuing that tradition. This would include things like new maps, game play types, graphical upgrades, extending the functionality and MODdability of the CS bot, that will be introduced with CS: Condition Zero.

Will there be a version of Counter-Strike running on the Half-Life 2 engine?
The Source engine is designed to support a wide range of games and genres. However, we have no announcements to make at this time.

It must seem amazing to you to see how much has developed out of this game called Half-Life. Did you ever in your wildest dreams think that such a competitive community would develop from your game?
When we released the first CS beta in June 1999, we were amazed when we discovered 50 people had downloaded the game. Since then, it’s been a constant snowballing of surprise to see how far it’s come. From time to time certain things cause us to stand back and really notice this. When this occurs it’s just incredibly humbling to see the enthusiasm and sheer volume of the community.

Now on to some more difficult questions. The addition of the shield and the change of the running system(I.E. stopping after a jump, after a bullet hit, etc) have been two of the more controversial changes to the game of Counter-Strike. The community has adjusted to both changes but have not been happy with either. Could you tell me a little of the thought process that went in to these and why they have been implemented?
Since beta 1, we have been adding and removing new items, game play styles, and maps to the game. Every major new feature, at least in a sense, should be considered something of an experiment (anyone remember the escape game play mode?). We play the game constantly, both at the office and at home, and we are constantly taking community feedback into consideration – that’s just a core part of CS’s development, always has been, always will be.

We hear in our forums time and time again how Valve does not listen to the community. I personally think the people are mistaken, but I am sure you hear the same things day in and day out. When decisions like the shield are kept in the game even when there seems to be an almost unanimous outcry against it, it can appear that the developer does not care what the players want. Is there a better way that the players could have some direct impact on changes made to the game? A voting system or a forum of some sort where constructive ideas could be heard by Valve, basically, some way for our voice to be heard and responded to in changes in the game.
Since launching Half-Life, Valve has developed and released free updates to its games (including free games such as TFC, DMC, etc.), issued multiple SDK releases, held the annual MOD Expos, and helped the CS and DoD teams take their MODs to full retail products. Given all of this, it’s a little surprising to hear folks say Valve isn’t listening or supporting the community. While Valve may not be garrulous on the forums, we’re certainly listening. A very recent example of this is the money issue that Griffin “Shaguar” Benger raised in his GotFrag editorial during the 2003 CPL finals. This was something Valve was tracking and the community’s response to his article played a major part in the decision to go ahead and make the following changes:

• Disabled round timer when bomb is planted
• Winning defensive team now gets the same amount of money whether they win by round timeout or not ($3250 instead of $2000)
• Players on the offensive team who survive the round due to a round timeout no longer receive money the next round
• Terrorist team now gets an additional +$800 per player if they plant the bomb but still lose the round