EPICENTER Counter-Strike Global Offensive

The main assignment given to the GST team was to draw the spectators into the game. Under our direction was a large set with three projection screens on which the games were transmitted, a real bus, as well as part of a railroad track with a freight train and radioactive barrels. This was all the set for the “Train” scheme. 

For the start, the overall concept was definitely to build up the lighting. It wasn’t easy. For more than a week, we mulled over different ideas and solutions. Having a variety of lighting equipment within reach, it would have been easy to convert this performance into something like a concert that you wouldn’t believe. We based the main rig on halogen and metallic fixtures. We specially searched rental companies for old, beat-up, rusted fixtures for this installation. These fixtures seamlessly blended into the overall setup, supporting the style of the game plot. Altogether, we used 60 4-Lite blinders and 40 ACL Par 64 fixtures. The total energy usage was around 1.5 megawatts! 

In the final stage, we selected the entire lighting setup, mounted on a square truss, expanding on the technogenic of the plot, and making the truss part of the set. All the fixtures were mounted in blocks, one type of fixture for one square block. In addition, the entire truss was located on different levels and at different depths in the hall, which totally enhanced the whole show. We rarely used all of the fixtures at once, but even then, the whole array of metal and mechanics became part of the set! Embracing the Counter-Strike game, we decided not to be stingy with fixture effects. On each square truss, we installed four Atomic 3000 units to produce the effect of a flash-grenade blast. The whole setup absolutely supported fixtures like Mythos and B-EYE K20. And finally, we installed a Laser Array around the champion cup. During the opening contest, laser shields were activated and only the tournament champion could deactivate the shield and get the champion cup!

Most interestingly, we later came up with the idea to synchronize the online action into the game with light, sound and video! In my years of experience, I have worked on a lot of synchronization systems, but this kind of project was a first! We began to experiment, and at the GST studio, we assembled a working lighting-control system with a synchronization server. Ivan Kabalin and I looked for the best way to get into the gaming action and to convert these commands for different systems. Finally, programming code was composed that integrated into the main game server, which followed the gaming parameters. At the right time, it sent UDP commands to a media server, which was composed in vvvv. Later on, this command stood for the server, sending OSC commands to QLab, which created sound, triggered timecode, and even converted the command to MSC for scene control on grandMA2 consoles. For video-content control, a video server was composed in Touch Designer, which also received commands from the main server via OSC. The synchronization system was synchronized with 25 different actions in the game, and allowed the audience to be immersed into the game. For example, when a terrorist’s bomb was set to explode, the words “Bomb exploded” appeared on screen, and all the blinders gave a flash of light and they also gave heat if a real bomb had exploded! The viewers were thrilled! You won’t see that type of emotion at a concert!

This wasn’t a typical project. We experimented, tried something new, and everything worked out, thanks to the fact that we worked as a team!