de_dust

Lore & Background

Dust II was developed by David Johnston for the first game in the series as a conceptual sequel to the existing Dust map. Chris "MacMan" Ashton helped provide textures for the map. Johnston originally titled it "Dust 3" because he did not think it was a worthy successor to Dust; before the game's launch it was retitled Dust II. The map was designed to be simple and balanced. During the initial development of the map, "Long A", a long pathway that leads towards the "A Site", was not present. It existed in the map because of space limitations of the engine. During development, map features such as caverns that would have provided cover, a window in "B Site", and a longer ramp in the Counter-Terrorist's Spawn to A Site were removed. After its initial release on March 13, 2001, as part of Counter-Strike 1.1, the map received minimal changes following updates to the rest of the game, but received small graphical updates and lighting changes. It also received graphical updates in Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and Counter-Strike's Xbox release.

In Their Own Story

The sun hangs low and white over the compound, turning the sand to hammered copper. Kovač crouches behind the wooden crate at A site, his rifle barrel resting on the edge of the sandstone wall. The air smells of dust and the faint chemical tang of a spent flashbang casing still cooling on the ground. Somewhere down the long corridor, a boot scuffs gravel. He doesn't turn. He never turns. He watches the window, the catwalk, the gap between the crates—three angles, three lives he can trade for one kill. A smoke blooms at mid, thick and orange-edged, swallowing the corridor. Then silence. Then the soft click of a magazine being seated. Kovač exhales through his nose, shifts his weight, and waits. The desert doesn't care who wins. It only keeps the sand where it falls.

Reader's Guide

Dust II is set in a dusty environment based on a mixture of North African, Turkish, and Andalusian influences. Players are divided into two teams: Terrorists and Counter-Terrorists. The Terrorists have a limited time in which to plant and detonate a bomb; the Counter-Terrorists try to stop them from planting the bomb or to defuse it if it has already been planted. The Terrorist side must gain control in one of two locations to plant the bomb; these sites are easily accessible to the Counter-Terrorists at the beginning of the round. The map has a few main choke points: "Middle", "Long A", and "B Tunnels". Middle has three main areas: Catwalk, an elevated pathway that leads to Short on A site; Lower Tunnels, a tunnel leading from Middle to Upper Tunnels; and Middle Doors, that has a set of open double doors at Middle, which leads to the Counter-Terrorist's spawn. At Long A, there are another three important areas before approaching the A Site: Long Doors, Pit, and Counter-Terrorist spawn. B Tunnels has two main areas: Upper Tunnels and Lower Tunnels. Upper Tunnels leads to the B site or Terrorist spawn; Lower Tunnels leads to Upper Tunnels or Middle.

Did You Know?

• The map was originally titled "Dust 3" by its creator because he did not think it was a worthy successor to Dust.
• During development, features such as caverns, a window in B Site, and a longer ramp in the Counter-Terrorist spawn were removed.
• In February 2017, Dust II was removed from the Active Duty Competitive Pool in Global Offensive, causing backlash from professional players.
• The map has been recreated in real life, though the location of its recreation is not known.