Minh Le
Encyclopedia
Minh Le also known by his online nickname Gooseman, is a Vietnamese-Canadian computer game developer who co-created the popular Half-Life mod
Counter-Strike
with Jess Cliffe
in 1999. He was later employed by Valve Software, the developers of Half-Life, and is currently working on the multiplayer first-person shooter
Tactical Intervention
. In the small-team games that he has worked on, Le has been a programmer
, modeler
, and designer.
Le first picked up id Software
's Quake in 1996 and began playing with its software development kit
, and after about a year he completed his first mod
(short for "modification") called Navy SEALs, Counter-Strike's spiritual predecessor. While he was working on the Action Quake 2
mod, he came up with the idea for Counter-Strike and became friends with AQ2's webmaster Jess Cliffe.
Le began work on Counter-Strike as a mod for Half-Life while he was in the middle of his fourth year at Simon Fraser University
(he later graduated with a degree in computer science
). He spent about 20 hours a week on making the mod, expending more effort on it than he did on his schoolwork, and released the first beta version in June 1999. The "Counter-Strike Team" quickly produced several more beta releases in the following months as the game's popularity skyrocketed.
By the fourth beta version, Valve Software, the developer
who created Half-Life, began assisting in the development of Counter-Strike. In 2000, Valve bought the rights to Counter-Strike and hired Le and Cliffe to work with them in Bellevue, Washington
, USA where Le continued to work on Counter-Strike and related games. During this time he was developing Counter-Strike 2, however Valve eventually put this project on hold indefinitely.
After Counter-Strike 2 was shelved, Le left Valve to work on a project of his own. After two years working with a small team on this project, he then moved to South Korea
in 2008 to work with a business named FIX Korea who provided funding for further development. Le's new game was later revealed to be Tactical Intervention
, a game similar in style to Counter-Strike created with a modified version of Valve's Source engine
.
In 2003, a GameSpy
editorial cited Minh Le as the most important reason Half-Life was still popular five years after it was released. IGN
ranked Jess Cliffe and Minh Le as number 14 in their "Top 100 Game Creators of All Time" list.
In a very popular map of the game Counter-Strike, de_dust2, the name "Goose" is sprayed on the wall at bombsite A.
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
with Jess Cliffe
Jess Cliffe
Jess Cliffe is a Valve Software computer game designer and co-creator of Counter-Strike with Minh Le . He is the "voice of Counter-Strike" via the radio commands and sound effects....
in 1999. He was later employed by Valve Software, the developers of Half-Life, and is currently working on the multiplayer first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
Tactical Intervention
Tactical Intervention
Tactical Intervention is an upcoming video game by Minh Le, the co-creator of Counter-Strike. It is a multiplayer first-person shooter in which a team of counter-terrorists face off against a team of terrorists, much like its predecessor, Counter-Strike...
. In the small-team games that he has worked on, Le has been a programmer
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
, modeler
Game artist
A game artist is an artist who creates art for one or more types of games. Game artists are responsible for all of the aspects of game development that call for visual art...
, and designer.
Le first picked up id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
's Quake in 1996 and began playing with its software development kit
Software development kit
A software development kit is typically a set of software development tools that allows for the creation of applications for a certain software package, software framework, hardware platform, computer system, video game console, operating system, or similar platform.It may be something as simple...
, and after about a year he completed his first mod
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
(short for "modification") called Navy SEALs, Counter-Strike's spiritual predecessor. While he was working on the Action Quake 2
Action Quake 2
Action Quake 2 is a mod for the computer game Quake II created by The A-Team. Although originally released in 1998, it still has a small player base mainly in South America, Scandinavia and especially in Finland, with active servers on several continents as of 2008...
mod, he came up with the idea for Counter-Strike and became friends with AQ2's webmaster Jess Cliffe.
Le began work on Counter-Strike as a mod for Half-Life while he was in the middle of his fourth year at Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
(he later graduated with a degree in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
). He spent about 20 hours a week on making the mod, expending more effort on it than he did on his schoolwork, and released the first beta version in June 1999. The "Counter-Strike Team" quickly produced several more beta releases in the following months as the game's popularity skyrocketed.
By the fourth beta version, Valve Software, the developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
who created Half-Life, began assisting in the development of Counter-Strike. In 2000, Valve bought the rights to Counter-Strike and hired Le and Cliffe to work with them in Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Bellevue is a city in the Eastside region of King County, Washington, United States, across Lake Washington from Seattle. Long known as a suburb or satellite city of Seattle, it is now categorized as an edge city or a boomburb. The population was 122,363 at the 2010 census.Downtown Bellevue is...
, USA where Le continued to work on Counter-Strike and related games. During this time he was developing Counter-Strike 2, however Valve eventually put this project on hold indefinitely.
After Counter-Strike 2 was shelved, Le left Valve to work on a project of his own. After two years working with a small team on this project, he then moved to South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
in 2008 to work with a business named FIX Korea who provided funding for further development. Le's new game was later revealed to be Tactical Intervention
Tactical Intervention
Tactical Intervention is an upcoming video game by Minh Le, the co-creator of Counter-Strike. It is a multiplayer first-person shooter in which a team of counter-terrorists face off against a team of terrorists, much like its predecessor, Counter-Strike...
, a game similar in style to Counter-Strike created with a modified version of Valve's Source engine
Source engine
Source is a 3D game engine developed by Valve Corporation. It debuted in June 2004 with Counter-Strike: Source and shortly thereafter Half-Life 2, and has been in active development ever since...
.
In 2003, a GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
editorial cited Minh Le as the most important reason Half-Life was still popular five years after it was released. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
ranked Jess Cliffe and Minh Le as number 14 in their "Top 100 Game Creators of All Time" list.
In a very popular map of the game Counter-Strike, de_dust2, the name "Goose" is sprayed on the wall at bombsite A.