Origins of Interp

The infamous interp command has been around for quite some time in Counter Strike. Previous versions (versions earlier than 1.6) boasted an interp command that could surpass the .1 value and provide you with the mind blowing ability to hit things (and opponents) that were in essence "not there". Did you ever try playing with an interp value greater than .1 -- it was kind of neat...you could float like Shang Tsunh on Mortal Kombat! Despite this "advantage" interp still generated a "fake lag" of sorts and guaranteed your opponent, a player using .01 interp, the first shot.

Interp's initial goal was to level the playing field for users with sub par connections (and sub par reaction times for that matter) by offering a skewed version of what the client sees compared to what the server sees. This is why every lagger had the ability to out AWP you on the bridge on de_aztec (pending you missed the first shot). If the lagger's shot was in your immediate area, you were dead.

When Counter Strike version 1.6 was released the effects of interp were significantly nullified. The client side no longer allowed the player to adjust his interp to a value greater than .1. Furthermore, the effects of having such a "high" interp (a value greater than .05) became the subject of serious debate amongst the community, a type of paranoia if you will.

What the community and I want to know is: does having an increased interp value (say a value greater than .05) provide a significant advantage for the user? The initial debate can be found here. Side note: look what you started jStar!

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This article is written about Counter Strike 1.6. The points brought up in this article do not reflect the netcode nor interp settings in Counter Strike Source. For more information on interp in Counter Strike Source, try these links: http://www.valve-erc.com/srcsdk/general/multiplayer_networking.html, http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?s=90884828d6b95d8a0a7e78ece9a58f8a&threadid=347082&highlight=interp.