A Chinese student was removed from Clements High School in Fort Bend, Texas after parents complained he had re-created the school grounds in a game and uploaded the map for his friends to play. The boy was placed in the district’s alternate education school and later arrested, as the police considered him a “terroristic threat”.
“They arrested him, Chen said of FBISD police, and also went to the house to search”.The Lin family consented to the search, and a hammer was found in the boy’s room, which he used to fix his bed, because it wasn’t in good shape, Chen said. He indicated police seized the hammer as a potential weapon.
The Chinese community and the boy’s mother have rallied behind him, saying the school has acted too harshly in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. No charges were filed, though the boy won’t be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies.
Photos of the CS map can be found here: (what a shame! this map looks pretty good!)
And here’s the actual map, minus the textures:
www.megaupload.com/?d=F48893HJ
rapidshare.com/files/29195663/clmbsp.rar.html
www.megashare.com/165325
Later Update:
I found the whole story (originally hosted on Fort Bend Now):
A Chinese student has been arrested in Texas, charged with “Suspected Terrorist Activityâ€. This student was apprehended after parents discovered that he had used plans of his High School in the creation of a map for an online first person shooter. The authorities were notified after parents learned of the map from their children, who had downloaded it off of the internet.
“They arrested him,†Chen said of FBISD police, “and also went to the house to search.†The Lin family consented to the search, and a hammer was found in the boy’s room, which he used to fix his bed, because it wasn’t in good shape, Chen said. He indicated police seized the hammer as a potential weapon.
While no charges have been filed against the student, he has been removed from Clements High School and will not be allowed to graduate with his former classmates.
I don’t know what to say. For most of us who have ever designed a 3d environment, using familiar surroundings is very commonplace. With no sinister motive, designers use plans for all sorts of different areas to add variety to their designs. I don’t understand the punishment given to this student, who has been cleared of any premonitions for violence.
He has been convicted of no crime but then the school expels him? I guess “innocent until proven guilty†has no merit with the school board. Even with the authorities finding no evidence of gaming-related causes for the Virginia Tech shootings… It seems that we, as gamers, still are targeted as warped killers.
This post was written by bullets on May 3, 2007
…land of the free…
The land of the free… Thats good work. You have to break eggs to make an omelette. So what if innocent people get hurt? Its for a good cause. We get some bad guys sooner or later. I wish we could get rid of all non-americans somehow. Oh, and the atheists. Then we wouldnt need to have neither police or army, cause good white american christians are good people. We have to protect our way of living, cause the terrorists wants to take it from us. They cant stand happy people, so they blow themselves up, in hope that we will get as miserable as they are. They have no other dreams in life, things like love and family life. We have to keep the shining beacon of freedom the u.s. protected. They all envy us.
p.s ty to look up the word irony before you post angry hate comments d.s.
Mike
okay….I was planning on doing this too….making a map for say…R6vegas…based on my school….but hey…., I will! I dont live in americaa *victory dance*
dont get me wrong…im not planning on killing anyone in school…
Zero Tolerance = Zero Intelligence
That’s a bunch of BS. If I didn’t know any better I’d say it was racial profiling against that kid. All he did was make a map, which you can usually get from a new student packet. What did he do wrong? Nothing honestly, if I was that boy’s parents I’d sue the school district because they are stripping that kid of something he busted his butt for 4 years for. Public schools these days are nothing but a sad joke, and they all are catering to those who raise the most hell.
this is bullshit…he’s not a terrorist he’s a gamer and Harvard just came out with the study that said gaming actually reduces the likely hood of a troubled child!
I wish I came up with the idea and had the skill to make a gaming map of my high school it would have been awesome!
you have GOT to be kidding me!
seemingly educated people letting emotions get the best of them.
im sorry but the terrorists have won.. they have scared us all shitless..
its a shame.
You have got to be kidding me.
amazing. The poor kid, he was just looking to have some fun. And whats with the Chienese thing? Was he of Chienese decent, or an exchange student? Freaking people need to settle down and stop living in fear. Give kids the benefit of the doubt that they arent evil terrorists.
An excellent example of to much paranoia. An innocent set of cirumstances twisted into a plot. I fear the American people have become so hyperaware;that the days when a hammer is, just a hammer; have gone.
The problem isn’t so much with the government, but with the schools themselves. Schools don’t practice the “innocent until proven guilty” laws that courts do. Students, unlike most other citizens, have very little rights. It’s just how it is.
I don’t see the issue as being racist, however. Unless parents and school board members are explicitly pointing out the fact that he’s Chinese, and that’s why they consider him a terrorist threat. I think the main point of the terrorist allegations are that he used the school’s map for a FPS. Not terrorist, but something that shouldn’t be shared with many other students due to the state of schools in general. With the amount of people that don’t understand that video games are just video games, and not some gateway into making children killing machines, it’s no surprise this happened.
But, hey, with all of the fucking idiots shooting up schools and public places, people are gonna blame something. Generally the only people to blame are the shooters themselves and their parents. But the bad parents never admit that they’re bad at parenting.
Just imagine the rage this kid must be feeling after being robbed of the once in a lifetime event of a high school graduation…. over a GAME. If the thought of shooting up the school never had crossed his mind… I’m sure it has since this happened.
I agree with Sasa - his parents should file a lawsuit. Unless the school has a rule that is in writing that says students aren’t allowed to create a map of the school in a first person shooter, which I seriously doubt they have, there’s no way they could lose. I’d be first in line to donate for their legal fees.
Wait, he can’t participate in graduation stuff because of THIS? That’s frickin’ BS.
Utterly insane. They found a HAMMER? OH FUCKING NOES, A HAMMER. GTFO my world idiots.
Hooray for blind media fed fear!
my friends and i always wanted to do this but none of us had the skill orreally wanted to invest the time and effort into making it. stupid mccarthyist authorities.
Agree with Sasa. Although it has become commonplace under the Bush administration that seemingly stupid actions are in order, I fail to believe that there are no hidden motives, like racism or anything financial in behind it.
Presumably this is all part of a campaign to make the rest of the world believe Americans are all stupid, in a kind of long-term å‡ç—´ä¸ç™² (of the 36 stratagems).
I remember when the HL2 SDK (Software Development Kit) came out and the first thing I went to model was my high school (Don’t worry everyone though, I never finished it).
As bad as it may sound, it really is the only logical thing to want to model at that age. Besides the house you live in, it’s really where you spend a lot of your time and you know the place well enough to model it in a 3D world. Plus, it’s something you can show too your friends and they can relate to (assuming they go to the same school). It really shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that schools are usually the first thing modeled by somebody just trying to learn a new trade. People need to stop freaking out.
And seriously, a hammer? They confiscated a hammer? Who does terrorist activity with a freaking hammer? Can I get a round of common sense?
- Oh my god, your son brought a pocket knife on a camp out, KILL HIM!!
- All your maps belong to us.
- I am afraid that a man who lives in a cave and doesn’t shave is going to bring down the USA.
- I can’t believe we once used the Chinese and Afrikaans as slaves, now they could both take us.
- He had a hammer, Jesus was nailed to a cross……… OMG!
hey michael, fuck you.
p.s. irony: a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other’s false conceptions
I have firsthand experience with this sort of situation. I was talking over Steam to an (ex-)friend of mine, and I said, “Man, if you don’t shut up, I’m gonna bring a gun and shoot you myself.” And wouldn’t you know it, I got pulled out of class the next day and was suspended for ten days. I hate to be a bumbling part of the crowd, but the modern public schooling system is a bunch of bullshit.
photoshopped
kind of odd, because our software teacher once _asked_ us to make an unreal tournament map of our school. We never got round to doing it though.
…woo i feel so safe now… remind me next time i sit down to play some CS or Unreal to make sure im not playing on a map that resembles somewhere i may have been…
we need more schools like my college (full sail university) even in our audio classes, we play Medal of Honor as part of ambient sound exercises…video games are not the root of evil!
what the hell is this world coming to? Askabarr said it right, “the american people have become so hyperaware; that the days when a hammer, was just a hammer; have gone”
whats next? telling steam and all them to not allow their software to be customizable??
Wow… What do you think they would think of the map I ended up scrapping a few months ago based off of pistures I took on a tour of the white house years ago? Hell, I have an entire 36 piece tool set in my room.
No wonder kids are fucked up these days. Who wouldn’t want to rebel against such a shitty system.
Personally I am attending an Art school and they ENCOURAGE the students to make maps of existing areas. Game Art students are required to learn the Unreal Engine and they have made not only our school as a map (complete with some of the faculty or things that would be identifiable as theirs) and they have made a map of the local mall too!!! They aren’t terrorists, they are learning and doing one hell of a job!
If I were the kid or his parents I would be PISSED. And his parents are the ones who said something. So who in the hell is the kid supposed to trust?
Check the graphics and the talent behind the design. Would one be arrested for doing a mall or other public structure? This not someone who is a threat. This is next guy designing the multi-billion dollar skyscrapers. I got a hammer and a whole rachet set in my room does that constitute a theat. Sounds to me like they didn’t want to leave empty handed. Hey @$$#0!3$ you owe a kid a hammer.
Wow, I would almost welcome this kind of unfair punishment. Being able to sue the district for wrongful and unjust punishment would make for great tuition money to whichever college I liked, especially after the publicity it would cause and/or make.
I wonder which education deprived community this is in, oh wait Texas, weird. A quick bit of research shows that Fort Bend happens to be the wealthiest county in Texas. Yay for money and ignorance.
@Michael
China owns 20% of America:
http://www.fincher.org/images/2007-10-03-WhoOwnsNationalDebt.png
Japan owns even bigger of America. That’s the only reason you are enjoying the lifestyle you live right now. America’s not saving and not exporting - and quite frankly looking to be quite the historical economic ‘train wreck.’ Your credit card, your mortgage, your student loan is all made possible partly because of China.
The end punishment was harsh. Other steps needed to be taken. This could’ve been a warning sign for something else. It seems as though it isn’t.
The truth is though he shouldn’t have made the map.
In a game where simulate murdering people making a map of your school will draw attention.
Simulated killing in real life school = not good.
thats fucked up… how much more stupid can you get? I made a map of my school am I a terroristic threat? Well probably cos im muslim lol
What the fuck man, some guy makes a map for CS based on his school and he gets expelled. America’s full of fucking shit. Anywhere else in the world, this would be acceptable.
In this day and age of parental paranoia and psycho nut jobs shooting classmates because they “didn’t fit in”. I would think that out of simple forethought and self-preservation and responsibility, one would think twice about making their school a venue for shooting, even if in a harmless game.
Just like carrying a toothpaste tube on a plane was no big deal before 9/11, and now a confiscated item, one would think that just perhaps a group of paranoid and uninformed parents and “fearing for their job” school officials might just find this map a great danger to the students. It would have been more intelligent to not have created the map in the first place.
Sure, the authorities overreacted, but I can understand why. Knowing this possibility and avoiding it all together is called being “wise” and shows an exercise of responsibility. Something a high school student usually hasn’t yet learned about existing in a society that doesn’t always see things the way they do.
What do we learn about this? Think before you act would be a good start. Think about all of the possible consequences of an action beyond how “cool” it would be.
Stupid texans.
If I owned a place in texas and a place in Hell, I would rent the place in texas and live in Hell.
Unfortunately this doesn’t surprise me at all. This is just another case of authorities overreacting to something they have little or no knowledge about. This guys achievements should be celebrated instead of him being expelled, I’m sure another school would be happy to snap him up and so they should. I hate to stereotype but as an outsider from Britain it really does seem as if America has gone absolutely crazy over this terrorist thing which really doesn’t pose anywhere near as much of a threat as they make out!
Wait a minute.
Isn’t in Texas that people are entitled legally to “own a gun” for “personal proteccion”?
Now let’s do some basic maths, multiply the number of families living in Texas for the number of possible fire weapons existing for “personal proteccion”.
THIS IS RIDICULOUS.
Signed: European Dude.
There is a thought exercise that goes something like this:
In America, freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution as one of our most important rights. If you are in a crowded movie theater and scream “Fire” you will be almost certainly arrested for it. But, what about freedom of speech?
Yelling fire in a crowded theater can cause a mass rush for the doors causing injury or even death. Your freedom of speech has to be balanced against the common good of the group.
We are all aware of Virginia Tech, and Columbine. School shootings touch a deep nerve in America. Does the student’s freedom of speech supersede the right of the students and teachers peace of mine? The majority have decided in this matter over and over all across America.
It does not.
Their is only one effective way to help mitigate the possibility of another Columbine or Virginia Tech. A zero tolerance policy. When you have a policy that allows “grey” areas, those areas may be exploited and the results can be catastrophic.
The argument is not about his freedom to create something, it’s everyone else’s freedom to live and work in as stress free an environment as possible. Certainly it appears he created the map for nothing more than fun. Unfortunately, a real possibility exists that someone with bad intentions could use that map as practice.
The world is full of evil people. It’s our reality. Until a better solution is worked out, zero tolerance is the policy. I think the school handled the situation exactly the way it should be. They should be praised for taking a proactive approach in this situation instead of waiting for another disaster to happen to determine policy.
ZOMG, I HAVE GREAT IDEA FELLOW TERRORIST!! WE WILL MAKE MAPS OF THE PLACES WE INTEND TO DESTROY TO KILL ALL THE INFIDELS AND POST IT ON THE INTERNET.. YES YES.. WE WILL KILL ALL THOSE AMERICANS WITH HAMMERS!!! I KNOW.. WE SHOULD POST OUR PLAN ON THE INTERNET SO EVERYONE KNOWS IN ADVANCE!!
for some reason i dont think real terrorist who plan to hurt people give up their plan before they do it. see the basic idea is to catch people by surprise. Otherwise it doesnt work out too well for them, as the police/ government generally trys to prevent that sort of thing.
The terrorist have succeeded in making the american consumer voter and politician scarred shitless. As ben franklin said, a man who trades freedom for security will soon find he has neither. A lot of americans are more afraid of their government than terrorist at this point, I am one of them. I cant have a can of coke past the checkpoint because it might be a bomb. But I can buy one after the checkpoint for 5 bucks.. We’ve lost more freedoms because of the cowards here in the US than the cowards over seas, and then we send our young men to die for what? Freedom? How about getting some freedom back in the states before we try giving it to iraq.
Man, if I were this kid, the school’s handling of this issue would ENCOURAGE me to commit a violent act. I made a map of my school in Duke3d way back in the day and we played it at school with my Technology teacher. People are so afraid nowadays that innocent people are being harassed just because some dumbass can’t differentiate between reality and a game. Sickening.
I made a doom II map of my high school back in the early 90s. A lot of people found out about it and it was actually really popular within my school. The computer teacher knew about it and everything. Boy how times have changed.
Related to post and @ Michael
This is one of the Reasons why I think the human population should be controlled. I am trying not to think survival of the fittest is right especially in a civilised population and especially because of human rights and morality, but dear me there are a lot of stupid people in this world.
This is less of a threat and more of a compliment to the school, if the kid hated the school he would not have spent so much time and effort re-creating it in such a detailed way, plus the fact that the only enemies you can fight against in the game are terrorists or counter-terrorists makes this school board retarded.
Unconcious morons.
Typical, there goes the government again, jumping at shadows. Doing whatever they can to say “hey look, we busted a terrorist, see? Your tax money is in good hands, don’t worry!” While at the same time using the scare tactic of “See, terrorists may even be your own children!”
It’s too bad, the kid’s got talent. He should be making maps for the game developers or perhaps be an architect.
This country (US) needs to spend less time trying to prove we have balls, and fucking grow some! I totally agree: Terrorists Win! However, it’s not like they started it; this country has been becoming more full of pansies year after year.
I’m not saying be completely insensitive; issues like racism are right to be brought up and handled appropriately (though I don’t think racism is a factor in this case), but these things get blown way out of proportion. Kids can’t wipe their ass nowadays without the government stepping in and telling mom and pop that if their kid develops a rash it’s because they’re bad parents and then they ban that type of toilet tissue. Let’s do a nationwide ban and recall on hammers; scientists now say that they can be used as a weapon.
I’m all for putting instructions on everything (even on shampoo bottles), but the warning labels are becoming excessive! If people don’t know by now that you should not ride a bike in the middle of the night with no light or reflective clothing then that’s their fucking fault.
Some people deserve to die yet we make sure they live regardless of how moronic they are. It’s called evolution; let those fuckers die so we can work on more productive things. An example of people that should die are people that are so hopped up on fear pills passed out by the media, that they can’t even live their lives. In the jungle, if you’re worried germs all fucking day you get eaten by a fucking lion. I say let those fuckers get eaten by lions and lets move on from this ridiculous spotlight thrown on everything that looks anything like what we fear.
Video games are not the issue here. If anything it should be noted that people that are playing video games are killing everything they have enough ammo to kill IN a game, RATHER than in real life.
I WOULD say we make a nationwide effort to make a CS map of EVERY school in the US (there’s got to be at least a few kids in every school with the know-how to create a CS map) — sort of a reverse boycott — but then I’d be worried the government would send me to one of their overseas prisons for starting a huge “terrorist” ring.
For fuck sake, evolve America!
During high school, I made a a Quake2 map of the high school with fun alterations such as secrets in the math rooms and the gym turned into a multi-level arena for rocketing.
It was a great exercise in getting familiar with 3d modeling.
Perhaps, it is not a matter of time but that we have already reached a state of fascism.
Wikitionary definition of fascism: A political regime based on strong centralized government, suppressing through violence any criticism or opposition of the regime, and exalting nation, state, or religion above the individual.
I used DOOM to make a whole game of my high school back in the day.. killin goff the monstrous teacher “bosses” and the rest of the staff.. then, no one could give a damn about it.. but I did give a copy to a few of the cool teachers.
The ridiculous part is that you all think its okay for the map to be in a FIRST PERSON SHOOTER game — involving terrorists and counter terrorists. If this was a map for Care Bears Dream Wonderland 3D this would be no problem.
He’s going to have a swell time next time he tries to board a plane.
Oh wait, last semester I was asked to do a 3d model of my school, complete with labeling of the different sections and everything, and also I have a full tool box in my room, does that make me a terrorist?
Hell no, because I dont live in the ‘land of the free’…
Creating an FPS map of your school is, and should be a red flag. Moving Chen to an alternative education school where he can be watched more closely is an appropriate response in my opinion. High School USA is not equipped to monitor these situations, nor should they be expected to.
The school system, local law enforcement, and courts have been left to handle these situations, and this is about the best they can do. If you don’t want your kids in this type of situation, don’t let them stay up all night developing computer related personality and behavioral disorders. Parent up.
you all americans live in a concentration camp named USA,
and have your own hitler(bush)
i´m sorry about you
Cops see map. Map is better then they’re own training simulator. Cops are pissed. Cops steal boys golden hammer with hopes of building their own better training simulator. School pissed cause everyone is talking about them but not too them. Kid happy cause he’s now got a guaranteed career in a good gaming company.
OMG - now EVERYONE will know the layout of his school… and show up with hammers and kill everyone.
Quick - burn the constitution!
Apologies, all - we’re not all fascist, ignorant Bush-backers here in Texas. Some of us still believe in freedom and can’t wait for that cretin to leave office.
I agree that this is completely psycho (especially since I remember making StarCraft maps of my school long ago). However, I do get annoyed when it’s automatically assumed that such tactics are part of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.
That kind of assumption is just as ignorant as throwing a kid in jail for making a map of his school.
Michael:
“The land of the free… Thats good work. You have to break eggs to make an omelette. So what if innocent people get hurt? Its for a good cause. We get some bad guys sooner or later. I wish we could get rid of all non-americans somehow. Oh, and the atheists. Then we wouldnt need to have neither police or army, cause good white american christians are good people. We have to protect our way of living, cause the terrorists wants to take it from us. They cant stand happy people, so they blow themselves up, in hope that we will get as miserable as they are. They have no other dreams in life, things like love and family life. We have to keep the shining beacon of freedom the u.s. protected. They all envy us.”
I’m getting the creepy feeling he just altered a hitler speech
So the makers of grand theft auto 4 should be arrested for recreating NYC under this same logic. This doesn’t even make sense.
…there should be a website with maps for every high school/middle school/college ever…ARREST THE INTERNET! get working kids.
Welcome to fascism..
Bullshit. fuck the system.
Well thats school rules…..haha
See, the problem here is that we have morons like Sean cheering the Brown Shirts on. “The world is full of evil people. It’s our reality. Until a better solution is worked out, zero tolerance is the policy.” No, zero tolerance is a form of non-thinking, just like patriotism, nationalism, racism, and religion. You are letting other people make the hard decisions for you, because you are a lazy coward too afraid that the freedom of others is going to somehow hurt you. The chances of you dying in a terrorist attack or school shooting are infinitesimally small, yet you treat the world as if these are common occurrences.
wow… you know your country has gone to far when it calls high school kids terrorists and locks them up with out any charges…
i guess that makes me a terrorist too… cause we did the same thing when i was in high school… but it was with the first game editor for doom…
boy have things changed… FUCK GEORGE W BUSH
The Butcher said:
“See, the problem here is that we have morons like Sean cheering the Brown Shirts on. “The world is full of evil people. It’s our reality. Until a better solution is worked out, zero tolerance is the policy.†No, zero tolerance is a form of non-thinking, just like patriotism, nationalism, racism, and religion. You are letting other people make the hard decisions for you, because you are a lazy coward too afraid that the freedom of others is going to somehow hurt you. The chances of you dying in a terrorist attack or school shooting are infinitesimally small, yet you treat the world as if these are common occurrences.”
Because these violent acts are reported and everyone knows about them in truth Media is somewhat to blame for failing to provide anything to measure this against. Though I think most people want to hear things like this so that everyday deaths are no longer a worry and you feel safe knowing that the one horrible tragedy you think about is almost certain not to happen to you.
I planned on doing this in college for CounterStrike purely for fun with my roommates who played the game all day every day. I guess it pays to be lazy!
Funny, at our school, one of the projects for senior animation students in past years was to create maps of the school grounds for the half-life engine, because it is free of charge to use.
words cant describe how i feel about this… also a hammer! i have taken hammers to school before! i take carpentry course and the school would even lend me one if i forgot mine. i hate schools, i was once suspended for having a multi-tool on me at school (i had it for the same reason as the hammer, for my carpentry course), i mean really i can understand it but still what can you seriously do with one…
the reason they got all up in arms about this is because apparently the kids who did columbine basically did the same thing, made a map of their school in Doom and, ostensibly, used it to practice. i can’t recall right now if it was ever conclusively proven that they made the map for practice purposes, but that’s what the big fuss is about in this story, anyway.
that still doesn’t make it any less fucking retarded, though. it’s just a form of “playing pretend,” like we all used to do when we were kids. at least one commenter here probably played cops and robbers or cowboys and injuns as a child - did you ever think for a second that it would be okay to go out in public and really act like a cop, thief, cowboy and/or native american? how many women do you know who still hold “tea” parties with stuffed animals?
America is so fucked. Thank god I don’t live there.
He should totally say that he has artistic license to reproduce his school in any medium he wishes. Too bad they won’t give a shit.
The terrorists already won the “War on Terror”, the US is terrified of themselves. Look at the airports, look at this incident. Have fun living in a locked-down country.
This is another clear-cut example of why all hammers need trigger locks.
The map he made could be used by some crazy kid as a blueprint to shoot-up the school. I have actually found several sites that show aerial and street views of a lot of places, and should be outlawed immediately from the inter-tubes. At the risk of national security, I will list them here.
maps.google.com
mapquest.com
You know, anyone planning a school shooting could…just…go to the school and walk about and take pictures! We must therefore rise up against the liberals and ban walking, pictures, and schools!
Blueprints. Gotta ban all blueprints as they can later be used against the owner of the building. The clear path to safe civil engineering in the post 9/11 era is to just wing it without any fancy plans.
We must send to Guantanamo the following domestic terrorists / domestic terrorist entities:
-Rockstar Games for Grand Theft Auto 4’s realistic depiction of NYC, complete with killing innocents and raping babies and selling police officers to slave-drivers for drug porn sex booze money
-Activision for True Crime: Streets of NY and True Crime: Streets of LA
-All traffic reporters for outlining the bet escape routes during rush hour
-All weather reporters for helping to plan shootings on nice (or.. NOT NICE) days
…
I just shat my pants thinking about how scary my country has become.
mike “Then we wouldnt need to have neither police or army, cause good white american christians are good people.”
Given the stuff you just wrote, I am sure you are some poor redneck that never went to school and don’t know anything outside 100 mile radius. But have you ever heard of Tim McVeigh?
When people talk about religious fundamentalist/extremist, they think about the Middle East, may be they should start thinking about the trash in America’s own backyard.
Also, I like how people see no problem with having guns everywhere, but yet, some kid made a map for a video game and has a hammer in his room is immediately a school shooter/terrorist/murder/kitten eater.
whoa. I see discrimination here. It’s probably because they’re freaked out by the Virginia Tech shootings and the Akihabara massacre. They think we asians are psycho now. Come on, you’re blocking creativity! That kid could’ve been great, making a map like that when he’s just a high schooler. But the idiots just have to bring him down.
Far out Americans are paranoid.
Warning to all paranoid Americans:
PLEASE DO NOT TRAVEL OUTSIDE YOUR COUNTRY BORDERS. THE REAL WORLD IS TOO MUCH FUN… WE WOULDN’T WANT YOU RUINING IT.
To all the no-paranoid Americans: let’s grab a beer…
Well, he can just do homeschooling the last part of the year, crash the high school graduation party, and apply to colleges of his choice anyway. Most colleges, including big state universities and ivy league ones, accept homeschoolers with a smile.
It’s sad that the public schools punished him instead of recognizing his obvious talent.
Michael, that is the best parody of American idiocy I have ever seen. Kudos
The world is FUCKED what more is there to say.
Ok lol i did a map of my street and 4 houses even the street to go to work would i get arrested too its fucking stupid fags scare of some fucing game its a fucking kid playing a game COPS OR THE FUCKING PRESIDENT are dumbass bitches BUSH did that shit on the 911 so fuck them and fuck who ever fucking delete or comment me.
If they’re serious about terrorism, there would be more gun-control legislation. Protecting the general public from map-making gamers is stupid. Why don’t they throw everyone who worked on Google Maps or the engineers who manage GPS satellites for that matter. Those can be used by terrorists too.
lets all play in that map lets put that map in every single server support him the map is a nice looking school, i can find it if you need a copy let me know….
@Michael
Come back to bed Michael and do that thing you do so well with my “Hammer”
Well I’m glad you found the “hole” story.
Stupid americans
Anyone can go to the county court house and request the blueprints to that school. It’s a matter of public record (as long as it is a public school). Private schools have some leeway.
His problem is that it was for a violent game…ya just can’t do that since Columbine.
But I’ll bet he could have done it as a Mosk in Iraq…they might be terrorists (overly sarcastic tone)
“I found the hole story ” you mean the whole story. Christ I am so sick of America’s stupidity.
Thats bullshit i did this when i was at school, it a familiar environment adn everyone know the way round so when your playing with classmates they know what goes where and it makes it more fun. Its like playing with pretend guns in the playground.
Jesus AMERICANS ARE FUCKING RETARDED…..
I actually made a map of my school back in the days of counter-strike1. I even walked around taking pictures for the textures. The security guards asked me what I was doing, and my friend blurted out “we’re making a map of the school for a shooting game!” The guards just laughed.
This was pre-september11 though…
Another reason to hate authority… Cops… FBI… etc.
So GTA IV recreates the majority of NYC perfectly but this kid recreates his school and he’s instantly fucked. Also, a hammer? Come on, these people are retarded.
Damn this is shameful. I actually skipped over the part where it said that it was in Texas and I assumed that it was in China (Because it said “A Chinese student”) For China this seems like it wouldn’t be something out of the norm, but for the US this behavior is ridiculous. I mean, confiscating a hammer? Seriously…
I am not surprised either. Disappointed, saddened and outraged, but not surprised.
On a side note, when they confiscated the hammer, it was probably his computer with hammer installed on it. Now the cops are modeling their precinct.
If he was in the process of making the map, the school should have asked him to stop making it and delete his files or something before flying off the handle. You should remember that you are still dealing with an adolescent here. Show wisdom and compassion as adults. You owe it to the children you are claiming to raise.
Gratz to all of you who think this is acceptable. I bet you think the patriot act is a good idea too, right? Why not lock up anyone who looks like their children could be terrorists? I’m sure we’ll catch a terrorist here and there, right? “You have to break eggs to make an omelet.” That makes me want to vomit.
I’m in highschool. Freedom of Speech and creativity are sure nice to talk about in those hallways, but let’s get real. The real rules are as follows:
1) Say whatever you want, as long as it’s convenient and won’t hurt anyone’s feelings.
2) You’re all unique… until the bell rings, then sit you asses down and take a standardized test.
3) The words “Administration” and “God” are the same thing, and therefore are interchangeable.
It’s a crime, it really is. Poor guy. I wish you the best.
Hey, Teacher, leave those kids alone.
god, i USED to live in this area, and trust me….the cops here are all retards, the school boards are all retards. for those who say americans are fucking retarded…no, retarded americans are fuckin retarded but they are just alot louder than the rest. I have travelled the world, i know that we arent the best country in the world, but EVERY COUNTRY has citizens that should be shot on site to keep them from breeding. and if you do believe that america is the only place that has stupid people, you are one of the morons that should not have babies.
anyways, back on the subject…i’ve done a few maps on counter-strike and i think i’ve even played this one. i tried makin my school but gave up halfway after i graduated and didnt care anymore. he should have been commended for doing something like that but there are 2 main kinda of people in fort bend county…mexicans and rednecks. most people that get into positions of authority fall into the latter choice. yes, it was a big thing of racial profiling, but face it EVERYBODY DOES IT
!@#$ing morons.
Anyone who thinks that this kid should of had the foresight to fall into line like all the rest of the sheep need to go take a long walk off a short bridge.
He wanted to make a map.
Period. A virtual map. Inspired by his school.
But oh you protest what about all the recent shootings in schools?
.. Suck it up. People go off the deep end sometimes and thats that. I don’t care how many times I’ve laughed while blowing the heads off of make believe characters in fantasy settings. It doesn’t make me a criminal.
I don’t give a fuck how many people are killed in the real world for that matter. While its a shame it gives no-one in anyway any right to fuck with my rights to freedom of expression or any rights of anyone. Will we continue to watch as we sink into a police state that Hitler himself would applaud?
Losing our rights because of the actions of the few is not only illogical but is clearly the easiest way for this government to extend it’s control even farther and abolish the constitution already spat and kicked by none other than Georgie the worst president in American History.
WAKE UP!
OPEN YOUR EYES!
THIS IS NOT A DEMOCRACY AND IF WE CONTINUE TO ALLOW OUR RIGHTS TO BE STRIPPED AWAY IN THE NAME OF SECURITY THAN WE DESERVE TO SUFFER IN THE YEARS THAT FOLLOW.
DICTATORSHIP IN THIS COUNTRY IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN THE DIRECTION WE ARE HEADED DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.
“The new world order”
“Flouride in our drinking water”
“NAFTA” the “EU” and the “AU”
“Smart growth zones in America”
well, looks like im starting a new project tonite, arlington and washington maps for bf2 LMAO, no, make it for PR so its MORE realistic
an awesome training platform for me and my terrorist friends, who go to work/school, have parents, no record of violent behaviour or criminal record, and/or smoke weed and are too lazy to make a dirty bomb. meh wheres my friggen lighter
Jeez, I had thought of doing this same thing. Not for CS, but for various other FPSs, Doom included.
I just never got around to it. Maybe its better that way?
In the past witches were chased and burnt. Now they make this with gamers. The history is repeating and mankind seems to be as stupid as in the past.
Based on the facts presented in the blog (he made a FPS map of his school, he was arrested, he had a hammer) I agree, this does seem like a bit of an over-reaction.
However, without agreeing with the actions of authorities, I would like to bring up a couple of points/thoughts that kept me from going to get my pitchfork.
Violence in schools is a hot-button that has everyone making kneejerk reactions in order to not be “the reason that these kids all died”. A similar example? Fly recently? Ever notice the signs at the airport about “not making jokes about bombs, terrorists or highjacking”?
But a joke is just that, right? It’s a verbal statement, it could have been said in protest of government action/inaction/reaction and as such is protected speech, right? Yeah, as long as you aren’t too concerned about getting to your destination, you go ahead and test that theory out.
Schools are on a similar “hair trigger” when it comes to anything that even remotely smells like a potential Columbine/VT brewing. They are going to react, react quickly and harshly and then sort things out. If that results in a massive overreaction initially and they then need to backpedal and apologize, from their point of view it is FAR better to apologize for overreacting to protect, than to apologize for “knowing about it and doing nothing” to the families of victims.
Do we get angry at firefighters responding to a “false alarm” when someone pulls a alarm station or sets off a smoke detector when they burned the popcorn? Do we yell and scream at paramedics who rush to a possible heart attack call only to find out the patient had gas? Seriously folks, how many here have the expectation that it is the duty and obligation of law enforcement to “keep me safe”? Since they aren’t telepathic, and people expect proactive protection (not just reactive investigation after a crime) they (like the fire department and EMS) have to respond as if every potential call is “the real thing”.
Days or weeks from now, this student will be back at school, with one hell of a story to tell and law enforcement will likely be reviewing what they did right and what they did wrong in order to have some “lessons learned”. I am guessing that since this ends up with a body count of zero and no mass media event, they will likely be glad that this one turned out well.
Wow…America. Stupid people dont realise the talent it takes to make a map like that. That is a good map. That blows my mind that idiot people would do that. I want to e-mail the school be like yall are morons! Learn some stuff about people before giving them the boot.
My name is Jesus Christ (No really)… I enjoy video games too.
What i don’t get is why you people get so fed up when someone makes an intricate CS: environment map of their own school. The idea is familiar surroundings allow someone to experience a simulation that they wouldn’t normally get (thereby having a feeling of “I’ve been here, wow, this is cool”). In all honesty, maybe we should stop taking the “he plays violent games” as a catch 22 and instead concentrate on the fact that “He’s playing violent video games; we were wrong to assume this will progress to terrorism, and we’re hypocrites for denying the fact that it was BETTER for them to have exercised their creativity in a simulation THAN ON YOUR FUCKING SCHOOL.”
QED, YOUR A FUCKING MORON GODDAMN SCHOOLBOARD. IF YOU WERE IN NORTH AMERICA I WOULD EGG YOUR BOARD’S BUILDING AND NAIL A LAWN ADVERTISEMENT ON YOUR PROPERTY WITH A PHOTO OF THAT MAP, AND THE BOARD’S LEADER’S FACE AS THE HEAD OF A TERRORIST FROM THAT FUCKING GAME, BECAUSE THAT’S THE EXACT KIND OF SHIT YOUR DOING WITH THAT DETERMINISTIC DICTATOR HORSESHIT. (That’s the EXACT kind of attitude that would give me a CLEAR GREEN LIGHT TO —FUCK— YOU —THE FUCK— RIGHT BACK).
This is a crock of shit. I live in the Houston area myself and actually graduated from Spring High after have gone to high school the prior 3 years in Massachusetts. You have NO freedoms in Texas schools. Most have razor wire fences, they have armed police on campus (with tasers and guns), there is no freedom of speech. You cannot grow your hair out or have piercings if you are male, or even dye your hair. They even would not let a guy that had cancer wear a wig for Christs sake. It’s like sending your kids to jail for 8 hours a day. What has this world come to? The schools oppression along with parents that don’t give a shit are what’s making kids crack, NOT video games. I cannot wait until we vote the losers who make these dumb ass rules out of their positions. The voting population is getting closer to my age on average, so the time for revolution is near. These fake ass conservatives think that they can push their oppression on our kids have something coming… School is meant for LEARNING, not applying conservative Nazi bullshit to the CHILDREN. Most normal children cannot learn in these environments, and you wonder why Texas always rates toward the bottom of the education scale. The schools down here are over-crowded (the largest school in Houston was in my school district, Westfield), they are VERY diverse, racism is rampant, and nothing is done about it. The people in the Houston area need to realize that we live in the CITY, not out in the COUNTRY. There are no cowboys here. So stop applying your cowboy politics to our lives, and make some God Damn change.
kid has talent
Christian retarded motherfucker, religion is only for brainwashed fucking faggots go die jesus fucker
My son was telling me last week he’d love to walk the grounds of an abandoned power plant near where we live because he thinks it would make an amazing Half-Life/Counter Strike level mod. At the time I thought he was absolutely right — the broken windows, the cooling towers, the turbine plant, even the toppled metal picnic tables in what is now some overgrown courtyard all looked like they were made for a post-apocalyptic shooter game. After reading this article, though, all I can think of is how many years he’d be locked up if he was ever “caught” mapping the complex. (Never mind that the floor plans for any public building are available for inspection at most City Halls around the country!) Our paranoia levels make me so proud to live in a post-Columbine, post-9/11 America…so very proud. *sighs*
well, I consider myself a gamer, but I can still see why using his school as a scenario for a fps is not ok. I’m sure most people would feel there should be a limit somewhere.
say, what if he used real life photos of his fellow students for facial textures on opponents? you can’t say we’re not touching on something here.
I don’t think the punishment is fair either, but I do think he did something he shouldn’t.
Look im from Australia and if anything, we should be called the land of the free..
For starters when we go to school we dont get searched by metal detectors etc..
Anyway im a hardcore gamer myself, ive created maps of my surroundings before, and as someone else said, playing somewhere familiar in a 3D environment is really a great thrill, theres just something about it.
Now getting back to the story, if this kid really wanted to cause some damage in anyway to his school do you really think he would take the time (a lot of hours, i mean a LOT) just to make a 3D map of his school, This is just crazy.
The same people who are giving him an education are trying to bring him down.
Good luck with this kids future.
Guess what, its not the real terrorists who cause damage, but ppl who arrest a talented kid just because he made a map of a place he knows very well, hell, a place where he likes to run around.
WTF?!! describes this very accurately. Good thing the feds didn’t link the hammer to Valve’s Hammer Editor, the SDK program that guy probably used to create the map.
Pathetic, I do think that sometimes schools and law enforcement can go too far. And kudos to him for having the intelligence to create a map like that. Still there is no denying the fact that the decision to share the map to be used as a virtual battle ground for other students to deathmatch in is really, really stupid. especially being post 911, post Columbine, and post Virginia Tech. Remember, the staff at Virginia Tech all had warning signs that Cho had problems and some even recommended counseling but still, tragedy. Lets face it people, we live in a world where prior restraint/intervention part of our lives. That kid could have made a virtual walk through without the guns and it would have been portfolio material.
This is pathetic, it’s embarrassing. How the hell can creating a 3d digital ingame map be considered terrorism? Oh well, they found a hammer in his room, clearly he was building weapons of mass destruction.
I once began making a CS:S map of my high school. I never intended to use custom textures to make it look like mine specifically but with all the school shootings going around I just decided to scrap the idea. This kid didn’t have the best judgment but he hasn’t done anything worth being arrested for. I am not into CS1.6 anymore but that looks like a very high quality 1.6map with custom textures and a lot of work put into it. 2 people at my school maximum know what I can do with hammer editor and it seems the same case with this kid. The school looked past his skills and just saw guns on a virtual rendering of the place and flipped out. I know several people who could have done this and gotten compliments on their “computer savvyness” while someone like me, or nearly this kid, would get thrown in jail without a second glance.
Bush = american
thus americans are like BUSH; stupid.
how about if i make a map of the white house???
or maybe the pentagon
LOL
I attended a tour of a digital arts college for 3d design in which they demonstrated to us the Unreal Tournament map they had modeled after the college campus.
Wow! Paranoia at its best. I actually started doing this when I was in Jr. High (back in the 90’s before all the school shootings started happening). I simply thought that it would be cool to play deathmatch against friends in a map that resembled our school so we could have storied like, “Remember the time I fragged you when you weren’t looking in english class?” I actually got the blueprints from the school to make the map, however I didn’t have enough time to finish.
Now, I wouldn’t imagine doing that. Funny how things change so much in a matter of a decade.
Honestly, a student with the desire and talent to make this kind of map shows some potential in 3D modeling and architecture. You’d think that rather than freaking out, teachers would recognize the interest of the student and work to encourage a more positive outlet for their creative energy. It’s sad to think that any desire this kid had towards 3D modeling and architecture may have been squelched due to the negative experience the school has turned this into.
Sa faca si cu liceul ala Jeam Monet … faza aia cu grenada chiar merge :))
It’s not the school’s fault. Apparently the parents are the ones who notified the school. They probably described the situation as dangerous, which caused the school to react harshly. His parents are a disgrace.
That’s fucking retarded, yeah it can be seen as vantage points for some horrendous act. Some fucking people are just stupid to fall into a state of mind where everyone is a “terrorist” maybe you should think of yourself as a terrorist and start shooting yourselves in the head.
Imagine you are the kid. You’re good in school and decide to use some of your creative energy to create a map of the school for a game. After weeks of hard work, you finally finish your masterpiece. Naturally, you want to show someone. You’re all proud of your hard work, but the next thing you know you are in prison and even a hammer you used to fix your bed is considered a potential murder weapon.
Now imagine you are the parents, police, and school board. You learn that a free and easily downloadable map of the school has been made for a first person shooter game. Anyone can have fun shooting people up in a school. Does this look good to you? NO! This looks awful! It is a disaster that puts every student’s life on the line.
Here’s my opinion on the matter. Obviously, the map should be taken off of the internet. I just don’t think that anyone should get any blame. No one intentionally did anything wrong after all, right?
how can it be the land of the free when some one cant just make a map of a school. Shows how smart the American police are.
So when are they arresting the guys from GTA and ruining THEIR lives? I bet you they’ve ALL got hammers!
wow too bad it does look like an awesome map? but isn’t there a map already like that called ken_west?
Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for. -The Hacker Manifesto-
lawl lawl!!! The older generation that can’t use computers needs to sit the fuck down and let the next generation step forward. Seriously this is rediculous. The people who suspected this kid of being a terroist need to be beaten with a stick for being so retarded.
games and life are not the same. Why can’t senile old people understand this
If someone were so inclined to do ANYTHING at all to that school, or ANY public institution or building in the whole freaking country you can easily get your hand on blueprints of the building. They are public record. So what would a school in, let’s say Montana, do if I decided to make a map based off blue prints I found in public records? This is such a joke, Fear mongering at it’s worst. Looks like the Terrorists are winning this fight after all. Perhaps they need to arrest Rockstar for making a somewhat accurate representation of NYC. This family could and should sue the police department and the school.
wat the heck this is so retarded. If i was that uy i would sue the hell out of the police for this. Wat did they think hwas going to do sell the map to alkaeda