Individuals (Beginners):

Before loading the game:

Counter-Strike Source (CSS) requires a decent computer and a decent in-game setup. It is essential that you get the maximum frames per second (fps) that your computer can handle. The reason behind getting maximum fps is essential is because it directly affects what your computer receives from the server. The more fps the easier it becomes to control recoil and kill an enemy.
Note: If your computer is able to handle more than 100fps without these fps configs then there is no need to add these to your game. 100fps is the maximum required fps, anything above this is just to show off to your e-friends.

I have created an autoexec file with the fps configs already set-up in it. The autoexec file is what it says, as soon as you load your css game all the commands in the autoexec file will be loaded aswell. You can easily modify the autoexec file to suit your needs. The autoexec file should be places in your cfg folder which is found in: \Steam\steamapps\email\counter-strike source\cstrike\cfg to download this file.

Note: knowing the next piece of information is not necessary and the autoexec is already setup to allow you not to need to know what the following information means. However knowing this information and understanding the game will help you improve.
The main aim of the autoexec is to make sure you don’t have to change your rates every time you load up css. Changing rates impacts what you send and receive to the server. Most rates are set at cl_cmdrate 30, cl_updaterate 20 and rate 9999. This is because when css was released servers ran at 33 tick. However with the game growing and changing, servers now run at 66 or 100 tick more often than not. Therefore you want to have higher rates so you can send and receive as much as you can, making it easier to kill people. I will not go into details with what 66 and 100 tick means, just know that it makes the game slightly quicker and you want to set your rates to allow this. The rates for this are:
Cl_cmdrate 101
Cl_updaterate 101
Rate 30000

Getting Started:

Once you have set up your computer with the above configs, the next step is to setup your in-game settings. It is important that the controls that you setup are comfortable for you. It is personal preference as to what you use here, but make sure it’s something simple and something you are comfortable with. Most people find the best way of playing CSS is by using the keyboard for movement (running, jumping, walking, crouching etc) and then using your mouse for aiming and your gun (shooting, alternate fire and switching weapons)

Crosshair:

This is rather important because there are lots of different crosshair sizes you can use, some like large, some like medium, some like small, and if you think small is still to big you can go custom. In consol type “cl_crosshairscale <number>” the default small crosshair is cl_crosshairscale 1200, the bigger the number the smaller the crosshair, the highest you can go is up to 5000. once again this comes down to personal preference, but I like it rather small because it makes it easier to pinpoint someone’s head.

In-game:

Once you have set-up your keys, its now time to load up a game, find a server with a reasonably low ping and join up. Remember that a lot of players in the server have been playing CSS for many years now and will understand the game far better than you. The main aim is to get in and learn how to move and shoot and get your mouse sensitivity right, my rule of thumb is to do a 180 with one mouse swipe, however it is important that you find a sensitivity comfortable for you. Start off by learning how to buy stuff (by default the letter “b” will bring up your buy menu). You will see how much money you have down the bottom right of your screen. Click on any of the gun category and select whichever gun you want that you can afford. Now, get out there and started shooting people. Learn the maps and watch your team mates, follow them around the map and see what they do and try to understand why they do it.
Tip: When you start playing, try not to run out like rambo, wait behind a couple team mates and see what they do and where they shoot, once you learn the map and where the opposing team comes from then you can start moving onto going alone.

What to buy:

It is vital to buy a decent gun which you will be able to kill people with less the fewest shots needed. I suggest that when you start playing, buy the MP5 (in the sub machine gun category), the reason I suggest this is because the MP5 is quite powerful but has no recoil (recoil is the way your gun moves after you shoot, usually the 3rd or 4th shot will not be accurate because of recoil, depending on which gun you have), once you have learnt how to aim with the MP5, its time to move on to the more common guns. If you are a Terrorist try using the AK-47 (it is in your rifles category), or if you are a Counter-Terrorist use the M4-A1 (also in your rifles category).
Along with these guns you should try buy a vest and a helmet, a couple of flash bangs (2 is maximum you can buy) and a HE Grenade (you can only hold 1 HE Grenade), these are all found in the buy menu under the “equipment” menu. And if you are a Counter-Terrorist make sure you have a defuse kit (also in your equipment category)

The radar:

On the top left of your screen you will see a green radar. This is to help you navigate around the map. Look at the radar from time to time; you will notice on the radar it will show your team mates as either red or blue dots, depending which team you are on. On bomb maps it will have an A and a B, these are the two bomb sites which you either need to plant the bomb (Terrorists - T) or defuse the bout (Counter Terrorists - CT). On hostage maps you will see yellow dots which will show you where the hostages are, and an R which is the rescue point. You will also notice occasionally there will be a dot that is the enemy (if you are a CT the dot will be red to show an enemy, if you are a T the dot will be blue to show the enemy) this comes up on the radar because either you or your team mate has spotted the enemy.

Planting the Bomb, defusing the bomb and rescuing the hostages:

I will start with the bomb planting and defusing and move on to the hostages later. If you are a Terrorist the objective is to plant the bomb in the bomb site (on your radar either A or B). If you have the bomb you will see a small green picture of a bomb on the left of your screen. Make your way to one of the sites with your team, and select the bomb like you would select any other gun, once in the site (you will know when you are in the site because the picture of the bomb will start flashing) start planting the bomb by holding down your shoot button. Once the bomb has been planted you must defend the bomb from the Counter-Terrorists. It will take between 35 and 50 seconds (depending on the server) for the bomb to explode.
As Counter-Terrorist the objective obviously is to not allow the Terrorists to plant the bomb. Set yourself up in or close to one of the sites and stop them from planting the bomb. However if they do manage to get into the site and plant the bomb, this is where you need to defuse the bomb. Once safe, look at the bomb and hold down your “use” key (default for the use key is the letter “e” on your keyboard) you will see a yellow bar popup on your screen, the bar will need to move all the way across before the bomb has been defused. If you have bought a defuse kit it will take 5 seconds to defuse the bomb, without the kit it takes approximately 10 seconds to defuse the bomb.
Hostage maps are what they say they are, Terrorists have taken hostages (usually 4 of them on each map) and the Counter-Terrorists need to go rescue them. As a terrorist set yourself up somewhere close to the Hostages and kill any Counter-Terrorist that comes near them.
Hostage maps are slightly more complicated for the Counter-Terrorists, you need to get to the hostages, and use the “use” key (same as defusing a bomb) to select each hostage, you will know if you selected the hostage because he will say something to you, this will make the hostages follow you, once you have all hostages following you, follow your radar and get to the R on it, this is the rescue point on the map, once all of the hostages have been rescued then you win the round.
Note: Successfully planting the bomb with an explosion or defusing the bomb will give you 3 extra kills. Shooting hostages will make you lose money, and on some servers get you kicked out or even banned.

Practice:

Now that you know how to actually play the game, its time to PRACTICE, PRACTICE and PRACTICE. Play the game, run around, shoot people, learn all the fundamentals of the game and then when you are ready to make a move and step up, move to the intermediate section of this guide.