Assertion Failed

I've been playing counter strike condition zero, running a Mac m2 with parallels on windows 11. It's been running fine for months; however, yesterday as I was opening the game, I got this message. Not sure what's going on. I think I might have downloaded CS2, but I deleted the game and I've tried everything; including deleting game, reinstalling game, deleting steam, reinstalling steam and then the game again, but no luck. I get this message every time. I know the game will run because I've been playing this game for months on this Mac running Parallels with Windows 11. Any advice?

 

Ah, I've been there--super frustrating when a game that's been running fine suddenly hits you with an error out of nowhere. Since you've already nuked CS:CZ and Steam and still get the same message, it sounds like there's some leftover config file, registry entry, or cached data that Windows/Steam is still trying to use. Sometimes Parallels can also mess with certain Windows graphics or DirectX settings after updates.

Here's a few things you can try:

1. Delete leftover config files:
   Go to C:\Users\<YourUsername>\Documents\ or C:\Users\<YourUsername>\AppData\Local\ and look for any folders named Counter-Strike or Condition Zero and delete them. These sometimes survive an uninstall.
   
   
2. Clear Steam cache completely:
   
   • Exit Steam fully.
     
     
   • Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\ (or wherever you installed it).
     
     
   • Delete everything except Steam.exe and the steamapps folder (or backup your game folder elsewhere first).
     
     
   • Run Steam.exe and let it rebuild everything.
     
3. Check for leftover registry entries:
   Open regedit and search for anything related to Counter-Strike or Condition Zero and delete those keys carefully.
   
   
4. Graphics / Parallels tweak:
   Sometimes an update to Windows 11 or Parallels can mess with DirectX/OpenGL. Make sure your virtual GPU is still set to DirectX 11/12 compatibility and try running the game as admin.
   
   
5. Verify integrity after reinstall:
   After reinstalling CS:CZ, right-click → Properties → Local Files → Verify Integrity. Sometimes Steam installs a corrupted leftover if the old files weren't fully cleared.
   

Honestly, it's almost certainly something leftover from CS2 or the previous CS:CZ install that Windows/Steam keeps trying to load. Nuking all configs and cache usually fixes it.