The CS community has been on de_hypetrain for quite a while now, and Valve has finally officially revealed Counter Strike 2 running on the new Source 2 engine.
Counter-Strike 2 Reveal
In what is dubbed the “largest technical leap forward” in Counter-Strike history, Valve revealed some features coming in Counter-Strike 2 brought by the new Source 2 engine. This will be a free upgrade to CS:GO, and all in-game items and experience will carry over for a seamless transition.
Responsive Smokes
Smoke Grenades have been made to be dynamic, volumetric objects that interact with the environment. It now reacts to things like lighting, gunfire, and explosions.
Bullets and explosive grenades will push the smoke aside momentarily, giving players a chance to shoot and gain new information for a moment before the smoke reconstitutes.
Use HE grenade + smoke trick in CS2 ✅ pic.twitter.com/6ZIMx20YQk
— Jordan Gilbert (@n0thing) March 22, 2023
These new volumetric smokes will also expand to fill spaces naturally, seeping out of windows, creeping up stairs, expand in corridors, and combine with other smokes.
The unified lighting system in Source 2 is also being used so the smoke will have more realistic light and color. However, the smokes thrown by Terrorists seem to be tinted yellow while those from Counter-Terrorists will have a lighter hue to them.
No Tick Rate
Another big change being introduced are sub-tick updates, which are “the heart of Counter-Strike 2.” With this new feature, the server will no longer evaluate game events in terms of ticks and will instead know the exact instant that a button is pressed. Regardless of tick rate, moving and shooting will be equally responsive and the grenades will land the same way. Game elements will behave consistently and will no longer depend on tick rate timing for their behavior.
Map Updates
Valve also introduced three types of Map updates for Counter Strike 2. In CS2, map updates were divided into three categories, Full Overhaul, Upgrade, and Touchstone. Examples and comparisons for each can be found on the official website.
Full Overhaul maps have been rebuilt from the ground up, and takes advantage of all of the tools and features that Source 2 offers to give the full CS2 experience. Overpass is one of the maps who received a full overhaul.
Upgrade maps use new Source 2 lighting, including a physically based rendering system to produce realistic materials, lighting, and reflections. Nuke belongs in this category.
Touchstone maps are classic maps with solid foundations, which players can use to evaluate the gameplay changes from CS:GO to Counter Strike 2. Lighting and character read have both been improved, but the maps themselves haven't been touched otherwise. The classic Dust II belongs here.
VFX and Sounds Reimagined
All of the visual effects have been updated in Counter Strike 2. These now use the Source 2 lighting and particle systems, giving an all-new look and behavior for water, explosions, fire, smoke, muzzle flashes, bullet traces, impact effects, and more.
In-game visuals have been redesigned with the goal of better readability. Bullet impacts can be easily viewed at a distance, and directional blood impacts give more information while in a match. Other gameplay effects such as explosions, fire, the C4 explosion, and more provide a reauthored experience with greater visual fidelity and better consistency.
The UI, on the other hand, received a complete overhaul. They have been improved not only to look better, but to better communicate important information throughout CS2.
While we didn't get much details for the specific changes, audio has been reworked to better reflect the physical environment and express the game state better. Rebalancing was also done for a more comfortable experience for your ears.
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