Valve has just rolled out a significant update for Counter-Strike 2, bringing in a range of new features and improvements.
The most notable change is the replacement of the map Mirage with two fresh maps: Nuke and Office. However, it’s important to note that Office is only available for deathmatch and casual game modes.
The decision to introduce these new maps came after extensive testing, which lasted over three weeks for Mirage. This update marks the second time a map from the current competitive map pool has been tested in CS2. Nuke, which is also part of the active map pool, now joins the roster of maps available for testing.
In addition to the map changes, the update addresses some important gameplay mechanics. A crouch bug has been fixed, and improvements have been made to the movement mechanic known as Bunnyhopping. It is now expected to closely resemble the running movement in CS:GO at a rate of 128 ticks.
Other noteworthy additions include the introduction of the casual game mode, distance effects for positional sound, and several bug fixes. The audio enhancements bring a more immersive experience, ensuring that sound sources are accurately represented based on their distance. The update also improves 3D sound processing, fixes issues with sound occlusion, and adjusts sound levels for grenades and weapon fire.
Animations have received attention as well, with the ability to inspect grenades and improved animations for health shots and weapon inspection.
The movement system has seen refinements, rectifying cases of unintended slow crouching and uncrouching. Players can no longer jump at the end of the warm-up period, and bunny hopping has been fine-tuned to replicate the experience of running in CS:GO at 128 ticks.
The update also includes networking optimizations, reducing server CPU usage and the likelihood of dropped ticks.
Several miscellaneous improvements have been implemented, such as fixing the rendering of holstered weapons on dead players, adding team-agnostic equip icons for inventory items, and refining the transition between spectator chase and roaming cameras. The loading screen now displays centered game mode text, and the description “Best out of X rounds” has been removed.
Valve’s latest update for CS2 brings a wealth of changes and improvements that aim to enhance the gameplay experience. Whether you’re exploring the new maps, enjoying the improved sound effects, or appreciating the various bug fixes and refinements, this update is sure to make your Counter-Strike 2 experience even better.
Changelog CS2:
[ GAMEPLAY ]- Added Casual game mode.
- Fixed rare cases where bullets would not follow spray pattern.
- Added Nuke to Deathmatch, Casual, and Competitive game modes.
- Added Office to Deathmatch and Casual game modes.
- Removed Mirage.
- Added distance effects to all positional sound sources.
- Improvements to 3d sound processing.
- General mix tweaks and improvements.
- Fixed bug where sometimes sounds would not respect the occlusion values of surrounding geometry resulting in sources appearing closer than what they were.
- Fixed missing low frequencies at certain distances away from sound sources such as grenades and weapon fire.
- Fixed a bug where some sounds would be slightly louder or quieter depending on the listeners orientation.
- Added music cues to Match Accept and Loading screens.
- Added unique audio occlusion layer to help with vertical sound positioning in Nuke.
- Grenades can now be inspected.
- Improved healthshot animations
- Improved inspect behavior for various weapons
- Fixed cases of unintended slow crouch/uncrouch.
- Bunny hopping feel should now closely match CS:GO running at 128 tick.
- Added convar sv_jump_spam_penalty_time to allow fine tuning of bunny hop feel.
- The readout for cl_showpos has been enhanced to show the maximum speed of the last 3 seconds; this number is in parenthesis on the ‘vel’ line
- Players can no longer jump at the end of warmup time
- Sending game delta frames is now asynchronous, reducing dedicated server main thread CPU usage, thus reducing probability of dropped ticks.
- Fixed a case where a holstered weapon would be rendered on a dead player
- Added a team-agnostic equip icon for inventory/loadout item tiles
- When possible, switching to spectator mode will default to in-eye spectating
- Adjusted the transition between spectator chase cam and roaming cam
- Centered game mode text in the loading screen
- Removed “Best out of X rounds” from the loading screen
