After all the hype and speculation, Valve has finally officially revealed the long-awaited Counter Strike 2.
Since CS: GO‘s release, the game has gone through multiple updates making the game a little better than the previous version. However, the fundamentals of the game and the Source engine remained the same, despite of Source 2 engine’s availability.
Since then, the CS community has been waiting for the Source 2 engine to be implemented into the game. There were countless instances where it seemed like Source 2 would release very soon, but it never happened.
However, this time, it happened for real. And Valve has officially released the trailers for its biggest update in history, titled “Counter Strike 2: Leveling Up the World.” Not only that, Valve has released two more videos titled “Counter Strike 2: Responsive Smokes” and “Counter Strike 2: Moving Beyond Tick Rate” to let everyone know what to expect from the update.
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Counter Strike 2 is Really Happening!
As everyone speculated, CS2 won’t be a completely new game. However, there will be significant changes or, to be more specific, “improvements” to the game.
First of all, in Counter Strike 2, the maps, such as Mirage and Dust II, will be getting a new makeover. The resources will be transferred to the Source 2 engine to make the game look more beautiful and responsive.
On the other hand, Valve will also upgrade some of the maps, such as Nuke and Ancient. These maps will use the Source 2 engine’s “physically based rendering system that produces realistic materials’ lighting and reflections.”
Finally, the older maps that hadn’t been getting much attention will go through a complete overhaul by “leveraging the Source 2’s tools and rendering features.”
But hold on, that’s not all. Valve is also changing some important stuff too! The smoke in Counter Strike 2 will work completely differently compared to the original CS:GO. Valve is calling it “Responsive Smoke.”
“Smoke Grenades now create volumetric 3D objects that live in the world. Now, not only do all players see the same smoke regardless of position, but the smoke can interact with the environment in interesting ways. It reacts to lighting. Grows to fill spaces naturally. The shape of the smoke cloud can be pushed and carved by bullets and grenades.”
What about the server tick rate? Don’t worry! Valve has it all planned out. For Counter Strike 2, Valve is implementing a subtick system that goes beyond the 128-tick rate server system used traditionally by FACEIT or VALORANT. So, every command you send to the server through your mouse click or keyboard press will respond faster than anything else.
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