Counter-Strike players are always asking for Valve to fix something, and occasionally, they actually do it. On the other hand, sometimes a fan-favorite mechanic gets broken, like a recent patch that broke bhopping. Anyway, let’s move on to the most recent update, released on August 14, because it might be one of the most exciting ones yet. No, not because of new cosmetic items, but because it has improved performance for some players.
What does the update offer?
The most important part of this patch isn’t visual or cosmetic, it’s technical. Valve has improved rendering performance across most maps, helping the game run smoother on a wide range of PCs. They’ve also added new settings that allow players to change their resolution and aspect ratio while in full-screen windowed mode.
[ MAPS ]
Ancient and Shoots
- Added nighttime versions.
- Refreshed all ancient materials to use latest CS2 shaders.
- Added new blending options for ancient materials including wetness and moss.
- Added “ancient_zoo.vmap” with all assets and blending examples for mapmakers.
[ ITEMS ]
- Deluge Music Kit Box is now available for purchase in standard and StatTrak versions.
- New Limited Time Item, the M4A1-S | Solitude, is now available in The Armory.
[ ANIMATION ]
- Sawed-off shotgun deploy modified and fixed shell penetration on reload.
- Improved deploy +quick inspect animations for all knives.
- Improved deploy +quick inspect animations for the AK, Galil, AUG, PP-Bizon.
- Improved deploy animations for the AWP, M4A4, M4A1-S.
- Improved animations for legacy SSG08 models.
- Removed the deploy inspect delay for most weapons.
- Fixed XM1014 blocking crosshair during reload.
[ MISC ]
- Rendering performance improvements across most maps.
- Rendering resolution and aspect ratio can now be changed in fullscreen windowed mode.
- fps_max can no longer be changed while connected to a server.
- Fixed a case where certain weapons could be fired sooner after a re-deploy.
Source: Steam
While Valve didn’t exactly make a big announcement about performance other than a single patch note, players immediately noticed the difference. One user with an Intel i3-8350K CPU and a GTX 1070 GPU saw FPS rise by 25% after the update. Their average FPS climbed from 180 to 205. Another player mentioned that this is the first real FPS optimization they’ve seen yet for CS2, which has long been criticized for upping the requirements from the former Global Offensive (CS:GO) version.
Valve didn’t stop at performance, as the update also improved weapon animations across many guns. Knives, the AK-47, Galil, AUG, and PP-Bizon all have better deploy and inspect animations. The AWP, M4A1-S, and M4A4 also got smoother animations, while the SSG08 (Scout) received polish for legacy models. The sawed-off shotgun now reloads correctly, and the XM1014 no longer blocks the crosshair during reloads. Many of these fixes address side effects from the recent animation overhaul.
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However, it is important to keep in mind that for some players, the game has started crashing after installing the update. This isn’t affecting everyone, but we’re hoping Valve releases a fix for this issue soon.
The update also adds new nighttime versions of the Ancient and Shoots maps. Ancient, in particular, now uses updated shaders and features effects like wet surfaces and moss, giving it a more realistic look. On the cosmetics side, the update introduces the Deluge Music Kit Box, available in both standard and StatTrak versions. Players can also pick up a new skin for the M4A1-S, called “Solitude,” available for a limited time in The Armory.
