Counter-Strike 2 patch notes: Mirage enters matchmaking, revised player loadout, sub-tick improvements, and more

Counter-Strike 2's latest patch has replaced Dust II with Mirage in the official Limited Test servers, along with Revised Player Loadout and a new buy menu interface. The update also brings in improvements to Sub-Ticks as well as VAC, which will now live-ban cheaters. All in all, the 6th June patch, as well as the 7th June one, brings substantial improvements to the Counter-Strike 2 experience.

For the uninitiated, Counter-Strike 2 not only transforms CS:GO to the Source 2 engine, but it also implements new features including volumetric smokes, sub-tick rate servers, and map redesigns. It also brings several quality-of-life features.

With the new patch bringing in more improvements across the board ahead of its Summer 2023 release, let's take a look at the patch notes of Counter-Strike 2.

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Counter-Strike 2 - Release Notes for 6/7/2023

Maps

• Added Mirage as an option for the main menu scenery map.

Weapons

• Fixed a regression with weapon recoil on high-punch weapons like MAG-7, sometimes punching weapon view model towards the ground instead of up in the air.
• Improved the look of UMP-45, MAG-7, R8 Revolver, and Sawed-Off.

Workshop Tools

• Fixed legacy models appearing when previewing new weapon paint finishes.

Sounds

• Fixed a regression where a 10-second music cue was sometimes not playing.
• Fixed wooden ladders to play wooden footstep sounds.

Misc

• Fixed free armor side-effect of armor refunding.
• Fixed loadout tooltips getting stuck on the main menu.
• Fixed a regression by inspecting Huntsman knives.
• Brought back an option to pass number keys through to the game while in the buy menu.
• Numerous stability improvements.

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Counter-Strike 2 - Release Notes for 6/6/2023

Maps

• Mirage has replaced Dust II on official Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test matchmaking servers.

Workshop Tools

• Introducing Counter-Strike 2 Workshop Tools, which can be enabled and downloaded from the in-game settings menu--these tools will allow community contributors to create weapon finishes, stickers, and maps.
• Note: the Steam Community Workshop does not yet support uploading CS2 maps.
• The level editor (Hammer) now leverages GPU-accelerated raytracing to both preview and bake lighting for CS2 maps. This significantly speeds up compile times, but as a result, a GPU capable of raytracing is required for Hammer to be fully functional.

Hammer GPU Minimum Specs:

• Nvidia 2060Ti 6gb (2080Ti+ recommended)
• AMD 6600XT (6800XT+ recommended)

Weapons

The player loadout has been revised:

• Players have 1 Starting Pistol slot, 4 Pistol slots, 5 Mid-tier slots (previously "SMGs" and "Heavy"), and 5 Rifle slots, per team.
• Assign any (side-appropriate) weapon to any slot within its category.
• Supports drag-and-drop and has been redesigned to fit in on a single screen.

The in-game buy menu interface has been revised:

• The wheel has been replaced with a grid showing all purchase options at the same time.
• Teammate purchases are displayed on the buy menu.
• Weapon "stats" display has been replaced with simple, straightforward descriptions.
• Players can now refund any purchase that was purchased in the same round and has not been used.

Existing CS:GO items on the Steam Community Market can be inspected in Counter-Strike 2.

Sub-Tick

• Sub-tick movement is now more precise and less "floaty" (per player feedback).
• Releasing movement keys now correctly conveys their sub-tick timing.
• The top player of a triple-stack can now shoot.
• Fine-tuned weapon aim punch recovery to be latency-independent during sub-tick recovery on the client.
• Fine-tuned view punch camera shake effect during shooting to be both latency-independent and synchronized with all other sub-tick shooting effects on the client.

Volumetric Smoke

• Improved lighting/rendering when smoke overlaps multiple distinctly lit regions.
• HE grenade effect times on smoke has been reduced.
• Shotguns now create larger holes in smoke volumes.

Animation

• Adjustments to the viewmodel 'inspect' to remove animation popping.
• Several viewmodel and blending animation fixes.
• Improved traversal animation.
• Jumping into the air and running off a ledge is now differentiated to allow for separate character motion.

Sound

• Player's own footstep sounds are now predicted on the client for a latency-independent experience.

Rendering

• Improved performance and responsiveness in windowed and full-screen windowed modes.
• Fixed several bugs and rendering artifacts.

Input

• Fixed a bug that would cause input to become permanently broken when multiple commands were bound to one key. Multi-binds are back, except for jump-throw binds (which are now a skillful part of CS).
• Commands bound to mouse wheels will now be reliably executed.
• Fixed bug that would cause input to execute incorrectly after taking over a bot in practice mode.
• Inspecting weapons is now predicted on the client for a more responsive experience.

VAC

• VAC will now live ban and gracefully terminate the match at the end of the round (unless it was the last round and the cheater lost).
• The match will not affect any participants' Skill Group.
• Players that were not lobbied with the VAC-banned player will earn XP for the match.

Counter-Strike 2 is available on PC via Steam only in a limited capacity. Valve is choosing a limited number of players to get access based on their records. The game is officially set to launch in Summer 2023.