When CS:GO was created ten years ago, the game was based on the Source engine, developed back in 2004. He first appeared in games such as Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source. Since then, it has been updated several times, and in 2015, Valve showed the game on the next version, called Source 2. Since then, the company has been using it as the main engine for its products. Another game from Valve, which enjoys mass popularity, namely Dota 2, already in 2015 received an update with the transition to a new engine with Source. But for CS:GO the implementation of the new engine has been delayed.
Why do you need to change the engine?
Engine – This is the basic mechanism that makes the game work. It determines how the game processes textures, how visual effects and physical interaction of objects are calculated, how optimization is implemented, and what functions are available to developers. The mere fact that the game still uses a decade-old engine can create problems, meaning that it retains, as one former Valve employee wrote, “mountains of ancient code that no one understands anymore.” This makes it more difficult to fix bugs or add new features.
In addition, updating the engine should improve the performance of the game (Source 2 does not always interact well with modern software, such as DirectX), and will also make life much easier for skinmakers and mod creators. Many of them expect that functions that can now only be implemented using special tricks will become more accessible.
What else to expect from the update?
It is possible that the transition to a new engine will bring not only technical improvements, but also other innovations. One of the most controversial – possible disappearance of references to “terrorists” from the game and “counter-terrorists”. Other competitive shooters that were created later CS:GO have already followed this path, initially choosing more neutral names for the parties. Yes, these terms are familiar to players, but for Valve they have become a source of problems with advertising and promotion of the game, so it is possible that they will change.
We should expect that the number of bugs in the game will decrease, and that it will become easier to fix those found. At the same time, it is possible that due to an update to the physics component of the engine, players will have to get used to different layouts or rethink their jump trajectories. However, one can hope that, given how important such things are for professional eSports players, the developers will do without too drastic changes that could cause discontent among the community.
When can CS:GO be updated?
The fact that Valve is actively working on porting the game to a new engine is evidenced by data that data miners find every now and then. In particular, lines of code with the note "s2" were found in the game files, and textures and even entire maps for the new engine were found in other Valve games.
Many expected a large-scale update for the game's tenth anniversary, but this never happened. Therefore, for now all that remains is to wait for news from Valve, which, as usual, is in no hurry.
