A new update for CS:GO was pushed live on June 10. Six maps have undergone major design changes in an attempt to help improve player contrast. A new video setting has also been added to help with visibility.
Players blending into the environment is an issue that has existed in CSGO since the game’s launch in 2012. The introduction of Agent skins didn’t help visibility at all, and can make fighting some players at distance a nightmare.
However, through a bevy of map changes as well as visual updates, Valve is committed to make CSGO characters easier to see, no matter where they lie in wait.
And today’s Release Notes: https://t.co/m2rtnBAlsy
— CS:GO (@CSGO) June 11, 2020
Big changes made to Dust 2, Mirage, and more
Six CS:GO maps have undergone major design changes in the recent update. The biggest of them were shipped to Dust 2, Mirage, Cache, and Overpass.
On Dust 2, the doors to B site have been flipped, changing the way players can play boxes. The windows on A Ramp have also been raised to improve player contrast. On Mirage, the trash pile at the top of mid has been removed, while the lighting in market has been boosted.
On Cache, the ladder to Sniper’s Nest has been replaced by a box, while various colour tweaks were pushed live. Finally, on Overpass, the large ivy models near bathrooms have been removed, alongside other map assets, to clean up the battlefield.
Inferno and Train also received minor updates.
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New “Boost Player Contrast” setting helps players spot enemies
In some locations, like looking into Tunnels on Dust 2, players can be awfully hard to spot. Between lighting, shadows, and the character models themselves, it can feel like your enemies blend into the environment. Valve is looking to fix this though, by adding a new contrast setting.
“To improve character read across all maps and locations, we’ve added a new graphics setting called ‘Boost Player Contrast’ which is enabled by default,” Valve stated in a June 10 blogpost.
“[It] increases the character’s contrast against the background at far distances, strengthens edge pixels for characters at far distances, creates a small blur around a character to reduce background noise, and creates a small contrasting halo around a character when there is no color difference between the character and the environment.”
Today we're shipping a number of changes to improve player visibility. We've added a new 'Boost Player Contrast' setting, made changes to locations on certain maps, modified a number of agents, and adjusted selective fog. Full details in today's Blog Post: https://t.co/SAtGz3D1fT
— CS2 (@CounterStrike) June 11, 2020
Valve also adjusted some of the character models and how fog interacts on some maps to help characters stand out at longer distances.
You can find the full CS:GO June 10 patch notes below.
CSGO June 10 patch notes
Gameplay
- Added the ‘Boost Player Contrast’ advanced video setting, which improves the legibility of players in low contrast situations.
Agents
- Adjusted some agent textures for improved visibility.
Maps
Cache
- Replaced ladder to sniper’s nest with a box
- Cleaned up several important angles
- Added 1v1 Arenas
- Replaced cargo containers with new model for improved performance
- Visibility improvements in T entrance to A Main
- Fixed unwanted/unintuitive wallbang in Mid Shed
- Subtle color tweaks
- Various clipping fixes
- Optimizations
Dust 2
- Flipped B site doors
- Simplified background when looking from B tunnels towards truck in mid
- Changed fog start distance from 1000 to 512, changed max density from .2 to .4
- Raised windows by A site ramp to make characters stand out more
Inferno
- Trimmed ivy by CT spawn towards A site arch
- Fixed CSM shadow from tower in mid
Mirage
- Removed trash pile at top of mid
- Trimmed plant by T spawn, towards apartments
- Boosted light in market window
- Fixed silent dropdown bug from B site balcony
- Changed angle of ladder in ladder-room
Overpass
- Removed large ivy-models near bathrooms by A site
- Removed thin windows in bathrooms by A site
- Removed bicycle by picnic by A long
- Brightened up connector tunnel
- Brightened up T spawn
- Added nice stone trims
Train
- Added new train bumper model with flat top
Rendering
- Minor texture streaming optimizations.
Miscellaneous
- Adjusted dropped C4 collision geometry.
- Fixed Danger Zone drone pilot camera getting stuck when drone received burn damage.
- Added Desert Eagle shell eject event for last bullet fired.
