Counter-Strike 2 News

[ GAMEPLAY ]

• Reloading has been refactored to encourage more careful consideration of the use of ammo. When you reload a magazine-fed weapon, all remaining ammo in the magazine is discarded and a new, full magazine is taken from the reserves.
  
• Reserve ammunition is now represented either as number of magazines, shells, or bullets, depending on the weapon.
  
• The fill-level of the current weapon is now displayed below the ammo count.
  
• Tuned reserve magazine counts per-weapon.

[ MAP GUIDES ]

• Limited map guides are now available in Competitive and Retakes (first 5 rounds of the half, 30 node max).
  
• sv_allow_annotations_access_level supports 3 values: 0 – disabled. 1 – limited view. 2 – full and editable.
  
• sv_annotation_limits_max_rounds_per_half (default 5) determines how many rounds into the half guides are allowed. -1 for unlimited.
  
• Minimal starter map guides have been added for all Active Duty maps.

[ WORKSHOP MAPS ]

• Friends playing a Practice or Workshop map can be joined through the friends menu if they have Open Party set.

[p]From reloading to custom games, today's update will give you plenty to think about.
[/p][h3]Reload[/h3][p]
When you reload in CS2, the leftover ammo in your magazine is dumped back into an essentially endless reserve supply. And so the decision to reload has never offered significant trade-offs—in a safe position with enough time, you might reload after firing a single bullet, or half a mag, or after firing down to empty, and the rest of the round would be unaffected.

We think the decision to reload should have higher stakes, so in today's update reloading has been redesigned. Now, when you reload, you'll drop the used magazine and discard all of its remaining ammo. Instead of 'topping off' your weapon with a few bullets, a new full magazine will be taken from the reserves whenever you reload.

How many reserve mags will each weapon have? Most have gotten a three clips fill-up, but some weapons will have less to reward efficiency and precision, or more to encourage spamming through walls and smokes. Keep an eye on your reserve supply!

[/p][h3]Map Guides in Competitive Matches[/h3][p]
We get it. You could learn some smokes offline, but who has the time?

To help you pick up some new tricks, map guides can now be used during the first five rounds of the half in your competitive matches. Competitive map guides are more limited than the ones you use offline, but should be enough to give you a few reminders.

You can activate a guide in the pause menu, and to get you started there are official map guides available for Active Duty maps. But if you're looking for something more specific, you can subscribe to guides on the Steam Community Workshop.

[/p][h3]Join Friends in Custom Games[/h3][p]
Over the past several months, the CS community has been hard at work building custom game modes using special scripting tools. Now, you can join your friends in the fun!

Whenever you're playing a custom game, whether on a community server or hosted locally, your friends will be able to join you directly from the Friends list (as long as the server allows it).

Want to set up your own custom game? Head over to your Workshop Maps tab in the Play menu, and make sure to turn on "Open Party." Now, when you start playing your workshop map you'll host a game on your machine, and your friends will be able to join.

So head to the Steam Community Workshop, subscribe to some maps, and try something new![/p]

[p]\[ X-Ray Scanner ][/p]

• [p]Players in Germany and Netherlands will have an X-Ray Scanner tab in their Inventory. For those players, containers can only be opened via X-ray Scanner. The X-Ray Scanner will come preloaded with a one-time exclusive non-tradable "Genuine P250 | X-ray", which must be claimed before using the X-Ray Scanner to reveal items in other containers.[/p]
• [p]Keyless Containers, like Souvenir Packages, can be opened without the X-Ray Scanner.[/p]

[p]\[ DEAD HAND COLLECTION ][/p]

• [p]The Dead Hand Collection is now available, featuring 17 finishes from community contributors, and including 22 all-new gloves as rare special items.[/p]
• [p]Access items in the Dead Hand Collection via the Dead Hand Terminal, available as a weekly drop.[/p]

[p][/p][p]\[ MAPS ][/p][p]Dust II[/p]

• [p]Fixed a pixel gap in a door Outside Long. [/p]

[p]Alpine[/p]

• [p]Updated to the latest version from the Community Workshop (Update Notes)[/p]

Today we're introducing the Dead Hand Collection, featuring 17 finishes from community contributors and 22 all-new gloves as rare special items.

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[h3]Mutually Assured Distraction[/h3]
The Dead Hand collection features 22 all-new gloves guaranteed to add style to your highlight reel.

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Dying to get your hands in these mitts? You can purchase Dead Hand Collection items from Dead Hand Terminals, which are available now as a possible weekly drop.