Smoke grenades and smoke work completely differently in Counter Strike 2 than in its so-to-say-predecessor Global Offensive. We talked to some developers about the smokes, and in this article, we'll explain exactly what's changed with smoke and what remains as good as ever.
What's going on? Counter Strike 2 is actually genuinely coming as a mega update for Counter Strike:GO, adapting and completely changing probably the most important tool - the smoke grenade. With the help of the Source Engine 2, the developers of Counter Strike 2 can now generate realistic and tactically versatile smoke. The innovations promise intangible things:
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More targeted and realistic use: Thanks to the new Source 2 engine, Counter Strike 2 can display smoke grenades more realistically. Aspects like smoke that adapts to its surroundings fall into the "cool and maybe useful" category. For example, if you throw a smoke grenade in front of the trash can at Bomb Site-A on Overpass, the smoke slowly pushes past the object and slowly surrounds it. In Global Offensive, the mountain of 2D smoke panels simply wafted through all objects.
Smoke takes on a more tactical role in close quarters. This is because smoke grenades in Counter Strike 2 always have the same volume of smoke. Outdoors, the familiar dome of smoke forms, but in enclosed spaces, tunnels, and hallways, the smoke has to escape in one direction. In developer ValvE's introduction video for the big CS update, they show how a smoke grenade fills an entire stairwell from top to bottom. Smoke in CS 2 can also smoke around corners if it can't escape in any other direction.
In Counter Strike 2, you can also use your smoke grenade to peek and surprise enemies. If you fire through the smoke wall, holes will appear. Through these holes, you can see what's going on behind the smoke wall. Here's an example of why this is handy:
Imagine, you are CT on Dust 2 and you need to hold the center and A-short with your AWP. But the T-opponents smoke the middle tightly. Until now, mid-players had to jump riskily and peak, or immediately go on the defensive. In CS 2, however, you can shoot a little through the smokescreen with the pistol and follow up with the AWP as soon as you spot someone.
Smoke walls can be shot transparent with bullets.
But it should be said that the holes in the smoke wall close by themselves after a few seconds. Optionally, you can use a grenade to blow away all the smoke. Yes, you can! If you throw a grenade into the smoke, its explosion blows away the entire volume, and you can see completely through it for a short time.
Attention: In the trailer, we see that smoke also recovers from blasts that blow away only part of the smoke. It is unclear if a wall of smoke will also recompose if it has been completely blown away.
No more one-way smokes? The fact that smoke now consists of 3D objects (more on that later) also eliminates the possibility of one-way smokes. One-Way Smokes are smoke grenades placed in such a way that they allow the caster to see through the smoke, while the enemy cannot.
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To create the appearance of a real wall of smoke, the volume of the smoke grenades is made up of blocks. These are not rendered as blocks, of course, but are calculated that way. A hobbyist developer friend of ours explains how the smoke grenades could work in Counter Strike 2:
The volume is made out of blocks, right? Smoke has a fixed number of blocks attached to it. The blocks were coded in such a way that they always try to stick together. However, they can only withstand this up to a certain force/value of "force" until they give way to the side or disintegrate. Also, the blocks have collision boxes (collision boxes) that don't interact with the player or items, but do interact with the collision boxes of static assets in the environment. So they are literally pushed into shape by the environment. I'm curious to see if moving objects interact with the smoke as well...
We've read over 200 YouTube comments and dozens of Twitter reactions: There is simply no such thing as a negative sentiment regarding CS:GO's update. The changes to the smoke grenades are not only liked, they are praised to the skies. Fans who, according to their own statements, haven't played Counter Strike in over 8 years are eager to return.
Others describe the new smoke grenades and smoke development of Counter Strike 2 as an absolute game changer. Everything would change and the entire CS e-sports scene would have to rethink. More moderate opinions are simply happy that their opponents can no longer spam with smoke. For example, user Goulou writes (via youtube.com):
These smokes will be game changing. No more one way smokes and constant spamming of smoke grenades.
In the latest Counter Strike 2 announcements, the developers give a release date of summer 2023. As a reminder Counter Strike 2 is not a standalone new game! If you don't want to miss anything else about Counter Strike 2, follow us on social media!
