Let's cut to the chase: do I think that current Valve games, in particular Global Offensive,
will be ported to the new Source 2 engine?
Yes.
What this means for the game is a bit more uncertain.
Let's start by looking at what probably WON'T happen.
I doubt that Valve will release a new Counter Strike game specifically for Source 2, simply
because it wouldn't make sense to do it.
Global Offensive isn't showing any signs of dying.
In fact, over 2 years after its release, it's still growing at a healthy rate.
This is because Valve has continuously supported and nurtured the game.
Source and 1.6 pretty much ran along-side each other, with many players refusing to
jump to the newer game.
Global Offensive could have been a disaster, leading to an even more fragmented fanbase.
However, after initial concerns about it, the big-names have jumped to the new game,
as have the majority of casual players.
I feel the main reason is that Valve listened to the community and have changed the game
based on feedback.
It's hard to believe that the current version is the same game as the one in the beta!
I don't know what a new game could achieve that Global Offensive can't.
Why would Valve risk splitting the community between the massively successful Global Offensive
and a new one?
Any gameplay changes could easily be added to Global Offensive.
This has been proven time and time again with the addition of new weapons and adjustments
to existing ones.
Most series, like Call of Duty, release a new game to make money, but Global Offensive
is still very profitable for Valve thanks to regular content packs and weapon skins.
It seems common for players to spend more on in-game items than on the game itself.
Love them or loathe them, the skins are a genius idea.
Yes, they generate money, but they add value to the game in a way similar to how good items
do on an MMO.
People treasure their account.
It becomes more than just a game to them.
It's something they take pride in as they gradually pimp their account out with lots
of bling weapons.
In fact, I think that Valve would anger the community if they made a new game, as existing
items would need to either be ported over to the new one or scrapped, destroying Global
Offensive's existing economy.
The reason that skins are worth so much is because they're expected to be around for
a long time, almost like collectors' items.
I don't see Valve replacing CSGO for a long, long time.
And it's because of this that I feel Global Offensive will get ported to the Source 2
engine.
For free.
Source started off as a very efficient engine that ran on all kinds of hardware, but it's
become bloated in newer iterations.
It's time the old, 32-bit Source engine had a major rehaul.
This means that a jump to Source 2 won't just make Global Offensive look better- it should
also run a lot smoother.
Valve has recently been talking a lot about Vulkan, previously known as glnext, which
promises better performance by cutting out the performance-sapping overhead that plagues
existing setups.
I feel that performance increases will benefit the game the most, but I'm sure we'll see
improvements in the quality of the graphics as well.
A major concern with a new engine is how it could change the feel of Global Offensive.
It may result in subtle changes to how characters move, or how the physics work.
This is particularly important since Source currently uses the Havok physics engine, while
Source 2 apparently uses a new, custom-made one known as Rubikon.
If Global Offensive jumps to the new engine, we may have to relearn existing grenade-throws.
As far as I'm concerned, this would be a sideways step.
It would bring about new tactics but would get rid of old ones.
I feel that this would cause more hassle than it's worth, unless Valve decides to introduce
major new gameplay features... which I somehow doubt they'll do.
I suspect the Source 2 engine of supporting awesome destruction in some form or another.
Valve mentioned the importance of 'player acknowledgment' back when they made the original
Half Life.
Let's take a look at this here.
Yes.
Back then, Valve would have loved to have blown holes through walls but were constrained
by technology and gameflow.
With Source 2, perhaps gameflow will be the only limiting factor!
Imagine if you could shoot chunks out of walls, or send bricks scattering with a grenade blast.
It would be awesome, but I don't think would fit in with an existing game such as Global
Offensive.
It would change the gameplay to the point where it's almost a completely different game!
If we do see it I suspect it will probably be in some kind of free spin-off game, much
like how Half Life 2 Deathmatch was there to show off Source's physics engine.
I expect Global Offensive's gameplay to remain untouched.
In fact, I feel as though Valve are moving AWAY from physics in Counter Strike.
Global Offensive actually features fewer physics-based objects than Source!
Remember when you could hide a bomb by pushing a barrel over it, or could hide inside some
pallets?
Valve must have decided that things like this were clumsy or simply buggy and unfair since
the levels in CS GO are mostly static and things that do move often don't affect the
gameplay.
In its current state, Global Offensive is already one of THE best e-sports games.
The gameplay mechanics have had several years of refining and tuning thanks to feedback
from professional players and I don't see Source 2 being used to render all of this
obsolete by changing everything.
But remember, it's not just about the competitive scene.
Global Offensive is home to a number of spin-off modes, such as surf and jump maps.
The slightest changes to the gameplay mechanics could destroy these fragile sub-communities
and Valve are aware of this.
I suspect that they've been playtesting and tweaking the Source 2 engine for some time
to make ported games play as similarly to their existing versions as can be.
How about that- a new technology that's trying to closely imitate the old one.
That being said, nobody knows what the future holds for these gamemodes, and any new ones
that may spring up from a new engine.
In my opinion it would be a massive shame to kill off all of the original, unofficial
game-modes that came about through sheer chance even if they aren't key elements to the game's
success as a whole.
In conclusion, Global Offensive is here to stay and I doubt that Valve would risk fragmenting
the community by releasing a new game in the series or by doing anything that could alienate
its fanbase.
If it is ported then I feel it would be to improve the graphics and frame-rate of CS
GO, but doubt that the gameplay would intentionally be affected.
Yes, there will likely be unforeseen problems from porting existing games to a new engine,
but also benefits.
Recent updates to the game have been minor or superficial and it makes me wonder if Valve
are instead going to tackle the bigger problems by moving it to Source 2.
From Valve's point of view, it makes sense to move all of their current games to the
new technology.
What would be the point in updating both Source 2 and the original when they could port the
old games and then keep them all up to date at the same time?
Obviously it's important to get this jump to the new engine right.
To prevent damaging the competitive scene we'll likely see this change in a beta version
of the game so that those who simply want to play the game in its current state without
problems can.
Valve will have to take steps to ensure that this itself doesn't fragment the community,
perhaps by limiting the beta version to a certain game-mode to iron out the bugs.
I doubt we'll see competitive play in the Source 2 engine for a while.
Perhaps the netcode will be redone which may finally silence those who believe the game
has questionable hit-reg.
At this point it's impossible to know what Valve is planning but I'm sure they have the
community's best interests in mind and I can't wait for their master plan to slowly be revealed!
...but not too slowly.