I can’t keep up with the number of updates that CS:GO has been receiving lately. Only
a day after the d3d9ex update, they rolled out another with some map changes as well.
I dedicated a video to the d3d9ex bit of the first update. I can save you time by saying
that the only difference I found it made was to speed up alt-tabbing. Since then I’ve
tested it out a bit more and discovered that, with this setting enabled, alt+tabbing IS
instant for me… but only if I leave it a few seconds before doing it every time. Also,
I hope that Valve clears up what they mean by ‘CPU memory’ because right now it’s
spawned far too much speculation for my liking. Any way! I’ve already covered that bit of
the first update. Onto the rest of it now. Options have been added to mute and to censor
everybody else in the game… apart from players on your friends list. Turning all of these
options on effectively transforms your gameplay experience into something out of an Overwatch
session, everybody sporting fake names and generic blue profile pictures. And nobody
saying a word. This is obviously geared towards streamers,
but can benefit anybody who wants it. In the past, beyond the streamer’s control, they
may have been placed in games with people who had offensive thumbnails and names, potentially
getting the streamer in trouble simply for being in that match with them. It’s nice
to see these options added- I tried it out by jumping into a casual match. Previously,
this was truly a terrifying prospect. But the options worked as intended, silencing
everybody else and making the experience feel completely neutral- if eerily quiet. I think
it would be a bad idea to do this in competitive matches since communication with your teammates
is important. You’d look rather antisocial if you blocked communication with everybody
on your team. Still! The option to do this is now there if you want it.
Onto the second update. It appears I was right about Valve’s master-plan
for Vertigo! Until now, the map has been limited to wingman mode, and only bombsite B has been
playable. But that site has now been (Mostly) blocked up, with bombsite A intended as the
focus of wingman instead. Once both sites have been thoroughly balanced, the next step
will be to open the whole map up, returning Vertigo to the defuse gamemode’s mappool.
But what’s it like in its current state? Both teams still start in the same spawn areas
as before- and although the emphasis is on bombsite A, pretty much the whole map is opened
up. The only areas that aren’t are the main B site, this stair area, and the corridors
either side leading to it. AND EVEN THESE AREAS AREN’T PROPERLY CLOSED
OFF! Right now, wingman is totally broken since
terrorists can runboost off around this corner, which bypasses the blocks and enables them
to plant at bombsite B, which the CT’s have no easy access to unless they perform the
same runboost. It goes without saying that this is completely broken and will be fixed
ASAP. Let’s move onto what’s changed.
Now of course I’ll be comparing the current version with the previous one. But I’ll
also be showing the map from 2017, which was when we were last able to play on it competitively.
This shot shows just how much has changed. Here’s 2017, here’s earlier this year,
and here it is now. Although still recognisable as Vertigo, this half of the map is almost
entirely different! Which will make comparison shots interesting- but difficult to do! Let’s
forget about the latest version and compare the two earlier ones instead.
Gone are the NEON-POSTPROCESSING effects the map used to suffer from. It’s now a lot
easier on the eyes, becoming a more pleasant orange-blue colour scheme. The bombsite itself
has moved across, away from CT spawn and almost to the ramp the terrorists approach from.
And instead of being able to see right across the building, construction has progressed
and vision is obstructed by several, separate rooms. This will make the bombsite feel more
enclosed, making planting and defusing a less exposed affair.
The ramp has received the same treatment. You used to be exposed from the floor above,
but a large, wooden, easily bangable wall now partitions it. Terrorists attacking this
area will only have to worry about this direction, letting them clear corners one by one. But
this works both ways; CT’s used to have to guard the ramp AND this opening here, but
can defend all possible routes by standing here, and by looking in this direction.
And the CT’s have gained an extra route to the site, but the rotation time between
them is significant. They used to only have their spawn, but now have this outside route
AND an inner one, which connects with this room… which previously existed, but did
NOT have this opening. And lastly, the very corner of the building
had some metal flaps added, giving players in this position a hellololalot of cover from
both ramp and site! Now to move onto the latest version of the
map. And we see these flaps are gone again! Returning this bit to how it was in 2017.
How about that. But there’s some extra cover in front of this corner for players to hide
behind now. The ramp itself remains quite similar, but
with less cover and the hidden route up has become a bit more hidden from the bottom,
and has a plank at the top so a jump is not required.
Also, a number of textures have been given a high-resolution makeover, which you may
not have noticed were it not for comparison shots such as these.
I think it was a smart decision to block up any gaps between these crates, too. You know
what would have happened otherwise. The site itself has had its position and cover
moved a bit. You’re now more exposed from the CT entrances than you were before. Previously,
this corner here would have provided cover from both but now you have to choose!
Take a look at this super sneaky spot. You’re completely hidden from the site and I suspect
it will become a high-risk, high reward corner to play from.
The two CT entrances to the site play very differently from one another. In the latest
update, the rather empty room at the back of A has been given this bright orange tarpaulin
thing, which players can climb up onto for a great sniper view into the site, and through
to the ramp itself. A very powerful position, but if you’re rushed by an enemy you’ll
have nowhere to hide. Aside from this tight corner, you’ll be forced to retreat pretty
much all the way to CT spawn to find something to hide behind.
CT’s equipped with rifles may prefer the elevator room instead, which has gained a
bit of cover in the middle again… not unlike how it was in 2017! But now in HD. And from
this comparison I learned that the ceiling has been lowered. From this room, not only
do you have a choice of 2 routes into the site, but you can hide from both on this red
crate here, or have a powerful view over into side by standing up here. Just be aware that
you’ll be exposed from enemies pushing beyond the site itself.
And as a terrorist you may want to do this, not only to clear out elevator room but to
reach this powerful bit of cover that looks right into the back of A.
I really like what they’ve done with this site and look forward to seeing how it plays.
Last, this is a position I expected to be clipped off but it isn’t: you can climb
up the barrels on the site and jump over onto the top of this concrete wall here! Just don’t
be tempted to try and land on the swinging metal beams here. They aren’t solid.
I tried.
This is hardly the Vertigo that we knew before. That’s probably a good thing. Since 2017,
both teams’ spawn positions have moved and the changes to this half of the map are so
big, it may as well be renamed ‘Vertigo2’. They’ve also altered other areas for this
update. You can see just how much the bottom of ramp
has changed, and CT spawn has received large changes even since the start of the year.
Bombsite A has also had a bit of a graphical overhaul, receiving new metal upgrades to
the supports, having the site shifted over slightly, and these knee-high barriers around
the edges to stop people from falling off. Though in real life it would just trip them
and send them plummeting head-first, wouldn’t it. Valve are sick.
You can’t see as much of the site from the lower level any more, and the terrorist entrance
has received a corner to separate where they start from the site a bit. And they’ve done
away with this place at the back just here, which used to be a sneaky spot to snipe players
on the site from. It will be interesting to see how these changes affect how bombsite
B plays! Over the years you can see how terrorist spawn
has been tidied up. The latest update sees the table being moved to be next to the dumpster,
the entrance to B moved across a bit -as I’ve already mentioned- a railing has been taken
off one side of the stairs… and the lower staircase has been shortened. And a paint
can’s been added. Maybe it’s time to conclude this analysis.
Back in 2017, Vertigo was not a good competitive map. Perhaps it’s time we gave it another
chance. Onto other parts of this update now. The recent
major in Katowice had a show match, hosted on the Danger Zone Blacksite map. At the time
they knew there was everything to play for:
‘And again, a chance to be immortalised on Danger Zone; the winner will get graffitis!
Which is pretty awesome.’
‘Yeah it would be pretty awesome for the winners for sure.’
‘I wonder if they could choose what their graffiti is. That would be pretty cool almost
like a tattoo.’
‘And I assume it will be where they actually end up winning as well.’
…And sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. The graffiti appeared on the roof
where the final kill took place, sporting the names of the winning team’s players.
But why the wolf in the background, when their team’s emblem is an Eagle? The picture instead
seems to follow a theme that Blacksite has previously displayed elsewhere.
Biome has actually gone BACK in time a bit, with a few of its updates from January reverted.
For terrorists to push CT’s in mid, they used to have to climb up this red ladder to
gain access to sniper’s nest. This ladder has been removed, and the doors
to lower mid, opened back up again. And after all that, the connector from long
A to main hall is once again open. And last but not least is Abbey, which has
CHANGED! It’s gained some beautiful distant hills
and scenery, and the forests have been dug up and replanted in different places.
These flowers hold a sinister secret. My framerates plummeted whenever I was near them! The closer
I got, the lower it went. I shoved my face into them for a truly cinematic experience!
I then realised I was running the game at 8K with antialiasing. Under normal circumstances
and settings, they shouldn’t be a problem. But if you’re getting lower than normal
performance on this map at any point, look around and see if there are these flowers
close-by. Because it’s them. Any way. Many of the changes in this update
involve the B site. This is how all of the cover on the site has changed. Some bits have
been raised, other bits, lowered, others, changed entirely.
Gatehouse has had more glowsticks added to light it up and to make it look prettier!
Long B is another place where a lot has changed. The building has been squished, and everything
moved nearer to the site. This latticed roof has had a bit cut out of
it to allow for grenades. I think this crisscrossed pattern is a great idea- there are so many
details you can line your position and aim up to! Every map should have a spot like this.
…Though the patchnotes make it sound as though this change was done so that players
stood in underpass could smoke over into this spot!
The entrance to underpass has been moved back, and the ground, lowered. This gives you some
nice cover if you choose to guard the site from this spot.
The large blue tarpaulins separating A from the T side of the map are gone, which will
make it easier to throw grenades into the site. You could still have done this before
they were taken away- I don’t think the tarpaulins were intended to block throws,
but were instead there for optimisation. Oh and the fences around the purple flowers
here have been removed, which both makes movement easier, and might improve framerates a bit.
Library has had an overhaul, with a new window and layout and everything. Will be a bit easier
to navigate now that the table has gone.
Also, everything seems to be splattered in white paint. Kind of reminds me of the new
tomb raider game. This drop down into water has been made a
bit clearer, so players know where to drop down without breaking their legs.
I can’t claim to know all of the clipping bugs that were fixed, but I was aware of this
staircase being a problem. Dropped items would fall through the steps, disappearing forever!
This no longer happens- though they don’t make a sound when dropped onto whatever material
this is made from. I like the changes to the graphics. The red
building here is a nice touch. And I like the attention to detail here, where the spot
under the bench has been clipped up to stop items from getting lost there. This wall has
also been clipped so you can no longer lose weapons over it.
So those are the changes. And since I took so long to make this video, ANOTHER update
has also come out! But this one is boring. And still, Vertigo’s run-boost exploit hasn’t
been fixed. I’m sure it will come any day now. Especially now you all know about it.
And Canals has been posted to the CS:GO Workshop page. This happens when a map is about to
receive an update- or just before it’s removed from the game entirely. Which will it be?
I suspect we’ll find out sometime this week. Though if I had to guess I’d say that Valve
are busy with Vertigo, so will be swapping Canals for another map from the workshop.