3 ms·

> Flatter dynamic range (everything is bright now) This change seems arbitrary. In CS3, they could reverse this change and make the case that they improved the

> Flatter dynamic range (everything is bright now) This change seems arbitrary. In CS3, they could reverse this change and make the case that they improved the atmosphere, and people will agree with it.

squeaky-clean 4y ago
It seems very intentional to me, they mention "character read" as a goal for the relights on the website. IMO CS1.6 still has the best ability to quickly see an enemy than any of the other CS games (it's still way better than something like CoD). The flat lighting with less visual noise could really help bring this back.
- jwestbury 4y ago
  CS:S with cl_minmodels was the best for this, and I'll forever miss this feature. :(
LeifCarrotson 4y ago
Consider the comparison images: https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/apps/csgo/images/csgo_react/cs2/maps/overpass_lower_tunnel_s1.jpg https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/apps/csgo/images/csgo... https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/apps/csgo/images/csgo_react/cs2/maps/overpass_lower_tunnel_s2.jpg https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/apps/csgo/images/csgo... (The former is CS2, the latter CSGO). In my office, with the sun streaming in through the double windows, with relatively low-gamma, lower-contrast old IPS monitors that don't suck but aren't 4k professional OLEDs, yeah, I absolutely want everything to be bright. It kills the horror-movie feel, where your eyes are at the edge of their abilities, squinting and peering into the foggy shadows for barely-perceptible hints of motion, but if you want to actually see what you're doing you want flattened dynamic range. If you're not watching on an HDR monitor in a pitch-black home theater, you can't see anything in Batman (2022) or Game of Thrones, or any of the modern "realistic", "gritty," underexposed shows. It's definitely more artistically appealing in ideal conditions, but if you're not going to perfectly recreate the ideal viewing conditions (and crank up the gamma on your display to compensate a bit while you're at it), it's pointless. I have the same complaint regarding dynamic range with regards to sound mixes, too. I understand that the real battlefield sends soldiers home with tinnitus because explosions are head-splittingly loud. I don't want that realism when I'm in-game, flashbangs should not be mixed in Counter-strike such that their own monitors and headsets/speakers physically incapacitate the players if they turn the volume up to be able to hear the radio commands. When listening to a movie, I usually just accept that I have to turn on subtitles (even though my hearing is fine) and will have to read the dialog if I don't want to wake up my kids with the house shaking when there's an on-screen explosion.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  > When listening to a movie, I usually just accept that I have to turn on subtitles (even though my hearing is fine) and will have to read the dialog if I don't want to wake up my kids with the house shaking when there's an on-screen explosion. Some audio receivers feature some kind of "baby's asleep" mode that boosts the center channel & vocal-range frequencies while suppressing everything else. Folks who don't want the real Theatrical Experience (which I think is actually most home viewers) probably ought to just leave that mode on all the time. An alternative for systems without that feature is to just manually boost the center channel.
- vecter 4y ago
  I believe the former is CS:GO and the latter is CS2.
- the_af 4y ago
  > Consider the comparison images To be honest, I strongly prefer the CS:GO image. It looks more interesting, with better contrast and a spookier feel to it. It even has details where the CS2 image doesn't, like the grating on the floor on the left side. The CS:GO version reads more cinematic to me, while the CS2 seems cartoony/gamey even though they might have improved the geometry (I can't tell).
  - sph 4y ago
    Counter Strike isn't trying to create a cinematic or spooky atmosphere. It is a multiplayer FPS first and foremost, and being able to quickly identify players is the most important priority of level designers. A lot of tweaks over the years have been done in the name of readability. CS2 seems much better on this aspect than CS:GO.

squeaky-clean 4y ago

It seems very intentional to me, they mention "character read" as a goal for the relights on the website. IMO CS1.6 still has the best ability to quickly see an enemy than any of the other CS games (it's still way better than something like CoD). The flat lighting with less visual noise could really help bring this back.

jwestbury 4y ago
CS:S with cl_minmodels was the best for this, and I'll forever miss this feature. :(

LeifCarrotson 4y ago

Consider the comparison images: https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/apps/csgo/images/csgo_react/cs2/maps/overpass_lower_tunnel_s1.jpg https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/apps/csgo/images/csgo... https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/apps/csgo/images/csgo_react/cs2/maps/overpass_lower_tunnel_s2.jpg https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/apps/csgo/images/csgo... (The former is CS2, the latter CSGO). In my office, with the sun streaming in through the double windows, with relatively low-gamma, lower-contrast old IPS monitors that don't suck but aren't 4k professional OLEDs, yeah, I absolutely want everything to be bright. It kills the horror-movie feel, where your eyes are at the edge of their abilities, squinting and peering into the foggy shadows for barely-perceptible hints of motion, but if you want to actually see what you're doing you want flattened dynamic range. If you're not watching on an HDR monitor in a pitch-black home theater, you can't see anything in Batman (2022) or Game of Thrones, or any of the modern "realistic", "gritty," underexposed shows. It's definitely more artistically appealing in ideal conditions, but if you're not going to perfectly recreate the ideal viewing conditions (and crank up the gamma on your display to compensate a bit while you're at it), it's pointless. I have the same complaint regarding dynamic range with regards to sound mixes, too. I understand that the real battlefield sends soldiers home with tinnitus because explosions are head-splittingly loud. I don't want that realism when I'm in-game, flashbangs should not be mixed in Counter-strike such that their own monitors and headsets/speakers physically incapacitate the players if they turn the volume up to be able to hear the radio commands. When listening to a movie, I usually just accept that I have to turn on subtitles (even though my hearing is fine) and will have to read the dialog if I don't want to wake up my kids with the house shaking when there's an on-screen explosion.

yamtaddle 4y ago
> When listening to a movie, I usually just accept that I have to turn on subtitles (even though my hearing is fine) and will have to read the dialog if I don't want to wake up my kids with the house shaking when there's an on-screen explosion. Some audio receivers feature some kind of "baby's asleep" mode that boosts the center channel & vocal-range frequencies while suppressing everything else. Folks who don't want the real Theatrical Experience (which I think is actually most home viewers) probably ought to just leave that mode on all the time. An alternative for systems without that feature is to just manually boost the center channel.
vecter 4y ago
I believe the former is CS:GO and the latter is CS2.
the_af 4y ago
> Consider the comparison images To be honest, I strongly prefer the CS:GO image. It looks more interesting, with better contrast and a spookier feel to it. It even has details where the CS2 image doesn't, like the grating on the floor on the left side. The CS:GO version reads more cinematic to me, while the CS2 seems cartoony/gamey even though they might have improved the geometry (I can't tell).
- sph 4y ago
  Counter Strike isn't trying to create a cinematic or spooky atmosphere. It is a multiplayer FPS first and foremost, and being able to quickly identify players is the most important priority of level designers. A lot of tweaks over the years have been done in the name of readability. CS2 seems much better on this aspect than CS:GO.