The iconic de_Train, also known as just "Train," has returned to Counter-Strike after just over three years and six months since it was removed. The iconic map arrived in Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), boasting beautiful rain effects and more atmosphere than I could ever imagine. That's just over a week since Valve got fans excited with an image of just asphalt, teasing the return of Train.
Train is out now with the latest, rather major update to CS2. You can simply update your game via Steam (roughly 8GB), then jump into Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch modes to start playing!
There's also a tonne of cool Easter Eggs to discover, such as pigeon graffiti (since they are no longer on the map), the Station Timetable and QR, as well as a monitor showing off screenshots of the old de_Train.
Easter Egg: You can see old Train screenshots in the new Train ‼️ pic.twitter.com/MLMXxJxQbQ
— Ozzny (@Ozzny_CS2) November 13, 2024
Train is almost as old as Counter-Strike itself, being one of the original game's beta maps. However, the addition of Train isn't the only big thing in the latest CS2 update.
There's also a new map guide function, which allows CS2 players to create and display map guides featuring in-depth grenade line-ups. Valve also added a map guide for Train itself to demonstrate four Terrorist grenade line-ups so you can get an idea of how powerful this feature is.
The update also adds Basalt and Edin to Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch modes, and adds Palais and Whistle to Wingman mode. In turn, the latest CS2 update removes Thera, Mills, Assembly, and Memento from all game modes.
Furthermore, the update adds damage prediction settings, and makes a huge amount of changes to Overpass. Click on the "Counter-Strike 2 Major Train Update Patch Notes" text below to expand with a full list of patch notes.
[ DAMAGE PREDICTION ]
- Added damage prediction settings. Damage prediction allows clients to immediately play the audio/visual effects of inflicting damage without waiting for confirmation from the server. Damage prediction can make shooting feel significantly more responsive, but comes with the risk of occasionally being wrong (e.g. due to aim punch, tagging, or a death that your client isn't yet aware of).
- Predicted body shot effects (disabled by default), head shot effects (disabled by default), and kill ragdolls (enabled by default) can each be toggled separately.
- Damage prediction is not active when you have high ping.
[ ANIMATION ]
- Updated the third-person animation that plays when a player is blinded by a flashbang. The animation now accurately represents the player's visibility level, and the pose will only show the player's arm covering their eyes when they are completely blinded.
- Fixed a case where legs weren't animating correctly while taking damage.
[ GRAPHICS ]
- Added ambient occlusion for first person legs to better ground them in the environment.
- Performance optimizations for molotov and incendiary effects.
[ GRENADES ]
- Added axis labels to the grenade line-up reticle tick marks.
- The grenade preview camera now shows the result of a jump throw while the jump button is held.
[ MAP GUIDES ]
- Added a map guide for Train, which demonstrates four simple Terrorist grenade line-ups. To load a map guide, go to Play→Practice and toggle "Load Map Guides" on.
- Added concommands annotation_* which enable the creation, saving, and loading of map guide nodes and files, which are stored in /annotations/.
[ MISC ]
- New game settings for radar map blending and background opacity.
- Fixed a case where progress from a previously completed Armory Pass would show during activation of a new pass.
- Fixed a regression with Chinese input via the Microsoft Input Methods.
- CSTV now allows setting tv_delay and tv_delay1 to a value smaller than 6 seconds.
- Charm Template number is now available in Charm descriptions.
[ MAPS ]
Train
- Added Train to Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch modes.
Community Maps
- Added Basalt and Edin to Competitive, Casual, and Deathmatch modes.
- Added Palais and Whistle to Wingman mode.
- Removed Thera, Mills, Assembly, and Memento from all game modes.
Ancient
- Fixed some lighting errors.
- Fixed some collision gaps.
- Fixed some bad wall bang spots.
- Fixed a stuck spot.
Italy
- Fixed some bad boost spots.
Mirage
- Fixed a pixel peek.
Overpass
- Visual updates to canals area and B-site.
- Rework of heaven drop down mechanics.
- Performance improvements, particularly in canals area and B-site.
- Added a sign that blocks a bad line of sight from long boost to CT spawn.
- Removed small fence at the edge of party/picnic that interfered with visibility to train station.
- Removed some geometry under wrecked truck that looked like player legs.
- Replaced some windows with opaque surfaces in train station to remove bad lines of sight.
- Deleted a tree that interfered with a line of sight.
- Moved one of the crate lids on A-site to block a bad line of sight.
- Removed some lamps that could look like player heads at A-site.
- Removed some trees and objects around park and train station that prevented players from backing into certain useful spaces.
- Removed a chain link fence in alley that made players hard to see.
- Adjustments to fog and decreased the distance at which character models get an increased visibility effect.
- Made shelf in heaven look less like a player.
- Adjusted props and lights in heaven to reduce noise and make players brighter.
- Removed handcart behind barrels at B-site so players can back into the corner.
- Adjusted collision around barrels for better player movement.
- Added light behind barrels for better player visibility.
- Fixed weird collision on barrel that made for inconsistent wall bangs.
- Fixed bad graffiti rendering at B-site.
- Removed concrete block behind the cement bags at B-site for less awkward player movement.
- Set many smaller props to exclude player movement and grenade bounces.
- Fixed some pixel peeks.
- Small visual updates throughout the map.
Shoots
- Performance improvements in some areas.