Source 2 is a 3D video game engine developed by Valve as a successor to the original Source engine. This engine was officially completed in 2015 and since then has replaced the classic 2004 Source engine in all the later games developed by Valve.
Valve for the first time in 2015 used this game engine on a pre-existing title, Dota 2, which was later named Dota Reborn after the Source 2 update. With the update, Dota Reborn had a variety of features along with a new interface. Valve has since started using the Source 2 engine on its games like Artifact, Dota Underlords, Half-Life: Alyx, and Counter-Strike 2.
Valve has decided and announced that the Source 2 engine will be released to the public for free, and would be chargeable only if used for commercial products. The main inspiration for Valve to develop Source 2 was to allow content to be created more efficiently.
Further, Valve has officially announced the launch of Counter-Strike 2 in 2023. It is a highly anticipated update to its flagship Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
Release Notes for today are up, focusing on the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test: https://t.co/VliRBy69ED
— CS2 (@CounterStrike) September 5, 2023
A closed beta for Counter-Strike 2 started in March for selected CS:GO players, with the full game arriving this year. Counter-Strike 2 will be developed on Valve’s new Source engine 2 which will include several updates and features in the game. Some of the upgrades will include server architecture and tick rate, changes in the game maps, along with the functioning of grenades in the game.
Features of Source 2
The Next-Generation Source 2 makes a pivotal departure from Valve’s classic Source Engine 2004. The new engine comes with 64-bit support along with Vulkan. This makes Source 2 capable of rendering highly complex and well-detailed scenes with minimal framerate drops. This will also allow better multi-core and more efficient 3D rendering.
Valve’s new game engine Source 2 which debuted in 2015, comes with the following major upgrades and features-
- The Source 2 engine will support- 64-bit, DX9, and DX11, Vulkan, Virtual Reality, remote control, Steam Audio, forward and deferred rendering pipelines, and WebM video.
- Feature additions- will have faster/improved 3D Preview, will have an internal Screenshot function, enhanced support of dynamic lights, improved map features (map will not be limited to grid size, will not be closed to work, maps will load faster),
- Software upgrades- Integrated asset management, rebuilt Hammer level editor which will feature modern polygon mesh editing tools, decreased latency and more responsive unit, improvement in audio and voice processing, and enhanced Panorama GUI (designed to be more user friendly).