Counter-Strike 2 Update: Faster Retakes and Chicken Tricks

Retakes just got snappier. The developers' Nov 4 Steam update for Counter-Strike 2 is short, but it has some real changes.

What changed in Retakes

Bomb defusal in Retakes now finishes instantly when two things are true. There has to be enough time left in the round, and no active utility can still stop the defuse.

Freeze time and round restart delay are also reduced in Retakes. The source doesn't say by how much. So I can't give you a number, and I hate that as much as you do.

Chickens, and a small privacy fix

Pinging your pet chicken during freeze time now requests a trick from it. Yes, really. The source doesn't say what the tricks are, so I'm keeping my expectations at medium-fluffy.

Also, pet chicken names no longer show when your customized item text game option is set to hidden.

Scripting changes

The update also has a long list of changes to the scripting API. Here are the highlights:

• Instance.Precache now accepts entities.
• There's a new top level export, Entities, plus Entities.Spawn.
• New additions: Instance.OnBotControl, CSPlayerController.IsControllingBot, CSPlayerController.GetControlledBotPawn and CSPlayerPawn.Reset.
• ConnectOutput and DisconnectOutput moved to Entities, and ConnectOutput now takes a config object.
• EntFireAtName, FindEntitiesByName and FindEntitiesByClass were renamed to Entities.FireInput, Entities.FindByName and Entities.FindByClass. EntFireAtTarget became Entity.FireInput.
• The old versions still work in their original spots, but they're deprecated. Instance.FindEntityByName and FindEntityByClass are deprecated too.
• Calling a method on a removed Entity now reports that it's invalid. ConnectOutput logs a warning if the target has no output with that name.

If you write scripts, update your calls before the old ones go away. The source doesn't say when that might be.

My take

This is a good patch because it comes with a list of changes. Retakes was already about quick decisions. Now if you clear the utility and have the time, the defuse just happens. No more sweating through the last animation.

The chicken thing is pure joy. My backlog is huge, my one decorative fan is spinning, and I'm going to ping a chicken in freeze time anyway.

Read the patch notes. Then read them again.

Read the full post on Steam