Heat Maps
2012.04.17 - 
Recently we have discussed how we incorporate feedback into our design decisions. In addition to valuable feedback on the forums, another important form of feedback we receive is gameplay data. Our data collection is extensive. We track nearly every player action, from individual bullets fired to weapon purchases, and the resulting data can be used to help us evaluate game design decisions.
A straightforward way to visualize the data we collect is through heat maps. Heat maps can reveal player preferences, choke-points in maps, sight-lines for snipers, and much more.
Step 6,238 : Server Browser
2012.04.13 - 
Today’s update includes a server browser. This feature is a good example of how different features are dependent on each other. A server browser alone is not much of a feature. It needs 3rd party servers to be useful. So before we could include it, we needed to test third party servers. Once we resolved some issues with the initial rollout, we needed to expand the server beta to more providers. That is what we have done this week.
When you open up your server browser, you will see some 3rd party servers, but not that many. This is just another step. We need to test this feature and the servers with a wider group before we deploy more and more will be coming. This is also good news for another reason, as the server pool grows the player base can grow as well. Today we are sending out even more keys to potential players.
Another interesting change in today’s update is the addition of screen shake. A couple of months ago Whisenhunt posted this video. We watched it and like the forums thought it was a good idea. It just took a little time to work it in while we had to concentrate on other features that had dependencies. So today we are testing that original idea. Let us know what you think.
You can find the complete release notes here.
Arms Race+
2012.03.29 -
Release notes for 3/29
Maps:
• Added Arms Race maps – Shoots and Baggage
• Added Aztec to Classic maps
Gameplay:
• Arsenal Arms Race game mode is a single extended round with instant respawn. All players start with the same weapon and get a new one each time they kill an enemy. The progression of unlocked weapons ends with the knife. The first player to get a kill with every weapon wins the match.
• Added ‘Find A Game’ to the Play options menu screen. Find A Game allows you to join an online game of a specific type. This update offers Arsenal Arms Race and Classic Competitive game modes. The map cycle groups include:
Classic Maps
Arms Race Maps
• Added new weapons:
Scar 20 – CT only auto-sniper.
G3SG1 – Terrorist only auto-sniper.
Zeus x27 – Casual Mode only weapon available to both teams.
• Adjustments have been made to increase the base accuracy of all weapons.
• Jump and land penalties have been decreased, and the rate of stamina gain has been increased.
• Bot difficulty has been tuned.
• HE grenade damage has been adjusted per pro feedback.
Models
• Added two new player skins:
Phoenix Faction
GIGN
UI
• Death notice order reversed.
• Updated Italy mini map image.
Bug Fixes
• Fixed a bug in the keyboard + mouse options screen where changes were resetting.
• Fixed the consecutive loss bonus persisting through halftime. Solves the problem of teams receiving extra cash early in the second round of the match.
• Fixed end match scoreboard saying it was a tie in Arsenal Mode.
• Fixed a bug where penetrating shots were doing full damage after the penetration.
• Fixed a bug where the desired distance required to defuse the bomb wasn’t being used.
• Fix for the HUD alert panel coming up incorrectly.
• Fixed for bots not being able to defuse bomb.
• Fix for bug in Demolition mode where players would start the first round of the second half stuck in level geometry.
• Fix for radio message font appearing quite large at higher resolutions.
Movement
2012.03.23 -
Today’s update contains bug fixes, new weapons, new maps and a change to quick matching. You can find the complete notes here.
Last week we talked in general on how we handle community feedback. Today’s update is a good example of the end results. Today’s changelist is comprised of work we were doing, bug fixes, feedback from earlier weeks, and some recent feedback. While the community helped with feedback on a great deal of today’s changes, we are going to look at one piece in particular.
Movement.
Movement is a hard problem, there are many factors that come into play and both CS:1.6 and CS:S movement have very different feels.
The general feedback on CS:GO has been that the movement feels sluggish and constrained. In a private forum we run for pro-player feedback, pR. came in with some suggested values. We tried them and started a back and forth with him and J3Di. During this we nailed down what you have in today’s update. They were able to give details and suggestions on the general feedback.
Are these values final? Maybe? Maybe not? Maybe for now? We don’t know until more players try them and give us their feedback. This is how the process works and we appreciate all those players helping us get these right.
We are trying to get these values right for shipping our default servers. Anyone running their own servers will be able to adjust these numbers as they see fit for their communities. This will be the next stage in the beta where 3rd party server operators can start giving feedback on what they see working with different configurations and that will feedback will work its way back into the beta as well. We aren’t quite ready for that stage yet but we are working on it.
Parity
2012.03.22 -
Part of our process at Valve is to make predictions and then test them. So we try to eliminate as much irrelevant noise from the testing process as possible. For ballistics comparisons in CS:GO, we made firing range maps for all three versions: CS, CS:S, and CS:GO. We figure that the community might want to run their own and discuss their results. So we’re making them available here: CS, CSS, CSGO. Let us know how you’re testing.
Here are the results from a quick test to compare standing single AK47 shots at a distance of 3072. ( These screenshots were taken close to the targets after the test, not from the firing line. )
