Counter-Strike modders made several Christmas themed maps that look better than the official ones. Find out why these maps are so cool.
Counter-Strike Christmas Themed Modders' Style
Counter-Strike modders made some very impressive Christmas themed maps. These are much better than the official ones since Valve did not release any. The developer though is releasing chickens wearing Christmas themed sweaters. CS modders BadtRIP released the holiday themed maps that include Cobblestone, Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Overpass and Train. CS players can now kill, maim and blast one another using the Christmas themed maps. BadTrip made a video showing their Winter Xmas maps. Maybe Valve will be inspired to release Christmas themed maps of its own when it sees BadtRIP's works. Meanwhile, these independent maps are certain to become popular for the coming holidays.
Valve Brought Something for Christmas
Aside from the Christmas chickens, Valve did managed to bring something new for the holidays. Counter-Strike players will now have the HRTF audio feature. The acronym stands for head-related transfer function. This feature basically an algorithm that has something to do with the 360 degree X and Y audio positions of certain headphones. Valve hopes the HRTF can help improved the player's ability to detect where a certain sound is coming from.
The official Counter-Strike blog also said that the game's audio default setting is "Headphones with HRTF". Players also have the option of turning it off or selecting a different audio setting. The Counter-Strike Modder's Christmas themed map are still way cooler though.
Valve Adjusts Public Lobbies
Counter-Strike Global Offensive players on Steam can broadcast themselves in the new "Public Lobbies". This is basically the old Steam Group Lobbies that has been renamed and tweaked a bit. A tab will informed CS players if there are any public lobbies that they can join to. You only need to adjust the Play with Friends Lobby permission setting.
