This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/globaloffensive by /u/Powerful_Seesaw_8927 on 2025-05-05 16:07:51+00:00.
““Disclamer””
This post is divided into two parts:
- Part 1 outlines the methodology and findings of the experiment.
- Part 2 presents an interpretation of these findings and what they reveal about the spray behavior in CS2.
Just want the answer?
If you’re only interested in what causes the bad spray feeling in CS2, feel free to skip directly to Part 2.
Abstract
Since the full release of Counter-Strike 2 (CS2), many players have reported a deterioration in core gameplay mechanics compared to Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO). This study investigates a critical component of the gameplay experience — recoil control — by analyzing frame-by-frame view angle behavior during a full spray. Using controlled experiments, this post presents quantitative comparisons between CS2 and CSGO to explain the perceived inconsistencies in CS2’s spraying mechanics.
Introduction
CSGO established itself as a benchmark in the FPS genre due to its precise and rewarding gameplay: fluid movement, accurate shooting mechanics, and a high skill ceiling in recoil control. In contrast, CS2 has been widely criticized for its imprecise movement and inconsistent spraying mechanics.
This post is divided into two parts:
- Part 1 outlines the methodology and findings of the experiment.
- Part 2 presents an interpretation of these findings and what they reveal about the spray behavior in CS2.
This study focuses specifically on view angle behavior (pitch and yaw changes) to isolate the mechanical differences between the two games.
Part 1:
Methodology
Tools Used
- OCR (Optical Character Recognition) script used to extract pitch, yaw, and roll values (roll excluded from analysis, no need for this).
- Steam’s in-built recorder to capture gameplay with cl_showpos 1
- Frame extraction software to convert video files into individual frames
- Games tested: CS2 and CSGO (128-tick servers)
Test Environment
CSGO(128-tick)
- Map: aim_bots
- Setup: noclip into a dark zone to improve OCR readability
- Console Commands:
- cl_drawhud 0
- cl_showpos 1
- setang 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
- host_timescale 0.1
- cl_draw_only_deathnotices 1
CS2
- Map: custom 1v1 map
- Setup: same noclip and dark area method
- Console Commands:
- cl_showpos 1
- setang 0.000000 0.000000 0.000000
- host_timescale 0.1
- cl_draw_only_deathnotices 1
This setup eliminates variables like player movement, spread randomness, and visual clutter — allowing us to isolate pure view angle behavior during a spray.
Spray Recording Protocol
- Weapon: AK-47
- Fire rate: 600 RPM
- Spray duration: ~3 seconds
- Macro tool: AutoHotkey
- host_timescale: 0.1
Since the game was running at 10% speed, spray duration scales like this:
3 seconds / 0.1 = 30 seconds real time
To ensure complete capture, the macro was set to run for 31 seconds.
Frame Timing
Frame duration at host_timescale 0.1:
ef = (1 / 60) * 0.1 = 0.001667 seconds per frame
At 128 tickrate, each tick = 1 / 128 = 0.0078125 seconds
Expected Repetition in csgo
Expected identical frame count per tick:
expected frames = 0.0078125/ 0.001667 ≈ 4.69
We expect to see about 4 to 5 repeated pitch/yaw values per tick in CSGO when recorded at 60 FPS with host_timescale 0.1.
Frame Equivalency Across FPS Rates
Frame_equivalent = ((1 / x) * ht) * fps_max
Where:
x = recording framerate (60 FPS)
ht = host_timescale (0.1)
fps_max = actual game FPS
Examples:
- At 64 FPS: ~0.11 in-game frames per recorded frame
- At 128 FPS: ~0.21
- At 256 FPS: ~0.43
- At 400 FPS: ~0.67
This helps normalize view angle delta measurements across different performance settings.
Testing and Observations
Tested at 64, 128, 256, and 400 FPS.
Key Observations (under noclip):
- The present stable jump value has no effect on the view angle(i tested this with r_drawblankworld aswell on the ground the results were the same but the accuracy was of 93 per cent, used the noclip method just because i get more accuracy with OCR for some reason…)
- Spray spread does not influence view angle, even tho i used nospread.
This confirms we are measuring true engine-driven view angles.
That said lets get down to the tables and graphs: First let me show the accuracy of OCR, that is important so everyone understand how valid are the results.
This high accuracy level means we can be confident in the validity of the extracted view angle data for analysis.
Note: The term mag stands for magnitude, which represents the total angular change between frames. It is calculated using the following formula:
Magnitude = √(Δpitch² + Δyaw²)
This value is useful for analyzing the overall intensity of view angle movement, regardless of direction.
As demonstrated in the OCR accuracy results, the capture accuracy ranged from 97.18% to 99.58% across both CS2 and CSGO — a margin that is more than acceptable for reliable analysis.
Next, we move on to the comparative graphs for pitch, yaw, and magnitude, across both games and at all four resolutions tested (64, 128, 256, and 400 FPS).
CS2 vs CSGO View Angle Magnitude
Each peak in the magnitude graph represents a sudden change in view angle — in other words, a bullet being fired. Since the AK-47 has a 30-round magazine, you’ll notice exactly 30 distinct peaks across the entire spray sequence.
At first glance, the graphs might suggest that the behavior across both versions — CS2 and CSGO — and across all tested resolutions is mostly similar. That’s a good observation… but let’s dig a bit deeper and uncover what’s actually going on.
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Next, we have a table showing the magnitude peaks for each shot, along with the difference (delta) between CS2 and CSGO. These values reflect how much the spray pattern diverges between the two games on a shot-by-shot basis.
I’m only showing the data for the 400 FPS resolution here, since including all four would make this post even more extensive — and as you can probably tell, it’s already getting pretty long.
Peak Magnitude Values and Delta
In the next section, I’ll show the streak summary, which measures how many consecutive frames reported the same pitch/yaw values — essentially tracking how stable the view angle is between updates.
This is especially useful for spotting inconsistencies or jitter between frames, and gives us another angle (no pun intended) on what might be causing that “off” feeling in CS2 recoil.
Again, I’m focusing on the 400 FPS resolution to keep things concise.
As you can see in the CS2 results, the streaks are all over the place, which is what we expected.
On the other hand, CSGO 128 Ticks behaves exactly as predicted. There are a lot of streaks with lengths of 4 to 5, which matches what the math told us earlier:
“expected frames = 0.0078125 / 0.001667 ≈ 4.69”
End of part 1.
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Part 2 – Why the Spray Feels “Off” in CS2
This part will be shorter, and we’ll be focusing only on the 400 FPS resolution — specifically the magnitude values for both versions.There’s no need to compare the other resolutions in detail, as their behavior is essentially the same.
The goal here is to show what I believe is the core reason the spray in CS2 feels so “bad” — that feeling of losing control or fighting the recoil instead of mastering it.
And the root cause? It’s in the view angle behavior.
Let’s start by looking at a zoomed-in section of the CSGO 128-tick graph at 400 FPS, chosen from a random part of the spray:
As expected, we see a sudden peak when the weapon fires, followed by a staircase-like drop in magnitude — this represents the recovery phase of the recoil. The drop is fairly linear and smooth, with consistent spacing between steps.
This matches what we calculated earlier: around 4–5 repeated values per tick, reflecting the 128 updates per second during the recovery. It’s stable, predictable, and controlled — exactly what you’d want in a skill-based recoil system.
Now let’s look at CS2, and finally uncover what might be the real reason b…
Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/GlobalOffensive/comments/1kfffvy/why_the_spray_feels_off_in_cs2/
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