Counter-Strike is the talk of the town at the moment as rumors of a new CS:GO version built in Source 2 have been swirling for a number of weeks, but we’re still yet to hear anything official from Valve. As the anticipation builds and speculation runs rife, one content creator turned to artificial intelligence to build a mock-up of what a future CS game might look like, and the results are absolutely stunning.
Now, it has to be said that the images you’ll see in 3kliksphillip’s video are far from how CS:GO 2 is likely to actually appear. As he admits, it’s probably closer to Unreal Engine 5 than Source 2 in terms of graphical fidelity, such as the photo-realistic nature of the image overhauls that the AI has produced. In any case, it makes for a fun thought experiment to consider what tactical shooters like Counter-Strike might look like in a decade or two of time, if not in the coming weeks as we still believe (read hope, pray) is the timeframe Valve will finally show its hand.
As you’ll hear 3kliksphillip explain, the AI image generator works by providing a base image and then feeding snippets of information to the algorithm, which it then incorporates into something new. Since said snippets don’t need to be coded or even complex in any way, it’s easy to understand how more or less anybody can program the AI to create plausible renders of basically anything. You’ll also get a look at how two images can be combined to create something completely new, creating a bunch of hybrid-looking CS maps. It’s fascinating stuff, and slightly frightening too!
We’ll have to wait and see how the human rendition of CS:GO 2 differs from its AI counterpart. Until then, Twinfinite has covered some other AI interpretations of various games, too, including an 80s B-grade horror movie rendition of Resident Evil games.
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