Game Overview
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 4 is a futuristic military themed first-person shooter featuring MULTIPLAYER, BLACKOUT battle royale, and co-op ZOMBIES horde modes. Developed by TREYARCH, BLACK OPS 4 released in 2018 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
The ZOMBIES mode of CALL OF DUTY is a ROUND-BASED horde mode where you are chased by an endless horde of Zombies and attempting to survive as many rounds as possible by opening up the level to access more powerful weapons and perks as the rounds get progressively harder. A fundamental aspect of TREYARCH’s unique brand of ZOMBIES horde mode is the secret “Easter Egg” quests hidden in each level that give nothing more than vague and esoteric clues daring the ZOMBIES community to solve them. There is even an intricate and extremely challenging “Main Quest” culminating in a boss fight and story ending to beat each level.
Role Overview
As an Associate Designer at TREYARCH, I scripted objectives, enemy spawns, level features and gameplay systems in the ZOMBIES mode of BLACK OPS 4. I learned the development tools of TREYARCH while on the job and became self-sufficient as an individual contributor creating some high-profile content, filling some essential roles, and occasionally supporting other designers through technical expertise. BLACK OPS 4 was developed using TREYARCH’s T8 game engine, where my work was done in their proprietary version of the Radiant level editor and proprietary C-style scripting language called G.S.C. I worked on BLACK OPS 4 for 18 months from prototypes of unreleased content through the ship dates for the base game and OPERATION: ABSOLUTE ZERO & GRAND HEIST D.L.C.s.
I worked on 3 ZOMBIES levels: VOYAGE OF DESPAIR, DEAD OF THE NIGHT and ANCIENT EVIL. I also supported scripting infrastructure for the Fast Travel system shared throughout ZOMBIES mode. My responsibilities on each level and system are detailed below. . .
Level Spotlight
VOYAGE OF DESPAIR – The Titanic is sinking after hitting an iceberg while being overrun by Zombies.
This level takes place on the iconic ship with multiple layers between upper and lower decks, including the bridge, engine room, cargo hold, upper and lower-class living quarters, and a grand staircase connecting each deck. It features the hulking steam engine Stoker as a special Zombie type, a “Wonder Weapon” in the form of a cannon called the “Kraken”, a frozen shield upgrade called the “Svalinn Guard”, a shifting “Pack-A-Punch” Altar, and a whimsical skeleton driving a Model T through the sky and offering free power-ups. The “Main Quest” involves manipulating the Titanic itself based on alchemy and astrology to challenge the Eye of Odin from Norse mythology who sent the iceberg.
Walkthrough of VOYAGE OF DESPAIR
Fun Fact: VOYAGE OF DESPAIR accurately depicts the Titanic at scale based on blueprints of the actual ship.
Specific Responsibilities
My primarily responsibility was implementing steps for some of the more complex quests:
Main Quest, Step 3: Agents of Change – Use clocks as clues to set telegraphs to the correct position.
Guide for Main Quest – Agents of Change Step
I implemented this step of the Main Quest from scratch to a near-final stage. The 4 telegraphs in the Bridge are connected to 2 telegraphs in the Engine Room and 2 more in the Poop Deck such that turning the lever on one end moves the pointer at the other end. The correct lever-and-pointer positions for the Bridge telegraphs are associated with the hand positions of 4 clocks selected randomly out of 6 possible clocks throughout the ship. Then the times of those “clue clocks” are set at random, ensuring their hand positions correspond to a valid range of lever positions on their particular telegraph and the original time of 11:40 is prevented to avoid confusion with other clocks on the ship. Notably, I had to figure out which way the telegraph lever should turn based on which side you’re looking at; I found a solution using vector math by combining dot product and cross product.
Kraken Quest – Capture Zombie souls in treasure chests to obtain the Kraken Wonder Weapon.
I implemented the first step of this quest from scratch to a near-final stage. A sequence of 3 chests is randomly selected out of 5 possible locations and repeats are prevented to avoid having to defend the same area. I chose locations for each chest to be in tight spaces with a few lanes of entry in order to create an intense holdout situation. I considered the appropriate amount of souls required to satisfy each chest to provide a difficulty ramp relative to the number of Players.
Flying Car Quest – Use a safecracker to put bones in the correct safes and resurrect the driver of the car.
I implemented the first step of this quest from scratch to a near-final stage. The correct bone for each safe is based on a randomized number shown on the safecracker upon opening the safe and repeats are prevented to avoid confusion. I chose the location for each safe to be in living spaces where they wouldn’t be out of place, but you have to explore the ship for them. In contrast, I chose the location for each bone to stand out near where the safecracker is found so that you’ll notice them and begin connecting the dots.
Fun Fact: What do the numbers mean? The safecracker shows numbers for the year (1912), British date (1404), nautical time (2340), and geographic coordinates (4250) that the Titanic was sunk.
Fireworks Quest – Shoot Flares through pneumatic tubes and collect them for a fireworks show.
Guide for Fireworks Quest (ends at 4:30)
I implemented this entire quest from scratch to a near-final stage. 5 possible start points and 3 possible end points are randomly selected for 3 replenishable flares to travel through pneumatic tubes across the ship and repeats are prevented to avoid conflicts. Once a flare is obtained, placing it at a launcher and shooting it plays a singular flare effect. Shooting flares from all 4 launchers in the same round starts the fireworks show effect across the entire ship for the duration of the round.
The Fireworks Quest can be combined with the Flying Car Quest as steps of a larger quest to upgrade the Ballistic Shield to the Svalinn Guard elemental shield.
Each quest step was written in G.S.C. code. Any quest-related objects such as the telegraph levers and pointers, clock hands, treasure chests, flares, bones, safecracker and safes were edited in the map using Radiant.
I was also responsible for implementing functionality for level-specific gameplay features:
Water Draining – Use the pump to drain the water flooding the Engine Room and Cargo Hold.
I implemented this feature by translating and rotating a water brush once the pump is interacted with. This water brush causes both Players and Zombies inside the brush to behave as if underwater. The water brush was edited in the map using Radiant and its draining transformation was written in G.S.C. code.
Level Spotlight
DEAD OF THE NIGHT – The Gothic mansion of an eccentric adventurer is cursed and overrun by Zombies.
This level takes place in Alistair Rhodes’ family home with many rooms, a garden, a laboratory, a cemetery, and the surrounding woods. It features Nosferatu (vampires) and Werewolves as special Zombie types, multiple flaming doorway traps called “Fire Gates”, a lab experiment as an electrical trap, craftable Silver Bullets as an ammo upgrade, a “Wonder Weapon” in the form of a revolver called “Alistair’s Folly”, a wooden stake and a crossbow as additional Wonder Weapons, and a ghost named Catherine haunting the mansion and occasionally assisting you. The “Pack-A-Punch” Quest involves fulfilling visions from seer stones to unlock a gate to the Altar in the woods. The “Main Quest” involves guiding a beam of light through a giant telescope, summoning the spirits of knights, and raising a Pagan effigy to challenge the Shadow Werewolf.
Walkthrough of DEAD OF THE NIGHT
Fun Fact: DEAD OF THE NIGHT continues a ZOMBIES tradition of guest characters with voice acting and likeness by a celebrity cast: Kiefer Sutherland, Helena Bonham Carter, Brian Blessed and Charles Dance.
Specific Responsibilities
My primarily responsibility was maintaining integration of existing scripting for common ZOMBIES gameplay systems applied throughout the map as the level design was taking shape:
ROUND-BASED Zombie Spawns & Zones – Spawning Zombies each Round to give chase where Players are.
In ZOMBIES mode, each level is divided by “zones”, which are segments of navmesh in playable space. Zombies spawn outside playable space and make their entrance in a zone inhabited by Players or adjacent to an inhabited zone. Removing Door Buys and other gating barriers enables zones behind it for Zombie spawning.
I took over navmesh zones and Zombie spawns throughout the level from an early blockout stage and maintained them until the final shipped stage as level designers iterated on the layout and environment. Since the core functionality of ZOMBIES mode revolves around that, it was essential for me to stay on top of level design changes, upkeep zoning & spawning, and diagnose issues as they arose in order to keep the level in a stable and playable state during development and internal playtesting. I also implemented custom rules for appropriately spawning and despawning the special Zombie types of the level: Nosferatu and Werewolves. Nodes and boundaries defining each zone and spawn points for each Zombie type were edited in the map using Radiant. Rules determining zone adjacency, barrier dependencies, and spawning/despawning special Zombie types were written in G.S.C. code.
Buyables – Spend points from killing Zombies on opening up the level, weapons, perks, and more.
I took over all buyables from an early blockout stage and maintained them until the final shipped stage. Specifically: Door Buys, Wall Buys, Mystery Boxes, Fast Travel, Perk Altars and the Pack-A-Punch Altar. All buyables were edited in the level using Radiant.
I also maintained part locations for craftables and traps:
Ballistic Shield – Find parts to craft a shield-and-pistol combo for both defense and offense.
Guide for crafting the Ballistic Shield
Silver Bullets – Find parts to craft an ammo upgrade that is especially effective against Werewolves.
Guide for crafting the Silver Bullets
Fire Gates – Find Energy Cores to power traps for burning Zombies.
Guide for finding Fire Gate Energy Cores
I took over possible locations for Ballistic Shield, Silver Bullet and Fire Gate parts from an early blockout stage and maintained them until the final shipped stage. All part locations were edited in the level using Radiant.
Level Spotlight
ANCIENT EVIL – The lost city of Delphi and its captive Oracle have been found to be overrun by Zombies.
This level takes place across a “Light Side”, an ancient Greek city below the Temple of Apollo and Theater of Delphi, and a “Dark Side”, a cavern warped by the underworld. It features Spartoi (skeleton warriors) and Gegenees (six-armed giants) as special Zombie types, traps involving boiling bathwater and a shower of snake venom, a craftable Hoplite shield and spear called “Apollo’s Will”, a craftable summoning equipment called the “Pegasus Strike”, four “Wonder Weapons” in the form of gauntlets from Greek deities, trials given by the Oracle of Delphi, and Pegasus as your ally. The “Pack-A-Punch” Quest involves flying Pegasus to the Dark Side and freeing giant eagles from cages to construct the Altar. The “Main Quest” involves performing acts based on Greek mythology to challenge a corrupted Pegasus and the fallen hero, Perseus.
Fun Fact: Upon completing the Main Quest, ANCIENT EVIL ends on a cliffhanger with the Oracle of Delphi’s alter ego revealed to be Medusa, the true villain of the story [spoilers redacted].
Specific Responsibilities
My primarily responsibility was maintaining integration of existing scripting for common ZOMBIES gameplay systems applied throughout the map as the level design was taking shape:
ROUND-BASED Zombie Spawns & Zones – Spawning Zombies each Round to give chase where Players are.
Similar to my responsibilities for DEAD OF THE NIGHT, I took over navmesh zones and Zombie spawn points throughout ANCIENT EVIL from an early blockout stage and maintained them until the final shipped stage as level designers iterated on the layout and environment. I also implemented custom rules for appropriately spawning and despawning the special Zombie types of the level: Spartoi and Gegenees.
Buyables – Spend points from killing Zombies on opening up the level, weapons, perks, and more.
Also similar to DEAD OF THE NIGHT, I took over all buyables in ANCIENT EVIL from an early blockout stage and maintained them until the final shipped stage. All buyables were edited in the level using Radiant.
I also maintained part locations for craftables:
Apollo’s Will – Find parts to craft a shield-and-spear combo for both defense and offense.
Guide for crafting Apollo’s Will
Pegasus Strike – Find parts to craft an equipment to summon Pegasus for A.O.E. damage.
Guide for crafting the Pegasus Strike
I took over possible locations for Apollo’s Will and Pegasus Strike parts from an early blockout stage and maintained them until the final shipped stage. All part locations were edited in the level using Radiant.
System Spotlight
Fast Travel – Quickly travel to a different part of the level to (briefly) escape from the Zombie horde.
Guide for Fast Travel in VOYAGE OF DESPAIR
Specific Responsibilities
I also had a secondary responsibility for integrating final assets and technical support for the global Fast Travel system used across all levels in ZOMBIES mode. I took over the Fast Travel system from an early blockout stage and supported it until the final shipped stage. I had to write client-side code for visual effects as seen by either the Player using Fast Travel and other Players observing Fast Travel being used. I had to investigate and fix a number of complicated bugs, including how to avoid situations where one player uses Fast Travel while another is in their way at the destination.
Related Links
See my other work on CALL OF DUTY:
– BLACK OPS COLD WAR (a.k.a. BLACK OPS 5)
– VANGUARD