Game Overview
CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS COLD WAR (a.k.a. BLACK OPS 5) is a historical military themed first-person shooter featuring MULTIPLAYER, single-player CAMPAIGN, and co-op ZOMBIES horde modes. MULTIPLAYER and ZOMBIES modes were developed by TREYARCH. BLACK OPS COLD WAR released in 2020 for Xbox One & Series X/S, PlayStation 4 & PS5, and PC.
Role Overview
As an Intermediate Designer at TREYARCH, I scripted objectives, enemy spawns and level features in the ZOMBIES mode of BLACK OPS COLD WAR. Given my experience with the development tools and production pipelines of CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS, I was self-sufficient as an individual contributor creating content in a wide range of essential roles. BLACK OPS COLD WAR was developed using TREYARCH’s T9 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 COLD WAR for 8 months after release and through the ship dates for SEASON 3-6 D.L.C.s.
The ZOMBIES mode of BLACK OPS COLD WAR has both traditional “ROUND-BASED” levels and objective-based OUTBREAK levels. Similar to ZOMBIES mode in prior games, in ROUND-BASED ZOMBIES for BLACK OPS COLD WAR, 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. In the debuting ZOMBIES OUTBREAK, you attempt to complete open-world objectives and events while exploring large-scale environments populated by Zombies in every direction.
I worked on the final ROUND-BASED level: FORSAKEN. I also worked on half of the OUTBREAK levels: DUGA, ZOO, COLLATERAL and ARMADA. My responsibilities on each level are detailed below. . .
Level Spotlight
FORSAKEN – A Russian military training site housing a faux American town overrun by Zombies.
This level takes place between a mock “Anytown” for invasion drills with an observation tower overlooking it and an underground bunker for experimental research. It features accelerated rounds in the starting room, teleporters and ziplines for traversal, the grotesque “Abomination” as a special Zombie type, a “Wonder Weapon” in in the form of an energy weapon called the “Chrysalax” that can transform into a battle axe, and assistance from Samantha Maxis, an agent with supernatural powers. The “Pack-A-Punch” Quest involves using a sequence of teleporters to progress through each section to the observation tower where the Machine is located. The Main Quest involves crafting the Aetherium Neutralizer and using it to reach the town square and challenge The Forsaken, an abandoned soldier corrupted by Dark Aether.
Fun Fact: FORSAKEN takes place in a modified CAMPAIGN level REDLIGHT, GREENLIGHT, which was also used as a basis for the MULTIPLAYER level AMERIKA.
Specific Responsibilities
My primary responsibility was implementing the entire first quest experienced in FORSAKEN:
Pack-A-Punch Quest – Infiltrate a top-secret lab and destroy the Abomination to supercharge your weapon.
I implemented every step of this quest from scratch to the final shipped stage. The steps can be summarized as follows:
- Charge up the teleporter in Staging Area and survive, teleport to next area.
- Progress through Main Street and teleport to next area.
- Find parts to repair the broken teleporter in Anytown and teleport to next area.
- Defeat the Abomination in The Amplifier and teleport to next area.
- Lift the lockdown from Observation Tower to access the Pack-A-Punch Device.
Notably, I had to override certain gameplay systems with custom functionality due to the unique requirements of this quest. Firstly, for as long as Players are in Staging Area at the beginning of the quest, the default rounds system is overridden with “accelerated rounds” that increment automatically rather than requiring all Zombies to be killed like normal. That change starts off the level with a bang by pressuring you to get out of there while also allowing for a fun “Starting Room Challenge”.
Walkthrough of FORSAKEN Starting Room (ends at 11:46)
Secondly, since progressing through the quest relies on using teleporters to jump around the level and Players can be in different areas at once, the objective system was overridden with client-side functionality so that waypoints for each step are unique to each Player and based on where you currently are. If you’re in a different area from the objective (i.e. if you backtracked or a Player progressed without you), instead pointing to the objective, the waypoint instead points you to the teleporter with the fewest teleportations to the objective and updates each time you teleport. That allows each Player to have their own objective waypoint to point them in the right direction no matter where they are in the level.
Each step of the quest, overridden rounds and objectives functionality were all written in G.S.C. code. Any quest-related objects such as teleporters, teleporter parts and the Abomination spawn were edited in the map using Radiant.
I also had a secondary responsibility for the initial setup to integrate existing scripting for common ZOMBIES gameplay systems into the map:
ROUND-BASED Zombie Spawns & Zones – Spawning Zombies near Players to give chase each round.
In ROUND-BASED ZOMBIES, 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.
After level designers blocked out the initial layout for FORSAKEN, I set up the early blockout stage of navmesh zones and Zombie spawns throughout the level. Since the core functionality of ROUND-BASED ZOMBIES revolves around that, even after handing off those responsibilities I still assisted in diagnosing issues that arose in order to keep the level in a stable and playable state during development and internal playtesting because I was the most knowledgeable about that particular setup. 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 set up the early blockout stage of buyables throughout the level. Specifically: Door Buys, Wall Buys, Mystery Boxes, Perk Machines, Crafting Tables, Arsenal Machines, the Trial Computer and the Pack-A-Punch Machine. I set the cost of Door Buys based on a standardized progression formula. I iterated on the location of specific Wall Buys and Perk Machines based on direction from the feature owner of FORSAKEN. All buyables were edited in the map using Radiant.
Mode Spotlight
ZOMBIES OUTBREAK – An objective-based ZOMBIES sub-mode taking place across large-scale, open-world levels.
In OUTBREAK, you infil into a level, complete randomized objectives and events for loot, then exfil to the next level and repeat the process. Unlike ROUND-BASED levels – where Zombies are constantly spawning nearby and chasing you – in OUTBREAK, the Zombies aren’t always chasing you but rather populate large environments for Players to explore. OUTBREAK levels are a mix of wide-open spaces (mostly outdoors) and tight spaces (mostly indoors). Wide-open spaces have “hotzones” of wandering Zombies which spawn even more Zombies once alerted. Tight spaces have “ambushes”, where Zombies are triggered to spawn near unsuspecting Players.
Specific Responsibilities
My primary responsibility was setting up Zombie spawns across multiple levels. In OUTBREAK, spawns took the following forms:
OUTBREAK Hotzone Spawns – Spawning Zombies in wide-open spaces.
I chose the possible compositions of Zombie types for each hotzone to have variety and fit the environment. The functionality of hotzones had existing scripting as a common gameplay system and just had to be integrated into levels. Hotzone nodes and Zombie spawn points were edited in the map using Radiant.
OUTBREAK Ambush Spawns – Spawning Zombies in tight spaces.
I looked for fun spots to ambush Players and catch them off-guard. Sometimes that involved spawning Zombies surrounding a Player. Other times that involved spawning Zombies in a nearby room or building as a Player approaches. Ambush triggers and Zombie spawn points were edited in the map using Radiant.
As level designers iterated on the environment of each level, I maintained each and every Zombie spawn point across multiple levels. With dozens of hotzones and ambushes throughout each level, and hundreds of spawn points between them, I had to stay on top of level design changes in order to keep the level in a playable state during development and internal playtesting.
I took over those responsibilities from an early stage to their final stage for the OUTBREAK levels: DUGA, ZOO, COLLATERAL and ARMADA. I also took over post-release bug fixing for the Zombie spawns of all of the previous OUTBREAK levels: RUKA, ALPINE, GOLOVA and SANATORIUM (not shown).
Level Spotlight
DUGA – A Russian military base guarding an enormous radar array and crawling with Zombies.
A unique aspect of DUGA is the radar array overseeing a variety of areas across the base. I used chokepoints around and between the radar array for outdoor ambushes and even have some high up on the radar structure itself.
Level Spotlight
ZOO – A Russian animal exhibit park crawling with Zombies.
A unique aspect of ZOO is the animal exhibits typical of any zoo. I used each exhibit for small hotzones with specifically-selected Zombie types. For instance, the wolf exhibit always has Hound Zombies, while the polar bear exhibit always has Heavy Zombies. This was a way to ensure the Zombie types spawning in each exhibit play well in that space while also putting a fun spin on the zoo theme.
Level Spotlight
COLLATERAL – An African oil drilling site crawling with Zombies.
A unique aspect of COLLATERAL is the large warehouses, silos and fenced lots. I used these interior and semi-enclosed spaces for indoor hotzones.
Level Spotlight
ARMADA – The wreckage from a naval battle on the Black Sea crawling with Zombies.
A unique aspect of ARMADA is the large ships separated by a body of water. I used the upper decks of the ships for hotzones and the lower decks and bridge for ambushes.
Related Links
See my other work on CALL OF DUTY:
– BLACK OPS 4
– VANGUARD