» Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

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.

Role Overview

As an Associate Designer at TREYARCH, I scripted objectives, enemy spawns and environment interactions in the ZOMBIES mode of BLACK OPS 4. While on the job for BLACK OPS 4, I learned the development tools of TREYARCH’s T8 game engine, including their proprietary version of the Radiant level editor and GSC, their proprietary C-based scripting language. 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 DLCs.

Specific Responsibilities

The ZOMBIES mode of CALL OF DUTY is a ROUND-BASED horde mode where you attempt to survive as many Rounds as possible while being chased by an endless horde of Zombies by opening up the level to access more powerful weapons and perks as the Rounds get progressively harder. An iconic 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 to follow and entice the ZOMBIES community to solve them. There is even an intricate and excessively challenging “Main Quest” culminating in a boss fight and story ending to beat each level.

I worked on 3 ZOMBIES levels: VOYAGE OF DESPAIR, DEAD OF THE NIGHT and ANCIENT EVIL. I also supported scripting for a common gameplay system: Fast Travel. My responsibilities on each level or system are detailed below. . .

VOYAGE OF DESPAIR – The Titanic sinks after hitting an iceberg as the ship is being overrun by Zombies.

Official Trailer
Gameplay Walkthrough by MrDalekJD

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.

Quick Guide by DameAndThatGame

I implemented this step of the Main Quest from scratch to a near-final stage. I used vector math (dot product and cross product) to determine which way the telegraph lever should turn based on which side you’re looking. I connected the 4 telegraphs in the Bridge with 2 telegraphs in the Engine Room and 2 in the Poop Deck. I associated the correct lever positions of each of the 4 Bridge telegraphs to the hand positions of 4 clocks randomly selected out of 6 possible clocks, then set the times of these “clue” clocks at random. The hand positions of the “clue” clocks always correspond to a valid lever position on its associated telegraph and are never set at 11:40 (when the Titanic began sinking) to differentiate them from other clocks throughout the ship.

Kraken Quest – Capture Zombie souls in the Stoker’s chests to obtain the Kraken Wonder Weapon.

Quick Guide by MrRoflWaffles

I implemented the first step of this quest from scratch to a near-final stage, which involves using the Stoker’s key to open the Stoker’s chest and killing enough Zombies near each one. I chose 5 possible locations for each Stoker’s chest to be in tight spaces with a few lanes of entry to create an intense standoff situation. I randomly select 3 Stoker’s chests among those locations and prevented repeats. I iterated on the amount of souls required to satisfy each Stoker’s chest to provide the appropriate difficulty ramp relative to the number of Players.

Flying Car Quest: Place bones in the correct safes to resurrect the deceased driver of the flying car.

Quick Guide by MrDalekJD

I implemented the first step of this quest from scratch to a near-final stage, which involves placing bones in safes based on the number shown by the safecracking device. I associated the correct bone for each safe based on a randomized number shown once the safecracking device has opened a safe. I chose the location for each safe to be in living spaces spread throughout the ship where they wouldn’t be out of place, but Players would have to explore for them. Conversely, I chose the location for each bone to be consolidated .

As a side note, if you’re wondering what the numbers mean, the safecracking device shows the time, date, year, and geographic coordinates that the Titanic was sunk.

Fireworks Quest – Shoot Flares through pneumatic tubes and collect them for a fireworks show.

Quick Guide by DameAndThatGame

I scripted this quest from scratch to a near-final stage. I randomized the 5 possible start locations and 3 possible end locations for 3 flares to travel through pneumatic tubes and prevented repeated end points. Placing the flare at a flare launcher and shooting it causes the flare visual effect to go off. Launching all 3 flares starts the ship-wide fireworks show visual effect.

I scripted each quest step in GSC code. I used Radiant editor to place any quest-related objects such as the telegraph levers, clock hands, Stoker’s chests, bones, safes, and flares.

I was also responsible for implementing and integrating final assets for level-specific gameplay features:

Sentinel Artifact – Activate it to remove barriers, reveal Pack-A-Punch, and begin the Main Quest.

Quick Guide by MrRoflWaffles

I integrated final assets for the activation of the Sentinel Artifact, which spawns 4 bases for the Pack-A-Punch Altar damaging sections of the ship in the process. I guided the visual effects along splines and timed the damage to the ship as they are passing by. I scripted asset integration in GSC code and used Radiant editor to shape the splines.

Water Draining – Use the pump to drain the water flooding the Engine Room and Cargo Hold.

Quick Guide by Carefree Llama Gaming

I scripted 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. I used Radiant editor to shape the water brushes and scripted its transformation in GSC code.

DEAD OF THE NIGHT – A eccentric adventurer’s mansion haunted by its past and overrun by Zombies.

Official Trailer
Gameplay Walkthrough by MrRoflWaffles

As a side note, DEAD OF THE NIGHT features a celebrity cast with voice acting and character likeness from Kiefer Sutherland, Helena Bonham Carter, Brian Blessed and Charles Dance.

I was primarily responsible for maintaining gameplay systems as the level design was taking shape.

ROUND-BASED Zombie Spawns & Zones – Spawning Zombies each Round to give chase where Players are.

In CALL OF DUTY’s ZOMBIES mode, each level is divided by “zones”, which are segments of navmesh in playable space. Each round, waves of Zombies spawn outside playable space and enter into playable space in a zone either inhabited by Players or adjacent to an inhabited zone. Removing Door Buys and other gating barriers not only allows Players access to newly playable space but also enables zones behind it for Zombie spawning.

As level designers iterated on the layout and environment, I maintained nodes and boundaries defining each zone in DEAD OF THE NIGHT, as well as each and every Zombie spawn point. With over a hundred spawn points throughout the level and the core functionality of ZOMBIES mode revolving around Zombie spawns & zones, it was high priority for me to stay on top of level design changes 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 coded the rules determining zone adjacency and status based on gating barriers. I coded custom spawning, despawning and respawning rules for the special Zombie types: Nosferatu and Werewolves. Lastly, I scripted all character voiceover for entering a zone for the first time.

Buyables – Spend points from killing Zombies on opening up the level, weapons, perks, and more.

I took over early blockout and maintained common ZOMBIES mode gameplay systems until final stage. Specifically: Door Buys, Wall Buys, Mystery Boxes, Fast Travel, Perk Altars, and the Pack-A-Punch Altar.

I was also responsible for maintaining part locations for crafting quests and traps:

Ballistic Shield Quest – Find parts to craft the Ballistic Shield for protection.

Quick Guide by MrDalekJD

I took over the early blockout of this quest and maintained it until the final stage. That involved iterating on the placement of Ballistic Shield parts as the level design was taking shape.

Silver Bullets Quest – Find parts to craft Silver Bullets for additional firepower.

Quick Guide by MrDalekJD

I took over the early blockout of this quest and maintained it until the final stage. That involved iterating on the placement of Silver Bullet parts as the level design was taking shape.

Fire Gates – Find Energy Cores to enable traps for burning Zombies.

Quick Guide by Fast Guides Glitch

I took over the early blockout of this trap and maintained it until the final stage. That involved iterating on the placement of Energy Cores as the level design was taking shape.

I was also responsible for integrating final assets for level-specific gameplay features:

Sentinel Artifact – Activate it to remove barriers, reveal Pack-A-Punch, and begin the Main Quest.

Quick Guide by MrRoflWaffles

I integrated final assets for the activation of the Sentinel Artifact, which spawns the Pack-A-Punch and damages the ceiling of the mansion in the process. I used splines to guide the visual effects and timed the damage to the mansion as they are passing by.

Traps – Use them strategically to kill Zombies by the dozen.

I integrated final assets for each of the Fire Gates and the Electric Trap in the Laboratory.

ANCIENT EVIL – The lost city of Delphi and its captive Oracle have been found to be overrun by Zombies.

Official Trailer
Gameplay Walkthrough by MrDalekJD

I was primarily responsible for maintaining gameplay systems as the level design was taking shape and integrating final assets for them.

ROUND-BASED Zombie Spawns & Zones – Spawning Zombies each Round to give chase where Players are.

Similar to my responsibilities for DEAD OF THE NIGHT, as level designers iterated on the layout and environment, I maintained nodes and boundaries defining each zone in ANCIENT EVIL.

I also coded the rules determining zone adjacency and status based on gating barriers. I coded custom spawning, despawning and respawning rules for the special Zombie types: Gegenees and Spartoi. Lastly, I scripted all character voiceover for entering a zone for the first time.

Buyables – Spend points from killing Zombies on opening up the level, weapons, perks, and more.

I was also responsible for maintaining part locations for crafting quests:

Apollo’s Will Quest – Find parts to craft the Apollo’s Will shield for protection.

Quick Guide by MrRoflWaffles

I took over the early blockout of this quest and maintained it until the final stage. That involved iterating on the placement of Apollo’s Will parts as the level design was taking shape.

Pegasus Strike Quest – Find parts to craft the Pegasus Strike special equipment for A.O.E. damage.

Quick Guide by MrRoflWaffles

I took over the early blockout of this quest and maintained it until the final stage. That involved iterating on the placement of Pegasus Strike parts as the level design was taking shape.

I was also responsible for integrating final assets for level-specific gameplay features:

Traps – Use them strategically to kill Zombies by the dozen.

I integrated final assets for the Boiling Bath in the Gymnasium Bathhouse and the Venom Spray in the Python Pass.

Fast Travel – Quickly travel to a different part of the level for a brief respite.

Quick Guide by Maka91Productions

I was responsible 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 in its early blockout stage and took it to its final stage. I had to code client-side implementations for visual effects as seen by 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 the way at their destination.

Credits