Post: Long Black Ops. Interview w/ Josh Olin
Options
09-16-2010, 04:11 PM
#1
Shepleklet
u mad cuz ur ***git
Originally posted by another user
Last week we went chicken oriental at the Call of Duty: Black Ops multiplayer reveal event in Los Angeles, and part of our mega reporting included the event's first epic interview with Treyarch community man, Josh Olin.
Coming straight out of the presentation and into the interview room, we were naturally full of questions about the new CoD instalment (unfortunately the nine other journalists in the room weren't so active - just their Dictaphones).
In part one of our chat the Treyarch man offers more details on gambling, video sharing and the difficult challenges it faces in balancing Black Ops. Here's what he had to say...
Coming straight out of the presentation and into the interview room, we were naturally full of questions about the new CoD instalment (unfortunately the nine other journalists in the room weren't so active - just their Dictaphones).
In part one of our chat the Treyarch man offers more details on gambling, video sharing and the difficult challenges it faces in balancing Black Ops. Here's what he had to say...
What didn't you have time to tell us about in the presentation today?
There are lot of things that we didn't really tell you about. Wager match was the biggest part of the presentation and the highlight of the evening, just because this is the brand new game mode we've introduced. All the traditional game modes have returned, so you're going to see Team Deathmatch, Demolition, Capture the Flag, Domination and all that good stuff.
The Wager Matches are built around this new economy and so CoD points are also such a fundamental, brand new introduction to multiplayer that it is really important for players to grasp the importance of it. I've been reading Twitter all through that presentation and already there are misunderstandings about what CoD points are so I'm going to rely on you guys to clear the water.
CoD points do unlock weapons, you do need to buy weapons, upgrades, attachments, face paints, camos, whatever you want to spend it on really. However, things still do unlock over time, so there is still the concept of XP, levelling and ranking up. Once you go through the ranks you'll unlock broader features now, so you'll unlock Killstreaks, which will unlock at a certain level. You can buy whichever one you want, if you want to buy the 11 Killstreak right away that's fine, go ahead and do that.
Additionally, once a weapon unlocks, if you unlock a couple of assault rifles you get to pick which one you want to buy and furthermore you don't have to worry about completing challenges to unlock attachments and upgrades, all of those are going to be available once you purchase it and ranked up to a certain level.
Is there anything you can only get through experience, or likewise with CoD Points?
Prestige is still something that is relegated to levels, you don't pay money to prestige. Things are still unlocked via rank but then you have to choose if you want to use the money to purchase them.
Do you think, potentially, that the CoD points earned in this game could carry over into future games?
It's definitely a possibility but we're honed in on making Black Ops the best it can. We've really only thought about as far as where we're going to vacation come December once we've shipped this game (laughs). The team is working so hard on this, we haven't even thought ahead to DLC plans.
We wanted to create this concept of gambling, it is a core competitive form, the ultimate form of competition. We knew we wanted to do that for Black Ops and originally we were thinking of gambling XP but that wouldn't make sense because we can't de-level you, so after all that stuff we did we realised we needed to have a form of currency.
Is there any flexibility in the gambling? When we enter a match can we bet money on placing first in the match or is it just a blanket bet?
Once you get into a match you have this feature where you're going to double down. You can raise your buy-ins from whatever the CoD points is from that and double it, and of course it will double your return on investment.
The top three positions are always going to be paid, so there is always the concept of being 'in the money' which we borrowed from poker and blackjack. That is always going to be the way Wager Matches work. Depending on which Wager Match you go in to there will be different stakes. There are low buy-ins of around 100 CoD points for novice players and there will be high-stake buy-ins for hardcore players.
That is also how the difficulty is going to be managed; a lot of players are concerned about being in a wager match with someone who is 100 times better than them. Those players probably aren't going to be playing in small stake matches. If I'm a world class poker player I'm not going to play in the penny-poker games I'll be in the $10,000 buy in tables. The skill level will be managed and segregated in a very similar way.
Do you think this gambling system will make the game more addictive? There are people out there that have already put in days...
That's the hope! If we could have you guys playing in our game 24/7 we would, maybe you could have bathroom and food breaks (laughs)...
You've introduced all these super-weapons in supply crates and gambling... has this game more difficult to balance than past games?
Absolutely! This has been the most difficult to balance and there are a lot of things that contribute to that such as the earn rate and spend rate of CoD points, plus XP is always a tough thing to balance out. With all these things we're adding to purchase you have to balance not only the weapons and perks against each other but also when you consider how much they're going to cost.
So yes, it has been a much more difficult game to balance but the team really stepped up to the plate. Almost two years ago now they refocused all their efforts on retooling the studio and on the development process. One of those was having every developer focusing on Call of Duty when we were working on World at War. Now it has allowed us to have a dedicated single-player and multi-player team since day one. They haven't been distracted by other things so it has allowed out MP team to use their resources to make more than we've ever made before, but also really polish and balance it to the degree that we felt was necessary.
Do you anticipate problems with cheating?
Yes, you cannot matchmake into a wager match with other players, so it is strictly a free-for-all based game mode. We will allow you to play in a private match with other players but it will be like penny-poker stakes so you don't have to worry about people boosting there. It would take years to boost so no one will do it. You won't be able to join sessions in progress or anything like that.
What if you drop out of a Wager Match?
If you drop you lose your investment. If you drop because your internet fails that is a bummer. If it's because you don't want to lose that is not going to help you, you will lose your investment. There are a lot of little things that we haven't revealed; we have host migration, the in-game friends list that we have etc...
How does video sharing work in Theatre mode?
It's pretty cool; you'll have your recent games, take a game and put it up into your file share. At that point you're sharing it with the community at large, so you can load up other games, watch them and rate them. You can also place others into your fileshare and share it with your friends.
You will be able to get your films to the web, they're going to be in web and mobile friendly formats. We're not ready to talk about that in detail just yet but we'll have more information on that later.
Are there any differences between the platforms in how Theatre works?
Every platform has its nuances, it either restricts us or gives us freedom. We do have a dedicated platform team at Treyarch, so there is a focused PS3 team making sure that one is working perfectly and has all the bells and whistles you'd expect, same with the PC.
The PC has some differences in that you have access to the dev console and slash record, recording segments from in-game rather than waiting until the whole thing is done. The Theatre kind of trumps that to be honest. There's so much more you can do.
You can watch films together if you're in a party, so if you're in a clan you can study the films like in sports. That was what they alluded to in the presentation but really it's a game changer. If I'm playing in a tournament or league, and there's a team that completely dominates us and we don't get it we can watch from their perspective, fly around, slow it up and rewind it. There are little hash marks at the bottom showing where you get a kill and they get a kill, it's not only a useful functional tool for players but great for machinima makers as well.
You've clearly ADDED a lot to the series with this game, but is there anything that you've taken out?
Yes. We listened to the community so we know what they like and dislike. They're very vocal, they love to tell us what they hate and what they love.
One thing that was removed was the Commando and Commando Pro perk. Instead we replaced it with the ballistic knife, which you can either shoot with the right trigger or if you just knife with it you'll get that extra lunge. We understand there are still players that love to run around and be the knifing guy - there's actually someone with the tag 'Onlyuseknife' and that is all he does.
There are players who like that style so we needed to find a happy medium. You can use your standard knife and this will give you extra lunge action.
Were there any other features that the community demanded be removed?
There are other things, you'll notice in create a class there are no Deathstreaks.
Deathstreaks are out then?
That is correct.
Can you explain the thought process behind that?
To us it's not necessarily about rewarding people for dying. We looked at any sort of streak. Take killstreaks for example: we wanted it to be something that you controlled. All of our Killstreaks are much more interactive. Deathstreaks have no interaction.
The gunship is a fully controllable helicopter that you're flying around with the thumb-sticks, just like in the single-player mission Payback. Attack dogs not-so-much, they were really popular in World at War and we wanted to bring them back, they're a lot more powerful and can kill you in one bite - that's why they're an eleven kill streak reward.
To us the problem that death streak rewards tried to solve was the novice player and how they might feel overwhelmed. We have a new solution for that called combat training; that is going to help the players get to know the maps, weapons and load outs. I'd be remiss to remind you that combat training has completely separate progression than online, so anything you unlock in that cannot be brought over to online.
Is party chat back?
We're still working on that, we know it is a very controversial topic. Right now we're thinking it is going to be in every game mode except search and destroy, but we still have to figure out how that plays. There are definitely merits to having people in the lobby talking, it's just not as fun of a game if you get into a lobby and no one is conversing. Also it isn't as fun when you're in a lobby and there is some eleven year old screaming the entire time. We understand the pros and cons.
Can you talk about the contracts, the time-limited challenges and how those fit into the game?
These are dynamic. We can week by week, month by month or whenever we want rotate these out and introduce new contracts into the community and put new prices on them. We can remove contracts and rotate them out so players aren't getting the same contracts every time.
That is a pretty core feature and is broken up into three categories; kill-based, Killstreak and then specialist. They will cost COD points but are an investment so you'll get COD points back. For example it could cost you 50 COD points and last for an hour and twenty minutes in game and you have to steal an enemy crate. If you don't accomplish it within the time limit you'll lost your invested points, if you do you may get 250 back. Some will give XP as well as COD points.
The contracts are another way to expedite your route, pick your own path and play how you want to play it. It's also yet another way to spend the new form of currency in the game.
Are there any features or surprises left to be shown?
This is pretty much it. There are still some other little things that we haven't talked about yet but will at a later date, but this is pretty much the whole caboodle.
As far as substantial features this is it?
Yes, this is what we've been working on for the past two years.
Are there any big control differences?
There are some key differences to the controls now; we made changes to the way you can configure the controls. You can pick how you want the sticks and buttons to be laid out separately. There's a button layout called 'Charlie' which is for handicapped gamers, that is something to make the game more accessible.
Once you're in the game, there's a new core mechanic called 'dive to prone'. While you're sprinting if you hold down B you're going to take a dive. It's a great defensive manoeuvre to get out of fire and get to cover. People were concerned when they saw this in single player, they were concerned it was going to create an opportunity for dolphin diving or increased drop-shotting. People who drop-shot still go prone; we have a designer who is a serious drop-shotter, he is the most frustrating player to go up against. He never dives to prone because it doesn't help him, there's a slight bit of recoil when you dive to prone where you can't shoot - there's a half a second delay, kind of like when you're switching weapons. In the middle of a gunfight you really wouldn't switch weapons, so you really wouldn't dive to prone as an offensive attack manoeuvre.
How many maps will Black Ops launch with?
We're not 100% sure, we're still working on things, things always get cut so we wouldn't want to commit to anything and then have it cut and get all the hate from the forums.
There will be plenty of maps, a wide variety featuring snow, jungle urban - all the different types a player would want.
Any tiny free-for-all maps, remakes or homage maps?
There aren't any remakes, every level is a brand new level for Black Ops. There are different sizes; small maps and big maps. It's all part of the variety we want to prove.
In wager matches, because they're 6v6 free-for-all, any of the maps you're playing on get cut down into smaller sized versions - we block off paths to keep the gameplay tight and make sure you're not running around for 20 minutes looking for something to do.
A core focus of the MP team is to make sure the combat distances and battle spaces are all very fast and well balanced. That plays out well for single-player as well, whether you're fighting AI or other players. The single player team obviously saw value in using some of the multiplayer battle spaces.
Your games are clearly deeply shaped by the community. Are there any features in Black Ops that you're nervous about, in terms of how fans will react to them?
Everything is a risk, but nothing that we're too worried about.
Diving to prone, we knew the concern was going to be with drop-shotting so we addressed it up front with the recovery, so it really should only be used for evading. When you take fire and dive to prone it adds to immersion, it makes you feel like that it saved you when you jump behind cover. It feels good when you use it right and if you use it wrong - aggressively - it doesn't, so people won't do that.
Introducing currency - the COD points - is a big risk. Again we spent an enormous amount of development time putting it together and balancing it to make sure it is right. It's definitely more rewarding when you're the one who bought something, when something is yours because you paid for it with your hard earned cash, whether you earned it in a wager or online. You can buy additional player cards, select images.
Nothing we put in here was just quick without an extensive amount of consideration; we do focus group testing and talk to the community, we have a bunch of community reps that we've brought out on a number of occasions and they were here tonight and are out there playing right now and in the theatre.
These are just normal community members that run blogs, tweet a lot, run Facebook pages and their own community sites. They're passionate about the game and we're always communicating with them, we're always playing our games with them to see what they like and dislike. All of that influences us and I think all of these inspirations we took and drew on... that is what created Black Ops. It isn't necessarily our game with the risks we took it's the community's game.
Are there plans for a multiplayer beta?
We're doing an internal beta right now; we are doing it with all sorts of Activision studios and Activision itself. Thousands of people are participating in our beta and keeping it internal is very helpful as it allows us to iterate on our builds a lot faster.
So if we want to change something we can easily push a new build out to anybody in the company that has one of these dev kits. They can quickly download a new build and anything we've tested they can play. Call of Duty is such as mainstream thing that everyone is playing it at Activison.
That's the only form of beta we're planning at the moment. There were a lot of misconceptions and confusion and misleading Google ads that suggested we were launching a public beta tonight - that is not happening. The beta is internal only.
The following 6 users say thank you to Shepleklet for this useful post:
09-16-2010, 04:46 PM
#2
shamber
Bounty hunter
Nice 1 thing i did want to find out though is wether there is gonna be a leaderboard for cod points - cause like on this game now they can class themselves as the richest player on mw2 and its gonna be going up and down all the time from people wagering there money abouts
![[F]ried [R]ice's Avatar](/images/default/letters/F.png "[F]ried [R]ice's Avatar")
09-17-2010, 04:52 AM
#5
LAD_Dodgers
Keeper
nice post a lot of f'n words though
well at least it cover the basic needs
well at least it cover the basic needs
Copyright © 2026, NextGenUpdate.
All Rights Reserved.
