Jump to content
  • Tac
    Tac

    Treyarch's February and March Livestream Summaries

    Treyarch held multiple live streams in the build up to Black Ops 3, from the D.I.C.E. Conference last February (wow, it’s been that long?) to their Black Ops Fridays just before launch. Luckily for fans, they’re back at it again and in the last two months, they’ve had four! But don’t worry, because if you don’t feel like watching the many hours of streams, the summaries have arrived! (Note that I cut out details from livestream two because it was primarily about new Black Market items in the Awakening DLC).
     

    Before I start, though, something you should understand about me is that I didn’t have very fast internet when I was younger, and as such, I was never able to develop any skills. I am, as some would say, a late bloomer when it comes to Call of Duty (especially multiplayer). Due to this, as I’ve recently played Black Ops 3, I gained a new appreciation for multiplayer and the complexity behind it. Watching these live streams has been kind of fun, as they dive into a few things more intricately. Anyhow, if you have any questions regarding the live streams (or really anything), feel free to drop it in the comments and I’ll get back to you!

    Eclipse DLC

    Spoiler

    The host of this DLC 2 live stream (and all recent live streams) was John Rafacz, the Director of Communications, being joined by Matt Scronce (Game Designer) and Miles Leslie (Producer) for multiplayer and YouTuber NoahJ456 for the Zombies portion.  The DLC this time around is named Eclipse and as usual, contains four multiplayer maps and a zombies map. It releases April 19th for PlayStation 4!

    The first map highlighted, Verge, is a reimagining of the map Banzai from World at War. It’s a post-apocalyptic desolate wasteland where two entities are fighting over the water supply. It has high verticality, which fans have been asking for, as well as a cave system for lots of flanks. Next up was Spire, a futuristic suborbital airport terminal with a white, antiseptic sort of look to it. It has lots of mid-range engagements, but watch your step, as “one wrong move could send you plummeting back through the stratosphere.” Third was Rift, a military complex over a caldera aimed at extracting minerals and resources for the war effort. It forces engagements and makes it so that if you’d like to get anywhere, the way to do so is through the enemy. Finally, there’s Knockout, a privately owned island with a “traditional Shaolin Temple,” but it also has a twist. While the outside is more traditional to the environment and has mid-range engagements, the inside is “tight close-quarters” with “an eclectic 1970’s style.”

    The next Zombies installment in Black Ops 3 is Zetsubou No Shima, which Blundell called the Island of Despair, and is described as one of the most scary and disturbing maps to date. There, Division 9 held experiments that could only be described as perversions of nature. On top of the discussion, the in-game intro cinematic was shown, which you can see below! Join the discussion in the dedicated forum for the new map. :biggrin:

     

     

     

    Awakening DLC + Game Development

    Spoiler

    For the Awakening live stream, John Rafacz was joined by guests Dan Bunting and David Vonderhaar, two multiplayer directors inside of Treyarch. The former (Bunting) is a Game Director largely focused on the maps ahead, while the latter being a Studio Design Director who focuses on the day-to-day mechanics of the game. One thing they discussed is something that I see users upset about across all platforms, whether it’s CoDz or Reddit or Xbox or PlayStation. That is, the performance of weapons and scorestreaks in regards to if they’re under- or over-performing (UP and OP, respectively). David Vonderhaar mentioned that if something is under-performing, it’s much easier to beef it up than to “drag it back,” so to speak. He also said that many people may not realize they put out a live update just about every day, but “there’s only so much you can do in a hotfix, and only so many hotfixes you can do.” Bunting added that after game launch, they go into “Live Ops” mode. At that point, their team is dedicated to interacting with fans and whenever issues may arise, get their Q&A team on it to fix them and push them out in the next 24 hours.


    They also discussed the Awakening DLC, and DLC in general. While the types of maps that come with the game, the core maps, are the ones that gamers have come to know, they said that DLC was the time for experimentation. Many of their maps have a three-lane structure but one overall environment (think of Aquarium, where you can either go through the center or around the sides, but you’re still at an aquarium). The idea came to them that it would be neat to have an entirely different environment depending on the “lane” that you’re in, and so the map Gauntlet was born! Coming up with ideas for maps after four games and one century spanned can be a bit difficult, but they said that with new gameplay mechanics, it can really open up some doors. That’s where the map Splash came into effect, where the developers asked ‘what goes well with water’ and naturally, a water park came to mind. To my surprise, they said they’ve tried a map like this twice before in Black Ops 2 but it wasn’t coming out as they hoped, so they scrapped it until now! (I have to say, this map looks incredible, so I’m glad they didn’t!)

     

    Discussion on Getting into the Industry

    Spoiler

    In this livestream (Episode 3), from Friday, February 26th, host John Rafacz brought in developers for a roundtable on how they got to their position and things they’ve learned along the way. The guests included Adam Rosas (Associate Animation Director, cinematics and storytelling), Caleb Turner (Weapon Artist), Sumeet Jakatdar (Senior Software Director, specifically AI), Kevin Sherwood (Senior Sound Designer), and Gary Stelmack (Senior Designer). Each of them explain that they may have got into game development through many different means, but after working in their respective areas with the same people for a while, they all expressed the enthusiasm, passion, and problem-solving-potential to move up (the latter being incredibly important).

    Some of them were gamers their entire lives, while others didn’t know they enjoyed gaming until they randomly discovered it. Some of them began in Treyarch’s Q&A department and have thus been with the company for years, while others transferred just recently in from other games. One of the things they all believed was essential, however, was pushing further than what was expected of them. Their formal schooling was important to their success, but they said it was by no means the only thing. For them, school allowed them to learn a lot about a little and figure out where their passions were, but as with most things, they were forced to dig into something deeper and really learn if they wanted to make it. Additionally, they recommended not waiting for the right time to find/do what you intend, but rather just starting. Finally, learn to network! Having a lot of knowledge in the area is great, and important, but someone you know can likely help you in the future if you only reach out (and it may be hard to get the job you want without it)!

     

    • Like 1



    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments

    There are no comments to display.



    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


  • Recent Status Updates

    • rvnleaks

      Amidst the dark and eerie night
      A choice to make – to run or fight?
      The undead horde approaches fast
      Armed with weapons, till the very last
      In Call of Duty: World at War - Zombies
      The battle for survival never ceases
      A test of skill, courage and wits
      As waves of zombies just never quits
      Blood-soaked grounds and a burning sky
      The stakes are high, the danger nigh
      But in this game, we rise above
      To conquer the undead with brute, tough love
      With finger on the trigger and heart in hand
      We face the terror, and take a stand
      For in this game, we live or die
      With Call of Duty: World at War - Zombies, we must survive.
      · 0 replies
    • rvnleaks

      and later released worldwide on December 14, 2011.
      The game features the same gameplay mechanics as its predecessor, with players fighting off waves of zombies as they try to survive for as long as possible. The game also includes a new storyline set in a Cold War-era Pentagon, with the characters from the original Zombies mode returning to fight off the undead.
      The game allows for up to four players to play together via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, and also includes a single-player mode with a new leaderboard system to track high scores.
      Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies received mixed reviews upon release, with critics praising the game's addictive gameplay and multiplayer functionality, but criticizing the graphics and lack of content compared to the console versions of the game. Despite this, the game was a commercial success, with over a million downloads in its first week of release.
      · 0 replies
    • rvnleaks

      The games in this series are primarily first-person shooters that simulate real-world combat scenarios, with a heavy emphasis on multiplayer gameplay. Call of Duty has become one of the most successful and popular video game franchises in history, with millions of copies sold and numerous accolades and awards.
      Each Call of Duty game typically has a different setting and storyline, ranging from World War II to present day and beyond. The games often incorporate real-world events and locations, as well as fictionalized versions of historical battles and conflicts. Single-player campaigns usually revolve around a central protagonist or group of protagonists, while multiplayer modes offer a range of gameplay options and customization features.
      In addition to the video games, the Call of Duty franchise has expanded into other media, including books, comics, and a feature film. The games have also spawned a vibrant esports community, with professional players and teams competing in tournaments and leagues all over the world.
      · 0 replies
    • rvnleaks

      Dr Maxis is alive, the Maxis Drone is a buildable drone that helps kills zombies, revives players and even grabs power-ups. The Maxis Drone consists of a Brain, Frame and Rotors. The Drones weapon is a MG08/15 and shoots for 90 seconds before needing to recharge.
      · 0 replies
    • rvnleaks

      The new Wonder Weapon G-Strike is a tactical Grenade that is an upgraded version of the Monkey Bomb and when activated attracts zombies and becomes the target of a single napalm missile, however, if there is a Giant Robot on the map, the robot will fire several more missiles at the target.
      · 0 replies


  • Posts

    • In the area of combating financial fraud, financial institutions apply both supervised and unsupervised machine learning techniques to detect anomalies in data. In this section, we review fraud detection algorithms including learning-with-teacher methods such as random forest, nearest neighbor method (KNN), logistic regression, and support vector machine (SVM). Each of these methods https://www.avenga.com/magazine/fraud-detection-machine-learning/   has its own strengths and weaknesses, and their effectiveness may vary depending on the specific characteristics of the data and the nature of the fraud detection task.
    • Venatrix sounded like an ambitious project from start, even on the paper.  As indie developers, we are always accustomed to be cautious of anything deemed “ambitious”. We always wanted to give the freedom of experiencing the story from two different main characters’ perspective and given the Venatrix’s background lore, which is late Victorian-times, laying the foundations of a narrative structure for having two protagonists. One “Matthew, no-nonsense brave investigator who relies on his gun tactics and sharp wit” and another, “Della, seemingly Victorian tea-room lady on the surface but a social-norm challenger inside”, proved to be difficult yet fruitful. As a result, we had to develop two “playing styles” since we really wanted to remain faithful to the background-lore we have created. Right after the introduction chapter, Matthew finds a pistol, unsurprisingly, to get him prepared the perils lurking ahead. He immediately grabs the pistol as if this was the moment he was waiting for and he is already craving for more ammo. When played the same level, this time from Della’s perspective, she sees the same pistol, in the exact same spot where Matthew picked it up, she wisely comments “What’s the point of a gun, if you can’t shoot the monsters in your head?” and leaves the gun there. Matthew is the action-hero, whereas Della is the stealth-vixen, that was the polar-opposite of our main-character structure for the narrative design of Venatrix. Thus, we realized our challenge would go deeper than the usual matrix of a “game design document”. Matthew’s gameplay will ring more familiar bells with the horror-gaming crowd. You grab your weapon, explore around for clues and ammo, solve puzzles and survive. However, we wanted to stay true to the spirit of Della’s character, when we wanted to design the gameplay from her point of view. Having released a few “stealth-horror” titles in the past and that genre being our favorite as a gamer, it was a no brainer for us to pinpoint Della’s gameplay features as “first-person psychological game with stealth mechanics.” And thus began the challenge of balance for the entire game. We wanted to give the players the choice between either characters at the start of the each chapter to give them the bold-attempt to change between the course of progress. And since players have a choice of going full-action-blast with Matthew, we wanted to design the Della’s “stealth mechanics” in the old-school way, as much possible. This is what we believe is the true risk we were taking since most of the modern stealth games always have a “hold the gamer’s hand“ approach.   However, in Venatrix’s Della sphere, pure-old-fashioned stealth is the only game play catharsis you would get. And hopefully, in this way, gamers can focus on the duality aspect of our narrative design, how the entire story can be told in a totally different perspective when you switch characters during the progress of the game. We always pride of ourselves, taking the less-travelled path since we believe we are truly indie-developers from both business and daily-practice aspects but we might be taking the risk-threshold a bit higher than usual this time. Perhaps, many gamers who would appreciate playing as Matthew would get bored after trying one or two chapters from Della’s point of view, thus leaving and crossing off the game without the full experience. But hey, maybe a project like Venatrix is the perfect example to introduce “pure stealth gameplay” to the “action-horror fans” and it is a bit of a burden on our shoulders as indie-developers-self-publishers to take such risks. At the same time, we feel lucky to have an opportunity like ID@XBOX as a platform where they welcome such a wide spectrum of indie games. Only history will tell if Venatrix will be liked by masses or not, but we can safely argue that it is going to be a truly unique entry for the horror genre. Try your hand at both approaches on Xbox today and see if you can survive! Venatrix Game Playstige Interactive ☆☆☆☆☆ ★★★★★ $14.99 Get it now Venatrix is a unique hybrid of action-packed and stealth-based horror game. We choose to play as either Matthew Kolth, an occult obsessed paranormal investigator, into nightmarish scenes to fight perturbing monsters from ghastly realms, or as Della Hartfort, as she slithers her way stealthy to avoid the same monsters Matthew is emptying his bullets upon. Join either Mr. Kolth or Mrs.Hartfort as they both try to make sense of a hellish adventure that leads them into the depths of their own psyche and back again. Live through their difference of reality-gaze which merges fiction and ethereal dream sequences and go on to fight against evil in this dimension…and the next. Matthew Kolth is a paranormal investigator at the turn of the century that takes on a new case at Hartford Mansion. There he meets Della, the wife of a rich businessman that believes her house to be haunted. She sees visions of demons and beasts of other dimensions. As a player, we have two deliberate choices: We either pick Matthew or Della, and both alternatives offer completely different play styles and adventures. Matthew must journey through the dream-like yet horror filled halls of the Hartford mansion before heading to Carcosa Asylum in pursuit of Della and the answers she holds. You must guide him from the bone chilling depths of his own psyche and back into stability all the while fighting terrifying monsters and trying to solve mind bending puzzles to progress through the game. Matthew must fight with enemies from outer space, other dimensions, and from the depths of his own soul to avail victorious from this mysterious and blood curdling case. Matthew must overcome his inner demons in a story that twists and turns as you must follow your instincts to find evidence – whether this evidence tells more about the case or about Matthew himself, is to be found out. Alternatively, you can play as Della and befriend with shadows. She will embark on the same path Matthew has ventured, however she would only have her stealth-wise skills to confront or avoid those monsters. Inevitably, her version of this dangerous undertaking will also trigger her soul to face her own inner demons as well, but perhaps she has a different spectrum of opinions on the same worldly matters of which Matthew has a “male-gaze” upon, her own interpretation, as an audacious Victorian-lady… The post Taking the Risks Further: Double-Edged Sword of Venatrix appeared first on Xbox Wire. View the full article
  • Join Our Discord
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, Code of Conduct, We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. .