InfestLithium

I knew you'd be a great addition to the family @RadZakpak! Your writing skills are superb and the way you recreate the Zombies universe so eloquently but with that warm aura a ready usually gets when picking up a good book is unmatched.

Can't wait to see what the rest of your future is like! 

Surprisingly, living in Southern California doesn't yield much for me. Closest would either be Alcatraz Island or Area 51 (technically closer by a few miles); however, it's between 4-6 hours of driving distance.

Listening to movie orchestral music like Ivan Torrent's themes.

Eating meat lover's pizza almost every other day.

Having soda in the mini fridge at all times, only to drink it all when it hits midnight (night time soda tastes 100x better than in the daytime).

Playing YouTube videos in the background while I play Skyrim, but refusing to take time to actually watch them.

Listening to ASMR before I go to sleep.

Starting projects just to leave them mid-progress and then resume them when I'm bored (unfortunately).

Breathing.

Moon all the way.

Best Easter Egg, best rewards, best storyline implication, best Wonder Weapons, best gameplay mechanics, best setting.

This is the greatest zombies map of All Time.

Funny, I was making a similar Zombies mode in GameMaker as well. I got as far as fixing the round spawn issue and then gave up because I realized my sprite animation skills were terrible, haha.

Good luck with your project! Can't wait to see an alpha version.

Hey everyone!

It's been a while since our staff has made a major announcement like this. I'd like to preface by apologizing for not being nearly as transparent as I'd like to be with these new changes. You may have seen some new things coming our way if you've been watching us closely on Twitter (and receiving our email newsletters the past few months). With this new announcement, we - myself, the staff, and our new friends - are making big changes and want everyone to know what's going on.

We're happy to announce that Call of Duty Zombies is officially a part of the Collateral Network! For those out of the loop, CoDZ is now being managed not only by myself, but our new friendos @AzzidReign and @Anubis. Both are involved with the popular gaming website Se7enSins and have expertise in running online communities similar to ours. After much discussion, we agreed that combining efforts would help bolster both our communities with the goal of creating a more expansive network under the Collateral title.

What does this mean for me?

I'll be the first to admit that I understand the idea of change can be scary. Ever since I became a part of the staff alongside @Hells Warrrior and @Boom115, we've worked tirelessly to operate CoDZ and ensure that our members always had an undead home to talk with friends, be involved in theories, and be provided with everything Zombies. Collateral Network will help us stimulate the community from it's [rather interesting, if you've been paying attention to the BO4 season] slumber with a myriad of improvements to the site, features, expenses, and most importantly, communication.

This network involvement also means we're able to provide greater features and enhancements to the community (such as in-depth map tutorials, faster page speeds, improved filtering systems when looking up threads, and more) that are soon to come. Us administrators made sure to keep the theme and feel of our community in mind when determining what's to come. This place is our home, and has been for nearly a decade. As such, I've made a promise to keep the CoDZ-aesthetic the same no matter which direction we go.

I have great faith in the new network conglomerate and can't wait to share for you all what we've got in store. This is a big push for us if we plan on keeping CoDZ alive and kickin', so let's spread the love!

By the way - we DO have a giveaway at the moment with Collateral for a free RGB gaming chair. You should check it out and get your entries in.

Spoilers ahead...you've been warned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhAldi-CHQQ

For those that haven't been paying attention to the Chaos storyline up until this point, allow me to provide a very brief summary of what the new gang has been up to:

Quote

From what we now know about Ancient Evil taking place directly after IX, we learn that Scarlet recruited Shaw, Diego, and Bruno to find her kidnapped father Alistair Rhodes. Following the events of Dead of the Night, the Order - a mysterious group involved with occult practices and a legendary artifact known as the Sentinel Artifact that releases "chaos" to create zombies - successfully kidnapped Alistair. He left behind notes to group up with people he trusted in the event something happened to him.

Throughout their travels, they completed four trials of the Gods to get closer to the order and were led by a mysterious voice calling herself the Oracle. After completing these four trials, the Chaos gang went to Delphi with hopes of finding Alistair there.

Now from here, we come to a few realizations based on the cliffhanger ending.

• The Oracle turned out to be Medusa, a Greek Gorgon who is infamously known for turning people to stone when they look at her. She has been the bad person this whole ride and the Chaos group has been helping to release her unknowingly.
• The Order are actually trying to stop Medusa. That's right - they're the good guys.
• Alistair is found, but turned to stone alongside a few other Order members who were presumably defending him.
• Bruno and Shaw are now marked by the Order and are possessed.
• Scarlet was the only person not turned to stone unlike her father and the other Order members, instead falling unconscious.
• Diego is the remaining conscious survivor of the group despite rushing to warn Scarlet about the above.
• Medusa put on the Order mask, likely to conceal her identity among them and protect her from the zombies.

At the moment, there is speculation regarding a few of these points.

• Medusa may be exacting revenge for her two slain sisters, possibly by the hands of the Order.
• Alistair may have been kidnapped because he didn't want to be involved with the Order anymore, yet they needed his help.
• Shaw fell under the mark, but him and Bruno may be that way so the rest of the Order can accept them knowing they're on the Order's side.
• Scarlet may actually be a demi-god, hence why she wasn't turned to stone.

While a few of these small theories have been hinted in previous maps, this really gave us a defined storyline and we can see how each character/group is connected to each other. Personally, I love how direct this path is compared to the Aether story yet keeps its mystery in leaving behind crucial questions while wanting a final conclusion. It's a breath of fresh air IMO.

What do you think so far?

Like Rave in the Redwoods meets Nuketown Zombies, but German-style.

I'd love to see an underground bunker map that has the outside like another NML scenario.

In case you missed Treyarch's Black Op 4 update during the "Shamrock and Awe" event going on:

More info regarding the newest Gauntlet and special event modifications:

3 hours ago, RadZakpak said:

I have a feeling that Treyarch will want this upcoming DLC 2 to be the Chaos story’s Der Riese and leave fans wanting more when it returns next year. I mean people aren’t that interested in Chaos now, but given a year’s time and the end of Aether? Maybe so.

The Chaos maps themselves are actually quite nice and there aren't current complaints in the community about them, ignoring general glitches/bugs of course.

IX = Kino

VOD = FIVE

DOTN = Verruckt

Their layouts are actually quite nice and offer different play styles. But I agree that a "Der Riese" - esque version would be cool. But what constitutes that type of map? Der Riese was simply an old map that was small-medium in size and offered getaway transportation via teleporters. Other than that, it didn't offer too much besides becoming the biggest nostalgia map in Zombies history because of what it introduced at the time.

3 hours ago, RadZakpak said:

 

I just want Aether to end this year in a good fashion. It will be almost poetic as I enter my last year of college to see it all wrap up and move to a new chapter in life. (Also let me write the storybook in peace without fear of having to scrap everything.)

No doubt they heard the outcry from the end of BO3 and plan on changing the sentiment. I'm sure DLC2 will give us huge leeway into a satisfying ending.

Hey @Silv3r Energy, I'm sorry to hear about your situation. But I'm super happy that you're alive and well, and in a better spot than before.

Take all the time you need for yourself, and we're all here for you in any way we can be of assistance.

As a guitarist, I can't wait to tackle these when I get home because I've been itching to have Zombies in my jam setlist! I've tried doing Dead Again and 115 in the past only to fail...but perk jingles are another story. 

Well, looks like Treyarch just released more content info that is now accessible across all platforms.

Specifically, Zombies has a couple of adjustments and new features now available as listed below:

• New Gauntlet: "Death-Con Five"
• 
  • 30 rounds of unique "Classified" challenges
  • Follows same 10-20-30 rewards similar to other gauntlets
• New Perk: Ethereal Razor
• 
  • Provides health gain and increased melee damage
• PC - New Public Playlists
  • Includes the following playlists:
    • Featured Gauntlet
    • Latest Released Map
    • Chaos Maps
    • Aether Maps
    • Rush

No new intel regarding DLC2's upcoming Zombies map.

As mentioned on Monday's content drops, Jason B. announced that DLC2 would mark an "end" to the Chaos Story for Black Ops 4 as a cliffhanger. This leads us to believe that DLC3 and DLC4 will exclusively be Aether maps, likely ending the story once and for all.

I ran a poll shortly after we heard and asked fans what they thought about it.

Seems like a good amount of people (sample size really) enjoy the idea of no more Chaos Story for the season. What are your thoughts on it?

Personally, I'm disappointed that they're taking the "cut their losses" route. I imagine they realized how much the fans disliked the Chaos story compared to Aether and decided to focus on ending one storyline and then refocus on the next instead of trying to accomplish both. Honestly, that would be tough considering they spoiled us with BOTD and Classified...nobody really complained about the magnitude of those maps (besides gameplay mechanics). This should really give more time and info for Treyarch to properly handle the Chaos story better in the future.

Pretty straightforward question, but one that isn't being discussed much.

We know that the taste of our good ol' Aether story has our panties in a bunch for potential related DLCs for BO4, but what about the Chaos story? I feel that compared to Aether, Chaos has large potential to make plot changes since we know of only one goal: to find Alistair Rhodes. And how they do that can vary greatly - not to mention the other sub-plots that we need more info on. What's going on with corrupted individuals (Geoffrey, Bruno)? What do the Gods have related to the maps/perk machines? Why is Alistair a big target? What is the true motive behind each map?

How would want to see us reach the "conclusion" of the Chaos storyline in BO4?

Congrats on the Architect completion and baby @andydabeast! Such a big future ahead of ya!

Treyarch has publicly announced on Reddit that Zombies will be receiving a brand new mode called "Gauntlet", where players will be tkaen through 30 rounds of unique challenges - ranging from area defending to weapon restrictions - to win in-game rewards. Every 10 rounds that are successfully completed result in Bronze/Silver/Gold medals that prove your feat in the mode. According to Treyarch, they claim this mode will be "competitive and replayable" enough for both casual and seasoned players to be enjoyable for months to come.

The first Gauntlet will be featured in Voyage of Despair under the name "Unsinkable", with many more to come throughout the year (presumably, one for each map including DLC).

This will be one the most major updates that have come to Zombies since the BOAS implementation. This sounds very promising and can't wait to play in 4 days!

Happy 2019 everyone!

It's been quiet on my end. Again, apologies - when I get busy, I keep my mind on one project at a time and unfortunately it means a total state of silence from other projects. That is changing by the end of the month (for realsies haha).

I'm glad to see everyone ready to thrive this year, and I can't wait to see how it plays out for you all! Each one of y'all is family to me and I'm totally supporting your growth, your lows, everything.

Forums are becoming more outdated by the minute, and we're one of very few popular communities out in the gaming world that still exist with such a large memberbase.

I agree that reviving the YouTube would be a great priority. While I don't have the tools to make quality videos (or hell, a computer that can even handle uploading anything), I'd like to restart it back up. We had a great time with @NaBrZHunter when he led the position, and it's never too late to provide great content regardless of the attention we receive.

I remember first joining back in 2011 during the hype of Call of the Dead. Brings back great memories! At the time, I didn't realize how expansive the story was until reading more into Kino der Toten, and people were trying to piece together the purpose for the map. It suckered me in, alright.

I'll check with Reddit here and there for quick updates, but go back through all the old threads in the Asylum for great reads. A majority of them from greats like @PINNAZ gave me inspiration to write theories of my own.

Welcome back, friendo!

It's no secret that the community is setting everything ablaze right now. Many are saying that Zombies is killing itself while others are sitting back enjoying BO4 with very few problems. Treyarch undoubtedly has their hands full with reinforcing Blackout and Multiplayer while Zombies takes a back seat despite claiming that Zombies would be the best of its kind compared to the near decade we've had the mode. Bugs to fix, crashes to reduce, features that were announced that have yet to come...it's chaos.

How do you feel about the current situation? What do you think should be the biggest concern right at this moment?

Some of us have been fans since the World at War days, while others may have jumped aboard in the middle or are barely getting their feet with with the most recent game. Back in the day, there were two camps of Zombies enthusiasts - story-driven players and high round players. At the moment, these two groups have melded into one another (but not entirely) and now we have a color array of people who like the mode for different reasons.

So what keeps you coming back to Zombies?

For me, it's the team-based aspect of it. I hate playing Solo; I'd rather kill some freakbags with friends or even total strangers with no purpose other than enjoying the moment. I love seeing what kind of setup other people have and going "oh that's a pretty smart tactic I should do that". Don't get me wrong - I LOVE the story and exploration of maps but after a while, the real replay-ability of it lies within the co-op experience.

Yesterday, a Reddit user by the name of u/CallOfNobodyCares posted on the Zombies sub revealing major information on easter eggs we haven't yet discovered, as well as alleged mistreatment during their time at Treyarch as a QA tester.  While their background is yet to be considered true or not, his info about minor easter eggs have been verified both by YouTubers and the community.

Any controversial information should be taken with a grain of salt.

Voyage of Despair

• Shoot and interact with six fish across the map and receive a special power-up.
• Interact with some pistons in the Engine Room using the upgraded Kraken and unlock Pack-a-Punch at all locations.
• A Humonculus with flags can be seen in the distance with a sniper. It reveals morse code.
• Collect and pace three music sheets to the grand piano and you'll be able to temporarily change your Specialist weapon.
• Staying underwater for 30 seconds has a chance to play a verse sung by a siren.

Blood of the Dead

• There is an upgrade of the Golden Spork that leads to the Sprknife.
• There are more drawings around the map that can be activated with certain attacks, including the Specialist weapons.

IX

• Mini-bosses have an EE where they dance and play air guitar. This can only be done after completing the Viking Funeral EE and obtaining the Iron Bull shield.
• There are yellow text ciphers around the map that need to be solved.
• The room "Bath House" can be renamed to "Blood Bath House" by getting [supposedly] 830 kills in the blood bath within the Zeus Temple.
• The cipher story of the crying builder is about someone who built the map's traps and Wonder Weapon and was sealed behind the walls as punishment.
• You can take less trap damage by passing through each trap type and killing certain enemies with each trap.

Classified

• After doing the punch cards, the player who is Dempsey can visit Area 51 and activate an Ultimis Dempsey quote by throwing a frag grenade at the warehouse to the side of the area. Leave NML and throw another frag at the same spot to trigger more quotes.
• In the corner facing the projector within the basement, you can hear Samantha sing the Crooked Man riddle.

Miscellaneous

• DLC1 is a prequel to the Chaos story, with four new characters, and reportedly inside a mansion containing zombies, ghosts, nosferatus, werewolves, and other creatures.
• Nuketown Zombies is set to happen at some point in the season.
• Each DLC will have only 1 Zombies map.
• More maps are planned for the Aether story.
• Plans were made to implement a 4v4 mode.
• The BOTD Sprknife EE may or may not work, according to the leaker's last recollection of its status.
• The Classified EE Main Quest is verified to be the cutscene.
• Speed Cola will return in the next big update. It reportedly will be available when all four in-game vapors/colas are collected, and can deactivate/reactivate.
• Juggernog was removed because Treyarch could not figure out how to make it work with the current armor system. It may still make an appearance.
• Treyarch only listen to big YouTubers when it comes to suggestions/problems.
• There was originally a Campaign for BO4 but it was stopped mid-2017 due to them wanting to make more Multiplayer maps.
• There was a cut EE in IX where the crowd could do the wave.
• The Ciphers in IX are quotes from the High Priest.

Do as you will with this information.

Perks: Timeslip, Quick Revive, Stronghold, "That One Last Stand Perk"

Elixirs: Burnout, Anywhere But Here, Equip Mint, Alchemical Antithesis

Specialist: DG-5

I should say that I usually play Co-op and not Solo that much. But this is generally my go-to if I'm going for high round runs or just a really good game.