Black Ops Dev console, modtools and lean confirmed

[Sun Tzu]

Dev console, modtools and lean confirmed

Console gamers, move along, nothing to see. Finally some good PC news! Treyarch confirms dev console, modtools and lean for Black Ops!

pcdev, do we really need to explain his nickname? Via Twitter » he confirmed lean to be back in the PC version of Black Ops. Many were surprised by Infinity Ward's the decision to take this out of multiplayer for Modern Warfare 2, but lucky for us that is now changed back by Treyarch. With lean, you can actually peek around corners, leaving your body (for most part) in cover. This dramatically changes gameplay, for the better. This system is not implemented into the console versions of the game because there are simply not enough buttons on a controller to pull this off.

Treyarch knows the value of the PC community and are willing to put time and effort in making their experience as good (or better, maybe?) as on consoles. Part of this is of course the dedicated servers, which I'm sure we explained at one point but let's recap real quick. Dedicated servers are usually very powerful computers in data centers with a very fast internet connection on which the Black Ops server edition is installed. With it installed, anyone that has the address (and a password in some cases) of that server can connect and play the game. This usually means less lag (if you pick a server close to you) because you can choose one with the lowest PING (better connection). The administrators of this server have control over what happens on their server, so they can kick or ban people, disable certain elements like killstreaks or explosives. In short, they can customize the game up to a great extend. And, probably more interesting, they can install custom mods. Which brings us to our next point; Mod Tools.

Mod tools is a computer program that will let people create their own version of the game. A great example is

(youtube), a great mod that used the mod tools Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to make a multiplayer mod that brings you right into the world of Star Wars. As you can see in the video it will let you change out models (3D props), weapons, effects, characters, even complete levels. It's a huge deal in PC-land and we're very happy Treyarch has chosen to do so, even though we don't know yet 'til what extend, as the original confirmation » states:

We plan to open the game up for modding sometime post-launch. We do not know yet to what extent you will be able to mod the game. There are some purely technical issues related to engine and internal tool enhancements that do not easily fit the modtools paradigm. We have looked at it close enough to see that it is non-trivial and we will have to pick it up again post-launch. Right now we are completely focused on finishing the game.

And, dev console: confirmed.

-pcdev-

[BlackOp8]

woa...Trey did something right this time. I think I might actually buy this..

[Bryuk]

me to me to

[ChknFngr]

this start to smell good

[X-RayXI]

BlackOp8

woa...Trey did something right this time. I think I might actually buy this..

 

Nope, im not as in cash flow and w/e I researched.

 

[NITRO]

You bloody beauty! I pre ordered this with my fingers crossed, now its confirmed im so happy i could do a backflip.....actually i better not coz id fuck it up an prolly break my neck LOL

[Bazza]

me too, IF my comp can run it, otherwise its a nono....

[Steak]

ANYBODY HAVE AN IDEA OF REQUIRED/SUGGESTED SYSTEM SPECS?  MY RIG IS AGING RAPIDLY AND I HAVE NO $!!!

 

Windows Vista Home Premium

AMD Athlon 64X2 5600+ dual core processor

3 gigs of DDR2 ram

Nvidia 9800GT 512 MB DDR3 video card

 

I currently have NO problems with either COD4 or COD5 with almost everything cranked up.

 

[Sun Tzu]

News surfaces in GamesCom Interview

In this 20 minute long interview (video included) from GamesCom 2010 Josh reveals some tiny bits of new information.

As you could (should) have seen in our previous article », Activision has pretty big plans for Black Ops when it comes to the GamesCom 2010, which will open to the public tomorrow. Today though, Josh had some press over to talk about Black Ops. In the 2-part interview below, he also revealed some information we thought was pretty interesting.

But if you think spending 20 minutes of your life listening to information you might already have heard, we advise you to scroll down ? (TL;DR?) to our summary of the interview.

Part 1

Summary

At first Josh quickly touched base and tells the people in the room what Black Ops is all about, as if they didn't knew already. What he basically emphasizes on is the fact that it's not a Cold War game. It takes place during the Cold War, but it's really all about the deniable Black Operations fought behind enemy lines.

The first question is all about the variation in Black Ops, as they have seen a demo in which there (apparently) was some swimming, throat cutting and helicopter action going on. This is something Treyarch has put a lot of time and effort in, to make sure every level has at least one cinematic or intense moment, something that sticks out and you can talk about with your friends.

Of course Josh can't really talk about what the big changes are in multiplayer just yet, as the full multiplayer reveal is set for September 1st. So we'll skip the info about the Socialization and Customization, if you don't know what we're talking about we advise you to read up on it in an earlier article » we did on that subject.

Treyarch has been using Full Performance Motion Capture, a brand new technique that was used by James Cameron to make the movie Avatar. It basically means that they record the face, body and voice all at the same time. Where before they had to manually mimic and lipsync all movement made by the actors, it's now done in one smooth work flow. A video of this technique in action can be seen in our Black Ops Insight » article. This translates great into a mission like Victor Charlie, which was one the demo levels they were shown. In this mission there are a couple of dialog sequences with a lot of gestures and movement. The Full Performance Capture allowed Treyarch for a much smoother and more realistic feel of the game.

The length of the singleplayer campaign has not been written in stone yet. Treyarch still has about 80 days (and nights) of hard work left, so they're still working hard on many of the missions. One thing they will make sure off is that the story needs to be intelligent by easy to follow. They don't want to make a compelling but confusing game. In this singleplayer campaign, we will be playing from a few different perspectives, which eventually comes back to one big story plot.

Treyarch currently has 250ish developers working on Call of Duty: Black ops, which is basically the whole studio. Opposed to earlier, where they worked on three different games simultaneously. That time is passed now and they have dedicated teams not for each of the different game types (singleplayer campaign, co-op mode and of course multiplayer). This is actually roughly double the size of Infinity Ward, which had about 110 developers working for them when we talked » to Robert Bowling, community manager of Infinity Ward. But does this mean the game will be 3 times as good as World at War? We sure hope so!

In one of the demos there was a lot of stealthy and tactical warfare involved, but Josh ensures everyone that this is part of the variety of the game and the gameplay will be exactly of what you can expect of any Call of Duty game.

Neither PlayStation Move or Xbox Kinect will both stay untouched in Black Ops. Treyarch did not want to put it in the game "because they could", and if they did, it would've have to make sense with compelling gameplay around it. Olin's not saying it won't be in any future Call of Duty, but we're not holding our breath.

The alleged co-op mode (2-4 players) will be really separate from the Singleplayer Campaign. With World at War they did a co-op campaign, but that was more to show they could. This time around, Treyarch is really crafting something new which looks like Spec Ops in Modern Warfare 2, but really isn't. Interesting quote:

"

Nazi Zombies was two years ago, com'on! Whatever we do, we have to raise that bar up.

"

-- Josh Olin

Good news for multiplayer guys! Treyarch is really putting in some sweet time to make Black Ops hackers free. They've been following the hackers closely and know all the tricks that were used in Modern Warfare 2. So they've been able to very easily close those gaps now that they're still in development. And even after launch, Josh is sure their new live patching system will allow them to keep the hackers out.

BETA time, and you guys are not going to like this. There have been so many rumors about a beta that many people actually expect there to be a beta. But up until now, it's neither on or off the table for Treyarch. It all depends on their time table (public beta's cost loads and loads of development time) and if there is something specifically they want to have tested. They understand how popular a beta would be for the community, but it needs to be fitted in, leaving less time for actual development.

Part 2

Talking about the community, Josh ensures how important the community is and how they've implemented community ideas in World at War, and will continue to do so in Black Ops. If you remember the 7th kill streak in W@W, the dogs, that was actually an idea by someone from the community which they implemented to try out. When they thought it was a lot of fun, they left it in. A more recent example is the objective markers in multiplayer, which often blocked your vision while sniping, will now fade out when you aim near it. The little things like that actually make the game less frustrating and a lot of more fun to play.

After Black Ops is released, Treyarch is very aggressively going to support it, with extra DLC (Downloadable Content). But that's all in the future, for now Treyarch is completely dedicated to getting the game ready on time.

So when nearing the end of the interview, Josh is asked what is favorite new feature is in the game. Too bad for us he can't really talk about it, because it's something from multiplayer that has not been announced yet. BUT, he also says it has something to do with a new multiplayer mode! We're very excited to see what this is. When continuing on the multiplayer subject, Josh tells the vehicle mechanic in multiplayer is different from what we've previously have seen an any Call of Duty multiplayer. So different than driving a tank or flying a helicopter, huh? Interesting...

Switching back to the singleplayer campaign, in the demo there were a couple of great cinematic set pieces where there was a lot of destruction going on. Unlike other games, these are actually predefined objects that can be shot to bits, not complete worlds. The only complete destructible environment is when you fly the Hind helicopter. You can destroy everything, from boats to huts and trees, but also bridges and pipelines, you name it.

The way the helicopter gameplay works is that you're in complete control of it, up to a point. Treyarch "cheated" by having the game controlling the elevation of the helicopter while you fly. Due to this secret ingredient, you will be able to pick it up as a complete novice and fly away with the helicopter, shooting at everything that moves on ground, water and even in the air. However, it is possible to crash the Hind into the mountains, but apparently we don't want to do that...

TL;DR

So basically what is new in this interview;

1. It looks like the swimming will be actual gameplay.
2. The length of the storyline campaign is not known yet, not even by Treyarch themselves as the game is still in development
3. The co-op mode will be a complete stand alone type of game, much like Special Ops but really not... As Josh states they had to raise the bar since Nazi Zombies, this makes us think it might be a mix between the two.
4. Both Kinect and Move will not be featured in Black Ops, it just wouldn't make compelling gameplay.
5. The helicopter gameplay is very easy to pick up, even for novice players. Mostly because the game actually controls the elevation of the helicopter so you can concentrate on other things.