7:48AM EST November 18. 2012 - Fans of first-person shooters probably know quite a bit about Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops II, now out for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC.
Gamers are likely aware it's the ninth installment in the best-selling franchise; it's the first one about a near-future war on U.S. soil and features branching story lines; and it ships with many modes, including the return of Zombies, and exclusive multiplayer maps.
But there's a lot more to Call of Duty: Black Ops II, developed by Treyarch. To dig deeper, USA TODAY caught up with David Vonderhaar, game designer and director, to share his five things you didn't know about the game.
REVIEW: 'Black Ops II' stays on high ground
The Price is Right
To provide more variety in multiplayer games, Treyarch has instituted a "Pick 10" system, giving gamers 10 customization slots to fill up with desired weapons, equipment and perks. "At one point it was a "pick 100,000 system," says Vonderhaar, "and everything had a unique price, such as one gun worth $5,000 and another worth $3,000." But Vonderhaar says they found people always took the most expensive items because players assumed they were better. "Deliberately, we even made things very expensive, like $80,000, and made the weapon not shoot far or do as much damage, but we learned people always picked the most expensive in the load-out anyway." As a result, Vonderhaar says this discovery was one of the key "pivot points" for going with a Pick 10 system instead, where everything costs the same as you fill up your ten slots prior to the match.
Be a producer
"There are really three pillars in our eSports initiative," explains Vonderhaar. "One is 'league play' that makes competition fun at every level, the second is 'CoDcasting,' a spectator view where you become the producer and choose the camera angles for others to see, and third is live streaming, so people can watch the game at home." The CoDcasting idea was born out of a field trip, where members of the Treyarch development team went to a Major League Gaming (MLG) event and watched as gamers played Call of Duty projected on the main stage. "The amount of trouble they went through to broadcast the action to us made us think how to do it better," recalls Vonderhaar. "We came to the realization you could only follow one guy at a time, so it was boring." With Black Ops II, Treyarch gives you the tools to participate in the game â€" without playing â€" by being a producer who can serve up the entire experience to an audience. "This is a first…and it's an important role in the game," adds Vonderhaar.
Party play
"In Black Ops we had a game mode called Wager Match, where you can gamble your CoD [Call of Duty] points," explains Vonderhaar. "And with Black Ops II, not only do we have many different party games â€" simple fun little game modes to be experienced with a group of up to four people â€" but now you can rank up in them, which we didn't offer before." For example, Vonderhaar says one party game gives you a new weapon every 45 seconds, while another one is called 'One in the Chamber,' where you only get one bullet in the chamber of your weapon and you have to shoot someone to gain a new bullet." Vonderhaar says these party games are "an interesting way to play multiplayer, even if you're not ready for a traditional 6-on-6 team-based game." "We knew some people didn't want to play the old party games because you couldn't rank up so we added it."
Take it to the board
To develop and iterate quickly, Treyarch didn't make a video game at first â€" they made a tabletop game. "Think of it something like Stratego," explains Vonderhaar. "To help us create a good class system, score streaks and ranking details, we created a huge board game with all these pieces and every piece of content in the game was there â€" but no controller [laughs]." Treyarch would then use playing cards to play out the hand, such as deciding how you'd like to go into battle, and use the board pieces to play it out, explains Vonderhaar. "We would play with the cards to see what kind of class people wanted, maybe taking 10 grenades if you could, when to level up and what you earn, and so on." "Making the board game was a big part of the making of Call of Duty Black Ops II." Vonderhaar says they'd make, play and revise the board game, and after about a month and a half of "having so much fun" with the board â€" which they called Pick 10 (see above) â€" they began working on the video game based on what they learned from the board game. "I don't think I'll ever make another video game without doing this."
Get into the game
"In our office we have gone through a tremendous amount of effort for each team to deck out the space however they like," says Vonderhaar, about Treyarch's Santa Monica studios. "The Zombies space has blood splatter, giant wooden boards over their windows, red flashing lights and medical equipment." "It looks and feels like you're walking through a level in the game." Vonderhaar says the Multiplayer area has giant wall murals from every character in the game. "We went totally crazy." In the Campaign section, there's camouflage netting on the walls. "This is behind-the-scenes at Treyach â€" it's really important to customize your surroundings, especially as this is not a 9 to 5 job but a lifestyle commitment."
Contact Marc Saltzman at techcomments@usatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter: @marc_saltzman.
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