(fyi: Cpt Hammer is my PartnerNET gamertag, not my secret XBL account)

Just got finished jumping into some of QA’s playtests of the new gametypes. While they’re ensuring there are no bugs to be found, I wanted to jump in and test out how fun the playlists were. Hardcore HQ is a lot of fun because it’s a lot more fast paced than normal and HQ’s are falling a lot faster. Not a lot of waiting around in this gametype. Not to mention it’s a lot more tactical when you’re not just spamming the HQ with nades. I think I’ll be playing the Hardcore Ricochet version of Hardcore HQ a lot. 

We played several games of Second Chance Search and Destroy, which essentially just adds 1 respawn per player. A small addition, but makes a big difference in the tactics you use. Plus, it wasn’t as frustrating to be taken out early in the round because you get a second chance to do some damage. No more dying early and waiting around the entire match. The only problem I can foresee with it is the occassional spawn kill if someone gets past your defenses and gets in a position to kill your second wave of respawns before you get him out. Other than that I actually prefer Second Chance over standard Search and Destroy. I found myself missing the second life when we were playing standard. There were a few UI (user interface) bugs, but those can be taken care of really easily, just need to shorten the name of the gametype. 

Still on the fence with Sudden Death Sabotage, what do you guys think of that. It essentially just turns into Team Elimination because no one has any respawns, so everyone starts camping and never goes for the bomb. In a way, I like that, because it’s a sneaky way to get Team Elimination into the game with an extra twist, but on the other hand the rounds end really quickly. I’m worried this one might not make the cut, but we’ll see how the rest of testing goes this week.

Hardcore Ricochet is the answer to my prayers. Team Killing is non-existent and you no longer have to say “my bad” to a team mate you accidently blow to hell with a badly placed grenade. If you fuck up, you’re the only one hurting for it. Not to mention you never have to worry about having a team mate shoot an RPG into the ground at the start and killing everyone in Hardcore Search and Destroy. That alone makes this entire playlist worth it to me. 

Things are looking good. I’m still working hard on that upcoming Xbox Live promotion I told you about. Getting some final thoughts from our Art Driector on the Ads I designed for it, and securing the rest of the details. 

On a more personal note, I finally got my automatic office defense system online and operating… 

… and by that, I mean big ass NERF cannon; Which I have mounted on a mobile defensive position (aka office chair) for maximum effeniency. This battery-operated, belt fed, automatic rapid-fire dart cannon is exactly what I needed to the turn the tide of the war in my favor. You see, there’s been ongoing skirmishes with the radicals in IT for quite some time now…. around the time they covered my Master Chief in Peanut Butter while I was out of town for GDC.

Dare’s a war a’comin… pik yer side!  

It was awesome putting together this bad boy late last night after work. I felt like I was 8 years old again, sitting on the floor with one of our producers assembling and test firing it. Some toys you’re never too old to get a kick out of. If the day ever comes I think other wise, kill me…. preferrably death by NERFing. 

As you know, We’ve been playing around with a lot of different playlist variations for the last several weeks and we’ve got quite a few cool mash-ups and gametype tweaks in the wings. It’s no secret that adding new playlists (or anything to multiplayer) takes a long time. There is a lot of careful planning and consideration that goes into anything new we add to the overall gameplay experience of the game, and nothing is added unless we’re completely convinced it will add to the overall experience. So as you can imagine, we play the hell out of any new addition we even consider before we consider it “good to go”.

That said.

The good news is, we have a few playlists that can be implemented via a playlist update (no patch required) and a few that we’re determining now if they can be added; the bad news is a few of them that can only be implemented via a patch. We’re still in talks to see if a small patch is feasible within our current production schedule, so I’ll let you know as that’s determined.

Remember though, nothing is final until it’s actually released. I don’t want you guys to be disappointed if something doesn’t pass QA, but to give you an idea of what we’re currently testing and where we stand with each playlist:

Hardcore Headquarters - No Patch Required

Testing is completed for Hardcore HQ. This playlist has standard HQ rules w/ Hardcore Settings. Limited HUD, Increased Bullet Damage, and Friendly Fire Enabled.

Hardcore Ricochet Playlist - Currently Testing

We’re currently testing this playlist now to see if a patch will be required for it or not. We should know soon. This is the No Teamkilling playlist. Any damage a teamkiller attempts to do to their team mates is reflected onto themselves only. Therefore, if they attempt to shoot an RPG into the ground at the beginning of the match; the only person who will die, is the Teamkiller. This eliminates the fear of being shot in the back by some asshole, but still encourages players to play tactically and not throw random nades, because if you accidentally hit a teammate, you’re only going to end up killing yourself and they’ll go unharmed. No Teamkilling, No Random Nades. This playlist will include the variant for Hardcore Teamdeathmatch, Hardcore Search and Destroy, and Hardcore HQ.

Sudden Death Sabotage - Currently Testing

Sabotage with no respawns. Fast-paced and intense Sabotage. No more hiding with the bomb until time runs out for sudden death. Increased XP per kills to encourage Team Deathmatch mentality. Defend your objective, while attempting to secure the bomb and plant on theirs. Once you’re dead, you’re dead. No second chances. We’re currently testing to see if this can be implemented without a patch.

Second Chance Search and Destroy - Currently Testing

Search and Destroy with 1 respawn each. This completely revamps your Search and Destroy tactics. No longer will lucky frag or well-placed claymore end your chance of victory. Each player has 1 respawn, creating longer more thoughout attack / defend strategies. Eliminate enemy players, and cut off their reinforcements while you defuse.

——–

If all these get past Quality Assurance (Test) with zero bugs, then we’ll be able to implement these four new playlists rather quickly (once QA and Localization is finished). In addition, we plan on adding Killhouse to more playlists and adjusting the amount of XP you get in certain playlists. (i.e. double XP in hardcore and new playlists).

Hit the jump for the playlists we’d like to do, but would require some code work to implement.

The following gametypes would require code support in order to implement. Which means we’d have to patch. Now anytime you require a patch that’s a much lengthier process than just doing a playlist update because it requires code work, very extensive QA both internally, at Activision, and at Microsoft / Sony. Which is why we want to attempt to get the playlist updates ABOVE out first, and then see what our options are with the ones BELOW. The ones which require additional support include:

Bare-Bones Team Deathmatch - Patch Required

Team Deathmatch with no perks and no air support. Problem: Slot 1 Perks Glitch

Hardcore Free for All - Patch Required

Free For All with Hardcore Settings. Problem: UAV glitch

Team Elimination (Last Man Standing) - Patch Required

3 round Team Deathmatch w/ no respawns. Switch sides each round. Problem: Round Switch Glitch

Multi-Bomb Search and Destroy - Patch Required

Search and Destroy but all attackers spawn with a bomb. Problem: Planting Glitch

]]> http://www.fourzerotwo.com/2008/08/18/mixing-things-up-new-playlist-status/feed/ http://www.fourzerotwo.com/2008/08/07/team-killers-are-lame/ http://www.fourzerotwo.com/2008/08/07/team-killers-are-lame/#comments Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:40:49 +0000 fourzerotwo http://www.fourzerotwo.com/?p=361

Nothing ruins a game of Hardcore Search and Destroy or Hardcore Team Deathmatch faster than an excessive team killer being a douche. So, all this talk of new playlists we’ve been doing around the studio recently (with the help of my raw hatred of team killers) got me to thinking about some Hardcore playlists variations we could possibly introduce when we do the playlist update.

What do you guys think of having the option of playing your favorite Hardcore playlists standard (HC S&D, HC TDM) in addition to Hardcore (Friendly Fire Disabled). Essentailly, standard Hardcore rules with limited hud, increased weapon damage, etc. minus the dread of team killers?

I mention it, because I think it’d be a nice option to have once we introduce Hardcore HQ and give those who love Hardcore but hate team killers a haven for some honest hardcore gameplay. So what’s the verdict? Would you like the option to play Hardcore Standard and Hardcore (No Friendly Fire)?

Note the word, option. Meaning, you can still play the way it is now (with friend fire on) or have an additional option to play without friend fire. I’m not proposing change all of Hardcore. I’m saying give an option for Hardcore lite in addition to the normal hardcore playlists there already are.

That said, we’ve already begun the process to add the new playlists to the game. Don’t get your hopes up just yet, as there is currently no ETA on when you can expect to see them go LIVE, but as soon as I know when you can expect them, I’ll let you know. I’ve walked you through the process we’re going through now at the end of this post. It’s not a long process, but still a process nonetheless.

Hit the jump for a full breakdown of the playlists we’ll be adding, as well as the process involved in adding new playlists to the game.

To give you an idea of what’s required to add a playlist to the game, I’ll break down the process we’re going through now.

1) Setting up the playlists.

Now that we’re ready to make these official playlists, one of our designers (Brent M.) is setting up the playlists and uploading it to PartnerNET so that we can play it locally on the GOLD build of the game.

2) Internal QA Testing

Once the playlists are set up so we can play it locally, the QA department will play test the new playlists and ensure there are no bugs and no problems with the settings. As I said, this past weekend we found a few bugs with Bare-bones Team Deathmatch when we disable perks which allowed you to still use perks in slot 1. So we’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen in the actual playlist and adjust accordingly.

3) Localization / Translations

While it’s going through QA, our production team has to work on localization of the Gametype descriptions and names so that we can get the new descriptions translated in every language the game is available in.

4) Pushing the playlist live

Once all localization and testing is complete, then we can upload the new playlists and flip the switch to make it available to everyone over Xbox live / PSN. No download or anything is required. The playlist will update seamlessly the next time players get on once it’s uploaded.

As I said, no ETA on how long all this will take, testing is always unquanifiable because you never know what could come up, but I’m expecting this to be a rather smooth process. As soon as I know when we’ll be pushing them live to you guys, I’ll post here and let you know you can expect them.

As a reminder, the new playlists we’re planning on adding include:

Bare-bones Team Deathmatch

No more excuses. No more blaming Martyrdom or Juggernaut for your lack of skills and kills. Bare Bones Team Deathmatch eliminates the excuses and takes it back to basics with standard Team Deathmatch with no perks, no kill streak rewards. Just you, your skill, and your weapons.

Hardcore HQ

Hardcore HQ requires a lot more than just spamming the HQ position with nades and running in guns blazing. Hardcore HQ encourages more tactical gameplay and communication to win with increased damage, no HUD elements, and friendly fire on.

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy starts every member of the attacking team with a bomb. So everyone has the opportunity to plant if they’re good enough.

Hardcore FFA

Even faster paced Free For Alls, where every bullet counts and playing smart is key for a solid k/d ratio. Standard Free for All rules, with Hardcore mode enabled for extra damage, no HUD, and no health re-gen.

Thanks to everyone who commented, sent in emails, or contacted me via other means; including the epic presentation I received via the mail this morning containing an entire breakdown of a new game mode complete with a full-size fold out poster (thanks Ian!!).

I received a lot of great suggestions and feedback regarding new playlists you guys would like to see, and this weekend I’m going to be hosting a series of private matches in Call of Duty 4 to test them out. So if you haven’t already, be sure to drop me a message on Xbox Live / PSN as I’ll be cleaning off room on my friends list and inviting anyone interested to help out this weekend.

Some of the gametypes we’re going to test out this weekend are:

Bare-bones Team Deathmatch

No more excuses. No more blaming Martyrdom or Juggernaut for your lack of skills and kills. Bare Bones Team Deathmatch eliminates the excuses and takes it back to basics with standard Team Deathmatch with no perks, no kill streak rewards. Just you, your skill, and your weapons.

Hardcore HQ

Hardcore HQ requires a lot more than just spamming the HQ position with nades and running in guns blazing. Hardcore HQ encourages more tactical gameplay and communication to win with increased damage, no HUD elements, and friendly fire on.

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy

Multi-bomb Search and Destroy starts every member of the attacking team with a bomb. So everyone has the opportunity to plant if they’re good enough.

Hardcore FFA

Even faster paced Free For Alls, where every bullet counts and playing smart is key for a solid k/d ratio. Standard Free for All rules, with Hardcore mode enabled for extra damage, no HUD, and no health re-gen.

—–

That’s the plan for this weekend. I’ll be setting up private rooms all weekend long and inviting everyone online and interested into the lobby to test them out. If we all like them, then come Monday when I get back to the studio, we’re going to work on adding them as new playlists.

If all goes well, I’d like to make this a weekly weekend event with you guys, where we log on every Saturday to try out new stuff you guys come up with, what we like stays, what we don’t goes! So log on this weekend to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, send me a friend request or a message letting me know you want to play, and let’s get some games going testing these out. See you online this weekend!

I spent most of my time, this past extended weekend, playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer with a lot of you from the community. The cool thing is, like most games that have been out for a while, the community starts creating their “own versions” of gametypes or completely making up new ones that they play in Private Match. So I spent a good deal of my time online this weekend in private matches with several readers of this blog, playing some community made gametypes. Such as one of our games of “Michael Myers” that one of the players in the game apparently recorded last night that can be found above.

If you’re not familiar with the Mike Myer’s gametype, it essentially boils down to hide and seek. Hit the jump for a full description of how to play it, but that’s not the point of this post.

The point is. Talk of new playlists has sprung up again here at the studio, and I’m pushing to get another playlist update for the game, hopefully adding some gametypes or revamped playlists. This weekend really got me thinking about what we can do. Essentially anything you can make up in Private Match (by tweaking settings / rules) can be used as a new playlists / gametype. Something as making more hardcore gametypes hardcore, or something more complex like a completely new mode.

That said, I’m looking for a group of people who’d be interested in getting together for some private matches and trying out some community made gametypes, or throwing in ideas for rule sets / settings that could make for some interesting gameplay. We obviously have some ideas already of what we’ve like to do, but I’m interested in playing all the community Gametypes that you guys have already come up with and seeing how fun they are. I’ve played Zombie (that’s a given), and quite a few other, but if you have any cool gametype you and your friends have come up with in COD4, let me know. Let’s play it.

Drop me a message online and I’ll make some room on my friends list, and we’ll get games going this week / weekend to try some of them out, or leave your gametype ideas / suggestions / rules in the comments!

For how to play “Mike Myers” or “Manhunt” as well as a summary of how our games went this weekend, hit the jump.

There is 1 “Mike Myers” which can only use a Shotgun, Pistol, and Knife. Nothing else, he goes on the bottom team.

Everyone else in the room goes on the top team. The goal is to hide around the map (sniper class helps), in the goal to be the last man alive. Mike Myers will go around finding / killing everyone until there is one person left. Once you’re the last man standing, you’re allowed to attempt to kill Mike Myers, but only using a knife, pistol, and stun grenades.

While the video above isn’t the best respresentation of it, it can actually be a lot of fun. Especially when you’re laying in a really great hiding spot and watch the “Mike Myers” walk right past you without ever realizing it.

The best games we played of it last night were on Overgrown and Crossfire. Overgrown is really good as there’s plenty of places to hide in the ghilie. At one point I was spotted on the rooftop by grandma’s house, so I had to make a run for it. I ended up being chased all the way by the barn, across the woodbridge, into the house, and out the door towards the Library.

I decided to lose him by going prone right outside the door leading towards the Library in the tall grass. It was one hell of a rush when he came running out, and right past me. Even after stopping and checking the grass for a bit, he missed me in the ghillie suit. I ended up winning that match, after finding a new hiding spot by the stone bridge on the other side of the sandbags. Waiting till I was the last person, and then popping up and killing him with my pistol. Great game.

So what was the average rank you guys ranked up during double XP? Anyone do any entire prestige during it?

As you know, the Variety Map Pack for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare went up on Xbox Live at 6:30 AM this morning. I wanted to give you the details on how it all works for now and how it’s all going to work in a couple of days.

Once you’ve downloaded the maps you’ll notice two new playlists:

Variety Team Deathmatch

Variety Team Objective

These two playlists will only contain the new map packs on the Team Deathmatch and Objective gametypes, and is currently the only place you can play the new maps. Players on these two new playlists may be able to grab some extra XP this first weekend, so keep your eye on it closely.

DON’T WORRY THOUGH, I already know what you’re thinking…”but I want to play all the gametypes on the new maps!”… and you will; because over the upcoming days the new maps will also be added to all other playlists and gametypes. This will allow people to get some gametype on the new maps right out the gate and get familiar with them on the more popular gametypes without dividing the community in half. Over the next few days as more and more people download the maps and join in, the maps will start showing up in the map rotation for all playlists.

So in short:

New Maps are in the Variety playlists.

In the upcoming days the new maps are going to be added to the rotation of all the playlists.

Let me know if you guys have any questions or problems, meanwhile ENJOY THE MAPS and I’ll see you online!

The weekly battle for the “Most Played Game on Xbox Live” continues this week with Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare still holding the #1 spot for 4 weeks straight and managing to keep Halo 3 from retaking the throne. I had a chance to talk with quite a few of the Bungie guys at GDC this past week, mostly at the Microsoft party, and I could tell that neither one of us were going to slip off the top of the charts without a fight.

With the release of our Feature patch and DLC coming closer and closer every day, and plenty of new playlist ideas being thrown around for Call of Duty 4 multiplayer I know we can keep the fight going for a long long time. I love these weekly number checks because it provides a great opportunity to give you guys a weekly update on how things are going here at the studio with those updates, so with that said…

I got word that the Xbox 360 Feature patch could be ‘very very close’, I can’t tell you exactly when because they haven’t passed on that information but apparently certification went fantastic and I was given the Green light to take care of some things that I have to do before it goes live to you guys, which means good things. I’m not going to get any hopes up, but I hope to be seeing some new Kill Cams by the weekend if we’re lucky. Don’t hold me to that though, but I have a good feeling about it.

The Ps3 Feature Patch has officially made it’s way off to Sony and has been going through the certification process, this one should be a rather quick turnaround hopefully so I’m not expecting too much delay on this at all. I will keep you updated as much as I can on it’s progress.

Hit the jump for DLC talk…

As for DLC, their coming along great. We have a DLC Play test at 5:30 today which is essentially where we all jump in and play games on the new maps. QA plays with us so they test for bugs and glitches, while we play more for the design aspect. For example one of our guys found this killer sniping spot on one of the new maps which is really open where you could basically see around the entire map if on a certain rooftop, so we’re going to jump in there and see if we feel it’s too overpowered or just a really sweet sniper spot. To be fair, the map he found it on is a huge map ripe for snipers anyway, so it may not be that big a deal as there’s plenty of ground coverage and alternate ‘covered’ paths to take.

During this DLC test we’re going to be recording some video of one of the maps for SpikeTV / GameTrailers that I did an interview with last week talking about this specific map. It’s a bit further along with the rests and is a special treat to some of our “loyal” Call of Duty players that I know a lot of you are going to love, especially you Sgt. Payback.
I also have to take three screenshots of the new maps for later on when we start doing promotion, so I have to start scouting out some good angles in the maps to take shots of. We typically like to get a key map landmark in each screenshot on loading screens as you could probably tell that really identifies it as THAT MAP. Which is what I mean by good angle, for example, when you see Bloc, you know it’s bloc because of the statue in the middle and ferris wheel, or Crash because of the Helicopter, and so on and so forth.

Other than that we’re looking at new playlists ideas, possible new gametypes, rulesets, things we can do separate from new DLC that we’re already working on that will keep the game fresh and new for players. Those will probably start showing up a little after the feature patch hits. So if you have ideas for cool playlists keep sending them in for consideration as that’s something we can constantly change, add, take away, etc at any time. I think I already have my favorite that we’ll try out first…

This battle for the #1 spot has been causing a surge of “Call of Duty 4 vs Halo 3″ articles and forum debates, and I don’t think the question is necessarily as easy as “which game is better”, because that’s all just opinions. Both amazing games, the question I have is who will stay on top, and do I think we can stay on top?

So can we stay on top? Yes.

Why do I think that? Well…

I fully expect to be battling for the #1 spot back and forth with Halo at the moment, it’s a great game with a huge following, but I also know we have a hardcore community of players not to mention have quite a few things up our sleeves for the game (some announced / some unannounced).

Reason #1 — Upcoming Feature Patch:

 New Kill Cams

We’re currently finishing up testing a feature patch thats going to bring a lot of enhancements and new features to the multiplayer overall that a lot of the community’s going to love. From Host Migration so when the host leaves you don’t have to research and re-invite everyone, you’ll all stick together and just assign a new host, to new Kill Cams for everything. So now those “WTF!” grenades that seemingly come from no where, you can see that a guy threw it over the house, it hit a tree branch, bounced off a rock, into a tiny window, where you happened to be pointing out of, and say…… whoa. Follow behind RPGs and M203’s kill cams, claymores, Airstrikes where you can follow the bomb from the plane until it hits you.

Host Migration:

Now you won’t have to be dropped back by yoursef when a host leaves. Instead, everyone will stay together, a new host will be assigned, and the game will auto-start back up. Keeping everyone together, no more re-inviting, re-joining games because some host leaves. This has been a tall order and something that we’ve put a lot of work into which has allowed us to really optimize online play all around not just specifically with Host migration.

Improved Sniper / ACOG Accuracy:

Sniper and ACOG scopes have been tweaked and are really improved. I use to not snipe at all (mainly because I’m a horrible sniper), but now it’s so much more fluid and natural, while still having the same difficulty to use, it has no more “WTF I know I hit that guy!” moments.

Upgraded Spectator Cam:

Now when you’re in spectator mode you can follow them in 3rd person, switch to their first person view, or rotate the camera in a full 360 degrees around whoever you’re watching.

[PATCH STATUS: Still in test, we're currently heavily testing the Host Migration before we submit it for certification at Microsoft. So heavily, we currently have the most highly paid test team ever as everyone here at IW is currently help test it, not just the QA department, we have the programmers in there right now actively working to push this thing out as quickly as possible as well as we've all been doing daily take home tests to get time on it even after the day has ended. Great progress happening on it.]

 Reason # 2 — Working on new DLC Maps:

The patch isn’t the only thing heading to multiplayer that we’re working on behind the scenes here at Infinity Ward. I announced at the beginning of this week that we’re also working on some brand new maps for Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and trust me, based on the feedback were getting regarding what type of new maps you guys what, you’re not going to be disappointed. We’re putting a lot of community involvement, ideas, and feedback into these maps and I can tell you right now that some of the ones we’re working on are exactly what some of you have asked for. Can’t wait to share more details with you when we get a bit further done and start showing them off a bit. Thanks to everyone who has been commenting on the New Maps post.

Reason # 3 - Possibility of new Playlists

We’ve been throwing around new playlist ideas here at the office on ways we can constantly be updating the multiplayer experience for you guys (the community). Try out a few different ideas, see how you guys like them, if it’s gold, we keep it. This sounds like a perfect question for anyone who reads this blog, you guys had great feedback on what you think would make a good map, so what do you think would make a good playlists?

Hardcore Headquarters? I know a few of you have IM’d me that.

Maybe some Team Survival? Essentially just Team Deathmatch with no respawns, last man standing wins.

I would love to get some Hardcore Team Survival going, now that would be some serious shit. No Health Re-gen, no Respawns, just you, your weapon and your 1 life. What do you think? If you could fully customize a gametype (which you can in private match) what would be the rules? What would you call it? Hell, maybe we’ll try it out. I’m being 100% serious too, I’m interested in hearing what you think makes a good game type cause I’d really love to see what we can do to test some out.

Conclusion

Those, among other things, makes me confident we can stay at #1 for quite a while with the support of the community keeping the game fun and fresh.  So let’s do it, I’m gonna be gathering up a group of the IW guys and start playing at a dedicated time / day each week, maybe we’ll kick it off tomorrow night? Who’s down for some Hardcore Search and Destroy tomorrow night around 8 pm PST? Regretfully my friends list is full, so I can’t add every friend request I receive but I figured if we have a dedicated gaming night where we know a lot of you and a lot of us (IW) are all going to be on, pick a specific playlist for the night, we’ll all have a much better chance of running into each other online. See you online and be sure to comment with your Playlist ideas.