Game development is hard work - we don't think anyone is disputing that. It's perhaps something some people in the community easily overlook, but when games release half finished and buggy, it clearly causes a divide and frustration. Former Sledgehammer Games boss Glen Schofield has weighed in on his experience working with Call of Duty, suggesting players "don't realise how much work" goes into making the series.
Schofield, who has worked on past games such as Call of Duty: WWII and Advance Warfare, recently spoke to Edge magazine about his experience in the industry over the past 30 years (many thanks to VGC for the transcript).
Through his own experiences, he attempted to address the common complaint that the Call of Duty series consistently churns out a new game each year, by expanding on what work goes behind each entry.
“People nowadays [think] a Call of Duty is… you know, just put it through the grinder and another one will come out. They don’t realise how much work goes into making a Call of Duty game. There’s just a ton of research. You’re working with experts – I studied World War Two for three years. I worked with historians. I spent eight days in a van in Europe going to all the places that were going to be in the game. I shot different old weapons. All of these things that you have to do when you’re working on a Call of Duty game."
He even highlighted his days working on Call of Duty: Advance Warfare, recalling times he worked alongside "Navy SEALS and Delta Force people to learn [the] tactics and techniques and get them into the game."
"And, you know, to become an expert – we worked with Navy SEALS and Delta Force people to learn [the] tactics and techniques and get them into the game, right? You had to learn about the Special Forces from different countries like England and France and Spain and Italy and all that, because they were all in the game. So, a lot of learning, constantly reading, constantly watching videos and constantly working with experts."
With this year's entry it appears to be all hands on deck, as Activision has shifted a ton of its developers to work on the yet-to-be-announced game. This even includes Toys for Bob, the team behind the recent Crash Bandicoot and Spyro titles.
This year's instalment is reportedly known as Vanguard, but we're still awaiting official confirmation. What we do know from reports is that it's claimed to be set during World War II. In the meantime, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is having a free-to-play week coming up, so if you're eager to get in on the action, be sure to check it out!
Do you agree with Schofield's comments about the development of Call of Duty? Let us know in the comments below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 16
As someone in the military I think I can say that COD games are entertaining, but not very realistic. It's cool that weapons and scenery might be heavily based on reality but the combat has never been anywhere close. People don't sprint around in combat with battle rattle all the time, jumping isn't a thing, and going solo Rambo is day one training to get you killed. These things are needed to keep the games fun for players, but let's not pretend they're any close to being realistic.
More like copy paste.
@RedShirtRod I was a machine gunner in the marines. I agree that the multiplayer component of call of duty is not realistic at all, but if you watch the npcs in the campaign they are taking cover and bounding etc.
"I studied world war II for three years"
Maybe y'all should've spent more time on data compression
That research is to make the game 'look' right for the period and I have no doubt that it would help if you are creating a 'campaign' set in that time-period too. Its the same with Film, TV and Fiction writers too - they do their research to create a more authentic looking/feeling fictional story - even if the setting is based in reality. There are hundreds of fictional, but Historically 'accurate' stories in movies, TV, books and gaming.
It also helps to have period accurate clothing, gear etc too to ground the player in that time period.
When they made Advanced Warfare, they still used military advisors, military and private company developments etc and 'projected' where they thought the 'future' of warfare could go. Hence you have ExoSkeletons as the Military are working on these now but it was still researched.
I think the problem with CoD is that most think of the MP as being 'CoD' and apart from the 'skin' of the game, its pretty much the 'same game' every year. Whether its got a WW2 'skin', modern or 'future', its difficult to see why research was required - other than to ensure the 'skin' looks period correct. At least when they went a bit more 'futuristic', they could try and innovate on the movement.
It doesn't really matter what the 'story' of D-Day was, the various battles fought before the final days in Europe if all you are interested in is making a MP map to represent 'Juno' or the Battle of Caen - just some Pics or film to get an idea of the aesthetics and then try and make a Map that feels 'balanced' for both sides - which wasn't the case with many battles as 1 side often had the 'high ground' but that doesn't make a good MP map.
I am NOT at all surprised by his comments and it totally makes sense to me for the traditional Single Player campaigns.
@JorbNorb Copy & Paste is Bethesda.
@Luigi_Skywalker I definitely agree they put more effort into campaigns than MP. I think it comes down to looks and feels. NPCs, scenery, sounds all can add to a game the more realistic they are. Looking more realistic is always a good thing.
When a game tries to feel more realistic is when they fail. Ubisoft tried that with Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Exhaustion, permanent injury, isolation all were sold as making it more real like but it didn't work. First, real world isn't fun to put in games. If they truly wanted to be realistic players would get to sit around for a couple hours doing nothing before each match. Second, beyond sticking a shock collar on gamers the decisions they make won't ever be realistic. You and I know that real world training and tactics are based on a degree of fear. Never gonna get that into a game.
@RedShirtRod
So in the army you cant jump of skyscrapers with a bazooka on your shoulder, shooting helicopters? Lol just kidding.
@The-Chosen-one Might be only in advance training.
I would love to read the conversations this guy had with delta and the seals. I can only imagine it was him doodling on his notepad while they told him what combat is like.
@RedShirtRod lol, isn’t that the truth! No one would buy the “hurry up and wait” game. I tend to think of these games more as virtual paintball.
@notleks_ I cannot thing of a single Bethesda game that is copy paste. Care to elaborate?
@InterceptorAlpha Seriously? So you’ve never seen or played Skyrim?
@notleks_ Were talking about copy pasting a new game into existence Ala COD. Bethesda has yet to do this.
If you're talking about in a single game, that is not what is being discussed.
Once systems are buillt, aside from cinematic, scripting, and some other small bits, a significant portion of single game development is copy pasting.
Well they don't bother to optimise them to save space & theres the bug that makes you have to redownload the entire game even when you already have the latest version installed
@InterceptorAlpha Maybe he means Ubisoft? Regardless, I don't mind it when companies re-use assets as a template for a new game...it just bothers me when they don't ADD to the template. In the case of COD, it doesn't feel like they've added anything new since bullet-penetration in 2007. No noticeable improvements to A.I. or physics or destructibility or interactivity, etc.
"There’s just a ton of research. You’re working with experts – I studied World War Two for three years. I worked with historians. I spent eight days in a van in Europe going to all the places that were going to be in the game. I shot different old weapons. "
My heart goes out to the poor bloke. Getting paid to do a bunch of awesome stuff...
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