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Treyarch has managed to turn an unlockable extra from CoD: World at War into a fully functional sub-franchise. I think we can all agree that the Zombie mode in Black Ops was worth the price of admission all by itself. Today, at Call of Duty XP, the boys from Treyarch gave us a behind-the-scenes look into the process that has made zombies a favorite among fans. Here are a few of the more interesting comments. 
Right out of the gate, the moderator asked about the sound design behind Nazi Zombies, and I was surprised by the level of complexity that these guys put into it. The staff would spend days in the sound booth grunting their best zombie-like sounds into a microphone. In the end, the sound designer would pick a specific set of sounds for each specific genre of zombie. Ideally, they wanted players to be able to identify the zombie by what type of sound it’s making. 2. The Story When they were creating the original Zombies mode, they had no idea that it would turn into a full-on phenomenon. But since it has, they’ve been able to expand the story and add several side stories to the main franchise. 3. What Have Zombies Given Back? The moderator asked, “What have zombies given back to gaming?” There was an awkward silence for a few moments, but the panel finally answered, “Pony tail tech.” Seriously. Apparently they invented a technology to give ponytails a bouncy lifelike quality, and this bit of tech has since been used in other titles. 
This was one of the most interesting parts about this panel. These guys showed that they really love the Zombies community, and unlike many developers, they take community feedback very seriously. In fact, it’s safe to say that almost every major advancement in Zombies was drawn from some type of community interaction. 5. Morse Code The moderator turned to the audience and asked, “How many people here learned Morse code from “Call of The Dead?” A disturbing number of people raised their hands. 6. Character Creation The panel discussed the thought process surrounding each of the characters, but admitted that they’ve evolved so drastically over time that they’re almost unrecognizable as their former selves. Originally, they would just come up with the most basic stereotype that they could think of. (Nicholai is a drunk Russian, for instance.) But over the history of the franchise, each character has developed a little bit of a back story. However, creating the back-story and maintaining the character’s integrity is becoming increasingly difficult. For each map, they write between 400-500 lines of dialogue for every character, and, obviously, characters can start to get a little repetitive now that they’ve released so many maps. The panel also mentioned that after they write out the dialogue, the writers go back and perform the lines live for the other staff members at Treyarch. If two-thirds of the audience doesn’t laugh, the line is cut. 7. Biggest Challenges The moderator asked what the biggest challenge in creating the zombie maps has been, and each panel member gave their own personal answer. 8. Community The last thing that the moderator asked was, “What’s your favorite thing about zombies?” The entire panel answered: “The community.” I’ve never felt so appreciated by a group of people I’ve never met. I left feeling like we should all get together, hug, and murder a few zombies. In the end, it’s clear that the zombie team at Treyarch is trying to do something that is 100% about fun, and I think this mentality is evident in the staff members themselves. Other great Call of Duty news stories! By Josh Engen |