Austin Barber & Kevin LearyCOMP 089

Military Technology in the Consumer

Market:

Why Call of Duty Series?• Military technology is so significant because it directly affects the development of

all other sectors of technology we have discussed in class so far, and more.• These developments are often seen in commercial markets, such as video games.

Arguably the most popular military first person shooter in stores today is the Call of Duty series.

• Military personnel back up the idea that Call of Duty is one of the most realistic warfare experiences through the consumer market.

• We chose this topic because we did our final project on military technology as well. We also enjoy playing these games and we thought it would be a good idea to look at these games side by side and analyze how realistic they are and record which game is more popular based on single player and multiplayer gaming.

• The Call of Duty series has had military advisors take part in the development of these games from the start; they have incorporated their knowledge in a variety of ways from the firing of their weapons and the way smoke grenades deploy to specific tactics from historical accounts of history.

Issues and Challenges• Current games can only be so up to date since new developments

are being created every single day. The latest game can only be so relevant.

• There is a certain degree of secrecy required between the two developers, Infinity Ward and Treyarch. These two developers must keep details from each other since they are in fierce competition with one another, but they must also suppress details from the public in order to keep us interested in the series.

• Since most of us have not had any experience in firing any of these weapons, and we have not had loads of up to 120 lbs. strapped to us while we were running around shooting these weapons, it could be hard to judge just how realistic the gameplay is.

Infinity Ward and Treyarch

• The development of Call of Duty has been shared since the start of the series. Infinity Ward and Treyarch have traditionally traded off developing for subsequent sequels, with the two most recent games being Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops, developed by Infinity Ward and Treyarch respectively.

• Besides the Call of Duty series, Infinity Ward has been involved with the development of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.

• Treyarch has additionally been involved in the production of the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, Spider-Man series, NHL 2K2 & 2K3, and Quantum of Solace.

Infinity Ward• Infinity Ward is an American video game

developer based in Santa Monica, California. It was started in 2002 by Vince Zampella and Grant Collier with an original team of 22 members.

• After developing Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Activision began to heavily fund Infinity Ward when it created its first game, Call of Duty.

• In 2009, Zampella left Infinity Ward for Activision.

• Infinity Ward’s sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, earned over $550 million in sales in its first five days on the market, with $310 million of those sales made in the first 24 hours after the game’s release.

Infinity Ward Demo

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Treyarch• Treyarch is an American video game

developer company based in Santa Monica, California as well.

• It was founded in 1996 by Peter Akemann and Dogan Koslu and acquired by Activision in 2001.

• Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops holds the record for the largest ever entertainment launch in history in any form of entertainment, breaking the record within the first 24 hours of its release.

• By December 22, worldwide revenue of Black Ops exceeded $1 billion.

Treyarch Demo

• Call of Duty: Black Ops

Game Engines

• Both Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops use the IW 4.0 engine, originally developed by Infinity Ward.

• The IW engine is based on the id Tech 3, which was used in the first Call of Duty game.

• IW 4.0 features texture streaming technology to create much higher detail in the environment.

• With the new engine, Infinity Ward has addressed the issue of continual respawn points for enemies by utilizing a “dynamic AI,” which allows enemies to act more independently by seeking out a player and driving him through the level.– This prevents the user from following the same exact route each respawn.

A game engine is a software system designed for the creation and development of video games. The core functionality typically provided by a game engine includes a rendering engine for 3D graphics, a physics engine or collision detection, sound, scripting, animation, artificial intelligence, networking, streaming, memory management, threading, localization support, and a scene graph.

Game Engine Demo

• id Tech 3• IW 4.0

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2• Modern Warfare 2 was developed by Infinity Ward and published by

Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as the Microsoft Windows OS. It was released on Nov. 10, 2009 and is the sixth installment of the Call of Duty series.

• It continues the storyline from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but is widely praised for its in-depth multiplayer component.

• It is often criticized for its single-player campaign, which switches between five different characters. This can get confusing; for instance, one moment the user controls an agent fighting terrorism, the next he is a terrorist mowing down civilians.

• Modern Warfare 2 creates subtle undertones of espionage through the structure of the campaign, in the sense that the user is not always gunning down enemies with a turret; sometimes the user is required to move silently and act tactfully. This requires more thought and creates a more realistic gameplay.

Call of Duty: Black Ops• Black Ops was developed by Treyarch and published by Activision as

well. It was released on April 30, 2010 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and is the seventh installment of the Call of Duty series.

• It is the first game to be set in the Cold War and focuses on black operations carried out behind enemy lines. The game touches on nuclear warfare, chemical warfare, the Bay of Pigs, and the ending even suggests that the main character assassinated John F. Kennedy.

• Treyarch enhanced Infinity Ward’s IW 4.0 by using motion capture technology which allows for accurate facial expressions. This technology captures the whole performance of the actor.

• Black Ops also continues Treyarch’s “zombie” game mode, where the user can play with John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Robert McNamara, and Fidel Castro as they fight zombies at The Pentagon.

Modern Warfare 2 & Black Ops Comparison

Game FeaturesMaps at Launch 16 Maps 14 Maps

Bonus Maps 10 Maps4 Announced

MapsTotal Maps to Date 26 Maps 16 Maps

Assault Rifles 9 10

Sub Machine Guns 5 9

Light Machine Guns 5 4Sniper Rifles 4 4Riot Shield Yes NoTotal Weapons 43 42Killstreak Rewards 15 15

Modern Warfare 2 & Black Ops Comparison

Game Details

Game TitleCall of Duty:

Modern Warfare 2Call of Duty:

Black OpsDeveloper Infinity Ward TreyarchPublisher Activision ActivisionYear Published 2009 2010

Opening Day4.7 Million Copies

Sold5.6 Million Copies Sold

Modern Warfare 2 & Black Ops Comparison

Game DifferencesMatchmaking Flawless Has ProblemsCheaters Many Virtually NoneCombat Training None

Local Split Screen & Online

Wager Match None 4 Game TypesHow to Unlock Guns Experience

CoD Points & Experience

Primary Weapons in Call of Duty

Secondary Weapons in Call of Duty

Modern Technology Applied to Weapons

• Developers apply extreme detail to all weapons in the game through a variety of different methods.– Sounds of firings are recorded for each gun– The kick of each gun is accounted for through the

change in accuracy while firing the weapon– Engravings and wear are accounted for on all weapons

• The killstreak system allows users to operate a variety of advanced weaponry. See next slide for details.

Modern Warfare 2 & Black Ops Killstreaks

• UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) (3)

• Care Package (4)• Sentry Gun/Predator Missile (5)• Precision Airstrike (6)• Harrier Strike/Attack Helicopter

(7)• Emergency Airdrop (8)• Pavelow/Stealth Bomber (9)• Chopper Gunner/AC-130 (11)• EMP (15)• Tactical Nuke (25)

• Spy Plane/RC-XD (3)• Counter-Spy Plane/SAM

Turret (4)• Care Package/Napalm Strike

(5)• Sentry Gun/Mortar Team (6)• Attack Helicopter/Valkyrie

Rockets (7)• Blackbird/Rolling Thunder (8)• Chopper Gunner (9)• Attack Dogs/Gunship (11)

Alterations on Weapons

• Almost all features of weaponry in Call of Duty are very accurate; however, in order to keep a level of entertainment, some details must be omitted or altered.– The Javelin missile does not launch into the stratosphere and

then come down on an aerial target; the peak of the trajectory is actually right above the target.

– Smoke grenades actually take about 17 seconds to fully deploy, but most of us are not this patient.

– Contrary to what some may think, there were soldiers who actually employed the crossbow; however, the explosive tip attached to it was incorporated to add a creative, entertaining effect.

Hank Keirsey: The Real Soldier Behind Call of Duty

• Hank Keirsey is military advisor who has worked with the Call of Duty series from the start.

• He had not played a video game since Pong when he started his work on the series, thus, he was selected to join the development team not based on his knowledge of video games but his unique military perspective.

• With over 25 years of military service and instruction, Keirsey is a qualified military historian and soldier to be on the team.

• In addition, he interviewed veterans from game-specific time periods in order to gain more broad perspectives.

• Hank wants to stress that it is not only the gameplay and weapons that are important, but specific historical accounts and details that add to the grittiness and darkness of war.

Military Reception of Call of Duty• Due to the fact that today’s “battlefield” is not very turbulent, most

soldiers train for situations that they may never experience. More soldiers are being taken off this “battlefield” and put in front of a computer screen; this makes Call of Duty much more entertaining and aligned to what they are trained for.

• Call of Duty allows them to go back to base and experience all of the details of combat without the fear, pain, or effects.

• The scenarios that the player goes through in these games come from real historical events, with creativity laced into them to allow for more entertainment in a combat environment.

• Not only are the movements of the soldiers in the games identical to military procedure, but the markings on the guns are exactly the same as in real life. Soldiers recognize these small details which contribute to the overall degree of realism.

Findings• After analyzing all of the aspects and researching the development of

these two video games, we have come to the conclusion that the consumer market offers no better product which simulates warfare than these two games.

• Aside from firing automatic weapons, which are illegal for civilians to possess, the only way to experience a simulation more realistic is to join the military and train with their technology unavailable to the consumer market.– For example, live fire training technology, which incorporates live weapons with

blank rounds and existing rooms with virtual reality: Live Fire Technology– Also, these simulations offer civilians the only opportunity to control advanced

weaponry such as predator missiles, chopper gunners, and AC-130s.• We could continue future work with the next installment in the Call of

Duty series, as well as a more analytical observation of military training technologies.