Call of Duty – Advanced Warfare
Working on COD-AW was one of the best experiences of my career. The work I did for this game and the friends I made along the way are some of my most proud accomplishments. This game challenged me in many ways and also allowed me to shine through leadership with the trust the team had in me.
Level: Defender
Defender is a large open map great for medium and long range weapons. It features a large surface to air laser defense system in the center that acts like a large turret taking down air vehicles. On one side of the map is the ocean and on the other side are mountains and forest. The skyline is broken up by the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco, CA. This location, previously an old WWII bunker has been repurposed for Advanced Warfare by building a metal structure on top of the existing concrete structure.
Level Layout and Inspiration:
When I set out to design the layout and theme of this map I knew I wanted to center it around a large surface to air defense system. I thought it would be interesting to provide players with a way to counter air-streaks and also create a destination in the map that could be used as a focal point. Originally there was an on/off switch in the center of the map near the large turret, but once we decided that map score streaks would be activated via the same method as other score streaks we had to remove the on switch. There remains an off switch just outside the large center structure that serves as a destination for those wanting to take down enemy air-streaks.
Nike Missile Site SF-51L circa 2011, Pacifica, CA
This map was my first multi-player map I made for COD-AW and I had a lot of stored up inspiration I wanted to express through the theme of this map. Born and raised in the San Francisco bay area myself, I wanted to make sure to show some of the natural elements I loved seeing on hikes and playing in as a kid. I was inspired by some of the foliage and biodiversity that we experience here along with some of the odd relics left behind from WWII like the Nike Missile base at Milagra Creek Overlook Trail in Pacifica, CA.
Nike Missile Site SF-51L circa 2011, Pacifica, C
I was fortunate to work with an amazing team of artists who were up for the challenges with this map. Specifically, our lead artist, who had solutions and lead the effort. He was able to take some of my ideas and expand on them and he helped a lot with the early concepts that I used for the layout as well. I am very grateful to have been paired with him and all the other amazing environment artists at Sledgehammer who worked on this level.
Gameplay Footage:
Surface to Air Laser Defense System:
Tsunami Event:
Another important element to this map was the tidal wave “Dynamic Event” that happened midway through the gameplay of the map. The creative direction for the dynamic event was that it would be something that changed the way the player navigated the map. I pitched the idea of the ocean coming into the map and changing the way the player navigated the lower lane of the map. I prototyped a swimming mechanic and had the support of our Lead VFX artist in making the event be a tidal wave caused by a tsunami. Gameplay-wise the player could use the water to crouch under as cover and bullets would not be as accurate when shot into the water. I was also responsible for scripting the dynamic event since this was the first level it was implemented in. The creative direction for this is that it would happen predictably halfway through the match. Initially it was both time and score based but in the end we took out the score case for the event in favor of something more obvious and predictable with the timer. I enjoyed putting on my systems scripting hat and creating a system that could be used in all the maps later on with the help of an amazing engineering team. Not to mention audio who helped sell the Tsunami event with sirens!