In the office of Nebula Games, Lucas was still discussing a detail about the development of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with everyone.
He hadn't gone into the overall structure in depth yet.
But when it came to details, they could handle a lot.
Especially by putting a ton of resources into rendering a map.
This would give players an experience like watching a movie.
The goal was naturally top-notch visuals.
In multiplayer competitive modes, that kind of visual quality might not be what most players want.
But in the single-player story, stunning visuals would definitely pull players deeper into the plot.
There's no doubt about that.
"For the physics engine part, the development prototype from the Game Division hasn't arrived yet, but I already know most of the related data."
"Compared to what's on current VR, it's already very strong, but there are still many details that need us to handle manually."
"Things like glass in a room or walls getting blown apart all need special effects made."
As Lucas explained various parts, everyone there was shocked.
"But with Boss Lucas's new VR gear specs, such a huge and complex scene might be hard to pull off, right?" Hector spoke up with a question.
It wasn't that they couldn't do it, but with the current device standards, it would be tough to handle.
"Put all the VR device's power into one level." Lucas said.
"But that would make the game feel choppy, and players would have to wait a bit for loading screens." Hector continued.
"Use cutscenes." Lucas glanced at Hector and said it simply.
Hearing Lucas, Hector got it right away.
Wow, that's a straightforward and rough way!
How to make players not notice the loading and keep the experience smooth like silk?
The answer is simple: turn the loading screen into a cutscene video, and make the cutscene longer than the actual loading.
It's a very basic and direct method.
But few game companies do it.
Why?
Because it doesn't really boost the overall game quality much.
But for Lucas, he knew full well the value of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Cutscene animations?
And compared to Warcraft, which is an RTS and hard to add ongoing revenue from, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare as an FPS game, like Rainbow Six: Siege, could add plenty of in-game purchases.
Next up was the gun sounds, which were also made by hand.
For example, missile sounds came from recording snowmobiles and then tweaking them.
Real sounds are often way off from what players imagine.
Just like in war games, if it's as brutal as a documentary, most players might lose interest.
After all, what many players want is their fantasy, not reality.
Like cat girls, players want the cute anime style, like chocolate, vanilla, red bean, or coconut flavors, not the weird ones from creepy stories.
As for the shooting feel and actions of guns in VR.
Nebula Games had no experience with this before, but now Lucas could only say: Thanks, NetDragon.
After confirming some development details for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with the team, Lucas went back to his office to work on more game content.
In Lucas's view, the gameplay for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was already pretty solid.
And compared to FPS games on the market now, a lot of designs in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare were still very advanced.
As for comparing it to Rainbow Six: Siege, which just launched not long ago, they were totally different types of games, with different player bases.
First off, the health regen from breathing wasn't invented by the Call of Duty series.
The shield in Halo was the early form of health regen, but Call of Duty really made it popular.
The biggest plus of this system is that it keeps players focused on the fight and the pace.
After taking damage, depending on how bad it is, the screen goes red or black and white, but if you don't die right away, step back from combat for a few seconds without getting hit, and you can breathe to heal.
This pulls players deeper into the game and keeps the pace fast.
In regular FPS games, when you get hurt, you usually hunt for health packs.
That breaks the flow, splitting the tight story, level design, and combat.
But with health regen, players stay in the fight the whole time.
Besides that, there are multiplayer settings like customizing guns and weapons, such as infrared sights, night vision, and all kinds of attachments.
And Call of Duty's unique killstreak rewards, where after chain kills, you can use high-tech gear.
In the previous life, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare blew up because all games back then were stuck in World War I or II settings, and the story was great.
The variety of modern weapons also drew players in.
If the story puts modern warfare at its peak, then multiplayer mode makes it an annual hit.
Intense, fast-paced battles—that's the core idea of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.
Of course, special maps where everyone hides in corners, you search forever without finding anyone, and end up dying to a mine—those are exceptions.
......
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare soon entered full-speed development, and as a VR game, the main difference from the previous life was the immersion.
Things like the force feedback in the VR pod needed Lucas to tweak them one by one.
The VR feedback from shooting guns, getting hit by bullets, explosions, climbing, jumping, and so on.
All had matching feedback.
And the details were just as important, grabbing every little thing.
Physics from explosions and shots, plus how scenes get wrecked—these are all key.
Lucas's only goal was to let players really become Soap, Price, and those characters while playing.
Living the story of Task Force 141.
The tasks were a lot of work, but the team had experience from developing Rainbow Six: Siege content.
Including talks with NetDragon, which Lucas had already handled.
They would provide tech support, and in return, Lucas would share some tech support later.
Like on AI.
"Don't rush the progress on purpose. Let the NetDragon folks do more of the heavy lifting, and you learn more with the tech team."
In the office, Lucas called Hector in to assign work.
Hector smiled: "Got it, Boss Lucas."
Seeing that, Lucas nodded with a smile.
(End of Chapter)
---
Read +100 advanced chapters on my patre*n
patr eon.com/GustinaKamiya
Free Tier can read 3 advanced chapters
---