Call of Duty Black Ops 2

[MaydaX]

 

https://twitter.com/CallofDuty/status/240176025617719296/photo/1

[HSMagnet]

mmmmmmmm braaaaaains

[MaydaX]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WmtGCwEv-k

 

http://www.callofduty.com/blackops2/ce

 

$179 Collector Edition is for consoles only

 

DIGITAL DELUXE EDITION (PC) SRP $79.99:

- Call of Duty: Black Ops II

- Nuketown Zombies Bonus Map - Battle hordes of Zombies in this beloved 1960s nuclear neighborhood.

- Nuketown 2025 Bonus Map - Relive the close quarters chaos of this classic fan-favorite map re-imagined in a 1960s visionary depiction of the "model home of the future."

- Weapon Camo - Rank-up in style with an exclusive multiplayer weapon skin.

- (2) Player Card Backgrounds - Liven up any killcam with two exclusive player card backgrounds, inspired by Nuketown 2025 and Zombies.

- Official Call of Duty: Black Ops II Soundtrack - A digital copy of composer Jack Wall's epic in-game score with Theme by Trent Reznor.

- Call of Duty: World at War Game Download Token - A digital download of Treyarch's classic title, traversing WWII storylines from the Pacific to European theaters of war.

[MaydaX]

On Second Chance/Last Stand/Final Stand:

There’s no Second Chance; there’s no Last Stand, there’s no Final Stand. There’s no combination whatsoever of perk or deathstreak that puts the guy in the “downed” state in multiplayer. It’s still used as the revival state in Zombies when you get downed. But it’s not in multiplayer — there is no perk and there are no deathstreaks, so there is no Final Stand or equivalent of it. Absolutely not. Please stop yelling at me.

 

On earning — and looping — scorestreak rewards:

Let me tell you where this is right now, and it’s something we are pretty happy with at this point. It does wrap around, but you can’t earn more than one of a type. Let’s say you took UAV and Counter UAV. If you earned the UAV then earned the Counter UAV, you’re going to start buildingagain for the UAV — but if you haven’t spent it, if you haven’t called it in or activated it, you’re not going to get a second one. You’re just going to get notified that you’re back at that part of the chain. You would definitely want to activate those scorestreaks so when you loop, you’ll get them again. It’s not like Black Ops 1, which is they just keep going forever and you effectively have to die to loop. You don’t have to die to loop at any point; you’ll just keep looping.

 

The Prestige gear acquisition system is still a work in progress.

 

On leveling and gear acquisition:

When you start at level 1, you will start leveling up and you will get to level 4. You will unlock create-a-class and you will have four unlock tokens, one for each level. You will then have a range of things you can spend those unlock tokens on — but not everything. By the time you’re up to level 55, you have — surprise — 55 tokens. So along the way, you’ve been deciding how to spend those tokens on content that’s been level-gated. Level-gated content includes all the weapons, all the perks, all the equipment — tactical and lethal grenades — as well as the wildcards. Those things are all level-gated and they all require tokens to unlock.

 

Bam, I’m level 55, I have 55 things from anything that was available in create-a-class — but only 55, because you only get 55 tokens and there’s over 100 pieces of content. That’s 1 through 55. You go and you Prestige…the way we’re looking at this right at this moment in time is, because you’re Prestige, you can pick out one of those things and hold on to it as you continue through the Prestige progression. So 1 through 55 is set in stone, we’re happy with it. What we’re working on right now is making sure Prestige feels just as good.

 

On rewarding aggressive players with more score:

There are definitely events, particularly in objective-based game modes, where you are going to get more score for being on the aggressive side. For example, capturing a flag required you to get a flag in the first place. Those things are harder to do than, say, sitting at the back of your base, defending your flag. So those aggressive-style actions usually award more score, in general, because guys who are out trying to do those things die a lot more than the guys at the back of the field.

 

Pick 10 makes sense — but what if you Pick 0?

 

On removing all 10 of your Pick-10 points:

You have the combat knife in your hand if you are not carrying either a primary or a secondary weapon. We looked and thought about not doing that, and the truth of the matter is that it’s just very unusual to play the game with absolutely nothing in your hands, and just having your fists. It’s been this way for four or five months — if you are unequipped on primary or secondary, we have to give you a way to defend yourself and fight.

 

On the Black Ops II emblem creator:

There’s a lot more granularity and control over the colors. There are a lot more layers you can use. You can cut and copy an image from one layer into any layer in the stream — that helps create those illusion-style images that people like to do. Probably toward the end of September we’ll be actually be able to show it people.

 

If you’re lucky, that guy might be a screamer.

 

On hearing your opponent’s microphone for a few seconds after you defeat them:

It’s an option that you can turn on and off in custom games. We gave it a name — “Revenge Voice.” It’s on in public games; we can turn it off in league play if we want. We love that thing — it’s funny.

 

On Black Ops II’s end-of-game scoreboards:

The scoreboard is specific to the game mode you’re playing. We try to find the most appropriate stats that are contributing to helping your team win — plants and defends, flag captures and defends, those kinds of things are on the scoreboard.

 

On determining a standard value for scoring events:

These are the values that we change a lot; we’ve changed them about three times since we got out of Gamescom already, and we’re going to keep changing them until we’re satisfied. We’re working very hard to find some level of standardization in certain types of events that are very common — like a kill. Should a kill be variable? Should it be 50, should it be 100? Can it be 50 in this mode and 100 in this? Does that make sense? So we’re working through that.

 

http://oneofswords.com/2012/08/treyarchs-david-vonderhaar-answers-your-nitty-gritty-black-ops-ii-mp-questions/

[buttscratcher]

Happy to hear alot of that. Very glad to see no second chance :) Hated the mf'er. Bout the time I finally got a kill, the bastardo would p/w me

 

Also like the "On rewarding aggressive players with more score:"

[SuperTaz]

I don't care much about perks or killstreaks. I just want to CAMP! :P

[MaydaX]

What are the Minimum System Requirements?

OS: Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7

CPU: Intel Core2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz or AMD Phenom X3 8750 2.4 GHz

Memory: 2GB for 32-bit OS or 4GB for 64-bit OS

Video Card: Nvidia GeForce 8800GT 512 MB or ATI Radeon HD 3870 512 MB

 

Can I run the game on Windows XP?

No, sorry. Since we upgraded the engine to use DirectX11, Windows XP is no longer supported. It requires Windows Vista or later.

 

Will the game actually be playable on my minimum spec machine?

Absolutely. We have tested extensively on a variety of hardware and we are very confident in the performance even at the minimum specs.

 

What engine is used for Black Ops II?

The Black Ops II engine builds upon the Black Ops engine with a number of improvements including performance optimizations, enhanced graphics, and proprietary anti-cheat technology.

 

What performance optimizations have you introduced for Black Ops II?

Performance has been a top priority for Black Ops II PC from day one and we have achieved significant improvements. We’ve improved the way the engine handles multiple threads. Additionally, we moved the engine from DX9 to DX11. The DX11 API is leaner than DX9 and requires less CPU time to do the same amount of work. It is important to point out that this benefits the entire range of supported GPUs, not just DX11 hardware. We have also added more “quality vs performance” options than ever before so you can customize your experience to either run faster or to satisfy your taste in eye candy.

 

You mentioned enhanced graphics for the PC version. Can you tell us more about that?

Black Ops II PC features enhanced lighting, shadows, antialiasing, bloom, depth of field, ambient occlusion, and other enhanced effects that are still in the works. And the game can run at higher resolutions and higher framerates on the PC.

 

Will there be a framerate cap?

No. Unless you want one. We have included an adjustable FPS cap slider in the game options. The minimum setting is OFF (no cap).

 

http://mp1st.com/2012/09/02/call-of-duty-black-ops-2-minimum-pc-specs-detailed-and-faq/

 

DX11. Interesting

[buttscratcher]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isr3LohGxR0&feature=player_embedded

[SuperTaz]

The Black Ops II engine builds upon the Black Ops engine with a number of improvements including performance optimizations, enhanced graphics, and proprietary anti-cheat technology.

 

Didn't they say this before with the original Black Ops that eventually failed?

[MaydaX]

Apparently the xbox beta files were leaked so people are ripping them apart for info.

 

MP Maplist includes:

Carrier: Chinese Supercarrier. Open engagements on the deck, with great close quarter fights through the hull.

Cargo: Port of Singapore. Good for close quarters engagements and verticality.

Drone: Hidden drone facility in the heart of the Mynamar jungles. Great long engagements down the center, fun close quarter fights through the facility.

Express: Los Angeles bullet train station. Good long to medium engagements up and down the bullet train tracks.

Hijacked: Luxurious super yacht. Frantic, yet controlled close quarters engagements.

Aftermath: Set in a ruined downtown Los Angeles after an invasion.

Meltdown: Pakistan nuclear power plant. Battle for control of the nuclear cooling tower and the surrounding facilities.

Nightclub: Floating resort in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Tight corners and angles throughout.

Overflow: Peshawar, Pakistan. Great urban engagements in the flooded streets.

Raid: Fight through this hillside mansion, in the Hollywood Hills. Hectic close quarters engagements.

Slums: Run down section of Panama. Great close quarters engagements and tough chokes to fight over.

Socotra: Urban streets of Yemen. Tight alleys and close quarters engagements.

Turbine: Wind farm in the steep hills of Yemen. Fight across the different tiers and angles.

Village: Border town between China and Kyrgyzstan. Classic engagements and destinations to fight over.

 

Good to see they still have 15 maps (if they all make it into the final game that is).

 

Also some menu screenshots

http://imgur.com/a/qY1nJ#3

[buttscratcher]

Also some menu screenshots http://imgur.com/a/qY1nJ#3

I lol'd @ Trearch Warfare League.

 

Wonder if team warfare will appreciate coincidence.

 

EDIT:

Damn. Dogs again...

 

Wonder if the "my chanel" is for the theatre?

Edited September 18, 2012 by buttscratcher

[SuperTaz]

That's funny how the X-Box game files are already leaked, yet, Treyarch is saying they are increasing their security protocols for the game.

[SuperTaz]

https://twitter.com/pcdev/status/247102865586393090

 

BlackOps2 will have two anticheat systems.

 

Punkbuster and VAC together? One can only hope! :)

[buttscratcher]

https://twitter.com/pcdev/status/247102865586393090

 

 

 

Punkbuster and VAC together? One can only hope! :)

 

I'd bet a beer its not.

 

Prolly VAC and some "inhouse" bullsh*t.

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

lol... their inhouse is probably like DICE's. "Press here to report player". (insert Colors pic of a monkey sitting at a typewriter)

Edited September 19, 2012 by buttscratcher

[MaydaX]

https://twitter.com/pcdev/status/247102865586393090

 

He answered that before. Will be VAC and an in house AC system.

 

In a Q&A we've received from Treyarch's PC team, the developers behind Black Ops II have described their approach to cheaters that “ruin the experience for legit players”. Cheaters will face a “zero tolerance” policy via the banhammer; while new technology will mine server side logs for signature behaviour patterns.

 

The technology the Treyarch team have developed mines the server logs for patterns of behavior that signify cheating. “This method is secure, cannot be spoofed, and doesn’t rely on the cat and mouse game of identifying cheat signatures,” say Treyarch. “The original Black Ops engine was not designed for this. But we have still managed to catch and ban a mind-boggling number of cheaters with this method. Black Ops II is built from the ground up to do this much more effectively than its predecessor.”

 

The server side tech supplement’s Valve’s anti-cheat systems - it will run in parallel.

 

http://www.pcgamesn.com/callofduty/treyarch-devs-have-zero-tolerance-approach-cheaters-pc-version-black-ops-ii

 

If it works then great. I've been saying for years AC needs to evolve instead of looking for known file and memory signatures to detect cheats.

 

lol... their inhouse is probably like DICE's. "Press here to report player". (insert Colors pic of a monkey sitting at a typewriter)

 

From what I heard Treyarch actually did look at reports and ban players for Black Ops. Plus with theatre mode it made it easier for them to look at a player to see if they were cheating.

 

DICE only recently added a report a cheat option to battlelog and all it has for reasons are "wallhack" and "other" which I find funny since it's not easy to spot a wallhack without first person spectator mode. Aimbot would have been a better reason to have listed. Then again could be a case of the person who made the reasons list doesn't fully understand the types of cheating in PC gaming.

[SuperTaz]

Well, at least I give these game companies a lot of respect for trying to deal with anti-cheat issues more aggressively. Even VAC is being upgraded on a weekly basis.

 

Now, I have not seen any major upgrades from Even Balance in a long time. Their website is still the same as it was 8 years ago. It would be nice to have a more user friendly site as well as more features, but, I guess they don't care anymore. :(

 

Even Balance just wants the $$$ and doesn't want to innovate. That is why VAC is winning. :brownbag:

[MaydaX]

Now, I have not seen any major upgrades from Even Balance in a long time. Their website is still the same as it was 8 years ago. It would be nice to have a more user friendly site as well as more features, but, I guess they don't care anymore. :(

 

Even Balance just wants the $$$ and doesn't want to innovate. That is why VAC is winning. :brownbag:

 

VAC still lacks in the admin tools department and that's one area PB beats it. Yes the tools are outdated but they are still there none the less. PB also has restriction kicks for various things which prevents cheats from using certain methods to hook the game memory.

 

I've said before VAC and PB aren't the best tools anymore. They work to a point but cheats are getting more advanced all the time.

[SuperTaz]

VAC still lacks in the admin tools department and that's one area PB beats it. Yes the tools are outdated but they are still there none the less. PB also has restriction kicks for various things which prevents cheats from using certain methods to hook the game memory.

 

I've said before VAC and PB aren't the best tools anymore. They work to a point but cheats are getting more advanced all the time.

 

That is why game companies should do what Tripwire did with integrating both PB and VAC into their game. Then it would be great, in my opinion.

[buttscratcher]

That is why game companies should do what Tripwire did with integrating both PB and VAC into their game. Then it would be great, in my opinion.

 

But wasn't TWs solution an "either or"? Not both. Think it was anyway... Gave up on the game pretty quick. Didnt bother to learn the details.

[SuperTaz]

But wasn't TWs solution an "either or"? Not both. Think it was anyway... Gave up on the game pretty quick. Didnt bother to learn the details.

 

VAC was on by default. However, you can use PB with VAC if you wanted to.

[MaydaX]

But wasn't TWs solution an "either or"? Not both. Think it was anyway... Gave up on the game pretty quick. Didnt bother to learn the details.

 

*VAC will be available for all servers and turned on by default.

 

We know some have had (and some still do have) problems with Punk Buster and with that in mind we are working with Even Balance to address that situation. Our current plan has PB implemented in three stages.

 

*Stage 0: Off

*Stage 1: Access to the server screenshot functionality and streaming bans

*Stage 2: Standard PB protection that WILL NOT interfere with Steam (and the overlay)

*Stage 3: Full PB that WILL (most likely) kick for the steam overlay

 

http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showpost.php?p=754176&postcount=45

 

I wish more games had those extra options for PB instead of on / off.

[MaydaX]

[LtMatt]

The only part of this entire franchise that made the game worth playing. Wish they would just release it standalone @maydax.

[HSMagnet]

Cold Blooded

Looks like all of the stealth perks are being broken up into 3 pieces in order to prevent them from becoming too overpowered. This one makes you immune to Target Finders, Player-controlled killstreaks and Sensor Grenades. In some of the footage, you'll see that certain futuristic scopes put a red box around enemy players. Cold Blooded will get rid of this effect.

 

http://black-ops-2.blogspot.com/p/perks.html

[MaydaX]