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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 1 Reloaded has new multiplayer maps, weapons, a new zombies map with its own quest and loads more with one of those new maps being Nuketown Holiday as the fan favourite gets a festive makeover.
Very few maps stand the test of time as new multiplayer first-person shooter games, and new iterations of existing titles, always have their own fresh ones for players to sink their teeth into.
But Call of Duty's Nuketown is the standout exception to this rule - it's been included in every Black Ops game since 2010 and has had loads of different versions over the past decade-and-a-half.
It truly is a fan favourite and it even has its own dedicated Nuketown 24/7 playlist for those who want to play loads of different game modes just on that one map.
indy100 put some questions to Adam Hoggatt, expert level designer at Treyarch, who created the Nuketown map from the initial idea and is responsible for continuously developing and updating it.
He gave fascinating insight into its history, how it and other Call of Duty maps are developed and what's been the key for it standing the test of time.
JB: Tell me about where the inspiration for the very first Nuketown map in Call of Duty: Black Ops came from in 2010.
AH: The original Nuketown was inspired by the real-life nuclear test towns that were built in America in the 1950s to study the effects of nuclear weapons on real homes and infrastructure. They even placed mannequins, cars and other household items in them to make them as real as possible. The idea of an idyllic little town that was ultimately doomed to be destroyed seemed perfect for a small, frenetic map to take place and it fit right in with the setting of the original Black Ops game.
JB: How did you develop it and what’s the process for developing a Call of Duty map?
AH: Typically, a map will be created in line with the needs of the game, like the setting, size, etc. These things are loosely lined up before any design is started. The level designer will then create a basic layout for the map, sometimes in 2D top-down form and sometimes by blocking out simple shapes in our editing software. Once a good foundation is achieved, the designer will then proceed to build the map out until it is in a playable state. At this point, the design team will play the map and evaluate it: what works, what doesn't, is it believable, up to studio standards etc. Then, changes are made accordingly and it's played again and again until the map feels fun and fits nicely into the overall game map portfolio.
The original Nuketown, however, was a bit different. When the nuclear test town idea was first brought up, I had just finished design on another map for Black Ops (fittingly named Radiation). I loved the idea immediately and decided that I could squeeze in some time to make it happen. After a few days, I had something that I was happy with and was ready to be played. I showed the map to the team and everyone agreed we should play it right away. The team fell in love with it immediately and it quickly became a favourite map among the design team and an ideal map for testing things like killstreaks and other ideas that the game design team was working on. Artists jumped in and gave it their own flair, like the double rainbow, sparkles and brightly colored house designs.
I added mannequins and the team scripted them to appear in random positions around the map each game to 'surprise' players when they came around a corner. An engineer helped me set up the first mannequin Easter egg, where you could make a Rolling Stones song play by shooting all their heads off very quickly. The map was essentially a playground for the team to do things we wouldn't usually get to do. It was as fun for us to create as I think it is for our players to play on.
Nuketown has had many different guises over the years, including Nuketown '84 in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War in 2020 / Activision, Treyarch
JB: Was the finished map different from the original design you had or is it true to the initial inspiration?
AH: In terms of gameplay, the finished map was very close to the original design. The main changes were things like the cover placement, including the bus and moving truck in the middle of the map, that were needed to provide some additional protection to move through what would otherwise be a very dangerous map centre.
JB: Why does a nuclear bomb always go off at the end of Nuketown?
AH: The idea of nuclear testing towns is sort of paradoxical. A perfect little town, too perfect maybe, whose entire purpose is destruction. We knew right away that had to be part of the map. Nuketown has been destroyed more times than I can fathom.
JB: When developing it, did you ever have a feeling it would be as popular as it continues to be to this day?
AH: When I first was ideating on Nuketown, I was fairly inexperienced in game development (which, looking back, may have aided my creativity by not knowing what things could or could not be done). I had absolutely no idea at the time how popular it would become. I knew we had something special on our hands during development but it grew into something way bigger than I could have ever imagined.
JB: Why is it such a fan favourite and why has it stood the test of time?
AH: As far as gameplay is concerned, I think one thing that makes Nuketown so popular is its purity. It contains all the things a typical map would have and nothing else. It has spawn areas set aside for each team, a base where players can catch their breath, reload or prepare for battle before running into the chaos, an overwatch with window-to-window fight, three lanes, all different ranged engagements and all within a very small space. I think of it as all the elements of a map boiled down to the bare essentials. But the campiness of the fake grass, mannequins and unsettling eeriness of impending doom adds a layer of fun as well.
JB: It's had many different guises since it first launched – why have you decided to evolve it in the way you have? How was it evolving it when it's been set in both the past and present?
AH: Nuketown has been so popular, it's undeniable that fans want to see it make an appearance in each new Black Ops title. To keep the 'Nuketown magic' intact, we strive to bring players back to Nuketown but with a little something fresh to be experienced each time.
Nuketown is getting a festive makeover in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Season 1 Reloaded / Activision, Treyarch
JB: Tell me about the inspiration for the latest iteration of the Nuketown map in Black Ops 6 - why did you want to go back to its roots this time around?
AH: In Black Ops 6, we realised that many of our current players never experienced the original Nuketown map so we wanted to bring that experience back, to give long time players a bit of nostalgia and newer players the chance to experience the original magic, as it was, but looking better than ever. It also fits in perfectly with the new Area 99 Resurgence map for Warzone and Warhead as well.
JB: What can people expect from the upcoming Holiday season version of Nuketown?
AH: It's been a dream of mine to have a snowy, holiday-themed version of the original Nuketown map for many years and I'm so excited to finally bring it to our players in Black Ops 6. It comes complete with a fresh blanket of snow, snowmen in place of mannequins and holiday decorations across the map, inside and out. It's our present to you, so I hope it makes your holiday a bit brighter.
I am forever grateful to all the fans of Nuketown who have made it the icon it is today. Merry Christmas and happy holidays! Now, go play!
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