#145 - Jack Burrows Interview (Call Of Duty, Level Design, Activision, QA, Interns, Aven Colony, Metroid Prime etc. )

Jack Burrows a game level designer best known for his tenure at Treyarch as a Level Designer on Call Of Duty: Blacks Ops Cold War and Call Of Duty:Warzone Season 6. Before that he did QA on Black Ops 4 and World War II.

 

#callofduty #callofdutymobile #callofdutyblackops

 

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00: 40 - Jack’s First Day At Activision Was Brutal

03:10 - Relatability

04:18 - QA Is A Great Way To Gain Experience/QA In The Old Days

05:30 - QA Call Of Duty: World War II/Looking For Bugs

07:27 - Testing For Different Platforms

08:27 - How Jack Moved From QA To A Level Designer

12:30 - How Jack Approaches Level Design/Call Of Duty Level Design Multiplayer Examples

14:54 - Freedom Of Call Of Duty: Warzone Level Design

15:45 - Designing Downtown & Stadium In Call Of Duty:Warzone 

17:00 - Brainstorming Prototypes For Level Designs

19:23 - Destructible Terrain In The Levels

20:53 - Collaborating With The Artists

22:40 - Level Designers & Artists Reaching A Balance

23:54 - You Cant Be A Game Designer And Be Sensitive To Criticism

25:23 - College Prepared Jack For Criticism/Jack Became Brutal Of Critiquing Others Work

27:45 - Moving Into Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War/Ruka Map

28:41 - Making Content For The Game That Got Cut

29:39 - Content Is Usually Cut Because It Doesnt Mesh With The Final Vision

31:08 - Developers Day Dreamed How Microsoft Buying Activision Would Change The Studio

32:00 - Call Of Duty On Nintendo Consoles/Why Call Of Duty Isnt On Switch

34:00 - Why Jack Hasnt Attempted To Get Jobs At Studios For His Favourite Games(Metroid Prime, Dead Space, Bioshock etc.)

36:31 - Youre A Cog In A Machine On AAA And Need To Be A Jack Of All Trades With Indie Development

38:48 - A.I Art Generators Cant Compete With Artists On Game Development

41:10 - Training Interns At Treyarch

44:30 - Level Design Devs Dont Crunch For The Most Part At Treyarch/Imposter Syndrome

47:05- What Kills Devs Passion For Development  Is The Sense Of Wonder

48:04 - Jack Thinks Its Bad That Game Devs Dont Play More Games, Its Imperative For The Craft

49:00 - Franchise Fatigue

50:00 - Family Life/How Jack Finds Time To Play Games

52:18 - Working On Aven Colony/Paul Tozour/Metroid Prime

58:01 - Where To Follow Jack

58:18 - Tyvic Stallworth