#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