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Call of Duty: Black Ops

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops cover
Developers
Treyarch
Multiplayer Certain Affinity
Nerve Software
Pi Studios
macOS (OS X) Aspyr Media
Publishers
Activision
OS X Aspyr Media
Engines
IW 3.0
Release dates
Windows November 9, 2010
macOS (OS X) September 27, 2012
Reception
Metacritic 81
IGDB 81
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, DLC
Modes Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives First-person
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, FPS, Shooter
Art styles Realistic
Themes Asia, Cold War, Europe, Zombies
Series Call of Duty: Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops on HowLongToBeat
Call of Duty: Black Ops on IGDB
Call of Duty: Black Ops guide on StrategyWiki
Call of Duty: Black Ops on MobyGames
Call of Duty: Black Ops on Wikipedia
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Subseries of Call of Duty
Call of Duty: World at War 2008
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2010
Call of Duty: Black Ops II 2012
Call of Duty: Black Ops III 2015
Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII 2018
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War 2020

General information

Steam Community Discussions for Windows version
Steam Community Discussions for OS X version
CallofDutyMaps - A detailed Website for all multiplayer maps.

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Icon overlay.png
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Steam
Icon overlay.png
Windows
GamersGate
Icon overlay.png
macOS (OS X)
Green Man Gaming (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
macOS (OS X)
Steam (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
macOS (OS X)
All Windows versions require Steam DRM.
Windows and OS X versions are sold separately and cannot play online together.[1]
Various security vulnerabilities have been found with all Call of Duty games between Modern Warfare (2007) and Black Ops III, allowing hackers to remotely access, execute code on, and control user's PCs if they connect to the game's online modes.[2]

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
First Strike Included with the macOS version of the game.
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Escalation Windows only.
Windows
Annihilation Windows only.
Windows
Rezurrection Windows only.
Windows
Rezurrection Mac Edition OS X version of Rezurrection.
macOS (OS X)
Annihilation & Escalation Bundle - Mac Edition OS X versions of Escalation and Annihilation.
macOS (OS X)

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Delete or rename the video files[3]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\main\video\.
  2. Rename, move or delete default.bik and treyarch.bik.

Plutonium

An easy-to-install replacement launcher using dedicated servers for the game's online modes. Fixes the security vulnerabilities while also adding several enhancements:
  • A custom-built anticheat system
  • Aim Assist for controllers
  • Discord Rich Presence
  • Ultrawide monitor support

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\players\[Note 1]
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Library/Application Support/Call of Duty Black Ops/players
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/42700/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\players\save\[Note 1]
macOS (OS X) $HOME/Library/Application Support/Call of Duty Black Ops/players/save
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/42700/pfx/[Note 2]

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video

Graphics settings[Note 3]
Graphics settings[Note 3]
Game settings[Note 4]
Game settings[Note 4]

Field of view (FOV)

Use Call of Duty: SCZ FoV Changer or FOV Changer[5]
Modify FOV using a key bind[6]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open config.cfg with a text editor.
  3. Add a new line after unbindall.
  4. Enter bind U "cg_fov XX", substituting XX with a horizontal FOV value (e.g. 90), and replacing U with another key if desired.
  5. Save and close the file.
  6. Load a campaign or Zombies level and trigger the FOV change with the bound key.

Notes

The hotkey must be triggered on every level load for the FOV change to take effect.

High frame rate

Set the frame rate cap in the config file[7]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open config.cfg with a text editor.
  3. Find the line seta com_maxfps "85" and replace 85 with the desired frame rate.
  4. Save and close the file.

Notes

Only works in multiplayer if the value is set to 0 (unlocked).
Set the frame rate cap using the console[8]
  1. Enable the console in the multiplayer settings.
  2. Open the console using ~.
  3. Enter the command /com_maxfps followed by the desired frame rate value (e.g. /com_maxfps 144 for 144 FPS).
  4. Confirm with Enter and close the console using ~.

Notes

Only works for multiplayer and must be re-entered every time a server is joined.

Depth of field

Disable Depth of field[9]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open config.cfg with a text editor.
  3. Find the line seta r_dof_enable "1" and replace 1 with 0.
  4. Save and close the file.

Motion Blur

Disable motion blur[10]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open config.cfg with a text editor.
  3. Find the line seta r_motionblur_enable "1" and replace 1 with 0.
  4. Save and close the file.

Input

Key bindings
Key bindings

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Can be changed in the config file. See Mouse acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Only active during gameplay, controller cannot be used to navigate any menus.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Five button layout presets and four stick presets.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration
PlayStation controllers
See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Tracked motion controllers
Razer Hydra works with Sixense MotionCreator bundled profile.[11]
Button/gesture prompts
Generic/other controllers
Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M
Button prompts only reflect controller input.

Mouse acceleration

Change the setting in the config file[12]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open config.cfg or config_mp.cfg with a text editor.
  3. Find the line seta cl_mouseAccel and set it to either "0" to disable or "1" to enable.
  4. Save and close the file.

Audio

Sound settings[Note 5]
Sound settings[Note 5]
Voice chat settings
Voice chat settings

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
7.1.
Subtitles
Under Game settings.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Some ambient sound effects still play when unfocused.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Czech
Fan translation.
French
German
Hungarian
Fan translation, link #1, link #2.
Italian
Japanese
Only available in Japanese retail release.
Retail CD Key gives subscription exclusive to single language.[13]
Polish
Only available in Polish retail release.
Retail CD Key gives subscription exclusive to single language.[14]
Russian
Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Spanish
Latin American Spanish
This is a mod for Zombies mode, made with Latin American Spanish audio files extracted from Call of Duty: Black Ops III DLC "Zombies Chronicles", as well as Black Ops IIII, modifying the Castilian Spanish and English files, in order to replace the English audio files. Available through this guide.
To enhance sound quality download DSOAL and put into the game folder.

Network

Windows and macOS players cannot play with each other.
Multiplayer settings
Multiplayer settings

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
Local play
Local play is only available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and Nintendo DS.
LAN play
Versus, Co-op
Supported but requires an internet connection for Steam authentication.[15] Co-op is Zombies mode.
Online play
18 Versus, Co-op
Co-op is Zombies mode.

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Servers must be rented from GameServers.[16]
Direct IP
Open the console (~) and use /connect followed by the IP.[17]

Ports

Protocol Port(s) and/or port range(s)
TCP 3074, 27014-27050
UDP 3074, 3478-4380, 27000-27030
Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) support status is unknown.

VR support

Issues unresolved

Cannot install the game from retail DVDs

Use Phoenix extractor[18]
  1. Extract the game files from the DVDs using this tutorial.
  2. Start downloading the game in Steam (redeem the code from the back of the manual if a new copy was purchased).
  3. Place extracted files in the game's Steamapps folder that chosen during the game's installation.
  4. Right click on the game's name, go to Properties>Installed Files and click "Verify integrity of game files".
  5. After verification, downloading of additional few gigabytes will start.

Dialogs of the Spanish dub are too loud or unintelligible

A number of dialogs from the Spanish localization have unregulated volume levels, which ranges from being almost inaudible to uncomfortably loud. While one way to deal with this would be enabling subtitles, such an option isn't available for this localization despite existing in the game's code.[19]

Issues fixed

TweakGuides created a comprehensive guide for fixing issues in this game. An archived version can be found here.

Muffled audio

After dying in a mission, the audio may be muffled.[20]
Restart level[21]

Dark characters on "Victor Charlie" & "Vorkuta" level

On the level "Victor Charlie" characters may appear darkened when the flashlight is pointed at them.
On the level "Vorkuta" characters appear darkened when going up the elevator.
Edit the config file[22]
  1. Go to the configuration files location.
  2. Open config.cfg with a text editor.
  3. Find the line seta r_allow_intz "1" and set it to "0".
  4. Find the line r_allow_null_rt "1" and set it to "0".

Mouse issues on Linux

Change mouse polling rate
  • Temporarily change the mouse's polling rate to 125Hz (default is usually 1000 Hz) while playing.

Performance issues on Linux

If the current hardware is giving bad performance, it may be due to the scheduler in use by the kernel. The CFS (Completely Fair Scheduler) does not work well with this game.
Change Linux kernel scheduler
  • Switch to a kernel using a different scheduler such as linux-tkg with the PDS scheduler.

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
32-bit only.[23]

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Cutscenes Bink Video 1.9n

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) XP
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo E6600
AMD Phenom X3 8750
System memory (RAM) 2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 12 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT
ATI Radeon X1950 Pro
256 MB of VRAM
macOS (OS X)
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 10.8.5
Processor (CPU) Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM) 4 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 15 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce GT 640M
ATI Radeon HD 3870
Intel HD Graphics 5000
512 MB of VRAM
PowerPC Processors (G4 and G5) are not supported.
The following chipsets are not supported: Nvidia GeForce 7, 8 and 9 series, 100 series, 300M series, ATI Radeon X1000 series, HD 2000 series, HD 4670, HD 6490, HD 6630, Intel GMA (950/X3100), HD Graphics 3000 and 4000.
This game is not supported on volumes formatted as Mac OS Extended (Case Sensitive).


Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
  2. 2.0 2.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/42700/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (42700) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.
  3. Number of corpses only applies to the campaign and Zombies, and Field of View only applies to multiplayer.
  4. Subtitles and graphic content only apply to the campaign and Zombies, and Draw HUD and Enable Console only apply to multiplayer.
  5. Sound occlusion is only present in campaign and Zombies.

References

  1. The GameAgent Blog (via Internet Archive) - Aspyr Mac FAQs: Call of Duty: Black Ops - last accessed on 2021-01-02
  2. CVE-2018-20817 exploit - last accessed on 2023-11-13
  3. Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2020-11-21
  4. Steam Community - Does Black Ops have FPS cap? - last accessed on 2021-01-02
  5. Verified by User:AlphaYellow on 2024-01-19
  6. H3XED - Black Ops PC: How to Change FOV (Adjust Field of View) - last accessed on 2020-11-22
  7. Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2020-11-21
  8. Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2020-11-21
  9. Verified by User:Faust8 on 2023-09-15
  10. Verified by User:Faust8 on 2023-09-15
  11. Sixense (via Internet Archive) - Razer Hydra Control Profile - Call of Duty: Black Ops - last accessed on 2021-01-02
  12. Verified by User:Shadowstealer7 on 2020-11-22
  13. SteamDB - Call of Duty: Black Ops Retail (JP) - last accessed on 2021-01-02
  14. SteamDB - Call of Duty: Black Ops Retail (PL) - last accessed on 2021-01-02
  15. Twitter - @pcdev on September 6, 2010 - last accessed on 2021-01-02
    "To clarify: you can play MP on a LAN as long as everyone on the LAN has internet connectivity. #codblackops #pc"
  16. GameServers.com - Call of Duty : Black Ops Announcement! - last accessed on 2021-01-02
  17. Arqade - Is there a way to play Call of Duty: Black Ops on LAN without an internet connection? - last accessed on 2021-01-02
  18. community.pcgamingwiki.com - last accessed on 26 May 2023
  19. como poner los subtitulos al black ops de pc - last accessed on 2023-10-11
  20. Verified by User:Faust8 on 2023-09-15
    I died in mission Crash Site and got audio muffled after.
  21. Tested by Faust8.
  22. Steam Community - How to fix a Victor Charlie mission underground tunnels "black characters" bug - last accessed on 2020-11-22
  23. Aspyr Support - MacOS Catalina, 64-bit, 32-bit, and related Questions - last accessed on 2021-01-02