Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Developers | |
---|---|
Treyarch | |
macOS (OS X) | Aspyr Media[1] |
Publishers | |
Activision | |
Engines | |
IW engine | |
Release dates | |
Windows | November 6, 2015 |
macOS (OS X) | April 4, 2019[1] |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 73 |
OpenCritic | 79 |
IGDB | 77 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | One-time game purchase, DLC |
Modes | Singleplayer, Multiplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | First-person |
Controls | Direct control |
Genres | Action, FPS, Shooter |
Vehicles | Flight |
Art styles | Realistic |
Themes | Sci-fi |
Series | Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty |
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 |
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | 2024 |
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS and shooter game in the Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty series.
By default, some settings are restricted depending on graphics card, but a fix is available here. There may be some performance issues with the game, but a fix is available here.
General information
- Official modding tools and unranked dedicated servers available.[2][3]
- CallofDutyMaps - A detailed Website for all included multiplayer maps.
- GeForce Graphics Guide
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | Contains 6 DVDs. | |||
Amazon.com | Digital Deluxe Edition. | |||
Steam |
- All versions require Steam and Arxan Anti-Tamper DRM.
Version differences
- Multiplayer Starter Pack: Starter edition, contains Multiplayer, no campaign and Zombies. Can be upgraded to Zombies Chronicles Edition or Zombies Deluxe.
- Zombies Chronicles Edition: Basic edition, contains the base game and Zombies Chronicles.
- Zombies Deluxe: Deluxe edition, contains the base game, the Season Pass, Zombies Chronicles and 3 personalization packs.
DLC and expansion packs
Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|
Season Pass | ||
Awakening | Included in the Season Pass. | |
Descent | Included in the Season Pass. | |
Eclipse | Included in the Season Pass. | |
The Giant Zombies Map | Included in the Season Pass. | |
NUK3TOWN Bonus Map | Originally a pre-order bonus, later made free. | |
Salvation | Included in the Season Pass. | |
Zombies Chronicles |
- PlayStation 4 version had a exclusive DLC "Back in Black" map pack, released on June 11, 2018, which included four remastered multiplayer maps from previous Black Ops games: Firing Range, Jungle, Summit, and Slums.
Essential improvements
- All of the following tweaks are applicable also for Black Ops 4, and they may have similar names. This is due to the fact that in both games, a relatively identical engine is used and it has been modified further for this game.
Skip intro videos
In windows, Delete/rename/move \video\BO3_Global_Logo_LogoSequence.mkv found in <path-to-game>. In mac, delete/rename/move BO3_Global_Logo_LogoSequence.mkv and AspyrLogo.stock.mov in the game's contents (left-click on the game's icon app) and then going to /Contents/Assets/video/ [4]
|
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- Other videos can also be deleted to reduce the waiting time between level changes.
Increased loading speed levels
Edit config.ini[citation needed] |
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Notes
|
Make all settings available
- Many graphics cards are able to handle high graphical settings, but by default the game hides/restricts some settings.
Edit config.ini[5] |
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Notes
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Enable offline multiplayer with bots
- By default it's not possible to start multiplayer matches with bots in offline mode.
Start the game in mod mode |
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|
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 III/players/ |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/311210/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\players\[Note 1] |
macOS (OS X) | |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/311210/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Steam Cloud | Some settings only. |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | |||
Multi-monitor | HUD and menu is stretched. | ||
Ultra-widescreen | HUD and menu is stretched. Attempting to change resolutions during gameplay will result in stretching/compression. Hub sections are stretched, but missions work fine. | ||
4K Ultra HD | [6] | ||
Field of view (FOV) | 65-120° with 80º as default value.[7] | ||
Windowed | |||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | |||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | Named as Texture Filtering in the options (Low = 2x, Medium = Per Material, and High = 16x). | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | FXAA, SMAA (1x and Temporal 2x), Filmic SMAA (1x and Temporal 2x), and SSAA through Render Resolution option. SMAA T2X and Filmic SMAA options are disabled for SLI/Crossfire systems. | ||
High-fidelity upscaling | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | Double buffering. See here for triple buffering. | ||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | Multiplayer is capped at 60 FPS because VSync is enabled by default. Disabling VSync allows the FPS cap to go up to 240 FPS in Multiplayer using in-game menu. Cap can be unlimited by changing com_maxfps value to 0 in the config file or with in-game console while using any mod.
Unlimited in Zombies and Single Player.[8] |
||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. | ||
Ray tracing (RT) | |||
Color blind mode |
Triple buffering
Edit config.ini[citation needed] |
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|
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | ||
Mouse acceleration | ||
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Controller | ||
Controller support | ||
Full controller support | ||
Controller remapping | Only presets. | |
Controller sensitivity | ||
Controller Y-axis inversion |
Controller types |
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XInput-compatible controllers |
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PlayStation controllers |
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Generic/other controllers |
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Additional information | ||
---|---|---|
Button prompts | Natively supports both the Xbox One and the DualShock 4 (V1 only) controller without any 3rd party tools required. | |
Controller hotplugging | ||
Haptic feedback | ||
Digital movement supported | ||
Simultaneous controller+KB/M | Aiming down sights using both causes camera to zoom in and out[9]. |
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | Master, Voice, Music, SFX Volume. | |
Surround sound | 5.1 | |
Subtitles | Subtitles option is available only when using English audio. | |
Closed captions | ||
Mute on focus lost | ||
Royalty free audio |
Localizations
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
Simplified Chinese | ||||
Traditional Chinese | ||||
French | ||||
German | ||||
Italian | ||||
Japanese | Users can't change the language to others. | |||
Polish | ||||
Brazilian Portuguese | ||||
Russian | ||||
Spanish | ||||
Latin American Spanish | See Latin American Spanish audio mods. |
Latin American Spanish audio mods
Full Game: File replacement |
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Notes
|
Zombies Maps: Workshop mods |
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Notes
|
Network
Multiplayer types
Type | Native | Players | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Local play | 2 | Co-op, Versus [6] |
||
LAN play | Must have an active internet connection regardless for DRM purposes. | |||
Online play | 18 | Co-op, Versus Co-op is limited to 4 players. |
Connection types
Type | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Matchmaking | ||
Peer-to-peer | ||
Dedicated | For Ranked matches[6][10]. | |
Self-hosting | Unranked only[3]. | |
Direct IP |
Ports
Protocol | Port(s) and/or port range(s) |
---|---|
TCP | 27014-27050 |
UDP | 3478, 4379-4380, 27000-27031, 27036 |
- This game supports Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) for automatic port configuration.
VR support
3D modes | State | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|
vorpX | Z3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list. |
Issues fixed
Stuttering
- Remove outdated file library
Delete d3dcompiler_46.dll[citation needed] |
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Notes
|
Game does not take advantage of the entire VRAM amount available
Edit config.ini[citation needed] |
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Notes
|
Frame rate isn't smooth
Edit config.ini[citation needed] |
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Notes
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Game isn't responsive enough
Edit config.ini[citation needed] |
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Notes
|
CPU usage sometimes goes too high on some configurations
Edit config.ini[citation needed] |
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Notes
|
FPS drops
- This is for copies on the Steam version of the game.
Launching the game in offline mode |
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Notes
|
Game changes microphone gain at launch
Modify microphone gain ingame[11] |
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|
Game crashes on startup
- Antivrus software like AVG or Avast! are known to cause the game to crash.
Add anti-virus exclusion[12] |
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|
- If either Actual Window Minimizer or Actual Window Manager are installed, they will cause the game to crash.
Add exception for Actual Window Minimizer or Actual Window Manager |
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|
The game causes the entire system to hang and the computer itself completely before rebooting
Move the paging file[citation needed] |
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Notes
|
Scoreboard and Pause Menu not working using controller
Reset controls to default |
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|
Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 11 | |
Metal support | [1] |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows | |||
macOS (OS X) | [1] |
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 7 | 8, 8.1 |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Core i3-530 2.93 GHz AMD Phenom II X4 810 2.60 GHz | |
System memory (RAM) | 6 GB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 100 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce GTX 470 AMD Radeon HD 6970 1 GB of VRAM DirectX 11 compatible | |
Sound (audio device) | DirectX Compatible |
- A 64-bit operating system is required.
macOS (OS X) | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | ||
Operating system (OS) | 10.13.6 | |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Core i5 2.3 GHz Quad-Core | |
System memory (RAM) | 8 GB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 150 GB | |
Video card (GPU) | AMD Radeon R9 M295X 2 GB of VRAM |
- A 64-bit operating system is required.
Notes
- ↑ 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). - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Games with Steam Cloud support may also store data in
~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/311210/
. - Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (311210) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Call of Duty: Black Ops III launches on Mac with 64-bit and Metal support - last accessed on 2019-04-05
- ↑ Update 15.1 / Mod Tools Open Beta - Patch Notes - last accessed on 17 May 2023
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 gets unranked dedicated servers | PC Gamer
- ↑ Sethos88 commented on Any way to get rid of the opening video? - last accessed on 17 May 2023
- ↑ pcdev on Twitter: @JarnoSomers You can edit your config.ini in the players folder and change RestrictGraphicsOptions to 0 - last accessed on 9 June 2023
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 PC Update from Gamescom 2015 | Community
- ↑ pcdev on Twitter: BlackOps3 PC FOV range is 65-120; default 80. - last accessed on 17 May 2023
- ↑ pcdev on Twitter: @thebadbadrobot Up to 200 in ranked mp, unlimited everywhere else. - last accessed on 9 June 2023
- ↑ Recent Black Ops 3 update broke config - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ pcdev on Twitter: BlackOps3 PC will use 100% dedicated servers for all ranked matches. (Same as previous BlackOps PC titles.) This is how we do it. - last accessed on 17 May 2023
- ↑ Black Ops 3 (PC) Microphone Volume Fix - YouTube - last accessed on May 2023
- ↑ Steam Community - last accessed on 9 June 2023