What is Deathrun?

Deathrun is a popular
mod for Call of Duty
4 created by BraXi.
The mod originated
from the Counter
Strike games and the
objective is simple:
finish the obstacle
course and kill the activator.
At the start of the round, the activator is randomly
selected and the match begins. He must eliminate all
the jumpers. If a jumper completes the course, they
are given the option to have a 1v1 with the activator
in an end room. The round ends when either all the
jumpers die or the activator is killed. The map lasts
for an average of ten rounds until a new one is
voted or the next map in the rotation begins.

Jumpers
The aim of the jumper is
to finish the course and
kill the activator. If a
jumper reaches the end
of the course, they are
given the chance to
enter one of several
different end rooms to
have a 1v1 with the
Activator. The jumpers
are armed with a variety of
handguns and sniper rifles depending on their
experience level.
Jumpers can level up by killing the activator and
activating traps when they are the activator. They
compete for the records at the end of each map.


The Activator
The purpose of the activator is to
kill the jumpers. Do this by
activating the traps (This is done
by pressing the F key at the
stations). These traps can wipe out
jumpers in a variety of ways.
Experience points (XP) are
sometimes awarded for activating
traps (+10 XP) and always awarded
for killing the jumpers.
The activator is armed with a
tomahawk that is used to melee, it cannot be thrown.
This weapon offers an advantage over the jumpers
combat knife, as it swings faster and has a greater
range.

End Rooms
When finishing the course,
the jumper selects the 1v1
scenario. The four common
end rooms are: knife,
sniper, bounce and weapon.




Knife and sniper:
These are simple rooms;
the jumper and the
activator are
teleported to an arena
and are left to battle.


Bounce/Jump Room:
This room is slightly more
advanced than the previous
rooms. The contenders are
teleported to the bounce
arena. They begin at
opposite ends and must
Race to the centre to
collect the random weapon.
The aim is to eliminate the
other player, with both of them
being armed with a tomahawk. If you fail here, you do
not die, instead, you are teleported back to the
beginning of the sequence. This room requires
practise to be successful, you must learn how to hit
each bounce effectively.

Weapon Room:
The final room, Weapon,
is set up like the sniper
arena. However a random
weapon from the cod4
arsenal is selected and
the contenders duel.

Records
At the end of each map,
usually after ten rounds, the records are displayed
along with the score board. These records consist
of the following: highest points, highest deaths,
most headshots, most kills and fastest time. A
jumper should aim to be on the records to compete
with against others.


Unlockables:
Deathrun allows you to customise your character by
unlocking things as you level up. This section covers
what you can unlock.

Weapons
The Deathrun mod only
offers high mobility
weapons from CoD4. Other
weapons can be obtained by
completing secrets,
something which is
discussed further into the
guide. In this section I will
cover the weapons that
jumpers are able to spawn
in with.


Handguns:
These weapons are ideal for the jumpers. They
provide a decent amount of fire power whilst
maintaining full mobility.
Handguns excel up close, providing a jumper with an
accurate weapon that is quick to shoot. If employed
correctly, they make light work of the activator.












Name Info Damage Unlock
Level
M9
-Starter Handgun
-15 round magazine
-Chambered for 9mm

-40-20
-3 shot kill close
range
-4+ at a distance
Level 1
M1911 .45
-2
nd
Handgun
-8 round magazine
-Chambered for .45
-40-20
-3 shot kill close
range
-4+ at a distance

Level 3
USP .45
-3
rd
Handgun
-12 round magazine
-Chambered for .45
-40-20
-3 shot kill close
range
-4+ at a distance

Level 7
Desert
Eagle
-4
th
Handgun
-7 round magazine
-Chambered for .357
-50-30
-2 shot kill close
range
-4+ at a distance

Level 9
Colt
Anaconda

-Final Handgun
-Ported from WaW
-6 round Cylinder
-Chambered for .44
-Most powerful
-50-35
-2 shot kill at
close range
-3+ at a distance
Level
12

Sniper Rifles:
These higher calibre weapons give jumpers a long
range capability, whilst retaining full mobility. A
sniper rifle is deadly at any range, but suffers
heavily from its low rate of fire.

Name Info Damage Unlock
Level
M40A3
-1
st
sniper rifle
-5 round magazine
-Chambered for
7.62mm NATO
-70
-1 shot kill
upper body
1.5x
multipliers
Level
12
R700P
-Final sniper rifle
-4 round magazine
-Chambered for
7.62mm NATO
-More idle scope
sway than the
M40A3
-70
-1 shot kill
upper body
1.5x
multipliers
Level
24















Characters:
In Deathrun you can
unlock a variety of
custom characters that
have been ported into
the game. These are
unlocked by gaining xp
and ranking up. As you
can see here, the first
character unlocked is
Zakhaev at level 3. You
should aim to unlock 50
cent at level 25!



Sprays:
Sprays are another unlock in
Deathrun, press your
Grenade button to spray the
selected image onto a
surface. As you can see,
there are a huge variety of
sprays, ranging from [AR51]
artwork to more comical
characters.








The Course:
The Deathrun maps consist of a variety of traps. In
this section, I will cover some of the most common
traps.
Platforms & General
Guidance:
These basic platforms
can become a real
nuisance if you dont
know what they do
when activated.
Firstly, they can move
in several ways: up,
down or in a circular
motion. The vertical
movement makes it easy to jump between them.
However if the trap is moving in a circular motion, it
is slightly different. Simply jump ahead of it so you
land straight on top. This is called leading. You must
compensate for all moving traps, or you will fall
short, leading to death.
On older maps, dummy platforms are common traps.
The example pictured here is on mp_deathrun_semtex.
This means that if the trap is activated, and you
jumped onto it, you would fall straight through and
die. Remember, if in doubt; shoot the obstacle first
to see if it is solid. If you can see bullet impacts,
then it is safe.
There are also some platforms that require precise
and adjusted movements that take time. Traps like
these can be activated so that they move up and
down, trying to throw you off target even more. To
counter this, use small, controlled movements and
adjust your position on the platform if you need a
run up. Remember, take your time.


Rotating Hammers:
Another popular trap
consists of a number of
hammers spinning. These will
easily knock you off, to
counter this, sprint between
them one at a time. Get as
close as you can to the next
hammer or you will be knocked
of by the previous one. You
must be as fast as possible



Spikes, sweepers &
squashers:
These are simple traps
that are extremely fast.
They come out of a wall
or ceiling and hit you.
Make sure you know
where these are. Try to
trick the activator by
running near them and
jumping away.









Rotating Cylinders:
These are rather simple
traps that anyone can pass.
Normally, you would just
run to the other side.
However it isnt that easy,
when activated they rotate
at a high speed throwing any
unlucky jumper to their
death. Simply run across
when they are stationary to
reach the other side safely.



Rotating Floor:
On maps such
mp_dr_jurapark, there
is a rotating floor
that will throw you off
if you are not careful.
These traps are very
inconsistant, try to
jump on the platform
when it is at a 45
degree angle and hop off the top of it. This trap
requires you to experiment and practise yourself.
Often times, one side of the platform has a low
friction value, and you will slide to your death if you
jump onto it.





Low friction areas:
Some paths and walkways
have areas with little
friction. The end of
mp_deathrun_illusion is
pictured here. The best way
to cross these traps is to
use slow, controlled
movements. You should pass
these traps with ease.

Crouch Spaces:
Some traps require you
to crouch into a small
area to progress
through the map. The
best way to do this is to
sprint for a run up, then
crouch in mid air, all
whilst leading you
towards the target with
your mouse. Again, jumps like these require practise.
A good example of this is mp_dr_meatboy.

Secrets:
On several maps, there are secrets. These offer an
alternate route to completing the map and sometimes
give weapons that are not available through normal
play. However on [AR51] CRK Deathrun, secrets that
skip a lot of the traps, or give overpowered weapons
(Such as explosive ammo on skypillar) have been
removed by the Server Admin in charge of deathrun.
This has been done for balancing reasons so that
everyone can have an equal chance.



Tips and Tutorials:
Deathrun is heavily skill based. To level up and gain
access to unlockables, you must earn XP. You should
learn the maps and skills required to finish first and
kill the activator. In this section, these essential
skills are broken down to help you do this.
Frames Per Second (FPS):
The CoD4 engine (Proprietry iw3) works in a way that
allows FPS to effect the movement of players. Frame
Rates work in height levels which also effect the
distance you can jump. Here is a basic break down of
the three main FPS values.
125 FPS 40.5 Height Units
250 FPS 41.5 Height Units
333 FPS 46 Height Units
These frame rates can be used for different jumps,
125 is the most common, used for strafe jumps of
all distances. It is the main value for deathrun. 250
is used for distance jumps, as well as correction of
movement in the air. (Known as airstrafing). 333 gives
the best performace for distance jumps. This allows
you to airstrafe effectively, as well as gain extra
hight from bounces.

Strafing Jumping:
This is used to increase jump height and distance.
Strafing allows you to jump further and higher with
ease. Begin a basic strafe by following these
instructions. You need at least 125fps to strafe
effectively.





Frame Rate:






















- To Display your FPS
type /cg_drawfps 1 into
the console

- Lock your fps to 125
by typing /com_maxfps
125 into the console

Increasing Your Frame Rate:
- Lower the graphical settings
- Play at a lower resolution
- Disable any visual effects
- If you are really struggling
use the yitch3 fps config here:
http://bashandslash.com/index.p
hp?option=com_content&task=
view&id=320&Itemid=74


Performing a Basic Strafe:
















- Now turn either 90 degrees
left to strafe right, or 90
degrees right to strafe left
- sprint holding forward and
the directional key
- Whilst doing this make a 95
degree arc with your mouse
in the direction you want to
go

- Face where you want to
land

Strafing Tips:
- You need to maintain a steady rotation to achieve
maximum distance
- Do not flick the mouse, instead, rotate steadily
- Strafing is all about speed, crouching when you
strafe provides more distance and height
- This requires a lot of practise to strafe
effectively over long distances
- Once you learn how to do it, you wont forget.

Bounces:
A bounce is a glitch in the CoD engine that has an
interesting effect. If you hit an angled surface at
speed, it will throw you forwards and upwards with
considerable force. Many deathrun maps use bounces
to move between areas. To bounce consistently, you
need to be able to strafe. In this section, you can
learn how to bounce correctly.
Identifying a bounce:
Bounces come in a variety
of sizes. You can easily
identify them as a
triangle stood up right,
forming a platform
angled at 45 degrees.
They are usually
coloured with yellow and
black striped lines.

How to hit a bounce:
- Strafe jump onto the bounce
- Control your landing




Tips:
- Hit the top corners of the bounce for distance
- Hit the bottom corners of the bounce for height
Hitting the bounce sounds very simple, however, some
of them only work if you hit a certain part of the
platform. This results in very inconsistent
performance. Bouncing is a lot like strafing, you
must practise to become good at it.



Thats it! Everything you need to know about
deathrun, compiled into one guide. Dont forget,
being a good jumper comes with time & practise. Good
luck out there, get your name on those
leaderboards!



















The End room!
Guide to CoD4 Deathrun:
Created by [AR51]Doge
Original write up
All Screenshots taken by myself
Credits:
Call Of Duty 4 Modern Warfare Created by Infinity
Ward, published by Activision November 2007.
Deathrun Mod 1.2 Created by BraXi
[AR51] CRK Deathrun Created by Head admins
Kevinos & Substanz, formally managed and updated
by cuba
Artwork [AR51]Scruffs, May 2014
CoD Jumper For the information regarding FPS in
CoD4
All rights go to their respective owners.
Authors Note:
It was interesting writing this, putting a game I play
daily into words. I enjoy sharing skills with others
and this is something which I would definitely do
again. I would like to thank everyone involved in the
maintenance of [AR51] CRK Deathrun. It has really
improved since I first joined back in April 2013.
Great job guys, keep on jumping! Finally, remember,
Activators are supposed to activate!
Thanks for reading!
[AR51]Doge