Call of Duty 4

The Heads Up Display (HUD) in Call of Duty 4 contains a lot of information that is constantly overlooked. This applies just as much to pubs as it does in competitive play, for which it's all radar-focused as anyone can tell you. However, things like crosshair distibution, ally positions on the UAV, and ammo count are constantly ignored by the average player. So if you think this tip does not apply to you then think again, you will be surprised if you think back at all the times you've died unnecessarily. For instance seeing the grenade danger indicator and running around just to get shot, when you could've just moved a meter or so behind a nearby barrel.

Obviously, Hardcore mode removes many of these aspects of the HUD, and these differences are discussed near the end.



This gives an outline of the basic HUD in Call of Duty 4.

The Mini-Map

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The Mini-Map, also referred to as the UAV, is the most vital part of the entire HUD. In addition to showing the outline of the entire map, it also shows teammates' positions and enemy locations when their weapon is fired, or when UAV is active. Not only is this the most important part of one's screen, it is also the most underrated. Players often take for granted the help that the mini-map provides them with. By constantly checking and monitoring your own teammates' positions you can stay alive considerably longer and gain extended kill streaks much easier by knowing where they are.

Your allies' positions will appear on the mini-map as a green arrow, while your own is highlighted by a yellow arrow. Not everyone has a decent communication system to speak with their teammates, like TeamSpeak, VOIP, or an Xbox 360 headset, so being familiar with the mini-map is the next best thing, and in some ways it's better. An example of teammate recognition using the mini-map would be seeing several friendlies in front of your arrow on the UAV. Rather than having to check corners for enemies as you enter the area, by knowing it's already occupied by your allies, you know that it's safe and you can pass on through. If everyone on the team gets in this habit, attacking an enemy position becomes both much quicker and much more efficient.

In addition to making things easier on the offensive side of things, teammate recognition on defense can help as well. Snipers in particular can take advantage of this when they are scanning an area for targets.



As you can see, having this kind of peripheral skill creates a huge advantage for not just yourself, but the rest of your team, especially in LANs where team communication can be distracted by live background noise. Normally you want to be careful if you do this to help out a lone teammate because most likely they've already spotted a target or vise versa and you don't want to get in the way and give away your ally's position.

Weapon and Ammo Display

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The weapon display is pretty basic and really does not benefit you in any way unless you're new to the game and aren't yet used to the magazine capacities. It only takes a few hours of gameplay to know the weapon names and identify them at sight, but it takes an experienced player to recognize what someone is using by hearing them shoot off bullets in the distance. This is helpful when you're rotating positions to secure or help flank a location because you'll know what class you're up against, say an AK-74u in the hands of a good player or a sniper unprepared with his large rifle for your attack.

The ammunition count can be very important if you have a habit of gaining extended kill streaks. Checking your ammo supply isn’t something that needs to be looked at very regularly, but glancing at it occasionally will give you an idea of when you need to make a move to swap for a weapon off the ground. Don’t wait until the last second when your magazine is nearly empty to do so. If you come across a weapon lying on the ground that you are comfortable with, pick it up. Don't ever be caught in a firefight with insufficient bullets to keep you alive.

Be aware of locations that you die or drop your weapon in. Sometimes even after dying you'll respawn quite close to the area and pick up the remaining ammo left over.

Other than showing the current bullet count, it also shows how many frag and special grenades you have remaining. Much like the ammo display, the grenade count display really doesn't need to be monitored. Unless you have the x3 Frags or x3 Specials perk enabled, you should mentally have a good idea of how many you've already used.

Crosshairs

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If you've ever played an FPS game before, then you're already familiar with these four white dashes. In Call of Duty 4, the size of the reticule varies depending on what class you're using. If you're armed with an SMG, the crosshairs are 'normal' in standing position. Assault rifles and LMGs increase in size respectively, and sniper rifle crosshairs nearly touch the sides of the screen.

Crosshairs help you in aiming when firing from the hip, and of course you don't have them when using the iron sights. Knowing the capabilities of your weapon will aid you in adjusting between recoil control and the crosshair size.

The easiest way to understand 'bullet spread', or the accuracy distribution of the bullets as they travel over range, and crosshair size is this: The smaller the crosshair size, the smaller the bullet spread will be. The smaller the bullet spread is and the more accurate. Again, SMGs have the best hip accuracy, and so on. You'll see experienced players go prone or crouch when they're stationary and targeting a nearby enemy. This isn't just so they can be more stealthy, but because the crosshairs are much smaller in this position and make for easier shooting.

Hip fire is where the benefits of the Steady Aim perk are seen. A noticeable difference in the crosshair spread can be seen when this perk in enabled. Generally, LMGs and Sniper Rifles see no significant improvement from Steady Aim as their hip fire accuracy is already so poor, but smaller weapons like SMGs and Shotguns are then easier to use.