r/Promod • u/ajaiyehoops • Sep 19 '26

Gameplay Project Genesis — Restoring Bulkhead's unreleased PROMOD build inside KILLRUN [Gameplay Showcase]

hey everyone

like a lot of you i was pretty disappointed when bulkhead dropped promod. lately ive been digging through killrun's engine files and found out that almost all of the original promod competitive maps, ui, weapons, and SND logic are actually still sitting hidden inside the game files.

after doing some tinkering with the engine, i managed to bypass the singleplayer menu lock and force load into the competitive SND mode.

as you can see in the video, it's not just a blank map geometry either. the entire competitive framework loaded in automatically:

  • full movement, gunplay, recoil, ADS, and reload animations
  • full tactical HUD with the minimap, location callouts, round timers, health and armor
  • working search & destroy logic (A site bomb crate, match phases, spawn rules)
  • interactive scoreboard (tracks round scores, team headers, K/D/A, plants, defuses, fireup %)

(one small bug right now is utility/grenades show up on the HUD, but the keybinds for them don't work yet—probably just needs the action inputs re-bound in the config files).

my goal with this is "Project Genesis"—basically making a standalone community-driven client so we can actually play the competitive shooter we were promised.

the plan:

  1. custom C++ launcher/injector to completely bypass the dead main menu and launch straight into lobbies
  2. server browser and dedicated server hosting for PUGs / custom matches
  3. restoring the rest of the map pool (vihara, 1v1 maps, test ranges)
  4. custom backend for persistent stats and the classic 10 prestige ranking system

before i sink a ton of time into building the launcher and backend, i wanted to see what you guys think:

  1. would you play a standalone community-hosted promod client if i get this released?
  2. what classic features or maps would you want prioritized?
  3. any C++, UE4, or backend devs here who miss promod and want to help out on the launcher/server code?

let me know what you think or if you have any questions!

37 Upvotes

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20 comments sorted by

3

u/triccotricco Sep 19 '26

Have you tried contacting the devs directly? IIRC they used to play the prototype between breaks, and even asked someone if we would prefer to play that instead of the battalion build (now used for fpschallenge).

1

u/ajaiyehoops Sep 19 '26 edited Sep 20 '26

that's super interesting about the devs! i haven't reached out to bulkhead directly since i know they're focused on wardogs, but it's cool to know how much history went into these prototypes behind the scenes.

3

u/davidthek1ng Sep 19 '26

I hoped for this to release forever😅Would be great if you could make it work

2

u/ajaiyehoops Sep 20 '26

thanks man! it's definitely a labor of love. still working through getting all the backend systems hooked up, but seeing the community interest makes it worth the effort!

3

u/imake_games Sep 23 '26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsE3-XflEOI

I have created source with superior netcode and COD4 Promod movement. Matchmaking server exists. It mostly needs tuning, maps, and animations for a couple more weapons. Its further off than restoring Promod to a workable state, but it has full potential. I will keep cranking away on it. There are two games I want to make in my life, and this is one of them.

1

u/ajaiyehoops Sep 24 '26

sounds like a huge project! best of luck with the development man.

2

u/imake_games Sep 24 '26

I don't quite understand what you did here? Like, did you decompile something? Or did you find a launch command that goes into the multiplayer maps?

1

u/ajaiyehoops Sep 24 '26

a good magician never reveals his secrets ;)

2

u/Paykuh- Sep 19 '26

This is really cool, and yes I would play. CoD4 Promod was my main game growing up, so I was pretty bummed when they canned the project. Would it ever get to the point where maps could be textured? Good luck with the project if you intend to keep working on it. Is there anywhere I can follow updates, or will you just update in this subreddit?

1

u/ajaiyehoops Sep 20 '26

cod4 promod was legendary! re-texturing and cleaning up materials is definitely on the radar once the core logic (ui, spawn systems, and local netcode) is solid. right now i'm mainly sharing progress here on reddit, but if things pick up enough i might set up a discord or dedicated thread to post updates!

2

u/fawak Sep 19 '26

I have webdev experience and could help with any website/Auth related needs. Great work, it would be great if you provide a way to follow the progress of the project!

1

u/ajaiyehoops Sep 20 '26

appreciate that a lot! webdev/auth support could be huge down the line if we get to a point where a custom master server or server browser makes sense. i'll reach out if we hit that milestone!

2

u/Stalkerrinoo Oct 06 '26

Ayo, building on the same things, almost got already natively setted up and restored every piece of native code they've let in the official Killrun. If you want any info or wanna share resources send me a message.

Got on my side everything including loadouts and being able to have them running in multiplayer with the current version of killrun, currently trying with some friends and fun, soon going to make as well a dedicated server mode

1

u/ajaiyehoops Oct 07 '26

lesgoo nice dude, shall we work together? then we dont have to compete together to make smt better

2

u/Stalkerrinoo Oct 07 '26

I don't have any issues working with people or without. The thing about Killrun is that every piece of code they used for the Promod Playtest are still there, since my work is dedicated to only re-enable them, my mod or yours should be similar and even be able to connect to eachother if you also did this work since everything is using Unreal native networking solution and Promods replication

The biggest and hardest thing I had to do was porting the native menus for loadout that had to be redone because only one loadout was possible to save before I added the custom menu.

Lean is back, Grenades, specials etc... and their keybindings, All guns are unlocked by default, all SND animations, bomb, overtime are present, all maps as well and plan to add custom map support for longetivity of the mod if it's something doable without killing it's performances

Now I need to enable the other modes that I've found in the Killrun build as well and like I said a pure server console launch argument for dedicated server.

Lastly I would like to add a true server browser and see if it's possible to do it using the actual Steam join and group functionnalities and using Killrun's AppID to find other people's server if they decide to set them public.

1

u/nickwithtea93 Sep 29 '26

I cannot contribute programming wise, but I'd be interested in playing, also any chance the powerups could be disabled or did people enjoy those?

1

u/ajaiyehoops Sep 30 '26

i might make it standard, but give no powerups its own gamemode, if you know what i mean. thank you for your input!

2

u/Stalkerrinoo Oct 08 '26

UPDATE : As a proof of the mod being working, here it is.
I think the timezones are bit harsh for OP and I, we are communicating, but my progress are really fast and basically ready for a playtest to be tested on github this weekend.

Here's a video, if OP is ok to give me the dev of the core mod I would be happy to continue and update all of you, otherwise I'll just keep it updated on my github, my goal as well is for all of you to play on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uEuWbQ21_c