What goes through one's mind as they fall hopelessly to their death in Duke?  Probably something along the lines of "I wish I had a jetpack".  Well, unbeknownst to some dukers, there are ways to survive falls without a jetpack.  Some require optimal circumstances, while others simply rely on the design of the map.  This tutorial describes three such ways.  All demos below are for the 1.5 version of Duke, so that they are more widely viewable.

Falling Death Evasion Type 1

The simplest way to avoid death from a long fall is to use trip mines and stick them to nearby walls.  In this way, you will slow your fall rate and be able to land normally or with minimal damage.  The demo below illustrates this.

Fall_Type1.zip

Falling Death Evasion Type 2

This requires optimal circumstances.  Basically, if you happen to be high up in the air, you can fall while shrunk and not incur any damage.  However, this is used more as a way to get to the bottom of the map when there are no lasers, or when you know there is some item like the jetpack at the bottom.  The demo below illustrates this versus a bot.

Fall_Type2.zip

Falling Death Evasion Type 3

This type of fall is the hardest, but most widely applicable.  Essentially, objects like trash cans, boxes, and signs can be landed on without dying.  Ledges and bridges can also be landed on.  There are two main ways to do this.  The first way is to slightly clip the very edge of these items.  Duke will simply hit it once then fall off and take no damage.  The second way is what I call a soft landing.  Duke will land completely on the object, yet incur no damage.  It will be as if the object is a pillow.  The method to doing this is still not 100% in my mind.  One way is to simply turn slowly as you are about to fall on the object.  This appears to increase your likelihood of not dying.  Another way is to gradually move towards the object right before you land.  Again, these aren't 100% ways, but they work a lot in my testing.  Also, to land cleanly on solid ground, it appears that it needs to be sloped a bit.  The demos below illustrate some of these concepts.

Falls_Type3.zip

So, as you can see, falling may not be so bad afterall.  "Die Another Day".