Day of Defeat

Day of Defeat (DoD) is a popular team-based multiplayer World War II first-person shooter Half-Life mod computer game that immerses players into a 3D simulated virtual reality of the European Theatre of World War II. The game's graphics and sounds have also been influenced by the movie Saving Private Ryan, and use some of the movie's actual soundtracks.

Gameplay
Day of Defeat is a 3D multi-player shooter that simulates infantry battle between the adversaries of the Second World Wars European Theatre: The Allied Powers; (United States, and the United Kingdom) or the Axis Powers (Nazi Germany). The goal is to complete various mission objectives.

Players choose which side they will fight on and what class their character will be similar to the Team Fortress series. There are unique classes for the Allies and the Axis. Class determines which weapons the player will carry, and what they will look like.

A round begins with two opposing teams starting simultaneously in their respective spawn area of a map. A round ends when one team accomplishes all of its objectives.

Player casualties become reinforcements which are supplied according to a timer. The reinforcements originate at spawn and can be composed of anywhere from 1 soldier to the entire team. The reinforcement timer is usually between 10–20 seconds, but this time may vary from server to server.

Like other Half-Life mods, Day of Defeat tracks each player's accomplishment of team objectives, how many enemies each player has killed and how many times each player has died. The game also tallies these statistics for the entire team, this reflects the team's score which is primarily based on objectives.

After many rounds, the game ends when a set time limit expires, and the team with the most objectives achieved is the winning team regardless of kills or casualties, except in the case where both teams have not achieved any objectives or are tied in the objective score. The scoreboard is displayed and the game is restarted, usually with another map. There really is no "The End" to Day of Defeat.

Map Objectives
Day of defeat maps do not always require that both teams have the same objectives. Some of the more popular maps have different objectives for both teams. Players can capture a flag by standing near the flag for a certain amount of time. Certain flags require more than 1 player for capture. Flags are presented as either uncaptured (Grey), Axis (Red) or Allies (Green). Certain maps do not allow a captured flag to be recaptured by the defending team. Players destroy a target by first planting a bomb at the target. The bomb is obtained from the spawn area. This bomb can also be picked up from the body of dead comrades. To plant the bomb, the player has to just stand within the designated bomb area. Bombs once planted cannot be defused and will always cause a big explosion. This is a variation of the capture the flag. Instead of a flag, a target (truck, airplane, or building) can be captured.
 * Capture the flag
 * Destroy target
 * Capture target

Version history

 * Beta 1.0 (January 12, 2001)
 * Beta 1.1 (February 14, 2001)
 * Beta 1.2 (April 5, 2001)
 * Beta 1.3 (July 1, 2001)
 * Beta 2.0 (October 13, 2001)
 * Beta 2.1 (May 10, 2002)
 * Beta 3.0 (July 11, 2002)
 * Beta 3.1 (August 8, 2002)
 * Version 1.0 (May 1, 2003)
 * Version 1.1 (November 14, 2003, the first release on Steam)
 * Version 1.2 (May 19, 2004)
 * Version 1.3 (July 7, 2004)
 * Day of Defeat: Source - (September 26, 2005)

Day of Defeat began as a Half-Life third-party mod in 2001. Later, the Day of Defeat development team joined Valve Software and produced a standalone version, published through Activision. 'Day of Defeat (Version 1.0) was officially released in May 2003. It was converted over to the Steam delivery system in version 1.1. Day of Defeat: Source was released on September 26, 2005.

With the initial release of the game (when you could only be Rifleman/Grenadier, Support Infantry/Sturmtruper, Sergeant/Unteroffizier, or Sniper), choosing a class determined your speed. Rifleman/Grenadier moved the fastest and Support Infantry moved the slowest. Sergeants moved at a medium pace.

With the release of Beta 2.0, people saw the expansion of character classes and the speed differential was eliminated. This version added the Allied Staff Sergeant who carried an M1 Carbine. The Axis now could use two versions of the Fallschirmjägergewehr 42 (one with a bipod and one with a scope) and the Sniper Rifle from the Beta 1.0 versions (the Gewehr 43) was replaced with the deemed "more fair" Karabiner 98k. The Gewehr could now be selected as a class, to compete with the semi-automatic M1 Garand rifle the Allies used. Furthermore both sides now received machine guns (Browning M1919A6 .30 Caliber for the Allies, and the Maschinengewehr 34 and Maschinengewehr 42 models for the Axis), which added a new tactical element to the game. Also, head-bobbing or gun-sway was introduced, so players could not just point and shoot while moving, but now had to stand still for improved accuracy. Gun kick was also introduced, and kneeling and lying down alleviated this and made a player's shot more accurate. Also, bipods were introduced to the lighter machine guns M1918A2 BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle) and Fallschirmjägergewehr 42. The British were not in the game at this time.

Beta 3.0 added the Allied Sergeant, who carried an M3 "Grease Gun", as well as the para gameplay mode which was similar to Counter-Strike in that players did not respawn until the end of the round. This mode was eliminated in version 1.0. Unfortunately for some, the release 1.0 included quite a few new features partly vanquishing some of the old veterans but on the other hand inviting new players to the game (mainly from Counter-Strike). The game was made more fun and less realistic. Practically this meant making friendly-fire non-default, adding an on-screen map where you could see your allies and thrown grenades, and a Battlefield-style flag hanging over the head of friends and foes for identification. 1.0 also included auto-reload, some new maps and major modifications to some old maps (e.g. Anzio).

Classes and Weapons
Day of Defeat features historically-accurate weaponry used during World War II; those and what selectable classes that use them are listed below.


 * - Only available on Fallschirmjäger maps
 * - Replaced with a gravity knife on Fallschirmjäger maps
 * - M1 Carbine is replaced with the M1A1 model on paratrooper maps

Players may also drop their main weapon in order to pick up those left by dead soldiers or discarded by other players, thus Allied players can wield Axis guns and vice versa.

Controls
Along with the standard movement controls of any first-person shooter game, day of defeat has a few extra buttons.

Holding the sprint button is used to make a quick dash. The player will lose stamina during the sprint. If there is no more stamina, the player stops sprinting and moves slowly. The player can stop sprinting at anytime by releasing the sprint button. A player can go prone by pressing the prone button. A prone player will have increased accuracy and lower recoil while firing his weapon. Certain weapons can also be deployed by right-clicking. Players can stand up by pressing the prone button while prone. (default z) There are 2 drop ammo buttons. 1 button drops ammo for the same class as the player. The other drops a box of ammunition's for the mg34 or mg42 class. The other player can pick up the ammo by walking over it. In the latest version this has been changed to one button and the ammunition dropped is usable by any class on your team. If bleeding, the player must bandage himself to prevent death. Bleeding normally occurs if the player survives an attack which causes near fatal damage. This feature was removed after Day of Defeat left the betas, although a medic class has been proposed.
 * Sprint
 * Prone
 * Drop Ammo
 * Bandage

Day of Defeat Maps
Day of Defeat maps muster scenarios of historical World War II battles requiring teams to control territory and complete objectives. Territorial control scenarios require the players to capture flags at important choke points throughout the map. Objective-based maps take players into battle for mission targets, such as a bridge or German Nebelwerfer or any other various tactical targets. To achieve most tasks requires the players to use TNT charges at the objective. The many different possible objectives types include "clandestine missions", such as obtaining secret documents and returning them to headquarters.

Official Day of Defeat maps included with the game encompass scenes such as the infamous battle at Omaha Beach, street-fighting in the Italian city of Salerno during Operation Avalanche , and a Glider mission where the American 101st Airborne lands in a WACO Glider and has to destroy such objectives as a radio antenna and Flak 88 mm gun anti-aircraft gun.

Custom Day of Defeat maps available for download are also frequently constructed and remodeled by independent designers thus creating battles with unlimited missions for players to experience. Several servers specialize in Counter-Strike maps.

Day of Defeat maps offer the player the ability to blast through certain parts of the map to gain entry into new sections. This offers a twist to normal map strategies. The sections are normally marked with a crack in the wall, which can be opened by either planting a bomb or by shooting a bazooka shell at it.

Day of Defeat: Source
The next version of the game, Day of Defeat: Source, an update of Day of Defeat using the Source engine used for Half-Life 2, was released on September 26, 2005. Unlike previous releases of Day of Defeat, the game was only available as part of Half-Life 2 bundles available on Steam. It makes significant changes to Day of Defeat's gameplay dynamics. Day of Defeat: Source was temporarily available for free download and evaluation from February 11–12, 2005.

Bots
Although Day of Defeat is primarily multi-player online, an offline mode with user-created bots (computer-controlled opponents) can also be played. Popular Day of Defeat bots are SturmBOT and ShrikeBot. It is also possible for a server admin to add an arbitrary amount of bots to the game.

Day of Defeat Machinima
Day of Defeat has been a popular ground for machinima production. Somewhat recently the official Day of Defeat forums added a section solely for movie making here.

Somewhat more ambitious productions have included story lines, cinematic like editing, and custom-created content solely for the movie. One of the more ambitious product studios is Chaos Films. Although somewhat idle at the moment, Chaos Films was the first organized studio solely aimed at creating story based machinima content for Day of Defeat. They solely sparked the Day of Defeat machinima movement with the release of Escape from Festung, a short action film about escaping allied soldiers. From that day Chaos Films have ventured into other mods such as Natural Selection, releasing Natural Selection, a renowned piece. The crew of Chaos Films includes "Pierog"(Founder/Producer), "regis" (Co-Founder, Director), and other notable people of the Day of Defeat Community.

Another renowned Day of Defeat machinima artist is "Faceman". "Faceman" merged in game content with the real world in well known pieces like "Soup Nazi". "Faceman" possesses a witty breed of humor which is easily visible in his short piece under the name "Kristelnacht", a satirical take on the infamous pre war "Night of the Broken Glass", where many Jewish shops, houses and business were attacked.

Currently Chaos Films is said to be working on an ambitious Day of Defeat: GoldSource piece called "One Round Short", but very little news has been recently said about that piece. "Faceman" is currently venturing into more live content instead of machinima pieces.