Day of Defeat

Day of Defeat
File:Day of Defeat Coverart.png
Developer(s)	Valve Software
Publisher(s)	Activision
Designer(s)	DoD mod team
Composer(s)	Mike Morasky
Engine	GoldSrc (Modified Quake engine)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, Linux (Beta)
Release	Mod August 4, 2000 Retail May 1, 2003
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Day of Defeat (DoD) is a team-based multiplayer World War II first-person shooter video game of the European Theatre of World War II. As of 2008, the game is one of the ten most played Half-Life modifications in terms of players, according to GameSpy.

Gameplay

Day of Defeat is a 3D multiplayer shooter that simulates squad-level infantry combat between the adversaries of World War II's European Theatre; the Allies or the Axis Powers. The goal is to complete various mission objectives.

Players can choose between the Allied armies (American and/or British armies, depending on the map) or the Axis armies. In Day of Defeat: Source there are only the American and German armies.

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 in team objectives, how many enemies each player has eliminated 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 with another map.

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 each team.

• Conquest Mode

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 or the Union Jack if the Allied team is British). Certain maps (dod_charlie) do not allow a captured flag to be recaptured by the defending team.

• Destroy target

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 detonate in a sizeable explosion. In certain maps such as dod_jagd, players may destroy targets (tanks) using rocket launchers.

• Capture target

This is a variation of the capture the flag. Instead of a flag, a target (truck, airplane, or building) can be captured.

• Capture item

Players attempt to capture an item (secret documents) and return it to a designated location.

History

Version history (Complete)

• Alpha 4 (April 8, 2000)*
• Alpha 6 (September 27, 2000)
• Alpha 6.5 (October 15, 2000)
• Alpha 6.5 (October 16, 2000)**
• Alpha 6.7 (October 28, 2000)
• Alpha 6.8 (November 6, 2000)
• Beta 1.0 (January 12, 2001)
• Beta 1.1 (February 14, 2001)
• Beta 1.2 (April 5, 2001)
• Beta 1.3 (June 4, 2001)
• Beta 1.3b (July 27, 2001)
• Beta 2.0 (February 6, 2002)
• 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)‡
• Version 1.2 (May 19, 2004)
• Version 1.3 (July 7, 2004)

• *Alpha 4 was the first public release. The readme.txt file lists "fixes" from previous private versions.
• **Alpha 6.5 was re-released under the same number with some "missing wads and sounds"
• †First available for retail purchase, but still available (and always) available as a free download add on to half-life. Retail purchase eliminated the need of owning half-life.
• ‡First release on the Steam content delivery system.

DoD began as a Half-Life 3rd party mod in 2000. Later, the DoD team joined Valve Software and produced a standalone version published through Activision. DoD (ver.1.0) was officially released in May 2003. It was converted over to the Steam delivery system in version 1.1. Steam is now required to play DoD. Day of Defeat: Source was released on September 26, 2005.

With the initial release of the game (when classes included only Support Infantry, Sergeant, Rifleman or Sniper), choosing a class determined your speed. Rifleman moved the fastest and Support Infantry moved the slowest. Sergeants moved at a medium pace.

With the release of Beta 2.0 in October 2001, players witnessed 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 Sniper Rifle from the Beta 1.x releases (the Gewehr 43) was replaced with a scoped model of the Karabiner 98k, to more effectively balance the Axis and Allied sniper classes. Furthermore, both sides now received machine guns (.30 caliber for the Allies, and the MG34 and MG42 models for the Axis), which added a new tactical element to the game. Also, so called head-bobbing or gun-sway was introduced, so players could no longer simply point and shoot while moving, but now had to stand still for improved accuracy. Gun recoil was also introduced, and kneeling and lying down alleviated this and made a player's shot more accurate.

Beta 3.0 was released in July 2002 and added the Allied Sergeant, who carried a 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. The Germans could now also choose between two models of the powerful and deafeningly loud FG 42 (bipod/scope) and the Gewehr could now be selected as a class, to compete with the semi-automatic Garand rifle the Allies used. Valve then made Day of Defeat an official valve mod and released 1.0v in May 2003 which featured a lot of changes. Activision distributed a retail version of the game though it could still be downloaded for free if you had Half-Life. Later version 1.1 became the first Steam release. 1.0 included quite a few new features - the pace of the game was increased. Friendly-fire was made non-default, an on-screen map where one's allies and thrown grenades were displayed was added, as was a Battlefield-style flag hanging over the head of friends and foes for identification. Pop-up help messages, spoken by a dog wearing a helmet (in the same vein as Microsoft's Office Assistant), also appeared in v1.0. Bleeding - a key feature of the betas - was removed,. Night time battlefields were removed as they tended to be the least-played of the beta maps. Version 1.0 also included auto-reload (which defaulted to "always on"), some new maps and major modifications to some old maps (e.g. Anzio). British Troops were also issued in 1.0, but were only featured in 3 maps and had only 5 weapon classes. The American Bazooka, German Panzershreck and British PIAT became independent classes in 1.2v and Mortar-classes were proposed, but never got released. Para-maps were kept, but the special gameplay was removed and replaced by the traditional Flag-capture or objective gameplay. Version 1.0 also introduced the bipod for the BAR, allowing for it to be deployed in the same locations as the machine guns and FG42s. In September 2005 Day of Defeat: Source was released.

Classes and weapons

Day of Defeat features historical weaponry used during World War II.

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

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 (artillery) 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 DoD maps included with the game encompass scenes such as the infamous battle at Omaha Beach (dod charlie), streetfighting in the Italian city of Salerno during Operation Avalanche (dod 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 (dod glider).

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 rocket at it.

Day of Defeat: Source

Main article: Day of Defeat: Source

File:Dods.jpg

Day of Defeat: Source

The next version of the game, Day of Defeat: Source, an update of DoD using the Source engine used for Half-Life 2, was released on September 26, 2005. It makes significant changes to Day of Defeat's gameplay dynamics. It also lacks the British Army and various game modes.

See also

• List of Half-Life mods

External links

• Official Day of Defeat site