Day of Defeat
Encyclopedia
Day of Defeat 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
.
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.
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.
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.
This is a variation of the capture the flag. Instead of a flag, a target (truck, airplane, or building) can be captured.
Players attempt to capture an item (secret documents) and return it to a designated location.
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. Sergeant
s 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 kick 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.
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.
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.
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 Defeats gameplay dynamics. It also lacks the British Army and various game modes.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game of the European Theatre of World War II
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
. As of 2008, the game is one of the ten most played Half-Life modifications
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
in terms of players, according to GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
.
Gameplay
Day of Defeat is a 3D multiplayer shooter that simulates squad-level infantryInfantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
combat between the adversaries of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
's European Theatre
European Theatre of World War II
The European Theatre of World War II was a huge area of heavy fighting across Europe from Germany's invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 until the end of the war with the German unconditional surrender on May 8, 1945...
; the Allies
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
or the Axis Powers
Axis Powers
The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...
. The goal is to complete various mission objectives.
Players can choose between the Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
armies (American and/or British armies, depending on the map) or the Axis armies. In Day of Defeat: Source
Day of Defeat: Source
Day of Defeat: Source is a team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. Set in World War II, the game is an updated version of Day of Defeat, moving from the GoldSrc engine used by its predecessor to the Source engine...
there are only the American and German armies.
A round begins with two opposing teams starting simultaneously in their respective spawn
Spawning (computer gaming)
In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character or item. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction....
area of a map. A round ends when one team accomplishes all of its objectives.
Player casualties
Casualty (person)
A casualty is a person who is the victim of an accident, injury, or trauma. The word casualties is most often used by the news media to describe deaths and injuries resulting from wars or disasters...
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
Mod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
, 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
DoD began as a Half-Life 3rd party modMod (computer gaming)
Mod or modification is a term generally applied to personal computer games , especially first-person shooters, role-playing games and real-time strategy games. Mods are made by the general public or a developer, and can be entirely new games in themselves, but mods are not standalone software and...
in 2000. Later, the DoD team joined Valve Software and produced a standalone version published through Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
. 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
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
, Rifleman or Sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
), choosing a class determined your speed
Speed
In kinematics, the speed of an object is the magnitude of its velocity ; it is thus a scalar quantity. The average speed of an object in an interval of time is the distance traveled by the object divided by the duration of the interval; the instantaneous speed is the limit of the average speed as...
. Rifleman
Rifleman
Although ultimately originating with the 16th century handgunners and the 17th century musketeers and streltsy, the term rifleman originated from the 18th century. It would later become the term for the archetypal common soldier.-History:...
moved the fastest and Support Infantry moved the slowest. Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
s 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
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
Staff Sergeant
Staff Sergeant
Staff sergeant is a rank of non-commissioned officer used in several countries.The origin of the name is that they were part of the staff of a British army regiment and paid at that level rather than as a member of a battalion or company.-Australia:...
who carried an M1 Carbine
M1 Carbine
The M1 carbine is a lightweight, easy to use semi-automatic carbine that became a standard firearm for the U.S. military during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, and was produced in several variants. It was widely used by U.S...
. The Axis Sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
Rifle from the Beta 1.x releases (the Gewehr 43
Gewehr 43
The Gewehr 43 or Karabiner 43 is an 8x57mm IS caliber semi-automatic rifle developed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
) was replaced with a scoped model of the Karabiner 98k
Karabiner 98k
The Karabiner 98 Kurz was a bolt action rifle chambered for the 8x57mm IS/7.92×57mm IS cartridge that was adopted as the standard service rifle in 1935 by the German Wehrmacht. It was one of the final developments in the long line of Mauser military rifles...
, 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
MG42
The MG 42 is a 7.9mm universal machine gun that was developed in Nazi Germany and entered service with the Wehrmacht in 1942...
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 kick 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
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
, who carried a M3 Grease Gun
M3 submachine gun
The M3 was an American .45-caliber submachine gun adopted for U.S. Army service on 12 December 1942, as the United States Submachine Gun, Cal. .45, M3. The M3 was designed as a more cost-effective alternative to the Thompson, optimized for mass production...
, as well as the para gameplay mode which was similar to Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
in that players did not respawn until the end of the round. The Germans
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
could now also choose between two models of the powerful and deafeningly loud FG 42
FG 42
The FG 42 was a selective fire battle rifle produced in Nazi Germany during World War II...
(bipod/scope) and the Gewehr could now be selected as a class, to compete with the semi-automatic Garand rifle the Allies
Allies
In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...
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
Day of Defeat: Source
Day of Defeat: Source is a team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. Set in World War II, the game is an updated version of Day of Defeat, moving from the GoldSrc engine used by its predecessor to the Source engine...
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 IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
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
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...
or German Nebelwerfer
Nebelwerfer
The Nebelwerfer was a World War II German series of weapons originally designed to deliver chemical weapons. They were initially developed by and assigned to the Wehrmacht's so-called Chemical Troops ...
(artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
) 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
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
(dod charlie), streetfighting in the Italian city of Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
during Operation Avalanche (dod avalanche), and a Glider mission where the American 101st Airborne
101st Airborne Division
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
lands in a WACO
Waco Aircraft Company
The Waco Aircraft Company was an aircraft manufacturer located in Troy, Ohio, USA. Between 1919 and 1947, the company produced a wide range of civilian biplanes....
Glider and has to destroy such objectives as a radio antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
and Flak 88 mm gun
88 mm gun
The 88 mm gun was a German anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun from World War II. It was widely used by Germany throughout the war, and was one of the most recognizable German weapons of the war...
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
Source engine
Source is a 3D game engine developed by Valve Corporation. It debuted in June 2004 with Counter-Strike: Source and shortly thereafter Half-Life 2, and has been in active development ever since...
used for Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
, was released on September 26, 2005. It makes significant changes to Day of Defeats gameplay dynamics. It also lacks the British Army and various game modes.