Day of Defeat: Source
Encyclopedia
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
. The game was released for Microsoft Windows
on 26 September 2005, distributed through Valve's online content delivery service Steam. Retail distribution of the game was handled by Electronic Arts
.
The game was officially announced in February 2005. During the course of its development, Day of Defeat: Source progressed from being a straight conversion of Day of Defeat, to the alteration of certain aspects of the game's design and introduction of several new features. In addition, Day of Defeat: Source has been used by Valve to present new design features on the Source engine, such as high dynamic range rendering
and cinematic effects. The game itself revolves around two teams, the US
Army and the German
Wehrmacht
, each with access to six player classes, fighting in a variety of scenarios inspired by World War II engagements in the European Theatre
of 1944.
Upon release, the game received a generally favorable reception, praised for its atmospheric and strategic gameplay and its graphics, audio work and overall presentation. However, the game was criticized for the lack of content in it at the time of release, although subsequent updates to the game have added new game modes and levels.
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Day of Defeat: Source is set in World War II
, specifically the European Theatre
in the year 1944. Players choose to join the forces of either the United States
Army
or the German
Wehrmacht
and compete against each other in a variety of game modes. Players select from one of six classes to play as, each with its own role within the team. Player characters cannot take much damage, and in some circumstances can be killed by a single bullet, forcing players to make use of cover to stay alive. When a player character dies, that player starts a short countdown for reinforcements. When the timer runs out, the player and any friendly players killed in that time respawn into the game at their insertion point as the next wave of troops. All weapons in the game have realistic limits to their use: machine gun
s must be deployed to maintain accurate fire or to be reloaded, rocket launchers
must be shouldered to be aimed and fired, sniper rifle
s are most accurate when used with the scope and grenade
s not "cooked off" before release may be easily fled or even thrown back by the opposition.
The game was initially released with four maps, although later updates have introduced five new official levels and eight community produced maps supported by Valve. The game's levels are based after real battles in the Allied
campaigns in Italy
, Sicily
and France, such as the Falaise pocket
or the beach landings of Operation Shingle
at Anzio
, as well as entirely fictional battles. Combat can take place in several environments, such as city streets, buildings and sewers. Each online game can sustain a maximum of 32 players.
The objective in a detonation level is to plant and detonate explosive devices on a number of enemy positions, which can consist of AA guns
, tank
s and armored cars. Some positions must be hit twice for them to be completely destroyed. Players can protect their positions by defusing the explosives before they detonate. In one variation of this game mode, one side has to defend their positions for a set amount of time, with the destruction of each piece of equipment giving the enemy team more time. The defenders win if they can hold their positions long enough for the time to run out, while the attackers win when all objectives have been destroyed. In the alternate version, both teams must attack the other's objectives while defending their own. The first team to destroy all of the enemy's equipment wins.
.jpg)
Both factions in Day of Defeat: Source have access to six classes. Each class is designed with specific combat circumstances in mind, so that teams must use teamwork to succeed. The weapons and equipment carried by the classes are based on the weapons used by both the US Army and Wehrmacht during World War II. Some of classes are armed with pistols—the American M1911 or the German Walther P38—while others are equipped with trench knife
s or entrenching tool
s for melee combat. Grenades are carried by a number of classes, depending on their role in the game—riflemen are equipped with rifle grenade
s, the assault classes are armed with a single fragmentation grenade
and a smoke grenade
for providing concealment, while support classes have access to two standard fragmentation grenades. Riflemen are armed with their respective army's standard infantry rifle
, and are designed for medium to long range combat, while the assault classes carry submachine gun
s which are only effective in close quarters. The support classes are designed for medium range combat, equipped with either the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle or the StG44. Snipers are used for attacking enemy targets from long range, and are consequently armed with their army's standard bolt-action sniper rifle
. Machine gunners carry machine gun
s to defend key locations on a level or to provide a base of fire
for their team's advance. Machine gunners are required to deploy their weapons on bipods before firing in order to compensate for the machine gun's extreme recoil. The final class is armed with an anti-armor weapon
, used in the game to displace enemy machine gun or sniper positions. This class is armed with either an M1 carbine
or Mauser M712 to defend themselves with when moving.
during the development of Half-Life 2
, the flagship game of the Source engine
, as one of several of the Valve Corporation's
GoldSrc
powered games to be remade on the new game engine. In the aftermath of the release of Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source
, very little information was released regarding the development of Day of Defeat: Source until 2005. In February 2005, Valve officially announced Day of Defeat: Source, stating that the game was nearing its beta development phase and would be available later in the first quarter of the year. The game was opened to an internal beta test soon after, which certain members of the Day of Defeat community were invited to join. The beta version of the game was shown as a straight conversion of the most recent version of Day of Defeat
, at the time even including the same player and weapon models as the game's GoldSrc counterpart. Due to the response of the beta testers, significant changes were made to the gameplay, taking it away from being a straight conversion: the behaviour of weapons was altered and several classes from Day of Defeat were dropped entirely. Later media releases showed the revamped version of the game, including its new player and weapon models, as well as new additions to the game, such as rifle grenades and smoke grenades. On 2 September 2005, Valve announced that they were "confident" that the game would be released that month, and seven days later announced an official release date of 26 September 2005. The game was made available for preload via Valve's Steam content delivery system on 14 September 2005, and was officially released on time on 26 September.
Since its release, Day of Defeat: Source has undergone several updates. These updates have consisted of gameplay tweaks, new maps and graphical effects. The first new level was released on 30 November 2005, and was followed on 25 January 2005 by another new map, used as a demonstration for the Source engine's abilities in rendering snow and ice. A major update was announced on 22 June 2006, adding the detonation game mode, various gameplay tweaks and two further maps to accommodate the new game mode. The update was released on 28 June 2006. On 26 April 2007, a group of maps produced by the game's community, entitled the Community Assembled Map Pack (CAMP1), was released. Consisting of three maps, the pack was created with the assistance and support of Valve. This was followed by CAMP2 on 26 July 2007, a pack which consisted of a further five maps. On 23 May 2008, Valve announced another major update to Day of Defeat: Source, this time giving the game support for the company's new Steamworks programme. The update is open to any owners of Day of Defeat: Source. Along with various gameplay tweaks, the update moves the game to the Source engine version used with The Orange Box
, allowing the game to utilise particle effects, as well as adding a new official map based on a long-standing custom map for Day of Defeat and 51 achievement awards for players completing certain tasks.
Day of Defeat: Source has been used by Valve as a platform for demonstrating several technologies in the Source engine
. Day of Defeat: Source introduced a dynamic audio system that was limited to non-player character
s in Half-Life 2. The sound of each weapon firing in-game is attributed with distance and occlusion variables, which are processed and then fed back to the player. Sounds far from the player lack higher frequencies and thus sound more like they naturally would, allowing for the actions of other players on a map to make up the ambient sounds for the level. The game was the first to incorporate Valve's high dynamic range rendering
, predating the official demonstration, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
. Other effects were added post-release to make the game appear as if it were a World War II
era film. The effects include motion blur
, depth of field
, film grain
and color correction
. Phong shading
on the Source engine was added to Day of Defeat: Source with the major update in the second quarter of 2006.
trailers depicting the game in play. The trailers are themed around wartime propaganda
news reports for both Germany and the United States. To convey this effect, the trailers make extensive usage of the Source engine's capabilities for film grain
, color correction
, motion blur
and depth of field
, as well as sepia toning. The first trailer was released as part of the game's post-release marketing on 20 December 2005. Entitled Prelude to Victory, the trailer depicted a large firefight in the game as a report from the German perspective, complete with a commentator speaking in the German language
. Two further trailers were released to promote the major update to Day of Defeat: Source in the second quarter of 2006. The trailers, both from the American viewpoint, displayed how the new detonation gameplay worked, emphasising teamwork as the key to success, as well as introducing the viewer to the two new maps added by the update. To further create interest in the game, Valve has opened Day of Defeat: Source to three free weekends, the first taking place on 10 February 2006, the second on 8 July 2006 and the third on 4 July 2008, where anyone with a Steam account could download and play the game for a maximum of 48 hours free of charge.
and Game Rankings
. The game's graphics received near universal praise, with GameSpot
stating that "presentation is Day of Defeat: Source' s most obvious strength", and PC Zone
citing this for creating a "tense and atmospheric" game. The ragdoll physics
in the game noted by reviewers as being "amusing", and the game's audio work was also praised. The core gameplay, described as "lightning war meets capture the flag" by 1UP.com
, was equally praised by reviewers, many appreciating the interdependence of the classes and strategic gameplay. Several reviews closed remarking that the game's content was of a very high quality.
Criticism of the game principally revolved around the lack of content. While praise was bestowed upon the quality of the content already available, a number of reviewers were concerned about the small number of maps included in the initial release, even though new content was promised by Valve for later. IGN
commented that the existing content had a good chance of going "stale", while GameSpy
stated that the game's "lack of breadth" was a "serious shortcoming". In addition, PC Zone commented that "by still clinging to the small-scale skirmish atmosphere of the original, Day of Defeat: Source doesn't make much of departure from Counter-Strike
", stating that this made the game seem like a "facelift" to a "much-loved mod [...] before making us pay for it again". PC Zone summed its review up by commenting that "this is an old game—an excellent old game and a beautiful old game—but an old game nonetheless".
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...
multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
. Set in 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...
, the game is an updated version of Day of Defeat
Day of Defeat
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....
, moving from the GoldSrc engine used by its predecessor to the Source engine
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...
. The game was released for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
on 26 September 2005, distributed through Valve's online content delivery service Steam. Retail distribution of the game was handled by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
.
The game was officially announced in February 2005. During the course of its development, Day of Defeat: Source progressed from being a straight conversion of Day of Defeat, to the alteration of certain aspects of the game's design and introduction of several new features. In addition, Day of Defeat: Source has been used by Valve to present new design features on the Source engine, such as high dynamic range rendering
High dynamic range rendering
In 3D computer graphics, high dynamic range rendering , also known as high dynamic range lighting, is the rendering of computer graphics scenes by using lighting calculations done in a larger dynamic range. This allows preservation of details that may be lost due to limiting contrast ratios...
and cinematic effects. The game itself revolves around two teams, the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Army and the German
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...
Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
, each with access to six player classes, fighting in a variety of scenarios inspired by World War II engagements in the 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...
of 1944.
Upon release, the game received a generally favorable reception, praised for its atmospheric and strategic gameplay and its graphics, audio work and overall presentation. However, the game was criticized for the lack of content in it at the time of release, although subsequent updates to the game have added new game modes and levels.
Gameplay
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...
, specifically the 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...
in the year 1944. Players choose to join the forces of either the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
or the German
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...
Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
and compete against each other in a variety of game modes. Players select from one of six classes to play as, each with its own role within the team. Player characters cannot take much damage, and in some circumstances can be killed by a single bullet, forcing players to make use of cover to stay alive. When a player character dies, that player starts a short countdown for reinforcements. When the timer runs out, the player and any friendly players killed in that time respawn into the game at their insertion point as the next wave of troops. All weapons in the game have realistic limits to their use: machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s must be deployed to maintain accurate fire or to be reloaded, rocket launchers
Shoulder-launched missile weapon
A shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile or man-portable missile is a projectile fired at a target, small enough to be carried by a single person, and fired while held on one's shoulder...
must be shouldered to be aimed and fired, sniper rifle
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
s are most accurate when used with the scope and grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
s not "cooked off" before release may be easily fled or even thrown back by the opposition.
The game was initially released with four maps, although later updates have introduced five new official levels and eight community produced maps supported by Valve. The game's levels are based after real battles in 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...
campaigns in Italy
Allied invasion of Italy
The Allied invasion of Italy was the Allied landing on mainland Italy on September 3, 1943, by General Harold Alexander's 15th Army Group during the Second World War. The operation followed the successful invasion of Sicily during the Italian Campaign...
, Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
and France, such as the Falaise pocket
Falaise pocket
The battle of the Falaise Pocket, fought during the Second World War from 12 to 21 August 1944, was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy...
or the beach landings of Operation Shingle
Operation Shingle
Operation Shingle , during the Italian Campaign of World War II, was an Allied amphibious landing against Axis forces in the area of Anzio and Nettuno, Italy. The operation was commanded by Major General John P. Lucas and was intended to outflank German forces of the Winter Line and enable an...
at Anzio
Anzio
Anzio is a city and comune on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome.Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands of Ponza, Palmarola and Ventotene...
, as well as entirely fictional battles. Combat can take place in several environments, such as city streets, buildings and sewers. Each online game can sustain a maximum of 32 players.
Game modes
There are two main game modes in Day of Defeat: Source: territorial control and detonation. In territorial control maps, players must fight for control of all strategic points on the map. The strategic points take various forms, such as a destroyed tank in a street or fields and buildings, and are designated by a flag in its vicinity, which displays the army colors of the team who controls the point. Points are captured by a certain number of team members surrounding the point, with it either capturing instantly or after a couple of seconds. Players on the other side can disrupt a capture by placing themselves within the capture area during the process or by killing the enemy players at the point. The first side to capture all the points wins the round.The objective in a detonation level is to plant and detonate explosive devices on a number of enemy positions, which can consist of AA guns
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
, tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s and armored cars. Some positions must be hit twice for them to be completely destroyed. Players can protect their positions by defusing the explosives before they detonate. In one variation of this game mode, one side has to defend their positions for a set amount of time, with the destruction of each piece of equipment giving the enemy team more time. The defenders win if they can hold their positions long enough for the time to run out, while the attackers win when all objectives have been destroyed. In the alternate version, both teams must attack the other's objectives while defending their own. The first team to destroy all of the enemy's equipment wins.
Classes
Trench knife
A Trench knife is a combat knife designed to kill or gravely incapacitate an enemy soldier at close quarters, as might be encountered in a trenchline or other confined area. It was developed in response to a need for a close combat weapon for soldiers conducting assaults and raids on enemy...
s or entrenching tool
Entrenching tool
An entrenching tool or E-tool is a collapsible spade used by military forces for a variety of military purposes. Survivalists, freedivers, campers, hikers and other outdoors groups have found it to be indispensable in field use...
s for melee combat. Grenades are carried by a number of classes, depending on their role in the game—riflemen are equipped with rifle grenade
Rifle grenade
A rifle grenade is a grenade that uses a rifle-based launcher to permit a longer effective range than would be possible if the grenade was thrown by hand...
s, the assault classes are armed with a single fragmentation grenade
Fragmentation grenade
A fragmentation grenade is an anti-personnel weapon that is designed to disperse shrapnel upon exploding. The body is made of hard plastic or steel. Flechettes, notched wire, ball bearings or the case itself provide the fragments...
and a smoke grenade
Smoke grenade
Smoke grenades are canister-type grenades used as ground-to-ground or ground-to-air signaling devices, target or landing zone marking devices, or as screening devices for unit movements. Smoke grenades are normally considered non-lethal, although incorrect use may cause death...
for providing concealment, while support classes have access to two standard fragmentation grenades. Riflemen are armed with their respective army's standard infantry rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
, and are designed for medium to long range combat, while the assault classes carry submachine gun
Submachine gun
A submachine gun is an automatic carbine, designed to fire pistol cartridges. It combines the automatic fire of a machine gun with the cartridge of a pistol. The submachine gun was invented during World War I , but the apex of its use was during World War II when millions of the weapon type were...
s which are only effective in close quarters. The support classes are designed for medium range combat, equipped with either the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle or the StG44. Snipers are used for attacking enemy targets from long range, and are consequently armed with their army's standard bolt-action sniper rifle
Sniper rifle
In military and law enforcement terminology, a sniper rifle is a precision-rifle used to ensure more accurate placement of bullets at longer ranges than other small arms. A typical sniper rifle is built for optimal levels of accuracy, fitted with a telescopic sight and chambered for a military...
. Machine gunners carry machine gun
Machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic mounted or portable firearm, usually designed to fire rounds in quick succession from an ammunition belt or large-capacity magazine, typically at a rate of several hundred rounds per minute....
s to defend key locations on a level or to provide a base of fire
Base of fire
A base of fire is a military term for a supporting force that provides overwatch and covering fire to other advancing units while they are executing fire and movement tactics. A base of fire can be a platoon during company fire and movement, by individual armoured fighting vehicles A base of fire...
for their team's advance. Machine gunners are required to deploy their weapons on bipods before firing in order to compensate for the machine gun's extreme recoil. The final class is armed with an anti-armor weapon
Shoulder-launched missile weapon
A shoulder-fired missile, shoulder-launched missile or man-portable missile is a projectile fired at a target, small enough to be carried by a single person, and fired while held on one's shoulder...
, used in the game to displace enemy machine gun or sniper positions. This class is armed with either 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...
or Mauser M712 to defend themselves with when moving.
Production
Day of Defeat: Source was first announced for Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
during the development of 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...
, the flagship game of the Source engine
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...
, as one of several of the Valve Corporation's
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
GoldSrc
GoldSrc
GoldSrc, or Goldsource, is the retronym used internally by Valve Software to refer to the heavily modified Quake engine that powers their science fiction first-person shooter Half-Life ....
powered games to be remade on the new game engine. In the aftermath of the release of Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike: Source is an FPS video game developed by Valve Corporation. It is a complete remake of Counter-Strike using the Source game engine. As in the original, Counter-Strike: Source pits a team of counter-terrorists against a team of terrorists in a series of rounds...
, very little information was released regarding the development of Day of Defeat: Source until 2005. In February 2005, Valve officially announced Day of Defeat: Source, stating that the game was nearing its beta development phase and would be available later in the first quarter of the year. The game was opened to an internal beta test soon after, which certain members of the Day of Defeat community were invited to join. The beta version of the game was shown as a straight conversion of the most recent version of Day of Defeat
Day of Defeat
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....
, at the time even including the same player and weapon models as the game's GoldSrc counterpart. Due to the response of the beta testers, significant changes were made to the gameplay, taking it away from being a straight conversion: the behaviour of weapons was altered and several classes from Day of Defeat were dropped entirely. Later media releases showed the revamped version of the game, including its new player and weapon models, as well as new additions to the game, such as rifle grenades and smoke grenades. On 2 September 2005, Valve announced that they were "confident" that the game would be released that month, and seven days later announced an official release date of 26 September 2005. The game was made available for preload via Valve's Steam content delivery system on 14 September 2005, and was officially released on time on 26 September.
Since its release, Day of Defeat: Source has undergone several updates. These updates have consisted of gameplay tweaks, new maps and graphical effects. The first new level was released on 30 November 2005, and was followed on 25 January 2005 by another new map, used as a demonstration for the Source engine's abilities in rendering snow and ice. A major update was announced on 22 June 2006, adding the detonation game mode, various gameplay tweaks and two further maps to accommodate the new game mode. The update was released on 28 June 2006. On 26 April 2007, a group of maps produced by the game's community, entitled the Community Assembled Map Pack (CAMP1), was released. Consisting of three maps, the pack was created with the assistance and support of Valve. This was followed by CAMP2 on 26 July 2007, a pack which consisted of a further five maps. On 23 May 2008, Valve announced another major update to Day of Defeat: Source, this time giving the game support for the company's new Steamworks programme. The update is open to any owners of Day of Defeat: Source. Along with various gameplay tweaks, the update moves the game to the Source engine version used with The Orange Box
The Orange Box
The Orange Box is a video game compilation for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Mac OS X and PlayStation 3. The Windows and Xbox 360 versions were produced and published by Valve Corporation and released on October 10, 2007 as a boxed retail copy...
, allowing the game to utilise particle effects, as well as adding a new official map based on a long-standing custom map for Day of Defeat and 51 achievement awards for players completing certain tasks.
Technology
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...
. Day of Defeat: Source introduced a dynamic audio system that was limited to non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s in Half-Life 2. The sound of each weapon firing in-game is attributed with distance and occlusion variables, which are processed and then fed back to the player. Sounds far from the player lack higher frequencies and thus sound more like they naturally would, allowing for the actions of other players on a map to make up the ambient sounds for the level. The game was the first to incorporate Valve's high dynamic range rendering
High dynamic range rendering
In 3D computer graphics, high dynamic range rendering , also known as high dynamic range lighting, is the rendering of computer graphics scenes by using lighting calculations done in a larger dynamic range. This allows preservation of details that may be lost due to limiting contrast ratios...
, predating the official demonstration, Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast
Half-Life 2: Lost Coast is a small additional level for the 2004 first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2. Developed by Valve Software, it was released on October 27, 2005, through the Steam content delivery service as a free download to owners of the Microsoft Windows version of Half-Life 2...
. Other effects were added post-release to make the game appear as if it were a 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...
era film. The effects include motion blur
Motion blur
Motion blur is the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image or a sequence of images such as a movie or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single frame, either due to rapid movement or long exposure.- Photography :When a camera...
, depth of field
Depth of field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...
, film grain
Film grain
Film grain or granularity is the random optical texture of processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons. While film grain is a function of such particles it is not the same...
and color correction
Color correction
Color correction by using color gels, or filters, is a process used in stage lighting, photography, television, cinematography and other disciplines, the intention of which is to alter the overall color of the light; typically the light color is measured on a scale known as color temperature, as...
. Phong shading
Phong shading
Phong shading refers to an interpolation technique for surface shading in 3D computer graphics. It is also called Phong interpolation or normal-vector interpolation shading. Specifically, it interpolates surface normals across rasterized polygons and computes pixel colors based on the interpolated...
on the Source engine was added to Day of Defeat: Source with the major update in the second quarter of 2006.
Marketing
To promote the game, Valve has produced three machinimaMachinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
trailers depicting the game in play. The trailers are themed around wartime propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
news reports for both Germany and the United States. To convey this effect, the trailers make extensive usage of the Source engine's capabilities for film grain
Film grain
Film grain or granularity is the random optical texture of processed photographic film due to the presence of small particles of a metallic silver, or dye clouds, developed from silver halide that have received enough photons. While film grain is a function of such particles it is not the same...
, color correction
Color correction
Color correction by using color gels, or filters, is a process used in stage lighting, photography, television, cinematography and other disciplines, the intention of which is to alter the overall color of the light; typically the light color is measured on a scale known as color temperature, as...
, motion blur
Motion blur
Motion blur is the apparent streaking of rapidly moving objects in a still image or a sequence of images such as a movie or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single frame, either due to rapid movement or long exposure.- Photography :When a camera...
and depth of field
Depth of field
In optics, particularly as it relates to film and photography, depth of field is the distance between the nearest and farthest objects in a scene that appear acceptably sharp in an image...
, as well as sepia toning. The first trailer was released as part of the game's post-release marketing on 20 December 2005. Entitled Prelude to Victory, the trailer depicted a large firefight in the game as a report from the German perspective, complete with a commentator speaking in the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. Two further trailers were released to promote the major update to Day of Defeat: Source in the second quarter of 2006. The trailers, both from the American viewpoint, displayed how the new detonation gameplay worked, emphasising teamwork as the key to success, as well as introducing the viewer to the two new maps added by the update. To further create interest in the game, Valve has opened Day of Defeat: Source to three free weekends, the first taking place on 10 February 2006, the second on 8 July 2006 and the third on 4 July 2008, where anyone with a Steam account could download and play the game for a maximum of 48 hours free of charge.
Reception
Day of Defeat: Source was given a favorable reception upon release, receiving ratings of 80% and 81% from the review aggregation sites MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
and Game Rankings
Game Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
. The game's graphics received near universal praise, with GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
stating that "presentation is Day of Defeat: Source
PC Zone
PC Zone was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as PC Leisure, PC Format and PC Plus had covered games but only as part of a wider remit. PC Zone was founded in 1993.The magazine was published...
citing this for creating a "tense and atmospheric" game. The ragdoll physics
Ragdoll physics
In computer physics engines, ragdoll physics is a type of procedural animation that is often used as a replacement for traditional static death animations.-Introduction:Early video games used manually-created animations for characters' death sequences...
in the game noted by reviewers as being "amusing", and the game's audio work was also praised. The core gameplay, described as "lightning war meets capture the flag" by 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
, was equally praised by reviewers, many appreciating the interdependence of the classes and strategic gameplay. Several reviews closed remarking that the game's content was of a very high quality.
Criticism of the game principally revolved around the lack of content. While praise was bestowed upon the quality of the content already available, a number of reviewers were concerned about the small number of maps included in the initial release, even though new content was promised by Valve for later. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
commented that the existing content had a good chance of going "stale", while 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...
stated that the game's "lack of breadth" was a "serious shortcoming". In addition, PC Zone commented that "by still clinging to the small-scale skirmish atmosphere of the original, Day of Defeat: Source doesn't make much of departure from 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...
", stating that this made the game seem like a "facelift" to a "much-loved mod [...] before making us pay for it again". PC Zone summed its review up by commenting that "this is an old game—an excellent old game and a beautiful old game—but an old game nonetheless".