Day of Defeat

Day of Defeat (DoD) is a team-based multiplayer World War II first-person shooter computer game. DoD began as a mod of Half-Life in 2001, but like the developers of Counter-Strike, the DoD team joined Valve Software and produced a standalone version that was published by Activision in May 2003.

Gameplay

Day of Defeat immerses gamers into a simulated 3D virtual reality of the European theatre conflict between the Allies and the Axis. Players choose their team and soldier class which determines what weapons the player will carry, how fast they will move, and what they will look like. Players may also pick up weapons from any dead soldier, thus Allied players can employ Axis guns and vise versa. There are separate classes for the American, British, and German forces. Initially a round begins with two opposing teams starting simultaneously in their respective spawn area of a map. Any players who have become casualties become reinforcements which are re-spawned periodically and according to a timer and can be composed of anywhere from 1 soldier to the entire team. The reinforcement timer is usually about 10-20 seconds, but this time may vary from server to server.

The goal of the game is to complete a map's objectives (e.g., capture and control strategic positions; destroy enemy equipment; or obtain secret documents and return them to headquarters).
The round ends when one team accomplishes these all of its objectives. Like other half-life mods, Day of Defeat tracks each player's accomplishment of team objectives, how many enemies each players 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. At the end of the game, the scoreboard is displayed and the game is restarted, usually with another map. There really is no "The End" to Day of Defeat.

Weapons

Day of Defeat features historically-simulated weaponry used in World War II, like the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, Thompson submachine gun, M3A1 'Greasegun', Springfield M1903A4 Sniper Rifle, Browning Automatic Rifle, .30 Caliber Machine Gun, Karabiner 98k, Karabiner 43, MP40, Sturmgewehr 44, FG42, MG42, Sten Mk II, No4 Mk1 Lee Enfield, Enfield No4(T) Sniper, and Bren Machine Gun. Each Player also carries a pistol, a knife or shovel, and a limited amount of ammunition.

Maps

Day of Defeat Maps

Day of Defeat maps muster scenarios based on historical WWII battles that either require the teams to complete objectives or control territory. An objective-based map might require a team to take TNT charges and destroy a given objective, such as a bridge or a German Nebelwerfer artillery piece. Territorial control scenarios require the teams to capture flags throughout the map that represent important choke points.

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 anti-aircraft gun (dod_glider).

Custom DoD maps available for download are also frequently constructed and remodeled by independent designers thus creating battles with unlimited missions for players to experience.

History

Version history (incomplete)

Beta 1.0 (12 January 2001)

Beta 1.1 (14 February 2001)

Beta 1.2 (5 April 2001 ?)

Beta 1.3 (1 July 2001)

Beta 2.0 (13 October 2001 ?)

Beta 2.1 (10 May 2002)

Beta 2.2 (2 September 2002 ?)

Beta 2.3 (?)

Beta 3.0 (?)

Beta 3.1 (?)

Version 1.0 (1 May 2003)

Version 1.1 (14 November 2003, the first release on Steam)

Version 1.2 (19 May 2004)

Version 1.3 (7 July 2004)

DoD:Source - not released yet

Day of Defeat: Source

As of 2004, Valve Software has announced the next version of the game, Day of Defeat: Source, a remake of DoD using the Source engine used for Half-Life 2. Unlike previous releases of DoD, this remake will be available only as part of Half-Life 2 bundles available on Steam. On February 24, 2005, Valve announced that DoDS would "be available early this spring via Steam." They also allowed some dedicated people, including forum moderators, to play the beta, and allowed them to show the public pictures and videos of the beta.

Bots

Although Day of Defeat is primarily a multiplayer mod for Half-Life, players can also play the game offline with bots (computer-controlled opponents). Two of the better DoD bots are SturmBOT [1] and ShrikeBot [1].