Day of Defeat: Source - Basic Playing Guide (1)

[Munro]

This is the first in the series of basic playing guides. These guides will
teach you the basic things you need to know when playing Day of Defeat.[br]
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Learn the map[br]
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After you have installed Day of Defeat your first task is to learn the maps.
You are probably best off trying them online first and following your team
mates for a while to get the main routes and points on the map sorted in
your head. Then start a LAN game and work your way around the map looking
for anything of interest trying jumps that look possible and finding good
covered positions to snipe from or to. Make sure you know all the flag locations
and which icon at the top of the screen corresponds to them so if you see
that a flag is about to be taken you can get there as fast as possible to
try and prevent it.[br]
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Once you have a good idea of the map layout and know all the key locations
start playing it online on some decent servers. You'll soon learn the main
tactics used for the map and learn which directions to expect the enemy
to come from. With some luck you'll even find some of your own that you
can use to outwit the enemy.[br]
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Practice your reading and writing[br]
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Keep an eye on all messages on the screen, with practice you'll be able
to track players movements by flag captures or by noting who's killed as
you often know the rough where-abouts of some team members in the game.
Also if you get killed by a player especially an MG or Sniper (both scoped
and un-scoped varieties) call out their position to your team when you respawn,
don't let your team mates get caught as well.[br]
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Also keep a track of enemies that kill you if you are killed near one of
your teams flags and you don't see that they have been killed yet chances
are they're still in the vicinity. Never presume an enemy is dead until
you see it written on screen, this goes for when you are the one shooting
them. Don't fire one shot and expect them to be dead shoot again if you
can until it says they are.[br]
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Also pay attention to messages within the game especially team messages.
Acknowledge orders with the Yes, Sir! Command or No, Sir! If you don't intend
to follow them. Try to follow others advice and orders as it makes the game
work better when you co-operate. Also let your team know where you are if
you're anywhere unusual or if you have an area covered, this should help
prevent to many friendly fire incidents and keep your team well spread out
and not all concentrated in one place.[br]
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Keep your eyes moving[br]
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You must always keep your eyes open in game for the slightest movement any
where on screen. When you do see movement aim but hold your fire until you
are sure that it is enemy movement and not a team mate. It only takes a
moment to verify the validity of your target before firing and saves a lot
of problems later on. You should always pause before firing any way as you
should stop, aim then fire.[br]
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Be careful not to make too much movement yourself if you are sniping or
concealed. If possible look using your eyes not the screen. You can see
quite a lot on screen so move your eyes around the screen rather than the
cross-hair, this will help eliminate as much movement as possible. Also
by crouching rather than going prone looking round and moving makes less
movement. You'll probably all have seen people prone gyrating wildly as
they crawl. This will quickly draw fire![br]
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Sound[br]
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Sound is a key weapon and defence in DoD. You should always play with the
sound turned up so that you can pick out foot steps and other tell tale
sounds. With practice you'll be able to judge distances of footsteps and
learn the different sounds on each map to track players' movements.[br]
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I play with headphones or with surround sound speakers. This allows me to
judge directions with ease. With a decent soundcard and speakers you can
turn around in the game and by listening pick out the exact direction of
the sound, rather like a hydrophone (I was watching Das Boot last night).[br]
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Also all the weapons make very distinctive sounds and with practice you'll
be able to identify each and every one of them and know whether the fire
is friendly or not. Also listen out for other sounds like the chink the
garand makes when the clip is empty, the bleeding sound or the sound of
a reload these are ideal opportunities to strike as the enemy will be flustered
especially those bandaging themselves. Try to learn which doors make sounds
and listen for grunts due to grenade throwing or jumping and with these
combine them with on screen messages especially flag takings to track players.