Production Day of Defeat: Source was first announced for
Microsoft Windows during the development of
Half-Life 2, the flagship game of the
Source engine, as one of several of the
Valve'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 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 September 2, 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 September 26, 2005. The game was made available for preload via Valve's
Steam content delivery system on September 14, 2005, and was officially released on time on September 26.
Day of Defeat: Source has undergone several updates. These updates have consisted of gameplay tweaks, maps and graphical effects. The first new level was released on November 30, 2005, and was followed on January 25, 2006, by another map, used as a demonstration for the Source engine's abilities in rendering snow and ice. A major update was announced on June 22, 2006, adding the detonation game mode, various gameplay tweaks and two further maps to accommodate the new game mode. The update was released on June 28, 2006. On April 26, 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 July 26, 2007, a pack which consisted of a further five maps. On May 23, 2008, Valve announced another major update to
Day of Defeat: Source, this time giving the game support for the company's new Steamworks programmer. 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 utilize
particle effects, as well as adding a map based on a long-standing custom map for
Day of Defeat and 54 achievement awards for players completing certain tasks.
Technology ,
color correction and
film grain effects used in the trailer
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 characters in
Half-Life 2. 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. 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 February 10, 2006, the second on July 8, 2006 and the third on July 4, 2008, where anyone with a
Steam account could download and play the game for a maximum of 48 hours free of charge. ==Reception==