One more thing...

Just because you can see what you've typed, doesn't mean your team can. If you type in a global message between dying and respawning, only other "dead" players - or Spectators - can read what you've written. Typing team messages whilst dead will restrict the recipients to other dead team-mates. Whilst waiting to respawn, the voicecomm channel can also only be heard by dead teammates. And voice commands can only be heard within a certain radius - any team-mates within that radius will get a subtitle, but enemies within earshot won't. Not a problem if you're an Axis player, as I presume you can understand English just fine, but the other way around can prove tricky (unless you're a fluent German speaker). Try playing as an Axis class and testing out the voice commands until you have a vague idea which sound matches which command.

2. Moving As a Group

The last thing you want is to stumble, all alone, straight into a tight group of enemy troops whilst crashing blindly around DoD's levels. As in real life, a few bullets to your body and you won't be getting up (but, unlike real life, you'll respawn a few seconds later). The key to victory lies in the numbers involved - a stronger base of fire will almost always defeat a numerically weaker force. If you're new to on-line games, or have only played deathmatch or Counter-Strike (yes, I am being serious - as well as needlessly biased) before, moving as a group instead of bowling around all by yourself can prove a little daunting. Your best bet is to pick out a teammate and follow them around until you get a feel for the map and the way your team is working together. If you get separated, hole up and wait for another teammate to come past, or fall back to a position where you can safely await backup. By moving in a group of two or more, you force the enemy to pick a target - meaning that the more people you're with, the better the odds of survival (unless you come up against a Machine-Gunner - in which case, fall back and try using a grenade or two to dislodge them). Plus sticking together means that you can start a multi-person flag capture instantly, rather than having to wait for backup - and the less time you have to hang around waiting for a flag's colours to change, the more you can push forwards to victory.

Moving together isn't without its hazards, though. Sticking too tightly together restricts maneuverability, and there's nothing more frustrating - particularly on the Paratrooper maps, where you only get one shot at it before you have to sit the rest of the round in limbo - then to dash out of cover, grenade an enemy position and get shot as you retreat, all because the person behind decided to block your path (and probably got themselves killed in the process). And a tightly-packed group is extremely vulnerable to enemy MG and grenade damage. As a rule of thumb, keep close enough to your teammate to offer covering fire, but not so close that you limit their movement options dramatically.

Movement Etiquette

• DO give backup. If you're running past a flag which your team hasn't claimed yet, and there's a person waiting there for another friendly troop before they can start capturing it, stick around for a few seconds and help them out.
• DON'T give your squad's position away. Running around makes a lot of noise, as does jumping; if the rest of your team are crouched or prone, enabling silent movement, don't broadcast your location to the enemy by deciding your team is moving too slowly and charging around like a headless chicken.
• DON'T get in other people's way. Blocking doorways and narrow passages as you type in a message is considered a major faux-pas, as is blocking the path of a teammate as they try to retreat. Situational awareness is king.

3. Covering Fire

One of the most under-rated positions in Day Of Defeat is the Support role. Sure, you might not be at the front line of the battle, but that doesn’t mean you’re useless – hang back and cover your team as they advance into enemy territory. The sound and sight of a few bullets whizzing close to their position will make even the most battle-hardened DoD veteran think twice about rounding a corner. Hell, it’s what the Machine-Gunner class was made for.

Just watch where you’re shooting. If friendly fire ("FF”) is on, your shots will kill your own team, which is not the best position to be in – especially as most servers will kick you after three or four Team Kills (or TKs). But even if FF is off, hitting your own team will slow them down and, if you shoot them in the head, blind them with a red mist which will only fade slowly. Again, it’s not the most stylish way to enter enemy territory: half-blind and cursing your teammates’ aim. One thing you need to be very careful of is the use of grenades. Even if friendly fire is off, any grenades you throw will harm you, but leave your teammates unscathed. One way to use this to your advantage is as an Ally on one of Day Of Defeat’s set-piece beach maps – advance up the flanks and throw some grenades up onto the cliffs, and tell your team to charge just before the 5-second fuse is due to blow. This offers a distraction to any defenders up on the cliff top, and will also obscure your movement with a thick cloud of smoke that takes several seconds to dissipate. Just make sure you hold back and take the opportunity to lay down some cover fire whilst you avoid death by your own grenade.

One final rule for covering fire is one that’s employed in real life army, police and SWAT training. It’s known as the "laser” rule – basically, you imagine a laser being projected from the tip of your barrel into infinity. If at any point you move your barrel so that it crosses a comrade’s body, the "laser” is broken and they are put at risk. Whilst you’re not in enemy territory, it’s not much of a problem – after all, unless you’re a complete fool you wouldn’t pull on your trigger until a contact was imminent – but as soon as you enter a battle zone it’s a different story. Try pairing off with someone at the spawn and following them around, and when you start to hear enemy movement or fire comes your way, crouch down and lay down covering fire on the suspected area as your teammate moves up to scout the area. Believe it or not, this will give you a much higher success rate, as enemies who get lucky and ice your comrade will think that the area is clear and then follow up, hopefully running straight into your sights.

Covering Fire Etiquette

• DO offer covering fire whenever possible. If you’re an MG, you have no excuse not to cover your troops as they advance.
• DO watch your ammo. Call out to your teammates if you’re running low – most organized DoD players will drop ammo to an MG crying out for it.
• DON’T aim too low, especially if Friendly Fire is on. A steady aim with the MG can help your team advance under its cover without placing them at its mercy.

4. Orders, "Cheaters” and other things

Just to finish, I’ll cover a few more of the things which new players may find useful.

Orders

On most DoD servers you play on, there will be at least one person who reckons they’ve got what it takes to order the rest of their team around, or at least encourage them to victory. Try listening to them at first – and if you’re winning, keep listening. However, if the orders or information they’re feeding you turns out to be useless, or worse leads your team into the same ambushes time and time again, try offering your own suggestions (voicecomms work best for this; grab yourself a decent earphone/microphone headset for the best DoD experience). If you’re giving orders, or requesting backup, make sure you follow through.

Good example? Trying to execute a flanking maneuver, you call for backup and then as soon as it arrives you charge through together, decimating the opposition.

Bad example? Calling for backup and then sitting there, staring into space as the enemy finds your position and grenades the whole lot of you.

"Cheaters"

As with most Half-Life modifications – and any on-line games – accusations of cheating are unfortunately rife. 9.9 times out of 10, the "cheaters” are nothing more than quick-witted veteran players who’ve learned the best tricks, like listening for enemy footsteps to give them an idea of where the main threat is, or how to shoot accurately whilst in mid-air (you can’t shoot whilst in the upward arc of a jump, but in the downward section your gun becomes active again). Occasionally you will come across someone who is blatantly beyond the most skilled of honest players – someone who can track and shoot you through a solid wall, or who can fire a heavy automatic weapon with far too much accuracy, and hit you in the head each time. On these occasions, there are several courses of action to choose from. You can scream "CHEAT!” , which – unless you have some pretty hefty evidence – will only serve to annoy and confuse the person you’re accusing, and most likely any server admins as well. This is the least productive and immature way to behave.

You could switch to the spectating team and watch the person you suspect through first-person mode – if you can’t follow them, or their graphics are distorted, or their aim magically "snaps” onto an enemy, then the odds are that they are cheating. Take some screenshots of their actions, then take it to the admins – if it’s a clan server, most will have a web page and a contact e-mail to send stuff to. If it’s a public server, the provider – for example, Jolt or BlueYonder in the UK – have IRC channels and forums to take your evidence to. If you’re playing on a clan server, there will most likely be an admin present. If so, try asking them to join you on the spectator team so you can discreetly talk about it. Broadcasting it over the global chat channel is brazen and unnecessary, and will most likely annoy more people than it helps.

Finally, you could just let it go. Most servers are protected by Valve Anti-Cheat, which doesn’t ban cheaters immediately like the other anti-cheat programs do. Instead, it waits a few days, so that cheat coders can’t see instantly if their cheats are undetected by the software or not. The odds are that if you see someone you think is cheating more than a couple of times on the same servers, then they’re just skilled and you shouldn’t really judge them.

Take a look around

Not everyone is good at a game the second they sit down at the keyboard. As a result, you may find yourself occasionally frustrated by the lack of common sense and co-ordination you’ll encounter, as people run straight past you whilst you’re trying to capture a two-man flag. If you keep seeing a complete lack of teamwork on public servers, look for a Clan-rented server and try playing there; you’ll generally find that there’s a much higher degree of teamwork and co-operation involved, with people tripping over each other to help you capture a flag.

Take your lumps with a smile

Try to be kind and courteous to everyone you can. It’s a fact of life that ‘net is full of bigoted, foul-mouthed trash who aren’t afraid to share their blinkered views, or players who seem a little too good with a rifle. Never let them get under your skin; doing so will only give them satisfaction. Instead, ignore them as best you can. There’s no need to rise to the bait of people who can’t accept that you might be able to beat them, or who find it fun to team-kill. If you’re playing a game and it’s ruined by people like this, just walk away and find a different server – there’s no shortage of them, after all. By insulting them back, or returning fire, you’ll only provoke them further. Alternatively, ask an admin to remove them from the game. If you’re playing on a Clan server, look for a player whose name carries a tag that matches part of the server name, and talk to them about it; however, most respectable clans keep their servers well-policed and fun to play on.

Watch your language

Finally, a major point about vocal etiquette and its application in on-line games. Swearing is all too common; we all do it, no matter how much we’d like to avoid it. Therefore, slipping a swearword in by accident when you’re talking into your microphone is acceptable. However, typing one out is taking it too far – there’s nothing subconscious or spontaneous about typed text. A lot of servers try to keep bad language to a minimum, and some employ text filters to kick people who persistently swear. So act in the proper manner, don’t insult people and don’t whine about skilled players, and you’ll have no reason to be kicked off any server you come across.

All said, remember that Day of Defeat is a game – a highly-atmospheric one, but a game nonetheless. If a player is getting to you, or you’re suffering a bad gaming streak, walk away for a couple of hours. Getting frustrated and keeping going just leads to messy situations that you have to clear up later. So play nice out there, and I’ll see you on the battlefield!