SturmBot.org

This is a guide for new players who want to set up and play Day of Defeat for the first time and gain more experience before playing online.

The best way for most when starting off in a new game is a "Training Room" or "Boot Camp".

By default Day of Defeat doesn't have that option and normally you are plunged into a world of confusion on a online server.

Sturmbot can help you get set up and gain knowledge on how to play. Just set up the game and follow the bots.

This is my guide, how I set up and play Day of Defeat, mostly offline with bots because... US and EU servers are too far away from Australia.

Its going to be long as i will put in the potential issues (marked in yellow) you may have as you set up.

A special download of whats below. (TLDR: Mode or "play like INsane does")

However, if you want a set of files that install Sturmbot (single-player mode), a GUI and HUD file fix, special minimap sprites, custom crosshairs, a userconfig.cfg, then...

Download the complete set here.  97.37MB includes the above and 3 custom maps - dod_anjou_a4, dod_lennon2 and dod_saints_b9.

Linux users: A spin off of this download... using this manually installed set of files Linux users (you will still need Proton) but its easy to install... no windows installer required.

 

The reason this is so long is for you to come back here and IF... something goes wrong,  search and fix it.

 

INDEX

Install the game and test.

If you are familiar with Steam first person shooters like Counter-Strike 1.6 and Half-Life 1 games this is easy. You likely already have the game too.

Buying the game is best when Steam has a sale on Day of Defeat (about US$5 normally) or even better the Valve Complete Pack.

Fun fact, if you already have a game on that list, By the way... they minus dod and other games out on checkout if you buy the Valve Complete pack.

So install the the game from your Steam library button once downloaded, start up the game.

In the Main Menu your first screen looks like this...

The Main Menu

Issue. If you do have issues at this point, and you get a crash...

• Verify Integrity of Game Files remember this one, it's handy.
• You can use some launch options to force a fail safe setting.
• You can manually set video in launch options like this... -w 800 -h 600 There are many "launch (command line) options".

The very first stop is your video settings - Options - Video.

The best settings are up to you but... this game has it's limits seeing it's roots are in the early 2000's and sure it got a massive upgrade but there are limits in 2025.

2k and 4K video size issue. Avoid those huge sizes, its a waste of time in this game and causes more issues than advantages.

Sure, go ahead a try but you will notice HUD's are small and some items go off the screen.

I always recommend 1920 X 1080 as it is stable and the older files in the game cope best, some pro players and old school players go even lower than that.

To understand those "scaling" issues on big screens here is a general rule, no matter if you have a 16:9 or Ultra wide...

The files in this old game are sensitive to screen heights. If you keep the height around 1080 it will always "scale" fonts and HUD images correctly!

Remember that... the screen height matters, not width.

If you didn't have any issues...

You can open up a map, run around a bit and see if everything looks OK. As above check things like small HUD images, the ammo numbers on the bottom right, are they running off the screen?

That could be the Video settings, we will cover that soon.

Just one thing before we proceed, this being a Half Life Mod, the settings screens are very basic and a lot more is done via console commands.

I will mention them from time to time so knowing the console methods and how to adjust "config" files is handy.

To access the "Developer Console" while in the Main Menu area, Press your "tilde" key "~" (the key just below ESC) and you can see a window pop-up.

The instructions there say to open Options- keyboard - advanced and enable it... that changed it should be enabled by default.

If your "tilde" "~" key doesn't work do this... 

• Before starting the game right click on the game icon in the Steam Library
• Select "Properties"
• In the "LAUNCH OPTIONS" input line put in this... -console
• Close the windows you opened and start the game.

Try this out with this command, put... net_graph 3 in the input box (the lower area) and notice as you type its auto suggesting stored commands it knows.

Press Submit, a "net graph" with FPS and other things appears. The command net_graph 0 turns that off. You can learn about that graph here.

You can do a lot in there, for now just know how to get that open is enough.

The "Game file system" - where are the game files on my pc?

I will mention some files in this guide, dod being a older game will require a visit to the game files.

There isn't a Steam Workshop for this game like TF2, it's manual all the way.

It's actually easy to find the files and install them.

1. Go to your Steam Library Day of Defeat icon, right -click on it.
2. Click on "Manage"
3. Click on "Browse local files"
4. A explorer window will pop-up and that is the "Half-Life" directory
5. There are three folders of interest in there...

• The dod folder is the actual game files for the dod mod. Custom Map support files go in there, or dod_downloads.
• The dod_addon folder is where you put your custom content, (not maps see below) HUDs, custom sprites and even a userconfig.cfg file (custom settings). Learn more here.
• The dod_downloads folder are where a online server will deliver Maps, Sounds and Materials as you join a server.

Remember those as if you validate files (a game file system check for missing files) or a update these special folders and files inside are not affected.

It's important to place files in the right place, the dod_addon and dod_downloads folders act just like the "dod" folder. 

Files and folders placed into those will be preferred over the "dod" folder file and loaded when you start the game, overwriting the default files and making a change or in the case of Maps, adding a new level.

The Options - Video tab

This panel has other settings to consider, most of them obvious but lets just look at a couple to clear up confusion...

• Render: OpenGL is best left alone.
• Resolution: Up to you but 1920X1080 is... best bang for buck
• Display Mode: Normal will give you those early 2000's resolutions. Widescreen  is 16:9 (modern)
• Windowed Mode: This is up to you, I have this set here to show a potential issue below. Un-tick for full screen.
• Allow widescreen Field of View: Almost everyone has this ticked. It was a attempt by Valve to fix the FOV issue where the player model arms and guns where huge and generally the entire screen zoomed in on modern widescreens. However the 2023 fix broke something else. Sniper Scopes. I do have a fix for that in a download if you are worried about that. Most people just leave that like it is and play like it is. Some do untick it but again try it both ways and note the "zoomed in" (when un-ticked) does look bad.
• The next three "Wait for vertical sync", "Enable texture filtering" and "Use shaders" are best left ticked for most, I've left some links there to the various opinions on those items.

The two sliders are for gamma and brightness, you will note mine is disabled, that's because I'm in a windowed mode.

You can't adjust that in windowed mode, go full screen and I recommend adjust them all the way up as dod has some very dark places.

The commands behind these are...

• brightness "1.610" (default) - Sets how bright the screen is - 0 is dark 2 is the maximum (Bright).
• gamma "2.5" (default) - Sets gamma the screen is - 0 is dark 3 is the maximum (High).

It depends on your display in the end, but with my monitors set for a windows desktop, I always adjust these sliders up all they way.

The last mention is the OK Cancel Apply buttons, just a note when you change things, like windows always press "Apply".

Don't forget "Apply" if you changed something

Options - Video panel

That is normally the start point in the Options area but there is a lot more of course.

These Main Menu screen panels basically trigger commands that can be set in a userconfig.cfg file we will get into that later, config files are a mystery to most but once you know the game... you will find it's best to make one.

Options - Multiplayer tab.

The main tab has...

• Player name: Put your name there (Steam already adds it)
• Spraypaint image: Select one from the list with a color. ( I do have a old guide on how to make a custom one)
• Advanced Button: see the next panel items.

Don't forget "Apply" if you changed something

Multiplayer - Advanced sub panel

All these are self explanatory and most players leave them alone with the exception of the "Auto Help" and do alter "Show Fog" too if its on.

That "Auto Help" gets annoying with a image of a bulldog "Winston" and some "helpful" text on various items like stepping into a enemy spawn.

• Most players turn "Auto Help" off (un-tick) The command is... _ah "0" the default is "1" (on)
• The "Show fog" tick should be off (un-tick) as it has issues as you can see here.

The rest are OK to leave alone.

Don't forget "Apply" if you changed something

Multiplayer Tab	Multiplayer - Advanced sub panel

Options - Audio tab (and "stopsound" bind)

Sound effects volume: The command is volume "0.800" (default) - Sets the sound volume level.

MP3 volume: The command is MP3Volume "0.390" (default) - This will adjust the items like music playing in the GUI area as the game starts. "0" is off and the lowest, "0.39" is the default and "1" is the maximum.

"stopsound" issue: Fun fact about Audio and Day of Defeat, the background sounds in same maps are way too loud.

Try opening the "dod_charlie" map to see what I mean.

You would think turning down Sound effects volume would be a good solution, it isn't, it turns down every sound effect, you do need to hear gun fire and foot steps in this game.

Do yourself a favor and avoid ear damage. Make a Keyboard bind now in console to the command "stopsound".

• Pick any key not used already in the Options - Keyboard tab, I suggest something like the F9 key.
• The format to do that in the console is this...

bind "F9" "stopsound"

... surrounding the key and the command in quotes is required. 

Now go on dod_charlie and test your new bind... press F9 and the "background" noise is gone only and all other essential sounds remain.

Options - Audio

 Options - Aim

In this panel most settings in the tick boxes you should leave alone, however there is a common bug here.

Issue: Raw mouse input the command is... m_rawinput "1" (default) in some cases players find they cannot move, the player model keeps resetting to a forward view.

See here for that issue.

Aim sensitivity: The commands for this is sensitivity "0.650" (default) - This is your mouse sensitivity, to adjust start low and build your way up until you get a good feel of swinging around at a good pace but also fine turning the crosshair to make sure you hit targets , especially ones in the distance. The higher you go the harder it is to have slow enough mouse movements to hit distance targets.

Everyone's mouse settings are different so play with that slider a lot and when satisfied put "sensitivity" in the console and get your setting.

It should hold now in your config.cfg file and stay that way until you change it.

Options - Aim panel.

 Options - Keyboard

This is obviously where you set up your keyboard for all sorts of items.

Don't forget that Steam also has items in there like the Overlay keys and screenshot "F12". But its a good place to view what your keys are bound to.

Another place is to visit your config.cfg file in the "Half-Life\dod" folder. Open that up in notepad and you can see all of your keys and change/add more if you wish but make sure the game is off when you edit the file. Alternatively, put the binds in a custom "userconfig.cfg".

The controls are obvious, clear a key, apply a alternate key and so on.

Other things to note, some bot programs may add to this list.

Don't forget "Apply" if you changed something

Options Keyboard Tab.

Options - Voice

A standard panel in most Steam games.

Settings for your microphone, you can also trouble shoot this in your steam settings.

Issue: Note in my image the slider bars are not enabled, its like the brightness bug in the Video panel sliders, I'm in a windowed mode and they need to be in full-screen to use them.

Don't forget "Apply" if you changed something

Options - Voice

Options - Content

Not much here but do be careful with them as they can block custom content you may want.

Issue: If you un-tick "Allow custom addon content" you will not have access to your custom files.

Options - Content

New game - Create Server panel

To start a local game you select "New game" and the Server panel pops up. This panel has two tabs.

Server Tab

Map: Select a map in this drop down list.

Enable Steam networking: This is what it sounds like, making a "Local" server here if that is left ticked your game will appear in the "Find Servers" "internet" tab.

Issue: This is ticked by default. That may confuse players thinking this is a local game, it isn't until you un-tick that option. 

• The command behind that tickbox is sv_use_steam_networking "1" (default)
• If this is annoying you (randoms coming in and annoying you) put sv_use_steam_networking "0" in your userconfig.cfg to stop it showing (un-ticked)
• in my supplied download userconfig.cfg I have this off "0". If you want to change that go to Half-Life\dod_addon\userconfig.cfg and change that command to "0"

Game Tab

Hostname: Steam will pick up your user name and display it like mine.

Max players: 32 is maximum for Strumbot 16 players is best for most maps as that is what most dod maps are designed for.

Server password: a great one to add and let a friend know the password, keeps out randoms if you are enabling Steam Networking.

Time Limit: Most maps are good around 20 minutes. Putting "0" in there they go until you shut down.

The rest are a matter of taste, enable them or not and set the Teamkil limit if you have friendly fire enabled.

Create Server - Server panel	Create Server - Game panel

Find Servers - Servers panel

This is the panel you can use to find online servers.

It fairly straight forward and standard on most Steam games, nothing too unique about it.

Just make sure you know about the "Change Filters" buttons on the various tabs. Press that.

That way you can filter by a Map, Ping (Latency) or a secure and insecure servers (Anti cheat) and the other tick boxes on the right.

You can also resize this panel and click on the column titles like "Latency" to find the worst or best ping server to join.

Find servers panel

That rounds up what you can do in those GUI panels.

As we have learned along the way (like the stopsound bind issue) not everything is in there.

That is why all players in this old game really need to know some basic custom file management, it's unfortunate not everything is included.

Next we can add Sturmbot, now a word of warning Strumbot is Windows only so if you are on Linux...you are going to use proton.

In the Download I offer (and in the Sturmbot windows installer) there is a custom "command menu" its a old school menu bound to the "X" key by default.

In that menu you can add bots, configure display and audio settings, Netcode, FPS, Netgraph... heaps of settings.

A Custom GUI and HUD

This isn't required but these old files do have some major issues on modern displays and some bugs that Valve software never fixed.

Please see this page.

Contents of the download...

• Custom GUI and HUD – Basic file fixes in the GUI and HUD files Valve never fixed.
• Custom Command Menu - 2 choices, Normal and an Offline "learning" type
• Custom Crosshairs - this also contains a userconfig.cfg with a script to make them work.
• Default files fix - This fixes the official files that break the bazooka spawning and also the map cycle.

This is more a "bug fix" than a custom HUD. 

Issue: You will note the "Custom Crosshairs" is going to install a "userconfig.cfg" file, you can you that to build up your own file.

Optional Custom Sprites for Scopes and the Mini Map

There are some custom sprites to add to that package. The minimap is has some icons inside it as standard.

The minimap is often just used as it is but if you set this up by pressing

I urge you to read this article and install the ones below to get the best out of the minimap...

Smaller British Mini Map player Icons

Smaller German and US Mini Map Icons

Tiny Red and White death skull minimap icon

Sniper scopes are broken! I have a fix.

Also, you may not know but there is an issue with Sniper scopes after Valve updated dod back in 2023. It "broke" snipers scopes.

They may not fix it. I have a work around to restore them to make them at least look better...

Standard Sniper Scopes for 16:9 Ratio displays

The Sturmbot install - Single payer bots.

As mentioned before Sturmbot is a windows only bot.

Linux issue: However, if your PC is Linux and very slow to the point Proton is not possible, your only option is to install the newer bot "Marine Bot".

That comes with some significant issues in that Marine Bot is so new not many waypoints have been made for it. Marine Bot files page See the "Marine Bot ports for different Half-Life 1 mods Day of Defeat 1.3" section.

To install Sturmbot download the installer here.On that page there is also a manual install link but...its hard.

Issue 1: When installing take note of the options, if you installed the GUI and HUD option above it will over-right the custom crosshairs you just installed.

Do let it install the custom menu as this adds the sturmbot loading options and fun modes.

Issue 2 : It's safe but can trigger some antivirus checks as with all bot programs they contain .dll files. Some (less reputable) anti-virus programs trigger a "false positive" on ALL .dll files.

If you don't like installers or need to install manually, I suggest you use the "complete set" download in this guide or the link on the installer page for the manual install.

The installer is best as it will add a windows uninstaller and when it does that return some default altered files back to normal.

Custom Maps - getting them here or off a server.

The traditional way for this game was to go to a download site and install manually in the "dod" folder or just join a server and they will download into the dod_downloads folder from the "fast downloads" (a separate link than the dedicated server) or the server files itself.

There are plenty here in bulk packs in this section.

The other places to get maps is gamebanana, 17Buddies and sunlit.

Some special maps to make you a better player.

May I suggest you download some special maps used by League players in matches, these are altered custom maps and considered the ultimate maps to play. You can find them on the various dod discord channels but I have packed these up...and included Strumbot waypoints.

That map pack if you wanted to test yourself and get better at the game, watch the various videos of the pros in action.

Then use Strumbot and a special bot.cfg file configured to bring up the skill level and play a 6X6 match like they do in the videos.

6X6 with one sniper, one heavy and 4 rifles per team is the best environment to sharpen your skill.

If you let Sturmbot load the default bots sure they are OK... but loading them with the settings below you get the very best they can do...about the level of a decent pub player.

Just go to "Half-Life\dod\sturmbot\bot.cfg copy the file and name that copy "bot_normal.cfg"

Open "bot.cfg" up and replace the contents with this with this set...

# Sturmbot config file
# This file is executed before the game starts
# Reaction delay from 0.6 sec (60) to 1.1 sec (110) Min 60 Max 120
min_reaction 1 
max_reaction 1

# Ranks are turned on. (def 1)
rank 0

# If you want the random bots to have higher skills, put random_skill to 80 or 90, 
# if you think the bots are too hard put random_skill to 60 or lower
# The range is 0 - 100 (75 default)
random_skill 100

# How much the bots prioritize the learning... 
# Set learn_priority to a higher value if you want
# the bots to prioritize the learning more. 
# The range is 0 - 1000
learn_priority 990

# Change botteambalance to 1 if you want bots to switch teams to make them even.
botteambalance 1

# botchat [off 0/limited 1/full 2] Default is limited "1" (Full "2" is OK too)
botchat 1

#formsquad [on "1"/off "0"] If set on "1", this will make the bots act in squads.
formsquad 0

#Turn extra blood off, change to 1 or 3 (unrealistic) for more blood
#If you only want to make the dead bodies stay longer (dod 1.1 or later)...
# ...use the command cl_corpsestay instead.
bloodmode 0

#This sets how often (out of 10000 times) the bot will throw a grenade 3000 Default
throw_grenade 8000

# Adjust the bot min and max. Leave on "0" for each if using "addbot" see below
min_bots 0
max_bots 0

#addbot [team] [class] [skill]
# [team] 1 = Allies, 2 = Axis
# [class] See the manual for more on class numbers.
# [skill] 1-8 (1 low skill, 8 deadly)
# The below will give a normal 6X6 match.
# Per side: 3 rifles 2 support and a sniper

# rifle X 2
addbot 1 1 8
addbot 2 1 8
addbot 1 1 8
addbot 2 1 8

# carbine k43 X 1
addbot 1 2 8
addbot 2 2 8

# sniper X 1
addbot 1 5 8
addbot 2 5 8

# support X 2
addbot 1 6 8
addbot 2 4 8
addbot 1 6 8
addbot 2 4 8

The intent here is for using offline bots before you go on a live server

Now that may be too strong for some, if that is "not fun" you can lower the bots skill..

The "addbot" command adds a bot, the 3 numbers after that is team, class and skill.

To lower the skill adjust the last number, go down to "3" or "4" and build your way up.

If you are getting even scores on a skill level of "8"... that's not a problem it just means you are already above average. Keep practicing and when you get to something like a  2:1 KD ratio with lots of captures too... well done.

I don't see why that couldn't work on a dedicated server either.

Conclusion and further reading

I hope you found that interesting. I have never claimed to be the best day of defeat player out there or the best at setting up the game to be the best I can.

• Read bulletlottery's set up if you want more on what a pro player may use in their "config" files.
• If you get right into the commands, I have an entire section to visit including a cvarlist (commands list) that has more information than any other source for dod 1.3...including Valve software's WIKI.
• Sturmbot has its own section here. Installing, playing and waypointing (making paths for maps)

Lots of topics here.

If you have a issue it is best to word search the site. 

This is just a page on how I play, what brings me joy and what file I use.

There is a lot more here I have collected since I sated in the early 2000's.

See anything that is wrong or needs attention? Contact me here.

INsane

Webmaster dodbits.com and Sturmbot.org