== Desert Combat Extended ==
Desert Combat Extended (DCX) was originally created by "Zeuser", a programmer. The original intent was to add extra features, including extra vehicles and weapons to Desert Combat without affecting the game itself. As the mod grew more popular, so did DCX and new features were added progressively. At its peak, DCX counted as much as 300,000 downloads worldwide. Although it's unclear how many people were actually playing the mod, it must be noted that because of the high single player abilities of DCX many players opted not to play online and thus the real number of DCX players was hard to mesure.

Some of the many innovations brought forth by DCX were subtle yet really improved gameplay. Such things like:

Counter rotating turrets on tanks. Because machine gunners on tanks like the M1A1 and T-72 in DC were mounted on top of the main turrent, and because the main turrent was controlled by the driver, one problem was that when the driver would turn his turret it would throw off the top gunner's aim. DCX resolved this by adding a counter rotating system in between the main turrent and the top gunner position. So when the main turret was turned one way, the counter rotating system would turn the top gunner the other way in equal increments. The end effect was that the top gunner remained facing in the right direction.

Rolling wheels on helicopters. Certain helicopters in DC have wheels. Like the UH-60 Blackhawk, Mi-24D hind, AH-64 Apache and others. Trouble is, DC had locked their wheels and prevented them from rolling. This lead to many crashes when landing. Especially the Mi-24D Hind. After having watched a video called "Helo Thunder", Zeuser saw that both the Apache and Blackhawk were rolling on the ground and they could also turn. So with some simply coding changes Zeuser unlocked the wheels on all the helicopters. The benefit was a big reduction in crashes upon landing. At the same time this unlocked a whole new set of features that turned out to be quite useful. Such as being able to hide helicopters in Hangars so you could roll them out of the hangar. You could also doing rolling take-offs as well as landings and even touch-and-go landings on certain maps where parachutes were disabled.

DCX was also the first to introduce player guided missiles. Although the original idea was not Zeuser's, he was the first one to implement it into actual gameplay. At first it was nothing more that an AMRAAM missile that could be guided be the player and detonated in mid-air. The launcher was simply a Tomahawk 4 tube launcher mounted on top of a bunker. Then came a 6 rail system on top of a bunker, followed by a central bunker with 3 launchers (the first SAM site complex) and then followed by the simply 6 rail launcher on its own. The player guided missile code was also used to guide the SCUD-B rocket, the Tomahawk missile and later the SA-3 missile. A deriviative of this system was used in a player guided Hellfire missile launched from an Apache and a plyer guided torpedoe dropped from a Seahawk or launched from a submarine.

DCX was the first mod to introduce a protected armoury. It was nothing more than a barack with many different kits on a series of tables where a player could go an pick them up. But to prevent enemy players from "camping" in a building full of weapons and ammunition, Zeuser introduced an anti-camper system that would kill any enemy trying to enter the building.

DCX is also known for having introduced the first fully functional homing missile system in any BF1942 mod. The original code was tested online with many players and proved to work pretty well. But the original code was then lost and the final version didn't work exactly as intended. There is video proof and a dozen or so witnesses that played with the original code before it was lost. There is rumor that this code might be ressurected.

DCX also partially fixed the issue of mobilty artillery. A know issue was while the gunner was aiming his shots another player would jump into the driver's seat and drive away. This lead to many arguments in the in-game chat. DCX resolved this by preventing a driver from entering the vehicle while the gunner's seat was occupied.

DCX was also the first mod to introduce the Nitro buggy. The idea originated from a childhood experience where Zeuser went for a ride in a real offroad buggy equipped with a NOS bottle. This turned out to be a fan favorite. Many copies were made in serval mods afterwards including the "Vanilla" version of Battlefield 2.

DCX was the first mod to introduce the concept of "sub modes" for gameplay. Through a setting on the server all sub-mode enabled maps would switch gameplay. The idea was inspired by DC's "Day 2" and "Day 3" map copies where the weapons and vehicles were changed but the map itself was pretty much identical. Sub-modes including such things as a tank only battle, aircraft only battle, infantry only battle, sniper rifles only, pistols only and even a knife only battle. Using only one map and one change in a server side variable the gameplay could be completly changed.

The ideas and innovations brought to DCX appealed to a large group of Desert Combat player and, people started to offer Zeuser help. The modification eventually grew to include several dedicated artists and modelers, as well as dedicated coding talent. Desert Combat Extended eventually was hosted on its own servers, and website, which was lost after a hosting problem.

Desert Combat Extended eventually led to the creation of SaltyDogs Productions(SDP).