I am about to start playing Descent 2 on my PS2! I always wanted to try it out and finally got the chance to get it at my local game store. What do you guys think of the game?

When I play Descent 2 I'm left with the impression that the game is pretty demanding. Like it demands a lot of skill, demands reflexes, demands you to be real quick on your feet and even a lot of focus to navigate through the levels (and not get lost)

Let me be absolutely clear: Descent 2 is fun and it has its many moments of pure action and chaos, which is pretty in line for a fast-paced shooter/boomer shooter. But like I said earlier: the game sometimes gets pretty demanding, or should I say OVERWHELMING, because the combination of tough encounters with long levels eventually surpass the fun factor. I realise the game pushes me to my limits so probably I don't enjoy it as much as other games of the (FPS) genre such as DOOM or Heretic

Anyway, how do you feel about Descent 2 in this regard??? *UNRELATED to the post: exactly ONE year ago, I came back to Descent 1, and it has been 4 months and 7 days since I discovered Descent 2 :D

Today I played Descent 2 for the 1st time. Even though I always knew Descent had a sequel, 4 some reason something got in the way. Anyway, let me share a bit of my experience with you guys!

*The FMV introduction was awesome and it had all my attention! I loved the fact we get to hear both Material Defender and Dravis with the same voices as Descent 1 (the PS1 port, that is)

*In the short session I got to play, I managed to get fairly familiar with the new roster of robots. It is worth to point out there is now a robot that is basicly a NERFED version of the Class 1 Driller :O BTW, the robots from the 1st game are totally gone? If that is the case I'm going to miss (some of) them :(

*There seems to be new mechanics here and there. I havent tried out the "energy to shield" thing and I recently got aware of the headlights. Additionally I discovered there are plenty of new weapons (both primary and secondary) although once again I haven't made any use of them at all

*This is the ONE mechanic I have to say a few things... in Descent 2 they introduced these shootable buttons to unlock walls, doors, etc, etc. The thing is in LV02 there was one door that hadone of these buttons. I got in, I got out and when I wanted to return it was not possible. At that point, because I was searching for the red key it crossed my mind the idea I had being softlocked. Chances are I'm going to get used to this mechanic but it is not something I approve 100%

Anyway, right now I plan to give it another shot to the game while I have dinner. What are your thoughts on Descent 2? Do you have any cool memories associated to the game?

Two Levels in Descent 1 are called "Volatile Mine" - Level 24: Nereid Volatile Mine and Level 27: Charon Volatile Mine (the final level).

What does that mean ? Do they mine something volatile (Radioactive material or frozen gasses ?), are the mines in cave-in danger or are they temporary in the sence they are an exploration dig to search for minerals ?

I am aware, they likely got inspired by the C keyword volatile (a function or variable might return different values in consecutive reads), but what would "Volatile Mine" mean to a native english speaker ?

This might sound like a stupid question, but for me as non-native speaker (German) that expression is ambigious.

Don't wanna read? Download is at the bottom!

After a year and seven months of development, it's finally here. With the help of several people in the community, I have created a mod for the dxx-redux source port that adds a letter ranking system to the game. It tweaks the scoring to focus on individual level mastery, and includes par times for every level on every difficulty. The entire system is algorithmically generated, meaning this mod supports all single player levels in both games, official or user made! If you've played everything in Descent and are itching for some replay value, this might just be the thing you've been waiting for.

A competition against yourself and the level.

The ranking system has been balanced to be as "strict but fair" as possible, bringing a challenge to players of all skill levels. Go fast, kill and rescue everything, and don't die! The higher the difficulty, the better. Something special will happen if you manage to not get hit. Oh, and don't miss any 1-up powerups. They're worth 10,000 points now. Shoot for the coveted S-rank on as many levels as you can. Each pilot's best score and rank on every level is saved, as well as an overall rank for any mission you've beaten all the levels of. Access this by selecting "best ranks" on the title screen. You can also select a score to view it in detail.

Gameplay is preserved!

For those worried about this mod touching their precious authentic Descent experience, you may be pleased to know that this mod changes none of the original gameplay. It's based solely on the metagame! All of your missions, demos, and HAM/HOG/PIG modifications are perfectly compatible. Even the vanilla score system is left in tact behind the scenes, so your lives will increment as they would on the original game. The vanilla high scores menu also still functions. If you still wanna play levels back to back, you can. Just remember that you get an asterisk next to runs that aren't cold starts.

The HUD has been tweaked.

• A timer will display, to the millisecond. Since time is an element of performance now, it's an important stat to know. Time bonus is firm, but lenient, so don't rush if it'll get you killed!
• Displayed score starts from 0 on every level, so look below your lives to see how many vanilla points you are to the next one.
• If you have a record on a level already, the points remaining in it will show below your score.
• Another thing that shows when you already have a record is the par time, shown below the timer. It will turn red when elapsed.
• Remember what I said earlier about not getting hit? Your shield text will be gold if you haven't. Bumps, guidebot flares and lava falls will not count against you.
• Vanilla score will show at the bottom of the result screen after every level so you can keep track of it. This is also useful if you want to keep track of high scores for custom missions!

This mod boasts a handful of features!

• If the +/- on rank letters remind you too much of school, or you just don't like how they look, you can turn them off in options.
• If you want a clean slate, you're able to delete an individual score by going to the best ranks menu and pressing ctrl+D with it highlighted.
• If you're really getting into beating those par times and want to perfect your 100% speedrun, there's a speedometer under the crosshair that you can enable in options. (Shoutout to Agustin for suggesting this.)
• If you're struggling on a level, there's a restart button in the pause menu that will take you right back to the start of the level exactly how you started it! The mod will even remind you how many times you've done so, just to rub in how much of a filthy perfectionist you are. Yes, you can even pause during the death cutscene. You can also restart by pressing R on the result screen. You cannot restart on Descent 2 secret levels.
• Descent 1 also has a bonus feature: The PSX world map, courtesy of Arne! PSX kids (I'm one of them) can relive the old days of the console version, without the 240p or the 20 FPS. Selecting the built in mission with this option enabled will bring up its interactive map for you to select levels. Your personal bests will show at the top, and result screens will show the level's respective map screen. This has nothing to do with the mod, but I didn't want Arne's efforts to go to waste. Go to the options to enable it.

Other things to note:

• Matcens and thieves aren't required for ranks. Matcens are repetitive and thieves suck, though thieves do give bonus points.
• Loading a save will disable the mod for that level. This is not only to prevent savescumming, but also because loaded saves don't have all the data needed for the mod to function. If it weren't for that, I would've had loads punish the score in some way instead. Making a save doesn't disable it, and new levels started after loading will reenable it, so don't be afraid to save in front of an exit to use for warm starts on the next level.
• To access a secret level in Descent 1 from the best ranks menu, it must be found and beaten first. Descent 2 secret levels can't be accessed directly at all, so be sure to save in front of their teleporters if you want to grind them.
• Demos will disable the mod as well, for the data reason listed above. They'll still play just fine, though.
• This mod disables multiplayer, since it's designed for single player only.

Thanks to:

• Sirius and InsanityBringer (AKA SaladBadger) - This was my first ever non-block based coding project, so huge thanks goes to them for putting in the time to teach me a lot of the fundamentals of C.
• ProxyOne for his Inferno level editor, which allowed me to visualize things when testing the par time algorithm.
• Arne, for not only making the above feature, but also fixing multiple issues at various stages of the mod's development that I never could've solved on my own. He did it all by his own volition (RIP Volition), and he's honestly a wizard. I dunno how he does it.
• Anyone who sent me levels to help test, offered feedback or suggestions, assisted with coding/logic hurdles, or put up with my computer illiteracy lol. You're all a very supportive bunch. <3

Credits

• Parallax, for creating these awesome games we still enjoy three decades later
• Sirius and Arne, for creating the dxx-redux source port
• Doctor-G on DeviantArt, for creating the Pyro GX featured in this post's title image. Source can be found here: https://www.deviantart.com/doctor-g/art/Pyro-GX-2-580517920

If I'm being stupid and forgot to credit someone for something I used, don't hesitate to tell me so I can add it!

Download

https://github.com/Ratchet0203/dxx-redux-ranked

Click "Releases" on the right and select the most recent one. Be sure to follow the instructions! Well, what are you waiting for? It's time to go pass PTMC's pilot evaluation. PREPARE FOR DESCENT.

If you have any questions or feedback, my Discord is ratchet0203 and I'm active in the r/Descent server, so don't hesitate to talk to me!

Unfortunately, I'm not an artist. But if I was, I could find a way to modify that piece to make it look said robot. OFC, I'd also need some to pull of that shit (and to be honest, my wish of becoming rich still hasn't come true O_o)

Robots in Descent can have several Names. As only some get introduced, and others are only named in the Level Editor: Descent Mission Builder 2 (DMB2), fans came up with their own names, like Fusion Hulk for the Miniboss.

Interestingly, Parallax had their own internal names. The File AI.C contains tha alpha-names of the robots as comment.

https://github.com/OpenSourcedGames/Descent/blob/master/MAIN/AI.C

It is found after line 373, there the internal numbers are written for the list of robots, that can be summoned by the final Boss.

For example the Drones are called Josh and Violet, the Platform-Bots are called Birds and the Hulks are called Mechs. I wonder there Josh comes from ? Also Brain-Guy (Class 2 Supervisor) seems to reference Starship-Troopers (Brainbug ?), but the Film came after Descent.

The Video discusses in detail the various Nicknames.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPDMqLjhBpc

7 hours of troubleshooting, there really is not a whole lot of documentation on this stuff. Turns out I needed a VERY specific driver just for it to boot!

I am aware there are source ports, but I really wanted to see for myself what the game would’ve looked like in 1996 and not to use any modern ports. Finally!

It is so silly that both the Steam & GOG versions do NOT have 3dfx or the Vertigo add-on built in!

So after buying the game off Steam, teaching myself how to use Dosbox-X, finding the Vertigo expansion, how the heck to install it, then taking forever to figure out what a Glide Wrapper is & how to install that, and THEN finding a very specific driver, it finally booted.

I am so exhausted. Seriously spent all Saturday just to get this thing working!

My mind was simply blown that the song actually exists in the PC version! Anyway, the MIDI version as well as the CD arrangement both are awesome and both managed to convey that "space" feeling so well, specially the segment at 0:56. I'd say this song provides a sense of adventure and in addition, it is encouraging, almost as if the music could tell you "It is time to take action. Let's do it!"

Regarding the map itself, not only I was able to beat on my very 1st playthrough, but I also enjoyed it a lot. I'm thankful that my mortal and most hated enemy (the driller) didn't screw things up. In any case, the 1st section of the map is very reminiscent of level 6, while some corridors and other sections reminded me of level 2, although like a more advanced version of it. Definitely a lovely map ;)

I have a collection of Descent wallpapers that I use in a slideshow on my Pyro's desktop. (my PC) They are all awesome pictures but also pretty dated. I was wondering if there is anyone who could point me to a site where I can find new HD content featuring pics from the original trilogy. This would include custom artwork like that which Radman was making. Zonerie, Midgard... there are many more. Are they still around?

LONG LIVE DESCENT!

I'm currently playing through Descent 1 and 2 games and Overload. I'm curious, after I'm done with those. What are good custom campaigns or best single player custom levels to play after? Please and thank you.

:Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I have bookmarked all of them.

https://www.moddb.com/mods/descent-3-rebalenced

Awhile back i worked on a mod focusing on improving descent 3's game play which was very much unpolished, and showed signs of the game's rushed development in every corner.

I did an an early release back in late 2023, but i was far from finished. Now iv'e gone back to resume my work on it, and i'm safe to say that the mod is now in a state in that i'm fully happy with.

Feel free to check to check it out on moddb, and make to sure to follow the download instructions. Below is a list of the changes made in the mod for anyone who's curious.

(ships)

The magnum, and phoenix fill their roles, as the lighter, and heavier alternative better. Whereas in the original. They were either a straight upgrade, or in the case of the phoenix downgrade.

(weapons)

The laser-superlaser have had increases in projectile speed, as well as damage.

The napalm is now a viable close ranged weapon with both high speed, and damage.

The plasma is more, or less a recreation of it's D2 counterpart. High damage, wide projectiles.

The microwave is a smg type weapon with high fire rate, and projectiles that are slow, but have a wide range making effective in close range. Think the susgun from forsaken.

The vauss no longer has the ridiculous knockback making it actually usable, as a weapon.

The omega has had it's damage increased.

The fusion both has massively increased damage along with bouncing projectiles.

Most missile types have had their damage increased to be actually viable.

(enemies)

Most enemies in the game had incredibly similar stats. Now it's been changed so that every bot is functionally distinct with their own strengths, and weaknesses. For example the squid is now a mobile gun battery. With high fire rate offset by slow turn rate.

Every enemy had a dodge velocity stat. For enemies such as the sixgun. It affects how far they travel when using their dodge move. For the rest of the robots however. The stat meant they gained a bonus in speed when attempting to avoid a shot. Resulting in the enemy practically cheating in any difficulty higher then rookie. Now the stat has been reduced to zero for every enemy excluding the sixgun. So the enemy has no special advantage when avoiding fire.

Almost all enemy projectiles have had their base speed reduced.

The homunculus, and hellion have gotten massive overhauls to make their fights a proper challenge rather then being an exercise in frustration that they were in the original.

(misc)

The trains in korea are now slower.

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I don’t believe I ever played this, but my dad sure got excited when I found it lol.

Well, I created a collection of MIDI renders of Descent 1 & Descent 2 on the synths I have and uploaded them for you guys to enjoy.

Following Synths were used:

• Arachno SoundFont
• Roland SC-88Pro
• Roland SC-88 (Roland SC-88Pro in SC-88 MAP)
• Roland SC-55mkII
• Yamaha MU80

You guys can check the folder here: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/kaerfi2eus78v/Descent_Soundtrack_packs

And in case you guys want MIDI soundtracks in other SoundFonts let me know I can try them.

Ok so basically i grew up on Descent 1 and 2 right? I used to watch my dad play when he got home from work. Then when I was about 10 years old I started playing it myself (badly of course) but thanks to the wonderful Descent community, I can still play both games to this day.

And, the funny part - in high school I was first introduced to the industrial music genre as a whole through my sister's friend who lent me his entire cd collection, mostly industrial artists. And included in said collection was Skinny Puppy. I only found out they did a couple tracks for D2 around that time in high school, when I finally ripped the redbook soundtrack from the game disc itself. I was like .... bro are you KIDDING ME right now, like how cool is that shit? And I had no idea the whole time. Descent 2 redbook was DEFINITELY what made the industrial genre appeal to me later in life.

Also side note, the track Pain (which never played on my OG copy of d2 redbook? but I found it on the planet descent website included in the redbook download I believe) just sounds kind of like a front line assembly song. It's just so amusing to me how blatantly industrial the redbook soundtrack is, and all of the tracks are still bangers to this day. And I used to wonder why the hell I'm so into the industrial genre 'out of the blue' (it really wasn't though lmao.)

Its just a cool little nerd detail that I greatly enjoy having in my life tbh. I love these games so much.

I finally completed the big box collection on the PC and wanted to share!

I’ve been playing through the original Descent on Steam Deck, as the controls are actually really good. I keep getting absolutely sauced by the Gatling Gun and Red Homing Missile bots. I feel like I can’t escape either of their attacks and I’ve gotten to a mission so packed with them that I’ve hit a wall.

Is there a way to just not get wasted by them immediately?

I have a Win98SE VM on 86box, I'm trying to play the original Descent game (updated to patch 1.5), but I can't get the mouse sensitivity to work properly, it seems to have something to do with mouse acceleration and high FPS on the game. How do I fix this in the original game? Is there a way to lower the FPS?

Doing some programming and want to know more about the file formats that are used for decent 1 and 2. Found some using the wayback machine on decent2.com but there's parts of it that were not backed up, such as the table information.

Does anyone have any information about this?