Descent 3

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Descent 3
Descent 3 - cover.jpg
Developers
Publishers
Engines
 
Release dates
Windows
June 11, 1999
Mac OS
November 24, 1999
Linux
1999
Descent 3 at Steam Charts
Descent 3 at SteamDB
 Descent 3 at Wikipedia
Descent
Descent 1994
Descent: Levels of the World
Descent II 1996
Descent II: Vertigo Series
Descent: FreeSpace – The Great War 1998
Descent: Freespace – Silent Threat
Descent 3 1999
Descent 3: Mercenary
FreeSpace 2 1999

Key points

Information Mac OS and Linux versions are currently not available in digital distribution. They will be coming later on.[1]

General information

More information GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
More information GOG.com Support Page
More information Steam Community Discussions

Availability[edit]

Source DRM Notes Keys
Retail DRM details are not known
GOG.com DRM-free Windows only. Includes 'Descent 3: Mercenary' expansion.
Steam Availability Table Icons - Steam.svg Windows only. Includes 'Descent 3: Mercenary' expansion.
Information Two demo versions were released

Essential improvements[edit]

Patches[edit]

More information Latest patches for every game version available here

Skip launcher[edit]

Fix Launch the game with -launched parameter

Skip intro videos[edit]

Fix Launch the game with -nointro parameter

Game data[edit]

Configuration file(s) location[edit]

  Location 
Windows HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Outrage\Descent3\
Mac OS
Linux

Save game data location[edit]

  Location 
Windows <path-to-game>\savegame\
Mac OS
Linux
Information *.plt in the installation folder stores pilot-related settings.

Save game cloud syncing[edit]

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud Impossible

Video settings[edit]

Video settings.
Detail settings.
Graphics option Option WSGF Notes
Widescreen resolution Hackable WSGF WS Bronze.svg See Widescreen resolution.
Multi-monitor Impossible False icon.svg
Field of view (FOV) Impossible
Windowed Impossible
Borderless fullscreen windowed Impossible
Anisotropic filtering (AF) Hackable Can be forced in your GPU's control panel.
Anti-aliasing (AA) Hackable Can be forced in your GPU's control panel.
Vertical sync (Vsync) Native Enabled by default. Set in Options, Video.
High frame rate Hackable Add -framecap X to launch parameters to set the frame rate cap.

Widescreen resolution[edit]

Fix Add resolution switches[2]

  1. Go to the shortcut/launcher properties:
    • If you are skipping the launcher, right-click the MAIN.EXE shortcut and choose Properties.
    • If you are using the launcher, run it and go to Setup, Misc.
  2. Add your resolution in the following format: -width 1920 -height 1080 -aspect 1.78
    • -aspect should be 1.78 for 16:9 or 1.6 for 16:10
  3. Click OK to save your changes.
Information If the output is pillarboxed in-game use the key to the left of ← Backspace to zoom in.

Input settings[edit]

Keyboard and mouse Native Notes
Remapping Native
Mouse acceleration Impossible
Mouse input in menus Native
Mouse Y-axis inversion Native Go to Config, Joy/Mouse and click the question mark beside the axis.
Controller
Controller support Native Supports force feedback but not vibration.
Full controller support Impossible
Controller remapping Native
Controller Y-axis inversion Native Go to Config, Joy/Mouse and click the question mark beside the axis.

Audio settings[edit]

Audio settings.
Audio options Native Notes
Separate volume controls Native Sound and Music.
Surround sound Native Via A3D 2.0 and DirectSound3D
Subtitles Impossible
Closed captions Impossible
Mute on focus lost Native
EAX support Native EAX 2, DirectSound3D, A3D 2.0[3]

Correct support for the latter requires latest patch[4]

Localizations

Language UI Audio CC Notes
English Native Native Not applicable
Polish Native Native Not applicable Only available in Polish retail release. 'Mercenary' expansion pack was never translated.

Network[edit]

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play Native
Online play Native
LAN co-op Native 8
Online co-op Native 8

Connection types

Type Native Notes
Matchmaking Impossible
Peer-to-peer Native
Dedicated Hackable Use D3Server3.
Self-hosting Native
Direct IP Native

Issues fixed[edit]

"Error: Unable to set temporary directory to ... The directory is in use" error at launch[edit]

Fix Delete .lock file

  1. Go to the installation folder.
  2. Go into custom\cache.
  3. Delete .lock
  4. The game should now start normally.

Mouse movement issues on Windows 8.1[edit]

Information For the GOG.com version use the Windows 8.1 mouse lag fix installer on the My Games page.

Fix Install mouse fix

  1. Install the Descent 3 mouse fix.

Other information[edit]

API[edit]

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 6
OpenGL 1.2
Glide 3
Software renderer Impossible
64-bit executable Impossible

Disable motion blur[edit]

Fix Launch the game with -nomotionblur parameter[5]

System requirements[edit]

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS)
XP, Vista, 7, 8
Processor (CPU) 1 GHz 1.4 GHz
System memory (RAM) 256 MB 512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 300 MB 1.3 GB
Video card (GPU) DirectX 7 compatible DirectX 9 compatible

References

  1. ↑ Linux | Steam Community
  2. ↑ Descent3 | WSGF
  3. ↑ Games List - All Titles supporting 3D Audio
  4. ↑ Aureal A3D Central - Frequently Asked Questions - General
  5. ↑ Descent 3 readme