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Descent II

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games
Template:Infobox game/row/macporter
Descent II
Descent II cover
Developers
Parallax Software
Publishers
Interplay Entertainment
Release dates
DOS March 13, 1996
Windows March 13, 1996
Mac OS (Classic) 1997
macOS (OS X) October 26, 2012[1]
Descent II on Wikipedia
Descent
Descent 1995
Descent II 1996
Descent 3 1999
Descent (cancelled) renamed to S.T.F.U (Ships That Fight Underground) April 2024

Key points

Engine is open source with modern multi-platform ports available. It is highly recommended to use either DXX-Rebirth or D2X-XL.

General information

Official game site
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions
Descent II source code download page

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
DRM details are not known
DOS
Windows
Mac OS
No longer sold digitally due to licensing issues.[2]

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
Vertigo Series
DOS
Descent: Maximum (unofficial) Descent: Maximum was the PSX version of Descent 2. It can be played on the PC via a total conversion.
Error: OS 'N/A' not found in infobox
Descent: Maximum (the total conversion) can be downloaded free here, being fan content.

Essential improvements

Source ports

There are four (five technically) source ports available for Descent. These ports are major upgrades to the game and will improve almost all aspects of the game. Most notably, these ports support Windows, OS X, and Linux natively without the need for DOSBox.

DXX-Rebirth

Focussed mostly on maintaining original gameplay and being authentic.

Feature List

D2X-XL

Focused mostly on graphical and gameplay improvements.

Changelog/Feature List

DXX-Retro

Based on DXX-Rebirth. Focussed mostly on improving multiplayer.

Source & Changelog

Project D2X & Project D1X

Two very old source port, haven't been updated in a long time. Both projects are closely related but technically two separate entities. Are the bases for DXX-Rebirth & XL.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

Save game data location

Save game cloud syncing

System Native Notes
Steam Cloud

Video settings

In-game video settings.
In-game video settings.
In-game screen resolution settings.
In-game screen resolution settings.
300px
Graphics settings (GOG.com version)

Template:Video settings

Input settings

In-game key map settings.
In-game key map settings.

Template:Input settings

Audio settings

Template:Audio settings

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English

Network

Multiplayer types

Type Native Players Notes
LAN play
8 Co-op, Versus
Online play
8 Co-op, Versus

Connection types

VR support

3D modes State Notes
Native 3D
Use D2X-XL (anaglyph, 3D TV).[3]
Headsets
SteamVR
This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer (compatibility list).
Oculus VR (LibOVR)
Use D2X-XL.[3]
Windows Mixed Reality
This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer.
Devices
Tracked motion controllers
Traditional controller
Keyboard/Mouse

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
OpenGL 1.0 Requires a source port or official OpenGL patch from interplay. Also is a selectable rendering option in DOSBox.
Glide
Requires an official patch from interplay. Also require a fork of DOSBox with Glide support if being player in DOSBox.
Software renderer
Default mode in source ports and only mode without graphics patch from interplay
DOS video modes
ExecutablePPC16-bit 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)
Mac OS (Classic)

System requirements

DOS
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 5.0
Processor (CPU) Intel 486DX 50 MHz
System memory (RAM) 8 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 700 MB
Video card (GPU) SVGA video card
Mac OS
Minimum
Operating system (OS) System 7 (classic)
Processor (CPU) PowerPC 601 90MHz
System memory (RAM) 8 MB (3 can be virtual memory)
Hard disk drive (HDD) 18 MB
Video card (GPU) 640x480 display with 256 colors
Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 95
Processor (CPU) Intel 486DX 50 MHz
System memory (RAM) 16 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 700 MB
Video card (GPU) SVGA video card
macOS (OS X)
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 10.6.8 "Snow Leopard" (runs in DOSBox)
Processor (CPU) Intel Core Duo 2 GHz
System memory (RAM) 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)
Video card (GPU) 64 MB of VRAM

Notes

  1. 1.0 1.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/273580/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (273580) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References