Topic: Descent is on Steam!

[Kaizerwolf]

What would be cool, if not totally unlikely, would be to add Steam Workshop support for Descent. I don't know for sure how custom missions would run on the DOS version of the game. Still, it would be cool to see missions added through the Workshop. It would take a lot out of Interplay though, and it seems likely that they don't have any real interest in doing so.

[Scyphi]

I had been thinking something similar, and this could be a good chance to release some new missions for D1 on Interplay's part...kind of to promote it and sweeten the deal, so to speak. But yeah, it doesn't seem like that's their plan. However, in other news, I was poking around in the Steam forums for Descent and noticed that some people had observed that, when the game initially went up on Steam, it had D2 imagery up instead of D1. It was obviously quickly replaced, but many are taking it to mean that, if the operators have Steam already have such promotional imagery for D2 on hand, then D2 may soon be getting a Steam release too. 

No clue if D3 could follow suit too, but this doesn't surprise me. D3's probably more complicated in terms of who owns what, given it came out the same time its makers all started breaking apart, taking bits and pieces of the rights with them. Don't know how much of that Interplay actually owns (beyond the title) and if its enough for them to re-release the game. Guess we'll see.

Anyway, did go ahead and get the Steam release (now I legitimately own a copy of my own to use, and don't have to go "borrowing" Techpro's anymore), and it pretty much is just the original 1995 Descent game rigged on DOSbox with the only real tweak seeming to be to get it to run properly on modern systems. Confirmed this by going to hunt down the files after they downloaded to my laptop, and saw all of the same files I've been seeing for years, they're just now listed under the Steam file directory. All that really means is that, yes, all of the old practices for managing Descent (like adding custom missions) is pretty much the same.

Game runs well, but it's not exactly hard for the system to do so, of course. Initially had it being displayed a little funky because of my laptop's wonky screen size, but a quick tweak of the resolution in the config file sorted that into a more tolerable arrangement (still have black bars on the sides because its a normal-size game displayed on a widescreen, but they're not big and I can live with that). It's very "plug and play," and very nostalgic for me too. Haven't seen the game in such a pure and original state in many years now. Graphics actually aren't as bad as I remember them, but they are notably...poorer...than what many of use are used to with Rebirth, D2X-XL, and the like. My eyes started to get tired after awhile, and it was a little weird going from that back to normal hi-res operations on my computer afterwards, but seeing most of us all played (or in my case watched) the game in this format for hours at a time with no effort, I think it's just a case that I'm not used to it, and will eventually adjust.

I was also, mostly out of curiosity, looking throughout the game to see if there was anything notably different about playing it in its original form than from playing it in, say, Rebirth. Turns out there might actually be, minor of course, but to me still worth noting. Like the secret doors, I noticed the secret doors hide much better in original D1's more pixelly rendering than in clearer Rebirth. This explains a few things for me, because I had been long looking at the textures for D1's secret doors and been wondering why they had always seems to stand out more than the secret doors in its successor games. Now I know why; they didn't stand out so much in the original version of the game. So the secrets actually seem a bit more secret, and in my playthrough of the game, I'll probably end up missing more than I normally would in Rebirth.

The poorer rendering also makes it harder to snipe distant targets, which has its upsides and its downsides. It depends really on how you spin it. Some can see it as adding challenge to the game, others could see it as a hindrance. Unsure as of yet how much this might affect one's gameplay...probably not a lot once you adjust, but I'm throwing it out there for consideration anyway.

Robot behavior also seems ever so slightly different...bots that seemed more docile are a little more aggressive, and those that seemed more aggressive are now a little more docile, and so forth. Again, nothing major, and I doubt it'll affect one's experience any. Probably will have to do some comparisons in order to be really sure, though.

But yeah, just some things I've noticed.

[VANGUARD]

Is there a way to get Descent to run on a Linux Mint (KDE) system? I don't have Windows or an Apple.

[Pumo]

Maybe you can run Rebirth or XL on it? Both programs has Linux versions.
The installation is a bit tricky (as every installation on Linux) but you can give it a try.

[Viper1999]

What would be cool, if not totally unlikely, would be to add Steam Workshop support for Descent. I don't know for sure how custom missions would run on the DOS version of the game. Still, it would be cool to see missions added through the Workshop. It would take a lot out of Interplay though, and it seems likely that they don't have any real interest in doing so.

Would be even more cool if they added Steam Trading Cards to it.   

[VANGUARD]

Do I need to buy the software or is this like a freeware? I still kind of miss Descent. i think I had some of my favorite games on the iMac, but I rarely used it and later sold it for $$$.

[Scyphi]

You do have to pay money to get it off of Steam, but until the end of today, it's still being offered at fifty percent off and is only three bucks. And even without the sale, its then only six bucks, so it's not like its terribly expensive.

[tueidj]

It seems most people (including the ones responsible for putting together the GOG.com and Steam releases) aren't aware the original PC version of Descent can run in 640x480 via a command line option, which is a massive improvement over the default 320x200. Of course the engine ports (d2x-xl and rebirth) can do a lot better, but maybe people wouldn't be complaining so much about the dated graphics if it was enabled "out of the box".

[TechPro]

Is there a way to get Descent to run on a Linux Mint (KDE) system? I don't have Windows or an Apple.

A couple of the Linux repos (Debian and Ubuntu) have D1X-Rebirth and D2X-Rebirth.  Cheers!

It seems most people (including the ones responsible for putting together the GOG.com and Steam releases) aren't aware the original PC version of Descent can run in 640x480 via a command line option, which is a massive improvement over the default 320x200. Of course the engine ports (d2x-xl and rebirth) can do a lot better, but maybe people wouldn't be complaining so much about the dated graphics if it was enabled "out of the box".

Yes, now if only I could remember the command line option...
Oh well, in the Community Guides (on Steam, for Descent) there is a post with some simple steps to get D1X-Reburth to run your Steam hosted Descent. ... If you want to.

NOTE: A lot of people are deriding the choice of getting Descent through Steam.  These people are forgetting about those people who do not own Descent, for whom getting it through Steam is quick and very easy (earier than GOG, IMHO) to get the necessary licensed files.  After that, the user can choose however they wish to play it.

[tueidj]

The option is "-640x480", iirc it is listed along with all the other command line options if you put "-?" or "-help".

[Scyphi]

NOTE: A lot of people are deriding the choice of getting Descent through Steam.  These people are forgetting about those people who do not own Descent, for whom getting it through Steam is quick and very easy (earier than GOG, IMHO) to get the necessary licensed files.  After that, the user can choose however they wish to play it.

This is a large part of why I bought it myself (that and I was feeling very, very, nostalgic), so I would possess my own legal copy of the game. And it is something every one will have to do at some point if they wish to play Descent. Remember, Rebirth and like mods are just that; mods. Additionally programming to tack onto the preexisting game, but not the actual game itself. It's quite useless to you without the game. So get the game; where you get it doesn't really matter so long as it's legal and convenient for you. Furthermore, remember that buying the game shows support in Descent, and the more support we all show for it, the more we show the world that we're still very much interested in Descent and 6DoF games like it. 

[Sapphirus]

Descent 2 now available on Steam!

[tueidj]

Furthermore, remember that buying the game shows support in Descent, and the more support we all show for it, the more we show the world that we're still very much interested in Descent and 6DoF games like it. 

Unfortunately though, the money is going to Interplay who are basically just royalty collectors. They don't have any developers themselves, any new games they bring out are produced by tiny indy devs who they don't treat very well...

[Kaizerwolf]

Descent 2 now available on Steam!

Yes! And from what I can tell, from one demo at least, it seems to have the redbook music with it. Good stuff!

Ahh it made me so nostalgic to see the original intro sequence for Descent 2.

[tueidj]

So $6.99 for Descent 1 then $9.99 for Descent 2 (compared to $9.99 for both from gog.com)... interplay's greed strikes again.