Descent II

Descent II

Developers
	Parallax Software
Mac OS (Classic)	Interplay Entertainment
Publishers
	Interplay Entertainment
Release dates
DOS	March 13, 1996
Windows	March 13, 1996
Mac OS (Classic)	1997
Windows (DOSBox)	July 22, 2008
macOS (OS X) (DOSBox)	October 26, 2012
Linux (DOSBox)	Unknown
Reception
Metacritic	89
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, FPS, Shooter, Vehicle combat
Vehicles	Space flight
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	Descent

Descent
Descent	1995
Descent II	1996
Descent 3	1999
Descent (upcoming)	TBA

Descent II is a singleplayer and multiplayer first-person action, FPS, shooter and vehicle combat game in the Descent series.

Key points

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

General information

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		Startup disc check
Epic Games Store
GOG.com		DOS version pre-packaged with DOSBox.
Steam		DOS version pre-packaged with DOSBox.

A demo version is available from Archive.org.

Version differences

The Infinite Abyss and Definitive Collection have slightly remixed versions of the game's soundtrack.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Vertigo Series

Essential improvements

Patches

The latest official patch 1.2 (DOS, Mac, Win95/98), Rendition Vérité patch (requires patch 1.2) and S3 ViRGE patch are available at soggi.org.

The 3dfx-patch Release 6 is available at soggi.org.

Unofficial Unauthorized D2 Sound Patch - Corrects D1 robot sounds in D2.

Descent 2 DOS 3dfx modded-patch v1.06b that has no cd and no ship bobbing (ship bobbing speed is tied to framerate and is too fast on modern systems with original code) available at [1] for DOSBOX Enhanced Community Edition [2]

Source ports

This is a selective list of source ports available for Descent II. 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.

Name	Description
D2X-Rebirth	Focused 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. Focused mostly on improving multiplayer. Source & Changelog
Project D2X	Very old source port, hasn't been updated in a long time. This project was the base for DXX-Rebirth & XL

Descent: Maximum

Descent: Maximum was the PlayStation version of Descent II. An unofficial total conversion can be downloaded here.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
DOS
Windows	<path-to-game>\
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)

Save game data location

System	Location
DOS
Windows	<path-to-game>\
Mac OS (Classic)
macOS (OS X)	<path-to-game> (mounted in DOSBox)

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

In-game video settings.

In-game screen resolution settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			A source port is required. See Source ports.
Multi-monitor			Use D2X-Rebirth (D2X-XL has incorrect scaling).
Ultra-widescreen			Use D2X-Rebirth (D2X-XL has incorrect scaling).
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		For DOSBox toggle with Alt+↵ Enter (see the glossary page for other workarounds).
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		A source port is required. See Source ports.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		A source port is required. See Source ports.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		A source port is required. See Source ports.
60 FPS
120+ FPS		A source port is required. See Source ports.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Input

In-game key map settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus		A source port is required. See Source ports.
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		A source port adds modern controller support. See Source ports.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

DualShock 4 controllers

Tracked motion controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles		Available through D2X-XL
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		For DOSBox change the priority background value in the DOSBox configuration file.
Royalty free audio
Red Book CD audio		Choice of Red Book or MIDI music (configured with SETUP.EXE).
General MIDI audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Russian				Fan translation by users site «Descent2.ru»

Network

Multiplayer types

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

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking
Peer-to-peer
Dedicated
Self-hosting
Direct IP

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Native 3D		Use D2X-XL (anaglyph, 3D TV).
Nvidia 3D Vision		See Descent 1 - 2 (DXX-Rebirth) [OpenGL].
vorpX		G3D Officially supported game through D2X-XL, see official vorpx game list.

Headsets
SteamVR		This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer (compatibility list).
Oculus VR (LibOVR)		Use D2X-XL.
Windows Mixed Reality		This game might be playable with the Revive Compatibility Layer.
Forte VFX1		Said to have added support with the game's v1.1 patch. May also work with v1.2, though this has not been confirmed. Unknown if any source ports support the headset.

Devices
Tracked motion controllers
Traditional controller		See Input for details.
Keyboard/Mouse

Play area
Seated
Standing
Room-scale

Other information

Also supported the now antiquated RRedline graphics API for Rendition Redline cards.

Also supported the now antiquated S3D graphics API for S3 ViRGE cards.

Also supported the antiquated QuickDraw 3D/RAVE API on the classic Mac OS.

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
DirectDraw	2.1	Requires the Windows 95/98 patch.
OpenGL	1.0	Requires a source port.
Glide		Requires an official patch from interplay. Also requires a fork of DOSBox with Glide support if being played in DOSBox.
Software renderer		Default mode in source ports and only mode without graphics patches from interplay
DOS video modes	VGA, SVGA

Executable	PPC	16-bit	32-bit	64-bit	ARM	Notes
Windows						64-bit requires a source port.
macOS (OS X)						OS X support requires a source port.
Linux						Requires a source port.
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Human Machine Interface (HMI) audio drivers

System requirements

DOS

Windows

Mac OS (Classic)

macOS (OS X)

Linux

DOS
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	5.0	6.2
Processor (CPU)	Intel 486DX 50 MHz	Intel Pentium
System memory (RAM)	8 MB	16 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	50 MB	300 MB
Video card (GPU)	SVGA video card
Sound (audio device)		16-bit stereo sound card with general MIDI support

Mac OS
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	System 7 (classic)
Processor (CPU)	PowerPC 601 90 MHz
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	98
Processor (CPU)	Intel 486DX 50 MHz	Intel Pentium
System memory (RAM)	16 MB	32 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

Supported Sound Cards: Sound Blaster (Pro, 16, AWE32); Media Vision Pro-Audio Spectrum (Plus, 16, Studio); Gravis Ultrasound/Max; Roland SCC-1 (MIDI music only)