Descent 2 Interpreter V0.01 Released

[Fishbong]

They probably tried to stick a GBA game in, then threw it away.

Back on topic: I´ll test this tomorrow, as my cunning plan to obtain a Descent 2 copy needs some time. Arrrr Hur Hur....

 

[SunSpire]

Tried playing it with 266 Mhz now but it just keeps freezing during the game all the time, which makes it unplayable at the moment. But it runs absolutely smooth otherwise, maybe it is some kind of bug in the code that needs fixing to get rid of the hanging, ... sadly there's no way to switch the cockpit view to fullscreen mode, there's a large black border at the bottom of the screen too, I guess it's because descent 2 runs with 320x200 while the screen is 320x240.

pros:
- pretty fast already for a first version
- sound (effects) works excellent
- all important controls are well mapped onto gp2x keys

cons:
- controls are delayed 2-3 seconds
- ingame action freezes a couple seconds as soon as a key is pressed
- not running in fullscreen, black border at the bottom
- pressing L+R keys crashes the game (seems to work now tho)
- does not return to gp2x menu when hitting "quit"

Hope this is understood as constructive criticism, I'm absolutely happy with what is happening so far! :wub:

"SunSpire"

EDIT: I just discovered something. I tried running the pre-recorded ingame demos that come with the descent 2 installation to see how they would perform, and they run perfectly fine!! Only if you press a button, the screen will freeze, then shortly after respond to your keypress. So the problem lies somewhere in the controls, as long as you don't press anything the game does not hang up on you ...once that gets fixed it should be possible to play it smoothly

 

[TelcoLou]

* Poos Knickers *

 

[Fishbong]

I hope it gets support for mp3 music someday. I absolutely loved the CD music back in the day, probably nowadays i won´t find it any good anymore, but i´d like some music.

 

[paines]

Thank you all very much for all you post/comments/etc.

The Descent 1 code is somewhat ARM unfriendly. I am working on it too and it will be released in the near future(hopefully).

Like said the data files can be obtained from the PC Descent 2 CD.But all the files should be in PSP release too.
I haven't tried it, cause I don't own one. If someone could verify this and email me, that would be great.

Regarding controls: The controls are very complicated. I haven't understood Descent's input contgrolling system completly. I hope I will soon, too improve the in game handling.

From what I can say the sound is perfect. Graphics are okay. Could be faster, but over all it is playble.
I have to fix that really 320x240 is shown. Now it is 320x200.

This was more a release of showing that it is possible to have a game like Descent 2 running on the GP2X.

The next release should also be zico's dxx-rebirth versions.

The movie files (files with extension mvl) should also work. Haven't tried it, cause my SD card is just 512MB.
If someone could verify this too and email me, that would be great also.

That's ll for now.
regards
paines

PS: I work full time. So please don't blame me if new release in the future take longer.

PSS: Some posters wrote
- ingame action freezes a couple seconds as soon as a key is pressed
I don't have this. But I will investigate.

 

[nubie]

Damn! There is no way I can buy another GP2X, but I love Descent:

I have Descent, Descent II, Descent 3, Descent Maximum PSX, Descent PSX, and I think that is all the versions but the Mac version (I don't have a Mac though).

I don't think that the PSX version will have the proper data files, it really isn't DII, it is called Descent Maximum for a reason .

As for abandonware, eh, maybe. The source code is released, I suppose you could check around the abandonware sites, but the D1 and D2 Definitive Collection is fairly inexpensive, try eBay or something.

I hope this gets better and better, and I can play it sometime on a GP2X.

If it has D1 support you might try the shareware files, those should be around. In fact, why not use the Descent II shareware files and see if that works.

Edit: Quick questions, how is it working on the TV-Out? Will we get a high-res mode? How about input? I like using the keyboard, or optionally a PSX Digital pad on USB.

Just wondering which are supported, or are planned eventually Awesome news, Descent is a great thing, portable is even better.

 

[SunSpire]

Hey folks, it's me again.

I just managed to get the D2 shareware to work with d2x, without the keypress delay / screen freezing I mentioned earlier (some shareware files need renaming!). So in other words, it IS more playable now, tho not yet as fast as it may be in future releases and the screen still stutters a bit.
It seems that the freezing thing had to do with my original D2 files rather than the port like I first thought,
I'll look into that further once I get back from work and give exact details on what version I used etc.

I'll also try to create a complete package based on the shareware ready to put on a SD card, so those who don't currently own the original can still try it!

Gotta dash, .. ttyl!

"SunSpire"

 

[paines]

Hey folks, it's me again.

I just managed to get the D2 shareware to work with d2x, without the keypress delay / screen freezing I mentioned earlier (some shareware files need renaming!). So in other words, it IS more playable now, tho not yet as fast as it may be in future releases and the screen still stutters a bit.
It seems that the freezing thing had to do with my original D2 files rather than the port like I first thought,
I'll look into that further once I get back from work and give exact details on what version I used etc.

I'll also try to create a complete package based on the shareware ready to put on a SD card, so those who don't currently own the original can still try it!

Gotta dash, .. ttyl!

"SunSpire"

AWESOME !

Thanks man.

But, are we allowed to distribute copies of the shareware ??? On the other hand, why shouldn't we ?

Best regards

 

[WhiteFalcon]

AWESOME !

Thanks man.

But, are we allowed to distribute copies of the shareware ??? On the other hand, why shouldn't we ?

Best regards

Well, isn't that the idea behind SHAREware?

 

[krosfyah]

I just tried it with the original files and got the same lagging that SunSpire experienced. It stops for about 1 or 2 seconds whenever you press something, otherwise it's an awesome first release.

I'll test the movie files a bit later.

Nice work Anes Lihovac.

EDIT: Wow, the movies work great. The intro is smooth and has all the speech too!

I copied the following 3 files: INTRO-L.MVL , OTHER-L.MVL , ROBOTS-L.MVL

 

[torpor]

OMFG, this is absolutely AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!

Imagine net-play now .. totally possible, and oh so delicious .. (looks at his 3 GP2X's which will .. could be .. one day .. set up for a 3-way Descent-a-thon ...)

 

[MikeC]

Does anyone know where I can (legally) buy the original disk for descent 2?
I just looked on ebay but no dice

 

[WhiteFalcon]

Does anyone know where I can (legally) buy the original disk for descent 2?
I just looked on ebay but no dice

Google spits out for example this:

Descent 2

 

[krosfyah]

Here's an icon for gmenu2x..

 

[Fishbong]

Okay, i just got to test it and its´s fantstic for a first alpha. Controls are a bit unresponsive, and it´s not possible to map anything to the R/L buttons, but apart from that it´s great, only music and a bit more speed seem to lack.
I tested it with movie files, and the playback is close to perfect, its only that the "arrival at new world" movie is displayed with double the y resolution, so half of it gets cut off.
I didn´t manage to clear the first level due to the jerky controls, so i can´t tell if anything is wrong in the later game. I´ll keep trying.

Thanks alot, Anes Lihovac / paines.

 

[Goemon4]

hmm i might buy it (that link above said i could get it for a coupple of bucks...) i wonder if a locak compusa or gamestop has a old or used coppy? (if only i could find a torren..erm i mean free coppy )

 

[hackgrid]

Works really well on 300Mhz

 

[krosfyah]

Does anyone else get the pausing with the full version files? My GP2x only goes upto 250mHz so I don't know if it's cos of that.

I can't find the shareware version anywhere to try what SunSpire suggested. Funny how it was easier to locate the full version.

 

[Fishbong]

I´ve tried it at 200, 260 and 280, all fine.

 

[krosfyah]

I´ve tried it at 200, 260 and 280, all fine.

Well there goes that theory.. maybe I need more space free on the SD card or something, I think I'm down to 5MB right now.