ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º º º RELEASE NOTES FOR º º DESCENT 2 v1.1 º º PRIVATE LABEL º º º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ! DO NOT DISTRIBUTE THIS GAME ! DESCENT 2 IS A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT See section 11 for details ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º TABLE of CONTENTS º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ 1. VERSION CHANGES 2. MANUAL ADDENDA 3. DESCENT 2 FEATURES a. Feature List b. Notes on New Features 4. COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS 5. TIPS FOR NEW PILOTS 6. USING SPECIAL JOYSTICKS & CONTROLLERS 7. VR HEADSET INFORMATION 8. MINOR BUG FIXES SINCE VERSION 1.0 9. S3 VIRGE VERSION 10. TECHNICAL SUPPORT 11. DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 1. VERSION CHANGES º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ DESCENT 2 FULL VERSION 1.0 Initial PC DOS release 1.1 Initial Mac release; PC DOS update Features new for version 1.1: - Main menu screen now shows version number - Added toggle bomb function to keyboard config - Added commandline options for packets per second ("-packets #") and short packets (-shortpackets) - Added lifetime rankings to multiplayer (-norankings to disable) - Added "move:" command to move players to other team - Capture-the-flag now can be played in modem games - 'ping:' command now works in modem games - When joining netgame, the 'U' key shows players in the game (type "!names" from F8 prompt to disable sending of names) - When playing a non-D2 audio CD, tracks 1-3 can now be played. - Small windows (i.e. rear view, missile view, etc.) now work in stereo modes - Now supports version 2.0 drivers for the Forte VFX-1 headset - PrintScreen support in stereo modes (see section 2) - Added no redundancy switch to suppress duplicate messages (-noredunancy) See section 3 for Feature additions since Descent 1. Major bugs fixed for version 1.1 - Level 20 & 24 bosses were invulnerable on higher difficulty levels - Redbook no longer skips on Adaptec SCSI cards (& others) - Sounds no longer disappear after playing for several hours - 800x600 mode now works correctly on Matrox Millennium cards - CD is now detected properly if there are multiple CD-ROM drives in the system - Redbook audio now works with multiple CD-ROM drives - CD is now detected properly under OS/2 - Fixed divide overflow crash on AST machines - Level 6 had two red goals in capture the flag mode - Low-res main menu no longer says "Beta Version" - Movie & sound effects now work correctly on GUS cards - Eliminated redbook pause when going to next track See section 9 for a more complete list of bugs fixed since version 1.0 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 2. MANUAL ADDENDA º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ The following are supplemental items/changes to the DESCENT II manual. If you can find no information regarding a problem you're having, Section 9 below lists several sources of DESCENT II support. There is an online version of the manual provided on this CD. To view it, open the folder 'Manual' found on the root of the CD. If you do not already have Acrobat Reader installed on your system, you will need to run the file 'AR32E30.EXE' to install it. If you have Windows 3.1, you will need to run 'AR16E30.EXE' instead. Once installed, just double-click on the file 'Descent2.pdf' to view it. IMPORTANT NOTES FOR WINDOWS 95 USERS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ This readme file pertains to the DOS version of Descent II. If you wish to run Descent II under Windows95, you should install Descent II fron within Win95. To to this, insert your Descent II disk, and when the autorun menu comes up, select "Install". To manually bring up the autorun menu, open up "My Computer", then double-click on the "Descent_ii" CD icon. USING PRINTSCREEN IN STEREO MODES ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Descent II uses the PrintScreen key to save screenshots from within the game. Normally, these images are saved sequentially with the name "Screen00, Screen01, etc." When playing in stereo modes, PrintScreen will save a separate image for each eye. These images are also numbered sequentially, but are named "Left01" and "Right01" respectively. Please note that images saved in stereo are exactly half the height of the current resolution. For example, grabbing an image in 320 x 200 mode will result in 2 images that are 320 x 100 each. CHANGES & CORRECTIONS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ - On page 10 of the manual, the Options menu is said to contain sound volume sliders and other options. These have all been moved into a Sound Effects & Music submenu found on the Options menu. - In the Options/Sound menu, you can now enable/disable redbook music by using the Disable CD Music toggle. Volume levels can be adjusted individually. - On page 15 of the manual, the Always Show High-res Automap toggle was left out of the Toggles menu. Enabling this will always run the Automap in 640x480 instead of the 320x200 default. - On page 17 of the manual, the Guide-Bot menu key is mistakenly listed as SHIFT-F2. The actual key is SHIFT-F4. - On page 19 of the manual, the Cycle Primary/Secondary keys are mistakenly listed as DEL/,. The actual keys are "," for Primary and "." for Secondary. - On page 31 of the manual, the Flash Missile was not mentioned. This missile will blind opponents with a bright flash of light. When robots are hit with these missiles, they will become briefly disoriented and will be more vulnerable to attack. - On page 41 of the manual, label #12 (the ProxBomb/SmartMine count) was not labeled on the screenshot. This display appears in the lower right of the cockpit below the key displays. - On page 46 of the manual, the Multiplayer section states the delay for incoming players to be accepted as 5 seconds. The delay is actually 8 seconds. - On page 57 of the manual, the Bright Player Ships toggle was left out of the Start Netgame options. When enabled, this will make the player ships brighter and easier to see in dark corridors. - In the VR Headset controls section of the manual, the following changes were made to the keys: Alt+F5 [VR Reset] o On the CyberMaxx, toggles victor mode on/off o Centers the head tracking o Resets all stereoscopic parameters to default Alt+F9 [Decreases the interaxial separation] Alt+F10 [Increases the interaxial separation] SUPPLEMENTAL ITEMS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ REDBOOK AUDIO TRACK LIST ------------------------ The following is a listing of the redbook songs that appear on the DESCENT II CD. Please note that track one is game data and should not be played on audio CD players. 2) Title (menu) Composer - Brian Luzietti Mixed by - Charles Deenen 3) Crawl (credits) Composer - Brian Luzietti Mixed by - Charles Deenen 4) Glut Composer - Ogre of Skinny Puppy Mark Walk 5) Gunner Down Composer - Brian Luzietti Mixed by - Charles Deenen 6) Cold Reality Composer - Larry Peacock Brad Cross Leslie Spitzer Mixed by - Bob Brown 7) Ratzez Composer - Ogre of Skinny Puppy Mark Walk 8) Crush Composer - Brian Luzietti Mixed by - Charles Deenen 9) Composer - Mark Morgan 10) Haunted Composer - Type O Negative 11) Are You Descent? Composer - Ron Valdez Mixed by - Johann Langlie 12) Techno Industry Composed and mixed by Johann Langlie 13) Robot Jungle Composed and mixed by - Johann Langlie Netgame Info and User Queries ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ When sitting on the Multiplayer/Join Netgame screen, you can now hit "I" to get more detailed info on a netgame in progress. This feature was added after the manual went to print. As of version 1.1 pressing the "U" key on this screen will show a list of players in the game. You may disable name sending from within a game by pressing f8 and typing "!names". Multiplayer Rankings ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Version 1.1 of Descent II features a system that ranks players in multiplayer games based on their lifetime kill record. Information is stored everytime you kill or get killed by someone. The better you get, the higher your rank. Rankings start at 'Cadet' and continue up to 'Admiral'. You will advance to the next rank for every 375 kills that you score. However, if your lifetime efficiency is below 60% you will advance much more slowly, and the lower your efficiency the slower you'll advance. If the "-norankings" command line switch is used your machine will not display rankings for any player. However, your machine will still send your pilots' rank to the other players in the game. Moving players in team games ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ If you are the 'master' of a team netgame and you wish to move players to other teams, press F8 and then type 'move:' where is the name of the person to be switched. Example: move:Sirloin Afterwards, if Sirloin was on the blue team he will be switched to the red team, and vice versa. CD/MIDI Track Advancing ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Also undocumented in the manual is the use of ALT -/+ keys (ALT-minus and ALT-plus). Using these keys in the game will play the previous/next redbook track on the CD. If you're listening to MIDI music, it will advance to the next level song. GuideBot & Markers ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ The GuideBot is now able to find markers you have placed. Hitting SHIFT-2 twice will send him to marker #2, hit SHIFT-1 to find marker #1, etc. the Strategy Guide ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Descent II: The Official Strategy Guide is available from Prima Publishing. To order, call 800-531-2343. Also available at better bookstores and multimedia outlets nationwide. DESCENT II and Internet Head-to-Head Daemon (IHHD) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ While playing Multiplayer DESCENT II through the IHHD software is possible, it is not recommended. The delay in packet delivery will almost certainly lead to strange results. You may see players jump around suddenly, or even disappear for several seconds at a time. You may also witness players not dropping powerups when killed, staying cloaked too long, or other unfavorable results. See Section 8 for additional ideas and suggestions. DESCENT II and Novell's NETX ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ When playing network games, all players should either have NETX loaded or all players should not have NETX loaded. If one player has NETX loaded and the other player doesn't, this will cause noticeable slowdowns and delays when starting netgames. DESCENT II and OS/2 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ To get DESCENT II to run under OS/2, just increase your DPMI_MEMORY_LIMIT to 8 megs or more. Descent should then run perfectly with full sound. If your joystick behaves strangely under OS/2 try using the "-JoyPolled" command line option. Keep in mind that DESCENT II does not officially support OS/2. DESCENT II and Windows 3.1x ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Use the following settings in your PIF file: Optional Parameters: -JoyPolled EMS Memory: KB Limit -1 XMS Memory: KB Limit -1 Display Usage: Full Screen Execution: Exclusive If you use a joystick, the -JoyPolled option uses an alternate method of joystick reading that should increase performance under Windows. Keep in mind that Descent does not officially support Windows. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 3. DESCENT 2 FEATURES º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 3a. Feature List º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ The following is a somewhat-complete list of full-version DESCENT II features. Major features: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 30 new levels 30+ new robots, including new bosses 10+ new weapons/powerups afterburner full-map powerup ammo rack powerup energy->shield transfers flash/stun missiles guided missiles smart mines headlight powerup more! Redbook CD soundtrack featuring Ogre from Skinny Puppy full motion, high-resolution cinematics new anarchy levels flowing water, lava, and seismic disturbances advanced AI including thieves, snipers, and escort robots 640x480 support with high resolution cockpit, as well as other hi-res modes enhanced lighting effects (blastable lights!) new multiplayer features: capture the flag game mode option to disallow any weapon play by kills or time limit player handicapping flexible player limits improved slow-packet handling restricted game mode Minor features: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ new redbook, MIDI, FM soundtrack with new digital sound effects automap markers w/text descriptors minefields new control boxes, forcefields and triggers multiple HUD camera views including teammates, missiles, and markers custom weapon autoselection priorities advanced secret level system ability to drop weapons Robot AI behaviors: GuideBot Thief Snipers Energy Drainers More advanced Brain behavior Robots which fire two different kinds of weapons Robots which attempt to get behind the player in battle More dynamic robot behavior, more complex strategies based on the player. ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 3b. Notes on DESCENT II Features º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ THIEF-BOTS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Not all new robots are designed to help you. Thief robots are fast and evil robots, designed to steal your weaponry when you least expect it. If you kill a Thief robot, he will drop items he has stolen from you. If he's stolen more than a few items, however, there is always the chance one or two have been destroyed. GUIDED MISSILES ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Guided missiles can be a great weapon in any single- or multi-player game. When you fire one of these, your pitch/bank controls will control the flight path of the missile. Remaining controls (throttle, sliding) will still control your ship. You will continue to control the Guided missile until it runs out of fuel (30 seconds), it hits an object or wall, or until you hit the fire key again (at which point the Guided missile will "home" like a Homing missile). By default, the Guided missile view will be displayed in the secondary weapons display. The view can be enlarged by using the appropriate toggle in the Options/Toggles menu. THE AFTERBURNER ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ New to the DESCENT II display is the Afterburner. In Cockpit mode, the new gauge appears as a red energy bar on the left side (the key display has been moved to the right side). This new energy bar will only activate if you are currently carrying the Afterburner. In Status Bar mode, it appears below the main Energy Gauge. In Full Screen, it appears as a percentage above the Energy/Shield display on the left (if Afterburner is available). The Afterburner uses a separate energy bank, which charges from your main Energy. AUTOSAVE/RESTORE BACKUPS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ New in DESCENT II... When you save over an existing savegame, it will copy the old one to a backup file. This allows you to restore the old one in case you accidentally overwrote it. The backup game appears as "[autosave backup]" at the bottom of the Restore Game list. Likewise, whenever you Load a saved game, the game will save your current game in the backup slot. This will allow you to "undo" the restore in case it was accidental. Thank Mike for this welcome addition to DESCENT II! BOMB DISPLAY ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ A new ProxBomb/SmartMine display has been added to your screen. It appears as a red or gold "B:xx" counter somewhere on your screen. In Cockpit mode, it appears in the lower right corner. On the Status Bar, it's in the lower left of the Secondary Weapons display. In Full Screen, it's above your current weapons display on the right. If you have no ProxBombs or SmartMines, this display will be blank. This display tells you what weapon will be dropped when you hit the Drop Bomb key (default is 'B'). If the display shows a red-colored "B:04" it means you have four ProxBombs ready to be dropped. A gold-colored display indicates SmartMines. Note that this does not indicate that the weapon is "armed" as a Secondary weapon, and only refers to the Drop Bomb key functionality. You may also assign a key of your choice to toggle between SmartMines and ProxBombs in the customize keyboard menu. NOTE: This display will reflect the ProxBomb/SmartMine positions in the Secondary Autoselect Ordering menu, even if they appear below the "Never Autoselect" line. Example: Both ProxBombs and SmartMines appear below the "Never" line, but ProxBombs appear higher. The "B:xx" display will change to ProxBombs over SmartMines if you have some of each. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 4. COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ The following DOS command-line options are available in DESCENT II. Upper/lowercase is not significant. General Options: -Verbose Shows initialization steps for tech support -LowMem Lower animation detail for better performance with low memory -NoLowMem Force high animation detail even when low memory -NoMemCheck Disables memory requirement checking -NoDOSCheck Disables DOS version checking -NoFileCheck Disables the file handles check -NoHighRes Disables 640x480 mode for menus and movies -ForceVesa Enables VESA linear frame buffering (if available) -Subtitles Turn on movie subtitles (English-only) Input devices: -NoMouse Disables mouse drivers -NoJoystick Disables joystick support -JoyPolled Poll joystick w/ counter. Use for Windows, OS/2 -JoyBios Use the system BIOS for joystick. -JoyNice Joystick poller allows interrupts to occur -GamePort Use Colorado Spectrum's Notebook Gameport Sound & Music: -Volume Sets sound volume to v, where v is between 0 and 100 -NoSound Turns off sound & music -NoMusic Disables music; sound effects remain enabled -DisableSound Completely disable sound system (also disables movies) -NoLoadPats Disables patch loading for Gravis UltraSound -Sound22K Use 22KHz sounds, even if machine has less than 16 MB -Sound11K Use 11KHz sounds, even if machine has more than 16 MB -No16Bit Disable 16-bit sound (movies only) Network & Modem: -CtsRts Enables CTS/RTS handshaking during null-modem games -NoNetwork Disables network drivers -NoSerial Disables serial drivers -Packets # Specifies the packets per second where # is the number of packets -Shortpackets Turn on short packets -Norankings Disable multiplayer ranking system -Noredunancy Suppresses duplicate messages such as "You already have ..." ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 5. TIPS for NEW PILOTS º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Here are a few things that help new players adjust to the fully 3D world and intelligent robots of DESCENT II. Heed these tips and you'll soon be blasting robot hordes (and your friends!) with ease. o Use a quality joystick. Thrustmaster, Advanced Gravis, Logitech and CH Products provide full lines of controls well suited to 3D flying. o If you use a two-button joystick, try keeping one hand on the A and Z keys to control your FORWARD and REVERSE. o If you're up against a wall, try using REVERSE to back away instead of turning around. o Learn how to SLIDE well. Using vertical sliding instead of pitching will help keep you upright. If your joystick has a Hat Switch, use it to slide. o Rescue the hostages! If you rescue all hostages in a mine, you receive a full rescue bonus. But be sure you make it out after picking them up - if your ship's destroyed, so are they. o Try clearing a path to the exit before you attack the Main Reactor. You may run out of time if you're battling hordes of robots on your escape! o Look for secret doors. Weapons and ammo are often behind them. They can be a different color, or have small seams running down them. Keep in mind, DESCENT II is fully 3D, and secret doors aren't only in the walls... o DON'T SIT STILL. The best way to stay alive is to keep moving. Using SLIDE to circle a target while you're firing is very effective. o Learn to use your ship's Automap. It can reveal things your eyes may miss. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 6. USING SPECIAL JOYSTICKS & CONTROLLERS º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Thrustmaster, Gravis Phoenix, CH, and Logitech controls are fully supported by DESCENT II. The device control files (DESCENT2.ADV, DESCENT2.M50, D2WCS.M50, D2TQS.M50, DESCENT.PHX, and DESCENT.KEY) can be found in the \CONTROLS subdirectory. If you have a Wingman Extreme, Flight Force Pro, or other FCS-style stick, you should use the "Thrustmaster FCS" option. SpaceBall Avenger: In the \CONTROLS subdirectory on your DESCENT II CD there is a self-extracting zip file (AVGRD2.EXE). This archive contains the drivers and instructions needed to use your Avenger with DESCENT II. Thrustmaster FCS: Choose "Thrustmaster FCS" under Options/Controls. This is for players NOT using the WCS. If you use the WCS throttle with the FCS, follow instructions for the WCS below. * Thrustmaster WCS: Load the DESCENT2.ADV file into your WCS. In Mark II DESCENT II, choose "Joystick" under Options/Controls. Now choose "Configure Above" and change the THROTTLE entry to respond to the WCS (the Y2 axis). * Thrustmaster FLCS: Load the D2FLCS.B50 file into your FLCS. If you also use a WCS throttle, no program should be loaded into the WCS. * Thrustmaster TQS: Load D2TQS.B50 into your FLCS. This will automatically configure your TQS for DESCENT II. Follow directions above to configure your throttle entry in DESCENT II. Gravis Phoenix: Load the DESCENT2.PHX file into your Phoenix. In DESCENT II, choose "Joystick" under Options/Controls. Now choose "Configure Above" and change the THROTTLE entry to respond to the throttle slider (the Y2 axis). Logitech Cyberman: You must have the Cyberman MOUSE.COM driver loaded before you run DESCENT II. If you have a standard mouse connected as well, you will need to use the "/dual" option when you load MOUSE.COM. See Cyberman docs for details. NoteBook GamePort: Run DESCENT II with the -JoyBios command line switch and everything should work like normal. Make sure that you have the joystick TSR installed. Calibration Note: When using one of the analog throttles listed here or the CH Flightstick, you will be prompted to calibrate your throttle as well as your joystick. * >> NOTE TO WCS and FLCS USERS: Because these devices intercept the keyboard signals, your ship may fly strangely when you also hold down keyboard keys (like 'A' and 'Z'). If you keep the WCS or FLCS on your system, it's recommended that you use those devices for throttle control and sliding, not the keyboard. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 7. VR HEADSET INFORMATION º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ If you have questions about the headsets, the manufacturers can be reached at the following numbers: - VFX-1 Head Mounted Display, by Forte Technologies, Inc. tel: 716-427-8595 fax: 716-292-6353 - CyberMaxx HMD, by VictorMaxx Technologies, Inc. tel: 1-800-279-6880 fax: 708-267-0037 - i-glasses!, by Virtual I-O tel: 800-646-3759 fax: 206-382-8810 net: vio@vio.com - 3D-MAX shutter glasses by Kasan http://pcvr.kasan.co.kr Europe: 011-46-18-187777 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 8. MINOR BUG FIXES SINCE VERSION 1.0 º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ - A trigger in level 24 blue key area was changed to 1-shot - A trigger on L24 is now linked to correct door - You are no longer able to become trapped in small room on L24 - When in 800x600, the window size now displays properly between levels - Pressing F3 while flying a guided missile no longer shows the cockpit for 1 frame - While flying guided missiles in a big window, the label no longer overdraws HUD messages - Problems joining team games with high-latency connections are fixed - Fixed incorrect "killed by ..." messages - In demo mode, the reticle is now correctly displayed after firing a guided missile - In demo mode, the flag goals are now textured properly - Headlights no longer stay on after thief steals them - Endgame movie now only plays for the built-in mission - Subtitles now match the spoken text in intro and endgame movies - A monitor on the alien levels was missing an animation when the mine was destroyed - Robots that the boss 'gated in' no longer explode with the force of a mega missile when they time out - Improved the handling of demo recording when disk space runs out - Fixed boss cloaking problems in demo that could cause crashes - Shift-ESC now exits properly when in multiplayer game - Joining netgames is now more tolerant of dropped packets - When configuring joystick, now you cannot reassign axis until cleared - When omega cannon is picked up, it now has the energy it had when it was dropped - Improved disk full error checking for game save - Improved respawning location for flags & weapons - Improved low-memory performance by fixing data problem - Typing a key to jump ahead in scrolling menus now works correctly - Guided missiles now show correct reticle in demo playback - Flag goal textures are now set during demo playback - 'Customize above' now configures the keyboard if the 'Keyboard only' option is selected - Fixed a problem with the robot briefings on systems left idle for long periods of time - Number '9' character for automap marker label now more lovely - 'Win95 Joystick' no longer shows up as option in a DOS game when creating a new pilot - Fixed omega cannon firing problems caused by ship having no energy, but, none-the-less, charging. - Omega cannon charge is now always displayed when switching to Omega cannon - Cruise text no longer overwrites other text on high-res HUD - Ambient sounds now pause while in automap - Made boss robots more responsive in coop and robo-anarchy games - Formatting errors in restore game menu were corrected - Weapon lock message is now not overwritten by small view windows - Fixed marker view window labels to match numbering in automap - All-weapons cheat now gives shareware and registered weapons - Kill-all-robots cheat no longer kills the boss, making it possible to finish level - Homing weapons cheat is now reset when a game is loaded or a new level is started - Wingnut cheat now cleared when a game is loaded or a new level is started - Level warp cheat now sets cheater flag - Fixed robots becoming invulnerable when using monster-mode cheat - Improved boss behavior in coop and robo-anarchy games - Killing boss no longer resets the timer in time-limited games - Exiting the screen resolution menu without making any changes no longer changes window size - On level 6, it was possible to get the yellow key without triggering the door to exit room - Made descent.net & descent.usr files more format-tolerant - Fixed restore game menu on 640x400 screen - Fixed background redraw bug caused by dying while playing in a small window - Fixed palette problems on 'prepare for descent' message during demo playback - Fixed some problems recognizing a new disc when switching CDs - When dying in a secret level after destroying the base level, weapons are now lost ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 9. S3 VIRGE VERSION º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ The version of Descent II for the S3 Virge chipset is shipped as a seperate executable. During installation, you will be asked if you want to install the S3 version. If you have installed the S3 version, run Descent II on your Virge card, by typing: d2v Note that the current S3 executable is version 1.1. Features new to version 1.2 are not present in the S3 version. If you run Windows 3.1 before running Descent II/Virge, you may experience graphics problems when you run Descent II/Virge. If you experience this, reboot your computer and rerun Descent II. The S3 Virge version is a DOS executable. If you want to run under Windows 95, please make sure you have done the following: - Go into the Control Panel/System/Performance/File System/CD-ROM dialog. First, make sure the Supplemental Cache Size is set to Large. Secondly, if you have a 2x CD-ROM drive, make sure the Optimize Access Pattern dialog is set to "Double Speed Drives" (if you have a 4x CD, use "Quad Speed Drives", etc.). This will ensure good movie playback. - The DOS shell from which you run Descent II/Virge must have the correct memory settings. Bring up the Properties menu, and select the Memory tab. Under "MS-DOS protected-mode {DPMI} memory", select 16384. If you create an icon to run Descent ii/Virge, be sure to make this change to the icons properties. Other Win95 items: - DESCENT II normally uses the PrintScreen key to take screenshots of the game. If you wish for this key to function in the normal fashion, go to the Properties/Windows Shortcut Keys dialog. Make sure the checkbox next to "PRTSC" is enabled. This will restore the Win95 default setting for this key. - Disable any screen savers you have running. These will interrupt gameplay and possibly cause it to lock-up. - If you get an "HMI Driver Not Found" error, you should simply re-start DESCENT II. - Do not switch to another program while running Descent II/Virge. This could cause Descent II/Virge to become unstable. ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 10. TECHNICAL SUPPORT º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ For the support for all your games bought through GOG.com, please visit our Support page at http://www.gog.com/support. If you're logged in, go directly to "Support" page, where you can see a list of all your Good Old Games, otherwise you can find the game you're looking for through the smart search. Choose the game that you have problem with, and see whether the solution isn't already posted. If not, go to the "Contact us" page, select "Technical issues with games" and hit "Continue" to send us a message describing your problem. Fill all the required fields with proper data - please enter as much details as you can, this will help us solve your problem faster. All your messages and our replies will appear on your "My Account" page. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º 11. DISTRIBUTION INFORMATION º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ! DO NOT DISTRIBUTE THIS GAME ! DESCENT II IS A COMMERCIAL PRODUCT ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Please report Software Piracy to the SPA: 1-800-388-PIR8 If you wish to distribute DESCENT II, grab the 3-level Interactive Demo from one of the sites listed below. See Software License below for specific distribution information of the DESCENT II Interactive Demo. The DESCENT II INTERACTIVE DEMO (as well as current updates) can be found at the following locations: ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ SOFTWARE USE LIMITATIONS AND LIMITED LICENSE General Produt License. This Modem-play Local Area Network version of 'Descent II Private Label for Dos' is intended solely for your personal noncommercial home enter- tainment use. You may not decompile, reverse engineer, or disassemble the Software, except as permitted by law. Interplay Productions and Parallax Software retains all rights, title and interest in the Software including all intellectual property rights embodied therein and derivatives thereof. The Software, including, without limitations, all code, data structures, characters, images, sounds, text, screen, game play, derivative works and all other elements of the Software may not be copied(except as provided below), resold, rented, leased, distributed(electronically or otherwise), used on pay-per-play, coin-op or other for-charge basis, or for any commercial purpose. Any permissions granted herein are provided on a temporary basis and can be withdrawn by Interplay Productions at any time. All rights not expressly granted are reserved. Modem and Network Play. You may play the Software via modem transmission with another person or persons directly without transmission through a third party service or indirectly through a third party service only if such service is an authorized licensee of Interplay. Authorized licensee services are listed on the Interplay Productions World Wide Web Site Address http://www.interplay.com. This limited right to transmit the Software expressly excludes any transmission of the Software or any data streams thereof on a commercial basis, including, without limitation, transmitting the Software by way of a commercial service which translates the protocols or manages or organizes game play sessions. Acceptance of License Terms. By purchasing and retaining the Software, you assent to the terms and restrictions of this limited license. If you do not accept the terms of this limited license, you must retain the software together with all packaging, manuals and other material contained therein to the store where you purchased the Software for a full refund. This software product and the manual are copyrighted and all rights are reserved by Interplay Productions and are protected by the copyright laws that pertain to computer software. You may not copy the software except that you may make one copy of the software solely for backup or archival purposes. You may not loan, sell, rent, lease, give, sub license, or otherwise transfer the software (or any copy). You may not modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise reverse engineer or attempt to reverse engineer or derive source code from, all or any portion of the software or anything incorporated therein or permit or encourage any third party to do so. DESCENT COPYRIGHT (C) 1998 PARALLAX SOFTWARE CORPORATION ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ALL TRADEMARKS ARE PROPERTY OF INTERPLAY PRODUCTIONS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERPLAY PRODUCTIONS IS THE EXCLUSIVE LICENSEE AND DISTRIBUTOR. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ -END OF FILE-