Homebrew DESCENT (Wii Entry)

[tueidj]

Introduction
Descent was originally released by Parallax Software in 1995. It was the first game featuring a full 3D environment (before Quake) as well as gameplay that featured six degrees of freedom and multiplayer networking that allowed players to join and leave at any time.

Game Setup
The resource files from a registered copy of Descent (updated to v1.5) are required. These files are called DESCENT.PIG and DESCENT.HOG and must be placed in the /apps/descent/ directory. The resource files from the shareware version or the "Destination Saturn" release are not suitable. The game will perform checksum verification at startup to make sure they are correct. If you purchase "The Descent 1 and 2 Collection" from Good Old Games you can be sure the files will be correct (and you get Descent2 as well, which may come in useful at a later time...). Extra mission files (such as the Descent Levels of the World collection) can also be placed in /apps/descent/ if you want to use them.

Music
Descent originally used midi music and the wii has no midi hardware. However it can play the songs by using timidity-compatible instrument patch files such as those found at the Freepats project. Once you have a patch set copy the .cfg file you wish to use to "/etc/timidity/timidity.cfg" on your SD/USB drive and put the patch files in "/usr/local/lib/timidity". Alternatively MP3 files can be used, by placing them in the music subdirectory and renaming them appropriately. The "readme.txt" file in that directory contains the list of required filenames. If you bought Descent from gog.com you can use the MP3 files from the "descent_soundtrack.zip" extra download. Not all the MP3 files need to exist, any that are missing will use the midi songs instead (which will be silent if there are no instrument patches).

Controls
The in-game controls are fully configurable from the Settings/Options menu. Each input option (Wiimote/Nunchuk/Classic) has its own individual profile. If the game doesn't seem to be responding correctly check that the current input option selection matches the controller that you are trying to use. The classic controller may require manual calibration since it doesn't store any calibration data internally. When navigating the menus you can use the wiimote to control the mouse pointer (or use the D-Pad), button A is select/enter and Home is Escape.
It is highly recommended to not use the wiimote on its own.

Multiplayer
Multiplayer modes are fully functional since version 1.10. It can be a bit laggy at times, but overall works pretty well for a game that was never designed to be played over the internet. DOSBox clients can also connect and play; run "ipxnet connect descent.tueidj.net 2130" before launching Descent from within the DOSBox window. Note that due to the way DOSBox manages connections, it is not possible to retrieve your identity when rejoining a game (but it works for the wii version).

Video Demo
[youtube]tg0tzlZneco[/youtube]

Note: This was recorded with the wii set to widescreen mode, the screen will not appear letterboxed if your wii is set to 4:3.

Download
Link.

Future Improvements
If you want to report bugs, find other people to play against, a chance to beta test future improvements or just talk about Descent in general join #descent-wii on EFnet IRC.

 

[kylehaas]

Oh, wow. This looks great.
Descent has always been a favorite of mine.

How does it run on the Wii?
It's always hard to tell from videos, but I would assume it runs perfectly.
The music sounds a bit odd, is that because it's not using real midi hardware?

 

[tueidj]

It runs at full speed i.e. 60fps for NTSC or 50fps for PAL. The music in the youtube video is from the MP3 soundtrack that you get when you buy the game from gog.com.

 

[WiiUBricker]

Really nice. This could be better than the official WiiWare port.

 

[Rydian]

I feel stupid for asking, but where's the download link?

Is this up in HBC? If so, could somebody host it here (or on filetrip) so I could make a proper news post? I don't have a Wii myself to get it if that's the case.

EDIT: Wait, VatoLoco's on it.

 

[Sir_Voe]

Nice work! I had a lot of fun playing this on my DS, but using the Wii Remote and nunchuck should be an even better control scheme.

I feel stupid for asking, but where's the download link?

I found it here:

http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Descent

 

[WiiUBricker]

Just bought the game. I hope someday there will be a more advanced DS version that runs on DSi mode with multiplayer and WPA support as well.

 

[Sir_Voe]

Having a bit of trouble getting the controls to function as I intend. Ideally I would like to use the wiimote's IR pointer as mouselook style aiming, and the nunchuck's analog to move forward/backward and strafe, perhaps even being able to roll by tilting the nunchuck in the desired direction.

 

[tueidj]

I feel stupid for asking, but where's the download link?

I think I'm the stupid one here. I copied most of the text from the wiibrew release page and forgot the link. Added to first post now.

 

[tueidj]

Having a bit of trouble getting the controls to function as I intend. Ideally I would like to use the wiimote's IR pointer as mouselook style aiming, and the nunchuck's analog to move forward/backward and strafe, perhaps even being able to roll by tilting the nunchuck in the desired direction.

I tried both of those suggestions while developing. Mouselook doesn't work for two reasons:
- The ship always fires towards the center of the screen, not where you're pointing. Doesn't feel natural.
- There's nothing on-screen to indicate where the wiimote is, so you have no feedback on how far off-center it is pointing. I tried using the cross-hair but that exacerbated the previous issue.
For tilting the nunchuk: Motion controls just suck. The only way to get sensitive enough readings for fine motor control is via a wiimote plus; the nunchuk and regular wiimote are only good for sensing waggle or shaking.

 

[lordrand11]

awww freaking awesome I used to play the crap out of Descent and Descent 2. Definitely a download for me.

 

[jurai]

Runs really nicely, very impressive!

 

[Sicklyboy]

THIS I gotta check out. Pretty sure I have a copy of this layin around.

 

[Roman_42]

Does it have Wiimote plus controls? Is it possible to control the ship like the airplane in Wii Sports Resort? And if yes, then we need Magic Carpet Wii next!

Anyway, looking forward to try it out. I loved Descent.

 

[F. Lobot]

Will multiplayer also be compatible with Descent Rebirth?

 

[Matthew]

Wow that looks simply amazing. If I had the original game I would defiantly try it out

 

[jurai]

Does it have Wiimote plus controls? Is it possible to control the ship like the airplane in Wii Sports Resort? And if yes, then we need Magic Carpet Wii next!

Anyway, looking forward to try it out. I loved Descent.

the wiimote controls are handled by holding the remote handlebar style

 

[Hozu]

This is really cool, I'd love to play this on a big TV.

Btw, there are some things that are dependent on the framerate, which was originally based on 30 FPS IIRC. I noticed that the bobbing motion was fairly fast (twice as fast). Homing missiles adjust to their target once per frame so they're twice as effective lol...

 

[tueidj]

Both homing missiles and ship bobbing take the current framerate into account. The original code had no framerate limit, it ran as fast as possible (the wii port runs at around 110fps with vsync turned off, which causes severe screen tearing).

 

[Hozu]

I know that the original had no framerate limit (making it unplayable on fast computers) but I believe that the creators didn't take into account computers being faster in the future, which is why some things are tied into the framerate. I'm just used to it running at 30 FPS. Sorry if I wasn't clear.