Homebrew DESCENT (Wii Entry)

[shadow1w2]

Back when Wiimotes and Glovepie was a new fun thing.
I was testing out different controls with the Descent games.
I managed to use one of those Nyko wiimote to classic controller attachments and was able to utilize the tilting controls with all the controller buttons.
In Descent its great.
Tilt to tilt and thumb sticks for motion.

I never tried a wiimote plus variant though but that would be fun with a make shift HMD.

Its nice to see this ported finally. One of my favorites.
Multiplayer support would be great, though I know it can be a bit of trouble.

 

[tueidj]

Multiplayer is actually already coded and ready to go, I just don't have a host to run the server.

 

[camurso_]

THIS IS AWSOME! The memories it brings back!
Best played with classical controller, imho...

 

[DeMoN]

Multiplayer is actually already coded and ready to go, I just don't have a host to run the server.

Possible to do a split-screen local multiplayer?

 

[tueidj]

The download package and first post have been updated; Multiplayer/IPX emulation is now implemented.

 

[the_randomizer]

Without getting the MP3s from GOG, will it still have music?

 

[tueidj]

Only if you follow the instructions describing how to set up a midi instrument patch set.

 

[tueidj]

An update: since we were given an extra week to finish up, I was going to implement voice chat. But due to a very busy weekend I need another 2 days to finish it - and it turns out we were only given 6 extra days, not a full week.

 

[Cyan]

I tried it this weekend, it works great

I didn't try online, I have nobody to play with.

I had some difficulty at first to adapt to the control with the Classic controller, but after some time it became natural and it's great to have all the control available in the hands (I remember playing on computer, it needed a lot of training with the keyboard).


Voicechat would have used Wii speak or standard USB microphone?

 

[tueidj]

Voice chat would allow both USB Microphones (specifically the ones used by Guitar Hero/Rock Band/karaoke games on every console) and Wii Speak to be used. Using the USB mic would probably require "push to talk" because otherwise they pick up everything, whereas the wii speak has some neat noise cancellation features.

 

[Slimmmmmm]

Seems pretty flawless (never played multiplayer so never saw the lag you talked of) and the thought off the future bringing Mic+WiiSpeak to the table is pretty impressive and would add a LOT.

 

[lewiis]

I'm hoping someone can help me here - when I try and load the game my wiimotes disconnect and reconnect and I just get a blank screen. Then only thing I can do is hold down the power button for 5 seconds to reboot the wii.

I'm running the latest wii firmware, fully modded - I can run any other homebrew fine - (Quake, WiiMC etc).

Descent is sitting in apps/descent and I've copied in the .PIG and .HOG files which I got from the purchased version at GOG.com (Descent 1 + 2 pack). I haven't set up any music yet (midi or mp3), but I'm assuming the game should still play without any music.

Any ideas?

 

[tueidj]

How long are you waiting, what device do you have the files on (SD/USB), what IOS does your HBC use, what video mode is your wii set to... although it doesn't really matter, the title screen is shown before the wiimote initialization is done so it should be on screen before they reconnect.

 

[lewiis]

I've waited upwards of 10 minutes just to be sure. The files are sitting on the SD card, I'm using HBC 1.0.8 and it uses IOS58 v24.31. The Wii is PAL and I've tried with both the 476i and 480p.

EDIT: I think I'll install IOS58 when I get home from work and see if that fixes it.
EDIT2: Shit I'm a dumbass - I already have IOS58. Any more ideas?

 

[Cyan]

Do you have enough battery power ?
Sometime, When my wiimote power is too low, it doesn't reconnect and/or stay on a black screen when loading homebrew.
Though, you are saying your wiimote is reconnected fine.

I don't have other idea, sorry.

 

[tueidj]

Did you copy only the .PIG and .HOG files? Maybe you copied the .cfg file as well and the brightness is turned all the way down.

 

[lewiis]

First I only copied the .PIG and .HOG files and then I copied everything. I'll give it a good shot again tonight and report back any findings. You mention that if I copied the .conf it might have an effect - does that mean the wii descent download should come with its own .conf files? The download link on wiibrew only has the boot.elf, icon.png and meta.xml plus the music folder - is this right?

@Cyan - wiimotes seem to have more than enough battery.

 

[tueidj]

There should not be an existing .cfg file if you haven't already played the game on the wii.
Do not copy any files except the .PIG and .HOG files.
When performing troubleshooting please do not misinterpret a question to mean you should go and perform certain actions.

 

[the_randomizer]

About the music part, "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)."

I'm confused about the timidity.cfg file, as I cannot find it on freepats.org, there's no folder called "usr/local/lib/timidity". Right now I'm on Windows 7 and these are Linux files, so....if someone could provide a link, it would be greatly appreciated. I just bought the game from GOG.

 

[Cyan]

Extract this to the root of your SD card:
http://www.mediafire.com/?wqv9yjb4wrvw4zl

This sound patch is also required for the homebrew CorsixTH, the Theme Hospital interpreter.