Here, finally, is the source for Descent II. We've been so busy with
Descent 3, Mercenary, FreeSpace, FreeSpace 2, and several other projects that we haven't given much thought to this old code. But I
know that many of you are eager to get it, so here you go.
We were amazed and impressed at the cool things people did with
the Descent source we released a few years ago.
It touches us deeply how devoted some people are to the Descent series, and we
look forward to seeing what people can do with this Descent II source.
Matt Toschlog, Outrage Entertainment
Mike Kulas, Volition Inc.
Included is almost all the source code to Descent 2, ver. 1.2. We removed
all code to which we did not own the copyright. This mainly involved low-level sound and modem code.
The following tools were used in the development of Descent:
- Watcom C/C++, version 9.5
- Microsoft Macro Assembler (MASM) V6.1x
- Opus Make, version 6.01
As packaged the code currently will not compile. Some code had to be removed
to release it, therefore you will get some missing file errors when building.
Much of this code is very close to the Descent 1 source code. Many people have
put effort into porting that code, so if you are interested in porting D2, you should be able to take advantage of some of that work.
Before we get further, here are a few notes:
- You are allowed to use this code only for non-commercial, non-revenue generating purposes only.
- You need to have the data files from the Full Version of Descent 2. If you do not have Descent 2, you can buy it with the Descent - Definitive Collection set for example at Interplay-Store.
- You are not allowed to give any of the D2 data files away. The release of the source code does not give you the right to distribute anything from the game that is not generated by the source code.
- Right after you downloaded the file, read the README.TXT.
- As packaged the code currently will not compile. Some code had to be removed to release it, therefore you will get some missing file errors when building.
- I can highly recommend you to check out the Descent-Source mailing list. That is a great place to direct all your source-code questions to. Please do not mail anybody at Parallax Software, Outrage Entertainment, Volition Inc. or Interplay Productions with questions about this source code. That will only discourage them from releasing code in the future. However, several people from these companies are however subscribed to the list and so might answer from time to time there.
- Make sure and thank Parallax by buying all the new Descent games coming out (c: ...
