Descent3
From ODF::Wiki
This article is about the famous first person shooter Descent3!
| Descent3 | |
|---|---|
| {{{Screenshot}}} {{{Description}}} | |
| Information | |
| Producer: | Outrage Entertainment |
| Developers: | Matt Toschlog & co |
| Current version: | 1.4 (optional 1.5 beta) |
| Latest release: | 26th May 2000 (beta: 12th April 2005) |
| Operating systems: | Linux, Mac, Windows |
| Category: | Descent |
| License: | Outrage license |
| Languages: | C++ |
| Website: | http://www.descent3.com |
| Project page: | click here |
Descent3 is the third part of the famous Descent series.
[edit] Short details
After the release of Descent2, Parallax Software was split into 2 different companies: Outrage Entertainment and Volition Inc.. In 1998, developing on the game was started. On 21st April 1999, the demo was released, version 1.0 of the game on 18th June 1999. Some days later, Graphsim ported the game to Mac OS. On 2nd June 2000, Loki announced they want to port Descent3 to Linux. The demo released on 28th July 2000 and the full port on 16th August 2000.
[edit] 1.5 beta patch
The 1.5 beta patch was supposed to fix the major bugs of the game. It is not official and was never finished. Because Matt Toschlog sold Outrage Entertainment to THQ, the developers made the patch only for the community. Kevin Bentley wanted to port the 1.5 beta patch to Linux and Mac, but just before he was going to publish it, he disappeared (some people say he got a new child and he forgot about Descent). The 1.5 beta patch fixes the checksum bug, which is not relevant, because the patch was never ported to other operating systems than Windows.
[edit] Linux port
The Linux port of Descent3 is very good on one side, and poor on the other. It does not crash as often as the version for Windows and has some bugs fixed, like the famous Fusion or Vauss bug. On the other hand, the client is not really compatible to Windows servers. The main problem is called the "checksum bug", which is a fault of the Windows version, using the sqrt()-function in Microsoft Visual C++. As "Ryan C. Gordon" ( www.icculus.org ), the leader of the Linux porting group developed a fix for this bug, which was never implemented. Another disadvantage is the missing directip-function. To join a server, you need to enter the IP manually or you have to use a tool like D321GO!! which changes the direct IP for you in the settings file.
