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Descent 2 for Windows

Play Descent II with D2X-Rebirth

Descent 2 OpenGL with D2X-Rebirth engine.Descent 2 is, like it's predecessor quite playable with DOSBox. But again, the resolution is very low. Guess what? There's also a source port available for Descent II and it's called D2X-Rebirth! All information can be found on the project page: http://www.dxx-rebirth.com. You can play the game on Linux, MacOSX and Windows. In this guide we focus on Windows.

So, in short, what do you need to play Descent II on Windows 11 or Windows 10 and older in any resolution?

Installation of D2X-Rebirth

  • Download and open D2X-Rebirth program files in zip file
  • Copy the D2X-Rebirth folder (which is in the dxx-rebirth_xxx-win folder) in that zip file to a folder of choice, for example f:\Games, after which the D2X files are in f:\Games\D2X-Rebirth
  • D2X Rebirth - data files of the original Descent 2 game.Create a folder called Data in the D2X-Rebirth folder (where also the Missions folder is)
  • Get the Descent 2 game data files:
    • Download the Descent II demo files (PC interactive demo) or get the FULL Descent II game
    • Do you have the original CD-Rom? You'll find the game files - except the Movies (*.mvl) - archived in the file DESCENT2.SOW on the Descent2 CD-Rom in the D2DATA folder. This is an ARJ-archive and can be extracted with WinRAR or 7Zip or by installing the game on a 32 bit Windows or DOS system. If you want to install the original game on a 64 bit version of Windows, use DOSBox.
  • Copy the following Descent II game data files to the Data folder:
    • Registered version: ALIEN1.PIG, ALIEN2.PIG, DESCENT2.HAM, DESCENT2.HOG, DESCENT2.S11, DESCENT2.S22, FIRE.PIG, GROUPA.PIG, ICE.PIG, INTRO-H.MVL and/or INTRO-L.MVL, OTHER-H.MVL and/or OTHER-L.MVL, ROBOTS-H.MVL and/or ROBOTS-L.MVL, WATER.PIG
    • Demo version: D2DEMO.HAM, D2DEMO.HOG, D2DEMO.PIG
  • Read the README-D2X.txt file from the D2X-Rebirth zip file for additional information about mission packs, addons, multiplayer etc.

Start and configure D2X-Rebirth

  • Start the game by double clicking the d2x-rebirth.exe file in the D2X-Rebirth folder, in this example f:\Games\D2X-Rebirth\d2x-rebirth.exe
  • Select options in the main menu.
    • Select Screen resolution..., select the desired resolution, press the space bar and press escape to return to the options menu.
    • Select Graphics options..., set texture filtering to anisotropic, check these checkboxes: transparancy effects, colored dynamic light, vsync, 4x multisampling. Press escape twice to return to the main menu.

Descent II: The Vertigo Series

A year after the release of Descent II, an expansion pack with new missions and enemies was released: The Vertigo Series. You can play these missions too with the D2X-Rebirth engine!

  • You have D2X-Rebirth operational (see above)
  • Copy the following Vertigo game files to the Data folder: d2x-h.mvl and/or d2x-l.mvl, hoard.ham
  • Copy the following Vertigo game files to the Missions folder: d2x.hog, d2x.mn2

When you start D2X-Rebirth, you can choose between the Counterstrike (original) and Vertigo missions.

Youtube tutorial

Wanna see how to play Descent 2 on Windows 10? Check out our Youtube vid:

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