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Description
Anyone remember Interplay's "Descent" videogames? The 'zero-gravity FPS'? I loved that game, and even experimented with fan tools for building mods.

Then at some point in the year 2000 one of our PC's hard drives died, and took all my Descent stuff down with it.

Now these screenshots (found by total surprise in an old ZIP file) are all that remain of them.

So let me tell you their tales....

Top row, left to right:
A small, very fast-moving robot armed with a ringshaped laser (bottom row, #3; actually just a graphics mod over the standard 'enemy laser 1'). I organized them in groups, using the game's "Snipe" AI setting, much like those standard tiny sniper robots in Descent 2 that scatter like a flock of starlings amidst laser fire, only to return later to harass you.

A medium-sized, slow-moving robot. It had a high "pursuit" ability, allowing it to chase the player across large distances. One of the most curious moments was when a group of the small robots disappeared from one room, and one minute later they returned, with one of these guys tagging along!

A small, triangular robot. It fired missiles (more on that later) which exploded into a small shower of shrapnel (actually a built-in weapon, the 'light Vulcan cannon') upon impact.

Another medium-sized robot. It fired arc-shaped lasers which might've had rebounding properties (sorry, but I don't remember).

Second row, left to right:
A medium-sized robot that fired lightning bolts -- a completely custom weapon with a near-instantaneous velocity, high delta lighting (yes, they did light up the room) and a simple (but effective) white-and-blue zigzag shape. Similar to the player's Omega Cannon, but looking much, much cooler (see lower right screenshot).

One of my favorite designs, a burly assymetric robot with a Mercury Missile rack on its left and a Gauss Cannon on its right.

Another one of my favorite designs, a Very Large Robot intended as a level boss. (Size comparison: The player was about as large as one of his eyes). Codename "Thor", he fired massive quantities of lightning bolts, and was vulnerable only to explosive weapons (cannon or missile fire). The plan for this boss encounter was that the boss would appear early to harass the player, who would have to scour the level over and locate a Vulcan cannon to destroy the boss with (his minions only dropped Vulcan ammo). Too bad I never actually built the level.

Another Very Large robot intended as a level boss. Its weapon was to fire player-grade Mercury Missiles in large quantities, as well as an occasional custom missile which would break into a cluster of "Smart Missiles" upon impact (and as Descent fans know, Smart Missiles release their own clusters of homing plasma upon impact themselves. Ouch!)

Third row, left to right:
Easily my favorite models, a series of several eagle-shaped robots.
The basic eagle, a fast robot with a melee attack but no other weapons. But with a deceptively heavy mass (comparable to a level boss), the creature's sheer inertia could "pin" the player in place, making them an easier target for enemy fire. A test room verified that this strategy was highly effective.

The fire-eagle, or "phoenix" (what else would I call it?). Same size, but fast, lightweight, and quite evasive to player fire. Armed with a standard Phoenix Cannon, plus an occasional homing energy shot (the same kind that standard Smart Mines produce).

The ice phoenix is similar to the normal phoenix, but equipped with an "ice" weapon with a crystalline sprite graphic, and instead of rebounding off walls it shatters into smaller crystal projectiles upon impact.

The great phoenix, intended as a level boss. Extremely large (size comparison: player is about half the size of its head), vulnerable only to explosive weapons. Armed with salvos of shrapnel missiles (see bottom row #1) and an occasional player-grade Mercury Missile, and vulnerable only to explosive weapons. The plan was that without a Vulcan or Gauss cannon in the player's posession yet, the player must rely on missiles, which they acquire by defeating the boss's minions. Despite the size, the boss was actually extremely lightweight, and could be tossed around from missile impacts.

Bottom row, left to right:
Shrapnel Missiles, a completely custom weapon packing about as much direct firepower as a standard Concussion Missile, but it releases a burst of Light Vulcan shrapnel upon impact. Note the hollow-point warhead on the missile - a neat touch after figuring out some of the ways I could exploit the game's polygon rendering order.

A blue arc-shaped laser projectile wielded by robot #4 on the top row. I copied the style of Descent's own laser models, where the outer "layer" of polygons are oriented "inside-out" so that the inner layer of polygons is always visible inside of them regardless of viewing angle.

A simple ring-shaped laser projectile wielded by robot #1 on the top row.

A curious shape utilizing a precisely exploited rendering order (inside blue sides first, then white, then yellow, then outside blue sides) to create an aesthetically pleasing shape without the need for spatial partioning.

Upper screenshot - One of the rooms I built using the official Descent level editor. A bunch of those small robots were scattering from the player, exiting through the door in the ceiling (but they'd be back, certainly).

Lower screenshot - Example of the "lightning bolt" weapon being used against the player. The white-and-blue model is actually a very simple, but extremely elongated (over 1,000 distance units in model space), design.

Description
Anyone remember Interplay's "Descent" videogames? The 'zero-gravity FPS'? I loved that game, and even experimented with fan tools for building mods.

Then at some point in the year 2000 one of our PC's hard drives died, and took all my Descent stuff down with it.

Now these screenshots (found by total surprise in an old ZIP file) are all that remain of them.

So let me tell you their tales....

Top row, left to right:
A small, very fast-moving robot armed with a ringshaped laser (bottom row, #3; actually just a graphics mod over the standard 'enemy laser 1'). I organized them in groups, using the game's "Snipe" AI setting, much like those standard tiny sniper robots in Descent 2 that scatter like a flock of starlings amidst laser fire, only to return later to harass you.

A medium-sized, slow-moving robot. It had a high "pursuit" ability, allowing it to chase the player across large distances. One of the most curious moments was when a group of the small robots disappeared from one room, and one minute later they returned, with one of these guys tagging along!

A small, triangular robot. It fired missiles (more on that later) which exploded into a small shower of shrapnel (actually a built-in weapon, the 'light Vulcan cannon') upon impact.

Another medium-sized robot. It fired arc-shaped lasers which might've had rebounding properties (sorry, but I don't remember).

Second row, left to right:
A medium-sized robot that fired lightning bolts -- a completely custom weapon with a near-instantaneous velocity, high delta lighting (yes, they did light up the room) and a simple (but effective) white-and-blue zigzag shape. Similar to the player's Omega Cannon, but looking much, much cooler (see lower right screenshot).

One of my favorite designs, a burly assymetric robot with a Mercury Missile rack on its left and a Gauss Cannon on its right.

Another one of my favorite designs, a Very Large Robot intended as a level boss. (Size comparison: The player was about as large as one of his eyes). Codename "Thor", he fired massive quantities of lightning bolts, and was vulnerable only to explosive weapons (cannon or missile fire). The plan for this boss encounter was that the boss would appear early to harass the player, who would have to scour the level over and locate a Vulcan cannon to destroy the boss with (his minions only dropped Vulcan ammo). Too bad I never actually built the level.

Another Very Large robot intended as a level boss. Its weapon was to fire player-grade Mercury Missiles in large quantities, as well as an occasional custom missile which would break into a cluster of "Smart Missiles" upon impact (and as Descent fans know, Smart Missiles release their own clusters of homing plasma upon impact themselves. Ouch!)

Third row, left to right:
Easily my favorite models, a series of several eagle-shaped robots.
The basic eagle, a fast robot with a melee attack but no other weapons. But with a deceptively heavy mass (comparable to a level boss), the creature's sheer inertia could "pin" the player in place, making them an easier target for enemy fire. A test room verified that this strategy was highly effective.

The fire-eagle, or "phoenix" (what else would I call it?). Same size, but fast, lightweight, and quite evasive to player fire. Armed with a standard Phoenix Cannon, plus an occasional homing energy shot (the same kind that standard Smart Mines produce).

The ice phoenix is similar to the normal phoenix, but equipped with an "ice" weapon with a crystalline sprite graphic, and instead of rebounding off walls it shatters into smaller crystal projectiles upon impact.

The great phoenix, intended as a level boss. Extremely large (size comparison: player is about half the size of its head), vulnerable only to explosive weapons. Armed with salvos of shrapnel missiles (see bottom row #1) and an occasional player-grade Mercury Missile, and vulnerable only to explosive weapons. The plan was that without a Vulcan or Gauss cannon in the player's posession yet, the player must rely on missiles, which they acquire by defeating the boss's minions. Despite the size, the boss was actually extremely lightweight, and could be tossed around from missile impacts.

Bottom row, left to right:
Shrapnel Missiles, a completely custom weapon packing about as much direct firepower as a standard Concussion Missile, but it releases a burst of Light Vulcan shrapnel upon impact. Note the hollow-point warhead on the missile - a neat touch after figuring out some of the ways I could exploit the game's polygon rendering order.

A blue arc-shaped laser projectile wielded by robot #4 on the top row. I copied the style of Descent's own laser models, where the outer "layer" of polygons are oriented "inside-out" so that the inner layer of polygons is always visible inside of them regardless of viewing angle.

A simple ring-shaped laser projectile wielded by robot #1 on the top row.

A curious shape utilizing a precisely exploited rendering order (inside blue sides first, then white, then yellow, then outside blue sides) to create an aesthetically pleasing shape without the need for spatial partioning.

Upper screenshot - One of the rooms I built using the official Descent level editor. A bunch of those small robots were scattering from the player, exiting through the door in the ceiling (but they'd be back, certainly).

Lower screenshot - Example of the "lightning bolt" weapon being used against the player. The white-and-blue model is actually a very simple, but extremely elongated (over 1,000 distance units in model space), design.