Six Degrees of OSHA violations! Let's Play the Descent series Megathread!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Six Degrees of OSHA violations! Let's Play the Descent series Megathread!

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anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Hey, I used just the keyboard throughout the entirety of this and the sequel as a kid and loved it. Tried it with a joystick too, but it was pure torture.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2019 23:10

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# ¿ May 19, 2024 22:15

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Crazy Achmed posted:

Well I've never tried commentary before but I'm about to spend two weeks overseas for work, potentially without much to do in the weekends. Maybe I'll dig out an old mic and see if it works? I don't know if I can bring much to this other than a potentially entertaining accent.

Same here with the accent but I'll try to show up if only to express further incredulity at playing this with a joystick.
edit: Oh, that's three in the morning. Welp. Curse you, time conversion!

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Mar 12, 2019

# ¿ Mar 12, 2019 13:47

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Yeah, I'll be fine with weekends as well; just haven't recorded anything in ages.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2019 11:39

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Not really, there isn't a good crowd control weapon until Descent 2. But as was pointed out, this is a game where you really want to pick enemies off one by one.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2019 09:27

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

berryjon posted:

And unless you're actively shooting, Homing shots don't home. Instead, when you break cloak, Homing weapons reorient on your last-known location, and keep flying in that direction.

Yeah, this is how you do invisibility as opposed to, say, Doom.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2019 10:05

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Leylite posted:

This becomes slightly more evident in later videos, but the vulcan robots do have one weakness beyond just their general low health and ability to be blown up with homing missiles and splash damage. They do have to rotate to face the player before they can begin firing, so if you get their attention from one corridor, then run away and then flank them from another angle, they can't shoot you while their back is turned.

Yeah, that's something I kind of wanted to touch on - berryjon seems to be playing it a lot like a cover shooter and sure, the corridors force it, but when you get to the big rooms mobility is a lot better a defence than walls. It's the nineties, shooters are all about getting in the middle of enemy clusters and dodging and weaving between bullets.

Descent 2 is (for the most part) much better about this with level design but as mentioned before, cover won't get you far with drillers - and lifters are placed so that they chase you out of cover a lot of the time. Staying on the move as a survival mechanism works a lot better than it looks at first glance and melee enemies love floating into mines.

Well, that's what ten year old me thought anyway.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Apr 6, 2019

# ¿ Apr 6, 2019 20:24

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Oh, it's this one; I still remember the little touches like the hemispherical rock with passage in it and the yellow key approach. Plus obviously the finale.

...Am I misremembering that the demo had a different (and much better) music track for it?

e: Hell, I still remember the way from the spawning room to the red door. After 23 years.

e2: Okay, so I feel like a gushing a bit more about the level's end so spoilers for the last video: the Superhulk (Uber? can't recall the official name or even if it has one) is an amazing fight. It looks really simple on the surface - it's just a bigger version of a robot you've been fighting since the start - but it requires you to change the way you're playing. You've got an enemy that doesn't follow you, doesn't track you, can't be lured into mines, can't be provoked out of cover; guy just doesn't give a poo poo about you. He doesn't even attack you directly, what he does is trickshots: fires rockets into walls and those green balls of fire will follow you to the ends of the room. You really don't ever want to be caught anywhere near those rockets' points of impact. You really don't ever want to have a straight shootout with the guy because he doesn't shoot straight.
So what you do is us the tunnels in the central pillar because they're the only safe spot. You're playing mouse to its cat. And like the mouse just sticking its head out of its hole, you have very little idea where the enemy is since the sound tracking (another new mechanic) provides a general indication but doesn't tell you anything about the trajectory of the missiles. So you hide in tunnels, wait until the air is clear to pop up and put a couple missiles into the guy. You can totally feel brave and just run laps around the room - as berryjon showed - but it's far from foolproof and there is always the risk of a stray plasma shot which you really want to avoid if you're, say, carrying hostages.
In summary, this guy is scary as hell: you're outclassed from the very beginning and if it's your first time playing chances are he'll kill you a couple times even before you spot him because he can hear your shots on the other side of the pillar and can start pumping missiles into walls just for the hell of it. So the first couple times you die mysteriously, then you catch a glimpse of how big that thing is - and all throughout these steps, it's being built up as this invisible deadly threat. Then you start working out the mechanics of its weapon and after that it's coming up with a strategy to beat it.

I loving love that fight and beating it for the first time is a very fond childhood memory.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Apr 13, 2019

# ¿ Apr 13, 2019 17:37

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Zanzibar Ham posted:

It was supposed to keep the rest of the drones in line. Can't have'em getting ideas like (heavens forbid) unionizing.

Actually there are supervisor bots but I don't remember if they show up in this one or the sequel. Their way of "fighting" perfectly fits the role.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2019 08:09

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Fabulousity posted:

Yes, and it will stare into your soul before killing you. It's also a long way away: In Descent 1 the first big boss is level 7 and the next is in 24.

Technically there is also a mini-boss kind of enemy that is IIRC exclusive to a secret level.

Fabulousity posted:

Although the chonk boy we just saw will kind of be back towards the last mines, but easier in some ways and more horrible in others.

Are we both thinking of the purple ones? I genuinely don't remember our smartly equipped buddy ever coming back.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 20:41 on Apr 14, 2019

# ¿ Apr 14, 2019 20:38

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

That escape sequence commentary is pretty much the perfect summation of how Descent plays. Maybe missing a bit of "gently caress where's the exit, where's the exit, I forgot where's the exit!" but that's bound to happen sooner or later.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2019 07:45

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Fabulousity posted:

Class 2 platform bots with concussion missiles are probably the deadliest on insane when it comes to tight corridors and corners. Class 1 drillers still rule large open rooms though.

Spiders get pretty loving brutal on Insane too because you're basically guaranteed to lose health in some way if there's no cover between you and it.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2019 21:37

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Zanzibar Ham posted:

Sorta related, I just got Overload (ie the real new Descent) and am wondering if you have tips on how best to configure controls on my gamepad? Or should I do my best to get used to the default?

Keyboard and mouse.
Also Overload is really good and like ten bucks right now. I've only played a couple levels so far but it was like going back to childhood; it really is Descent 4.

# ¿ Jun 30, 2019 14:22

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Bellmaker posted:

And green levels with little energy and the looping design of the level itself make me think that some levels this person designed with the exprerience from this game went into Descent II

gently caress that planet.
I think we'll get there later but Descent 2 is mostly really pleasant to be lost in - with the exception of that one set of levels.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2019 16:52

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Bellmaker posted:

They will mess you up real good even on lower difficulties, but I still find them more tolerable than those stupid Class 1 Drillers. VRRRR

I'd say it's a toss-up. When you hear a Driller, it's already too late, when you notice a military drone you usually slam whatever strafing direction you happened to have your finger closest to and risk alerting even more enemies. It really depends on how they are placed - Descent (and especially 2) is pretty good about turning narrow escapes into dickish ambushes.

e: I actually kinda wish they used the keybot gimmick more.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2019 22:08

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Crazy Achmed posted:

I remember the reviewer being seriously in awe over the idea of a FPS game being "better than doom".

That was actually a thing throughout most of ninenties; I guess until Half-life. FPS games were still called "Doom clones" long after Quake came out.

# ¿ Jul 31, 2019 15:11

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

And keyboard only is definitely the master's way of playing Descent.

Erpy posted:

It wasn't until ~~Quake~~, which allowed FreeLook mode that the mouse and keyboard combo really took off.

Terminator: Future Shock :actually:

# ¿ Aug 1, 2019 17:34

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Mordja posted:

As I understand it, the missile's homing ability is tied to your framerate or something.

Yeah, I pretty distinctly recall being able to outmaneuver them way back when.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2019 14:54

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

I'd say a new thread could give it a bit more exposure.
And yeah, Freespace is a game that really deserves LPing but it's got the Descent brand for marketing. Fairly sure even Freespace 2 got rid of that.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2019 21:00

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

That fusion hulk spawning point is one memory I will probably carry to my grave. Scared kid me shitless.

# ¿ Sep 16, 2019 17:29

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Fabulousity posted:

Okay, that's utterly fantastic and one nightmare cleansed. Come to think of that, that one eye constantly darting back and forth does make them look rather nervous.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 16:18 on Sep 23, 2019

# ¿ Sep 22, 2019 18:59

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Oh thiefbot, you adorable scamp.
Just kidding, that thing needs to die in nuclear fire.

# ¿ Sep 30, 2019 16:59

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Fabulousity posted:

I figured someone somewhere had to have sat in a basement and figured this stuff out and behold the Descent FAQ from May 1995 did not disappoint:

pre:

   Espen Monnich wrote the following table:

 "----------------------------------------------------
  |Weapon     | Number | Damage  |  Total  | Energy  |
  |           |of shots| pr.shot |  damage | pr.shot |
  |-----------|--------|---------|---------|---------|
  |Laser lv1  | 2 (4)* |  10     |  20 (30)| 0.25    |
  |  "   lv2  | 2 (4)  |  11     |  22 (33)| 0.25    |
  |  "   lv3  | 2 (4)  |  12     |  24 (36)| 0.25    |
  |  "   lv4  | 2 (4)  |  13     |  26 (39)| 0.25    |
  |-----------|--------|---------|---------|---------|
  |Vulcan     | ca. 25 |  --     |  4      | 0       |
  |-----------|--------|---------|---------|---------|
  |Spreadfire | 3      |  6      |  18     | 0.25    |
  |-----------|--------|---------|---------|---------|
  |C. Missile | 1      |  25     |  25     | 0       |
  |H. Missile | 1      |  27     |  27     | 0       |
  |-----------|--------|---------|---------|---------|
  |Bomb       | 1      |         |  24     | 0       |
  ----------------------------------------------------

  * () specifies the Quad laser. It shoots 4 shots, but does only 50% more 
    total damage.

A single trigger tap burns 25 rounds for a return of 4 damage! So like the thief bot the vulcan cannon is very not good and probably leaves QR codes for Bit Coin propaganda instead of tips at restaurants.

See what I'm reading there is that the quads, while still being the best weapon, are a goddamn ripoff too.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2019 11:33

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Oh, yeah. I am very much interested in actually comparing the new weapons with the old ones efficiency-wise as opposed to just going with whatever felt cool at the time.

# ¿ Oct 5, 2019 12:27

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

So, now that the weapon list is out of the bag, I'd just like to state that Descent II's approach to expanding your arsenal is utterly fantastic. Today in a sequel you'd get to keep some of the old favorites, replaced the rest; Decent says gently caress it, let's just double your arsenal.
Sure, it could have been done better - most new weapons are just twists on the old ones - but doubling your missile battery alone makes this game so much more fun to play.
And it's such a massive shame we see the Guided Missile mechanics in so few shooters. Come on, devs, it's the perfect treatment of a sniper weapon.

e: HOLY poo poo THERE IS A HELIX IN LEVEL GODDAMN TWO

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 18:41 on Oct 6, 2019

# ¿ Oct 6, 2019 18:37

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Erpy posted:

I actually remember being so attached to the Guidebot (even though I usually ordered it to stay away from me since him floating around in front of me was distracting) that I'd free him and after blowing the reactor I ordered him to find the exit just so we could fly through the exit hatch together.

Of course he wouldn't show up in the escape FMV, but eh... headcannon.

Same here, I found the Guidebot really adorable as a kid, especially the beeping noises it made.
Probably would get way too annoyed with it nowadays; in Overload I tried the (much less intrusive) hologuide once and never called upon it again.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2019 10:50

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Well, not in the case of this one at least.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2019 21:25

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Mercuries are the one classic weapon that's really missing from Overload.

# ¿ Nov 12, 2019 20:16

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Fish Noise posted:

i'm seeing the sparkles as vulcan shot impacts

Same.
Fantastic picture.

# ¿ Nov 20, 2019 12:11

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Oh, here we go, kamikaze fishbots. The one enemy you're guaranteed to remember.
e: I really like the bit where they spawn an energy bandit behind you to push you into a minefield. Such a 90s shooter move.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 13:18 on Jan 7, 2020

# ¿ Jan 7, 2020 13:13

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Leylite posted:

EDIT:

I hope we get to use more Mega missiles in the future. This game has plenty of explosions but it could use some more REALLY BIG explosions.

FWIW, there is a missile we haven't seen yet.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2020 12:33

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

That's... a lot of effort for a weapon as gimmicky as the Omega cannon. And this level's music has been stuck in my head for years thanks to futile attempts to get that secret.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Feb 2, 2020

# ¿ Feb 2, 2020 19:19

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Bellmaker posted:

I didn't know you could cheese the level like that

Same here. I hated this level.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2020 22:30

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

3 is a strange game in general.

# ¿ Mar 4, 2020 00:19

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Look at that bastard looming over a stolen cake.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 21:35 on Mar 14, 2020

# ¿ Mar 14, 2020 21:07

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Oh, now we're starting my favorite world.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2020 15:47

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

I like Fusion for the Descent 1 nostalgia but Omega basically outclasses it in every regard.

# ¿ Apr 29, 2020 19:31

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

I always liked the design of this boss. Sleek. Spiky. Stealthy.
In theory anyway. Plus it's refreshing to see something immune to the God Gun for a change.

# ¿ May 3, 2020 19:42

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Spiderbot 2.0: because they weren't annoying enough last time.

e: I like the idea of the whole game as an effort extreminate thiefbots while getting nearer and nearer to their natural habitat. It's like metroids, except less sympathetitc.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 09:10 on May 12, 2020

# ¿ May 11, 2020 14:05

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Bellmaker posted:

No Thief Bot there either. Was 21 the last one with a Thief Bot?? How odd.

The last thiefbot is dead. The galaxy is at peace.

Actually I don't know whether they come back in Vertigo.

# ¿ May 25, 2020 10:12

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# ¿ May 19, 2024 22:15

anilEhilated: Feb 17, 2014; But I say fuck the rain.; Grimey Drawer

Crazy Achmed posted:

Oh, lame. Are the kb+m controls any good for this, or is that too inauthentic?

As a kid I beat both OG Descents using keyboard only, with directions, rolling and strafing all on the numpad - it's a bit unconventional but works really well once you get used to the combinations (holding turn left (4) and strafe right (3) at the same time for a faster turn, stuff like that).
A more modern KB/M setup works just fine for Overload so it shouldn't be that different with regards to navigating fully 3D levels.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 13:05 on May 26, 2020

# ¿ May 26, 2020 13:02

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Six Degrees of OSHA violations! Let's Play the Descent series Megathread!

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