Weekly Updates

The Descent 3 Maintainers are not the sole contributors to this repository. Many of the below improvements and bug fixes were the result of contributors, of which we are extremely thankful.

Multiplayer servers:
96.9.208.115:2092 - Hosted by DescentMax7930, v1.5 Upstream
64.44.131.41:2092 - Hosted by DescentMax7930, Piccu Engine (by InsanityBringer)

Weekly Summary: May 07 2024 - May 20 2024

Repository Improvements:

• A lot of code cleanups have taken place. Rock n' Ride code was removed along with unused serial code, unused header files, the software renderer, prebuilt d3m netgames, and a lot of stuff from init.cpp. Thanks Arcnor!
• The OpenGL renderer saw a cleanup and refactor. Thanks Arcnor!
• The GPLv3 license header has been joined with the historical comments, which should clean things up for IDEs that hide the first comment block from code.
• MD5 code has been changed from RSA Technologies, avoiding a potential license headache. Thanks Parabolicus!
• Spdlog dependency has been removed, but the logging module remains.
• Any external dependencies will be moved to the third_party directory over time.

Bug Fixes:

• Imported a Piccu bugfix where HUD's CustomText2 would be offscreen on large resolutions. This affected Level 5's reactor percentages.
• The dedicated server no longer crashes on startup and shutdown. Thanks Pzychotic!

Adjustments:

• Ingame screenshots now save as .png files for easier sharing. Thanks Arcnor!
• Window mode in debug builds has been adjusted, and for now it no longer works in release builds. Thanks Pzychotic!
• The notorious "BOA Not Valid" error has been silenced.
• The max render distance has been bumped, an improvement brought from Piccu.

General Updates: The Descent 3 Maintainers would like to generally remind everyone that this should never be treated like a full-time job or even an overly-professional setting. It's a cherished game, and a hobby should never become a burden. Many people have contributed to this upstream source out of a passion for programming or for Descent 3, sometimes both. Please remember to be kind and respectful to others. Nothing is irreversible in code.

You may have noticed some slowdown in the past week. Real life obligations call, but we are welcome to outside assistance in pull request reviews! We are also looking for some additional help to bring SDL2 to Windows to replace DirectX. If this is something you're interested in, let us know!

Weekly Summary: Apr 28 - May 06 2024

Upstream Source

Repository Improvements:

• CI artifacts now include a copy of the GPL license.
• Added links to Steam and GOG releases of Descent 3.
• Removed some unused files.

Bug Fixes:

• Mercenary game assets like the Black Pyro and Red Guidebot were disabled for Linux and MacOS, and Windows users were unlikely to be able to use them due to missing registry entries. The game now checks for the presence of relevant .hog files and enables mercenary assets that way.
• The hardware cursor should no longer be active or visible in fullscreen mode.
• MacOS mouse cursor is now correctly grabbed in fullscreen mode.
• It is now possible to build TCP~IP.d3c in Windows.

Adjustments:

• Linux and MacOS have had some of icculus' 64bit code implemented.
• Linux and MacOS have had some of icculus' SDL2 code implemented.
• Windows users can now use extra mouse buttons in the configuration options.
• Game assets are now case insensitive when being loaded.

General Updates:

• We have decided on using the d2x mve library. It has been traced to Fallout 1 & 2, which was reverse-engineered, and further modifications to it were made under GPL-2. We'd love some assistance with this, check out #289 if you're interested!
• The scope of 1.5 Stable has changed slightly. Now that we're able to import Ryan Gordon's 2020 code for Linux and Mac, we will be including that in our milestone. We have not yet decided if we will be adding those changes to Windows as well before the milestone release.
• Chatter: There is a discussion thread open regarding game balance, feel free to hop in and make your mark!
• jmarshall23 aka icecoldduke has joined the maintainers! Ice has been hard at work with the internal editor, something we haven't touched. We're told it's much easier to work with than D3Edit, and hopefully we'll see more of it soon!

Piccu Engine

Piccu Engine is a fork of the upstream repository (from April 16th) that prioritizes QoL improvements. While issues remain, the game is in a far more playable state on modern systems. Piccu Engine boasts a functioning window mode, has widescreen support, has enabled multiple mouse buttons, and more. It's Windows-only for now, though, and since upstream is integrating Ryan's code for other platforms, we are avoiding changes that might impede his import process. We maintain a mutual-benefit relationship with InsanityBringer and his work, and Descentheads eager to get back into the game will find themselves feeling right at home with Piccu Engine.

Weekly Summary: Apr 22 - Apr 27 2024

Repository Improvements:

• Created wiki pages for Descent 3 Internals, Running Descent 3, and Weekly Updates.
• Added new issue and pull request templates.
• Prettified the readme.
• The CI no longer runs if no changes are made to code (can be manually run).

Bug Fixes:

• Main menu now properly renders if mainmenu.mve is missing.
• Descent 3 no longer prompts for a CD if movies aren't found.
• A sanity check was added for when an object is already unlinked from a room, which fixed crashes on Linux.
• A crash where the engine would try to play a sound from an unlinked object was fixed.
• An audio crash on 64-bit platforms was fixed in libacm. Thanks DanielGibson and Winterheart for the troubleshooting!
• An audio cutoff issue was fixed in libacm.
• A checksum failure caused level scripts to fail loading on 64bit builds. This is fixed by forcing the valid 64bit checksum on 64bit builds.
• A bug where controls were broken on AMD processors was fixed.

Adjustments:

• Console logging enabled on Mac and Linux with -D LOGGER=ON cmake option (added to readme).
• The -windowed command-line option has been disabled on Release builds.
• The game now links against the real zlib. This introduced a new dependency, and the build instructions were updated as a result.
• The game window in Debug mode can now be dragged around. However, this introduces a bug. See Known Issues.

Known Issues:

• The hardware cursor is still active in -windowed mode, which can cause focus loss problems when firing weapons.
• The MacOS build doesn't capture the mouse, making the mouse unusable. Use the magic keypress Ctrl+Shift+G to capture the mouse after loading a level as a workaround. We are working on a solution.

General Updates:

• Ryan C. Gordon aka Icculus was given approval to add his code changes from the 2020 linux/mac port. This is an ongoing process and not all code may be merged.
• We are waiting for clarification before replacing libmve. When the repository first went up, the readme stated proprietary Interplay mve code was removed. We were later told libmve would need to be replaced.
• Discord user icecoldduke has been working on the internal editor. We are hoping to bring this upstream after testing it so we can have it compile together with Descent3.
• A multiplayer server is live at 64.44.131.41. Thanks DescentMax7930 for hosting!
• Issue #193 shows Direct3D render enhancements that OpenGL does not have. Pending libmve and other short-term roadmap options, we have yet to talk about whether this should move up on the priority list.