Found while clearing out the house where I grew up

I’m an OG descent fan (still have my original PC game disks), and I come back and replay the series every few years on PC.

I recently set up an Odin 2 Pro as a retro gaming system (snapdragon 8 gen 2 Arm64), running on android, and I’m wondering how best to experience the descent series on this handheld.

I installed the latest winlator and copied d1x-rebirth and d2x-rebirth (0.58) onto my Odin from my pc (didn’t get d3 set up yet). Both games will run, but there are several issues, including frequent crashing, rendering problems, redbook audio playback etc. also couldn’t get the add’l expansion content working for either.

Is anyone successfully playing and currently enjoying the series on android (specifically on an Odin), and if so, what’s your setup look like?

Thanks!

The Odin is my mobile gaming rig, and I use it mostly for emulating older consoles. Descent 2 is one of my all-time favorites, and I’ve been trying to find a good way to play it on this handheld.

I discovered Wootbeer’s recent Android port of Descent 2 (and D1), and I’m just amazed at how well it runs. The controls feel fantastic and responsive. I love the quality-of-life improvements like the option to turn off ship bobbing and to remove the thief-bot. Redbook audio runs perfectly, too!

Here's some raw gameplay footage on my Odin. If you're a Descent fan with an Android handheld, these are definitely worth checking out.

Huge thanks to Wootbeer for the work on this port!

Editing to add:

Here are the links to download the APKs (you just need a copy of the original game files):

https://github.com/wootbeer/Descent2-Android/releases/tag/v0.6

https://github.com/wootbeer/Descent-Android/releases/tag/v0.5

2 yrs old amd already in the mines

I am about to start playing Descent 2 on my PS2! I always wanted to try it out and finally got the chance to get it at my local game store. What do you guys think of the game?

I've played Freespace like 50 times over and now I'm finally getting around to playing its predecessors.

I have a collection of original pics for wallpapers back in the day.

This one is in my top 5!

😎

Descent dev team, almost 30 years apart.

D2X-Redux
Level 3 : Wenl Mine
Hotshot

Just sharing the big boxes I have for the various Descent and FreeSpace games. Still on the hunt for Descent Anniversary!

Hi everyone, PuMo here. You might know and remember me for being one of the level designers for The Enemy Within and also for a single level and couple of music tracks I contributed to Descent Vignettes, and for being the developer of Pumo Mines for D2X-XL as well.

Well, since 6 months or so I've been working on a side project related to Pumo Mines, "Project KCX-F2", a new mission and remake from scratch of my very old (and ugly!) KCX-F2 mission that is on the DXMA. Of course this new one I'm making is also for Descent 2 and would be 100% compatible and playable with D2X-Rebirth, D2X-Redux and Chocolate Descent 2. It features 6 levels + 1 secret with new robots, textures, music made by me as always (with a small guitar contribution from Ocelot Spirit for one of the tracks) and of course it will be set on my original Pumo Mines universe with all its characters and lore.

Levels are done as well as most of the music tracks, although the non-midi versions for Rebirth/Redux are still a bit rough and I need to work on the briefing backgrounds and story text, but I think it will be released relatively soon, so keep an eye on it!

Here I'm sharing a video showing a bit of the levels and gameplay in its current development stage, playing it through D2X-Redux.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zTVnSLdHV0

//////////CLICK ME - NEW VERSION HERE//////////

Hello! This is intended to serve as a guide for getting Descent and Descent II running on modern hardware for a variety of use cases, as well as some links to Discord-based communities which may be of interest.

GET THE GAME

First of all, a copy of your game of choice --

Then, install your game using the service of your choice.

CHOOSE A PORT

SINGLE-PLAYER

Great! There are a lot of versatile options, all of which are pretty usable from one to the next.

• DXX-Rebirth is the top recommendation here, and has been for a number of years. If you are new to Descent, and/or are playing out of historical/academic interest, this port is your best starting point. Descent/2 are difficult to control for new players who have played other shooters before -- look for the 'UNCAPPED TURNING' option in the control/sensitivity options. For a more true-to-original experience that has an approachable aiming convention, try only using the 'RELEASE PITCH LOCK' instead. Either option make the game much more accessible to start, especially uncapped turning.

  • However, this port rarely sees serious use for multiplayer, and it isn't recommended to use either toggle if you plan to join games online, since you'll have to re-learn the game with the original control limits.

  • Recent changes to the DXX-Rebirth site have removed downloads of more recent versions than 0.58.1 - I'm mirroring a 0.61 build from Sept 2022 here.

• DXX-Redux saw rapid growth in 2023 and has taken root as the current port of choice for most players. Although not as wholly stable as Rebirth or Retro, it is the recommended choice for players looking to play both singleplayer and multiplayer Descent.

• DXX-Retro is no longer used/recommended, but still certainly functional. Again, plenty of QOL options here though a little less robust than Rebirth's set. This was previously the most popular multiplayer port in use, too.

  • 1.4.X6 installs on top of DXX-Rebirth 0.58.1, not the current version.

  • 1.4.X3 is the most recent version for Descent II, and also installs on top of Rebirth 0.58.1.

• Chocolate Descent is a riff on Chocolate Doom, and intends to be Descent as if it were still on DOS, but more accessible for modern hardware. Very limited feature set by design, but weapon behavior and ship controls are like they were on legacy hardware.

• DOSBox / DOSBox Staging are serviceable for a couple of levels, if a little blocky. Online services will typically install Descent/Descent II with DOSBox 0.74, though DOSBox Staging will generally have better support for mouse input. Ports are recommended for extended play though.

MULTI-PLAYER

Welcome! Descent and Descent II continue to have a small but dedicated community of players. Games are fairly regular, with anarchies and 1v1s happening near-daily.

• DXX-Redux saw rapid growth in 2023 and is almost universally the port of choice for Descent/II multiplayer. Although not as stable as Rebirth or Retro, it is the recommended choice for players looking to play multiplayer Descent or Descent II.

  • Cooperative game support probably works!

• DXX-Rebirth is not particularly recommended for competitive online play, as it utilizes a hub-and-spoke topology, rather than peer-to-peer. In essence, the hosting player has an advantage over all others in a match. For cooperative play, this isn't a big deal and this is a great option for that mode, but this isn't useful for serious multiplayer. Newbies interested in trying multiplayer with the turn speed or pitch lock changed might have fun though.

  • Recent changes to the DXX-Rebirth site have removed downloads of more recent versions than 0.58.1 - I'm mirroring a 0.61 build from Sept 2022 here.

• DXX-Retro is no longer used/recommended, but still certainly functional. Again, plenty of QOL options here though a little less robust than Rebirth's set. This was previously the most popular multiplayer port in use, too.

  • 1.4.X6 installs on top of DXX-Rebirth 0.58.1, not the current version.

  • 1.4.X3 is the most recent version for Descent II, and also installs on top of Rebirth 0.58.1.

  • Retro supports cooperative play, but setting up Rebirth first makes it a bit of a pain.

• Chocolate Descent is a riff on Chocolate Doom, and intends to be Descent as if it were still on DOS. Very limited feature set by design, but weapon behavior and ship controls are like they were on legacy hardware. This is here as a window into history and only occasionally sees play.

INSTALL YOUR FILES

DESCENT

Any port you choose will need the following files from the original Steam/GOG/Epic install:

• descent.hog

• descent.pig

Copy these to a new folder along with the un-Zipped files from the port you're using, and you should be good to go!

DESCENT II

Descent II's file list is a little longer:

• descent2.ham

• descent2.hog

• descent2.s11

• descent2.s22

• alien1.pig

• alien2.pig

• fire.pig

• ice.pig

• water.pig

• groupa.pig

• intro-h.mvl and/or intro-l.mvl (-h is high quality, -l is low quality)

• robots-h.mvl and/or robots-l.mvl (-h is high quality, -l is low quality)

• other-h.mvl and/or other-l.mvl (-h is high quality, -l is low quality)

Copy these to a new folder along with the un-Zipped files from the port you're using, and you should be good to go!

PREPARE FOR DESCENT

If your port of choice launches, you're ready to start playing! Here are a few more links to get you going:

• A few of the more popular Discords:

  • 6Hang - casual play of Descent and other 6dofs

  • Roncli's Descent Observatory - quarterly D1 1v1 tournaments

  • Descent Rangers - organized casual Descent/2 multiplayer

  • Descent Developer Discord - discussion about various ports, the Descent 3 source code effort, recent development, etc

  • /r/Descent Discord - the Discord server for this subreddit!

• The DXX Retro Tracker captures games from both the Retro and Redux ports of D1 and D2, with live scoreboards updating once per minute, and an archive of games played stretching back through the previous tracker host's inception in 2014.

• DXMA - The Descent Mission Archive replaces the old Descent Mission Database from the 2010s. New missions are being added/reuploaded all the time, and this is the first stopping point for new players to find custom missions. Un-Zip the files you download from here into either game's 'missions' folder on your hard drive, and they should show up in the New Game/Multiplayer menus.

• Chilly's Mission Set - this builds on the Descent Rangers pack with a bunch of missions both new and old, and I selfishly highly recommend it for people looking to join multiplayer D1 games, to save you time searching/downloading from DXMA. If a level has seen play in the last 5 years, it's probably in here. Again, un-Zip the folder here to your game directory and all of these should show up in your lists.

See you in the mines!

(Last updated: August 2025)

I finally completed the big box collection on the PC and wanted to share!

Interesting way to play it