> Any Descent fan can tell you there hasn't been a game like this (that supports
> multiplayer at least) for over 15 years, great to see a resurgence of this genre.
>
> There are now 2 prominent Descent clones in active development being Descent
> Underground (DU), and the lesser known, Sol Contingency (Sol-C).
>
> DU doesn't need any more of an introduction (now it's an official prequel to
> Descent), but Sol-C certainly deserves the shout-out every bit as much.
I wish today's popular controllers were as advanced/complex as were those of Descent's time.
When I played Doom, Duke Nukem 3D, and whatever 6DoF flyer it was I remember, I had a Sidewinder joystick. They were on the shelves at any game store. The stick had 3 axes (twist), there was a throttle control, a hat switch on the stick, a bunch of buttons, and a "shift" button for extra button inputs.
Today's controllers may have the same number of inputs, or even more (indeed, I have 5 analog axes on my gamepad rather than 4), but the layout doesn't lend itself to 6 degrees of freedom.
You need 3 rotation controls. Use the left stick and the two triggers for those.
You need 3 translation controls. Remove your thumb from the buttons and use the right stick for X and Y, and you've got no Z control.
You'll have to use the sticks' button presses for firing. There's a directional pad that could fill in for the hat, but you lose rotation while using it.
Well, solutions DO exist, and they aren't all that expensive. My choice, given budget constraints, would likely be a low-end Thrustmaster HOTAS. http://www.amazon.com/Thrustmaster-T-Fli...N8DW9ATB2G865PS They seem to be keeping up the drivers. No, I haven't tried it, and I likely won't. Though it might give the 7 axes I want for KSP....
(Yes, it needs 2 of one axis.)
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Re: The classic gameplay of Descent - will be BACK
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