K so played some Mercenary...

[Xfing]

Level 4 raised some interesting questions, but also answered some as well. It would seem that the particular alien species we meet in that level had actually constructed Tycho Brahe in addition to the planetoid you explore in the level, but weren't the originators of the virus. They also probably inhabited Puuma Sphere. PTMC must have either built mines on their world or taken over pre-existing installations, and forced them out of their own "worldship" of Tycho Brahe too. This leads me to believe that Baloris Prime probably also had a similar civilized species inhabiting it, also driven out by PTMC's robots.

This actually ties up those minor loose ends quite neatly and explains why those last two systems of D2 were called "alien" in the first place. I know that in early versions of D2 (still apparent in the Interactive Demo) actually had all the levels be alien installations similar to PTMC's mines, rather than being mines proper. Guess vestiges of that remained in the story in the form of Tycho Brahe and perhaps the entire Puuma system.

[Alter-Fox]

Well, and they're bees that look vaguely fungus-like. Suggestive...
Makes a certain type of reader think maybe they had some sort of base on Pluto as well.

[Xfing]

I never made the fungus connection. But even if so, how does that tie to Pluto? Pluto is purple

[ShivanHunter]

IIRC it's a Lovecraft Mythos reference? Mi-Go, I think.

I really like the idea that the bug-alien stuff we see in Mercenary and D2 isn't the virus's origin. Maybe they're the latest victims in a long line of early-spaceflight species whose machines were taken over by the virus. I played Mercenary a very long time ago and really wasn't paying attention to the plot - does it have any more hints on this?

[Alter-Fox]

In Sol Contingency the virus was going to be a sort of alien species itself to remove that question of who made it -- I kinda felt that's where the games had been heading in a meandering sort of way, and after 20 years of buildup and suspense around the who made it question I didn't think any answer to it would be good enough to satisfy the people who stuck around. Eventually expectations build up and up until they're too high for any writer to reach, and the only way to get a good answer is to change the question. There are five W's after all.
If that part of the story were to be resolved now by any half-decent writer I think they'd do the same.

And yessss I meant the Mi-Go. I read The Whisperer In Darkness while I was up on the tundra for work a couple months ago and I loved it.

[ShivanHunter]

Indeed, and I think the idea that a self-replicating virus that tries to spread through alien hardware is a lifeform - or at least a form of existence - in and of itself is more narratively compelling anyway than the alternatives like "aliens exploiting us as a foil for the PTMC" or "viral weapon from a forgotten war" or even "PTMC ★■◆●ing with things that shouldn't be fucked with" etc etc.

And it raises an additional question. The virus can reverse-engineer and reprogram computers that it had never seen before - the PTMC's computers. It may have even done this relatively quickly. What would stop it from doing the same to a human mind? Is that what Dravis meant when he worried the virus was "carried on the player's ship"?

btw have you read Blindsight? It's by Peter Watts but it's really good, and deals with this kind of nature-of-consciousness, very-alien-aliens stuff.

[Xfing]

Well, it was explicitly stated that the virus is "extremely advanced nanotechnology" in D3, so pitching it as an autonomous agent with no one pulling the strings, or even a lifeform, would require a serious retcon. I'd frankly be quite happy with something like an alien civilization beyond a wormhole (that's why it's so hard to pinpoint despite warp drive technology), not necessarily malevolent but dunno, maybe one that had an experiment go awry or something

[Alter-Fox]

Well, none of this means it wasn't created by someone. Just that who created it isn't important.
It could just as easily be a mechanical lifeform as an organic one. The point is only that it's alive enough to make its own decisions -- nothing can be to blame for what it does except for itself.

And I did go into the whole "mind-reprogramming" thing also, since I felt the story needed a villainous person and not just a villainous thing.

[Xfing]

All in all though, I feel that the arc of Descent is very nicely concluded with D3, with some great extra exposition in Mercenary.

Too bad the game has such an assy difficulty system, it's nigh unplayable on Hotshot, let alone the higher levels.

[Alter-Fox]

I know... D1 and 2 didn't scale robot health for a reason. A very good reason.

Never felt D3's story resolution was that satisfying. Felt more like replacing the original story with another one and tying that one up instead-- when it wouldn't have been so hard to tell both!
But then they were working from the assumption that there would have been at least one more sequel to tell the other side.

[Hunter]

There's nothing more irritating than trying to kill fast moving tiny robots on Insane difficulty.

I love the Mercenary levels. I'll be doing a Let's Play once I've finished Vertigo

[Xfing]

Well yeah, I wouldn't mind a sequel where the source of the virus is explored and probably eradicated. That's never going to happen the way things are now. Matt and Mike are making Overload and there are conflicts regarding the IP between Interplay and Outrage. I suppose tons and tons of goodwill would be necessary from many parties to make Descent 4 possible.

Other than my moderate yearning for storyline closure, I'll have no problem embracing Overload instad

There are far worse instances of things going awry with games IMO. For example I still can't live down the Forge town not appearing in Homm3: Armageddon's Blade, and then the franchise going to Ubisoft, who murdered it.

[Sirius]

I don't think any of the Descent games managed to make me care enough about the story to want to see everything wrapped up. Freespace was more successful in that regard.

[LightWolf]

I still have my theories to potentially be explored in the Halley's universe...
Assuming it goes beyond just one level that sits well in any Descent universe...

Now hiring for a sequel?

[typematrix]

....

[Alter-Fox]

I actually really liked the stealth-based sections, I feel Mercenary did it better than most games nowadays that include stealth as a mechanic -- it feels natural, and predatory, instead of reactive and defensive.
I actually just did a remake (well, reinterpretation) of one of Mercenary's music tracks for an Overload map I've got in the works.