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Descent Chrono

Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 12:28 am
by Ziqidel
I've figured out a great chronological order to play the official Descent Single Player campaigns. The rules are to play through in insane skill without dying, get virtually everywhere in the level you can, and only ignore robots created by MatCens.Use the latest version of D2X-XL for the D1 and D2 levels - the AI looks greatly improved from the original D2 somehow...

Get your own set of music which you think suits the levels better than the built-in music, if you can.

You know the apparent paradox with the order of the Descent Levels - Mercenary level 3 has to happen after MD-1032 finished Tycho Brahe, and Mercenary Level 5 has to happen before MD-1032 started PTMC Data Retention Centre. The only answer is that MD-1032 was floating around in space for a lot longer than you think...

Here is the best order to play all:-

Level 1 Lunar Outpost
Level 2 Lunar SciLab
Level 3 Lunar Military Base
Level 4 Venus Atmospheric Lab
Level 5 Venus Nickel-Iron Mine
Level 6 Mercury Solar Lab
Level 7 Mercury Core
Level 8 Mars Processing Station
Level 9 Mars Military Dig
Level 10 Mars Military Base
Level 11 Asteroid Secret Base
Level 12 Io Sulphur Mine
Level 13 Callisto Tower Colony
Level 14 Europa Mining Colony
Level 15 Europa Carbon Dioxide Mine
Level 16 Titan Mine
Level 17 Hyperion Methane Mine
Level 18 Tethys Water Mine
Level 19 Miranda Mine
Level 20 Oberon Mine
Level 21 Oberon Iron Mine
Level 22 Oberon Platinum Mine
Level 23 Asteroid Military Base
Level 24 Neptune Storage Depot
Level 25 Triton Storage Depot
Level 26 Nereid Volatile Mine
Level 27 Asteroid Robot Factory
Level 28 Pluto Outpost
Level 29 Pluto Military Base
Level 30 Charon Volatile Mine
Level 31 Ahayweh Gate
Level 32 Turnabout Bore
Level 33 Wenl Mine
Level 34 Segment City
Level 35 Robby Station
Level 36 Seaspring Gorge
Level 37 The Well
Level 38 Coralbank Quarry
Level 39 Hurdle Chase
Level 40 Riverbed Mine
Level 41 Firewalker Mine
Level 42 Lavafalls Extraction Centre
Level 43 Coalbank Shaft
Level 44 Mephisto Hardcore
Level 45 Magnacore Station
Level 46 Sleetstone Tunnels
Level 47 Galacia Caverns
Level 48 Articon Corridor
Level 49 Icehammer Caverns
Level 50 Terrafrost Catacombs
Level 51 Y'tor III
Level 52 Drec'nilbie K'luh
Level 53 Nep-Hilim S'crub
Level 54 PTMC Mars Colony
Level 55 Ascent Level 1
Level 56 Gytowt Station
Level 57 CED S.O.G. Commad Centre
Level 58 N'neri Ring
Level 59 Kwod A'rior
Level 60 Iwihml
Level 61 Chain Reaction
Level 62 Tycho Brahe
Level 63 Deep Kraeg Tunnel System
Level 64 Transmode Containment 2112
Level 65 Collision Dome Excavation
Level 66 CED Tracking Station
Level 67 Fort Pyr Security Training Post
Level 68 PTMC Heavy Water Abyss
Level 69 Artifact Research Facility
Level 70 Alien Planetoid
Level 71 Krell Shaft Factory
Level 72 Kanroku Ore Mine
Level 73 Archangel Falls Mine
Level 74 PTMC Secret Laboratory
Level 75 Metacave Weapons Research
Level 76 GOTH-9 Waste Recycling Facility
Level 77 Citadel Station
Level 78 Urgian Kiln
Level 79 PTMC Caesium Mine
Level 80 PTMC Data Retention Centre
Level 81 Exodus Research Facility
Level 82 Novak Corporate Prison
Level 83 PTMC Geothermal No. 1A574
Level 84 Piccu Station & SRAD Research
Level 85 Living Water Catacombs
Level 86 PTMC Headquarters Overground
Level 87 PTMC Headquarters Underground
Level 88 Red Acropolis Research Station
Level 89 Martian Nomad Caverns
Level 90 Frisia Gas Mine
Level 91 PTMC Research Bunker
Level 92 Fold Zandura
Level 93 Brizzna Babrenna Ice Base
Level 94 Gippan Ore Refinery
Level 95 PTMC Dol Ammad Fuel Refinery
Level 96 Origin Zero
Level 97 PTMC Spacecraft Factory
Level 98 Magma Tower Complex
Level 99 CED Lunar Command Centre
Level 100 PTMC Storage Facility
Level 101 PTMC Proving Grounds
Level 102 High Velocity Weapons Research
Level 103 CED Expediator Dreadnought
Level 104 Morabi Milk Mine
Level 105 CED Orbital Network Transmitter
Level 106 Vertigo Research Station
Level 107 Dravis' Stronghold

I'd rather play this than even work on my NWO campaign I should be creating :wink:

And I can't wait till Level 97 - Even if it has to be after I first destroy the Mercenary level 7 boss in that way...

Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:13 am
by Ziqidel
Lucky I got up to \"level 11\" at this time: D2X-XL is way too crashy and buggy for some reason, and when you end Asteroid Secret Base (or any D1 secret level) it automatically recurs unlimited attempts to load \"level 0\". I thought that problem had been fixed some time ago. It seems I was wrong...

Oh well, if that happens, the D1 secret levels will just be played up to the exit then I'll load their previous level instead as if they never happened. I will continue Descent Chrono :twisted:

Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2006 5:29 am
by Diedel
I cannot reproduce this problem (I wish I could), and your public moaning here will not help that. ;)

Edit: I could now (finally). There is no direct fix for this problem, as it is inherent to the way Descent 2 handles secret level returns. I have however found a way to cure this problem. Fix will be available in v1.8.35.

Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 10:21 am
by Ziqidel
it's good that it can be fixed, but I think it makes no real difference to how easy it is to complete the D1 levels. It would still count as being \"Descent Chrono\" if you started with Laser Level 1 and Concussion Missiles on each level, but it's easier (and more fun) to keep your previous weaponry.

And it's virtually impossible to do the likes of D3 level 8 by the rules without saving cyclones and napalm missiles for the vauss tanks at the start :P

I won't start again, anyway, since I'm up to oberon mine now.

Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:53 am
by Diedel
I meant I fixed the secret level loop bug.

Posted: Tue Oct 31, 2006 2:53 am
by Ziqidel
do you mean when you die in a level after the reactor is destroyed and it makes you come out of the last secret level instead of starting the next one?

(e.g. when I just died trying to escape from Coalbank Shaft and I ended up back in Riverbed Mine)

Edit: forgot to mention, just in case: since the objective is not to lose any lives, I just reloaded and completed Coalbank Shaft, so it isn't really an inconvenience unless someone plays without saving... which I would never do anyway :wink:

Edit 2: I was talking about version 1.8.33 before, and I just realised that 1.8.37 can be downloaded... I kept thinking it wasn't available before because the site said \"Latest Version: 1.8.33\" all the time even though it was still being updated. Ah well, it's all sorted now :D

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:06 am
by Diedel
Yes, I did. This will not work with older savegames though. I had to expand the savegame format a little for this.

Btw, v1.8.41 (Win/Linux) available. OS X is still 1.8.37.