DescentBB

Just out of curiosity, and a little wondering if I'm the only one who's still unable to beat it on Insane.

I can't remember the number of times I've beat D1 on Insane. I used to have a demo of each level, start to finish killing most everything and getting the hostages without dying. But that was 10 years ago, That CD is buried or gone.

Every once in a while I'll rerun through all the levels so I don't forget the strategies for each one. Level 19 is easy for forgetting the best way to go.

I've beaten D1 single player on every skill level except rookie. But after I moved from keyboard only to keyboard + joystick controls I quit playing the lower skill levels entirely because I was moving so fast I tended to crash into robot shots that were left behind because they move so slowly. Now I play hotshot when I really want to take it easy, and insane the rest of the time.

Insane is the only way All the way through on 1 guy was my best. I think I ended up with 50 something guys by the end....

Ashamedly enough, I've never actually managed to beat the darn thing. Whichever time I attempted it last (this has to be a good three or four years), I think I managed to get as far as level 15 or so before I petered out. Whatever version of D1X I was using at the time wasn't enough to prevent those damned Medium Hulks' homing missiles from having a far smaller turning radius than my ship. Now that that bug has been taken care of by D1X-R, I really need to finally go back and exorcise that particular personal demon.

D1X-R

Good idea there, all this time I've been playing on a 700 MHz P3 with the original game. Homers are impossible to dodge unless you've got a corner nearby.

Insane is the only way All the way through on 1 guy was my best. I think I ended up with 50 something guys by the end....

Dang. That's nice. Even on Ace I finished out with only my original 2 ships left.

haha @ \"guys\"

Sirius wrote:haha @ "guys"

Excuse me... Ships/material Defenders... whatever I'll call them guys till the day I die thanks to Mario Brothers

I seem to recall ending one game with over 130 extra lives...

Don't think I've ever finished D1 or D2 all the way through start to end. I've done the whole thing in peicemael. Vertigo and D3 I've done on Hotshot. Never have been good enough to finish all the way on Insane. Scared the hell outta me the first time in D1! Never seen a game move that fast.

I beat d1 on insane:
-No deaths(a few loads :/)
-Had 165 Extra lives@the end.
-Tried to pick up hostages till the exit
score screen:

Nice, the only time I saved a screen shot ended up at 9,270,175 in 14:28:34, always thought I needed to trim down that time a bit though.

Wow.

I finished the game in under 8 hours on Ace; let's see how I do on my current run for Insane ...

I did it on Insane once, but it just took too much ducking and hiding... you can't just fly out and fight stuff in the open, like you can on other difficulties.

So, whenever I go back to D1 or D2 for nostalgia's sake, I tend to play Ace.

Foil wrote:I did it on Insane once, but it just took too much ducking and hiding... you can't just fly out and fight stuff in the open, like you can on other difficulties.

So, whenever I go back to D1 or D2 for nostalgia's sake, I tend to play Ace.

Nonsense, you can just fly out and get right into the fray on insane, but you have to keep the enemies somewhat corralled and never let them completely surround you. Also you have to keep it locked at 30 FPS to fight homing mechs in the open. However, even with that fighting homing mechs from multiple directions becomes nearly impossible. Though even a large group of them will fall quickly if you use Fusion and secondaries wisely while keeping them bunched up, it is only when they separate that they become major threats.

The biggest problem you will have with large bunches of enemies, especially the missile chucking kind is they will tend to accidentally kill each other if you fight them openly. And you don't get any points when they do that. =(

lvl 10 would prove a problem.

So... what's the highest difficulty levels I've ever beat D1/2... erm... I think it was... ... ... ... Trainee.
Probably for me it always ran at +100 FPS or I just suck playing this game.

But I need to admit, the last time was around 8 years ago. I've never finished the game with any D1/2X version - neither mine.

The biggest problem for me going out into the fray is homers (of course), but those moronic, pervasive pigs (aka Class 1 Driller) don't make life easy either. By the time my homer hits them, I've already lost 33-50 shield.

Krom wrote:

Foil wrote:I did it on Insane once, but it just took too much ducking and hiding... you can't just fly out and fight stuff in the open, like you can on other difficulties.

So, whenever I go back to D1 or D2 for nostalgia's sake, I tend to play Ace.

Nonsense, you can just fly out and get right into the fray on insane, but you have to keep the enemies somewhat corralled and never let them completely surround you. Also you have to keep it locked at 30 FPS to fight homing mechs in the open.

Yeah, I was able to fly "into the fray" to a certain extent, but there are still the places where it gets you killed too often. The last time I tried it on Insane, I was just flying reckless, heedlessly attacking everything I saw... it was fun!... but I only got to level 18 or so.

Eh, maybe I'll try it again.

Yeah, getting right into the fray with Class 1 Drillers on the scene is impossible, clear them out with homers before you dive in, because they never miss.

Open space is GOOD-it helps you avoid homers of course the higher the fps the more interesting it becomes.

The biggest problem for me going into into the fray is homers (of course), but those moronic, pervasive pigs (aka Class 1 Driller) don't make life easy either. By the time my homer hits them, I've already lost 33-50 shield.

Concussions are your friend(quads are too)

Krom wrote:Yeah, getting right into the fray with Class 1 Drillers on the scene is impossible, clear them out with homers before you dive in, because they never miss.

I just peek around the corner and pound them with quads. That, or if I peek around and see they haven't spotted me, I'll fire a flare off at them, and duck back behind the wall and wait for them to investigate. Then they meet the quad 4's of doom.

Sure one quad 4 shot is enough to down a Class 1 Driller, but one uncharged fusion shot is enough to down 6... After level 10, I pretty much quit using lasers more than once or twice per level.

I've never used fusion in D1 singleplayer...I go from Lasers to Plasma-only after I pick it up in level (oh man I forget, 5?) My weapon order is Plasma, then Quad Lvl 4 Lasers, then Vulcan, and the rest disabled.

Mmh.. But there is something strange in your list Testi, 'cause in D1/D2 there is no Vauss and no super lasers on D1... So i didn't understand your list...

Anyway, i've beaten D1 and D2 (completely) only on Trainee some years ago, But i play it from time to time in Rookie or Hotshot (Playing the first 11 levels usually in D1 or the first 6 in D2).

However, i'm starting to play D2:Maximum on Insane and i'm doing not that bad

I've also beaten some third party missions on Rookie...

The best part of D2: Maximum for me was new boss rooms. The levels are pretty simplistic, though maybe I should go back and redo it on Insane like you just for the challenge.

Er ... yeah ... you need not, and should not, be in line of sight for the homing missile to hit the driller. Pop out, fire, duck and wait until you see the \"1000\"... they're quick and accurate but not quick enough to hit you when you do it fast enough.

P.S. There seems to be something abnormal about Descent Maximum - I was able to make it to something like level 18 on Insane with about 3 deaths. In co-op.

Either I'm better at single-player than I thought I was or the missions are a bit easy. (Predictable, too, actually; almost every key has an ambush set...)

The Maximum levels are a heck of a lot easier. Maybe the designers figured playing it with a PlayStation controller would be more difficult? I don't know, has anyone here actually played Descent Maximum on the PS?

Pop out, fire, duck and wait until you see the \"1000\"

The sad thing is that we know these numbers.

Jeff250 converted those missions a long while back. I think the thread is still up.

MD-2389 wrote:Jeff250 converted those missions a long while back. I think the thread is still up.

viewtopic.php?t=6610

Riot wrote:Rad!

That is SOoo 1989!

Kinda like you.

Pumo wrote:Mmh.. But there is something strange in your list Testi, 'cause in D1/D2 there is no Vauss and no super lasers on D1... So i didn't understand your list...

Read between the D3-speak... I'll edit it though.

Wishmaster wrote:The Maximum levels are a heck of a lot easier. Maybe the designers figured playing it with a PlayStation controller would be more difficult? I don't know, has anyone here actually played Descent Maximum on the PS?

Yeah, I played through Descent and Descent:Maximum on the PlayStation (I still have them, although I haven't played them in at least a couple of years).

Descent and Descent:Maximum on the PS were difficult to see and more framey than my old 386-16MHz, so that's probably why they made the levels easier. But it was worth it for the level-end movies and Descent nostalgia.

I played all the way through D1 on insane a long time ago. Like, a decade ago. Almost half my lifetime ago.

I went on a run after than in which I tried to play through without losing a life, but I got bored with that around level 8. It encourages sniping and safe play, and safe play is dull. I also went on a run in which I tried to play through without taking damage, but I only managed to do the first couple levels that way. Never would have played the whole game.

Then I started playing with the rule that I couldn't snipe things--I had to fight agressively and in the open. I played a whole game that way, and had a great time. In fact, I think it made me a better player.

A few years ago, I finally hit on a good way to play D1: cold starts. When you beat a level, quit, and start the next level fresh with no guns and three lives. It changes the game a lot--you really have to scrap for survival.

At first, I picked easy or easyish levels. Levels 1 - 7. Level 10. As I filled in the gaps, I decided to play through the game sequentially--and as I did, I discovered some levels so hard that I went back on my usual prohibition against crawl-n-save. I did ultimately beat levels 1 - 20 that way, and it was pretty tough.

A few hard levels stuck out as extra-hard from that run: Levels 9, 11, 19, and 20. They were all so hard that I thought they were impossible at first. I started playing them more, and ultimately settled on a new challenge: to beat them without saving.

I played level 11 on insane cold start over and over, day after day, for over a month before I managed that. That was a couple years ago.

These days, instead of cherry-picking easy levels, I cherry-pick hard ones. Over the last couple years, I've focused on playing levels 11 and 20. Insane cold start, no saves. And if you die to something stupid, suck it up and win anyway.

I still play them. I find level 11 to be more interesting, even though 20's harder. My success rate on level 11 is about 1/3, on 20 it's \"a whole evening of trying,\" though it's come up to where occasionally I'll get it the first run or two. I can't see that improving too, either, just much due to the inherent randomness and visiousness of the game style.

But I like it that way. I'm not happy if it's not hard.

Ok, I'm sorry.


still, it's not often you can get one in on Drak.

naughty naughty

Heh. You know what the funny thing is? I noticed that before I posted. I thought to myself, \"Heh, that's a funny turn of phrase. No matter.\"

Of course, I've been hanging out exclusively with adults for the past couple years. I forgot that on the DBB people don't quietly smirk at your accidental double entendres. You gotta watch your language . . .

(For the record, I'm very happy. )

LOL, I read the phrase and my first thought was, \"I agree! It's not nearly as fun on low difficulty levels.\" The next thought was something like, \"Huh, what are they talking abo... OOOhhhhh....!\"

[Edit: Drakona, I think I'd call that last comment a \"TMII\", \"Too Much Implied Info\".]

Hey, don't look at me. Duper started it.