DescentBB

Hello.

How can I play Descent 3 online? I have version 1.4. It would be nice to play against real people, but I don't know how to set D3 for online playing? Also, I don't have experience in real combat... It's really no fun to get killed all the time.

Where I can start from?

There are a number of ways. but, the better question is why don't we have that info in a sticky??!

Uh... Always read the sticky.. Install Vortex and chat w/ the guys hanging out in irc. They will get you started.

Dude, I swear I looked the sticky list over 3 times and didn't see that. I had thought that info was there.

*sigh*

Thanks Gren.

Grendel wrote:Uh... Always read the sticky.. Install Vortex and chat w/ the guys hanging out in irc. They will get you started.

Sorry, but I don't understand anything in that sticky... How that Vortex works? I don't have time for chat / IRC, I just want to play...

I don't care much for IRC/chat, either.

A quick way to join games is the CX Tracker.

Foil wrote:CX Tracker.

Do I need some special tools or maps for that?

Nope, not at all. If you're missing a level, most of them can be found over at PlanetDescent.

When you want to join a game (there may not be much going on right now during the middle of the day, but be patient, and don't be afraid to start a game), just click on the far right link (the server's IP), you're good to go from there.

Oh, and if you want, you can always type the IP in manually in the D3 Multiplayer -> Join-TCP/IP menu.

[P.S. Don't be discouraged if you get clobbered at first... everyone does. ]

Welcome! This sport ain't easy. Don't give up . Ice when it starts to hurt.

Dravis wrote:Sorry, but I don't understand anything in that sticky... How that Vortex works? I don't have time for chat / IRC, I just want to play...

You will never know if you don't try it.. irc chat is integrated into Vortex, much easier to ask a life crowd than a bb or distract ppl in-game. Vortex will also allow you to join games via point & click, download levels for you etc. If you use the cx tracker, I'm sure Foil will be happy to answer all your questions

Nah, I will forget multiplayer. When I choose multiplayer menu in game and select direct tcp/ip (or something like that) my computer stops responding and everything is freezed except my mouse cursor... I use windows 98 SE... It looks that only option for me is single player.

Dravis wrote:When I choose multiplayer menu in game and select direct tcp/ip (or something like that) my computer stops responding and everything is freezed except my mouse cursor... I use windows 98 SE...

That's strange. Descent3 works fine on my Win98SE box.

Check the Task Manager, make sure there aren't any other instances of main.exe running.

Do you have any odd/different network settings you're using?

I think everything is set correctly... I'll give up, this is too tough for my nerves.

If setting up a TCP game is to tough, then the game itself will kill you, drop you with massive heart failure.

Cuda68 wrote:If setting up a TCP game is to tough, then the game itself will kill you, drop you with massive heart failure.

If you can't help me to solve this problem about game freezing, then keep your comments to yourself. Please.

Dravis wrote:

Cuda68 wrote:If setting up a TCP game is to tough, then the game itself will kill you, drop you with massive heart failure.

If you can't help me to solve this problem about game freezing, then keep your comments to yourself. Please.

haha

well, it can be confusing at first, but in my opinion .cx tracker is the easiest.

http://d3.descent.cx/tracker.d3

simply find the game you want to join, click its IP address on the right (under LAUNCH), and then once the page loads, click on "Launch via EXE" (this is what i do)

If this doesnt work, let me know. Having a strong firewall or other IPblocker (i use PeerGuardian) can sometimes block out a TCP connection

Dravis don't give up so easily. It's very simple to figure out how to join games. Get Vortex. You don't have to chat, but it's an option. It will also show you a list of all games and let you download missions automatically if you don't have them. All you do is double click on a game, click join game, select a pilot, press enter, and you're automatically put through to the game. Simple as pie. Don't ask if yoy're not open to trying out the answers.

QuestionableChaos wrote:well, it can be confusing at first, but in my opinion .cx tracker is the easiest.

http://d3.descent.cx/tracker.d3

simply find the game you want to join, click its IP address on the right (under LAUNCH), and then once the page loads, click on "Launch via EXE" (this is what i do)

I'll try that, but I prefer batch file instead of exe... I can edit IP adress in batch file then, so it won't be necessary to download new file each time.

And what about ping? How I can find out which games have good ping?

well, with the .cx tracker the only way to find out is by joining the game

As long as you have decent internet, you shouldnt really have much of a ping issue (I live in CA and have played on german servers with acceptable ping)


Using vortex will provide with the ping though, as its displayed in the game descriptions

Beore I try cx tracker, I'll like to know list of default multiplayer maps that are included with Descent 3 & Mercenary... Where I can find that?

The easiest way to see which maps you have is to look in your \\Descent3\\missions folder. Each of the .mn3 files is a level (or level set).

Let us know if you have any more trouble.

Ha! Super! I managed to fix that problem with game crash. It was something about my firewall... Now everything works fine. I even don't need to download that batch / exe files from CX tracker, typing the right IP adress is enough. I also downloaded some common levels from PlanetDescent...

However, the game is very difficult. Everything is too fast, it's impossible to shoot down other players and I'm just easy target. I hate those stupid flame weapons beacuse it's impossible to extinguish fire.

Don't give up. Consider the fact that you are only lacking experience. There are some very, very good players out there, and the many of the rest have been playing multiplayer for a long time.

I got killed over and over at first, too... but with some experience I can hold my own with some of the better players now.

Just keep playing, you'll start to notice things that players are doing, and you'll begin learning quickly.

Oh, and you may also want to browse some of the piloting tips over at PlanetDescent.

Good luck, hope I see you in 'da mines!

Hmm, I prefer \"fire and forget\" tactics. I'm just flying around a level and looking for opportunity to surprise an opponent. I played for about one hour and my result was 59 kills and 118 deaths (there was mostly 5-6 players).

59 & 118 isn't bad for just starting multiplayer...

I think I was something like 15 & 48 my very first game online.

Hey people, I got another question! How to change my nickname in multiplayer games? It's the same as my pilot name... I don't see any option for renaming players / pilots.

It's always your pilot name. You can't change that on the fly. You can simply create a new pilot and copy the controller settings over.

Oh man, that sucks... Okay, how to copy all controls, weapons autoselect and other preferences?

When you create a new pilot, and you go to select the controller, select the pilot name you want to copy.

Everything is finally set for multiplayer, but there are no other players... Every server has 0 players. Is CX Tracker broken or what?

No, it's not broken. The time of day is key. Usually people are on in the morning's and evenings EST. Otherwise, you can just join a game and wait around for a bit and someone will likely join.

Yes, the best time for playing on US servers is in the evening (Eastern US time), similar for the German servers.

As Ryu said, there are often players waiting for a game to start, so don't be afraid to jump in one and wait for people to join.