This is the Descent 3 open source engine, licensed under GPL-3.0. It includes the '1.5' patch written by Kevin Bentley and Jeff Slutter several years ago and brought to a stable condition by the Descent community.
In order to use this, you must provide your own game files. See the Usage section for details.
There is no "release" yet. The current milestone is "1.5 Stable", which is meant to more or less be Descent 3 as it might have been if the 1.5 patch had made it to retail years ago. Artifacts can be downloaded from the Actions tab. The milestone needs testing on all platforms. Please report issues when found.
Make sure that you have a copy of Descent 3. You can purchase a copy of Descent 3 from GOG or Steam.
Install Descent 3.
Note for Steam users: If you own Descent 3 on Steam, then it’s recommended that you install the Windows version of the game even if you’re running macOS or Linux, otherwise movies will not work due to current lack of Ogv support. You can use either Steam Play or SteamCMD to install the Windows version of the game on macOS or Linux.
Note for non-Windows users: If you have the Windows version of the game on CDs but you don’t want to use Windows to install them, then you can follow these instructions:
winecfg
and make sure that “Emulate a virtual desktop” is enabled.(Optional) Determine if you’re going to be affected by a bug with Descent 3’s installer, and potentially apply a workaround:
wine environment-size-checker.exe
.Install Descent 3:
wine explorer
).wine '<drive-letter>:\Setup.exe'
.Switch to disc 2:
wine eject <drive-letter>:
.Install Descent 3: Mercenary:
wine start /d <drive-letter>: setup.exe -autorun
.If your version of Descent 3 is older than v1.4, then update it to v1.4.
Create a new folder named D3-open-source
.
Copy the following files from your installation of Descent 3 to D3-open-source
:
.hog
filesmissions
folder.pld
filesdemo
foldermovies
folderCreate the following folders in D3-open-source
:
custom/
custom/cache/
Obtain new Descent 3 engine files:
builds/<platform>/Descent3/<build-type>/
. For example, if you’re using Linux and you create a “Release” build, then the files will be located at builds/linux/Descent3/Release
.Copy all of the new engine files into D3-open-source
and overwrite any conflicts.
Run the game:
D3-open-source\Descent3.exe
.D3-open-source/Descent3
.Special notes:
d3-{platform}.hog
.Make sure that you have Git and Visual Studio 2022 with the “Desktop development with C++” workload and the “C++ MFC for latest v143 build tools (x86 & x64)” component. If you don’t already have those installed or you aren’t sure, then open an elevated Command Prompt and run:
winget install Git.Git Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community
"%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio\Installer\setup.exe" modify^
--passive^
--channelId VisualStudio.17.Release^
--productId Microsoft.VisualStudio.Product.Community^
--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.NativeDesktop;includeRecommended^
--add Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.ATLMFC
Open a “x64 Native Tools Command Prompt” and run:
git clone https://github.com/DescentDevelopers/Descent3
cd Descent3
cmake --preset win -D ENABLE_LOGGER=[ON|OFF] -D BUILD_EDITOR=[ON|OFF]
cmake --build --preset win --config [Debug|Release]
Once CMake finishes, the built files will be put in builds\win\Descent3\Debug
or builds\win\Descent3\Release
.
Make sure that Xcode is installed.
Make sure that Homebrew is installed.
Run these commands:
git clone https://github.com/DescentDevelopers/Descent3
cd Descent3
brew bundle install
cmake --preset mac -D ENABLE_LOGGER=[ON|OFF]
cmake --build --preset mac --config [Debug|Release]
Once CMake finishes, the built files will be put in builds/mac/Descent3/Debug
or builds/mac/Descent3/Release
.
Run these commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y --no-install-recommends git ninja-build cmake g++ libsdl2-dev zlib1g-dev
git clone https://github.com/DescentDevelopers/Descent3
cd Descent3
cmake --preset linux -D ENABLE_LOGGER=[ON|OFF]
cmake --build --preset linux --config [Debug|Release]
Once CMake finishes, the built files will be put in builds/linux/Descent3/Debug
or builds/linux/Descent3/Release
.
Run these commands:
sudo dnf update --refresh
sudo dnf install -y git ninja-build cmake gcc-c++ SDL2-devel zlib-devel
git clone https://github.com/DescentDevelopers/Descent3
cd Descent3
cmake --preset linux -D ENABLE_LOGGER=[ON|OFF]
cmake --build --preset linux --config [Debug|Release]
Once CMake finishes, the built files will be put in builds/linux/Descent3/Debug
or builds/linux/Descent3/Release
.
Anyone can contribute! We have an active Discord presence at Descent Developer Network. If you are interested in maintaining the project on a regular basis, please contact Kevin Bentley.