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Strongly recommended:

* Pentium processor
* 16 MB RAM * stereo 16-bit soundcard with General MIDI support * a quality joystick * lots of spare time

Supports:

* Microsoft compatible mouse
* Sound cards: Soundblaster Pro/16/AWE32/compatibles, ProAudio Spectrum
Plus/16/Studio, Gravis Ultrasound/Max, Roland MT-32/LAPC-1/SCC-1 (MIDI music only)
* Joysticks: 1 or 2 as well as Thrustmaster WCS/FCS/FLCS/TQS, Gravis
GamePad/Phoenix, Logitech Cyberman/Wingman Extreme, CH Flightstick
Pro/Throttle, Microsoft SideWinder/Pro
* VR support: VFX-1, CyberMaxx, Virtual I/O i-glasses, and 3DMax

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Where can I get Descent?

Please see the Other Links section of the FAQ for FTP sites, WWW sites, and more.
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How can I contact Interplay?

Interplay Technical Support can be reached 24 hours a day through their
Automated Customer Service system, with representatives available during normal business hours. Their phone number is 714-553-6678.

Other ways to get help:

* Interplay Productions attn: Customer Service
17922 Fitch Avenue
Irvine, CA 92714
* Interplay BBS: 714-252-2822
* America Online: keyword INTERPLAY, or email "IPTECH"
* GEnie: type "M805;1"
* CompuServe: GO GAMBPUB
* Prodigy: email to "PLAY99B"
* Internet: email to support@interplay.com
* Interplay also has a World Wide Web site at the following URL: http://www.interplay.com

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Is there source code available?

Both Descent and Descent II are commercial products, and hence, no source code of the game is available, aside from the source code provided in the official specs.
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Is there a Descent newsgroup on Usenet?

Yes! Most sites carry the newsgroup "alt.games.descent". Ask your local news administration to carry it if they don't already.
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Does Descent support any VR equipment?

Descent directly supports 3 VR headsets: VictorMaxx's "CyberMaxx", Forte's
"VFX1", and Virtual I/O's "iGlasses".

Descent also directly supports one brand of 3-D LCD glasses: the Kasan
3D-MAX glasses. These are shutter glasses which provide true flicker-free stereo vision without the resolution loss found in VR headsets. For more information about the 3D-MAX glasses, look on the WWW page: http://pcvr.kasan.co.kr

Type "descent -help" on the DOS command line for more information on the switches needed to activate these headsets.
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What are the new weapons in Descent II? (jk)

The new weapons are the Gauss cannon, the helix cannon, and the super laser.

Here are descriptions of the weapons.

* Laser Cannon - Yes, this was/is the primary weapon in Descent. It comes it strength levels, and you can get quad lasers, which doubles its firing power. The difference is that the laser now goes up to level six. (In original Descent it only went up to level four.) It does not go above six. After this, D2ID says "Your laser is maxed out!" Each level of laser is higher in destructive power, but consumes the same amount of energy. Therefore, the higher level laser you have, the better kill/energy ratio you have. Some promotional materials have mentioned a "super laser". It is unclear whether this means a new type of laser or just the extra laser levels.
* Gauss Cannon - The Gauss is a beefed up vulcan, and makes cool noises.
It uses Vulcan ammo, so be sure to stock up. It's powerful enough to destroy most enimies with a single shot. Be careful, though, if you get too close to a Gauss blast, you can hurt yourself!
* Helix Cannon - A devastating weapon that can fill a room with nasty fire very quickly. It fires six shots at a time, and rotates 30 degreees per shot. It is the big brother to the spreadfire. Be aware that it also consumes huge amounts of energy, about one per shot.
* Pheonix Cannon - You can't use this weapon in D2ID, but it should be a part of the final release. In the mean time, however, some of the robots carry and use it. The shots will bounce twice before being destroyed, so stay away from fighting these bots in small rooms.
* Guided Missiles - These missiles are guided by the pilot until detonated or until the fire key is pressed again. At that point, they become normal homing missiles. When you fire a guided missile, either a mini-window will appear or your main screen will be replaced with the view from the guided missile. (This can be set from the Options menu). You can use the direction keys (or joystick, mouse, whatever) to control the missile. Slide keys and eccelleration keys still control your own ship, so that you can do some basic dodging while controlling the missile. Although guided missile are VERY cool. There are two minor problems with them. First, they are hard to control until you get the hang of them. Try saving your game and playing with them until you get the hang of it. Secondly, they don't do very much damage.
* Smart Mines - Like a proximity mine, these are defensive weapons that wait for some poor unsuspecting person/robot to smack into them.
Unlike a standard proximity mine, however, these spew forth globules of energy that track nearby targets, like a smart missile. It looks like a gold proximity bomb.

Be aware that these are not all of the weapons that will be available in the full version of D2. Parallax has also promised a few other weapons and a few more kinds of missiles.
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STRATEGY
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I think Descent is too easy.

Try the following:

* Don't use any cheat codes
* Increase the difficulty level of your game
* Use only one type of weapon, i.e. use only the normal guns

Descent has many difficulty levels, and should appeal to every gamer.
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I think Descent is too hard.

It depends what you mean by "hard". If you're having trouble controlling the ship, see the section above about controlling your ship. Otherwise, try the following:

* Decrease the difficulty level of your game
* Try flying around an empty mine tunnel as fast as you can and as fluidly as you can.
* PRACTICE SLIDING!! This technique will save you many times over when it comes to enemy fire.
* Learn when to (and when not to) use the different kinds of weapons you have.
* Practice, practice, practice!

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I'm lost in the maze. Any suggestions?

The transition from 2D to 3D is not an easy one. While it can be challenging, once you're used to it, 2D worlds will just seem, well, flat.

The best advice is to keep checking your map (hit TAB). How the maze is oriented once you enter the map screen is a view from behind your ship, with "up" going "up". You can rotate the map around after you realize where you are to see where you want to go. To zoom in and out, slide up and down.

Also, look for landmarks -- i.e. a room full of monitors, a huge cavernous room, or a room full of doors. Keep returning to these rooms until you've explored every branch.

One technique that may or may not work is to simply barrel down tunnels, not caring where you're going, just to kill enemies. This has two advantages -- one, a lot of the enemies in the maze will be wiped out so you don't have to deal with them when you start exploring, and a substantial chunk of the maze will already be mapped on your automap.

Once you get a large portion of the map, you can start exploring and looking for keys. Of course, your mileage may vary. Another technique to keep in mind is to keep the lights of the tunnel to the top of the screen; this will orient you correctly.

Mike Danseglio writes:

"What sometimes works best is leaving your 'mark' in the maze. Where Doom had dead bodies, Descent does not leave rubble of destroyed enemies.
Instead, seek out the monitors on the walls and blast 'em. They will explode and remain broken throughout the game. This really helps with the
"Have I been here before?" problems."

In Descent II, there is a valuable new option: markers. You can leave markers, place a text label on them, and these are visible from the map.
These can be indispensible in keeping track of where you've been.
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I'm having trouble controlling my ship.

This is often the most brought up subject. Like I said earlier, the transition to 3D is not an easy one.

The predominant opinion is that the best setup is with a fancy joystick, such as the FlightStick. This has lots of buttons and switches on the stick itself that will let you control the game. The Logitech Wingman Extreme is also a moderately priced popular alternative, and Microsoft's SideWinder 3D
Pro digital joystick is another popular alternative.

Failing that, the next best option is to use a normal, ANALOG joystick together with the keyboard. I personally use the joystick to point where I want to go and to use Z and X to accelerate and decelerate, respectively. I don't suggest a digital joystick, such as the Gravis gamepad, because a large portion of that immersive experience is lost when you can't control how fast or how slow you want to turn.

The least attractive solution is to use the keyboard by itself, although it has been known that a lot of players have become quite adept at this method. The best way is to use the keypad for pointing, sliding, etc. and other keys (such as z and x) on the other side of the board for accelerating and firing.

One suggestion that everyone should try, though -- have DEDICATED sliding keys! For example, use W,A,S and D for slide up, left, down, and right, respectively. This lets you slide while doing other things, such as turning, and will improve your gameplay significantly.
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How can I detect cloaked robots?

Meghan Mendenhall contributes:

"First, you know you are up against a cloaked robot when you unexplainably get hit at close range. Turn around (they tend to prefer to attack your rear) and back up. Try and find a corner or niche to hide in, so you're only attacked from one side. Launch a few flares, and watch for an interference pattern against the wall. Cloaked robots look like they are made out of slightly dirty celophane. Once you see it, blast away!
Spreadfire cannon is recommended because of its fast firing rate and wide coverage. When the robot explodes it decloaks, so you can see debris."
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The secret resource: lava

"I discovered something about the lava by accident, and a fairly costly one at that: the lava is REALLY explosive - like missiles. This can be
EXTREMELY useful:

Suppose you're in level 2 [of Descent I] (the one with the very large room near the start), and you're going to get the red keycard, which is defended by about 4 or 5 robots. As you may recall, there'a large lava pit in the middle of the room, which at least one of the robots is always directly above. Instead of aiming at the robot, aim at the lava right below it and fire a blast or two. The blasts will cause the lava under it to explode, and blow the robot above it apart! Also, since the shots are sufficiently far from the robot, it won't try to dodge the blasts!

The Vulcan can be nice here: it's extremely high rate of fire turns the lava into an exploding pool of fiery death (what vivid language :).