D2X-XL Worklog

Notes on features and problems from the development of D2X-XL, newest first.

Robot AI

The original robot AI had a few flaws built into its design. Robots always knew where you were. They shared a single "last position fired at", so robots would shoot at a spot none of them had seen. A cloaked player's position was given away to all robots at once. And the alert level of a mine could only rise; once the robots were alarmed, they stayed alarmed until the end of the level.

Robots now have to see or hear you, and each robot goes by where it last saw or heard you, not by where you really are. They hear shots being fired, shots hitting something and ships bumping into things, unless doors or walls are in the way, and they notice shots flying past them. Flying around with your headlight on gives you away at once.

Robots talk to each other, too: a robot fighting you reports it, and after a short delay some of the others set out to join it. When nothing happens for a while, the alarm calms down again.

They also behave better in a fight. They no longer clump together and steer around each other, they dodge shots, badly damaged ones may take cover, and a robot that has no way to get away makes a stand.

How well robots hear, how fast they react and how many of them answer a call all depend on the difficulty level, and there is a new one on top: Insane++.


News

A new D2X-XL update fixing broken screen resolution persistence is available

There is yet another D2X-XL update is available (the new Pumo Mines broke a few things ...)

Believe it or not: There's a new D2X-XL version online!

Uploaded updated D2X-XL and library source code that compiles with Visual Studio 19

After a really long time, another new DLE version is available

A new DLE version is available (hear, hear!) :D

A new Max OS X version of D2X-XL is available!

D2X-XL now offers a cartoon style render mode!

New D2X-XL and DLE versions are available

Blarget has got his own area in the level spotlight

New D2X-XL and DLE versions are available

A couple of levels have been added to the level spotlight

Hooray! We're finally having a new Mac OS X version of D2X-XL!

D2X-XL now features an observer mode for multiplayer games

A new D2X-XL version with improved multiplayer synchronization is available

A new D2X-XL version fixing out of sync problems in multiplayer games is available

A new D2X-XL version with many multiplayer bug fixes is available

Added high quality (ogg) Descent 1 and 2 music to the downloads area

A new D2X-XL version with important bug fixes is available

D2X-XL compiles and runs on Linux again!

Descent 1 and 2 high res textures are now available as complete downloads

A new DLE version with a ton of bug fixes and improvements is online

A new D2X-XL version is online

A new D2X-XL version with a much needed bug fix is online

A new DLE version is online

Published another DLE version with more bug fixes and improvements by Sirius

Published a new D2X-XL version

Published a new DLE version with tons of bug fixes and improvements by Sirius

D2X-XL now supports Oculus Rift 3D headsets!

Updated DLE and D2X-XL to support new level features requested by Pumo

Added an article about DLE's new tunnel generator to the worklog

DLE's new tunnel generator is finished

Added a new article to the worklog

Published a new DLE version

Added a new article to the worklog

Added two new articles to the worklog

D2X-XL and DLE-XP now support triangular segment sides!

DLE-XP has an OpenGL render and 1st person view!

New DLE-XP version available

Wrote a new worklog article

Check out DarkFlameWolf's level spotlight section!

New DLE-XP and D2X-XL versions are available

A new DLE-XP version is available

Added a worklog article about the way point feature

Added way point support to DLE-XP and D2X-XL

Posted a bunch of new screenshots

Posted a bunch of new screenshots

A New version of DLE-XP is available

New OS X version of D2X-XL is available!

Added article about lightmaps to worklog.

New article and video added to worklog.