***************************************************************************** * * ******************************** D1X FAQ ********************************** * v1.40 * ***************************************************************************** Here is a short FAQ for D1X. It will be added to as questions continuously arrive of the same type that require an automated response. ============================================================================= ================================ The FAQ ================================== Q. Whenever I switch to automap, it splits the screen into a couple incomplete ones... what's wrong? Ie: Why does the automap screw up my screen? A. The default automap resolution was changed to 640x480, but your card cant support this mode. (probably due to improper VESA drivers). Use the parameter: -automap320x400 or similar with desired resolution. Add this to either the d1x.bat or d1x.ini - Q. How do I get my Space Orb to work with d1x? A. Use the parameter -exe where is the name of the d1x executable you are running with spwdcent.exe. - Q. Why does my sound become all fuzzy or stop working when I run D1X? A. Although there is no known really effective solution to this, you might try editing the file "allegro.cfg" that you can find in the D1X distribution, and mess with the values in that file. First off, try setting the sampling rate to the lowest value possible, and increase it until it stops working again. The last sampling rate you had is the highest it will go. A. There is also a setup program for Allegro. It's available from the D1X homepage: http://megaera.library.unt.edu/~sekmu/d1x. It attempts to autodetect your soundcard, and then automatically builds an allegro.cfg. You might wanna get this and try it out. A. Allegro and MikMod read from the global variable. Make sure you have the blaster variable set. (set BLASTER=A I D..) If you card uses irq 2, and this still doesn't work, try setting the variable to =A220 I9 D1... A. The Allegro sound libraries used in D1X are only compatable with sound blaster, or very close compatables. If you do not have one of these, sorry. A. Try installing the 'lastest drivers' from your board's -manufacturer-, not the built in drivers in the OS or in DirectX, if at all possible. A. If you have a Sound Blaster Live!, get a clean Allegro.cfg (from the d1x website if nescessary) and edit the line digi_card =. Set it to digi_card = 5 - Q. Why do I disconnect from the internet any time I try to join a multiplayer game? A. Most likely, you are connecting to the internet through a network card. check your network card's settings. Most likely, the Input/Output Range is set to 230->. Change this to a higher value that does not conflict with anything else. (340-> is usually good) This is caused yet again by allegro. Love those memory leaks and range errors. - Q. How come my autoselect list got screwed up / lost? A. Because adding the laser autoselect required a rather major rewrite of some of the code, previous d1x configurations cause some minor havok. The first time an old player is used, the primary autoselect list is reset. If you swap d1x versions multiple times, especially moving backward, results are likely to be... strange. To fix any problems occuring, simply go to the descent directory and delete the .plx file. - Q. Why won't D1X save my max FPS / mission directory / etc? A. These values are not saved by D1X. If you want to use the same ones every time, edit the d1x.ini and add the appropriate options. - Q. Why can't I load descent.tex / descent.txb? A. Make sure that your descent.hog is in your main descent directory, especially if you are using -missiondir - Q. Why can't I load any of my missions? A. Make sure that the desired missions are in the correct directory: The root directory if you are not using -missiondir (check both the batch file and the d1x.ini), or in whatever directory is specified by the -missiondir parameter. - Q. How come I can't kick someone out of the game? A. You must be game master in order to kick someone out of a game. Use the ignore command instead. Kick also won't work if the player you try to kick is not using D1DJGPP or D1X. - Q. How come someone I previously ignored shows back up in the game? A. This is a small bug in the ignore modules. Simply use the "discon:" command, where is the ignored person. This will reset the ignore checking stuff, and that player will leave the game again. - Q. What exactly did you do to the homers? A. Previously, the homers would always turn directly facing it's target if it could see you. Instead of having it directly facing the target, though, it now checks against a maximum turn radius that it can go per second, and depending on the framerate, sees if the desired turn is greater than the maximum angle this frame. If the desired turn is greater, then it is reduced to the maximum angle allowed per frame. This angle is increased/decreased depending on the difficulty level of the game. A. Previously, the homers would only lose 'fuel' when they turned... the harder they turned, the more fuel they lost. Now, in addition to this, they lose fuel at a constant (additional) rate. A. Previously, the homers would always target the -first- player in the list that was within range. Ie, it would always target the blue player if possible, then red, then... Now, it targets the closest player to the reticle. Ie, point and shoot. - Q. Why are the homers harder in D1X? A. Looking at the above question, you should realize that this means that the homers are only -reduced- in difficulty. The only way the homers could be harder in D1X is if it ran better on your machine than the other descent versions, while still falling below the cut off mark for the D1X homer limiting. Also remember that the homers get harder the higher the difficulty setting. A. Purely psychological. If you do, however, have sufficient -proof- that the homers are harder in D1X, send me demos (from both versions), your computer specs, etc. =============================================================================