Hey there, Descenters,

We want to thank you for coming along with us on this journey and for all of your playtesting feedback in early access. We very much appreciate your support and your trust as we finish the storyline campaign for our upcoming official release. In order to make that release happen sooner, we are taking the game off of Steam Early Access to focus on implementing single-player, tech trees, and the other cool features we’ve talked about.

This was a tough decision and the deciding factor was our commitment to you. We’ve found that for a small team, early access requires a tremendous time investment that slows down the development cycle. We want to speed the game-making process back up, which requires dedicating our time to creating new content rather than supporting a work-in-progress as if it were a finished game. This means we aren’t planning to update our Production environment until around the time of our official release. However, if you’ve already bought the game, you’ll still be able to play the current build while we work to finish the game.

You can continue to follow along with us at BrightLocker.com, where we are posting regular updates. As we mentioned this summer, we are focusing most of our communications on BrightLocker to save time for development. We understand that stepping back from early access is unusual. However, we wouldn’t take this step unless it were the best and most efficient way for us to deliver the gaming experience we are all dreaming of.

Thank you for your continued support,

-The Team

This is a small download to address issues some Mac and Linux users were experiencing when trying to log in to the game through Steam.

Hi Descenters!

If you've read our update[descendentstudios.com], you know that much of our work these last few months has been focused on finding a way to speed up development. We've been carefully defining our scope and clearly tasking out the steps we need to take to get there.

However, we do have a few minor improvements we want to get out into the world. Some of these are going to Production with an eye towards giving our current players more people to shoot at and a new server region to offer our friends Down Under a better ping!
 
We are also testing a gigantic new map on Proving Grounds with the help of our Undergrounders (Diamond[www.brightlocker.com]). This map, Tartarus, is our largest yet! Playing it helps us make sure our servers are ready for playing campaign missions in co-op! It also shows off some of the grandeur (and secret areas) we talked about for Corporate War in the Kickstarter. Finally, Tartarus was largely built using assets we're developing for the new mapkit- the most important use of which is... you guessed it- the single-player campaign!
 
Thank you for your support and your hard work!

We'll see YOU in the mines!

-The Team
 
Production Patch Notes:

• OCEANIA SERVERS - Players can now start matches on servers in Australia.
• DEMO - Launching without owning the game will limit the player to using the Wasp.
  
  • This feature will be live on BrightLocker[www.brightlocker.com] later this week, so tell your friends!
• Miscellaneous tweaks and bug fixes.

Proving Grounds Patch Notes:

• TARTARUS (New Map) -
  
  • Largest map yet, approximately the size of some single-player missions.
  • Multiplayer modes: Corporate War, Conquest, Anarchy, Team Anarchy, Miner Mayhem, Co-op Vs. AI
  • Single-player modes: Vs. AI, Test Flight
  • Still has a little beautification to finish.
  • Yes, it is possible to find the yellow key in the main part of the map.

Hello Descenters,

Some of you have asked why we have been far less active these last few months.

In fact, we owe you an update.

We took a long, hard look at the scope of our project and how long it would take us to finish the game we described on Kickstarter. We always intended Descent: Underground to be a starting point to a larger universe. Plus, being huge Descent fans, we knew that some things had to be done right, and to a production level that exceeded expectations.

So, for the last few months, we’ve been digging deep into our own processes and working out ways to finish the game faster and still support a live product with a great community. We discovered that over the course of the project we’d been spending between half and two-thirds of our time on things like tech support, bug fixes, and community outreach. Those kind of delays can be devastating to a small team.

Luckily, we have some pretty cool friends and they’re helping us work through solutions to continue great community outreach while ramping up development.

We invite you to help us test a new community platform called BrightLocker as the first of these solutions!

BrightLocker is the brainchild of some game development veterans who are friends of ours from way back in our Origin Systems days. They asked for our help (and yours) to make sure BrightLocker supports awesome communities for cool games.

Just to be clear- this isn’t about asking you for more money. While BrightLocker does forever crowdfunding and you’ll see rewards offered, that is not our main reason for making the switch. Our goal is to find better ways of communicating with our community without having to develop all the tools ourselves. BrightLocker is building those tools.

We also want to help BrightLocker become a useful resource for those of you looking to start your own game project someday!

So, what are we specifically asking you to do?

• We want you to click on this link: https://brightlocker.com/loginsignup
  
• Create your BrightLocker account.
  
• Follow Descent: Underground at https://www.brightlocker.com/games/descent-underground

That’s it. Once you get set up, just use the platform, share your feedback, and welcome new players who come to check out this wonderful game you’re helping to build!

We are also planning to bring back our public web show, “Wingman’s Hangar”. We are currently thinking about doing it monthly to give Viewmaster more time to focus on game development- as he is also the Art Director here. We’re also thinking about renaming the show- do you have any cool ideas? Rob says it doesn’t even have to have “Wingman” in the title… (Yes it does - Wingman)

Finally, we’ve worked out a plan to bring a lot more developers onto the project to work on the game. We can’t discuss the details right now, but we expect to show you tons more cool stuff in the months to come!

Important stuff like the size of our single-player campaign, what new tech is coming for your ships, how unlocks will work, how you level up, matchmaking, and so much more.

Thank you so much for your support and your patience! You really are helping us to the make the best game possible.

-The Team

Hey rock jocks!
We have a very cool set of changes for you to try out!
With the help of our Proving Grounds testers, we've adjusted the movement numbers to add a feeling of weight and smoother turning for mouse users. This should help with dogfighting, especially 1v1.
Thank you for your support!
We'll see YOU in the mines!
-The Team
 
Patch Notes:

• MOVEMENT -
  
  • Rotational acceleration has been increased.
  • Translational acceleration has been decreased.
  • If you play with a mouse, we recommend making sure Mouse Inertia is enabled (Settings [Gear] > Controls > Advanced Options). This option is enabled by default.
• SURVIVAL -
  
  • We have removed the flypaper from some of the mining rocks that was causing some bots to get stuck.
  • Bots now all self-destruct at the end of a stage.
• TRAINING -
  
  • Improvements to flow.
  • Fixes to certain objectives that could be prematurely completed and block further progress.
• MULTIPLAYER MENU should now properly recognize if there is or is not a match of the selected type.
• DOOR FRAMES - Square frames should now have collision again.
• Miscellaneous tweaks and bug fixes.

We are testing build 3196 on the Proving Grounds!
Undergrounders and Alpha backers, we need you to try out new weightier ships and faster turn speeds.

Here are the patch notes:
https://descendentstudios.com/community/blog/24-release-notes-proving-grounds/

Howdy, Descenters!
We have a brand new build for you!
We've reworked our training mission, added new difficulty to Survival mode, tweaked some stats, made some menus prettier, and generally done awesome stuff for you to play with!
We are doubling down on the single-player campaign, so it may be some time until the next Production patch.
Thank you!
-The Team
 
Things to Test:

• SURVIVAL -
  
  • Added more, tougher spawn waves for additional stages past 20.
  • Added a special version of the AI.
  • Gave Incendius his homing missiles back.
  • Took steps to correct an exploit that allowed some bots to be rendered harmless, which limited bot spawn waves.
  • Corrected an issue that reduced the number of locations where bots could spawn, which reduced the number of bots spawning on higher stages.
• TRAINING - Substantially reworked. Our original narrator has been replaced by a placeholder computer voice.
• MENUS -
  
  • Added a multiplayer mode splash screen before the Match Browser. Dive directly into whichever game mode your heart desires.
  • Server browser interface has been updated to be a bit cleaner. Only functionality change is that the quick match button has been moved to the new MP menu.
  • Added color images for the game modes to replace the old white outlines.
• LASERS - Laser bolts are now slower.
• GAME MANUAL - Our game manual threads[descendentstudios.com] have been redone.
• CHA-CHING! - Kills are now more prominently displayed to the player who scored the kill.
• INTRO VIDEO - Bohemian Rhapsody has disappeared.
• MEET THE SHIPS - The first three videos in the "Meet the Ships" series have been added. You can find the Meet the Ships menu with videos for the Wasp, Panzer, and Shaman in the Drone Bay.
• TYCHO - Energy recharge zones in Micro Tycho should no longer block shots
• Respawn menu should no longer appear for players who died just before the end of a match.
• Survival matches should now terminate correctly once the last living player leaves.
• Fixed some compression artifacting on region icons

We are testing a new build on Proving Grounds (3175) and we hope to deploy soon to Production for all users.

Undergrounders & Alpha Backers, please help us test:

• NEW Tougher Survival (after stage 20)!
• NEW Training Mission (goodbye old narrator)!
• NEW Meet The Ships videos (Wasp, Panzer, Shaman)!
• PLUS... Tons of other improvements...!

Please read the patch notes here[descendentstudios.com]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
-

Good morning-cycle, rock jocks!
We have a very important test for you!
This build is our trial of unbaked dynamic lighting as a possible performance improvement (and download size shrinker!). We need you to compare your frame rates and play experience in both versions of Valor as soon as you can!
We've also got some changes to ship stats, two different difficulty settings for Vs. AI, and more!
Please try this stuff out as soon as possible and give us your thoughts in the forums.
Thank you so much for your support!
-The Team
 
Things to Test:

• VALOR_DYNAMIC - This is an online-only test version of Drakona's Valor map that uses dynamic lighting instead of baked lighting. Please try both versions of Valor and compare your framerate and performance. This version supports Anarchy only. This version does not support Vs. AI. - Attempting to play Vs AI in Valor_Dynamic will result in the match immediately ending.
• QUAD LASERS - These are now spread out to different hardpoints on the ships.
• SHIP STATS - Changes were made to these ships:
  
  • MINING - The lower-end mining ships should see more ore when mining, as will the Auger.
  • AUGER - Got a small armor boost at the cost of hauling capacity
  • GOLIATH - Got much sturdier
  • PANZER - Exchanged some cargo capacity for more room for Vulcan ammo
  • PREDATOR - Can now pitch faster, bringing its rotation in all directions more in line
  • SHAMAN - Mines more efficiently (in addition to better ore production)
  • WARLOCK - Now runs faster in a straight line due to losing weight in the cargo department
  • WASP - Also swapped out some hauling for armor
• VS AI DIFFICULTY - We now have TWO difficulty settings for Vs. AI. It is currently only enabled in single-player mode.
  
  • TRAINEE
  • HOTSHOT
  • Most Incendii have been removed from the spawn tables, as they were in there before they gained their full boss status.
  • Test Flight will always show up as Trainee.
  • Survival will always show up as Hotshot.
• MINING LASER - Damage done by the mining laser is once more attributed to the owning player.
• WARLOCK - Potential fix for the jitter thing. Please test this.
• BLUR BUG - HUD blurriness in DeadMoroz and Skylab should no longer be present.
• PROXIMITY MINES - Size reduced to halfway between old and new.
• MAC BUG - Build 3029 is a hotfix for a problem with the Mac version.