D2X-XL v1.17.52 is released. D2X is a port of Descent 2 to OpenGL. It is an open source project and has received a lot of enhancements compared to Descent 2. My work on this project would not have been possible if hadn't been for the people who initially implemented the OpenGL and SDL code in D2X, so my thanks to them: It is for them that we can still play this great game on modern hardware. My thanks also to the many people who have provided input for this project, be it in the form of bug reports, great ideas, logos, encouragement, or other.

Descent 2 is a pretty old game, and further development has slowed down; so there are a few issues - some still stemming from the original Descent 2 - that have never been adressed or solved in D2X.

As I still like Descent 2 pretty much, I was always looking for a way to get rid of the things that plagued me most in Descent 2. Getting hold of the D2X source files and being able to create a MS Visual C++ 6 project for D2X finally enabled me to fix these annoyances.

D2X-XL v1.17.52 Changelog:
Fixed: Rendering post effects still didn't work right, causing screen flickering
Fixed: Light trails were rendered at the wrong position in spectator mode
Fixed: The program could crash when rendering low resolution models
Fixed: Opening a menu in Oculus Rift mode lead to extremely distorted letters in the menu
Fixed: Some HUD texts were miscolored and/or too dark
Fixed: Players couldn't properly join multiplayer games
Fixed: Players weren't properly assigned to teams in CTF
Fixed: Flags picked up by a player from the opposing team were immediately respawned in CTF
Fixed: The program crashed when returning the own flag to the flag pit in enhanced CTF
Fixed: Players didn't always get a proper team-specific start position in maps containing such start positions
Fixed: Players were occasionally spawning at the same position
Fixed: The program could crash when failing to join a multiplayer game because the game was full
Fixed: Players didn't reconnect properly during the transition from a level to the next
Fixed: If 3D powerups were set to full and the 3D shield's texture was not available, no shield powerups were rendered
Fixed: There were more instances of temporary stuttering due to textures not being pre-loaded to the graphics driver
Fixed: Trying to quit the game in the end level score table (by pressing Esc and chosing to abort the match) didn't work
Fixed: The program could crash when transferring the player from a level to next
Fixed: Loading missions containing RLE encoded bitmaps with row sizes > 255 pixels caused crashes (this affected Descent: The Enemy Within level 1 among others)
Fixed: In the 64 bit executable, the mouse could leave the game window although -grabmouse was specified
Fixed: The complete Descent 2 (512x512) hires texture pack didn't have the textures in the proper subfolder, causing a faulty installation of the textures
Fixed: Players could leave the end level score screen and proceed to the next level although not all other players had finished the previous level
Improved: The hires hostage texture has been made bigger
Improved: The hires hostage texture has been added to the complete Descent 1 hires texture packs
Improved: A multiplayer client that is temporarily unresponsive due to performing lengthy tasks (like loading a level or computing lightmaps) will not disconnect anymore

Download: D2X-XL v1.17.52
Source: Here