About
This is Parallax Software's original 1998 release of most of the Descent 1 (v1.5) source code, published under a non-commercial license; code the studio didn't own the copyright to — primarily low-level sound and modem code — was stripped out. It builds with Watcom C/C++ and Microsoft Macro Assembler under MS-DOS/Windows-era tooling; compiled without sound or serial-port support, so multiplayer over modem and VR peripherals aren't available in the buildable code. A separate Descent Developer Resources site, maintained by Kevin Bentley, has historically supported the codebase for people porting or building it.
Getting started
Building requires MS-DOS-era tools — Watcom C/C++, Microsoft Macro Assembler, and a Make utility — and running the included batch build script compiles the executable; sound and serial-port (modem/VR) support are not included in the buildable code. A separate level editor can be built by changing compiler flags and requires additional editor data files.
History
The source was released by Parallax Software in January 1998, alongside an interview with co-founders Matt Toschlog and Mike Kulas explaining the decision — primarily to let aspiring developers see real production code — while acknowledging the code itself was rough given the time and budget pressures during Descent's original development. At the time, the developers said they had no definite plans to release the Descent 2 source but didn't rule it out.
Additional notes
- License
- The license is non-commercial only — Parallax states any commercial/shareware use of derived work requires their prior written permission.