Moon's Descent Trivia Contest - the winners are here!
70 questions of no vital importance whatsoever yet knowing the answers could mean the (Descent) world to you!
First let me say that I am rather disappointed to admit that my English obviously sucks big time. Due to my sometimes ambiguous wordings of a few questions some people got rather confused. I did sort out all of those questions and did not count them relevant anymore so that there was a fair chance for everyone. As well it turned out that 2 questions of the text-file version were different from the HTML-version; in case anyone already sent answers to the old text-file and missed the new ones, I accepted them anyway (if these dropped questions were answered correctly!).
Nevertheless I'm astonished to say that NONE of the participants managed to answer *all* of these left-over questions correctly! However, as I don't have enough space at home I'll give those joysticks out anyway ;) It was a lot of work to dig through the tons of mail I received but eventually three winners turned up that answered most of the questions correctly!
Congrats, respect and a MS Sidewinder go to:
Solrazor
HH-Soft
FTL2
- By what name was the game orginally known in smaller circles before Interplay decided to release it under the name "Descent"?
Inferno. - What DOOM-like feature did the Vertigo Series addon finally introduce to the Descent world?
Flickering lights effect - according to HH-Soft (who really might know this better due to his close contact to the dudes at Outrage) these were already included in D2 1.1 but simply not used as the DMBII came with 1.2. Doh, another one that's not counted :) - What's a so-called "X-Factor" that's been introduced with D3?
It's a feature of the advanced AI that's been developed for D3. Every robot has a certain kind of behaviour/attribute about it; eg. the Barnswallow collects powerups and puts them into its net, the Orbot is highly inflammable... - What kind of physical/health problems did some Descent players experience while playing the game?
Motion sickness - some people even said they had to throw up after playing. - Which D1 level has a camouflage appearance in which of the D3 levels?
D1 level 1 - Lunar Outpost in D3 level 10 - CED Military Base. - What nation did construct the Pyro-GX?
Israel - What highly debated feature did Outrage include in D3 to make it easier for those d*** Quake players?
Mouselook! - you can aim freely with the mouse which contradicts to the way you usually have to control a ship in Descent. Fortunately, this feature is disabled by default. - What D3 1.0 bug (already fixed) was so annoying in multiplayer games that people even refused to describe it on the forums to prevent others from using it to their advantage?
Afterburner bug - you could get an incredible speed boost mapping several keys to the afterburner. - Which is still the most innovative cheat code of all Descent games?
D1: Flash - as said before, this one is a matter of personal taste and indeed none of the participants mentioned the same so it's another one that doesn't count. However, if you really think about it, this one simply rules. No matter where you are in a level, when you enter this code your way to the exit is lit by energy powerups. It's really innovative... - Which Outrage dude has been voted the most favourite guy to be working with by the rest of the Outrage crew?
Jeff Slutter - at least that's what they all said in a PyroPimps show from 11.25.98 ;) - Complete this sentence: "Now, after years of waiting..."
"there is light at the end of the tunnel!" - from the incredible D3 trailer (not the E3 trailer!). - How many points can you score by placing 5 orbs at once in a D3 Hoard Game (minimum # to score is 2)?
15! - got a lot of different answers on this one. You DID set the minimum # to score to 2, did you?? - What does "PTMC" stand for?
Post-Terran Minerals Corporation. - Some people came up with Post-Terran _Mining_ Corporation but I did not find this mentioned anywhere! However, I DO have a screenshot that says "Minerals"! - What optional "flight-mode" got dropped on the introduction of D3 (I'm not talking of the Afterburner!)?
Cruising - the ship would fly by itself at a certain speed. - What most wanted powerup did Parallax include in D2 due to public demand from the community?
Afterburner. - What goody has been used on most Descent sites/boxes/books for illustrative purposes?
The Blue Orb. - Who (nick) won the D3 50.000 USD contest in 99?
Fatal - (Chris Bond) - What sound effect did many Descent enthusiasts miss in D3?
The "clang" sound that you heard in D1/D2 when getting hit. - What dangerous side effect (bug) did the increased framerate of 3D accelerator boards have for D1/D2 multiplayers that were running the game on such a board?
Due to a bug in the maths routine, Homing Missiles where adjusting their lock on you frame dependently. The more frames per second the more often the missile recalculates it's aim on you making it almost impossible to dodge it on higher FPS. - What's the name of the most overplayed multiplayer level and who designed it?
Minerva by Spaz. - What happens when you try to save a clone of this level in Gwar's cool D3 Edit?
You get some funny messages telling you it's impossible to do but finally the editor gives up and you can save it. (I laughed my ass off when I saw it the first time!). - Whose programmer's face is hidden in both the D2/D3 HOGs?
John Slagel's - type in pigfarmer! - How many Guide-Bot powerups do exist in D3?
6: Accelerator, Extinguisher, Guardian, Manual Pilot, Reverse Anti-Virus, Wingnut. The Manual Pilot is used in Mercenary though it does not work. Nevertheless it's already inside the normal D3 HOG and I asked which ones *exist* (a bit mean this question, I admit but some people mentioned it correctly). - What game did Descent 1 get compared to in the TV commercial?
DOOM. - What graphics board could D3 Sol Ascent be only run upon?
Voodoo 3 (actually the only reason why I bought one rather than a TNT2-card, doh!). - What setting do hardcore players turn off immediately after (re)installing the game?
Auto-leveling. - What does the "AHT" in the name of the new D3 ship Magnum AHT stand for?
Assault heavy transport. - What's so special about that hidden switch behind the grate of the water tunnel opposite to the yellow door in D2 level 7?
Shooting this switch opens a tunnel that lets you bypass the yellow door. So you're getting the red key without having to pick up the blue and the yellow key; nice shortcut. - Which member of the D-Net team has (!) even a large Descent logo on the rear window of his car?
Heiko Hermann aka HH-Soft. - What's the name of the first popular Descent level editor?
Devil - Descent Editor for Vertices, Items and Levels by Achim Stremplat in case you didn't know ;) - Where does the PTMC HQ reside?
D1: Shiva, D3: Seoul, Korea (both of which were accepted). - When was D1 shareware released?
December 94 on the Internet - as still can be read here. - What's the best technique to increase speed in multiplayer games besides using the Afterburner?
Triple-chording. - a) why did they call it "Descent: Freespace" though it's got (almost) nothing to do with it and b) why did they change it to "Conflict: Freespace" in Europe?
a) A HD-utility already had the name "Freespace" registered so they had to alter it;
b) Descent did not sell so well in Europe (we must be crazy!). - Which multiplayer service made Descent online gaming really popular?
KALI - interestingly enough Jay Cotton started development on KALI just so he could play Descent over the Inet. - What game do the Outrage guys love to play when they're not busy with Descent?
Foosball. - What's the fastest of all Descent Missiles?
Mercury Missile. - What IRC channel is frequently visited by quite a number of members of the Descent community?
#300baud on EFFNET. - Which levels that were later used in D2 full version were played in the 17 MB trailer that was worth every byte the download?
1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 18 - some of them appear several times with different rooms. - Where did Kevin Murphy's nick "Sick_One" originate from and why did this certain person entitle him like this?
He got this one from his wife since he spents almost all of his spare time on his 10+ (!) computers. - Name any of Killgood's notorious macros
"Thanks for making me #1!", "Killgood, you just can't beat him!" - usually you don't hear it too often since he always leaves the game as soon as you start pounding his wimpy ass! - Which D3 site has the highest shutdown/reopen frequency?
Vertigo Extreme (even more often than PXO <g>). - Which programmers do you find sitting in a cave of Mercenary level 4?
Jeff Slutter and Nate Goudie. - What made playing the game in fullscreen mode so dangerous in the D1 demo 1.0?
You did not have your amount of shields listed on your HUD! - so you never knew if you would survive the next hits! - How many seconds time have you got to get through the rings in D3 level 6 on your hunt for the Builder's Icon on INSANE and is it physically possible in the first place?
20 seconds and yes, it's possible! - but only if you pick up the Afterburner Cooler. - Who founded the highly successful Descent BB?
Koolbear and Sup. - What does the marker message say that's left behind when you kill the D2 Guidebot?
Marker 11: RIP: Guidebot (in case you had named him to Floyd you'd get "Marker 11: RIP: Floyd"). - Which cool new D3 multiplayer level got included with the D3 demo 2?
Taurus (The Core was already included in the first demo!). - How many teleports can be found in D2 and how many in D3?
D2: 10 - D3: 4. - How many personal pics of Descent players are included with the retail CD?
682! - What's the nick of Luke Schneider, one of the Descent level gods?
Vizor. - Why do hardcore D1/D2 multiplayers enable the control panel in the lower third of the screen rather playing full screen?
You get an extended field of view to both sides so you can see your enemies earlier. - What's the "official" name of the Guidebot?
Wingnut. - What does the D2 E-Bandit say when he starts sucking off your energy?
Got you! - however, still noone knows what the D1 Purple Fusion Hulk says ;) - Who originally started the Descent FAQ?
John D. DeCuir (who later handed it over to Stephen P. Clouse from Warpcore). - What happened to the Mega Missile on the introduction of Descent 2?
It's destructive power got weakened to have some distance to the Earthshaker Missile. - What companies did Parallax split up into and where do they reside?
Outrage Entertainment: Ann Arbor, Michigan, US. - Volition Inc.: Champaign, Illinois, US. - How many multiplayer modes does D3 have besides Anarchy?
6: CTF, Entropy, Hoard, Hyper-Anarchy, Monsterball. - What's the Material Defender's callsign?
MD-1032 - another question of debate. In D1 he's definitely called MD-1032, in D2 he lands on Valhalla Tower communicating as Vertigo 1 which could also be his ship. Turning on the subtitles you get some dialogue between the computer, Hawkeye 3 and Hawkeye 6 but this could also be another MD questioned. The new MD of the the Vertigo series also refers to Vertigo 1. In D3 however he's referred to MD-1032 again; in level 1 by the pilot of the Beagle as well as in the log files you pick up. Another question not counted... - By what name does the MD go along in the books?
Ben St. John (books by Peter Telep). - Which infamous poster received such a high recognition on alt.games.descent that he got referenced to in the game?
Zod. - What familiar robots is the Homunculus assembled from?
Class 1 Drone, Advanced Lifter. - Who and why occasionally renamed the Descent BB to the Descent Whiner's Board?
There's been a lot of discussion on the D3 patches introducing new bugs and some ppl where blatantly mucking about Outrage so one of the programmers came up with this name in return. Unfortunately due to a foobar HD repartitioning with Partition Magic 4 that part of my HD where I saved several DBB threads got lost and I'm not sure anymore who it was (the mind is a terrible thing to waste)! And due to the revamping of the DBB I couldn't get this thread from the archives any more so I just had to cancel this question too. - How many chats with Outrage/Interplay took place in 99?
4 - 3 moderated by Interplay and a Descent Love Fest chat by Zappafan & Co. - What not too famous role playing game was based upon the D1 engine?
Descent to Undermountain. - Which team released the Orion Nebula Project?
ONP Team with Bradley Schneider and Luke Schneider (not related) - members of the D-Net team also had their hands in it (as usual <g>). This level set was so cool, everyone should have played it. - What slogan was printed on the US-version of the D2 box?
You're going down... again! - What's the most difficult (skill) to get powerup of all Descents (descent version/level)?
The Earthshaker Missile behind the grates close to blue key door in D2 level 24 - none other takes as much skill (and time to figure it out how to get it in the first place). - What script flaw got overlooked in the nevertheless very cool D3 ending movie (not the cutscene)?
After the GB is shot by the drone the MD turns around, grabs his gun and aims on the drone. In the background you can see Dravis' empty chair and an empty wall with the PTMC logo. The next shot shows Dravis nailed to this exact spot where he should have been seen before since he already got nailed *before* the MD could pick up his weapon! (nitpicking? Maybe, but I noticed it on my first watching of the movie!) - "The future is already here"... on which site?
Descent4.net
