If you are using DOSBox, then yes you can increase the sensitivity further but editing the DOSBox .conf file for the game and increasing the value of sensitivity. By default it is 100 (corresponding to 100%). You can set it a 200 for twice as sensitive, or any value, in fact.

If you are using DXX-Rebirth (highly recommended Windows source port for the game) then it will max out, though whether the Windows mouse sensitivity plays a factor I don't know, as it is more than adequate for me in that source port.


The game is old and often we remember things looking better than they actually were.

Both games were MS-DOS, the first in 1994 and the second in 1996. Check the in-game resolution you are using in the graphics settings. You might be able to up the resolution to 640x480. The source port allows you to use much higher resolutions which does give crisper graphics, but the textures are still low res, so close up are still pixelly. But you can then add a filter over the top (anti-alisaing) to smooth things out. Similarly, DOSBox allows you to specify a scaler, so you could try 2xsai or advinterp2x, but you do then need to use a compatible renderer option, such as ddraw or opengl.


Lastly, I've no idea about the gamepad as I've never tried using a gamepad through DOSBox. I use mouse and keyboard. DXX-Rebirth does allow you to use various trypes of controllers, so that is an option for you. Or you could use something like Pinnacle Game Profiler to map keyboard controls to your gamepad so that DOSBox picks up keyboard input when you use your controller.

That and the fact the OP is likely using a LCD now vs a CRT.

Actually, it seems like when I adjust the graphics settings that nothing changes, no matter how low or high they are set. I'm wondering if the same is true for the controls and if this is some sort of bug.

Do I have to use steam to use the source version?

Right now the pixels are about a millimeter square in the first game. In the second when they are doing the briefing the models of the enemies look to be high res, but then the in game res is back to millimeter wide pixels for some reason.

And where do you go to adjust things in dos box? I don't know how to access the dos box itself. I just see it pop up when I play the game.

^ drop dosbox and try DXX-Rebirth.

How do I do that? Do I need steam?

Also, where is that config file for the controls? I've found a lot of Dos files, but not that one. What is it under?


Oh, and the mouse sensitivity slider does work. It just won't get sensitive enough.

Read the FAQ on this forum for D1 and D2. If you have any more questions after that, feel free to ask! :)

If you are finding that settings aren't being saved, then I would take a first guess that you are on Vista, 7 or 8 and have installed into a protected folder (Program Files x86 for example). UAC and DEP will require that you run as administrator in order to change any configuration files within the protected folder. Better to just install outside of Program Files, such as C:\Games\...

As for source port, it means it is a port of the game source code, it is not source as in Valve's Source Engine.

To adjust the DOSBox settings (as in not the in-game settings) you need to edit the relevant .conf file which should be in the same folder as the DOSBox executable. I strongly recommend DXX-Rebirth. I only played the shareware game in DOSBox, and then tried it out in DXX-Rebirth. This made me decide to get Descent 1 and 2 (I have since also bought 3) from GOG and to use it with the DXX-Rebirth source port. It works really well, looks great, and is of course a native Windows program. Plus you can use addons such as various different redbook audio, so having the Descent 1 Macintosh CD music playing instead of the Descent 1 PC midi music is very nice indeed.

DXX-Rebirth does not need Steam. It isn't related to Steam at all, it is just a third party engine port. A_Future_Pilot has a thread stickied here on GOG that has a link to a DXX-Rebirth installer that he created, should you want an easy way to set it up. I just downloaded the files from the official site and copied the Descent data files into it as required.

I actually like the midi music better. At least on the first level.

Then you could choose to use the new version of the game’s original soundtrack to DXX-Rebirth which was recorded with the Roland Sound Canvas SC-55 MIDI Module (as it was meant to be heard in the 90s). This addon is downloadable from the DXX-Rebirth site, too.

Also, (if I remember correctly), you can still use MIDI music in Rebirth as well :)

not only can you use MIDI in Rebirth, you can use Pre-Rendered MIDIs from a much better sound card then you have.

you can also play regular music, or ANY audio CD.

just dont bother to ask any more questions til youve tried Rebirth.

First, you shouldn't make people go download stuff from some site they don't know. Always bugs me to do that.


Second, I now have DXX-rebirth on both games and now have some questions.

1) About the mouse movement. If I move my mouse fast I turn hardly at all. If I move it slow I can do a full 180 with one long swipe. How do I fix it so that this works while moving the mouse fast and so that it is a bit more sensitive so I can do that 180 with a shorter swipe?

2) I get wobble for some reason. Turning makes my ship roll. Why?

3) How do I get a shortcut from an admin account to work in a limited account? Every time I try to transfer the short cut to my limited account and then try to use it it says it's broken.

The wobble is normal, you are in a floating craft. This was something I noticed myself after playing in DOSBox and then in DXX-Rebirth. Basically, the DOSBox game was running at too high a framerate, and as the original game was framerate dependent for physics (which also caused the homing missiles to be almost completely unavoidable) the movement of the craft was in fact too 'stiff'. DXX-Rebirth doesn't use framerate in this way (which is a good thing) so plays it as it is intended. If you play the DOSBox version but slow it down by decreasing the cycles then you may notice the wobble.

As for the roll, not entirely sure what you mean (as it may depend on how you have your mouse axes set up). The game also has auto-levelling turned on by default, which when you are close to a surface it tries to level you to it so that the surface is the floor. Tends to be a bit hit and miss, but this was the case in both the orignal and the source port. Some players turn it off and rely on their own rolling to orient themselves.

Of course, if you mean a slight roll to the side whilst you turn left and right, this is normal. Just tried it myself to see what you might mean and there is a roll as you turn, but very shallow and levels after you stop turning. This is just floating craft physics.

For the mouse speed, that seems to be normal too. If you imagine yourself in a floating craft, you turn by applying thrust laterally. Assuming that we have thrusters that fire at a constant rate, if you fire a thruster quickly, it therefore fires for a short amount of time, so the force of that thrust is small and you'll turn slowly. If you fire slowly you keep applying that thrust so the force builds up and you turn faster. That's the only way I can think of it.

The motion you are describing as what you want is that akin to a first person shooter where you play a character standing on the ground. Descent isn't quite the same as this as you are in a floating craft.

The port was designed to play the game as it was originally, just with a new updated engine and bug fixes (such as the removal of framerate dependence).

Descent Rebirth is great! It's a better fit for modern setups :)

Yep, the degree of mouse movement you apply is akin to the degree of steering in a car, motorbike, or any other vehicle really. Think of it more as 'steering-acceleration' ie. the degree and speed that you move the mouse determines how quickly, and severely you turn. It's different to say, Quake - in which you move your mouse as though it's your own head, to immediately and directly look at something. Think of it as steering as opposed to looking. It's all physics / momentum.

Some control suggestions for if you want it a bit more familiar - like Quake in a space ship - try these keys:

- Accelerate - 'W'

- Brake/Reverse - 'S'

- Slide Left - 'A'

- Slide Right - 'D'

- Slide Up - 'Spacebar'

- Slide Down - 'Left-Shift'

- Roll Left - 'Q'

- Roll Right - 'E'

All the other keys, I leave at their default values. I also use mouse acceleration; otherwise known as things like "enhance pointer precision" etc. I switch this to 'On' in my computer's Control Panel/Hardware/Mouse/Pointer Options.
Also, somewhere in the mouse options within the game, is a checkbox for "invert pitch up/down". I click this to change it to 'Y' for 'Yes'.

As for vanilla DOSBOX Descent, and the way it looks; it is to do with the upscaling on modern displays. Interestingly, if you use incompatible Output/Scaler modes by editing the Config file you may get a tiny, tiny picture in the centre of your screen. This is the true image how it would have looked on old monitors (only smaller). The upscalers force-in extra lines between each line of the original 'true' image so as to stretch the image to make it fit today's monitors with their zillions of pixels (with ugly results, I know).

You didn't say which type of computer/operating system you have, but in case you have Windows 8 or similar, here's how to find the Config file to change mouse sensitivity for DOSBox Descent 1 &2:

1. Firstly, you might want to reinstall GOG's DOSBox Decent 1&2 (not Rebirth - that's nothing to with this) because messing with the DOSBox sliders can make the config file look a bit confusing to read. A reinstall will fix this.

2.Go to your computer's File Explorer program or equivalent and search: C:\GOG Games\Descent and Descent 2
*the above is the default location. Obviously, if you've stashed it somewhere else, then type the path for the file's location.

3.Open Descent or Descent 2 depending on which game you want to edit. These are the yellow file folders at the top of the list.

4.Next, look for a file named (only, and nothing else) 'dosboxDescent' or 'dosboxDescent2' depending on which game you want to edit. This should open with Notebook or similar. Open it.

5.Next you will see a lot of text. Right at the top of this text is info and instructions; each line beginning with a '#' symbol. Don't change these. These are just for you to read. DO THIS: ---> Near the top, just below the first set of '#'-instructions, you'll see a small paragraph, well more of a short list of values that DO NOT begin with '#'. This is where you need to be looking. In this little list is the word "sensitivity". Next to it is a value of 100. Delete '100' and type a value of, well anything really. I personally deleted '100' and typed '400'. So now it's 4x more sensitive.

6.Close the window. You'll be asked if you want to save the changes. Click 'Yes'. Fire-up the DOSBox version of Descent in the usual way. Done.

Also, back in the good ol' config file, if you look further down the list, you'll see all the output and scaler options. Try experimenting with different combinations if you like. To do this, simply delete whatever it says and type something else in it's place. If you're wondering what to type, each paragraph of changeable values is always preceded by a paragraph in which each line starts with those '#' - symbols. These instructions - which is what they are - tell you which things you can type. Of interest is a value called 'Aspect'. If, next to 'aspect', it says "false", that means it is being allowed to stretch the image to fit Widescreen (16:9) displays. This results in an unnatural 'squashed' looking-image; not what the developer intended for the standard 'square' (4:3) monitors of the time. If you wish to change to the old square-'o'-vision, simply delete the word "false", and type "true". Bear in mind that if you are playing on a widescreen monitor, you'll get black borders down the left and right sides of the screen. You will however, get the correct image, or rather: aspect, as it was back in the day. It will still look more pixelated than you remember it from ye olde days of old because of the scaling malarkey that the above posters and myself mentioned.

On a side note: I prefer the MIDI music of DOSBox-Descent to that of the installed default renditions in Rebirth. Problem is, I can't for love nor money get the game to play any music files other than default. I've tried to make it play the Descent CD MP3s that came with the GOG purchase. Nothing happens. It doesn't help that when I type the path for the sound files, the game doesn't recognise the backslash (\) key.