Objects

Object Tool

Object Data · Object Types · AI Behaviors · Object Position · Advanced Object Data

Objects include players, robots, powerups and other items, which are usually necessary for levels to be playable. While objects are associated with a segment, their position is mostly otherwise independent of them, and they can placed anywhere within a segment.

Objects can be moved around while in object mode.

Object Data

Text	Description
Object	Lists all objects in the level and shows the current object. In Descent 2, if the level contains a secret exit, this will also contain the "secret object"; this is simply the player spawn point when returning from the secret level, and should usually be close to the secret exit itself. Only its position can be changed.
Type	Controls the object type; see "Object Types" below.
Id	The ID of an object; the exact purpose of the ID depends on the object type.
AI	Applies only to robots: the AI behavior to use for this robot. See the "AI Behaviors" section for more.
Texture	Applies only to robots and reactors. the custom texture to use for this object. The texture is applied as-is, replacing most textures for the object and only one layer is supported. Can be used to camouflage robots, mark robots carrying keys with special textures, and so on. The default is (none), which uses default textures. The texture selected here should not have any special effects, or the results are unpredictable.
This robot spawns	Applies only to robots. It is possible to configure particular robots to drop other robots or powerups on death. The Type controls whether a robot or powerup is dropped, the ID controls the ID of the dropped robot or powerup and the Qty controls how many will be dropped.
Add	Adds another copy of the current object into the level into the center of the current segment.
Delete	Removes the current object.
Delete all	Removes all objects of the same type as the current object from the mine.
Move	Moves the current object into the center of the current segment.
Reset	Resets some properties of the object, such as orientation and the advanced data settings.
Default	(Descent 2 only) Removes all HXM modifications from this object type and ID.
sort	Whether to sort the list of objects by type every time a new object is added.
Multiplayer	(Descent 2 only) Whether the object is only there in multiplayer modes.

Object Types

Text	Description
Camera	D2X-XL only: a camera object that is used with the camera trigger.
Effect	D2X-XL only: a decorative object. These are added and managed with the effect tool.
Explosion	D2X-XL only: a static explosion that acts as a decoration. The ID controls the explosion sprite to use.
Hostage	A kind of object that appears as a sprite and can be collected by the player, who will get extra points if the level is completed with hostages on board; dying will cause all the hostages on the ship to be lost. The ID of the hostage has no effect.
Mine	Descent 2 only: a static mine that serves as an obstacle. Explodes on contact with a player or projectile.
Monsterball	D2X-XL only: the monsterball object used in the monsterball multiplayer mode.
Player	A player spawn point. ID 1 should be used for the single-player spawn point, while IDs 2-8 are used for (non-co-op) multiplayer modes, like anarchy. The spawn point for player 1 is practically always the very first object in the mine, and it shouldn't be removed. Each ID should be used only once.
Player (Coop)	A player spawn point for the co-op (co-operative multiplayer) mode. The normal "Player" type is used for player 1, while co-op spawn IDs 8-10 are used for players 2-4 in co-op. Must be present even in secret levels (except in Descent 2, where secret levels are not accessible in multiplayer). Each ID should be used only once.
Power Up	An item or power-up that can be picked up by the player, including but not limited to shield/energy boosts, weapons, ammo and keys. The ID controls the item type.
Reactor	A reactor. There should only be one of these in every level, and it should be placed within a reactor segment. A reactor and reactor segment should be present even in every level, even those with boss robots (but the reactor object will be removed automatically on level load, if a boss robot is detected by the game). In Descent 1, the ID has no effect, while in Descent 2 the ID controls the model to use for the reactor (their only difference in behavior are the positions of the reactor guns).
Robot	A robot; all of these act as enemies (with one notable exception in Descent 2). The ID controls the robot type.
Smoke	D2X-XL only: a static smoke effect. Much like effects, these should be added and managed with the effect tool.

AI Behaviors

Only apply to robots. This does not include the documentation for AI properties that are set for robot types and not individual robots.

Text	Description
still	The robot tries to stay relatively still, but may still attempt to dodge shots, pounce on the player for a melee attack or pursue the player.
normal	The robot moves around normally.
get behind (sneak)	The robot tries to get out of the sight of the player, and may prioritize that action over attacking.
drop bombs (flee)	Causes the robot to flee from the player and drop proximity bombs in the process.
follow path / snipe	In Descent 1, makes the robot follow a path. (TODO: how to configure, if possible?) In Descent 2, makes the robot snipe the player; it tries to keep distance, fire from afar and flee after it has fired at the player.
station	Makes the robot roam around as much as possible. More effective in Descent 1 than Descent 2.
follow	Descent 2 only: makes the robot follow the player that it spots.
static	D2X-XL only: completely disables the robot AI.
smart bombs	Descent 2 only: same as "drop bombs", but with smart mines instead of proximity bombs.

Object Position

Allows controlling the exact coordinates and rotation of the current object. The "apply" button applies the new input coordinates, while "reset" reverts the text boxes back to the coordinates the object has.

Advanced Object Data

All of these take in raw data (for example, fixed-point numbers must be input as their integer representations). Unless otherwise mentioned, all of these are set separately for each object.

Text	Description
mass	How heavy the object is; considered with collisions. The heavier the object, the harder it is to move around.
drag	The amount of drag. The more drag, the faster the object will slow down if moving.
brakes	If set, the movement speed will slow down even faster.
turn roll	Controls how much roll is applied whenever the object is turning. Only applies to objects where rotation makes sense (such as robots).
flags	Various flags applied to the physics of an object. This is a bit-field, where the applied flags are simply the sum of the values below, all of which are powers of two: 1: The object rolls when turning. 2: The object aligns itself with the closest side. 4: Bounces on contact with a wall. 8: The object turns/wiggles around a bit while moving. 16: The object stops when it comes in contact with a wall. 32: The object will not stop going on contact with another object (used for fusion projectiles). 64: The thrust values apply. 128 (D2 only): The object has already bounced once (used for phoenix projectiles). 256 (D2 only): The drag value will not slow down the rotation of the object. 512 (D2 only): The object disappears after hitting a wall twice (used for phoenix projectiles).
size	The size of the hitbox of this object.
shield	How many shields this object has.
model/clip	The model or clip (sprite) to use with this object.
frame	The amount of time the animation of this object has been playing.
frame no.	The frame number to start this object on.
velocity	The velocity of this object as it spawns.
thrust	If the thrust is enabled, how much should the velocity increase on every frame.
rotation velocity	The rotational velocity of this object as it spawns.
rotation thrust	If the thrust is enabled, how much should the rotation velocity increase on every frame.