Video difference is due to the video-cards.

Have you installed the joystick driver on machine #1 (the one that doesn't detect the joystick in Control panel)?
As for joystick in DOS (Descent) for machine #2 (which detected the joystick in Control Panel), that's weird. Is this the only joystick on your machine? Does Descent come with a test program or a joystick test option in the setup program with which you could verify at least if the joystick buttons work? Or try the VDMSound emulation with another game that supports joystick (e.g. Prince of Persia, which should be easy to find on the web for testing purposes)?

You can also turn on logging to check if VDMSound really saw your joystick using the Windows drivers (in launchPad's advanced/troubleshooting if using LaunchPad, or in VDMS.INI if not using Launchpad).

V.

No, the joystick works fine on machine #1 - it does detect it in the control panel as it's supposed to. Only obvious difference is that Descent 2 does on one machine, and not on the other.

I tried running it with Descent 1 and got the same problem. Windows-based games don't though, so I'm assuming it's something interfering with VDMSound.

Inside Descent 1/2 you can try to calibrate the joystick, as well as set buttons. The calibration dialog tells me no joystick was detected - setting buttons to controls doesn't work either (i.e. if I press a button on the joystick the game doesn't notice).

I tried logging - as follows -
@I - 01:43:26.614 - JoystickController
JoystickCtl initialized (joystick A not detected, joystick B detected
as 'Microsoft PC-joystick driver')
@I - 01:43:26.624 - JoystickController
Polling thread created (handle = 0x0000022c, ID = 212)

I assume that the output you gave me is for the computer on which Descend does *not* detect the joystick.

If so, then the explanation is simple. There is no joystick #1 (or "A"), only joystick #2 ("B"). I expect Descent tries to detect joystick A (#1) and couldn't care less about #2.

Make Windows "promote" your joystick B into the (otherwise empy) "A" slot. You can also make a custom joystick ".map" file (if you have "Update 1" for VDMSound 2.0.4 installed), but try first to fix the problem from Windows (probably from Control Panel). Did you have another joystick/joystick driver installed on that machine? If so, maybe the old driver is taking up the "A" slot although there is no joystick that the old driver would recognize to show in the "A" slot.

V.

This seems to fix the problem actually - but the only way to change the slots is to add what it recognises as a Sidewinder 3D Pro - I did once use one with this machine, but it was quite a while ago.

I'm not thoroughly sure how to remove the device, but if it works...

How do you use .map files? I haven't quite been able to figure those out.

Thanks for the help.

In the map files you can change B to A and so on to "soft"-swap the A and B joystick(s).

V.

Unregistered wrote:

One works fine. But it will only run in 320x200 without display problems, having a Voodoo 3 and all (and VESA emulation doesn't fix it).

Try GliDOS and the Glide version of Descent 2. http://www.glidos.net

If he has a Voodoo card, friend, he doesn't NEED GliDOS. heh

It could possibly correct his graphic problems, he could display higher resolutions, and he could do Glide-in-a-window, which I don't think the regular Glide version without GliDOS would be too happy about.

The Windows ver of D2 may work well for your purposes too. Going to test tonight. It can easily be used on your DOS ver of D2.