Dateiliste

The content of this article is obsolete. The version of Pyromania mentioned in here is not supported anymore. Please go to Installation of Pyromania instead.

This article describes the setup process of Pyromania with the old installer. It is recommended not to use this installer anymore, because it doesn't configure Vortex automatically, and it doesn't remove files from older Pyromania versions.

You can download a newer version of the installer for Pyromania, that configures or installs Vortex too, from here: Installation of Pyromania

Alternatively, you can also download and install the full version of Descent 3 from Dateiliste instead of the Pyromania setup. Our version of Descent 3 includes both additions, Pyromania and Vortex, already and configures them automatically for you. You don't have to pay any specific attention to how to install them if you use the Descent 3 from Dateiliste.

Pyromania is quite a nice extension for Descent 3. It introduces both, a new game type and a new "way of experiencing Descent 3".

The game type is a modified anarchy version. In a standard game, almost all weapons are replaced with different versions, and Pyromania offers several new ships in addition to the already known ones.

Plenty of more information and the mod itself can be found at the Pyromania homepage.

On first sight Pyromania's installation seems to be very easy and straight forward. A closer look, however, reveals several dark sides of the standard installation procedure and even quite a few pitfalls.

First, make sure you download Pyromania version 1.5. A copy of it can be found at its homepage (see above) or directly here:

<Download link removed - 2009-10-18>

Note that it is much more convenient to download the new Pyromania installer instead: Installation of Pyromania

After downloading the old installation software, you can start the installation.

The first pitfall is the selection of the proper Descent 3 installation folder.It is not enough to just select Descent 3's installation directory. One has to actually double click on the selected folder. If you don't double clikd on the folder, Pyromania is installed one folder level higher, and that's most likely not where you want it to be.

On the page where you have to select the Descent 3 directory, This is what the selected folder looks like without a double click:

And this is what it should look like before you press the 'Forward' button:

So, again, make sure you select the correct Descent 3 installation folder with a double click during Pyromania's setup process, and that you don't accidentally select the directory above it by only forgetting this double click.

Files from previous versions

If you intend to host Pyromania servers, you should remove all files from previous Pyromania versions (like Pyromania 1.2). To identify these files, download Pyromania 1.2 from its homepage, then install the software in an empty directory. The contents of this folder can be used as a reference on which files belong to Pyromania 1.2 and need to be removed from your Descent 3 installation directory.

After that, you can either uninstall Pyromania 1.2 again or simply delete the folder in which you installed it to. You can later remove its entry in Windows' "Add/Remove Programs" by clicking on the "Uninstall" button.

The new Pyromania installer removes older versions automatically.

Vortex

After Pyromania has been installed, Vortex needs to be configured. Locate the following setting entries in Vortex's settings.ini file:

DESCENT_3_RETAIL="C:\Program Files\Descent3\MAIN.EXE"
DESCENT_3_RETAIL15="C:\Program Files\Descent3\pyro15.exe"
DESCENT_3_DEMO1=""
DESCENT_3_DEMO2=""
DESCENT_3_MOD1="C:\Program Files\Descent3\pyro15.exe"

The directories should of course point to the location in which you have Descent 3 installed. Don't forget the double quotation marks around the path and file names.

In theory, you could use Vortex's configuration window to change these settings. Unfortunately, the software wouldn't accept any executable file for DESCENT_3_RETAIL15 if it is not called MAIN.EXE. Without letting the 1.5 version of D3 point to Pyromania you can't join Pyromania games for anything else than Pyromania mod games. To join anarchy as well as co-op and CTF Pyrmania games, DESCENT_3_RETAIL15 needs to point to pyro15.exe instead of Descent 3's 1.5 version of main.exe (no one plays this buggy version anyway).

Another issue with Vortex and Pyromania is Vortex's automatic ship logos and audio taunts cleaning function. If you use it when Pyromania is installed, Vortex also removes its sound and graphics files. You need to add all sounds and graphics to Vortex's removal exception list.

The better option, though, is to use the new Pyromania installer. It can do all the Vortex configuration work for you, and it removes files from previous Pyromania versions, too. The new version also adds all Pyromania sound and graphic files to Vortex's exception list for automatic file removals. This means you can use Vortex's logo and taunt cleaning function safely together with Pyromania.

Installation of Pyromania