ironwail VS dxx-rebirth

Late to the party, but, if you get a copy of Quake 1 off GoG and then update that with the Ironwail engine you'll have the most flexible setup ever.

Give ironwail a try. Built off of Quakespasm so all the same features, but with 144fps support and added options to make the game even more authentic.

Ironwail https://github.com/andrei-drexler/ironwail

Ironwail. The best all-around sourceport for the game, more authentic than the re-release with better mod support and more option customization.

Ironwail. Best all around port.

+1 to Ironwail

Download

Head to andrei drexler's ironwail github page and grab a source tarball or zip under 'releases' on the right.

If you own the game on GOG, then you should be able to download the remaster version. Otherwise, you should get the old files and use a source port instead. The older version's executables are decades old, and not very compatible with modern OS. Ironwail is a good one. If you can't use it, fall back on Quakespasm.

And that's the first level of Descent. :) I literally just started a brand-new game yesterday of Descent. DX-Rebirth.

Find a remake of the game ported to a modern engine. https://www.dxx-rebirth.com/ appears to be a port of Descent 1 and 2 to the Source engine. It won't help with you running the 3DFX version, of course, but this might actually be better?

I loved this game. You can still play it with DXX Rebirth

I would look at DXX rebirth, https://www.dxx-rebirth.com even if you just want to add the expansions to your steam version, you should be able to use its instructions to add the levels to your version.

Descent 2 - so long since I last played any Descent game I forgot how the experience was, but hey there's a source port!

Or if you still want to play the originals, the DXX Rebirth mods also make it easy to play on modern computers!