Editing Descent (video game) (section)

===Pre-release===
Customer reception of the shareware version of ''Descent'' was very positive, with players praising the fully 3D environment and commentators noting perceived "loyalty and goodwill" that both Parallax and Interplay fostered.<ref name="wired-1995">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/1995/06/scans-8/|title=The Doom Killers|author=Laidlaw, Marc|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|date=June 1, 1995|access-date=June 16, 2019|author-link=Marc Laidlaw|archive-date=September 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920053452/https://www.wired.com/1995/06/scans-8/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, it also garnered player complaints about a technical bug that would recharge each robot's shields whenever the player ship was destroyed (the problem was exacerbated on the last level of the shareware, where the power reactor is replaced with a boss and the gameplay thus becomes extremely difficult). It also received complaints for lacking the ability to save ''in-game'', instead saving the player's progress ''between'' levels. Parallax recognized the bug and the popularity of the save feature, so they released patches to address the issues.<ref name="gd-jj95"/> Mark Burgess of ''[[PC Zone]]'' called it one of the best shoot 'em up games and wrote that it justified shareware, giving it a perfect five floppy disks out of five.<ref name="PCZone"/>{{rp|106}} ''Descent'' would later go on to become one of the games to inspire other retailers and software companies to look into and embrace the shareware model.<ref name="wired-1995"/><ref name="billboard"/>