Split-screen on PC

Aquanox: Deep Descent

Up to 8 players on one PC, with controllers, keyboard and mouse or several keyboards and mice.

8Verified handler

Handler “Aquanox: Deep Descent” by birden, version 1

P4+4 more players

What works

With Nucleus Co-op, up to 8 players can play Aquanox: Deep Descent together on one PC, each in their own part of the screen, with controllers, keyboard and mouse or several keyboards and mice. The free community handler “Aquanox: Deep Descent” by birden does the setup and was checked by hub moderators: version 1, updated 8 Oct 2025. Aquanox: Deep Descent is a shooter, role-playing and simulation game from 2020.

Players8
ControllersSupported
Keyboard and mouseSupported
Several keyboards and miceOne per player
Hub moderatorsVerified

How to play Aquanox: Deep Descent split screen on PC

Get Nucleus Co-op
Download Nucleus Co-op, free for Windows 10 and 11, and unzip it into its own folder, for example C:\NucleusCo-op. There is no installer.
Keep it out of Program Files, your user folder and OneDrive.
Download Nucleus Co-op
Install the Aquanox: Deep Descent handler
In Nucleus Co-op, search the Hub for Aquanox: Deep Descent and install its handler, or download the handler file from this page and drop it on the Nucleus window. Then show Nucleus where Aquanox: Deep Descent is installed.
Download the handler file (.nc)
Take a seat
Each player presses a button on their own controller to join and takes a spot on the screen. Pick a layout that fits your players.
Playing with several keyboards and mice? Press End once everything is in place to give each window its own cursor.
Launch and connect
Press Launch: Nucleus opens one copy of Aquanox: Deep Descent per player and lays the windows out on your screen. Then link them in game, usually one player hosts a LAN or online session and the others join it. The handler notes say how.

What you need

A Windows 10 or 11 PC
Nucleus Co-op runs on Windows only. System requirements
Aquanox: Deep Descent for Windows
Installed on that PC. Nucleus starts every player's window from that one install.
Nucleus Co-op, free
With .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later and the Visual C++ 2015–2022 runtimes (x86 and x64). Download
Something to play with
One controller per player, or one keyboard and mouse per player. Controllers · Keyboards and mice
A PC that can run 8 copies
Each player runs their own copy of Aquanox: Deep Descent, so the PC carries several times the usual load. Lower the graphics settings if it struggles. Performance tips
A multiplayer mode
Nucleus links the windows through the game's own LAN or online mode; the handler takes care of it.

Handler notes

IMPORTANT: Run your main game once and change some settings before trying splitscreen.

Create a dogfight game in the online menu or start a campaign game and open it up to online. Don't make any of the lobbies private.

Thanks to PoundlandBacon for an earlier version of the handler.

About Aquanox: Deep Descent

Aquanox Deep Descent is a first person underwater vehicle shooter, in which players control a variety of customizable ships to engage in fierce battles in the dystopian deep sea world of Aqua. In the near future the Earth's surface has become uninhabitable. What remains of humankind lives in former mining and research stations, deep below the surface of the sea. Born and raised in the only world we know, the loose network of underwater settlements, torn by the war for resources and dominance between various factions. Take control of a team of highly trained fighter pilots and experience an epic story in the dark world of Aquanox. Send your enemies down to Davy Jones's Locker with well-aimed torpedoes, mortars, mines and more. Explore the deepest corners of the oceans - mysterious, hazardous, uncharted.

Summary from IGDB