Dune II “Battle for Arrakis”

Dune II was the first ever RTS game I’d ever played and I love it. For a game of its kind, it was an eye opener for self proclaimed arm chair generals. Unlike most games like first person shooter or rule playing games which personally I find a bit boring and which in those days were very common form of gaming same as now. Dune 2 offers a more wider perspective for players, and the concept is simple yet intricate.

Game History

Dune II: Battle for Arrakis was released in 1992 by Westwood Studios. Based upon David Lynch’s 1984 movie Dune, an adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel of the same name. Though not the first real-time strategy game, Dune II became the bases that would be followed for years to come. The use of the mouse as interface for all unit has allowed players to interact with relative ease.



Dune 2 and the RTS concept

As the game (dune 2) laid the foundation of future RTS game.It follows a simple defined concepts.

Game concept



1.Build your base & Create your Army.
2.Manage your economy & Sustain your war effort.
3.Attack your enemy & Defend yourself.
Map & Mouse interface concepts. These are the bases of all RTS games

Game Plot

Set on a futuristic time of Intergalactic Feudal Empire where“spice melange” is the most valuable substance is being cartel and the planet Arrakis being the only source of “spice melange” in the know universe. Due to its value and demand the Emperor Frederick IV of House Corrino issued a challenge to all noble houses in the empire to harvest the “ spice melange” on Arrakis. And who ever harvest the most spice controls Arrakis
with no set of boundaries and no rules of engagements.

Armies began to arrived on Arrakis among them 3 of the most the most powerful houses all battle for supremacy.

Game Play

As a player you will take the role of a commander of one of the 3 houses of your choice. Each house has it’s own distinct characteristics which also dictate how the game is handled. The objective is to occupy as many territories and conquer other territories occupied by rivals houses. To accomplish this objective the commander (you) going to build and create base and facilities of operation. Starting of with the basic
structure/unit the “construction yard/vehicle”. From there the player expanse his/her base by harvesting spice.The more spice harvested the faster the construction of other vital facilities. A player also invest on raising an army for defense and attack. The game initially starts with a fog of war covering all area which is not covered by the player’s units range of view. As the units explore the map, the darkness or fog is removed. In
addition to enemy incursions, there are other dangers like the marauding and gigantic sandworm,
capable of swallowing vehicles and infantry whole but only capable of moving through sand. The player
can only build on rocky terrain, but must build concrete foundations (slabs) to avoid deterioration of the structures due to the harsh weather conditions although in general, structures
will gradually decay over time regardless of the presence of those concrete slabs due to the aforesaid
weather conditions. Spice fields are indicated by orange coloration on the sand, darker orange indicating
high concentration. Some spice may be concealed as bumps on the terrain (a ’pre-spice mass’) that become
spice fields when they are shot at, or when a unit runs over them (destroying the unit in the ensuing
’spice blow’).

Dune 2000





After the success of dune 2 Westwood studios release an updated version of the game. It basically means better graphics and everything. Though as good as red alert 2 I can grade it as somewhat disappointment.



My Thoughts

Dune 2 is the very first RTS game I’ve ever played, and it totally blow me away. As a kid growing up playing
with soldiers and massively building armies, it appealed to me instinctively. The early dune 2 and its subsequent update Dune 2000 put players like myself wanting for more RTS. And I never look at any other type of game ever since. The only disappointing factor is the graphic design of the latter update Dune 2000. For an update of the original Dune 2 unit graphic didn’t change much, soldiers and storm trooper didn’t change at all in size or in any form.

Click link Dune 2 Click link Dune 2000

For Dune fans the update Dune 2000 was a huge welcome though, I'm sure there was a huge cloud of disappointment in graphics end. But for RTS fan like myself it was as good as it get, by the time got my hands on Dune 2000, I was already playing StarCraft including its expansion StarCraft Brood War from game developer Blezzard. Though WestWood came with a similar graphic format as that of blizzard by its release of Red Alert 2. But it would have been nice if that same unit graphics was use on Dune 2000.

Nevertheless the dune 2 and its update dune 2000 did well. And enjoyed it very much I'm also looking forward to play Dune Emperor which is promising. I still need to get my hands on it though.