Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (also known as Dune II: Battle for Arrakis in Europe and in the Sega Genesis port) is a Dune computer game, released by Westwood Studios in 1992. It is based on David Lynch's 1984 movie Dune, which was in turn taken from Frank Herbert's science fiction novel of the same name.

While not the first real-time strategy game, per se (the first being Stonkers), Dune II established a format that would be followed for years to come. As such, Dune II is the founder of the RTS genre in its modern form. Striking a balance between complexity and innovation, it was a huge success and laid the foundation for the coming Command and Conquer (which was nicknamed "Dune III" by some fans and detractors), the Warcraft series, and the RTS craze that endures to this day.

Some key elements that first appeared in this game, but would later appear in many other RTS games, are:
 * A world map from which the next mission is chosen
 * Resource-gathering to fund unit construction
 * Simple base and unit construction
 * Building construction dependencies (technology tree)
 * Different sides/factions (the Houses), each with unique unit-types

Plot
The plot is basically linear, with variations depending on which House is taken by the player. The final cutscene is different for each House, in consonance with their worldview.

Emperor Frederick of House Corrino is desperate for the harvesting of spice melange to pay off all of his debt incurred. To achieve this, he offered the sole governorship of Arrakis to the Houses of Atreides, Harkonnen and Ordos. Whichever House harvest the most spice would be granted governorship of Arrakis. "Only one house prevail. Your battle for Dune begins... NOW!"

Gameplay
The player takes the role of a commander of one of three interplanetary houses, the Atreides, the Harkonnen or the Ordos, with the objective of wresting control of Arrakis from the two other houses. The basic strategy in the game is to harvest spice from the treacherous sand dunes using a havester vehicle, convert the spice into credits via a refinery and to build military units with these acquired credits in order to fend off and destroy the enemy. The game map initially starts with a fog of war covering all area which is not covered by the player's units. As the units explore the map, the darkness is removed. Unlike later games such as Warcraft II, the fog of war is lifted forever with initial exploration, it does not become dark once more when units leave the area.

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 before to avoid deterioration of the structures due to the harsh weather conditions. Spice fields are indicated by orange patches on the sand, dark orange indicating high concentration. Some spice is concealed as bumps on the terrain that become spice fields when they're shot upon, or when an unit passes above them (the unit is destroyed in the process).



The player is presented a map of the planet Arrakis before most missions, where he can choose the next territory to play in among two or three. This affects primarily the enemy house fought in the next mission, as all missions except the first two require the complete destruction of the enemy. Nine territories must be fought, irrespective of house, to reach the endgame.

The ultimate final showdown is the battle among the player's House up against three enemy sides, among them the Emperor Frederick's forces, the Sardaukar (an unplayable house whose heavy infantry are particularly powerful). The Sardaukar Palace fires Death Hand missiles like that of the Harkonnens; thus, playing as the Atreides or Ordos will result in facing Death Hand strikes from both at a time.

Units
House Harkonnen relies on heavy and powerful, but expensive units, while House Atreides is a more "middle of the road" side with access to good specialised units such as the Sonic Tank. House Ordos tends to prioritise speed over strength, with quite specialised units and a lack of heavy firepower, and thus require a degree of cunning gameplay to win.

Completing higher missions gives authorization to use improved technology and higher-order weaponry unique to each House. ensuring varied gameplay. For example, House Harkonnen may be able to construct their Devastator tanks with heavy armor and ordnance but cannot build the similarly impressive Atreides Sonic Tank. The Ordos have access to the Deviator - a specialized tank firing a nerve gas that switches the allegiance of targeted units to Ordos for a limited period of time. The three Houses also are restricted in their production capabilities - House Ordos cannot build Atreides-style trikes, instead making the faster "Raider" trikes, while House Harkonnen constructs heavier but more expensive quad bikes. When the Starport becomes available, players can purchase (rather than construct) units to which their House does not ordinarily have access (so House Harkonnen can purchase trikes, and House Ordos rocket launchers).

Buildings
Buildings may only be built in rocky zones, and are the same for all houses. To protect them from constant wear, the player must place first concrete slabs in the construction areas. Production buildings can be upgraded at a cost several times, allowing the production of more advanced units or buildings.

Defensive
The final prize for the commander is the building of the House Palace from where superweapons may be unleashed on opponents in the final closing chapters of the game. The House Harkonnen superweapon is a long-range finger of missiles called the Death Hand, whereas House Atreides may call upon the local Fremen infantry warriors, over which the player has no control, to engage enemy targets. House Ordos may unleash a fast-moving Saboteur whose main purpose is the destruction of buildings.

Interface


The Dune II interface is the basis for subsequent real-time strategy games, but is inconvenient when compared, for example, to Command & Conquer. Dune II did not have unit grouping or context sensitive cursors, as they were not used in RTS games until C&C and Warcraft II, and, unlike later games, clicking on a piece of land or enemy will not result in movement or attack actions. To do so requires clicking on the "Move" or "Attack" buttons, and then selecting the target. Mouse scrolling is also not avaliable, but can be done using the minimap.

Trivia

 * The original DOS version imposes a global limit on structures and units which curiously encompasses both the human player's and those of the CPU (the computer-controlled opponents). This severely limits the size of the human player's army when the CPU's army starts big on the later missions. To work around this the player has first to take "small bites" out of the CPUs base, destroying a few of the CPUs outwards constructions like missile turrets, before he can fully develop his base and launch the final attack.

Ports
This 1992 game was ported to various platforms. The original DOS version was converted to the Amiga and Sega Genesis in 1993. Two years later it was also brought to the Archimedes and Risc PC range of RISC OS computers.

The Sega Genesis port has fairly different building and unit graphics, a full-screen menu-less user interface suited for gamepad control, and no savegame support, relying in access codes for accesing each level. Other additions include a music test option and a tutorial that replaces the mentat screen.

Legacy
Dune II has become considered as the most influential game in the real-time strategy genre. While not all its characteristics were novel, such as fog of war, its model of resource-extraction, base creation, and miltiary micromanagement became the type of RTS that the genre is known for. Obvious influences can be seen on numerous games. particullarly in Westwood's own Command & Conquer series.

Chris Taylor stated that Dune II and Command & Conquer were a very strong inspiration, motivating him to leave Electronic Arts to create Total Annihilation.

Dune II was given several direct sequels: a Windows remake of this game was published in 1998 as Dune 2000, along with a PlayStation port in the same year. In 2001 Emperor: Battle for Dune was published.

Remakes

 * Dune Legacy
 * Dune 2: The Maker
 * Dune 2: The Sleeper Has Awakened
 * Dune IV