Dune 2 - The Building of a Dynasty
 

Feel free to comment and discuss this game here. Also, if you have any useful tips or tricks don't hesitate to share them with the others! Thanks!

Review and Download (if available)

Tips:

1. Place concrete slabs before placing structures. It's worth upgrading
the construction yard so you can build the larger slabs. Upgrade the
light vehicle and heavy vehicle factories as soon as you can so you can
produce siege tanks. It's worth upgrading the heavy factory several
times on later levels so you can produce a mobile construction vehicle.
Watch the state of all your structures and repair them when necessary -
it costs spice but it's usually cheaper than building replacements.

2. Don't bother building walls (they cost too much and don't last very
long) build rocket turrets instead. You need to upgrade the
construction yard to be able to build them but you're going to do that
anyway aren't you? Spot where the enemy are attacking from - they
always attack from the same direction - and place concrete slabs on the
rock in that direction. Put half a dozen turrets on the extremities of
the slabs and with a bit of luck they should see off most of the
attackers before they get too close. Keep an eye on the state of the
turrets and repair them when necessary.

3. See whether there's a line of rock that stretches from your base
towards the enemy base. If there is create a pathway of concrete slabs
along the rock and position rocket turreys close to the enemy base.
When you attack the turrets are able to give your units covering fire
and you find yourself with a significant advantage. If there isn't an
unbroken line of rock consider using a mobile construction vehicle to
establish a construction yard on a piece of rock close to the enemy
which you can then use as a base for extending the range of your
turrets.

4. On the later levels it's extremely important to restrict the amount
of spice the enemy mines because spice runs out extremely quickly. You
need to use a fast trike or quad to explore the map and find spice
fields and enemy harvesters and then you simply do everything possible
to destroy the harvesters.

Ah... with the exception of the follow ups to Dune 2, I don't remember any other game using this good idea with the concrete slabs. It adds much to the playability of the game ( like that you cannot build anywhere you want without problems )

C&C Tiberian Sun encouraged the use of concrete slabs so your opponent couldn't send an underground APC into the middle of your base.
but other than that...

another tip
 

5. the enemy will attack in a large group once you build small weapons (vehicles?!) factory and heavy weapons factory. so the best thing is to build the defence and put enough units for protection first and then build these buildings. that way you can repel the attack and perform a counter attack. it's also good to have enough energy plants build so if by any chance the computer destroy one you still have enough left.

6. it's not worth to put all the structures on concrete slabs. the structure will be half damaged when you set it up, but if you put it somewhere in the back (behing the main base and defences) it will be safe. this is especially worth for energy plants, baracs (later in the game) and defesive wall that just "steers" (directs) the oponent to your primary defences.

If you seriously beat up a building until it's "health" is in red you can send then inside any troop you want to and building will be yours!

I used to play this game on my Commodore Amiga, back in 1993. I played with house Atreides, but never managed to finish the game. I got to the last mission, but kept getting my base blown to bits by the Harkonnen heavy missile(some sort of nuclear missile launched from Harkkonnen palaces). Unfortunately for me, the emperor also has this missile in his palace, so repeated strikes from 2 missiles were enough to blow my bases to bits. Has anybody managed to finish the game, I would love to know what happens in the final cut scenes.

Well... the emperor gets blasted by a trooper... but realy try again.. use Harkoonan.. easiest clan.. those devastators are usefull for more then shooting.. build a few, send them toward the base.. it requires EXTREAM force to stop one... try 10... place 2-3 close to the contruction yard, and detonate the tanks..

Save before a nuke hits you, and then load.The place were the missile hits is random but still close to your base.

:sniper: :rifle: YAY! KILL ATRIEDES!!!!!! KILL THEM!!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!! :sniper: :rifle:

Seriously, I LOVE this game! it's my favorite from Westwood, and a good preview of the kind of games they had in store for the world. My opinion when you play it though: Play as the Harkonnens. because, when you are evil.... YOU KICK @$$!!!

That's right. They have better technology than other races from begin on and further on too.

False. All the races have the "best technology" available, what change is their way of thinking.

The Harkonens are very heavy and slow. They have access to their destructive missile by late game, and it's the most destructive weapon in the whole game.

The Atreides have a nice mix of defense and speed and also have the only aircraft in the game. They can call up on Fremens in the late game and they are really worth it.

The green army (don't remember the name at the time) are very light but also very fast. Their missile launchers can "brainwash" ennemy units to fight on your side, so you should not even bother trying to mind the lack of their own units armor. :evil: Their secret agents are sure not worth much tough.

ordos. they dont' have heavy tanks. their "path" is the tougher. also because palace ultimate weapon is of no use. they too have the aircraft.

Ordos didn't have a heavy tank in Emperor:Battle for Dune either.
Instead they had a tank that, when used to attack, would take control over any enemy tank you chose to 'attack'
which is quite nifty

1: Ordos (green) deviator (that brainwashing missile tank). I tried using it once - except I forgot that the effect was only temporary! Very useful against Harkonnen Devastators though! (brainwash them, then self destruct them before they regain their senses!) As for the spies, they were only good if they didn't run into anything along the way to the enemy base.

2: Er....has anyone else lost up to 10 tanks in a battle, simply because the computer BUILT a structure (heavy factory) on top of them? This was fixed in C&C, but in Dune2 having an enemy unit in the way didn't prevent a structure from being placed.

3: The Genesis (called Megadrive in Europe) version was easier in some respects - each "block" was relatively larger than on the PC version (so missile tanks were much more effective at attacking turrets - since they were less likely to miss - on the PC version, the missile had to score a direct hit to do any damage). That said, I'm not sure that Devastators could be self- destructed in the Genesis version.

4: At the end of the Atredies (is the spelling right?) campaign, the mentat and some guards enter the Emperor's throne room. He asks what is the meaning of this intrusion, and the mentat tells him that he is to be removed and charged with crimes against House Atreides. You see his face fall, then you see the whole planet go blue (since it's all Atreides owned now!).

5: Infantry and troopers are almost pointless here - I find it hard to capture buildings, due to the speed at which repairs are conducted (so it's hard to keep the enemy building in the "red zone" in terms of health). Also, they are soooo slow, and can all run over by even the slowest tank. However, I think they can be used as a sacrifice to those sandworms (I think these disappeared either if you hurt one by more than 50%, or if it had swallowed a certain number of units).

What a great game. I don't know how often I played through it when it came out. It's still an awsome game and I like it more than it's two follow ups.
I always used to build my base as pretty as possible, with streets between the buildings and walls arround it with heavy garded entrances, like a sci-fi version of Sim City.
This game is a true gem, and the reason i started to read the great novels of Frank Herbert.
It also reminds me of the good old days, where you recieved beautyfull illustrated manuals, it's a shame that today's games often come along only with a few pages or even a pdf file.

Really a great game i played it when i was really young
i didnt even saw the movie before
so in my oppinion the harkons were the only people
who have usefull troups
just heavy metall nuclear missiles and no stupid
soldiers which you can easily drive over
or ornithopter who just took one or two missiles to explode

after seeing the movie I had already completed the game
so i tried atreides only in Emperor

a good trick for destroying enemy missiletowers is
to aim with 4 or 5 missile ramps a bit before the tower on
the ground after a while they will destroy the tower
without beeing hit
just have an eye for approaching enemy troups :ok:

and i think it was fun to built thinks over enemy troups
and makes them part of the building like the cosa nostra

the "only" thing new rts games make better (ecxept graphic)
is the ability to move more than one soldier at the same time :not_ok:
:crazy: :bye: :bye:

Actually, Missile Tanks already have a bigger range than the Missile Towers. The trick is that you must be at the furthest range before telling them to attack or the stupid computer AI will make them move forward +1 squares as soon as they are in range, effectively putting them in range of the towers too.

For the Harkonen, I beleive that's the newbie race of choice. On the other hand, I always played as Atre?des and I like them too. They have special weapons which counter the fact that they have less armour, and they go faster too which give you a bigger range of strategies to exploit.

The Fremen are really tough soldiers too. Since they are free to produce with your castle, at worse you send them kamikazing themselves on buildings and you should capture one or two easily.

For the Ornithopters... Well yeah, they do are fragile. But think about them as an extra attacker when you have the spice to come up with the cost of building them one after the other. Just don't build them when you know your ennemy still have a lot of Missile Towers still up and you should be fine.

I also preferred the Atreides. Their Sonic Tanks are immense powerfull. And the function of this weapon is also very original, it destroys the molecular structure with gigantic sonic blows. I don't want to know how this must feel.
Also you had to be carefull that none of you own units comes into the way of these units as they are lethal to everyone.

I think the Hand of Death was one of the best implemented Weapon of Mass Destruction ever implemented in a RTS because I don't like the fact that the one with the first Nuclear Missle or Ion Cannon or whatever, wins. This makes the whole game a little boring. I appreciate the fact that the Hand of Death (aka big nuclear missile) wasn't a game winner.

Oh, and it's was too bad that you could never build Sardauker. They where really awesome infatry troops and as far as I know in one mission you even had a squad under your command.

What I consider a big advantage of the Harkonnen and the Ordos, was that they automatically opened fire against the worms. The Atreides didn't open fire and there was no way to attack the wurms with their towers.

I used that as an advantage actually, leading the worms in the spice mines of the opponent. They must have spent a lot of spice purchasing new harversters! :ok:

Atredies:
1. There is a bug that makes the Sonic Tanks shoot further/shorter depending on game speed. Set speed to max to increase range.

2. Use a thopter to scout the enemy base.

Harkonen:
1. Brute force, nuff said :P

Ordos:
1. Scout with Raiders and thopters.

2. Use Deviators when fighting Harkonen to kill Devastators easily.

3. Build a Spaceport and import Rocket Tanks. You can't build them and at times they are cheaper from the guild than it would be building them anyhow. :)

General Strategy:
1. The enemy actually has unlimited spice. Stop them from taking spice off of the map so you can have large amounts for yourself.

2. Rocket turrents are the best defense

3. The enemy ALWAYS comes the same way, defend along this path.

4. Use the Spaceport to buy units at lower prices than building. It also allows you to exceed 50 units.

5. The infantry units are next useless. Troopers on a rock perhaps...but otherwise useless

6. Harvesters have heavy armor and can run down infantry... :sneaky:

7. Build your repair facility in the middle of your base. This causes units to be carried back to the front instead of being put out beside the building after repairs.

Well back then ( its damn.... 7-8 years ago??? ) i used pretty much the same strategie to win early games ( against mostly any one ) with 3 tactics:

Defense: This parti is pretty easy... early game always build you a small force of units to be able to defend yourself against the early attack ( mostly a gang of 7-8 quad for the 3-4 mission is enough ) then when you find out from where the enemy come, 6-7 turrets are more than enough to block them ( dont forget to put tanks in front of them asap to be able to kill off rocket launcher, computer always seem to be off range :P )
Normal turret until you can get rocket turret... no need to build normal afterward, rocket turret do the stuff :P

Scouting: This part is darn easy, in EVERY game just make a group of 4-5 quad.. then you use the move command and send your unit at the far end of the map ( radar is the very first thing you acquire EACH game.... very important ) then when you found your enemy just scout for spice and wipeout the harverster if possible ( you probably wont be able to kill him... but that keep the computer occupied after all :P )

Punching army: Here i will be pretty straight, as long you cant get palace you always make a big chunk of army to attack the enemy ( when i mean bigh i mean 20-30 siege tanks + 10 rocket launcher) You will tell me that it need alot of money.... well get yourself alot easy... To be able to acquire alot of money you need spice and to get spice you need harverster. The best way to get alot is well.... build alot of harverster! just get yourself 4 refinery early game ( i mean rreealll early :P ) then build up another 4 harverster ( when you can of course... ) what will happen? well since you got 2 harverster per refinery you get twice the result! then to be able to get a large army there is 2 technique: Get at least 4 building to get that unit for each type of units, then mass produce... best way to get a large army easly. Then when you get the chance just get a starport, you get build up an army very fast without needing a large amount of space to get your building ( and to protect at the same time :P ) Also ordering harverster and carrier is your very first though when getting your starport... best way to get money and dont be afraid to overkill :P


Here is a little list of what i did and what i didnt with each of them, use type of units im not saying, but i just found them useless :P

Harkonnen: Well its mostly the only group i do mostly everything from beginning to end until palace come in. Early trooper are good to attack enemy ( even if they are darn slow!! ) and devastator is your favorite friend ( mostly when you can get 10 of them in your opponent base :P )

Atreides: Same as harkonnen but couple of things i completly didnt used: Sonic tank , the flying attack unit ( can't remember the name! ) and infantry units why? mostly because sonic tank are only usefull when you only build them.... their sonic attack destroy everything except each other, and with their incapacity to kill rocket turret due to their small armor and relativly short range i never used them except once with a group of 25... 3 survived
For the flyer, they are easly taken down, the only tactic i could use to kill them was to make a group of them, but since they cost toooo much i just prefered my siege and rocket launcher :P And for the troop: Weak, slow , unusable. Only in the 2 first mission i used them because i dont have a choice, else then that i dont even bother to upgrade them.

Ordos: Well for them its all good except the flyer again and the troop also. But here is a little secret and im sure no one ever tryed it. Ill just tell you what is your best weapon when facing more than 1 opponent: Deviator, why you tell me? Well the real firepower in the deviator is not to use is own unit against him... but against is ally!!!!
Why? because when you take over an ennemy unit you can turn it against is own ally!! Ill explain: Lets say your facing atreides and harkonnen and you take control of a harkonnen devastator, what you do? Well make him attack an atreides structure ( palace and construction yard 1st ) As long the target is not destroyed ( building OR unit ) it will attack it!!! The best way to do that is to put deviator infront of your turret, wait to be wittin range, take over the unit and send it back against is ally, even if the effect wear off the unit will still attack! Pretty nice here :P
Also saboteur also work against both units and building.


For the palace well ill just explain the way i did to win with each of them!

Harkonnen: For the last mission of house harkonnen your best bet is to punch up with alot of palace ( and when i mean alot i mean ALOT like 8-9 ) then you only target the construction yard of the enemy ( buy scouting with quad as i said earlier ) then you target them... why not the enemy palace instead first? Because when the computer loose is construction yard there is NO way he can get another one , hes to dumb to get another one, then you just need to destroy the sardaukar palace and you can destroy the enemy... dont forget that palace doest require money to repair ( im not certain but if memory serve me right... ) and they destroy your enemy... how not get destroy? go see top and also watch at the bottom of this whole post :P

Atreides: Well best thing i could do was to make a similar approach to the harkonnen, palace. Sometime the computer wont be able to detect some fremen as long they dont attack any enemy unit, if you got 15 squad of 4 sometime 1-2 even maybe 3 will get trough and most of the time they target got enemy target... you can also harrass your enemy with siege tank and rocket launcher but that mostly it..

Ordos: Well as explained earlier just make a couple of deviator and use them to take over enemy units to turn them against each other. Im mostly getting 2-3 saboteur to kill enemy harverster. With repair they need to put to keep up with attacked building and their need to always rebuild their harverster take them down pretty fast :P

Thats it folk.. now that i found this website.. time to play!! :P

For everyone who has problems with the sound in this game, download and install VDMSound here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/vdmsound/ after having installed it, find Dune2.exe in windows explorer, right mouse click on it and select "run with VDMSound". You will now hear all the sounds and music and it never hangs.
Enjoy!

One of the best RTSs of all time :D
One thing that i noticed from playing D2 is that the computer always have some kind of "guards" units around their base that will return to their original position after they finished their "job" (as in destroying my scout trike :D ). So, i'll just kill off the guards, and after the guards have all been destroyed, the base is virtually "unguarded".. except when the AI is producing units.

First thing to destroy is the construction yard, then the factories (heavy 1st, light later), then the starport & barracks. Anything else is not a threat. The AI never build a new construction yard or even buy an MCV from the starport (i don't think the AI uses the starport as well).

Ok, as for the favourite house, i liked the atreides best. Their sonic tanks rocks ! :rifle:
And i can use the sonic tanks to destroy rocket turrets. Sonics actually have the same range of fire with rocket tanks. And it's odd that AI never repair their turrets if attacked by sonic tanks, but repairs it when it's hit by rocket tanks :unsure:

Anyway.. this site's :ok:

some lovely links to different little things that goes super dune and a little more.

Dune 2 editor


Dune 2: The building of an empire

Shai-Hulud! - Super Dune 2

NAHOO || Dune II || Downloads

Dune 2 is my favorite game, the sound may be terrible, but thats ok.
Dune 2 runs fine on Win 2000 without sound, never tried on XP/2003.

I have completed the game several times Atreides, Ordos, Harkonnen.

Strategy / Tips

Always go for the best units, cause their will do the trick, using triks or the like to scout the map is usualy a good idea, never attack or near the enemy before your are ready.

I always start by destroying, or taking over the construction yard, this can sometimes be useful.
The next step I use is to destroy the Spice refinerys, so the enemy can't collect what belongs to you.

Next step is to destroy the enemy from one side to another, sometimes it is a good idea to destroy the turrets first, then the buikdings after.

I have notice that when you destroy a building, then let's say you destroy a heavy factory, the enemy seems to get 600 credits extra, which is the same as what the building costs, barracks 300, and so on.

I usualy first build a new base near the enemy, by using a mobile construction vehicle, the new base must contain a powerplant, turrets, perhaps a heavy factory, but ALWAYS A REPAIR FACILITY when posible, so the units can by repaired, actualy it saves units, because, they don't need to be tranported to the main base to be repaired. Use this to your advantage.

Atreides good because of their Sonic Tank.
Ordos Sucks.. (incorect!)
Harkonnen Cool, because of their Missiles, and the Devastator.

Tips on Ordos:

To explore the map use raiders, because they are fast, well after scanario 5, or 6 the raider is not strong enough when scouting near the enemy. instead use deviator, or buy Rocket Launcher, their advantage is that their have a long visible distance, and move relativly fast, the only problem is that they tend to be eaten by worms, remember that.

Don't destroy the heavy Factory, instead take them, and use them to you advantage, you may have to upgrade, so that you can produce Siege Tanks.
In scenario 6 you get two Siege Tanks, and thats all, if my memory is ok.
gard them with you life, their must not be eaten by worms, they must not by destroyed by the enemy, until you take one of their Heavy Factories.

To win the first 4 or five scenarions, first build not one but two or three Spice Refineries, so you can harvest more spice than the enemy, build as many as it is posiible of the best units, and attack. remeber to destroy the enemy harvester.

some hate or don't think that the saboteur, can be used for nothing, well i use this unit two destroy inportant building, they tend too blow up or someting like that if ypu are not carefull, so always move them at a relative short distance at a time, and remember to keep track where their are.

About Me:
My favorite unit: The Devastator, wonder if the states are developing one of these, they developed the nucklear submarine so why not, after that The Siege Tank.

Also I like the humor in the game, have you tried to read some of the text.
Here's what the Harkonnen's say about the Ordos Raider Trike:

:Brain:
<humor:fun>
This is a pitful little machine
For some reasons the ordos believe that this overblown
Trike can out maneuver and out fire our Quads.

</humor:fun>

They should have writen:
"This is a pitful little machine
For some reasons the ordos believe that this overblown
Trike can out maneuver and out fire our Devastators"


The last scanario can only be win by either Siege Tanks or Devastator's.
forget all other non Heavy Factory units, except palace units

The Ordos trike goes really faster on open terrain than any other quad but are really badly armored and thus have less HP to reflect this.

If any of you actually tryied to create a team of 6-8 Ordos trike and then raid the ennemy Harversters then you would understand the power it represent. It's much like playing C&C and creating a missile trike squad to harass/destroy ennemy Harvesters before they can bring units to defend them. Cost them a lot of money and time trying to save their Harversters. If they bring forces to defend their Harvesters then they split their force and are easier to attack. If the base is attacked first they usually take the units defending the Harvesters to withdraw back to base and you can still attack the Harvesters again, dealing a hard blow both in their base and in their cash account.

Of course most of this is viable only in multiplayer, but I guess you get the idea. :)

This doesn't works with barracks, WOR or palaces though.

Anyway... until now, I've always run this game with VDMSound to get the MIDI working in XP... that is, until I found out there's a beta patch for the Dune 2 setup that allows you to use separate devices for sound effects and music.
It can be downloaded here:
http://www.dune2k.com/?page=files-duneII

It turned out that with music put on "Sound Canvas." while leaving the rest on Sound blaster, all sound works perfectly on XP.
(One of the other options, "MT-32 / LAPC-1" also worked, but the music quality was far worse and rather buggy.)

btw... the Ordos brainwash, which indeed times out after a while, can be 'abused' by selecting the unit, clicking on the Attack command, then waiting until it returns to its own side and then clicking on an enemy structure to actually give the command. The unit will think it received the order from its own side, and will destroy whatever you targeted :D

Tip:

Send out a Trike or any light vechile find the enemy harvester, as soon as you find the harvest site send a Trooper to the site. Attack the harvester with your trooper, the harvester will then follow your trooper, move your trooper to the nearest rocky area and stop. The enemy harvester will crush your trooper but for the rest of the mission it will not move.

Make sure this happens on a rocky area, if you do this on the sand a sandworm will swallow the harvester and the enemy will receive a new harvester.

Hope this helps
Gyz

in the last mission it is wise to build at least 4 harvesters and : to scout all area, to build, with mcv, small groups of rocket turrets near enemy bases to disable enemy units from attacking your main base. primary targets of nukes are heavy vehicle factory and starport so isolate them, build far away from construction yard. it is good to have a one mcv ready to rebuild construction yard.

I think that the beauty of this game is that there are so many things you CAN'T do. For example selecting multiple units. It is annoying in the beginning, but once you start selecting units manually it comes naturally. Things that come easy are nice in the beginning but then you get bored fast. Dune 2 is a very very good game.

I've read most of the posts. Here are my suggestions

Atreides:
Contrary to what people say, they have more technologies than anyone else. They have three specials: sonic tank, ornithopter, and fremen. (three specials)

I think atreides don't have troopers, but I am not shure.

The sonic tank shoots faster when the game speed is higher. I think this has never been fixed.

Build walls around the Repair Facility so that no unit can be dropped out directly. The carryall will carry the unit back after is repaired.

Don't send fremens one at a time, wait until you have several troops (5,6) then attack. They will do massive damage. Try to put fremens over rocks so that tanks cannot squash them. The worms rarely kill fremens since they are invisible. Most of the atreides units are less likely to get killed by worms.


Harkonnen:
They have a lot of firepower. The nicest thing is the palace and the deathhand missle (i think is called). I never played Harkonnen too much, it was too easy, so I never really used deathand missle too much.

Devastator is good, but takes forever to move. Do not leave devastator near your own base, when they die, they will kill your own units. If devastator is on red, and you cannot repair it, move it out of the crows, otherwise you will loose more units.


Ordos:
Ordos only have two specials, the saboteur and the deviator. The ornithopter it is taken from starport and it's not their own tech, the same with seige tank. So Ordos have the fewest technologies. I'm not shure if Atriedes or Ordos miss the trooper and/or quads.

The raider sucks but is fast. Use it for scouting.

The startport is your main place here. They have sige tanks and ornithopters in the startport.

The deviator tank is not that great. But you can use it to steal units permanently. I am not shure how, but if you steal an injured unit and repair it, you might convert that unit permanently. I am not shure though.

You can use a deviator to steal an enemy harvester and take it's spice. Your carryall will think the harvester is ready to go and will take it, drop it to your base, take the spice, and put it back, and several seconds later the harvester returns to the enemy side :P You can see how full a harvester is by clicking on it, and looking in the info area, will say something like "75% full and harvesting." It does that for your and the enemy harvesters.


Game in general:
Do not scout in the beginning of the game. Let them attack you. After you find their base they will sends throngs of units.

Always build bases on concrete slabs, they will deteriorate slower, and less to repair in the end.

Try to harvers fields that are father away first, and leave the ones closer to you for the end of the game. This will make the enemy bring their harvester near your base, and you can easily kill their crops.

Always attack silos first. Try to capture silos or refineries because you will get their spice into your pool. If you managed to capture a refinery quickly spend all you have, if they destroy it or get it back, you have lost no spice. You get credits if you kill their refineries or silos.

Turrents don't work without power. So destroying all their generators will put their entire base to a halt. I am not shure about this, but I think turrets will stop working if they don't have power. Althogh I am not shure.

Enemies rarely destroy walls. Try to create a bunch of walls to guide their movements. For example have five turrets concentrated to one place, and walls that lead to that area.

The AI always attacks in this order (or somewhat) the Startport first, the Heavy Factory or Hi-Tech Factory second, and the Light Factory last. They don't care about other stuff.

Every time you build something important the enemy will attack by droping units behind your base. It's actually based on time as well. Sometimes your carryalls may drop enemy units, or the other way around. Same with units that have been "deviated."

You can banish worms by killing them. You don't actually kill a worm, it only goes away reappearing after some time. When it comes back, it will be faster and meaner. If you do that so many times, the worm becomes extra fast. On the other hand, you can feed the worm cheap units. After a worm consumes a couple of units it will create a bump of spice. Shoot that and you have more spice. It's called spice boom (the announcer says "spice boom located").

Heavy weaponry destroys spice, so don't fight over spice areas with heavy tanks. The spice squares will be gone forever.

If you can reach the enemy base then extend squares and build a turret near their base. The turrets don't kill one another, but they only kill bases or units. You could ask your turret to attack the enemy one, and I think the other will not retaliate. If you build a turet over where an enemy one was, the enemy cannot rebuild, or your turret might spontaneously go on the enemy's side.

Fanton some things :sneaky: :

-u don´t control fremen in origonal Dune II, u just call for a fremen attack.

-Atreides hasn´t troopers.

-The worms attack movement... no matter from who, only fremen aren´t detected by worms.

-Harkonens doesn´t got trikes and infantry.

-Ordos got most tech than others, from game you get that they always stealth them but who cares?

-They got the Raider an stronger and faster trike, but they didn´t got the Quad.

-Capture isn´t that easy, in fact, i get that i can make captures playing Ordos (i ended the game with Harkonen and Atreides first). You do it by sending infantry or troopers inside enemies buldings, when the building hasn´t any life left, it goes on your side with 0,000001 energy (watch out if you capture an empty silo and AI blowit, you will lose spice normaly).

-Me too, for centre mass attacks first targets: builder, startport and heavy factory.
-You can make a sneaky attack by moving by the side with many launcher and attack from distance, the AI, only will attack you if you come too near or if u attack an enemy unit.

-Nice tipe the one of stealth the enemy harvaster, i will try it LOL

-Too the last level, Harkonen can win it normaly... Atreides must to survive until the end of spice, destroy the palace of emperor and harkonen and start to attack with sonic tanks, they move quick and got a little more range than other tanks and towers... so a sonic wave + retreat... i make it with only a sonic tank, a tower and the palace, all you need is luck. But with ordos, i can´t get to the last level and this is the third time that i try.

i find the Fremen quite usefull. why? well they attack from behind in black territory and if the enemy wants to defend it has to send some vehicles towards them.

This means their defences weaken in the front area (i.e. lower firepower) - and thats when sonic tanks come into play. by the time they are done wiht freemen you probabyl wipe out much of their defences so all you need to do is take care of remaining ones. not to mention that computer always repairs his buildings up to full = damage done by fremen costs them money. they can do quite a lof of damage until the vehicle arrives to destroy them.

I didn´t know that it was so spice, anyway in the last level i was beging for the end of the spice.

Anyway thay are no more a treat when spice is over, only send cheaps units that are destroyed before get in range for attack


Just a tank or a harvaster can end with the fremen menace and the enemy always got defence in the sides and back. They don´t send replacements or reinforcements. Anyway the back is less guarded but i prefer to attack it myself and no with fremens, i don´t make front attcks normaly. Fremen are usefull but i prefer a saboteur that can blow a builing if backuped or the hand of the death.

I'm quite sure Ordos don't get Missile Tanks (except from Starports, of course), unless this was changed in a new version/patch of the game. This very fact made them the hardest house to play.

As for the Saboteur, do you really need him once you have already blown a huge hole in your opponents defences? But since he's free, i guess you do have a point - it's just that he's significantly less useful than the other house's Palace units.

Ordos have the Neuralizer Missile Tank, which make them one of the funniest (and easiest if you know what you are doing) faction to play. ;)

I am sure that frontal assaulting didn´t work too well here but u make quite sould description of dune 2 :sneaky:

Greatest. Game. Ever.

Dune 2 brings back fond memories of my 386 PC. I'm still surprised how much strategy this game requires, especially compared to the C&C's. There is no unit that is the most useful, and a simple rush won't beat the mission. You have to be smart about building and harvesting, send reinforcements in waves, and know when to fall back and regroup. Truly a masterpiece.

Also I have to point out the great audio in this game. If you're running in "Soundblaster" or "Soundblaster Pro" mode, you're missing out on the wonderful "Adlib" sounds. Install VDMS and try it.

There's a manual here: http://dune2k.com/?page=duniverse-duneII&s...b18e9ee8162f879
Just look up the respective unit/structure.

Dont know if this question has been asked before, but is the movement in the game naturally slow? The sound quality is perfect as well as everything else. But i find that the light infatry troops take ages to move from one area to the next. And there are long pauses between the shots being fired during combat. Is this normal?

you can adjust the speed in the game's menu.


normally shooting and movement is not really slow. it's somewhat similar to C&C. so you probably have to adjust the speed in the menu.

HINT: To make the missiles miss more use fast speed, while if you want to make lot of hits with them choose very slow.

Siege tanks
what are they good for? ahh got it! FOR SIEGES!

way too many people consentrate way too much about rocket launchers, and use thease to kill missile turrets. DONT

the thing rocket launchers are good at is Kamikaze missions. get a group ot them, line them up at your base, pick a good target like Heavy Factory or Construction Yard. they may die, but if you have skirmished ahead, killing some of the units around base, done good recon, THEY WILL GET THE JOB DONE!

but when you at some point realise how weak and inaccurate rocket launchers are, START USING SIEGE TANKS.

thease units are great for anything except running from Sand Worms. Many are intimidatet by missile turrets, since thease outrange Siege Tanks. DONT BE!
A siegetank is awesome vs. turrets. take 6 siege tanks and they will break any defence for you. Sonic Tanks may cause them problems, but thease are weak and are likely to mess up their own base if in a defending role.

If you want to do really good drive your rocket launchers after your 6 Siege Tanks. while the Tanks take the punishment the rocket launchers can hurl missiles into the base and do good damage (though not nessesarily on the building you aim them at).

6 Siege Tanks and 4 Rocketlaunchers can take most bases. AND FAST

This game is amazing. I don't know if my young self would have beleived it if someone told me that a decade later I would still be playing Dune II.

Just wanted to clear some things up, or at least throw out my thoughts on the subjects:

The Fremen: Some people are saying that they are not powerful enough. Personally I agree. I wished the Fremen had been stronger, especially since they were so powerful in the book. However, realistically, in the book you didn't have tanks going at each other. You had bands of people on foot with knives. So looking at it that way, the Fremen are powerful since they are stronger than the normal troopers. They just don't measure up to the tanks.

Devastator: I think someone posed the question of why modern militaries don't make nuclear tanks when there are nuclear subs around. My question is, what benefit will a tank receive from putting a nuclear reactor in it? It's not as if it will make the guns more powerful or anything like that.

Here is the thing, regular gasoline or diesel engines require air to operate. On a sub, you don't want to have to carry any more air down there than you have to for the crew to survive. A nuclear sub has the benefit of being able to run without needing an air source. That's why we have nuclear subs, and not tanks. Regular electric motors running off of batteries don't have a good power to weight ratio when compared to alternitives, so that's why they use a nuke reactor.

Someone else I think said something about tanks not being cost-effective. You know what happens when you fire an RPG at an M1Abrams? It bounces off. Ok maybe that's stretching it a bit, but same idea. The purpose of a tank is to be a mobile piece of armor (hence they are reffered to as "amor" in the military anyway) to protect them from the infantry. The big gun on a tank? That's designed to take out other tanks or hardened targets. If tank 1 shoots tank 2, tank 2 dies. The main gun of a tank is generally more powerful than something you are going to carry on your shoulder.

The other thing is I would LOVE for someone to explain not how you can load and fire 2 main guns with a crew of 3 people. (Yes auto-loaders have been tried, but a 19-year-old with a strong arm is more efficient apparently.) Then again, on Arrakis apparently people have found a way to aim the main guns at individual soldiers eliminating the need for a secondary gunner. Eh, oh well. I'm not trying to take away from the game here, I'm just explaining why you won't see Devastators or Seige Tanks anytime soon.




But yes, back to the love of this game. This game is glorious. This game is part of my childhood I tell you. Saturday morning cartoons? Yeah, ok. I was in the basement blowing up harvesters first thing out of bed. I am so glad that I get to play this game again. :D

Im about to download this game, but the editor's choice thing is
at level 5. Does the game have a map editor or can you mod it well?

I think the game can be modded - somehow - because there was a modded version released called "super dune II"

I remember playing this game back in 1994-5 or so when my friend first picked it up.

I remember a sneaky method of using the slabs of concrete as a trail up to the enemy base or as close as possible and then putting something sneaky there. Can't remember what i did exactly!

Rocket- or machinegun-turrets, what else? :D

I downloaded this game from here about a week ago but rapidly ran into the problem of the copy protection questions. I didn't find the manual too much help for answering these because at this early stage of the game you don't always know what is the building or unit which is shown on the screen and about which the program asks you a question. After a fair bit of searching on the Net I eventually found a "Hints" file which had descriptions of the pictures and the answers to the possible questions. Very useful - it ought to be available here. I have a copy if the people running this site would like to add it to the Dune 2 downloads.

This game is so like Command & Conquer. It even uses the very same sound clips for the vocal responses that you get from units when giving them orders. It also has the same silly things that can make a scenario so hard to finish off. These include the fact that whenever you destroy one of the computer's buildings it seems to get full cash credit for it and so promptly puts up other buildings or generates a swarm of new units. Also the computer's own "magic cash" machine which allows the computer to carry on repairing buildings even after you have destroyed all refineries and silos.

Does anyone know if there is anything that you can do about the sand worms? I've just had a scenario come to a complete standstill as five consecutive harvesters, together with almost full spice loads, were consumed by the worms. As my base was under attack by Ordos throughout this period I soon ran out of credits and the repair state of some buildings became perilously low.

isn't this a cracked version? i eman you can put anything in the box and progress in game.

you mean C&C is like Dune 2 :D

yeah sandworms you have two options. one is to kill them. the other one is to feed them.

if you want to kill them you have somehow make them follow your trike or somehting and when trike is on safe ground stard pounding the worm.

another solution is to get some cheap units (trikes or infantry) and feed them to the worm. once the worm eats enough it will dissapear. beware as there is usually more than one worm.

later in stage i suggest you to use carryall thing, because it will transport your haverster safe and quickly from and to your base.

Sandworms can be killed!!
Well enough so as they go away!!

When a Sandworm appears, move all your units on the concrete (base terrain)!
The sandworm should stop moving!! or may chase the enemy!!

If it stops then you can easily target it with your tanks! when it get below half health it disappers!!
If it is too far away to target, entice it close to the edge of your base by moving just onto the sand, hell move closer, then move back onto the solid terrain before he eats you!!!

Now kill IT!

If you know where they are at the start of the game, you can go find them, lead them back to base and kill them!!

I think some levels have two worms!!

Thanks folks for all the suggestions. I was at that stage using the Carryall to ferry my Harvesters but all five were consumed by the worms while the Harvesters were in the process of actually harvesting. I'm also not sure of the idea of feeding the worms. What I failed to mention in my previous post was that they had also taken two Trikes, two Quads and at least one Tank - I suspect that it may have been more than one.

Anyway I've subsequently tried shooting them, first with a Quad (which didn't last long before it was consumed) and then with a standard tank. The tank was also eventually consumed but I guess it must have caused fatal damage as a little later I got the screen shake and the death roar of the worm.

I eventually completed that scenario at my third attempt (just). On my second attempt I didn't build a rocket tower early enough and had my refinery taken out (while I had zero credit) by an Ordos Ornithopter which fired missiles into it until it vanished in a ball of flame.

On the third attempt I discovered that Ordos rocket towers fire further than the Harkonnen ones. They cannot be safely taken out by rocket tanks as I was doing previously. That makes it very hard to attack an Ordos base. I scraped home with zero credit and by using my last tank to destroy two wind traps, shielding it from a nearby tower by hiding it behind one of my harvesters.

I've also just tried the next scenario (warning: spoiler). This started quietly enough but after a while was subjected to an almost contanst stream of both Harkonnen and Ordos armour and heavy infantry which rapidly overcame my defences and then obliterated my base. :angry:

This scenario is going to take a bit of brainwork to try and think of a way of dealing with such an attack (unless of course the scenarion is not supposed to be winable.)

1st - you must have your tank (rocket launcher ) on solid ground when you shoot the worm. that way they (your tanks) can't be eaten.

2nd- if you ever saw movie or read the book then you would know that worms respond to surface movements. so haversters are actually attracting them. that's why you need to keep an eye on them and try to remove them at the right time.

3rd - here is a hint - the enemies might not attack you until you build a refinery (that will be first wave). once you build it and succesfully divert enemy attack (use turrets ot help you) wait a bit untill you get a little bit more money (build a silo and save it a bit more). then build turret defence first (and wall) and only then build the heavy weapons factory. because once you put it there you will encounter second wave of attack (by that i mean large forces attacking you). this time they will attack the heavy weapons factory. since you know that you can predict where they will go and build either turrets along the road or near the factory itself. if you have some money saved you can easilly and fast build the tanks.

4th - if configuraiton of terain allows you put some bazzoka soldiers on high ground (brown area) because tanks won't be able to get to them and the can shoot at tanks.

5th - worms are tough. and even with special artreides wepon you will need a few to actually kill them. that's why i usually feed them at lower stage. and also i try to take my havester off at the right time. so the worm consumes either enemy tanks trying to destroy my harvester or the worm is attracted by computer harvester and is eating them instead of mine.

Many thanks for the additional advice which I found useful. I managed to complete that mission; I found that the palace was essential to my victory.

The fist wave of attacks on my base wasn't triggered by construction of a refinery. It didn't happen until I had build a repair centre. I don't know if that was causative or simply a coincidence but attacks seemed to be aimed at that building. At that point I has also built wind traps (X2), radar outpost, refinery, small vehicle factory, silos and canon turrets (X3). I think that the large vehicle factory was the last building that I erected. It did cause an additional wave of attacks and was demolished once.

Eventually I scraped home with zero cash but a few units to spare.

Now comes the last mission. I've tried this three times so far without success. The problem with this one is that it doesn't matter how good your base's defences are - if they are sufficient then you can get through the first wave of attacks without too much difficulty - it's the Death Hand missiles which are the real problem. As far as I know, you can do nothing to defend against them and if one hits your construction yard then you are completely stuffed. On my last attempt the very first missile hit the bulls-eye.

ah there is a trick in Dune 2 with missiles.

speed up the game and they will loose accuracy, slow down the game speed and the will gain accuracy.

so when you hear the death missile approaching speed up the game and hopefully it won't be a direct hit, but a miss or damage some not so important structures. save often and reaload if they destroyed your base.

no other way but luck in this one.

once you gain sufficient forces use them to destroy their palace as fast as possible.

Thanks for the suggestions.

However, I was running the game on the fast setting and the missiles were still accurate enough to hit my construction yard. Also, re: the MCV. I considered that as a possible solution but there's a problem with it. In this scenario you start with fewer credits (I think it's probably 1000) which doesn't get you very far. Specifically I think I was able to build a refinery, wind traps (X2), radar outpost and about 5 rocket turrets. The latter also required harvested ore to complete them. Then the raids started: first a Death Hand missile and immediately after, hordes if tanks and infantry and further missile strikes. So I had no factories at all and from that point on all credit obtained by my one harvester went on repairing the damage which was being caused to the base. Sadly, attepting to build an MCV just wasn't possible.

Surviving the start of the last scenario really does just seem to be a matter of luck!

(Unless anyone has found an alternative approach - other than cheating).

I didn't get to the latest level playing with the Harkonnen, but I can remember a tip that worked in the SEGA version of this game (the version that i played when i was about 8 years old (it was a better version than the PC one)):
The first Death Hand that you can launch when you build the palace is 100% accurate; so, if you know where is the enemy's construction yard... well... you know... you get the job done.

Many thanks for the clarification.

That is all very well but I am nowhere near being able to build the spaceport or palace. In the last scenario you start with only 1000 credits which I think is fewer than in any of the other scenarios. After I receive delivery of a harvester I can just get a few basic structures built (e.g. radar post, a couple of wind traps) and about 4 or 5 rocket turrets before the missile strikes and the onslaught of infantry and tanks against my base start. From that point onwards ALL credits that I receive from harvesting go on repairing the damage that my base is taking. There are no credits spare which I could use to undertake further building until the intensity of the infantry and tank attacks eases off.

So as I said in previous posts, if one of those missiles hits my construction yard then it is "Game Over" and that has been the case every time I have tried to play this scenario.

here is some help how to answer the copy protection questions.You need to recognise the unit that has been described in the picture, but you better save the game before finishing every level so you can try again if you make a mistake. Lot of the units especialy vehicles are very similar so good luck trying to tell them apart.




The game will show you a picture of a unit or structure without
the name of the unit. A description of the picture is provided, it is in
parenthesis. You will be asked a question about the particlular unit.
This is a list of the structures and Vehicles with a short description and
the statistics for what you could be asked about them.

Structures

Concrete Slab- Type: Foundation Material: Gravel/Sand base mix Weight: 1,469
kg Armor: Medium

Walls- Type: Defensive Wall Material: Gravel/Sand base mix Weight: 2,245 kg
Armor: Medium

Wind Trap- (looks like two half domes with turbines next to them) Type: Power
Plant Armor: Light Armament: None Generators: ESkort 650 hp EL-2A Dual
Turbine

Refinery- (there is a helipad in the lower right of the picture and there is a
pipe with a shut off valve on the left) Type: Industrial Facility Armor: Medium
Armament: none Capacity: 1000 spice units

Spice Silos-(two cylindrical structures with small pipes leading from them)
Type: Storehouse Armor: Light Armament: None Capacity: 1000 spice units

Outpost- (looks like a Bunker with a parking lot, there are four sattelite
dishes on top and one on the side, plus there is a quad parked out front) Type:
Military/Surveillance Structure Armor: Heavy Armament: None

Turret- (A tower with a big cannon in it, looks similar to the ones in The
Empire Strikes Back) Type: Ground Based Turret Armor: Heavy Armament: 105mm
cannon Elevation: 0 to 20 degrees Range: 100m

Rocket Turret- (Same as above but with two rocket launchers, and it is facing
leftish) Type: Ground based Turret Armor: Heavy Armament: 105mm cannon/Twin
missile launchers Elevation: 0 to 20 degrees Range: 100m/1000m

Construction Yard- (A bulldozer on the left side, a stack of steel beams on the
right, and a big hook hanging from the sky) Type: Production Facility Armor:
Medium Armament: none

Barracks- (Four buildings arranged to make a square, and there are a bunch of
little people in the courtyard) Type: Production Facility Armor: Medium
Armament: none Capacity: N/A

WOR Trooper Training Facility- (looks sort of like a castle, there is a huge
sand dune in the background, and a whole lot of satellite dishes on the top left
of the building, lots of tiny people out front) Type: Production Facility
Armor: Medium
Armament: none Capacity: N/A

Light Factory- (There is a Quad in the foreground, and a crane is moving an axle
just behind it) Type: Production Facility Armor: Medium Armament: none
Capacity: N/A

Heavy Factory- (A Huge Warehouse with Siege Tanks Rolling out of it, barrels are
just visible on the lower left side) Type: Production Facility Armor: Medium
Armament: none Capacity: N/A

High Tech Factory- (Dome in the background, and there are several Ornithopters
parked on the left side, also ther is a windvane and a Carryall on the leftside)
The stats are the same as the Heavy Factory

Repair Facility- (there is a tank being moved overhead, and there are a couple
of guys fixing it) Type: Industrial Facility Armor: Medium Armament: none
Capacity: N/A

IX Research Center- (Three wierd looking structures, it is a bluish green color
and it has lots of windows, plus lots of big rocks out front) Type: Technology
Facility Armor: Medium Armament: none

Starport- (Huge open area, tall tower on the right side and smaller towers on
the left side. Also there is a hanger on the left side and some barrels on the
right side) Type: Advanced Structure Armor: Heavy Armament: none Capacity:
N/A

Palace- (Looks like the front of the palace in "Alladin", there is a quad on the
right side and a computer terminal on the left side) Type: Capitol Building
Armor: Heavy Armament: none


UNITS

Harvester- (A box shaped van with tank treads. Nuff Said) Type: Spice Recovery
Vehicle Armament: none Speed: 32 km/h (tracked) Armor: Medium Crew: 5

MCV Mobile Construction Vehicle- (Ten Wheeled Truck with a crane on top) Type:
Base Deployment Vehicle Armament: none Speed: 36 km/h Armor: Medium Crew: 15

Infantry- (two guys with handguns hiding behind a rock) Type: Ground Based
Military Units Armament: 9mm RP Assault Rifles Speed: 5 km/h (foot) Armor:
light Units: 1 to 3

Troopers- (A couple of guys in Power Suits that look like they could wipe out
several Battalions of normal troops, one is holding a gatling gun) Type: Ground
Based Military units Armament: 10mm Rotary Cannons Speed: 12 km/h (foot)
Armor: Light
Units: 1 to 3

Trike- (Three Wheeled Vehicle that is sand colored, is it has Blue/Green Stripes
it is NOT a Trike) Type: Light Recon/Strike Vehicle Armament: Dual 20mm cannons
Speed: 72 km/h (wheel) Armor: Light Crew: 2

Quad- (Looks like a Hummer [Army Jeep] with dual cannons) Type: Light Attack
Vehicle Armament: Dual 30mm Cannons Speed: 59 km/h (wheel) Armor: Light
Crew: 2

Combat Tank- (plain old Tank, and looks like one, too) Type: Medium Battle Tank
Armament: 155mm gun Speed: 40 km/h (tracked) Armor: Medium Crew: 2

Missile Tank- (looks like the name and is the color of sand and has white
missiles. If it has Blue/Green stripes and Black missiles it is something else)
Type: Battlefield Support Vehicle Armament: Missile Launcher Speed: 48 km/h
(tracked)
Armor: Medium Crew: 3

Siege Tank- (The name says it all, this tank is BIG. Color of Sand) Type: Main
Battle Tank Armament: Dual 155mm cannons Speed: 32 km/h (tracked) Armor:
Heavy Crew: 3

Carryall- (A Jumbo jet with two back legs and no midsection) Type: Airborne
Unit Armament: None Speed: 160 km/h (airborne) Armor: Light Crew: 4

Ornithopter- (A helicopter with no rotary blades, but has M-Flap Wings) Type:
Close Support Attack Aircraft Armament: Battle Support Rockets Speed: 340 km/h
(Airborne) Armor: Light Crew: 2

SPECIAL UNITS


Sand Worm- (About to eat a quad for lunch) Type: Creature of Dune Armament:
Appetite Armor: Heavy Speed: 56 km/h

Fremen- (Nomads with assault rifles) Type: Ground Based Military Units
Armament: 10mm Assault rifles/Rockets Speed: 17 km/h (foot) Armor: Light
Units: Unknown

Sonic Tank- (looks like a missile tank, but the launcher has been replaced with
a cone-shaped thing, it is is an open field of grass) Type: Advanced Battle
Tank Armament: Sonic Amplifier Speed: 44 km/h (tracked) Armor: Medium Crew:
2 House: Atreides

Deviator- (A Missile Tank that has Blue/Green stripes and Black Missiles) Type:
Battlefield Support Vehicle Armament: Missile Launcher Speed: 48 km/h
(tracked) Armor: Medium Crew: 3 House: Ordos

Raider- (A Trike with Blue/Green Stripes) Type: Quick Strike Vehicle Armament:
Dual 20mm cannons Speed: 90 km/h (wheel) Armor: Light Crew: 2 House: Ordos

Saboteur- (A man with a cape jumping down a sand dune at night) Type: Espionage
Unit Armament: Unknown Speed: 95 km/h (trike) Armor: Light Crew: 1 House:
Ordos

Death Hand- (A Ballistic Missile) Type: Battlefield Support Missile
Dimensions: 8.12m (length) Warhead: H355 HS cluster bomb Guidance: Inertial
Range: 1120km House: Harkonnen

Devastator- (The name says it all, A HUGE red tank with two cannons) Type:
Advanced Battle Tank Armament: Dual 190mm guns Speed: 20 km/h (tracked)
Armor: Heavy Crew: 3 House: Harkonnen

Sardaukar- (A heavily armored person with a six-rocket launcher on his shoulder
and three viewing ports in the helmet) Type: Ground Based Military Units
Armament: Classified Units: 3 Armor: Light Speed: 15 km/h House: Emporer



I hope I was of some help

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Andyc @ Oct 21 2004, 08:21 PM) [snapback]18951[/snapback]</div>Well, not really, I let the enemy harvester run over a troopers and (in most cases) the harvester stops harvesting - it is very usefull trick :ok:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(another_guest @ Aug 7 2006, 04:00 AM) [snapback]247088[/snapback]</div>The patches on abandonia removes the bugs and freezes. Most importantly it removes the radar and the starport freezes :ok:

I use starport for purchasing powerful units in emergencies, or i just use it to get over max. unit limit. In emergencies the prices are affordable because I buy just as much as enough. On the other hand, reaching max. unit limit means that you already have enough units for defense so you can always wait for prices to fall.

In the last missions, is the best way to build units. If you can hold, you try to build the Hv Factory to get your special unit.
Is also a good idea to go over the limit or to find cheap troops for skirmish at their flanks/rear

I'm up to the last level with Harkonnen and I've never run out of spice. Most levels however I've been able to reach the 33000 spice cap at the end of the level and racked up some huge scores when I finally decide to blow the last building. Mind you, that may be because Harkonnen are easy.

I think however it is important to also monitor what your harvestors are doing when you hit the unit limit. There isn't always time to keep building silos and a lot of spice can be lost if you are attacking, not paying attention and your harvestors are just dumping the spice as there is no space. Several times I have chosen to sit on about 5000 spice while attacking and have ordered my harvestors to stop working.

fixed it, apparently you HAVE t run the setup program, or so says an incrediblty hard to get screenshot of the only line of text the dune2 exe does say before it shuts down

It seems you are trying to run the game in plain Windows. I strongly suggest you use DosBox instead.
You can download it here.

If you have any problems with it, try having a look at the official FAQ on the DosBox site.
Basic Setup and Installation
Command Line
Z instead of C at the command prompt
Internal Programs (important, especially MOUNT)
Most of the stuff in there is not really needed, but you would do best to familiarize yourself with the specific topics I linked to.
The mounting of your DosBox games directory, switching the promt to the emulated C: drive and clearing the screen from previous commands can all be executed from the [autoexec] section of dosbox.conf, so you won't have to re-type them every time round.
Frontend programs can help running DosBox with varying configurations for different games.
For both a more accessible user interface and oldschool feel, you can use Norton Commander (get it from our programs and utilities page - scroll down to the bottom to find it). NC might seem awkward at first, but in fact it is a very functional genuine DOS era file manager frontend. It has a plethora of functions that will help you in navigating around the directories, while still retaining the command prompt.

Though all of this might seem complicated, it's very easy once you get used to it. So remember:

DON'T PANIC!!! ^_^

This game is the best ever! Played it fourteen years ago, loved it. Playing it now, rocks! ;) Think this game is so much better than the "sequels" red alert and thoose games. Ok.. the Virtual Intelligence is just funny! No problem to get the enemies to fire at their own buildings. And some people might think its annoying to move one unit after another instead of everyone at one time.
But i think you get better control of your units and can arrange your attacks better... its a shame that dune 2000 *meep*ed up the rumour. Cause then the latest dune game didnt get the attention it deserved..

i just never heard of Dune 2000 and i am not Alf

i personally liked d2k and emperor never did play dune 2 so i cant compare them. i saw a post that complained about emperor deviating from the storyline but d2k which was (so ive heard) just an upgraded version of 2 has almost nothing to do with the book storyline either point a) i dont recall the ordos ever existing, point b) the war was very localized in the book

Indeed. House Ordos were only mentioned in Dune Encyclopaedia, they weren't in the books.

Dune 2 is very independent from books and i prefer like that.

When I answer the questions after the first mission the game crashes.

Does anyone know why that would happen???

Do you have to answer the questions right?? If so, how are you ment to know the answers??

I'll give you the link to the Manual where you can look up all the correct answers.

And think about it: What sort of crappy code request was it if you did not have to give correct answers?! :D

The version Abandonia provoides is not cracked to my knowledge.

thanks alot man i will try it out now.

I'm running Dune2 on Windows XP Home.

I've downloaded VDM sound, but now when i try to run the game.. after the " and.... Virgin Games" part of the into, it tells me that i have "Insufficient Memory Error! Press any ket to exit to DOS. Press any key to continue"

Does anyone have any idea how to solve this? argh.. i dont want to play my precious dune 2 with no music :(

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hermez @ Sep 16 2006, 10:11 AM) [snapback]255297[/snapback]</div>Use DOSBox instead of VDMSound. The game is also shown as XP compatible in the review page. I didn't test it because I don't have XP on my desktop but it should work.

Don't know if any of you have these problems but after first level I get the "information is lagging, you have to type what these three buildings/machines are to prove your innocent"

Although I type in the correct names I always get kicked off after the third one.... any ideas ?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kristian @ Sep 17 2006, 09:36 AM) [snapback]255540[/snapback]</div>Gah, ignore... just saw a message earlier on regarding this subject. Sorry

In the final mission (and this is from my experience with earlier versions of the game that had easier AI) I built wind trap, refinery (next to const. yard), another refinery about 10 squares to left from const. yard, and radar. Wind trap, 2-4 rocket turrets, some wall, then wind trap, light factory. Then I buit the heavy factory below the 2nd refinery, away from the construction yard. This way, if your const. yard and refinery were destroyed by a nuke, you could have the MCV built from the heavy factory. If the 2nd refinery and the heavy factory are nuked, you of course rebuild them before the next nuke. Still, the 1st nuke may come just before you get the heavy factory ready.

In the previous version, the enemy moved slower if you didn't look at them. Don't know if this was fixed in the update. But you really didn't need more than 3 rocket turrets along with the siege tanks.

I still have my original manual for this game and recently scanned it. Would Abandonia be interested in hosting the scans (bearing in mind there is 34MB of JPEG files in all!) or is there anywhere else I could upload them?

contact Kosta

MRaaaaaagghh! RAAAAGE!!

WTF Who thinks its good gameplay to have a turret that can REPAIR itself faster than FIVE TANKS can damage it???

Avoid the AI "improvement" patch, at least the advanced version.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Sep 25 2006, 05:48 AM) [snapback]257210[/snapback]</div> LOL

can anyone tell me where i can find the config-file? when i want to toggle on autoscrolling the program quits because the config-file is missing.thx

sorry, wrong question...
the filename is "options.cfg" and it IS in the folder, but it's not found anyway. and when i want to save i'm told file "savegame_001.dat" (or something like that) not found. and then he quits the program... and dune2 is no fun without saving... don't want to keep my pc running for the next 2 weeks! :angry:
can anyone help??

oh, and one more thing... i'm running the game in dosbox, guess it must have anything to do with that, because when i run it in winxp all these things work fine, but the sound is a bit distorted and the game runs very unsmooth so i'd like to make it work in dosbox.

oh, :wallbash: ! found out about it now, only copied dune2 to my normal games folder and not to the dosbox "cdrive" folder... but of course it's always better to post 4 nonsense-posts in a row then to think for 10 seconds :tomato:
until next time :)

This game is just so ubercool!!! And im extremely proud of having an original cd copy of this game! Its just the best game westwood studios ever made and infact its the best realtime strategic game ever!

Best regards,
DJMadMax

Yes, fantastic game!
i remember playing it for hours and hours when i was 12 or so. and after i had finished it with the atreides (loser house i know, i even dare to play elves in some other games... :) ) i immediately wanted to start over with another house. but i don't like harkonnen so much somehow, i think they're a bit boring. always just bigger, slower, heavier, it's always just straightforward deestruction. in my opinion the specials of the other houses are much more interesting...though i can't remember the ordos palace special somehow...i'll see,i'm about to start with atreides again. this will be a looong evening of :titan: and :huh: and :blink: and :sos: and :wallbash: and ^_^ and finally :brain:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Oct 23 2006, 04:34 PM) [snapback]263097[/snapback]</div>When you build the palace, if you play with the Atreides, you get "fremen", if you play with the Harkonen, you'll get that "stupid missil - Hand of - something I can't remember it's name anymore", and if you play with the Ordos you'll get the "saboteur"

Now this is one of those games that brings me back to my childhood! :max:

I started playing it couple a days ago again. :) Thanks to "Dune" TV series shown here. I simply rewoked.... Then I found Abandonia.com and found that I am far from being the only person playing "shitty old games" instead of the latest State-of-art Half Life, Warcrafts, .... :whistling:

Also for the first time ever, I advanced to Level 4 in Dune2!!! :kosta: :brain: Back in 1993 and 1994 I was only 10/11 years-old and it was way to hard for me. :)

A bit offtopic, but now I am registered. :D Hope to discuss about Dune and other games in future. Cheers!

Harkonnen palace weapon --> hand of death

I dont know if this have been asked before, but what is the difference between the two versions of dune 2??

Im from Europe, and the version i played back in the early 90ties, were called "Dune 2: The Building of A Dynasty", while this version is called: "Dune 2: the battle for arrakis".

What is the difference betwen the versions?


Was "Dune 2: The Building of A Dynasty" a European-version, while "Dune 2: the battle for arrakis" was a version for USA??

Or was "Dune 2: The Building of A Dynasty" the beta-version of "Dune 2: the battle for arrakis"?

It depends on the system it was released on. The SEGA version was Battle of Arrakis.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Nyerguds @ Oct 24 2006, 06:58 PM) [snapback]263353[/snapback]</div>Really?

Im sure that Both "Battle for Arrakis" and "The Building of a Dynasty" was both realesed on PC?
But maybe im wrong.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(narkooegle @ Oct 24 2006, 08:14 PM) [snapback]263377[/snapback]</div>Correct, the difference is indeed USA vs Europe, like you stated earlier.

have they ever relased a little update that would help up me and always prayed for it? I mean that you could group units and had shorcuts for actions.. :huh:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Muad Dib @ Oct 29 2006, 06:54 PM) [snapback]264192[/snapback]</div>Yes, it is called Dune 2000.

Hi all. Does anyone know how I can get passed the test in the game where I get asked the speed of vehicles etc... if i dont pass the test the game closes!!! It happens after i complete the first scenario. Most annoying! If anywone has any advice it would be most welcome!

Please search through the forum before you ask a question. This has been asked several times before and it starting to drinve the mod crazy to give the link to the manual that is provided by Abandonia.

Don't worry it's alright, but keep it in mind next time. :ok:

Have fun! :D

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Muad Dib @ Oct 29 2006, 07:54 PM) [snapback]264192[/snapback]</div>
http://dune2k.com
That is a great community...you can find some people working on the hold game to upgrade it..

Having a pain in the behind problem that i can't find any mention of here, or using google.

in both dos box AND just running this in native XP my mouse button has no effect.

THe cursor moves, but the LMB doesn't do anything when i click. If I press spacebar, it will have the same effect that a click should, but that is a really awkward way to play. Any idea why?

At least unusual. I don't have any problems like that when running Dune 2.

Maybe using the "autolock mouse" option would help?
Without that option I have often had that I could use the mouse but that it had no effect in the game. In that case you also see a difference in the mouse cursor, it is not filled up like usual.

Hello boys n girls!

I just played dune2 the last 3 days after some 10 years of pause.
I started with house ordos and played to the end and won finally.
But it was rather tough to play in the 2 last scenarios. In the last one without saving avery 5 minutes it would not be possible.

In my opinion Ordos are very powerful and not so bad as some other may find.

Here some of my strategies:
- First I send my Ordos raiders or quads in the top or bottom corners
- then I build concrete tabs and build my first structures
- follow the dark map (no radar yet !) in order to check the state of those vehicles and steer them around to scout the map
- build 1 rafinery as fast as possible
- send harvester to already scouted spice fields nearby
- stop an return harvester at 30-50% if low on spice so to never run out of it
- spot scouted areas for possible attacks and watch your harvester because of sandworms
- try to scout at least your area (mostly top or bottom third) nearly completey, avoid your enemies yet
- at least a wider stripe of land from total left to total right in front of your area should be no more black now
- build a normal turret
- than a spacecenter as fast as possible
- now build as many (rocket-turrets) as you need, every 4-5 squares one
- then you can build an radar outpost, now you can monitor your scouted areas
- look every 2 minutes into spacecenter and buy anything you can get that is cheaper than building
- prices vary a lot, e.g. trikes for 60c, harvesters and rocket launchers for 240c, caryalls for 540, siege tanks for 400c is quite possible
- try to get an extra harvester first, you only need one rafinery but 2-3 harvesters
- next try to get carryalls (5-6 are needed for later attacking)
- dont buy trikes, ordos raiders have to be build and are much better
- buy as many rocket lauchners as you can get, in early phase they are as good as rocket turrets, later you need them to knock out enemy turrets
- step by step build more (rocket)turrets to lessen the pressure on your troops

I did not know about the factory-building-attack-thingi so I tried at this point to build the repaircenter. In the last level you are now massivly attacked. Build even more rocketturrets and dont forget windpowerstations. In this stage I played for 2 hours with only one rafinery and no silo ! I had to build, repair and buy that fast from spacecenter that there was no need for a silo. Watch out that spice never exceeds 900c, better buy some combat tank or caryall or rocket launchers, you'll need them soon.

In earlier levels ordos raider-triks were very powerful but not in the last level. One is not but 3-5 in a group are very powerful. You even can outrun rocketturrets with some luck and if in outer skirt of their attackzone. So attacking structures with them is very easy. But have in mind they have very low armor but good waponery so attack other quads first dont let them shoot on you or just speed them out.

That was just preparing for our battle.... more to come in my next posting.

Paul Muad Dib

This ist my strategy for the last level with house Ordos. PART 2

Ok now we are prepared for the first heavier attackings.

If you just did what I did then you'll masterd at least 30-40 attacks with quads and trikes and a lot of troupers. In the last level you also have 2 deviators (nerve-gas-rocket-launcher). Try to brainwash your enemy and if green immediatly let him attack other attackers. You have 2-3 min a new "friend". Try to make him move to the best spot, where your defense can kill him the easiest. It is also very good to brainwash any tracked enemy and let him drive over troops so to kill them.

Smart as you are have you built your turrets in a V or U-shape so they can work together. So every enemy should be centerd in the middle of this shape

Now your enemies start to produce heavy attack-vehicles like siegetanks and send them to you. It will be very hard to win those battles but there is no way back. As rocket-launchers of the enemy are very dangerous now for your defense try to brainwash with your deviators some tanks or quads and atack any launchers with them. The bigger the armament of your brainwashed new friend the better for you. Try to concentrate on other vehicles that already have some damage.
At this state you should have at least 6 rocket turrets. build some more on the outer sides.

Now harvest as much as you can and buy as hell. Don't forget, you can't build rocket-lauchners, buy them first the combat and siege tanks.
You need 5-6 Carryalls, try to get them under 720c. Sometimes Quads cost only 100c that ist very cheep an good for harvester-attacks.

Now you should have around 10-15 siege tanks 4-6 combat tanks 2 deviators and 4-5 rocket-launchers.
Now we should try to counterattack the first enemy. Attacks should now have slowed down a bit and our defense should be enough to kill any attacker.

Chose the left or the right corner. If possible start with Harkonnen. Maybe you already know where your enemies are settled.

Move your whole army (20-30 vehicles ! not very easy done, use keyboard-shortcut) to the very border then move them forward. Remember to have siege tanks first but not far behind your rocket lauchers.
Now attack turrets from as far as possible here you have to try the best spot with a tank than replace wisth rocketlauncher and attack the turrets. If you finetune you can do this without any damage on your troops. As your enemy has lots of turrets you cannot attack them with siege tanks. That woud be kamikaze. It takes 5-10min to kill a turret. Take your time! Now aim at the other turrets. If there are only one turret left you also can use at least 4 siegetanks together to attack it plus your rocket launchers. Now step by step you move forward. Enemy rocket-launchers are very dangerous now. Try to deviate them and then use them as structure-attackers or your own artillery.
Now structure by structure kill anything but be aware of new build turrets and immediatly attack them with all you have. If you don't watch out your whole army is dead. (Click your unit, use keyboard shortcut "a" for attack then click on target.)

If you kill the Harkonnen palace you dont have to fear "death hand" any more.

Your army will be very much damaged now but as you have 5-6 carryalls they can repaired quickly. I have not tried to surround walls around the repair facility. Someone told us that the carryall will bring back the unit.
I let them repair then move them to a "save corner" out of reach of (rebuild) turrets and moved them back to the main army.
Try to wait for them and watch out for new build turrets. Then proceed to the middle enemy (should be emperor), then to Artreides.

It took me around 4 hours to win the last level.

Now I'm in level 4 with house Harkonnen. But have not so much time anymore. We will see.

Paul Muad Dib

i will say the same to all TOO DETAILED selfcalled strategies, it isnt any strategy, strategy is to chose between an early fast shock attack or a full ranged attack when the spice is over playing to cat and mouse with enemy forces. You posted what you have done to win and from there we can take tips and/or strategies. If interesting but dont call it strategy, in any case is a step-by-step walkthrough.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Titan @ Jun 8 2004, 11:06 AM) [snapback]2927[/snapback]</div>The 3 houses have 3 diferent endings, all occuring in the imperial throne room:
The Atreides' Mentat considers the emperor guilty of treason and arrests him
The Harkonnen's Mentat also considers the emperor guilty and he's vaporized in his throne by a trooper
The Ordos's Mentat finds the emperor guilty and a green, four-legged animal rsembling a mixture of lizzard and dog is unleashed against the emperor

The ordo´s creature worthed enough to end the game once more.

Hey, i played this game 1994-1996 and now found it again.. how to say, Best game ever :)

i managed to finish the campaign with house ordos.

all i did in last level , was that i used some devastators ( brainwashing rockets) to self destruct harkonnen tank, the nuclear tank. deviator or what was its name

then i used few combat tanks and rocket launcers, sneeked into the big base from North-west and started destructing enemy houses, one by one. i also had the MSV deployed near harkonnen base, so i build my rocket turrets near harkonnen heavy machine factory, all the tanks harkonnen made, experienced heavy fire.

the sardaukar base was pain in the ***** but i just moved step by step, house by house, enemy after enemy, it took about 2 hours and when i got to artreides base.. i didnt meet much resistance - no silos was left and they produced only some quads n sh*t.

so, few minutes before endind, they evaded my base with quads and infantry.. but you all can guess, how much of these survived my base defence, which contained 3 rows of turrets :ph34r:

anyways.. sorry about the bad english, but i just love this game, and had to post here :D

EDITED: No 1337-speak!!! :butcher:

I didn't read the entire thread so maybe this was already mentioned, but a cool trick (bug) I abused in Dune 2 years ago was to make a trooper (or a common soldier) shoot an enemy harvester. A harvester would then run him over, but would stay on the same spot without harvesting or moving. This way AI would think everything's ok, but wouldn't make any money, and wouldn't receive another harvester (unless your troops destroy it). :D

LOL, I remember that bug :)

Did you know that according to the manual, the Spice Bloom acted like the crates in the C&C games, and you could get units and money out of them?

It sure didn't work that way in the GAME... any unit that walked on a spice bloom got sucked under a couple hundred tons of sand :P

The BeST GaMe eVeR :w00t:

I have another version of this game. it's called:
dune 2 battle for arrakis
and you have:
dune 2 building of a dinasty
hope mine better :wallbash: :w00t: :butcher: :boxing:

Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (also known as Dune II: Battle for Arrakis in Europe and in the Mega Drive/Genesis port)

In other words, they're both identical.

hey all, im writing currently a blog about duneII for www.teg.ro (check it out) and released 1 of 3 parts. i would be very happy if someone could send me a screenshot of a deathhand striking a base, or after it striked a base.

send screenies to [BEEEP]@web.de
thank you!

im also thankful for every other screenshot of last missions including big battles or anything that looks interesting :)

Sorry, but you cannot post e-mail adresses in open here. Rules are rules.

I don't think that Ordos are fast and weak.The strong and weak point are other.

ATREIDES STRONG POINT:
-Sonic Tank is very useful because you can attack and retreat other units,you can destroy turret...is a better version of rocket launcher.
-Fremen are good in a bugged version:they attack only the units and not the base,but they aren't attacked from enemy units except the defending one.In the normal game are average.

ATREIDES WEAK POINT:
-They haven't troopers.
-They are friendly with sandworms.

HARKONNEN STRONG POINT:
-Death Hand can be the better palace's weapon.
-Harkonnen's Quad is the strongest jeep of Dune.
-They have trooper from the beginning.

HARKONNEN WEAK POINT:
-Death Hand is useful only if you save and load before every launch....that means nearly cheating!And it takes very long to recharge.
-They haven't soldiers.
-They haven't trike:is very difficult to explore with Harkonnen.However they can take trike by starport.
-They haven't air units.
-The Devastator is useless.Dangerous on defense and too slow for attack.Use Siege Tank instead.
-Harkonnen Combat Tank is the weakest tank of the game.So Harkonnen Mission 4 is the most difficult mission.

ORDOS STRONG POINT:
-The Raider is better than Trike.Faster and stronger.
-Ordos Combat Tank is the strongest among the combat tanks.
-Deviator is very useful,even difficult to use.
-Saboteur is fast to recharge and can be useful.
-They have both soldiers and troopers.

ORDOS WEAK POINT:
-Saboteur is useful only if you lose time to drive it wisely.
-They haven't missile launcher!They can build it only in mission 6.So mission 5 is very difficult.
-Maybe Ordos's Quad is slighty weaker than Atreides's Quad.

Could someone confirm this, please?
Cause I doubt that the first realtime-strategy-game that there was, already told strenghts from basic units from different clans apart! :blink:
Aren't the basic units all the same? :huh:

So I thought too.

Maybe the game inserts some special bonuses/penalties for all units of each clan?

I remember Harkonnen tanks to be strong and slow, Ordos' fast and weak, and Atreides' average. Which is better depends on your playing. I prefer the Harkonnen. Speed counts, but the Ordos don`t have enough speed to make the difference.

But that was a long time ago... So maybe I remember it bad.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Shaden @ Jan 15 2007, 09:10 PM) [snapback]275077[/snapback]</div>I remember it too..Ordos were fast cause they had the "raider" trike (not a normal one), it was the powerfull version.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Shaden @ Jan 15 2007, 09:10 PM) [snapback]275077[/snapback]</div>I always imagined them to be all the same.... :blink:

Same as I think. I don't remember there being any difference between Atreides Siege Tank and Harkonnen Siege Tank, the only race differences were the race-specific vehicles such as Ordos Deviator, Atreides Sonic Tank, Harkonnen Devastator and others, which provided for the strategy.

I remember there was a lovely bug with the house ordos... :whistling:
everybody knows that deviator can steal for a moment enemy units...but only few knows that if you hold the attack command (of the stole unit) and wait until the unit returns to the enemy you can finally give this definitive command...its beatiful to see Harkonnen vs harkonnen ha!

Yeah I know that one. Used it a lot when I played Ordos, it was funny to see the enemy units destroying their own base, until after a while the computer ordered them to attack me again. One trick also is to build the concrete plates in a line all the way up to the enemy base, gather a group of them near the base and build the towers on them which will then attack the enemy base. Since repairing the towers doesn't cost as much as producing new units to attack, with a little patience and close control it works quite good.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Shaden @ Jan 15 2007, 08:10 PM) [snapback]275077[/snapback]</div>That was Dune 2000.
In Dune 2 mentat Radnor says "Harkonnen Combat Tank has an ADEGUATE armor"
Harkonnen is good for quad and death hands...the siege tanks are the same that other house and the devastator is a nuisance (too slow to attack,too expensive and too dangerous for defense).

Harkonnen Devastator is perfect for suicide attacks!
I love dune2..I remember I was able to create Harkonnen sonic tank and ornythopter!!!!
Whit no cheats...

:sos:

I've never played this game before, and after defeating the first level I am asked 3 questions. I attempt to answer them, but the game always shuts down. What's up with this? I'd post the questions, but I've yet to be asked the same question twice. GRRR!!

:wallbash:

This is the wrong topic, try to create a topic on troubleshooting.
People will help you easily...
I remember it was a protection, but my amiga version didn't have it

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DeTheGreat @ Jan 25 2007, 09:08 PM) [snapback]276457[/snapback]</div>Download the manual. It has all the answers.

I remember making Atreides or Harkonnen Deviators which shot green gas.. :huh: I think they were useless..

The nice thing about captured enemy buildings was they never had to be maintained (repaired) while your own buildings seemed to 'erode' a bit as time passed (I think till they reached half points).

Great game.

That "erosion" happens only when you don't build them on concrete slabs.

Yes, I remember it ^_^.
Have you ever captured an enemy palace?
Me not...maybe cause in the last levels it was soooo difficult! (I was 7 years old!!!) :rolleyes:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Feb 16 2007, 12:09 PM) [snapback]279527[/snapback]</div>Hm, I thought there was always some slow erosion happening, in the vein of a few % per hour on normal speed. But indeed it was significantly higher without concrete slabs.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(another_guest @ Feb 16 2007, 12:03 PM) [snapback]279542[/snapback]</div>Hm, I thought there was always some slow erosion happening, in the vein of a few % per hour on normal speed. But indeed it was significantly higher without concrete slabs.
[/b][/quote]

Yes, there is erosion (at least in the version I used to have) it's slow indeed and it's not related to placing your buildings on concrete slabs. If I remember correctly, the erosion only happens after the first couple of levels (after the learning/basic ones), it affects all buildings and as a result some of them won't function at 100% capacity (wind traps and spice storage are a good example). Also the building upgrades can only be done on fully repaired buildings so eroded buildings can't be upgraded until they're repaired. The enemy buildings never erode. And I think the erosion stops at 50% (stays at minimum level of green, doesn't go into yellow).

it could be also your enemy sending in infantry units to sabotage? i find saboteur very hard to use even in dune 2000. any ideas? my tanks won't automatically notice it whereas their always does.

PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME!!! I have got the manual in txt format but it doesnt help when answering questions about building types bescause there is no pictures.
How is everyone getting around this problem??
Cheers!
Simon

isn't the game cracked (just press enter)? if not there should be a manual or some code on the site here.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gregor @ Mar 5 2007, 12:19 PM) [snapback]281936[/snapback]</div>
ive got the manual bit its in txt format with no pictures which makes it hard to answer the questions because u have to identify buldings.

How does every1 else manage with out pictures?

Thanks for the quick reply

If you have the version from abandonia, then you can just press enter because it is cracked. If you don't have a cracked version, you can download it from this site.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Nitro @ Mar 5 2007, 04:14 PM) [snapback]281998[/snapback]</div>
ive tried pressing enter on the version on this site and it just sends me back to the windows screen?
Is there summin im doing wrong?

You are running it in plain Windoze?
If so, then that's what you're doing wrong.
Run it in DosBox.

Hi, I loved Dune when it first came out and have been in mourning till I found your site. I have attempted to down load the game onto an XP system but things are not going well! DOS screen appears then just disappears.
Have read various site notes and links but this just provides more reading and no direct help.
Is there a link that will give me basic “step by step” instructions on how to get the game playing?
Or anywhere that I could purchase it in CD form?
Any help would be appreciated.

ive been avin the same problem but all was solved when i used DOSbox. Works a treat, thanks for the advice guys!!

Thanks for that. So i just down load this DOSbox and play through that. There is no side effects from the DOSbox programe??

Hey all, first post here. This is one of my all time favourite games. I think many years ago I completed with all 3 races, primarily through just overkill with missile turrets. keep on defence until until you have enough turrets that nothing gets close (mostly) and then start expanding to enemy. Only change is in late game when you need to start being more aggressive and take out enemy harvesters.

looking forward to installing it again.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Drew @ Mar 5 2007, 10:15 PM) [snapback]282046[/snapback]</div>Only that your PC might start turn itself on during the night and downloading porn onto itself.






:bleh:
Fooled ya!

The only side effect would be that you'd end up spending an inordinate amount of time on games more than a decade old. ^_^ Which isn't really a bad thing IMO.


Use DosBox to run the game. You can download it here, and a newbie guide can be found here .

I have problems with my graphics, the screen looks really messed up.
Anyone knows how to solve this cause it´s impossible to play. I am Using XP

Use Dosbox, and the game will run with out problems

Can't get past the copy protection.

First without DosBox, I answered the questions correctly, it booted me.
Second time, I used Dosbox, pressed enter three times, booted.
Third time, gave three correct answers, booted.

What am I doing wrong here? I know what the pictures are but the answers in the manual never work. Could you make a .txt of the keywords? NOT ZIPPED LIKE THE MANUAL, IT'S ONE FREAKING TINY FILE IT DOES NOT NEED TO BE ZIPPED

DosBox 0.70 by the way.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Mar 21 2007, 09:49 PM) [snapback]284478[/snapback]</div>Nevermind, I got past it. Turns out it was because I was giving the name of the unit and not the type, and I have infantries confused with troopers.

But still, you could at least be more specific, and it's still very retarded (literally) how you guys zip single files like that. I had to spend 10 minutes unzipping it (with an unregistered program :wallbash:) just to get one little file.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Mar 21 2007, 10:56 PM) [snapback]284480[/snapback]</div>It is not retarded. Compressing files allows us to save space on the server (so that it can be used for more and bigger games) and bandwidth - both your and ours - needed to download them.

If it takes you 10 minutes to unpack a single file, it's your fault. Learn how to operate WinZip/WinRar properly and stop whining.

Those zip programs cost money, money I'm not willing to spend considering I can unzip them by moving them to my newer computers and then returning the unzipped versions. I still don't understand how it's necessary to zip a file that is under 30 kb in size; you might as well just zip all the midis individually as well.

I found something rather amusing in the game. Did anyone else notice that you can mess with your mentat's face by clicking on his mouth, eyes, or nose?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Mar 26 2007, 01:47 AM) [snapback]284982[/snapback]</div>You can use the free evaluation version of Winzip for unzipping. Total commander (www.ghisler.com) has a built-in zipping/unzipping support. Or you can use free 7-zip program (www.7-zip.org).

This may come to you as a surprise since the game is only 15 years old, but YES we did notice that.

They don't cost money. The evaluation versions of WinZip/WinRar bug you to register after the trial period ends but remain fully functional.
Doing that with docs, extras and the like is pretty much standard. If you find this a problem, feel free to discuss that with Kosta. Just don't be surprised by the answer you'll get...

Help! :wallbash:

After I finished the first level it says:"there's a traitor among us...bla bla" and asks me 3 questions, and no matter what I write, after the third answer it quiets itself back to the dos screen and I cant continue the game.. I dont know what to do!

Please I'll be glad if someone help me solve this issue!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gabrieli @ Mar 31 2007, 03:09 PM) [snapback]285636[/snapback]</div>In this same one topic there is the answer : read the post #58 or post #132 (in other word - use the manual provided by Abandonia itself, eventually save just before the end of the first level and reload if you fail to respond the protection-question).

BTW, read the entire topic, it's long but even filled with interesting information and trick :)

There is a way to solve the copy protection questions problem.

1. Make a copy of the 'Dune.exe' file. We are going to modify this file so it's a good idea to have a backup incase things go wrong.

2. Download a Hex editor. For this example i will be using the freeware program XVI32.

3. Click 'File' then 'Open' and select the Dune executable ('Dune.exe').

4. Once it has opened click on 'Search' and then 'Find...'.

5. In the 'Hex string' box enter the following: 83 C4 08 0B C0 74 42

6. Click 'OK'.

7. 83 will now be highlighted. Move right until you reach 74.

8. Replace 74 with EB.

9. Save the file.

Now whenever you play the game you can type anything you want into the copy protection question screen and the game will assume it is the correct answer!!

Enjoy!!

hello everybody, with DOS-Box the game works fine, so thx for the replys.

i ve got a little problem playing dune2.... ingame i can only choose 1 unit for ordering, wasn't it possible to put a square on several units to choose them all?

Only in Dune2000, the remake, not in the original versions.

It never been able to select more than one unit at a time in Dune 2. That's why it was such a praised "improvement" in C&C, for you were able to select as many units as you want on the battlefield.

Dune 2 is considered as the "father of all RTS games", it's very old and it's bound to have such weaknesses... The gameplay, like about all the old games, is still gold tough. ;)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DeEnA @ Apr 12 2007, 10:07 AM) [snapback]286716[/snapback]</div>There's a project in dune2k.com about this...I think you should search "Dune II the maker" :whistling:

:titan: [font=Trebuchet Ms] I like this game alot. It is westwood at its finest( and when it's ideas were fresh, too). The one main thing that gets me down about it is that there is no skirmish. The whole game is nothing but the campaigns. And the sound is not worth a cent so I turn it off. I always play the good guys, so if u r the same way, play Atreides. If u can afford it, what I do is I make multiple hi-tech factories and send in swarms of Ornithopters. Since their weapons aren't too accurate and the buildings are so close together most of the damage is caused by rockets that miss(enemy rockets!). Great game. If I had ten thumbs they'd all be up!. Long Live the Fighters! From Scarrior the III

Scans of the original manual can be downloaded here:

http://rapidshare.com/files/31452174...anual.zip.html

Be warned, it's a 34MB download.

being able to select/order more than one unit at a time wasn't very useful in dune 2, and add to that the manual had the directions wrong... it was down right frustrating...

What the game allowed you to do was follow an already moving unit to its destination and that's it. If you changed orders to that "leader" unit before it reached its destination then the "follower" would just stop.

The article writer isn't safe in saying it's the first RTS. I remember playing Herzog Zwei well before Dune 2 came out, and it was released 3 years earlier if you look at the dates.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Aberu @ May 18 2007, 02:53 AM) [snapback]290689[/snapback]</div>It doesn't say it was the first. Anyway there was already a discussion about it in the thread.

I'm having a problem running Dune II. After completing the first mission for the Atriedes, the mentat says there are reports that I've been communicating with the Ordos, so he must ask me some questions. The questions are about things such as armor class, speed, and unit type. After completing the third question, the game closes! I have no idea why. Would somebody please help me with this issue?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Incappucciato d'Ombra @ Mar 31 2007, 05:14 PM) [snapback]285650[/snapback]</div>In this same one topic there is the answer : read the post #58 or post #132 (in other word - use the manual provided by Abandonia itself, eventually save just before the end of the first level and reload if you fail to respond the protection-question).

BTW, read the entire topic, it's long but even filled with interesting information and trick :)
[/b][/quote]

:ok:

Thanks! After the first couple pages of the topic, it looked as if nobody was having that problem, so I (stupidly) didn't read the rest. And now I WILL read the rest, for those tips!

Thanks again!

Hi,

I have two copies of Dune II. One downloaded from here. The one from here builds things slowly, the other copy I have is the same but the building of concrete, and buildings goes faster. BUT from what I have read, by the four level I should be able to build a heavy factory. In both version thought level 5 I don't have the option to build a heavy factory. What is the problem??? Am I missing something? Does someone have a version that works where you can build a heavy factory in the fourth level?

Any help would be nice. I have played this game in the past but lost it on an old computer. I came back to it now for fun, but playing several of the houses, I can't get past the 5th level because of the lack of a heavy fatory.

!!!!!!!

Rocket1

Have you built _all_ the stucture types you can? With the exception of spice silos, all of them are neccesary for further structures up the construction tree. IIRC, you need a Light Factory to build the Heavy one.

Yes, I have built all of the structures.... but I did forget to say that when I build the radar station my game crashes. I have tried adding the patch... but then the game will not run at all.... what can I do? or does someone have a working copy for an XP system.

Rocket1

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rocket1 @ Jun 6 2007, 03:47 PM) [snapback]293220[/snapback]</div>They have one. :sneaky:

Hm. :huh: I must be doing something incredibly right, cause Dune 2 happens to be one of the most stable games in DosBox on my PC... :blink:

I could imagine that your PC is too fast... (Valid reason...? :unsure:)

It may be a bad installation and/or a bad download. If you run out of other ideas: Try re-install, if that fails try to re-download.

Thanks to all...

I have re-downloaded the game from here and reinstalled it. I am using saved games from my previous game playing so that I could start off at level 4 to see if it made any difference. It did.... But.... after finally being able to install the radar station without the game crashing, I now had the ability to build a heavy factory.

!!! The first three times I tried to play the game crashed later when I did something.... never the same thing. Finally I did make it though to the 5th level....

I let you know how I make out

Rocket1

I think I have found my problem. When I first tried to play level 5 today, when I went to install the radar station once again the game crashed. So I went and reran the setup.exe program, but this time I told it not to use extended memory and now (so far) I have not had any problems.

Rocket1

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KrazyHades @ Jun 5 2007, 08:45 PM) [snapback]293080[/snapback]</div>That's the copy protection LOLs. And it won't close your game if you answered it right.

The download from this site is NOT cracked. Do the hex edit that some dude mentioned a couple pages back to get rid of it.

Next question. I am now up to level 8.... but I can find nothing on this forum on how or when you can build a sonic tank. What do I have to do?

Thanks

Rocket1

You have to play on the side of Atreides. Only they can build such a tank, Harkonnen and Ordos not.

Thanks... I should have said that I am playing as Atreides. In the beginning of level 8 I was given two sonic tanks. Very usefull... but the worms seem to get alot of my equipment... So I'm still asking what I have to do to build a sonic tank?

Rocket1

Did you build alread the heavy factory where, if I remember correctly, you can build tanks? I think for the sonic tank you also need to have built an additional building, but I can't remember anymore if and which it was.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Scatty @ Jun 11 2007, 08:44 AM) [snapback]293860[/snapback]</div>Don't you just have to do research on it? :huh:

Yes I have built a heavy factory. You can't survive without one. I built a starport once... but that seemed a waste of credit becuase it said that everything was out of stock. I have never had enough credit to survive and build a tech facility.

Rocket1

IIRC, you don't "research" things in Dune II.

I think it was either House of IX or Palace that gave you access to the Sonic Tanks... not sure which one.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Jun 11 2007, 04:23 PM) [snapback]293914[/snapback]</div>Couldn't you improve in a way? Like the the big stone plate? You had to spend money to get that one. You clicked something on the building yard menu.
I think it was house IX, you're right.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Icewolf @ Jun 11 2007, 07:05 PM) [snapback]293948[/snapback]</div>There should be an "Upgrade" button in some buildings...

I always do the upgrades. Thanks for your help. I had to build the starport, then I could build the palace, the I could build the IX, then I could finally in the heavy factory build a sonic tank.... seems like an waste of credits for that.

I just made it though level 8.... I had to replay my last save game several times.

I'm thinking I might have to edit my scenario file and give myself more credit before I start.

Do I have to use a Hex editor or can I use something else?

Rocket1

Okay... one more thing

I'm at level 9. I still survive but.... I have one tank, four sonic tanks, and two harvesters. But it seems no matter what I do, when I try and build more carryalls it tells me "Unable to build more" or something to that effect. What do I have to do?

Rocket1

Sounds like you've already got a fair lot of carryalls on your hands.

've been playing for 5 hours straight now so addicting. But I am already at the-before last level. Basicly what I used most wat just deploy some more carts over the map build rocket turrets till the middle of enemy base till all enemy units where dead then send in my few tanks and my laucnhers to finish the job.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(rocket1 @ Jun 13 2007, 06:10 PM) [snapback]294244[/snapback]</div>Not 100% sure but I remember the limit on the number of units was a maximum for all factions together --> if you were too slow and let your enemies build large armies, yours would be limited to a very small number.
In addition, why would you need that many carryalls? Unless your strategy involves a lot of flying back, repairing and returning the units to the battle area...

It took some time (a lot of save games) but I did win in the long run. My problem with the carryalls was they kept showing up to pick up damage units for repair and would get destoryed. They made harvesting alot faster... I liked repaidly repaid units to send back to the front line. It was the death hand that was costing me so much.

Loved the game. It's been a long time since I had played it. I will now try some of the other houses. But in the mean time I need a little faster action like serious sam.


Rocket1

Hmm...I think I used to play as the Atreides, but in the book they're the green ones, and I'm pretty sure I played with blue units. Isn't Ordos green in Dune 2? Anyway, never managed to finish it - kept being destroyed by a big missile from Harkonnen. I think that was lvl 8 or something, not sure though.

Yes ordos are green..

This is you're bad missile

http://www.cncsaga.com/img/uns/dune2/death_hand.jpg

Does anyone know of the Deviator mind control bug here?

I vaguely remember doing some 'trick' with the Ordos Deviator back then (I was about eight years old when I first played this game and yeah, it's cooler than ice cold)

The thing is, I 'mind control' a Siege Tank or other big tank.
Then I press the Attack button but I don't click on any target.
Then I wait for the mind control to wear off.
Then when the mind control wears off, I order him to attack his base or turret.

I don't exactly remember if that was the exact process but if you want a bit of a cheat while playing Ordos Deviators, then.... I really do remember having a cheat like this, I just don't remember how I did it, though.

Sorry if I spread a hoax or something.

Yes, it was good!
Especially on enemy's harvesters was funny! ^_^

Sup people, my name is Balvear. I have a problem with atredies missions that no one has answered yet.

I played the 1st mission and passed it. then my,"mentat" told me that, I was passing information to other houses and I needed to prove my innocence. I keep answering random questions but, keep getting kicked out of the game.

Please help me. I don't know what to do. <_<

that sounds like a copy protection, did you try checking manual on the site?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(_r.u.s.s. @ Jul 22 2007, 05:51 PM) [snapback]300859[/snapback]</div>Please direct me to the manual.

The manual is downloadable from the game page here

http://www.abandonia.com/games/36/Dune2/Dune2.htm

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mighty Midget @ Jul 22 2007, 05:58 PM) [snapback]300861[/snapback]</div>Thank you. Why is my rank," newbee spammer "?

I'm sorry to say this but, When I got past the copy write thing it, froze in the middle of mission 2.

I have deleted dune 2 from my computer like a previous game from this site. M.D.K. I wish the abandon ware would work on new computers more, smoothly.

Its a shame old computer games can't be preserved even, when their free.

first of all, everybody was once a newbee spammer=) then you ll be a forum hobbit. and your game could have freezed for namy different reasons. i, for example finished whole dune 2 on my xp machine without any problems. it sounds like you didnt have enough cycles when playng the game. try increasing it and setting core to dynamic in dosbox.cfg

btw: read the signature rules, 400*100 only. so please remove it before somebody sends you a warning

I don't use dos box. It frustrates me.

Translation: You're just plain too lazy to read the manual.

Some - in fact, MOST - of the games on Abandonia need DOSBox to run. Aint gonna be another way to run them, so quit whining.

Belvear,

I am running Dune on my XP system. At first I also had problems with the game freezing. I found the solution. This is from my previous post.

"I think I have found my problem. When I first tried to play level 5 today, when I went to install the radar station once again the game crashed. So I went and reran the setup.exe program, but this time I told it not to use extended memory and now (so far) I have not had any problems."

I have played the game all the way through without any more problems.

Rocket1

This game seems almost exactly like C&C. I don't know who riped off who though but in either case the things that you rarely see in Dune 2 are in C&C red alert.

1. There is a monster (red alert has tornado) that can INSTANLY KILL YOUR MEN!
2. There is a ballistic missle that can inflict heavy damage (all sides have it. But in C&C regular NOD is the only one to have that. Ion cannon doesn't count)
3. Annoting infantry can be ran over (Via tank crushes some guy)
4. Your units automatically attack when a hoostile target enters attack range (unpatched) and just sit there. Regardless if they are being shot.
5. Infantry can't hit an air target even though they have rifles that could posibly be shot in the air
6. terrain has no value in both games. high or low.
7. both require harvesting of some sort of material
8. And no this is not a rip off of another game because THEY ARE MADE BY THE SAME COMPANY!

And funny story about dos box. All the games run fine. It's just dos box that doesn't work.

Well, Dune 2 sort of spawned most of the genre, put it on the map.
You can consider C&C as a follow-up of Dune 2. Just like most games in this genre still have a lot of ties with Dune 2.

Speaking about harvesting, I always thought it was quite ridiculous that every map in Dune 2 so easily ran out of spice. After all the whole importance of the planet is that it's a vast source of spice, so it's not logical that the last levels tend to boil down to a 'last man standing' fight because all the spice has been used...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(another_guest @ Aug 5 2007, 10:24 AM) [snapback]302879[/snapback]</div>Yeah I agree. C&C came after Dune 2 (I checked, might be wrong). But in C&C they changed it so that it doesn't always have to be a 'whoever mined the most and has the most efficent units wins" kind of battle. Because resouces grow back. C&C has tribirillm which left over a while can grow back into more. And Red alert has a ore wells. But I AM NOT SAYING RED ALERT C&C OR C&C IN GENERAL IS BETTER THAN DUNE 2! Sandworms are annoying....

Dune2 was actually made by the same company as command&conquer, so you can call it C&C 0.

right. lets call wolfenstein doom -1

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(_r.u.s.s. @ Aug 6 2007, 02:24 AM) [snapback]303018[/snapback]</div>Wait. Doom and wolfenstien are made by the same company? Are they really? Dune2 and C&C are made by westwood. So what are doom and wolfenstien made by?


Sandworms are just to tough...

id software =P

While we're at that, you could also say Doom is Quake 0 :hysterical:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(kmonster @ Aug 6 2007, 02:37 AM) [snapback]303017[/snapback]</div>Nononono, C&C was made by the same company as Dune2 :D

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Apr 20 2007, 10:28 PM) [snapback]287762[/snapback]</div>
How do you make i that far? I mean, how to make ornithtoptor factories before the opposition nukes you? I have tried everything (not that creative, coz I am old!!) to get past the level where ornithopters are available and get nuked every time...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Sep 15 2007, 01:17 PM) [snapback]311052[/snapback]</div>I think you should focus on defending and not on building the hi-tech-facilty... :sneaky:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Fanton @ Sep 27 2005, 02:19 AM) [snapback]161777[/snapback]</div>Yeah, you're right, though it depends on the player. If he wants MASS ACTION strategy games, then this one is useless and practically stupid ( :angry: stupid people). However, if you like a game where you control EVERY SINGLE UNIT specifically (place them where you want, shoot with them what you want...) , i'll agree with you ^_^ (man, those people who think otherwise sux <_< ).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Squad leader @ Aug 5 2007, 06:21 AM) [snapback]302865[/snapback]</div>well, i have c&c red alert 2, and i must say, it's different than dune 2. maybe red alert 1 or original c&c are copies of dune 2, but red alert 2 is different. also, i advise you to read c&c manual, one of the questions will be:
Q: Is this dune 3?
A: no, althrough it's his precedesor, bla bla bla...
read the manual!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Fanton @ Sep 27 2005, 02:19 AM) [snapback]161777[/snapback]</div>yeah, one time, in that mission where you get siege tanks, i was playing with harkonnen and, guess what, then i was in the end of the mission, i noticed-NO WORMS. as someone posted, harkonnens and ordoses kill worms then they see them. and little after little, BOTH worms were gone :whistling:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Feb 6 2006, 08:10 PM) [snapback]204053[/snapback]</div>yeah, i tried downloading it, buggy (at least mentat screen).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Gamefreak @ Feb 8 2006, 11:06 AM) [snapback]204788[/snapback]</div>walls? ^_^ :bleh:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(melthas @ Aug 9 2006, 04:55 AM) [snapback]247435[/snapback]</div>one time, i tried building over limit with starport, but it's useless for harkonnen. i should've used only siege and rocket tanks, not some quads or trikes (i'm (sort of) an idiot :w00t: ) or combat tanks (phew, no troopers). so, for every fanatic who has a harko mania, DON'T use starport.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JIX @ Sep 13 2006, 02:11 PM) [snapback]254751[/snapback]</div>yeah, but sometomes, even with manual i can't answer first question correctly. but don't worry, it takes 2-3 times for game to crash.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kristian @ Sep 17 2006, 12:36 PM) [snapback]255540[/snapback]</div>no no, not bulding or machine name, but questions mentat gives you (whats vehicles speed, buildings armament...). hope it helps

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Sep 15 2007, 11:17 AM) [snapback]311052[/snapback]</div>
How do you make i that far? I mean, how to make ornithtoptor factories before the opposition nukes you? I have tried everything (not that creative, coz I am old!!) to get past the level where ornithopters are available and get nuked every time...
[/b][/quote]


well just in case you are still stuck. it pays off to save often so when it says nuklear warhead approaching you can crank up the game speed and nuke has bigger chance to miss you base entirelly.

if not reload before it was fired and try again. it doesn't always hit the same place.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Sep 20 2006, 10:54 PM) [snapback]256330[/snapback]</div>i thought that this game could not sustain 12 vehicles moving forward on screen and would slow down... but maybe i'm wrong. maybe you're right

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gregor @ Sep 27 2007, 10:19 AM) [snapback]313395[/snapback]</div>
well just in case you are still stuck. it pays off to save often so when it says nuklear warhead approaching you can crank up the game speed and nuke has bigger chance to miss you base entirelly.

if not reload before it was fired and try again. it doesn't always hit the same place.
[/b][/quote]
thanks, but someone already wrote that. :whistling:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DJMadMax @ Oct 22 2006, 11:57 PM) [snapback]262930[/snapback]</div>yeah, you can really pwn dude!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Oct 23 2006, 09:46 PM) [snapback]263127[/snapback]</div>these aren't "shitty old games", these are good games comparing to "shitty new games" :titan: ! warcraft 3, aoe 3, aom are just plain old stupid.
i love this game

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(narkooegle @ Oct 24 2006, 08:08 PM) [snapback]263332[/snapback]</div>no i think "building of a dynasty" was USA version, while "the battle for arrakis"-europe version.
I'M NOT SURE, so don't get me wrong.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Dec 12 2006, 01:40 AM) [snapback]271337[/snapback]</div>not unleashed, loosened, prepared to be unleashed if emperor did something wrong and resisted. no, really, whats the use of an emperor's corpse?
also, a bit of advise: to see all the endings WITHOUT playing the game, watch youtube

hello
well I have a problem, what do I have to answer when they ask me what unit is this and so one.
this is on the begining of the second level. :unsure:

It's the copy protection, you need the manual to pass it :)
Look into Extras section: Dune2

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Squad leader @ Aug 5 2007, 04:21 AM) [snapback]302865[/snapback]</div>Actually, that's the Chrono Vortex, which is a side effect of using the Chronosphere too much.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Squad leader @ Aug 5 2007, 04:21 AM) [snapback]302865[/snapback]</div>Not really true... in Dune 2, the rocks are higher, and only infantry can climb on them.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mousazz @ Sep 27 2007, 08:32 AM) [snapback]313396[/snapback]</div>PC version was Building of a Dynasty. The console versions (well, at least the SEGA Megadrive version) were called "the battle for arrakis".

hey everyone

I have an annoying problem with dune 2. It won't even start up under DOSbox 0.72. Using a launcher after the start only a black window appears and disappears within the next two seconds. No error message displayed, nothing. I have no idea what's wrong, seems to work fine with everyone else here (read through the whole thread)

Anyone has a good idea on what to do? Already tried different settings like less/more RAM, different graphics, disabled xms etc. etc.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Nov 10 2007, 06:31 PM) [snapback]318867[/snapback]</div>Try running the setup file, and vote no on extended memory. I haven't tried using DOSBox though, as it works fine with my XP

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Nov 11 2007, 10:47 AM) [snapback]318884[/snapback]</div>It will still work much better in DosBox, though, especially since you won't be able to hear any sound under Windows XP

You will, if you just use the official Sound Patch from the extras downloads.

Or, hey, from the official Westwood FTP?
ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/dune2/updates/

I noticed that even after loading the patches, I'm seeing the same bugs - the game frequently freezes up when I place a new radar post, and the enemy forces still attack me piecemeal (no team tactics). Did I install the patches incorrectly?

Most likely so.

Dune II Boxshot
 

I can send the boxshots... if someone tell me how do it (Please!):o.

PM one of the updaters, they'll guide you through the process. :)

dune on XP PC
 

I tried to install DUNE on my XP laptop and cannot get anything from it.

Is this possible or should I give up.

thanks

you should download dosbox and run it via it

Copy Protection ???
 

Hey there guys,

a little help here, please.

After the first mission I get asked a couple of questions that I assume are from the manual (which I don't have with pictures).

Any way arond this, or any way to get the scanned manual?

Thanks so much

T.

I think you just need to press Enter without typing anything in, since the game should be cracked already.

No, that's not it. After 3 'Enters' I get thrown out of the game. :(

that's strange, i have downloaded the game right now and it simply run without any questions.

..do you have it from this site? maybe redownload

Yes, IIRC the version on Abandonia doesn't have those kind of protections.

Dune 2 review:

Intro: Dune 2 was a revolutionary game by Westwood that changed the gaming world forever, introducing the world to RTS.

Gameplay: 4/5

Most of the little things we expect out of most RTS games today didn't exist back then. Drag selecting, queuing units, and most other trivial pleasures of today's games simply didn't exist back then. However, you can't say the game had bad gameplay beyond that. Solid and revolutionary gaming (revolutionary for the times) gives this game a gameplay rating of 4 (machineguns sounds in the backround) out of 5.

Sound: N/A

There is simply no sound in the Dosbox version of the game, which is the version I have. So I'm not going to rate sound.

Graphics: 5/5

Just like in other 90s games - Starcraft, Warcraft, and Command and Conquer, just to name a few - Dune 2 has excellently rendered sprite units. The buildings aren't half bad either. The graphics have aged well for their time and are still timelessy recognized by hardcore gamers today. The graphics get 5 (tank shooting sounds) out of 5.

Balance: 4/5

Westwood isn't famous for creating easy games and Dune 2 shows that. Most casual RTS gamers will find Dune 2 exceptionally hard, but hardcore gamers will find it of average difficulty, even easy (in which case I suggest they try Super Dune 2. It's much harder.). The enemies are hard hitting, hard smashing nemisises, who will give it their all before letting you take over. Most gamers fond of turtling (shoring up defenses) and booming (improving economy before military) will find themselves dead and lost in the sands of Dune 2's AI. Because of this slight imbalance, the Balance of Dune 2 gets 4 (Infantry dying noise, "AUGH!") out of 5.

Learning curve: "We'll make soldiers out of you scum or kill you trying to!"

The learning curve picks up quickly after the first one or two missions and can often destroy a casual RTS player who is expecting a smooth curve. Most RTS gamers who play games that have insane AI (such as starcraft or other hard games) will be okay. However, unless you keep up the pace, your probably going to find yourself redoing missions over quite a few times.

Final Score: 4/5

Dune 2 is a game with exceptional gameplay. Despite few imbalances and problems, which most of us will get over, the game wins out a good vote, getting 4 (nuclear missile launch noises) out of 5.

Well, there's my review, which most of you will probably think nothing of seeing as I'm a sucky newb.

It's got sound, you only need to configure it correctly in the game's setup.

hey, if you register we have this place "community reviews" you know=P

I have typed something and then enter, and I could continue. I remember, that about 10-15 years ago we had the original game from some friends, but no manual. It was a big problem, when the game asked for the names of structures, etc., and without the correct answer you couldn't continue. Finally somebody downoladed manual from the Net, and we made a lot of copies and lost plenty of time by playing. :) I was looking for the manual now, but mine is probably lost.

The manual can be found at replacementdocs :)

http://www.replacementdocs.com/download.php?view.1682

Thanks for it!

I also remember, that quite often Starport didn't delivered the unit wich was bought. So it was a wasted "money". I do not know if it was a bug?
If I saved before delivery, than after a several reload, unit was delivered... :) Saving often, helped also against nuclear rockets, as sometimes it missed the target... :whistling:

I believe this was a bug, especially if the starport would keep showing "arrival time T: -1"
Very annoying in the late game when the starports would become virtually useless.

A bug or there wasnt no place for unit to deploy

i have a patch for better sound if someone wants me to upload it

Yes, please. :)

woah... glad to see there's still people playing this :o

Anyways i got a good little bit of advice for the first level.

If memory serves, your first objective is to amass 1000 spice, right? usually, at the start of the level, you get 1000 spice, which drops by one to 999.


now here's the best bit: you dont need to build a refinery to get 1000 credits.

simply quit and enter the level. if it goes down again, reload and try again. eventually it will stay on 1000 after the level starts and all you have to do is wait until the mission complete message shows up

hope i helped you save time =D

For sure there was space to deploy, so happy to here it is a bug. I thought it is the risk to get "cheap units". :)

Awesome game.

However, is there any copy protection crack for this game, or at least a .pdf file with images & info on vehicles, etc.? Any sort of reference? Only thing I have is a text manual for the game, which makes it a real guessing game when they display a picture, and ask: ''What unit is this?'' <_<

Thanks in advance. ^_^

http://www.replacementdocs.com/download.php?view.1682

Try looking here.

I just got done finishing the game with cheats in House Harkonnen.
I must say I was ticked off because I had spent about 8 hours trying to beat it first without cheats before having to just having to install the cheats and be done with it.
First off when I watch Youtube videos the people beating the game are always using a version different from mine (Amiga, Genesis).
When I look at there base I can see that they are not effected by the things I am effected by, I will explain.
When I read a Dune II walkthrough it says that the AI will launch an attack(for me its scripted to start 15 minutes after game start) that lasts somewhere between 15-20 minutes but this is not the case for me, when the computer starts its attack it has somewhere between 10-20 units attacking at ALL times and the attack never ends, in my last attempt (before using serious cheats) I spent 3 hours holding off the AI attack before my cheat money got spent up defending my base and I was destroyed(I had to limit the AI to 0 units to prevent this from happening and finally win the game).
The Max buildings I have are quite low, I can only build the staples such as a refinery, barracks, heavy vehicle factory, no hi tech or palace and then after that I can only build 3 turrets but the people beating the game seam to not have this limitation.
The Enemy Missile always hits my base while mine is like 1/2 the time.

I downloaded the game years ago from I think this site(maybe) anyways I was wondering if anyone is having the same problems I had or if my scenario.pak file was edited to make it super duper hard before I downloaded it.

There is a AI pack that increases difficulty, perhaps you have that one installed?

You know, that makes me feel like a dumbarse. I know of that site. Why I didn't think of it beats me. <_<

Thank you, ra! This shall be great.

[quote=NotRegist;355792] Here is an answer to post #258

"I just got done finishing the game with cheats in House Harkonnen. .... The Enemy Missile always hits my base while mine is like 1/2 the time."

You don't need cheats even with the improved AI. Enough to save often and if you had been hit hardly, reload the game and prepare for defense, or prepare an attack. If enemy launches Missile you need to have a save before his launch, than you have chance that AI miss the target (if you also increase speed of the game, than you have also higher chance that he miss the target). For your Missile save before launch and decrease the game speed. If you saved after the rocket launch, rocket will hit always the same place AI's and yours too.

"The Max buildings I have are quite low, I can only build the staples such as a refinery, barracks, heavy vehicle factory, no hi tech or palace and then after that I can only build 3 turrets but the people beating the game seam to not have this limitation."

May be stupid question, but do you have radar station? If you have no radar, you can not build higher structures. You have to have some buildings to be able to build new ones...

"There is a AI pack that increases difficulty, perhaps you have that one installed?"

Yea that must have been it, I just got done beating last mission with the Scenario pak from the downloads section and wadda ya know it was easy.
Whoever released that version of Dune2 for regular download deserves to have his unit caught on fire (why his sonic tanks of course which unit did you think I was talking about?).

hey the music dosent work for me. someone got a idea?

Did you try running the game in DOSBox?

Dune 2
 

This is a really addicting game!:)

Well I did by building a new base in the southern part of the ordos base. The missiles tried poundering that to but missed. I took med days and days do find out that idea but then it wasn´t to hard. You just had to fight your way upp clearing room för your base and constantly killing those turrets that miracoulsy was rebuilt where you had put buildings. I memorised where they had stod in order to avoid building there. I was so fun and rewarding when I made it.

Does this game not work on vista?
 

i keep getting a 32 bit or 64 bit error message about the game not being compatible anyone know why?
or what i need to do?

Two posts above yours:
Yep, indeed, that's your answer.

i have vista and it wont work on my comp
 

that sucks!!! i love this game and cant playing coz i have vista not xp.

any ideas

Yes:
http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/showthread.php?t=19982

Actually, this is true... the maximum structures limit is ridiculously low. After a certain amount of buildings you get that annoying "unable to create more" message. There's an easy fix for that though... order a bunch of units from your starport and go destroying some enemy structures. For each structure you destroy, you can build a new one. In the last Harkonnen mission I completely wiped out the Ordos just to finish my base.

The same thing applies to units, though ordering them from the starport throws off the scale a bit.

Aaah, the annoying building and unit limit + the issue that prevented starports from delivering your latest huge, expensive order :)

Those were the days...

It's not as easy as that though. There's a correspondence between the size (in tiles) of the structure that you destroy and what you get allowed to build. If you destroy a Turret, for example, you won't be able to build a Palace yet.

Same with the units, as there seems to be a separate global limit for each unit-type (Foot, Wheeled, Tracked and Flying), which is, at least in v1.07, reflected by the availability of certain units at the Starport (e.g. you might find that all units except carryalls and 'thopters become unavailable, then you destroy some enemy Quads and tada, Quads and Trikes are no longer "out of stock" too).

Login seems to have problems ("click here to login" doesn't work).


At any rates, I played Dune II for the first time because I heard so much about it. It's very different from, err, Dune (the first videogame), but it
figures as a nice complement ("A nice complement, huh? Dune II won awards in 1993 you dumbass!"). Hmm, ok, it was more than a complement. Let's say it invented its own videogame genre. Either you will adore it or you won't.


But I find the videogame wasn't hard at all to win. Ok, I had to restart about 3 times on Mission 8, but once I got what I was doing wrong, Mission 9 was much easier (except I used saves about twice early on for the Death Hand attacks).


Thing is, a lot of people expect or desire Dune II to be fast and frantic. They want battlefield action and after they cry that they can't finish the late missions. I browsed some of the strategies here and somehow I didn't see anything close to what I did, which made everything sooo easy.

It's a simple 3 notes rule: Economy - Defense - Patience

In the late missions (let's presume you all had it easy through the first 7),
you have either low amount of Spice available, or low amount of possible structures to built.


In both cases, you need to spread, about in that order: refineries, turrets, a starport, and a repair facility. You don't really need much more, but you need a starport to get the most Harvesters possible, fast. In the meantime, building rocket turrets and repairing them often, added with a few tanks bought at the Starport will create a strong defense line. You need a defense
line so strong that you don't need to even worry about it.

Then, you need a Palace to use its free weapon ASAP. I find that if you play Atreides, the Fremen will destroy the most quantity of units while you simply defend your base. The Harkonnens, it's a joke how it's easy to win with them. Ordos requires more strategy and are the most fun. Saboteur are VERY useful and fun, but you need to help them.

Next step is buying carryalls (keep checking the Starport) so you can have your units repaired. If you don't spend too much on Factories and Upgrades until you have plenty of credits, you should be fine with a Starport, but save sometimes in case the Starport freeze on you (or..it WILL let you down if the Windtraps are not working fully).


In Mission 8 you will loose Spice pretty fast and why it's important to choose carefully what you are ready to pay for, and create an "army" that you won't have to replace (because you won't have the credits to replace it). Better to buy lots of Turrets and keep defense destroying a good portion of the enemy for a while.

In Mission 9, credits is not a problem. The problems are lacks of availability of stuff (units and space to built), and... missiles. For the missile you need to spread your base with lots of empty space early on (build in diagonal), and then send a MCV start a new Construction Yard. This is your best bet.
You will eventually get enough money to rebuilt anything lost easily, but keep the essentials, don't go for the fancy base that has everything. For the availability of space, you will notice that if you take your time, and use the Palace weapon aplenty, you will start receiving much less visits to your base. That's when you can start to destroy your own Turrets and the Windtraps needed to power them. You can build Silos instead, or other needy structures, like the Factories. The Starport is is not rich in Units, but with patience you will get more than what you need.


When the battle is advanced, it's rather easy to send a small group of a couple launchers and some tanks to destroy, first, turrets one after the other,
or at least the ones that prevent you from going "behind" the enemy bases.
You start from an extremity and pave your way in, or you may want to go directly to the palaces but then you need more tanks to attack defense
units. After that, take pauses when a unit is sent by a carryall for repair, and let your Palace weapon do some more jobs for you. As you advance like this,
everything is so easy that you can take time to harvest more spices (building silos as soon as enemy structures are down). You can also try fancy stuff like letting Ornithopters destroy the whole enemy down (buying them one after the other).


All I'm saying is I thought the videogame was easy to win. I didn't expect the Death Hand and the heavy attacks on the late missions, but then I thought "ok, all they're asking is that I take my time". And indeed, if you take your time (you only need to rush about refineries, harvesters and turrets in the beginning), it's rather easy.



Talkie

simply the best
 

i remember some serious 12 hour sessions with this one. Amazing.

I'm still having problems with the Radar Outpost. I'm using version 1.07 downloaded from the site, plus I've also downloaded the fix (Mr Fibble).
As soon as I try to place the Radar, the game freezes.
Any fixes?

Thanks

This was the very game that started off the entire Real-Time Strategy genre. Warcraft is more widely known, but a lot of people don't give Dune 2 the credit.

I certainly remember my dad ordering this game through the mail back in early 1993. The version he got contained a number of bugs. When you went to the Mentat screen and clicked on Wind Traps, the game would lock up. There were others, but it has been too long since I actually played the game without using DosBox.

I always thought the easy way to beat the game was to play the Harkonnen. Besides their vile statistics they were strong and well armored. I used a number of Devastators to take down the rocket turrets and the Rocket Launchers to destroy the Refinery and Construction building from a distance. Don't forget the lovely Death Hand. If I missed my target I could always go back and reload my save file.

The Atredies were to me, sort of a balance. Their Fremen were more of a nuisance than an actual help, but the Sonic Tank did good enough. The rest of their units were either good or average.

The Ordos were hard to play as. You cannot build Rocket Launchers at your Heavy Factory, you have to import them. Their Trikes were fast, but weak and vulnerable. My biggest complaint was it's unit at the Palace. I spent 999 Credits my Harvester cashed in from the spice to build a Palace, just for a Saboteur? I mean, it was weak. One hit from a Siege Tank or a Rocket Launcher was more than enough to blow up the Saboteur, and it just proved that I wasted a lot of Credits. Would of been better to have a group of them, and invisible to Turrets/Rocket Turrets.

Overall, the game was one of the best in it's day. The cinematics were well presented and highly detailed, and the gameplay was the first of it's kind. The only problem was the copy protection, but I guess that was meant for people not to copy the data and source code onto a blank floppy disk. Hehe :smile2:

Good times...

Turns out this is caused by corrupt speech files. I've made a little fix for that, read more info here.

I'm trying to use TiMidity to play Dosbox's MIDI music, but the mission music in Dune 2 won't loop, it only plays once!(yes I unchecked "Not Loop") I can reset the music entering the mentat screen but that's quite annoying having to do it every ½ minute. I tried different versions of Timidity I could find on the net and different Dosbox versions but can't get it to work.

Anyone have TiMidity set up and working?

EDIT: Ha, nevermind, found another software MIDI synth, this one works great and doesn't need virtual MIDI ports with loopMIDI or anything! http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/...howtopic=87639

This soundfont sounds pretty good: http://www.geocities.jp/shansoundfont/

EDIT2: Fuck me I'm stupid. I probably shouldn't use the patch for GUS music when I'm not gonna use it :doh: That seemed to cause the incompatibility.

Well at least now I can choose from half a dozen different ways to listen to Genral MIDI games.

The one who flew, that's very nice of you to post all this info :) Thanks a lot for the links! :D

I haven't tried playing Dune 2 through DOSBox with TiMidity (although other DOS games with MIDI music worked fine with the TiMidity++/Twsynth combo that installs the alternate MIDI driver on Windows), I've been using pure GUS emulation in DOSBox along with this patch that adds GUS compatibility to Dune 2.

Any advice on the third Harkonen mission when fighting Ordos?

No matter what I do I vcan't make any headway on their base. The PC spews out units nonstop and repairs it's buildings so fast I can hardly make a dent.

It been way too long since I played this game so I cannot remember mission specifics... However, the first few missions are usually the easiest. You should not have too much problem taking the upper hand.

If you really cannot corner the AI then remember that there is always a fixed amount of spice on the map. The first thing you should do is build two refineries and sit tight until your develop your base and have enough units to make a strong attack. If you don't win in the first wave keep attacking them in waves and they will eventually fold to your superior money gathering power.

First of all, have at least two harvesters as mentioned above. Second, dont use trikes at all, just for exploration. Third, AI spews unit as you mentioned, but they barelly create a huge wave (only at the first contact) so post your defensive vehicles in reasonable numbers. Fourth, create rather large group of vehicles, go around your enemy base and alway try to lure the guards one by one. Your first target should be the enemy construction yard, ir he will replace the destroyed buildings (many times over your units).
This strategy wins most (probably all) maps of the game.

^This
Let me add a thing, the AI isn't such complicate to understand, it's quite repetitive. Work on a "defensive wall" positioning vehicles where the enemy likes to strike.
The beginning of a mission is always the hardest part, once your defenses are ready and you have closed weak points you can start to annoy the enemy.
Remember to use a fast and expandable unit to explore the fog of war and locate the enemy, if you learn where they are you'll know where they come from :)

20 years ago when I first played this game I had no problem with it, I must have grown soft over the decades.

The mission I am talking about is as basic as it goes. It's against the Ordos. I can build Quads and Troopers. The object is to destroy their base, which is on the right side of the map just about parallel with my starting location.

So you are all saying to make a whole lot of units and move a wall up? I did it a little bit, moved all my guys to a small rock area that the AI would walk all it's guys through. It's when I get to the base that is's a problem. Maybe I will need to build more.

Should I just build quads up to the limit?

Building a wall of units and advancing them slowly isn't a very good idea, simply because if one unit is attacked, it will only get support fire from the few neighbouring units, and the AI, even if sending one unit at a time at you, will slowly drain your unit's health as you won't kill off attackers fast enough to minimize damage. You should rely on more micro and scatter your units (don't build Troopers except if you want to capture enemy buildings, they're too slow and weak, even with their superior range of attack) and then concentrate your fire on each enemy attacker by surrounding it with as many Quads of your own as possible. This way, you will quickly dispose of enemy units before they have a chance to deal significant damage to your attacking force. Also remember that a unit that stands directly north of its target deals maximum damage (yep, that's an exploit of sorts).

As it was said above, scout the enemy base and find its Const. Yard, and take it out first. Try not to advance in the path of the attacking enemy, which is usually the shortest path from the AI's base to yours. Go around, take out or capture the Const. Yard, then the rest will be more or less easy.

Any advice on getting it to run quick in W7?

It really crawls when there is a lot of action on screen. I am using Dosbox, Should I be changing any settings?

Make sure the core is set to Dynamic, under game options set the speed to fastest, and then increase/decrease the cycles until you find the optimum value.

I know it's a bit lazy, but cycles=max works fine for me :) As for the CPU core, setting it to auto usually suffices IMO, although dynamic won't hurt either. It's the cycles that seem to make the real difference though.

Odd.

When I push cycles up just a little bit everything starts to skip and the sound starts to go bad.

I will try changing the core settings to see if that fixes it.

DOSBox don't have fixed cycles. It is directly linked to the power of your computer. So if you cycle too high you will start slowing down again as your computer can't keep up.

Setting the CPU to dynamic and the cycles to max in the conf instead of using the function keys in the program itself fixed everything. Game now runs super smooth.

Thanks!

I also beat the third mission. Having things be responsive helped quite a bit.

Setting cycles to max should give DOSBox a value depending on the estimates of your real CPU's capabilities, and it seems to do the job quite well :)

From mission 4 onward, things are going to be quite a bit easier since you get tanks and, further on, even more powerful units, so mission 3 really might be a bit hard - I remember my own first time, it was Harkonnens too (in fact, this is probably the easiest of all three Houses), and I even stopped playing for a while as my "wall of units" strategy (somehow this seems a common thing for people to try) failed utterly :lol:

Hola,

Hey, what is the difference between the CD version and the floppy version of Dune II?

I cannot imagine the CD image being a mere 7 megabytes. Was there CD audio on the media, or was there anyadditional content? Does anyone know the size of the CD image (not the ISO, since that only includes data, but the raw image)?

Just asking, since I have never actually seen a CD version of the game anywhere.

Far as I know, it was exactly the same as the floppy version - no CD audio and no extra content.

Well... Floppies back in the day were able to hold 1.4 megs each.

7 megabytes meant 5 floppies... Which mean that even though a CD can easily hold more than a hundred times more than this it was still convenient to go with a CD over 5 floppies.

Not to say that a CD is quite hard to damage to the point of not being able to use it. Floppies have a very limited life.

Sure, the convenience of the CD is probably a selling point.

I seem to recall something about an 'off-line music player' on the CD version, but that might have been the Sega version. I also seem to recall the CD version being the fully patched version, with the updated Setup Utility and the speech fix. Perhaps the Dune II CD that came with the 'commemorative edition' of C'n'C was the only such version.

Maybe if someone with an actual Dune II CD could perchance verify, perhaps?

While I don't have any CD version myself, information from other sources suggests that there have been various CD releases, both of the US version (someone somewhere even mentioned he had a CD release of the US v1.0, although I can't be 100% sure about that) and the European three-language releases.

Some time ago I've catalogued known differences between the various versions of Dune II:

Comparison of v1.0 and v1.07
Comparison of the different releases of v1.07

One of the users had actually uploaded the contents of his CD version, which was released in Northern Europe somewhere in 1995. I'm not sure how official it was, but it was a jewel-case release with a three-language v1.07 that came to be called the HitSquad* version (after the apparent publisher). It included a poorly done electronic version of the game manual in Microsoft Word format, and the EXE was hacked to removed copy protection (in a very lousy way, but it worked). The CD also had a DOS installer in English and IIRC Danish and Norwegian (or maybe Swedish, I'm not sure). The hacked EXE had a date stamp from 1995, all other game files had date stamps from 1993. There was nothing else on the CD IIRC, so the whole thing was about 9 Mb in size.

Then again, it could have been some budget re-release at best, or a pirated thing at worst.

*To the best of my knowledge, this is not the same version as the one here at AB.

I have the CD version, here's a screenshot from the start menu:

http://img577.imageshack.us/img577/8281/dune2000.png

The CD doesn't have any audio tracks, only one data track that includes the game files:
http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/9/dune2cdfiles.png
(+ 4 batch files in the root of the CD)

And when you install the game on your HDD, you get these files (play.bat was created by me):
http://imageshack.us/scaled/thumb/94/dune2hddfiles.png

Thanks for sharing that!

Hmm, there are WAVESET.BAT and WAVESET.DAT files in the HD directory, I assume you installed them yourself with the official sound fix, right? They're not in the CD directory.

I also wonder what the CDPATCH.EXE and DUNE.RNC files on the CD are for.

It's kind of hard to tell whether this is the HitSquad or the newer EU version without the exact file sizes in bytes though. An easy way to check is to save a game and then go to the main menu. If the option to load the game goes like "Load a game", then it's the HitSquad version. If it's "Load Game" (note the capitalization), then it's the EU version.

BTW, I also know that there's yet another three-language "The Battle for Arrakis" version which is similar to the HitSquad one but not the same, apparently it was sold in Australia.

Yes, I forgot to mention that earlier, and it's the HitSquad version.

Well, the EU version has some fixes for the German and French languages compared to the HitSquad version.

But what is even more amazing, is that the non-playable demo Nyerguds found on a Kyrandia CD (link) actually includes a different version of FRENCH.PAK where all voice clips are replaced with newer ones (even by a different voice actor), of much better quality. I have no idea if these updated assets were ever used in any playable release of the game, because the demo in question just plays the intro cinematic.

BTW, there's another easy way to identify the version of Dune II, by opening the EXE with Nyerguds' Dune II Editor.

D2TE
 

Hey,

Did anyone get their greedy hands on the Tile Editor that was released by Arrakis Research, before is disappeared from the net forever?

I seem to recall there was a beta version of it around, but then it disappeared in a puff of programmer apathy.

Anyone?

Here you go (download hosted by Nyerguds):
http://nyerguds.arsaneus-design.com/...itor(Beta).zip

The editor is fully functional BTW. If you're looking for some other tools for Dune II, here's a list. Most links should work, even.

Now when EA lost their old CEO, maybe there is a chance we'll be seeing the return of westwood.

Don't count on that.

And even if it would be the case, there is more to game producing than a name. There is many people behind each game and when you get a great studios then it is the mix of so many great people working together which end up creating that great game which make the difference.

I'm sure any studios would purchase the right to slap "Westwood Studios" on any of their products if they thought it would boost sales by a factor of whatever. :suspicious:

I wouldn't be that pessimistic. With the steam community, GoG and Kickstarter things are getting better, and publishers should finally realize the lesser community has some serious saying in the game industry. Take a look at Brian Fargo, who ultimately resurrected one of the best RPG development studios Black Isle. It's called inXile now, but the folk is all local.

What you are describing are "crates".
And they DID exist in the game.
That is, it is possible to make your own scenario using them.
When a unit attacks it, a new random unit will emerge.
When a unit goes over it, the unit will explode.
In the original game scenario's they were not used though.

Spice blooms are what the name suggests: you attack it or walk on it and *booom* the pre-spice mass explodes and you get a new spice field. (though, as with the crates, if you walk over it instead of shooting it, the unit will be destroyed).

;-)

To clarify, the only way to "activate" the Special blooms on the map (unlike normal Spice Blooms) is to run a unit over it, which case it will not be destroyed.

For those interested, more detail on the Special blooms can be found here and here.

dune II The question
 

Hallo,
I have get Dune II. but i don´t no answer the question´s.
Can any people me help?
MfG Weev

Have you looked in the manual? It's under the Extras section.

I remembered that even by editing the HP of Units and Structures by Savegame Editor, they are possible to be destroyed under certain conditions:

• If a Unit of Soldiers is crushed by a medium / large armored vehicle, the death of the Unit is inevitable;

• If a Unit of Soldiers is hit by Sandworm, the death is inevitable;

• If a Unit of Soldiers is swallowed by Sandworm, the death is inevitable;

• If a Unit of Soldiers inadvertently steps on a “sandbank” resulting in an explosion (of Spice Melange), the death is inevitable;

• If a civil / military Armored Unit is swallowed up by Sandworm, the destruction is inevitable;

• If a civilian / military Armored Unit inadvertently crosses a “sandbank” resulting in an explosion (of Spice Melange), destruction is inevitable;

If a Structure is hit by a Harkonnen or Corrino / Sardaukar Missile, the destruction is inevitable. One way to avoid this would be to edit the Palace to some Structure of similar size. Or make the Palace as your House.

Perhaps all these conditions were determined by programmers so that no matter how big the HP of the Unit / Structure, if the condition happens, the destruction is inevitable.

The score of each mission in Dune II is very similar to that of Warcraft I.

Some similarities would be:

• Number of your Units killed;

• Amount of your Buildings / Structures destroyed;

• Number of enemy Units killed;

• Number of enemy Buildings / Structures destroyed;

• Amount of Spice Melange harvested;

Some peculiarities would be:

• The existence of the extremely resilient Sandworm (up to 2) that hinders the harvest of the Spice Melange and consequently in its available treasure;

• The constant deterioration of the Buildings / Structures (is there no Butler / Manager or something similar?) In up to 50% of HP;

• There is a limit on the total number of Units in the mission. I do not remember if there was limit on the amount of Buildings / Structures as well;

• The enemy attacks from the edges of the map;

• I forgot to mention that the time it takes you to complete the mission also determines your ranking.

It took me a long time to complete each mission (4 to 5 hours) thanks to the damn Sandworms.

I drew Sandworms and enemy Units through the fastest Vehicle to my waiting Army. The Sandworm was delayed to be mortally wounded, but the enemy Units were quickly destroyed without any loss of units on my part.

I found some interesting links from Dune II quotes since (unfortunately) there is none of this on Wikia unlike Warcraft series...

• Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty Quotes

• Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (Video Game 1992) - Quotes - IMDb

• Dune II: Battle for Arrakis (game) - Retro Legends

I also found something interesting about the tactics and data of the Units and Structures of Dune II. I prefer not to post the direct download link of the file in respect to the site, giving the opportunity for more people to visit and know the site.

• Dune II Insider's Guide - PDF Drive