Interview #1 news - Indie Devs

I (Dave) got to sit down with -FW-Wolf (Chris) to interview him on his up-coming project Battle for Dune.
Battle for Dune is a stand-alone project, so you won't be needing to have any other games to play it.
But before we jump into the interview: The Indie Devs is a group of independent/stand alone game developers who have formed a community right here on Moddb!

Alright, lets get right to the interview!

Dave says: Thanks for shedding some light on this project Chris. I'll start off with a broad question. Where is Battle for Dune set? Is it directly based off the movie or book or game, and could we expect to see those elements in-game?

-FW-Wolf says:
Battle for Dune is based off the RTS game released in 2001 Emperor: Battle for Dune by Westwood studios. We aim to create a first person view of the game and bring all of the great things about it such as the Sandworms, whirlwinds and 3 houses to your feet. Emperor: Battle for Dune was Westwood studios trying to breathe life back into the game series that started Command and Conquer.

Dave says:
So I see a lot on these three houses and sandworms, as well as vehicles. What kind of gameplay elements are being brought to the table? Will it deviate much from the original Battle for Dune or will new gameplay features be incorporated?

-FW-Wolf says:
Well we are limited to what we can do on the W3d engine, but most of what you could do in Emperor you can do in Battle for Dune.  Collecting Spice with a Harvester and being flown to your base by a Carryall, racing across dunes in your Buzzsaw, gliding over ice in a Laser tank or flying over the planes of Caladan in your Ornithopter. You can also be chased on the deserts of Arrakis by the great Sandworm.

Dave says:
Vehicular combat plays a large role in your project. Just how many vehicles are there? How does the infantry play their role with these large walkers and tanks driving about?

-FW-Wolf says:
There are 16 attack vehicles, 3 supporting vehicles and 7 aircraft units. There are also sub Houses which have 4 vehicles between them. Infantry play just as big a role as vehicles do, sure they don’t have the firepower or speed of vehicles, but they can sure take them down when needed.

The rocket launcher troops are best to combat vehicles and air units due to their tracking ability and heavy damaging weapons. Engineers can also plant C4 charges on tanks to take down large chunks of their armour. Also, a vehicle can’t take out what it can’t see, what with cloaked Fremen and scout on the field.

Kindjal Rock Pack and an Atreides Rocket Launcher

Dave says:
You have a large variety of classes as I've seen. Exactly how many character classes are there?

-FW-Wolf says:
Well each main House has 5-6 infantry classes and the sub Houses have about 5 in total.
The Atriedes have a Scout, Light Infantry, Sniper, Kindjal Infantry (rocket trooper) and an Engineer.
The Harkonnen have a Scout, Light Infantry, Rocket Trooper, Engineer and Flame-Thrower Infantry
The Ordos have a Scout, Chemical Infantry, AA Trooper, Engineer, Mortar Infantry and a Saboteur

Dave says:
Is there anything unique or neat we can expect in the near future? Many have seen of your Developer's blog, any insight on whats up and coming?

-FW-Wolf says:
Well we have almost everything modeled and we are now on the texturing stage. One thing that we are very excited about is the Sandworm which we have just finished, so expect to see a lot more of that and new coming maps and videos!

BFD_Icecold, under the ice.

Dave says:
I'm excited to see what more you have in store for us. Any hopes of a possible public beta in the upcoming future?

-FW-Wolf says:
Well we are progressing fast but still nowhere near a beta release anytime soon, But lets see what this brings us this year.

Dave says:
Well thanks for allowing us to do this interview! 

-FW-Wolf says:
Ah no problem, its been fun!

To check out this game's progress in the future, Watch the profile.
or
Read more on Battle for Dune's Profile Page