DAW News Update 09-02: With great power... - Dune: Arrakian Wars Mod for Unreal Tournament 3

Dune, ...sounds epic.

Will be interesting to see how the mod progresses...

So it's based on westwood's old stuff, neat. I wasn't a huge fan of the movie, myself.

I'm very pleased to see more Dune mods/games coming about. Best of luck with this!

I do have a complaint, but it regards Dune games in general, not yours specifically. I understand everybody wants to set their game on Arrakis, but for an RTS I feel it just doesn't work the way most games utilize it. Every Dune RTS has had battles take place on the open sand, with soldiers using guns, and tanks and mechs. When I think of an epic battle in Dune, I think of legions of soldiers with swords and body-shields. No projectile weapons, no lasguns. In the Dune universe, this is the prevalent form of warfare. Ornithopters, tanks, mechs, any form of armored combat vehicle is rendered useless because of shield technology, and therefore they aren't used in combat. I'd love to see a Dune RTS with battles like this, with battles taking place on other planets.

If a game insists on having the war take place ON Arrakis (as they are wont to do), then developers need to realize that a battle taking place on Arrakis won't take place on open sand. There's nothing important there. Armies battle over cities, and perhaps Sietches. No one but Fremen can even walk on the open sand without attracting an immediate worm. And the worm implementation in Emperor wasn't even close to accurate. A full-sized worm would make fighting on open sand to be at best, not worth the risk, and at worst a death sentence for every single troop. I don't see any reason a Dune game can't set battles in Arrakeen or Carthag, or the area around/in a Sietch, so long as they make the actual sand to be pretty much impassible to anyone but Fremen (maybe as a map shortcut).

(part 2)

My ideal Dune game would be a mix of 4X and real-time, almost like Star Wars Empire at War or perhaps the Total War games. Each planet, and perhaps even different regions of a planet, would have environments that dictate the sort of resource gathering and troop recruitment available, and the actual strength and abilities of those troops. Frank Herbert really focused on the environment shaping cultures and people in all of his works, and perhaps the most in Dune, and I'd make environment play a very large role in any Dune game. I think the real-time strategy portion of the game would be more in common with Dawn of War or Company of Heroes, rather than Command & Conquer, as well. I imagine that, due to the lack of effectiveness of combat vehicles, and the heavy focus on infantry and swords (perhaps spears and other melee weapons as well), there would be smaller squad-based battles centered around capturing strategic map areas. The bashirs and mentats and Dukes and so forth that command battles would not focus on making massive numbers of troops to destroy the enemy's HQ; instead I believe they would be more concerned with capturing strategic points of interest. I also can't picture a large-scale melee battle as you'd find in Total War, because the shields and the high level of training for most swordsmen in Dune armies means fewer but more valuable soldiers.

But I don't make games. You guys do, and I hope you make the game you want to make. I really hope it ends up a great game too!

Great!!

is there actually any game in progress? i just see unfinished mods for since 2005...

Ah nice update guys, I am so glad you guys are still around and making great progress on the UT3 engine, keep it up!