Jᴀᴄᴜʀᴜᴛᴜ - Tʜᴇ Cᴀsᴛ Oᴜᴛ

There is no forthcoming question - just notes about the first game incase anyone is interested and has better things to do than find out firsthand.

- The premise is that you have to keep the Emperor happy with spice shipments in the short term, and ultimately expose his treachery and beat the Harkonnens.
- From the outset your job as Paul is to rally Fremen to mine spice to satisfy the Emperor's (not CHAOM's) quotas
- Duncan's Fremen PR duties are carried out by Paul, and he is, for some reason, just the accountant and doesn't get killed
- There is no Dr Yueh, no Great Betrayal, no Harkonnen seizure, though there is a Harkonnen/Imperial conspiracy against the Attreides. Paul and Jessica don't go renegade. Gurney doesn't go missing, Thufir doesn't get captured.. Only Leto is lost.
- Leto is killed leading a revenge campaign against the Harks
- There is no Helen Mohium, no Alia, no Piter de Vries, no Beast Rabban
- You are settled in Carthag and the Harks are in Arrakeen, instead of vice versa. Except the Harks are STILL there for some reason, like it's a reality survival gameshow.
- You discover sietches as you progress, mainly by Fremen suddenly disclosing "There is a sietch North-West from here." or whatever direction
- Regions and Sietches are named after Dune words and made-up words. Tuono-Tuek, Tuono-Tabr, Cielago-Harg, Cemlilyn-Timin,
- There is no shield wall
- Paul's spice-induced powers are just long-range communication. They peak when he is able to drink the Water of Life which extends his powers planetwide.
- Kynes is met via Chani, and you send some Fremen to help cultivate bulbs to start vegetation which motivates your Fremen. Dunno why he waited for your permission...
- You asign tasks to troops. Solders can be given crysknife, lasguns (laserguns now), wierding modules (from the lynch movie), and atomics. As you take Hark forts you get better weapons in that vein.
- You have up to two companions at any time. At first just Gurney, then Harah, then Stilgar, then Harah, then Chani.
- When you "find" Stilgar, you can start asigning military tasks and the task of systematically sacking Hark forts begins until only their Palace remains.
- Jessica's "powers" serve to find a few secret rooms in the Attreides' Carthag palace.
- You travel by orni. Later, when it becomes useful to join Fremen in battles (to boost their motivation) you must go by worm which works just the same way. Worm travel is learned quite late in the game.

Did they ask Spanky for advice ?

This was the game that introduced me to Dune, so it holds a special place in my heart... it was also a brilliant game. True it made some changes to the story, but nothing compared to what the later Westwood strategy games did - it was obvious it was made by people who loved Dune (the concessions to the Lynch movie were there because that was the license they held iirc).

(Feyd did appear IIRC)

It also had a rather addictive soundtrack, which they released on a CD (long OOP, but easy to download if you plug a few choice words into Google )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWww7vsi ... 0qJVUyXkGz" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It also introduced me to Dune too. And Dune is probably what introduced me to reading for leisure in general, though Dune's the favourite. It's impossible to make a movie or game entirely true to the book but they found a damn good comprimise. As you say, their genuine awe of the book is clear. They made something that made me fall for the Dune universe which is a rare thing. I wasn't such a big fan of Dune 2. I was hoping for something more like Dune 1 and remember my disapointment. But I know how loved it is. When I play Dune 1 I try to complete it in fewer and fewer days. I think my record is 40. I've tried to reimagine it many times but I can't think of anything. Nor do I have it in me to do all the art for a game. I just want to code it. I'm a nerd. =D

Stefane Picq was the musician. I've got it all. ;D

I think my very first introduction to Dune was a video game, but it was more of a Command and Conquer style strategy game. I remember (vaguely, this is a LONG time ago) my dad bringing it home for me and saying it was based on some movie (he's not read the book yet), then years later, but still a kid I saw the movie. I didn't honestly find the book until I was maybe 20 or 21.

This game also introduced me to dune.
This was one of the first games I was addicted to ever

A Thing of Eternity wrote:I think my very first introduction to Dune was a video game, but it was more of a Command and Conquer style strategy game. I remember (vaguely, this is a LONG time ago) my dad bringing it home for me and saying it was based on some movie (he's not read the book yet), then years later, but still a kid I saw the movie. I didn't honestly find the book until I was maybe 20 or 21.

Yeh, that's Dune 2. Most people prefer it over Dune 1. Not I!

Nice to know others love Dune 1. I still play it pretty often. And not the horrible talky version with the flight animation!

The game music is utterly brilhant, still remembered as a Amiga classic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVXwuJJqIOw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3gz0D9qwu8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The cd version also comes with cool pixelated clips from the movie (most notably the Irulan intro). So hot... i'd be imprinted in a moment

lotek wrote:Did they ask Spanky for advice ?

It's funny that you should mention that, because when I was watching the plot unfold in a video of Cryo's Dune, I could swear that the whole gathering enough spice on time to ship to the emperor scenario was probably borrowed from this game for the watered down alternate Dune novella, Spice Planet. I've wondered if Spanky and Brian played the Cryo Dune game, and borrowed bits of it (sans getting allegiance from Fremen) for their supposed recreation of Frank's alpha concept for Dune. I doubt that if Brian had much influence then to advise Cryo on how to do Dune, because he really distanced himself from the Dune license then. (To think that Cryo were the same guys who made that tragic game adaptation of the John Harrison Sci-fi miniseries, which got a very low review on PC Gamer as I recall )

I like how this game is done to. It's unfortunate for Westwood that they were made to slap the sequel number on their own Dune game, because Dune and Dune 2: The Building of a Dynasty are nothing alike, except for perhaps similar graphics and the Dune setting.

Since Dune 2 was remade into Dune 2000, I've toyed with the idea of a Dune 1000, getting live actors to play the roles in front of kitsch CG backgrounds, and with better acting than the kind found in the C&C cutscenes. Because Cryo's Dune ended in an alternate fashion from the Dune novel, and because Dune 2 was set in an alternate reality of the Dune book (kind of like Red Alert), I conceived of a sequel to Dune 2 which continues where the first left off but goes off in a totally different direction from the main novels. I would just bring in the Guild, Tleilaxu, Bene Gesserit, the Fremen, and House Corrino as the new factions, with only the Harkonnen faction left over from Dune 2. I thought of calling it Dune III: To Lead an Army, but I think it needs a better title.

The acting in Dune:2000 wasn't half-bad, to be honest, and they managed to recreate the look of the Lynch movie pretty well. What I've seen of Emperor: Battle for Dune, however, I didn't like.

I'm not sure if Dune 1 could be improved with actors talking in front of CGI backdrops. The story was, as discussed, pretty awful. Even the gameplay was pretty awful. But neither Dune 2, Dune 2000 or Emperor had the charm and atmosphere that the Cryo game had. Just the fact that the light changed depending on the time of day made an enormous impression.