We were all adicted to Herzog Zwei at Westwood. We played for hours on the SEGA. However, Dune was inspired by more than Herzog .. The whole industry was moving to more interactiviity. FTL had Dungeon Master that took the Ultima and Wizardry games to a new level. We were already doing "what if" games like DragonStrike and Eye of the Beholder. At that time it was all about usability, not just about the character or the story. That was the problem with Dune I, it was just Zork with graphics. We wanted to place the player into the environment and let them create their own story. I always felt that Warcraft was a clone of the original Dune. Virgin at that time had a close relationship with Blizard. But now, having years to reflect upon it, I think it was a common synergy going through the industry. There were probably five or six development teams thinking about the same thing. Anyway just my thoughts .. from a guy on the original Dune design team.
