Hey, Alrighty then, here is some of what I've gathered from the demo. I have more of this stuff in various files on my clogged up hard drive. Map The map used in the demo is actually reused in the retail Atreides campaign. You may recognize the map from Mission 3 of the campaign, it is in fact the 'middle map' of the three available maps, also known as map 3B. The map proper is provided in two separate files, both as a map file in the packed data file, and as a saved game. The map is not an exact match with the retail version. The retail version has an enemy unit cap set at 20 units, whereas the demo version has the Harkonnen unit cap set at 16 units. The demo game engine disregards the unit cap however, rendering it meaningless. As you may recognize this map from the retail campaign, you may also realize how little effort was put into creating the maps; all the scenario bugs that were shipped with retail—and there are many—were seemingly firmly in place 6 months before the game shipped. Keys Since the demo version allows control over the enemy units and enemy structures, certain additional keys have special functions. These serve no purpose in the retail version. Key Function NotesR Area guard Places enemy units in Area guard mode (only when controlling enemies).A Ambush Places enemy units in Ambush mode (only when controlling enemies).G Guard Places enemy units in Guard mode (only when controlling enemies).H Hunt Places enemy units in Hunt mode (only when controlling enemies).W Exit demo Displays a banner prompting the player to purchase the retail version and terminates.R Cycle messagesStep forwards in message queue (only when not controlling any unit, after F7/F8).T Cycle messages Step backwards in message queue (only works after pressing the F7 and F8 keys)L Reveal map Completely removes the Fog-of-war, revealing the map.[esc] Pauses game Simply pauses the game (why this wasn't kept for retail is anybody's guess).[period] Place special bloom Places a special bloom in the position of the unit (must be on sand).[hyphen] Place spice bloom Places a spice bloom in the position of the unit (must be on sand).[insert] Add credits Each press of the insert key adds 1000 credits of spice to the player.F3 Rotate unit Rotate unit anti-clockwise, also affects heading when moving (only when controlling units).F4 Rotate unit Rotate unit clockwise, also affects heading when moving (only when controlling units).F5 Rotate turret Rotate turret of active unit anti-clockwise (only when controlling tanks or siege tanks).F6 Rotate turret Rotate turret of active unit clockwise (only works with tanks or siege tanks).F7 Reseed the map Subtracts the seed by 1 and resets the map, including the Fog-of-war.F8 Reseed the map Adds 1 to the map seed and restarts the map, resetting the Fog-of-war. The below keys are for the Structure and Unit Placement tool only House keys are:Shift for OrdosCtrl for HarkonnenAlt for AtreidesShift + Ctrl for MercenaryAlt + Shit for SardaukarCtrl + Alt for Fremen [House key]+1 Place harvester[House key]+2 Place infantry[House key]+3 Place trooper[House key]+4 Place MCV[House key]+5 Place sandworm (the sandworm is always Fremen)[House key]+6 Place devastator[House key]+7 Place saboteur[House key]+F3 Place trike[House key]+F4 Place quad[House key]+F5 Place tank[House key]+F6 Place siege tank[House key]+F7 Place launcher[House key]+F8 Launch carryall[House key]+F9 Launch ornithopter[House key]+F10 Place sonic tank[House key]+E Place windtrap[House key]+R Place repair facility[House key]+T Place turret[House key]+U Place rocket turret[House key]+I Place House of Ix[House key]+O Place radar outpost[House key]+P Place palace[House key]+A Place concrete slab[House key]+S Place starport[House key]+D Place wall (must be placed on slabs)[House key]+F Place refinery[House key]+G Place hi-tech facility[House key]+H Place heavy factory[House key]+K Place large concrete slab[House key]+L Place light vehicle factory[House key]+C Place construction yard[House key]+B Place barracks Note you cannot place a WOR facility. Differences and peculiarities There are obviously several differences between the demo and the retail versions of the game. These are due to several reasons. The first reason is the demo version precedes the retail version and must be seen as a work-in-progress. The other obvious reason for the peculiar behavior is due to the demo not being meant to be playable. Thus one of the main differences is the demo is not nearly as stable as the retail version. The demo is known to spontaneously freeze, to unexpectedly terminate, to lock the keyboard, and so on. These differences are obviously invisible to the player. The first differences player most often notice, however, are the colors of the mini map, i.e. the radar screen. In the retail version, the spice fields are a brownish hue. In the demo the fields are a festive pink. Another difference that the player soon notices is the massive speed increase the harvesting has in the demo. The harvesters fill up quickly, sometimes up three times faster than they do in retail. Trying to access the Mentat screen by either pressing F1 or by clicking the 'Mentat' button will only produce a message stating the demo is indeed what is supposed to be--merely a demonstration program--and that the Mentat advisor is therefore unavailable. What is most peculiar about this is that the Mentat message should never even be accessed; without hacking the demo and making it playable the message cannot be seen, it should simply never possible to even get the message. There are other instances that are equally perplexing. By providing the three missing files and by making the demo interactive, the player can open the construction window of the buildings. When doing so a message will inform the player detailed pictures are not available in the demonstration program. This is yet another message that should never be available to the player. Without hacking the demo the message can never be seen. This same error message can be seen in all the production windows of all buildings that can produce either units or more buildings. Note the production screen for enemy structures cannot be accessed; clicking on the structure icon or pressing F3 has no effect whatsoever. Also note the higher resolution images are not supplied with the demo. As a further peculiarity, the demo sometimes displays messages to the player using the internal strings as names for the structures and units, and not the long form names as it is supposed to. The user interface was not yet polished at this point; the demo must for all intents and purposes be seen as a work-in-progress. Of note is also the different tech tree. The map is supposedly one of the three maps in the third mission of the Atreides campaign, yet the tech tree seems to be the same as the tech tree of mission four. As the demo is a work in progress, the game play is still littered with bugs, and the game is in a much unfinished state. Destroying enemy turrets will not replace the turrets with rock, as should happen, but the turrets will instead be replaced by the upper right corner of the spice silo. This is a graphical glitch only, the terrain is still considered rock by the game engine. Controlling the enemy The perhaps most fascinating aspect of the demo is it gives the player almost complete control of the enemy forces and the enemy's activities. The player can issue orders to and control every enemy unit, including enemy harvesters. The player can also stop enemy unit production, disengage repairs, halt advancing armies, and make AI credits completely dry up. In addition to making the demo ridiculously easy and unchallenging to play, by monitoring the enemy units the player can gain insights into how the Computer-controlled forces operate, and how the AI spends and manages its resources. The simplest way to immediately cripple the AI is to simply stop the enemy harvesters from harvesting spice. There can be no simpler way to achieve this; simply click the enemy harvester, and click the 'stop' button. The harvester will remain stationary until told otherwise. The AI will now slowly but surely run out of spice and thus credits. The player can even move the enemy harvester to another location, for example into the mouth of the Fremen sandworms that roam the map. Doing so will not provide the enemy with a brand new harvester, in contrast with the retail version. In the demo the sandworm is explicitly mentioned as belonging to the Fremen. While it is mentioned in the books and the movie that the Fremen and sandworms have a profound relationship, it is never made explicit in the retail game. Internally the sandworms are obviously Fremen, but the player never sees this during game play. Other differences include the ability of the sandworms to detonate spice blooms. In addition to this, the sandworm has a completely different set of commands in the demo, as compared to the command set in the retail version of the game. In the retail version, the sandworm only has an attack command. In fact it has four of them. Game maps can be edited in the retail version to give the player control over the sandworms, but even if the player has a semblance of control over the worms, the massive Shai-Hulud remain semi-autonomous - devouring player units, spontaneously attacking its own faction, and so on. In the demo, the sandworms can be given the standard set of commands available for the Computer-controlled units. Under certain circumstances, the sandworm can even be told to retreat. As mentioned, in retail Dune player-controlled sandworms can only attack. This might actually reflect their nature fairly accurately. In another departure from the retail version, sandworms in the demo disappear after devouring one unit. Sandworms can also detonate blooms of any kind. They can even attack each other. The player has almost total control of the enemy units. While the command set lacks the possibilities to stop and specifically move the units, rather complex unit movement can be achieved. To stop approaching enemy units, simply click on the unit and click the 'guard' button. This will place the enemy unit in guard mode, effectively stopping it. If the enemy units have already entered your base, you can send them back to their point of origin by clicking the unit and clicking the 'area guard' button. Since the unit's point of origin is the enemy base, the unit will simply retreat to the enemy base and possibly begin its attack again. Repeat as necessary. It is theoretically possible to place the enemy units in ambush mode by clicking the 'ambush' button, but since an enemy unit must be visible in order to be controlled, ambush mode will immediately revert to hunt mode. So, while this should be theoretically possible, it is a logical impossibility. The player can even control enemy structures, albeit in a limited fashion. The player can interrupt ongoing repairs by simply clicking the 'repair' button. The player can also put unit production on hold indefinitely. The AI will in certain circumstances restart repairs, but unit production will remain on hold until manually restarted by the player, or until the game ends. The player can even upgrade enemy structures, although the AI will do so itself immediately when it has the necessary funds. While 'helping the AI along' is theoretically possible, it is of very limited application. Trying to control enemy palaces will result in the demo crashing. The only palace super weapon that works seems to be the Death Hand missiles. Also, the player can launch three consecutive Death Hand missile attacks from the palace, with no recharging time in between. However after the attacks have been launched, the demo will not give control back to the player, even after restarting the scenario. The demo will display the palace control panel indefinitely. By monitoring the enemy units and the enemy base, it is easy to get an insight into the AI strategy. The demo is not an exact copy of the retail version; there are major differences. When an enemy structure is destroyed, the AI is rewarded credits in the form of spice; the amount of credits is half the cost of the destroyed structure. Since the AI only pays 50% of the normal price when constructing a building, the AI can theoretically replace any destroyed structures indefinitely. This cycle can easily be stopped by halting the enemy harvesters and putting all construction on hold. End of map When the demo map comes to an end - either through loss or victory, or by pressing the W key - the player will only see a prompt message, urging the player to order the soon-to-be-released retail version, or to look for the game at well equipped game retailers. When the map ends there is no tallying of the scores, no rank is awarded, and no statistics are displayed. In fact, there exists neither graphics nor data files anywhere in the packed files for the rank display and high score entry panels. After the prompt message has been displayed, the demo will terminate and exit to the MS-DOS prompt, or back to Windows if the demo is played in a box, without any further prompts. The demo map is a version of Atreides map 3B, the main difference being the lesser unit cap for the Harkonnen. However, the demo completely disregards the unit cap, making this a difference without distinction. If the player attempts to challenge fate, and clicks on the 'Pick another house' option from the in-game menu, the demo will inform the player there are in fact no other scenarios, wait a while, and terminate, exiting to the MS-DOS prompt without further ado. The map itself is unique to the demo, and it is provided in several places; inside the DUNE.PAK file, as part of the saved game, and as the provided dune.log file. Special demo keys There are functions in the demo that cannot be found in any subsequent installment of the game. The most tantalizing is the map reseeding function. By pressing the keys F7 and F8 the player can change the seed of the map, and reset the map to its initial state. This will of course also reset the Fog-of-war, setting the map black. Only units and buildings will be visible. When reseeding and resetting the map, the player will lose control of most of the buildings; all buildings will be stripped of their ownership bit, except the spice refinery. Due to this the buildings - except the refinery - will have no owner and can no longer be controlled. The buildings will be regarded as terrain by the game engine. Erecting a new CY with an MCV, upgrading and then constructing a large concrete slab will return control to the player. The slab needs not be placed, only constructing it will return control of the buildings. The function is rather unstable and can produce unexpected results. In addition, reseeding and resetting the map will corrupt the map data; two, sometimes four rectangular pieces of mountains will run along the southern edge of the map. The terrain will have the same function as mountains; carryalls, ornithopters, and frigates can fly over it, and infantry units can traverse it. Saving and re-loading the game will not reset the map; the corrupt data will remain. The Fog-of-war can be completely lifted by pressing the L key. This does not reveal the mini map unless you have a radar outpost. When used together with the reseeding keys, the player can quickly cycle forwards and backwards in the seed queue; lifting the Fog-of-war will immediately show if the new map can be used as a scenario map. The theory is these special demo keys were used by the developers when trying to find usable map seeds. If you are going to use the L key when playing a custom scenario, be advised all enemy units placed in ambush will immediately revert to hunt mode when they become visible. Also, when placing the blooms - special blooms or spice blooms - be advised the blooms will be placed on the current active position. Sometimes this means the square where the unit is heading. This means the bloom will be placed in front of the unit and immediately activated. If the bloom placed is a spice bloom, you will lose the unit. Pressing the 'insert' key will add credits to the House which is being controlled; if it is the player's House, the House gets 1000 credits. If it is the Computer-controlled House, the House gets 500 credits. Pressing the function keys F5 to F10 while holding the Alt key places various Atreides units in the current, active location. In sequence the units are tank, siege tank, launcher, carryall, ornithopter, and sonic tank. The tanks or the launcher will only be placed if the player is controlling an enemy infantry unit while pressing the keys. The flying units will appear from any controlled location, even from sandworms. Please be advised any Atreides ornithopters will attack any other House, without prejudice. This might include the player's units; if the House of the player is any other than Atreides, the spawned ornithopters will attack the player's units. In addition, ornithopters spontaneously self-destruct in the demo. When placing structures, please notice you can place the structures according to certain restrictions. If the player's House is one of Atreides, Ordos, or Harkonnen, normal game play restrictions apply. If the player's House is Mercenaries, structures can be placed anywhere. Also note there is (strangely) no way to place WOR facilities with the placement tool. When placing a construction yard, you must hold the keys [House key]+C and click where you want the structure. Construction yards do not need to be connected to anything when they are placed. To place structures of any other house, instead of the Alt key press Ctrl for Harkonnen, Shift for Ordos, Ctrl+Shift for Mercenaries, Alt+Ctrl for Sardaukar, and Alt+Shift for Fremen. The log file When the un-hacked demo is started normally, it will auto-replay the ending of a scenario, show a prompt asking the viewer to pre-order the game, wait for a few seconds, and then exit. The replay is contained in the log file provided with the downloadable demo. When the demo is started with any parameter, the log file is disregarded; the demo enters its interactive mode, and the player can control the game. When this is done, the log file is overwritten with a new log file. This log file is then replayed when the demo is started without parameters. The log file replay will begin at the point of game entry; if a saved game is loaded, the replay will start at the load point. If the map is played from start to finish in one go, the log file will contain the entire game play. Be advised there is no real size limit to the log file; the only limit is the ability of the game code to write a file to disk. Since the game is a 16-bit game, the log file can be 2 gigabytes in size. Unit and building specifications The unit and building specifications in the demo are essentially identical to the initial retail version - version 1.0 - with a few minor differences. The unit and structure hit points are identical. Weapons damage is almost identical, with the difference being more damaging sonic tanks in the demo; the sonic tank deals 75 points of damage in the demo, whereas the retail version is slightly tamer, with only 65 points of damage. The sonic blast itself is doubly as lethal in the demo, with 50 points in the demo compared to 25 in retail. House Atreides is just as susceptible for structural damage as all the other Houses in the demo. House Harkonnen is even easier to deviate in the demo; the demo has an 89% success rate set, whereas the retail has lowered the Harkonnen deviation success rate to 78%. Costs are slightly different. Repair facilities cost 900 credits in the demo, as opposed to 700 in retail. Since the hard coded tech tree never allows repair facilities to be built this is a difference without distinction. Walls cost 60 credits in the demo, whereas they only cost 50 in retail. The Ordos' special weapon is somewhat crippled in the demo; the recharge time is double that of retail. The Ordos' saboteur is also significantly slower in the demo; moving at half the speed. As a final curiosity, none of unplayable Houses - Fremen, Sardaukar, or Mercenaries - have a special palace weapon in the demo. Thus their palace recharge time is also set to zero. When compared to the last version of the game - version 1.07 - the actual differences are trivial - frigates have 500 hit points instead of 100, ornithopters have 10 hit points instead of 25 - and have very little impact on game play. Looping demo The looping demo cannot be made playable. The looping demo is - while simpler - in fact a later creation, based on the last patched version of the game; version 1.07. It must be seen as the historically last official Dune 2 offering by Westwood, demo or otherwise. I hope this helps. ~ Temporary
