OpenD2k - cross platform reimplementation of Dune 2000

[Matthias M.]

Next release will contain burned husks that are capturable by engineers and a cleaned up ARRAKIS tileset as well as new units from the 1.06 patch for the d2k mod. Also saboteur can plant C4 on vehicles.

 

Apart from new features, people are thinking about re-balancing the game again: http://www.sleipnirstuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=83&t=16465 You might want to join the discussion.

[athanasios]

Again I will repeat myself: Please ADD to the game to enhance it, do not change it. I see there that the proposals are to remove a lot from the game and add units from other RTS games. Then it will not be a Dune2000 clone anymore. :-(

[mvi]

It isn't a Dune 2000 clone. Also it's their project, they're free to take it any direction they choose.

[Matthias M.]

Those suggestions are not set in stone. I have not even received a patch. Please note that commenting here won't take the word to the OpenRA community.

[Gruntlord6]

Those suggestions are not set in stone. I have not even received a patch. Please note that commenting here won't take the word to the OpenRA community.

I will follow up with that forum to prevent radical changes, because while I believe change is important to grow the fanbase and balance the game, changes that are too large and radical will alienate the existing fanbase and make the game not resemble the original.

[Gruntlord6]

I would like other people to post on those forums as well though, to show that more people then just me feel the same way.

[Matthias M.]

Sneak peek: Paul added concrete slabs and turrets now attach to walls which looks much better now:

 

 

Also the cut off walls when being sold which has been reported here is now fixed.

[Feda]

Is concrete an optional feature? 

[Matthias M.]

No, you are punished with lower building health like in the original.

[Matthias M.]

But anyway, go find out yourself. We just released http://open-ra.org/news/playtest-20140405/

[NodFan]

Why did you put Concretes, seriously?

 

Nobody likes this annoying feature, which was why they were not in Emperor.

[Matthias M.]

We needed that feature for Tiberian Sun anyway and are not afraid to change the original balancing if it does not work out.

[Feda]

We needed that feature for Tiberian Sun anyway and are not afraid to change the original balancing if it does not work out.

Im not sure if its viable in openra d2k, but in original dune 2k if you put 2 players of similar skill against each other and one plays with concrete while other one without, the player who's not using concrete will ALWAYS win. It is a defensive feature that takes very much time + some significant amount of money, and defending/turtles players never win in a game thats all about speed. Trust me, even very good players of d2k admitted that concrete slows you down way too much to be worth it. This brings the biggest problem in original dune2k; the "paper-made" buildings that are so easy to be destroyed since they start with half-health. I was hoping OpenRA will get rid of this crap. You should have really left it as an optional feature at least. From what I've heared the Quad rush from d2k was replaced in openra with some sort of Raider/Trike rush? If thats the case, i can already see players who wont use concrete winning easily against those who do. I'd play some but i almost never find people online at openra d2k =/

[Matthias M.]

We currently don't have much of a scene that plays OpenRA's d2k mod as the ra mod where tournaments are regularly taking place and some developers contributions are solely adding new units and re-balancing the game. I have no idea what is the most powerful tactic at the moment. When we did some developer test games it ended in a large carnage with big tanks and artillery.

 

I watched some recorded Dune 2000 games on YouTube and already noted that no one really builds concrete. Our AI does not do either which probably makes it even rushier.

 

There is a mod called d2krevision I have not tried, but it seems to be about re-balancing things to add more diversity to the tactics and differences to the faction. For now I have not received any patches, but only some bug reports.

[Feda]

That mod looks somehow similar to the tech tree i made myself some time ago, only on paper thought. Though how Ordos and Harkonnen would be having same combat tank is beyond me, ordos should have a Light Tank, Atreides should have Medium Tank and harkonnen Heavy Tank.

 

There are RA tournaments? that's pretty impressive, are they team based or only 1v1?

[Matthias M.]

We had regular 1v1 and 2v2 tournaments in the past. None for d2k yet. The latest one was a little loosely organized being more like a giant gathering with two big teams who play whenever they like because the community is very small and time zones are annoying. It had extensive coverage by some shout casters. You could follow it on Facebook or @OpenRA or Google+ and watch the extensive video recap.

[Gruntlord6]

We currently don't have much of a scene that plays OpenRA's d2k mod as the ra mod where tournaments are regularly taking place and some developers contributions are solely adding new units and re-balancing the game. I have no idea what is the most powerful tactic at the moment. When we did some developer test games it ended in a large carnage with big tanks and artillery.

 

I watched some recorded Dune 2000 games on YouTube and already noted that no one really builds concrete. Our AI does not do either which probably makes it even rushier.

 

There is a mod called d2krevision I have not tried, but it seems to be about re-balancing things to add more diversity to the tactics and differences to the faction. For now I have not received any patches, but only some bug reports.

I think its better to get the features from the original and then change things afterword, so good job.

[Falconius]

I'm very grateful for this mod. I'm surprised that people moan about the concrete. In Dune2 there used to be a tactic where one could "walk" turrets into strange places with concrete, so concrete has the potential to make the game interesting. I've never used walls and infantry much, so I'd actually enjoy making a mod that made them useful. Is it possible to change the sight ranges for the various units? (The walls have eyes).

[Matthias M.]

You can't base walk with concrete in OpenRA. We made it a real terrain change, not just a fake building.

[Feda]

I'm very grateful for this mod. I'm surprised that people moan about the concrete. In Dune2 there used to be a tactic where one could "walk" turrets into strange places with concrete, so concrete has the potential to make the game interesting. I've never used walls and infantry much, so I'd actually enjoy making a mod that made them useful. Is it possible to change the sight ranges for the various units? (The walls have eyes).

No one understands why we moan until they play multiplayer, so come and play with me a match, i'll show u what's the thing about concrete ;)

And btw this ain't Dune 2, the buildable space isn't linked like it is in dune 2 and u cannot base walk with that. Plus base walking is pretty lame and would get just hammered by a good player.

[Gruntlord6]

No one understands why we moan until they play multiplayer, so come and play with me a match, i'll show u what's the thing about concrete ;)

And btw this ain't Dune 2, the buildable space isn't linked like it is in dune 2 and u cannot base walk with that. Plus base walking is pretty lame and would get just hammered by a good player.

Honestly I think a lot of multiplayer strategies discussed in this forum are based entirely on the current meta. As far as I know, the ones used on openD2K are entirely different then what you guys are used to, and not in a bad way. I'm not saying concrete is good (It's not often used for a good reason), I am just saying you should be more open to other ways of playing besides the set path.

[Gruntlord6]

Next release will contain burned husks that are capturable by engineers and a cleaned up ARRAKIS tileset as well as new units from the 1.06 patch for the d2k mod.

What happens if an engineer enters the husk? is it repaired and treated as a normal unit?

[Matthias M.]

Yes, it is repaired to 25% health and alive again. Similar to how it works in Tiberium Wars.

[Falconius]

No one understands why we moan until they play multiplayer, so come and play with me a match, i'll show u what's the thing about concrete ;)

And btw this ain't Dune 2, the buildable space isn't linked like it is in dune 2 and u cannot base walk with that. Plus base walking is pretty lame and would get just hammered by a good player.

If that is true then I can see why you'd like a concrete / no concrete option as a check box on the multiplayer game set-up. But still, we're not paying the guys who have created this OpenRa mod and as such we'd do well to give them feed-back in a positive non-demanding way.

And btw I know this ain't Dune2, I play Dune Legacy for my Dune2 fix. And turret walking, as opposed to base walking, against the computer used be fun back in the day before you were born. I have no interest in multiplayer, just tinkering with the game, AI and map making. Hence my unanswered question.

[Feda]

If that is true then I can see why you'd like a concrete / no concrete option as a check box on the multiplayer game set-up. But still, we're not paying the guys who have created this OpenRa mod and as such we'd do well to give them feed-back in a positive non-demanding way.

And btw I know this ain't Dune2, I play Dune Legacy for my Dune2 fix. And turret walking, as opposed to base walking, against the computer used be fun back in the day before you were born. I have no interest in multiplayer, just tinkering with the game, AI and map making. Hence my unanswered question.

Ok, but OpenRA is intended to be multiplayer not singleplayer. I'm telling them ways to prevent same stuff thats going on in original game, im not demanding anything, I'm just giving suggestions. How my suggestions are not positive it's beyond me tbh. Being a multiplayer-focused mod i guess the input coming from multiplayer players of the original are important. All i really asked for was to put a checkbox for concrete which IMO wouldn't hurt anyone, would eventually please both sides.

 

I also play dune legacy but i couldnt have a decent multiplayer match, the game always lags no matter how good the connections are (see my post in the dune legacy topic and answer there if you know a fix for that please, thanks in advance).