General question about strategy games for here it is for Dune 2k

[Muad'dib]

Hello guys i played dune 2k at past when i was 8-9 year old (when the game released ) but i like dune and want to play again but i know i suck at playing strategy games. I know this is toooo general and superficial question and maybe even there may be no answer but how can i progress myself (think of me as knowing nothing about strategy games) is there anything i can start with ? (well i didnt completed any games at my life so you guys can say i suck). Because i know that dune 2k is hard game for me even at the easiest level playing. I remember i mostly could come to 5th or 6th mission i am not sure and that was my best times :( so if you guys can give me an answer or advices i would be so glad :)

[Feda]

Dune is not so much about strategies but about unit control. On multiplayer yes, there are some tactics, but with AI not really. For me, once i set up my economy (at least 4 refs & 8 harvs (single) 12 harvs (multi)) i start building units. If u use this type of macro strategy ( macro = focusing on economy at start) u should do fine . Now ofc unit control comes in. Doesnt matter if u have huge army, if u send it in a lets say, choke point with a sonic wall behind, they will be slaughtered.

To sum it up, make sure u have a steady cash flow, then keep pumping out units and control them good. Also dont bother building a fuck ton of turrets, in Dune2k they just suck. May be useful on hard mode sometimes though.

[Muad'dib]

Its just i remember that i was doing so poorly that at singleplayer when AI was starting to attack me i dont have enough army nor cash or if i focus on units much i dont have enough money to back up the battle and repairing buildings so i was failing at army balance and macro strategy together :(

[Feda]

Get money and then u will be able to produce without stop ;)

[Nyerguds]

Yeeah, basically, always build more than one refinery.

[X3M]

Can building more then 1 refinery even be considered a strategy? I say, this is a given. Maximize your income, if it's yours, the enemy doesn't get its hands on it.

For each refinery, I build 1,5 extra harvesters, and 4 carryalls. The extra 1,5 carryall will carry damaged units to your repair bay.

Here are some simple pointers:

All ratata guns are good against infantry. So, Light Infantry, Trike, Raider, Stealth Raider.

All cannons are good against vehicles and tanks. So, Combat tanks and Turrets.

All rockets are good against vehicles and tanks. So, Quads, Missile tanks and Rocket Turrets.

The Siege tank and grenadier (same weapon) in dune2k is good versus infantry from a distance.

Personally, I dislike the dune2k Sonic Tank. It hurts all units, including your own. Leave it be for when you are better in unit control.

Personally, I dislike the dune2k Deviator. It consumes you micro management if you are slow. But I do like using this one on the enemy Devastator tanks and blow them up. It's like a tank variant of a sniper.

Personally, I dislike the dune2k Devastator. Way to slow. If the computer decides on hurting you from a distance. You need to be paying attention. Which you lack for now.

When you build units, make a good mix. And go for the durable units that have some speed. Basic; all tanks and vehicles :D

My combination:

In front, 1 trike or raider,

then 1 quad

then 1 combat tank

then 1 siege tank

then 1 missile tank

Only build troopers and light infantry when there is impassable terrain for your tanks. Make sure you mix about 3 troopers with 2 light infantry in each squad.

[Feda]

Check out my youtube for some build orders :) sonic tanks are awesome, too awesome, thats why i dislike them, cuz they unbalance the game. (again see my atr youtube online matches for sonics usage) devastators are awesome, if used with sards and quads. But masses of devas! (see utube). Deviators suck i agree, but they arent a sniper tank, not even close.

Im talking only about multiplayer here (although deva tactic kills AI very easy), for AI u can build whatever u want they r so dumb that it doesnt really matter. The best way to learn dune is start playing online with us.

[X3M]

Deviators suck i agree, but they arent a sniper tank, not even close.

Only talking about killing only devastators with these ;). Once done, get the hell out of there with your deviator. Only then they can be considered being a sniper.

See it like this; the commando of C&C dawn shoots for example, only grenadiers, all other infantry are unaffected this time. Since they don't self destruct.

Unless you back your devastator up with some quads and some trikes for shock therapy. :) Taking out the deviator before it takes out the devastator.

I do the same strategy in EBFD, I only use the deviator for killing devastators. But EBFD also gives out ranging options versus the devastator :).

[Muad'dib]

can u guys give me more advice ? u know i really suck at all strategy games so how can i start to develop myself? i am not much like a chess player nor strategist one so i suck at planning so is there any game that can make me start from 0 ? btw i have 1 more problem:I use win 7 home edition 64 bit so i couldnt make setup of dune work...i tried compatiblity thing,vm ware player or virtual pc none of them worked

[Feda]

Thats about x64 OS :) if u wanna have it u need to take the risk of not being able to play some games properly or not at all.

[Muad'dib]

well when i was buying this laptop i didnt ever think that i would reintrested in dune again :)

[X3M]

After some googling:

1) DOSBox (DOSBox is a DOS emulator and only runs 16 bit MS-DOS programs and not 16 bit Windows Applications).

2) VirtualBox (a “virtual machine” that allows an unmodified operating system with all of its installed software to run in a special environment, on top of your existing operating system).

3) VMware Player (a “virtual machine” that will run legacy Windows applications on top of your existing operating system without interfering with the original OS).

Dosbox is clearly only for 16 bit MS-DOS programs.

It seems that option 2 and 3 are useful, but hard for beginners. But it's worth a shot. I suggest 3 since it also worked for me.

Let me know if you succeed or fail.

[Feda]

If none of them work might try Microsoft Virtual PC, its kinda similar to VMware player. I used it for some older games which don't work on my XP.

[Muad'dib]

i tried vmware player and virtual pc (virtual pc does not work for home editions) and vm ware i tried many times but i couldnt make it work and about dosbox i tried but didnt understand how to make it work :)

[Feda]

I doubt DOSBox works. What windows did u put in vmware player? Try win98, should work, or even win95 :P

[X3M]

Dosbox will not work, Dosbox is for Dos games.

Dune2k is a windows game. I too suggest win98 environment since almost all games work on win98.

But, you need to tell the program that the environment is 16 bit, that´s the most important part. Since I had a win98 running on my 32 bit computer, dune2k did not work. That´s when I used VMware Player.

Remember, 16 bit, 16 bit, 16 bit. You need V2.5.3 or higher for that, and since 5.0.0 is out. Well, there you go.

You can also select lower bits. Then you get funny messages like, the game is too big ^^. But games like RA will start working.

If you have indeed windows 7, then you could do without VMware Player,

select the 256 colour modus in combination with win 95. That should be 16 bit as well. It works for me. But make sure your windows is updated and not a copy.

Pre-setting the colour of your screen might work too. I do that for my dune2 in dosbox.

[Muad'dib]

i found the solution :) i found a torrent and after u download u just double click .exe file then extract movies rar into the setup file then u open voila :) u dont have to do anything :) i come to 7th mission now aand i stuck up at here :S i got destroyed before i make army to defend they come with deviator or whatever name it is ( u know the very strong tank that can destroy itself)

[THE AQIB]

Well if you want a method i'll say you how i passed few missions. Just ask. I've finished till 9th mission in atriedes, 9th mission in ordos, 7th or 8th in harkonnen easily. Protect, harvest, build and then fight.