Let's Play Dune

[TaxOwlbear]

Hello everyone and welcome to Dune. Most of you will be familiar with Dune, but in case you are not: Dune is a 1992 strategy adventure hybrid based on the Dune franchise, especially David Lynch's Dune film. Story-wise, the game follows neither the novels nor the films. Instead, you take the role of Paul Atreides who (together with his family) has been permitted by Emperor Shaddam IV. to go to Dune and harvest the precious spice melange.

However, the evil Harkonnen are already there, and you two are unlikely to get along well. In Dune, which was developed independently from Dune II, your goal is to unite the Fremen tribes, harvest spice, build up an army and ultimately drive the Harkonnen off Dune. Can we do all this?

Anyway, I hope you join me on my journey.

Opening

Part 1: Spice Shall Flow

[TaxOwlbear]

The beginning of Dune is not linear, but there is a set series of things you are supposed to do. Of course you can just do other things, such as wandering off into the desert (probably gets you killed) or entering Harkonnen airspace (certainly gets you killed).

Part 2: The Sleeper Must Awaken

[TaxOwlbear]

With the plot being a bit different, a new mechanic enters the game: We have to send the Emperor a shipment of spice every couple of days or else we will be recalled from Arrakis. It's not much of an issue, but it does put you under some pressure and prevents you from just harvesting all the spice in the beginning.

Part 3: Bribery

[Nyerguds]

14 hours ago, TaxOwlbear said:

With the plot being a bit different, a new mechanic enters the game: We have to send the Emperor a shipment of spice every couple of days or else we will be recalled from Arrakis.

Recalled? Nah. Quite the contrary; you'll become a semi-permanent feature of the desert landscape, after he sends his Sardaukar after you

Edited October 3, 2016 by Nyerguds

[TaxOwlbear]

Oh, I never had that happen. When I die, it's usually because I lose a battle. Too bad the Fremen suck compared to the Harkonnen, much unlike how it's in the book.

[TaxOwlbear]

This time, we search for the Fremen leader! I'm not quite sure what the game wants Stilgar to be. He is a respected sietch leader in the novels and films, but here they can't seem to decide whether or not he is some sort of super chieftain or just another Fremen leader.

Part 4: Desert Lead

[TaxOwlbear]

It's time to train some troops. Don't do this too early; troops don't do you any good unless

Part 5: Ready the Army!

[TaxOwlbear]

Yes, this game does have a romantic sub plot. Almost two, in fact!

Part 6: Desert Love

[Nyerguds]

Pfff. Harah never stood a chance.

[TaxOwlbear]

The Harkonnen make their move and attack one of our territories. There isn't much we can do about it at this point, but soon enough, we will have an army strong enough to strike back.

Part 8: Assault from the North

 

The parts have been re-arranged, hence the seventh episode is missing.

[TaxOwlbear]

The Harkonnen continue to harass us, but we are already training troops to take back what we lost. So far, it's not too bad; we still have enough Spice to pay the Emperor and buy equipment, which is what matters right now.

Part 9: Losing Ground

[TaxOwlbear]

It's time to meet the last important NPC: Liet Kynes the planetologist. he gives us access to bulbs, which unlocks the third possible occupation for the Fremen: Ecologist. Ecologists can grow plants on Dune and deny access to a region to the Harkonnen. However, growing plants also destroys Spice, so don't grow plants in Spice-rich regions!

Part 10: Meeting Liet Kynes

[TaxOwlbear]

We can now train ecologist Fremen. These are probably the least useful ones, but it's okay to turn a couple of tribes with 500 members or less into ecologist Fremen. There's only so many warriors and spice miners you need anyway.

Part 11: Biological Warfare

[TaxOwlbear]

Around this point, there's another event: Your Fremen get sick, which mean they can't work. Some of them, that is. However, we know someone who can help!

Part 12: Public Health Care

[TaxOwlbear]

The last chain events more or less forces you to prepare for war if you haven't done it at this point. As with so many things in this game, the execution is easy if you know what to do. If indeed you do.

Part 13: Ready to Roll Out

[TaxOwlbear]

Ah, spying. To see (or estimate) how many enemy troops are stationed at the fortress and how strong they are, one needs to send a Fremen troop out to spy on them. Spying is a bit odd. occasionally, the option is just not available, and sometimes it seems to be impossible to send a troop to a specific fortress.

Part 14: Spy Games

[TaxOwlbear]

Today, we just move a lot of stuff around. This is moderately difficult in Dune, mainly because it's hard to get an overview of the stuff you have and where you have it.

Part 15: Shuffling

[TaxOwlbear]

Always concentrate your troops. Have one or two, later three army groups and don't spread them out. The Harkonnen don't tent to swarm you anyway, so it's easier to just take back lost sietches than trying to defend them.

Part 16: Schwerpunkt

[TaxOwlbear]

The love of our life is back! This is actually a rather critical moment. If you are unlucky and don't find her in time, this can cripple you.

Part 17: Reunion

[TaxOwlbear]

It's time to drink the Water of Life. If you do that while your charisma is too low and before Lady Jessica recommends it, you just die. Do it in time and you get a charisma boost (maxed out charisma?) and can generally contact all Fremen on the planet, which makes sietch management sooo much easier.

Part 18: Aqua Vitae

[TaxOwlbear]

I kind of like the whole spying subsystem, but a couple of things bother me about it. It's hard to control where your spies go, and occasionally spying just isn't available as an option (or rather greyed out). Also, you probably want to attack with eight armies anyway if you can - not the maximum of nine or else you might miss out on a liberated Fremen tribe.

Part 19: Gathering Intel

[TaxOwlbear]

After about a third of the game (at the end of the main event cycle), it's likely that you only have a couple of armies and are busy gathering all that Spice. However, once you have at least one group of six or seven armies (preferably with 2,000+ Fremen each), the domino effect kicks in and you can swiftly conquer the entire planet, which will also give you more Spice, equipment, and Fremen than you need.

Part 20: Victory Spree

[soapdx]

On 10/20/2016 at 9:36 AM, Nyerguds said:

Pfff. Harah never stood a chance.

I remember being a kid I was quite impressed with Harah's, had a mini crush, then I met Chani - Oh My God, video game crush!

I guess when you're starting to discover women at a young age the simplest sensuality can be impressionable.

As for the play troughs they seem like nice videos, you have a calm soothing voice. It's just not my style to watch other people playing games, I rather play them myself

[TaxOwlbear]

Thanks. I don't mind watching other people play (mostly in the background while I do other things), but for me it's sports... I never enjoyed watching sports, but I like doing them.

[TaxOwlbear]

After a couple of victories, things tend to snowball very quickly. I went from being able to comfortably pay the Emperor to not knowing what to do with my Fremen. I could get some more ecology Fremen, but the whole ecology thing takes so long (especially training the initial troops) that it's simply not worth the hassle.

Part 21: Under Construction