StrategyFront Gaming

Where to begin with Dune Generations?

With the new Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movie coming out this year it’s a great time to reflect on how Dune changed the face of strategy gaming. The game I’ll be looking at today though, Dune Generations, is not coming out anytime soon though.

Dune’s RTS history starts with Dune II, one of the first real-time strategy games to come out, to the Emperor: Battle for Dune. Another RTS which came out in 2001, Dune has greatly impacted the strategy game landscape.

But the Dune universe could be more than just the dusty plains of Dune itself. Where the games and most of the books were set. Dune Generations billed itself as expanding the universe in the grandest way possible. 

Dune Generations sought to be a real-time massive multiplayer strategy game. Players would control one of the Great Houses of the Imperium, ruling their worlds in a massive persistent galaxy. 

The game would feature both ground and space combat and would have allowed for battles of nearly 500 units. Which for a 2001 MMO would have been impressive. You would have been tasked with building up your military forces and increasing your House Prestige in the eyes of the Emperor. 

Dune Generations would have featured diplomacy with other players and NPC factions, like The Guild. You could also seek the protection of stronger houses or engage in mutually beneficial trade. 

A Player’s ultimate goal would have been to seize control of the most valuable planet in the galaxy, Dune, where all the Spice in the Imperium is mined. 

Previous Dune Games

Dune Generations sounded like a truly engaging experience. Being able to persistently build the fortunes of your house while engaging in RTS battles on both land and space sounds incredible and extremely ambitious. 

Players would have to manage dynastic politics, espionage, trading, alliances, and warfare. It all sounds too good to be true. 

From an interview with Gamespot, the developers stated:

“A player’s house can be challenged when he’s not connected. However, we favored the player’s protection when they’re not online. Guilds and mercenaries are also present to protect disconnected houses.”

The team sounded proud of their accomplishments with the AI factions noting that:

“We can promise one thing: Players who are already thinking of tactical battles against NPCs (nonplayer characters) as a simple formality are in for a surprise.”

They drew their inspirations from both the novels and Dune II. Though they considered that the game had strayed too far from the themes and atmosphere of the books. Which were often more about espionage and politics than outright warfare. 

The inclusion of engaging non-warfare elements is something notoriously difficult to pull off in Strategy games. But their inclusion meant that this could be a game that could finally mirror the novels. And this would put you in charge of a true House, instead of just another warring faction. 

The developers said:

“We decided to use our unique storyline based on Frank Herbert’s universe. Players will see references to the characters (the Fremen, the emperor, and so on–but won’t be able to play them, as they are NPCs) and to the same general intriguing storyline. As players enter the game, they will discover new missions, as we wanted to add a new dimension to the game.”

In terms of warfare, the game would have had almost 40 different units including infantry, spaceships, and vehicles but planned to add more after the game launched. 

You could also choose a focus for your house, which would impact the type of structures and units you could produce. The three concepts that you could choose between were: military, commercial, or mercenary. 

The developers elaborated on the differences: 

“The trader family offers a game more oriented toward commercial strategy and resource management.  The warrior family will focus more on military power. As for the third family, the mercenaries, it is mainly based on action and battles. One of the great innovations of Dune is the way the talents of the player’s followers are used.”

Dune Generations would have featured a variety of characters within each house. Your leader, family, and advisors would all be able to gain experience and leverage their skills for the overall benefit of the family.

“Intelligent use and management of these human resources benefit the progress of the house and create a broad range of potential strategies for playing the game.”

The developers wanted to focus on three main areas players would have control over military and economic development, resource management, and dynastic politics. 

This sounds like the making of a great game. Although how they would have pulled all this off in just a single-player game would have been impressive. Nevermind the fact they were trying to have thousands of players doing this simultaneously.

The early game would have consisted of mastering your own homeworld. Exploiting its minerals and setting up a viable base to go out and dominate the universe.

There would have been vastly different types of planets that would have leaned toward different types of outputs.

You would have been able to sell these raw resources for other goods your planet lacked such as food, technology, chemicals, and weapons.

The player’s first mission is to master the natural resources of his very own homeworld. The mineral or agricultural assets at the player’s disposal will vary according to what type of planet it is. The output from exploitation projects would have been determined by the amount of energy and labor put into them.

The resulting yield can then be sold or used in the production of finished goods such as food, technology, chemicals, and weapons.

How would the game have handled the planet Dune?

“When players’ houses attain a certain level of power and command a favorable reputation in the eyes of the Imperium, they can then bid for control of the sand world and thus acquire the mining rights to the spice. The house that wins this commission gains a considerable advantage.” 

Seems simple enough powerful houses would bid for control of Arrakis to the emperor. The player who gains control of the planet is granted its benefits.

The developers didn’t go into if alliances could jointly hold the planet, or if they would be able to pool their resources to gain it.  

“Arrakis is a hostile planet, inhabited by a strange race, the Fremen. Exploitation of the spice is managed in a particular way: An alliance with the Fremen clans is necessary if the player wishes to avoid the pitfalls of Dune and mine the spice profitably. Thus, how long the house retains control of this planet depends entirely upon the player’s ability to meet the emperor’s expectations.”

It sounds like owning Arrakis would have made it a whole other game. And I wonder how much development time went into designing systems for a planet only a few players would ever see. 

Having Fremen clans on the planet would have been awesome, especially if players could recruit them for military purposes.

But again, it sounds like hugely complex systems for one planet in a game where only a few players would get to see it. 

I also wonder about how Spice production would be balanced. Would the player in control of Arrakis be constantly harassed by other players seeking to bring them down? Would it have been even worth it to own the planet? 

Or would a significantly powerful faction be able to lockdown the planet and use its resources to continue to keep the planet on lockdown, effectively sealing it off from other players?

Why didn’t Dune Generations succeed?

Cryonetworks announced the game in 2001 with a release trailer that looks promising, it looked like assets were already in place, and development was proceeding smoothly. By February of 2002, the game entered alpha testing but by July Cryonetworks had filed for bankruptcy. 

With the closure of Cryo later in 2002, the game was officially dead. Cryonetworks ultimately was forced to close due to a failure to reach an agreement with their creditors.

The End of Dune Generations

While it’s sad to see a clearly ambitious Dune game brought down by financial concerns, I have my doubts about how this particular Dune game would have worked in practice. That being said, I find myself enthralled with the concept behind the game. 

Managing economic, military, and political concerns in the vibrant Dune universe would have been amazing. If they were able to make it work it would have been truly an accomplishment in game design.

I look forward to seeing what new Dune games will come out with the release of the new movie in 2020.

I was able to find other games that took a similar approach but were able to launch like Mankind, Shattered Galaxy, and Sovereign. Which were all Sci-Fi MMORTS games which were successfully launched in the early-2000’s and had varying levels of success.  

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