#Dune game series#

Being released in the midst of all these other RTS games (this is around the same time as Age of Empires and StarCraft), Dune 2000 struggled to stand out. That was part of the problem it had at launch. Built off the same engine as Command & Conquer: Red Alert, and the similarities are easy to see.

#Dune game series#

Sure, it bears little resemblance to the stories told in Dune, but it took elements and lore from Frank HerbertвЂ™s series turning them into something new. Ostensibly made as a вЂњremakeвЂќ of Dune II, the gameвЂ™s story shifted things up quite a bit, while adding in new gameplay features for fans to enjoy. The mid-late 90s were a Golden Age for real-time strategy games, and in 1998 Westwood launched Dune 2000 right in the middle of it all. Latter games like Warcraft and Command & Conquer, which would go on to further define the genre, owe a debt to the battle for Arrakis. All of these concepts, which now form the core of any RTS game, found their genesis in Dune.

Dune II (launched in 1992) wasnвЂ™t the first RTS game on the market, but set the standard by which they all continue follow by introducing crucial gameplay elements for the first time.ДЇrom building your own base, resource management, enemy AI, multiple playable factions, structure dependencies (being unable build certain units or buildings without specific structures first), and unique units per faction.

Strange as it may seemвЂ“especially for a book series that initially kept the action vague or вЂњoff screenвЂќвЂ“but Dune provided the template for the Real-Time Strategy franchise.