Game 80: Dune - Introduction (1992)

Written by Reiko

If you've read any science fiction, you've probably at least heard of Dune, the classic novel by Frank Herbert. It was originally published in 1965 and spawned five more books written by Herbert himself, plus several more written by his son Brian Herbert with Kevin J. Anderson. And of course, it's the basis for the adventure game developed by Cryo Interactive and published in 1992 by Virgin Interactive. Actually, the game was based completely on the 1984 movie, which was based on the novel but has some differences.

Unlike Gateway, which had its own self-contained plot that sharply diverges from the book, Dune's gameplay is heavily based on what Paul Atreides does in the book to unite the native Fremen tribes of Arrakis. Despite my history of reading science fiction and fantasy, I'd never read Dune, so I went ahead and read the whole thing before starting to write this. I decided I'd need the background to understand the game better, and I'd also fill in a gap in my science fiction history. I initially had the impression that Dune was a slow book, hard to get into. While I did find the early chapters slow as the book does some worldbuilding and character building, once the plot starts moving, it doesn't let up much until the end, and I found it generally a pleasure to read.

The game and book both take place on the desert planet of Arrakis and focus on the character of Paul Atreides. In the book, after an assassination attempt that claims the life of his father Duke Leto, who was the ruler of the planet under the galactic emperor, Paul must escape with his mother into the deep desert, make contact with the native Fremen, and use his training and charm to integrate himself into their culture and win their loyalty so that he can use them to defeat his family's rivals, the sneaky Harkonnen.

That summary is an oversimplification, since it completely ignores several important factors, like the interference of the Bene Gesserit, the all-female sect that has been running bloodline projects to breed a specific child with specific foresight capabilities; or the difficulty Paul has with dealing with his own foresight; or the role of the immensely valuable spice that lengthens life and triggers foresight abilities which make FTL travel possible, but can only be gathered in the deserts of Arrakis, nowhere else in known space.

Does Paul look only fifteen years old?

In the game, the goal is still the unification of the Fremen under Paul's leadership in order to defeat the Harkonnens, but he begins the process at the direction of his father. Paul in the game appears to be older than in the book, which perhaps is just as well, since it's rather unbelievable that a fifteen-year-old boy, even one so talented, could perform such feats of leadership and strategy. The manual still says he's fifteen, but I don't think the picture looks that young.

Why Arrakis is so special.

The game opens with a short introduction to Paul, the rivalry of the Atreides and Harkonnen families, and the importance of spice and the planet of Arrakis to space travel. The goal is clear: defeat the Harkonnens, but they start at a significant advantage, with an established military presence and spice production already in place. Paul has to catch up.

In the main hall, Paul can speak to his father the Duke or move to another room.

In adventure mode, Paul can walk around from room to room and talk to people in his home fortress of Arrakeen or other locations he finds, and he can also walk around the open desert or travel by ornithopter, either by himself, or with certain characters. In strategy mode, he can direct individual Fremen tribes under his control to mine spice, move from place to place on the planet map, make attacks, or perform other useful actions. He can also travel from place to place himself.

The game runs in (compressed) real time, although travel time can be skipped over. The real-time nature of the game makes me twitchy and paranoid that I'm being inefficient, but I am consoled by reviews that say the game is not very difficult. I'll just do the best I can and restart only if I have to. In fact, a September 1992 review from Computer Gaming World ends by saying, "Dune features a light and interesting challenge that almost guarantees that every player will actually get to see the denouement."

Paul's first mission.

As in the book, the way to prevail will involve the Fremen, which the Harkonnens discount as a few scattered bands of rabble. After the introduction, the player has control of Paul in Arrakeen and can talk to people there or start exploring the desert. Paul's mother Jessica gives him his first specific task: take an ornithopter to a nearby Fremen location to meet Gurney Halleck, one of his father's advisors.

The bar at the bottom of the screen is the primary interface in adventure mode. The box in the middle gives options for interacting with the people or environment in the immediate vicinity, while the time is displayed with a day number and approximate sun position in the lower left. Next to the time, there are boxes to show which characters currently accompany Paul. The book shifts to a reference screen, and the box in the bottom right is a display of currently available directions. The red dot in the middle triggers a larger map of nearby rooms.

Strategy mode is more complex, involving a map of Arrakis and an interface for controlling known Fremen tribes that are close enough for Paul to reach. I’ll describe that in more detail when I start using it.

Minimalist soundtrack cover.

The soundtrack was released as a CD called Dune: Spice Opera. The composers were Stéphane Picq, the musician at Cryo Interactive, and Phillipe Ulrich, the project lead for the game.

The manual contains short talent descriptions of some of the people involved with game production, but most of them are far more fanciful than useful. For example, of Picq, it says, "The cryogenic frequency dust has given him a psy-power whose implications defy the imagination: he can tune into mental broadcasts from distant stars and astonish us with hits from beyond the galaxy..." The others say little more of any use. The entire Cryo team was French, but the rest of the manual is surprisingly coherent for a game originating from France. Perhaps Virgin produced it as part of the publishing process.

Dune was originally released both for Amiga and PC floppies but was one of the first floppy games converted to CD. The CD version included significant improvements, including movie footage and voice-acting, but it wasn't released until 1993. The version I'm playing should be the original DOS version from 1992.

So next time, I will begin collecting Fremen tribes and harvesting the spice! Make your score guesses in the meantime.

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: There's a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no CAPs will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. As this is an introduction post, it's an opportunity for readers to bet 10 CAPs (only if they already have them) that I won't be able to solve a puzzle without putting in an official Request for Assistance: remember to use ROT13 for betting. If you get it right, you will be rewarded with 50 CAPs in return. It's also your chance to predict what the final rating will be for the game. Voters can predict whatever score they want, regardless of whether someone else has already chosen it. All correct (or nearest) votes will go into a draw.