From: law40003@nusunix1.nus.sg (TAN YEW KEONG)
Subject: Re: Dune II Review: Mediocre at best
Organization: National University of Singapore
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 11:43:21 GMT

 (root@cobrat.austin.ibm.com) wrote:
: DuneII is an entertaining game, with very pleasing graphics and animation,
: but it is crippled by cumbersome unit movement, lack of automation for
: repetitive tasks, and a totally inept computer opponent.  In fact, the
: strategy used by the computer (and believe me, I am really giving them the
: benefit of even using the word "strategy") is so moronic that is takes all the
: fun out of the game.
:
How far have you proceeded? You say it's easy? I think not! The
cumbersome unit movement adds to the stress. This is not a war
simulation, this is an action game. With that in mind, we would get a
different perspective.
 
: In DuneII, you harvest spice to optain resource credits, then you spend your
: credits to obtain buildings/structures.  Some of these structures can build
: weapon units.  Move your weapon units to attack the enemy and destroy his
: units and structures.  The game is made up of multiple "acts" - in each
: one the computer becomes more formidable and bigger weapons become available.
: As with many of the "Empire-like" games, the world starts out as hidden and
: only by exploring around with mobile units do you uncover the world.
: 
: Here is what I like about DuneII:
: It is fun to build up your fortress, deciding what types of structures to buy,
: and balancing the need for power generators, spice silos, and weapons
: generators.  The game is not "turn-based" but is real time and all fighting
: is performed automatically by the computer - when two opponent forces are
: within range they fire until one is destroyed.  The animation is very well
: done and enjoyable.  The music/digital voice capability is excellent.
: 
: Here's what ruins the game:
: First and foremost, the computer's "strategy" is to always attack in a straight
: line from his base directly at your base.  This means that if you build up a
: defensive line of sufficient force in this path, you can stop worrying about
: his attack. 

Wrong!
rong. Sometimes the guy attacks from the rear, and sometimes from the
sides, and sometimes he airlifts the troops and tanks to your base.
Unpredictable, and exciting. And there're missiles and saboteurs to
think about. A strong defensive line? Doesn't work all the time.


 Secondly, there are no group movement commands, so when you want
: to move a large group of units you need to select a specific unit, then select
: the "move" command, then select the destination, then repeat this process for
: every unit you wish to move.  My six-year old Empire game allows me to select
: a group of units and then issue one command to move them all to a specific
: location.  The designers of DuneII should have played Empire to pick up many
: of the excellent features of this classic.
: 

This adds to the difficulty of commanding the units, which is crucial to
add to the stress of the game. You get the feeling that you're shouting
orders to a whole lot of people, everything is in chaos, and panic is in
the air, your hands sweat, and you feel damn tense. 

: Related to this, there is the cumbersome handling of the spice harvesters.  
: Mining spice is the critical component of this game.  This is the only way to
: build up resource credits so that you can obtain new structures and units.
: But there is no way to automate this so that you can forget about your
: harvester and concentrate on the battles you are fighting.  Once the harvester
: is full and returns to the refinery, it just sits there and waits for your
: orders.  Sometimes an airborne "carry-all" will come by and pick it up and
: drop it back in the spot where it had been harvesting, but other times it drops
: it at some random location on the map and if you are not paying attention you
: find that your harvester is sitting idle somewhere.
:
Never did the thing dump me to a random location. But all this adds to
the confusion and excitement. I can handle it, I'm sure most other
people can.
 
: There are other minor flaws that are related to these issues.  There are no
: reports to show you the location of certain types of units (i.e. show me a map
: that highlights my harvesters only).  There is no way to tell a structure to
: produce a certain type of unit and keep doing it until told to halt.  There is
: no way to remove a structure once it is in place.  I once build a production
: facility inside a walled section of my fortress.  When this facility produced
: some vehicles for me, they were placed INSIDE the walls and there was no way 
: to get them out!  
: 
: Lastly, the documentation is very poor.  Certain structures/units are only
: available after other structures/units have been produced, but there in
: no discussion anywhere about this relationship.  

There is. Read carefully.

There is no discussion of
: the battle resolution algorithm either so you don't know what types of units
: are effective against other units.  Many other aspects of the game do not
: become known until you "stumble" upon them.  I am still trying to figure out
: if I can command my airborne "carry-all" to pick up a unit and move it, or it
: it only acts on its own. 
: 
You learn from battle. You learn after you lose your first quad. But the
docs make it very clear which units are superior and which are not.

: To summarize:
: DuneII is a cute little game that is fun to look at, but it is a failure as
: a complex strategy game.  I'd pass on it.
:
It is not a complex strategy game. It's something like and action game
like wing commander. Even the concept is the same - you fight, and
promote, and then you get to see cinematic scenes about the inner plot
of the game. 

: Marc Fairorth
: marc@wizards.austin.ibm.com
--

_________________________________________________________________________
Michael Tan Yew Keong | law40003@nusunix1.nus.sg | law40003@nusvm.nus.sg|
Final Year Law student - OH GOD, IT'S BEEN A HELLUVA LONG TIME!!!       |
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