To whom it may concern,

We are a pair of male university students in our early twenties, with degrees in Business Information Systems. Fascinated with the world of Dune and its potential in the Real Time Strategy market, we begain idly brainstorming about a potential sequel to Dune II; a handful of wild ideas and features quickly blossomed into a plethora. We decided to put our ideas down on virtual paper, and the result is this set of files, the outline of a Dune sequel, integrating the past history of Dune 2000 and the rich storyline of Frank Herbert's Dune novel, and using the Tiberian Sun Voxel engine.

It is our fondest hope that these concepts and features will contribute to the creation of the proposed sequel, here tentatively titled Melange: Conquest of the Desert Planet. Even if such a project was rejected, most of the elements described in these documents could be used to benefit other titles. We do not wish to infer that we have the experience of professional game designers, and furthermore apologise for any misconceptions and apparent plagiarism that may exist within this design document. As is natural in a sequel, the existing Westwood interface, software titles and RTS premises are the core of this project, and we do not wish to suggest that they are our own work.

Furthermore, we realise that there are far too many features and innovations to be found in this design to be fully implemented in any realistic development cycle. However, without a precise knowledge of the available budget and resources that could be allocated to such a project, we decided that it would be best to dream of the ultimate game, from which the most effective elements could then be extracted at your leisure. Note, however, that a large proportion of the inherent innovations, particularly in the interface, are improvements to existing components in the Westwood RTS model, so there is potential for high dividends with minimal overhaul. The following files are included:

• The Main Menu: Melange's shell interface, including the structure of the main menu, multiplayer and tutorial features, and the outline of the Introductory and House Selection cinematics.
• The Mission Interface: This section describes Melange's advanced in-game interface.
• The Planet Arrakis: This section covers the terrain types and environmental hazards that can be found on the surface of Arrakis.
• Structures: Descriptions of the base Structures available to the Great Houses.
• Units: Detailed statistics for the varied Infantry, Vehicles, and Aircraft to be employed in the battle for domination of Arrakis.

As a taster of things to come, here are just a few features to be found in Melange:

• Over 40 missions in four campaigns.
• Choose from four of the Great Houses: The noble Atreides, the insidious Ordos, the vicious Harkonnen, or the brutally efficient Imperial Corrino.
• The familiar and popular Westwood RTS interface, upgraded for the twenty-first century.
• Become totally immersed in the world of Dune. No longer a nameless commander, your character is intimately entwined in the campaign's story, appearing in cutscenes and briefings as a principal character in the selected House. Take the role of Paul Atreides, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, Earl Jago, or the Princess Irulan.
• More than just conflict. As a complex story-driven figure, your character will have more concerns than defeating the opposition. For example, the House Atreides campaign will closely follow the storyline of the Dune novel. As the campaign progresses, Paul will have to perform the actions necessary to become the Kwisatz Haderach, and unite the mighty Fremen with the remnants of the Atreides forces to overcome their Harkonnen oppressors, and inflict a fierce vengeance upon the turncoat Emperor. Meanwhile in the Harkonnen campaign, as a potential Kwisatz Haderach of similar bloodlines, Feyd must endeavour to seize this power for himself.
• Approximately 40 Units per side, a third of which are unique to each of the four Houses. That's a total of almost 100 unique, varied and complex Units to play with.
• Units gain new abilities and prowess with experience. Your most battle-hardy warriors will be carried over to future missions.
• Increased mission continuity. Campaign missions are no longer independent entities. Secondary objectives can be accomplished in earlier missions to turn future conflicts to your advantage. Excess finances are carried over from mission to mission. Poor leadership and wasteful mis-use of resources will reduce your funding from your superiors in later missions, but excellent performance will reward you with additional financial support. With your boosted budget, purchase Units before a mission with surplus funds to reinforce yourself at critical times.

We would be eager to hear whether you wish to pursue this project, and answer any enquiries you might have about the content of this design document. Our email address is stuart_walpole@yahoo.co.uk.

We thank you for your time, and wish you well in future projects.

Yours sincerely,

Stuart Walpole
Andrew Schuurman

END OF CHAPTER. To continue, please click here to go to the first section, which describes Melange's shell interface.