Story

Dune was created by Frank Herbert in his science fiction novels. The game is mostly taken from the first books where it details the battles between the Atreides and Harkonnen. The game also draws information provided from the unsuccesful Dune movie and the previous Dune games, Dune 1 by Cyro and Dune 2 by Westwood.

You start the game by choosing which house you want to command. Your choices are the Noble Atreides, Insidious Ordos, or the Evil Harkonnen. As you battle the other houses the Emperor Padisham IV will attack your forces at inopportune times, dropping his deadly Sarduakar in the middle of your base. Also the Shai-Hulud or Sandworm will constantly be at your back waiting to swallow your units whole at the first chance it gets. Your task on the Arrakis is to harvest the spice. The spice serves a variety of important purposes and since it is only available on Arrakis, it is very valuable. Those exposed to the Spice for long periods begin to develop blue eyes, common among the Fremen. The Fremen are native to Dune and know the planet deeply and over time develop a friendship with House Atreides.

To harvest the spice you require a Spice Refinery and a Harvester. Together they bring in the spice and refine it into credits which are used to purchase more buildings and units. The Emperor says, "He who controls the spice controls Dune." So when you control the Spice you can take control of the planet and achieve your goal of ruling Dune.

The planet is nearly uninhabitable and is extremely hot and arid. Windstorms with speeds exceeding 200km/h tear away at the planet surface, the Fremen have come up with ways of living on this planet and surviving the weather by creating sietchs inside the rock away from the dangerous weather outside. The other Houses have little to no knowledge of the planet and the intense weather of Dune.

The Planet of Arrakis is covered with endless dunes along with occasionally rock outcroppings. These rock outcroppings rising through the dunes provide the only possible building sites on the planet. The winds of Dune constantly tear away at your buildings and units so be aware you must keep them under good repair.

There are few native life-forms of Dune. The only one used in the game is the Sand Worm. Another life-form found on Dune are the Fremen, however they are not native to the planet. It is believed that the Fremen are descended from survivors of an ancient interstellar shipwreck. Although reclusive and secretive, the Fremen are quite numerous. Through their contacts with House Atreides the Fremen have created an alliance which serve both sides equally well.

The Sand Worms, basically giant worms, travel easily beneath the surface of the sand. They have a reputation for attacking anything that moves on the surface, and will devour either humans or their vehicles when the opportunity arises.