Dune 2: Battle for Arrakis / Building of a Dynasty
Released: 1992
Published by: Virgin Games
Developed by: Westwood Studios
Author(s): Joseph Bostic, Aaron E Powell, Scott K Bowen, Elie Arabian, Ren Olsen, Judith Peterson, Eric Shults, Paul S Mudra, Frank Klepacki, Dwight Kenichi Okahara, Brett W Sperry, Lyle Hall
System Requirements
System Requirements | 80286 CPU, 564 KB RAM. Graphics support for MCGA/VGA only. - Best graphics mode is 320 x 200 in 256 colours. Audio support for Tandy/PCjr, Ad Lib, Ad Lib Gold, Sound Blaster, Sound Blaster Pro, Roland MT-32, Roland Sound Canvas. (GUS support via unofficial patch). Mouse optional (but recommended). |
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Original Media | Five 5.25" 1.2 MB DS/HD or four 3.5" 1.44 MB DS/HD floppy disks. CD-ROM version released later. |
Installed Size | - |
Introduction
Dune 2 puts you in control of either the Atreides, Ordos, or Harkonnen empire on the Planet of Arrakis in one of the first real-time strategy games on the PC. The aim of the game is to dominate the planet's spice mining over your opponents. "Battle for Arrakis" is the European title of the game, but in USA it's "The Building of a Dynasty".
Build and manage your resources, move your units around, and protect what you have built from your foes. The storyline of Battle for Arrakis is very loosely based on the world of Dune, authored by Frank Herbert.
From where can it be run?
The game must be installed to your hard disk. Insert disk 1, run INSTALL and follow the on-screen prompts.
Game Audio/Video
Sync Play Audio loading, please wait...
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Game Introduction (video) |
ESS1868 recordings are from a Compaq ES1868 Audio Feature Board. Game configuration set to Sound Blaster Pro.
Copy Protection
Dune II has manual copy protection. There are cracks available as well as a copy of the manual further down this page.
How to Setup
*** This section is still to be completed ***
Problems
Symptom: I have configured the game for digitized audio, but I'm not hearing any.
Cause: The game requires minimum 2 MB of extended memory free.
Resolution: Make sure you have the line DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS (or similar) in your CONFIG.SYS file.
Symptom: I am running Dune II from Windows, but I'm having issues with sound lagging and occasional crashes.
Resolution: Copy these files into your game directory, overwriting the files already there.
To Quit the Game
Press Ctrl-C at any time to return to the DOS prompt. Be aware you will lose any unsaved progress, so be sure to save your game first.
Supporting Documents
Here are the original documents that came with the game:
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User Manual (Original)
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User Manual (Hit Squad CD-ROM version)
And here are other documents that may help:
Additional Files, Drivers and Utilities
- Dune II Scenario Editor
- Cracked version of DUNE.EXE for original European version 1.07.
- Cracked version of DUNE.EXE for Hit Squad re-release version 1.07.
- Cracked versions of DUNE.EXE for US original versions 1.00 and 1.07.
- Advanced Gravis Ultrasound patch
At launch, Dune II only supported a single sound device at a time- you had to choose between either MIDI music and no speech, or no music and speech. A tough choice, for as good as the music is with a Roland or GM device, that slightly mechanical voice announcing "Atreides harvester deployed" or "Enemy unit approaching" does add a lot to the atmosphere in the game. Fortunately there is a later, unofficial patch that adds support for two different sound devices. The file is called d2sound.exe, but I don't have this file - let me know via the Contact Us link if you have this.
Save Games
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Versions of the game known to exist
Version | Date | Comments |
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Demo | Sep 1992 | Playable demo |
Demo | Apr 1993 | Demo of Dune II and Legend of Kyrandia |
1.00 | Nov 1992 | First release. |
1.07 | ? | Patched release. |
Installed Directory Contents
Once installed, the following directory structure exists in the game directory.
Directory of C:\GAMES\DUNE2 . <DIR> 06/05/21 20:42 .. <DIR> 06/05/21 20:42 |