De: Santiago Vidal 4:900/470.3
Fecha:07 Mar 98 14:04:23
Hola All!, Como va todo?
Se viene el Dune 2000. Es un Re-make del viejo Dune2!!! =)
Los graficos son ALUCINANTES!!!!!!! Mejores que el RedAlert. Muy buenas escenas.... y si! Por fin! MULTIPLAYER EN EL DUNE!!!!! :))))
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dune 2000
I Believe in Yesterday
Do you remember Dune 2? Did you ever get a chance to play it? Do you remember the absolutely incredible introductory cinematics, complete with real voice effects? ("Dune...Land of Sand.")
Released in an era when computer games were still in their geeky, awkward phase (hold your jokes, please), Dune 2 bolted SimCity builder elements onto real-time warfare. The result? Two great tastes that tasted great together: the real-time strategy genr e. The basic premise of Dune 2 was simple: Three houses--the noble Atreides, the ruthless Harkonnen, and the insidious Ordos--fight over the planet Dune and its precious valuable resource, Spice. Found and harvested in limited quantities all over the pla net, Spice equals wealth and power.
First off, it's important to emphasize that Dune 2000 is a remake of Dune 2, not a sequel. The game's producer, Lewis Peterson--whose credits include HyperBlade--understands how significant a place Dune 2 holds in gaming history. He also under stands how addicting and overwhelmingly great the game still is after all these years. "People have such a strong feeling about Dune 2, there's no need to do a sequel," says Peterson. "We made two significant changes, and lots of little tweaks. Otherwise , the game has so many great elements that we don't need to change much else."
The Interface Lift
The original game's interface needed some serious upgrading, and that's where this retrofit begins. With the current glut of real-time strategy games and the current state of interface design, it's hard to believe there ever was a time when you couldn't drag-click seven units at a time; or when you wanted to give orders to your units, you had to click them, then click Move or Attack, and then click their destination. Dune 2000 makes the switch to a standard C&C-style interface. But that switch has raise d some issues. "The intelligent command cursor and the ability to drag and select units created some play-balancing problems," Peterson explains. "The new interface would have made the game far too easy, so we had to get in there and tweak each individua l mission."
Everything Old Is New Again
These changes mean that, although you may recognize the general appearance of certain missions in Dune 2, you won't be able to take your hard-learned strategies and apply them in Dune 2000. "We did take some liberties with the maps, for play-balancing as well as varying the style of play," Peterson admits. "Every Dune 2 mission had the same objective: Build as many units as you can, and conquer your opponent before they do the same to you. We're changing that." So, as you may have guessed, some of the n ew missions will have added objectives, such as protecting the Fremen (if you're the Atreides). The three training missions will still be a part of each house's campaign. And each campaign will consist of 9 linear missions per house, with 1 variant per m ission, for a total of 54 unique missions in the entire game. Also new to the campaigns are cinematic cut scenes that set up each scenario.
Earlier in this preview, I said Dune 2 veterans probably won't recognize a thing in Dune 2000. In part, I was referring to the new mission structure. But I was also speaking of Dune 2000's entirely new look, with top-down, terrain-filled graph ics that make the game look a little like Command & Conquer: Desert Storm. In addition, every unit is getting a looks overhaul. Wait until you see the Sand Worm, which looks like it's been lifted straight from the movie--yikes!
Quirky Works
Don't worry, though, the design team swears the outstanding features of Dune 2 will remain unchanged. "The biggest challenge for us has been to make the game more modern while retaining the addictive gameplay and preserving some of the game's quirkiness, " Peterson says.
For example, to construct a building in Dune 2, you had to first construct individual concrete slabs and then place your structure upon them, or the building would suffer damage upon completion. Dune 2000 still requires the slabs but allows you to build six-block concrete slabs, which makes the building process a lot less tedious. Another example is the Sand Worm, which will gobble up any of your units that aren't on solid ground. "Little quirks like this make Dune 2 such a different game," Peterson exp lains, "especially in multiplayer."
Big Bad Difference Number Two
The biggest reason the Westwood designers decided to remake this classic title is the incessant clamoring they heard from gamers who wanted to play Dune 2 in the multiplayer arena. With its range of style, greater emphasis on multiplayer, and cool featur es, many real-time strategy fans felt Dune 2 could have been an even better network game than C&C.
Take the Carryall, for example. A flying transport unit, this buglike vehicle can be used to retrieve those faraway, slow-moving Harvesters, making them less vulnerable to enemy attack. Carryalls can also be used to transport units back to base for repai rs and to deliver new units behind enemy lines. Only a select number of real-time strategy games, including Total Annihilation and M.A.X., feature this nifty ability. Also returning is the Starport, which allows you to order units that you can't build, f or lack of time or the appropriate structures. You can even queue up units to be delivered to it.
Of course, with multiplayer action comes more tweaking and play-balancing issues that further complicate the task of preserving the original game's essence. "Dune 2 had a great deal of emphasis on infantry units, unlike many games on the marke t today, and we're trying to make sure that stays," says Peterson. To ensure this, infantry units--solo or in groups of three--will probably be harder to hit and damage, and will be able to scurry up mountain sides via predefined trails.
Dune 2000 will support at least four-player contests, and there is hope for eight, provided it doesn't throw the game out of whack. Given this game's differences from the tried-and-true current state of the art, one thing is certain: Multiplayer Dune 200 0 is going to be a very different experience from Command & Conquer.
Will It Be a Smash?
New terrains. A tweaked interface. Enhanced gameplay. What update isn't included in this remake? Honestly, very few. Dune 2000 will lack waypoints and some of the other amenities of the third wave of real-time strategy games, such as 3D and unit queues. But this title's gameplay, great license--Dune is a fantastic world--and retro nostalgia value should counteract anything that might be missing. And as a bonus for us crusty, retro-loving gamers, we hope Westwood will include the original version of this classic somewhere in Dune 2000. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adiu...
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