Dune Generations Q&A

Though the Dune license has largely been dormant for the past few years, developers are once again flocking to Frank Herbert's novels as source material for games. Westwood Studios' next Dune offering has already gone gold, and Cryonetworks is currently working on its own version of Dune that's set in a massively multiplayer universe. In Dune Generations, you will be able to establish your own house and construct massive military forces to compete with other players online, but you'll have to use much more than just military force to expand your empire. At various points in the game, you'll have the opportunity to form alliances with other players, and these alliances can be based on different aspects of gameplay such as trade or mutual protection against stronger houses. The ultimate goal is to seize control of the sand planet of Arrakis and its most valuable resource, the spice. But to use the spice effectively, you must establish good relations with the Fremen, the native people of Arrakis. We had a chance to speak with Tiphaine Locqueneux, communications manager at Cryo, to learn more about Dune Generations and some of its unique features.

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GameSpot: Tell us a little about the development team working on Dune Generations.

Tiphaine Locqueneux: A development team of 50 people from Cryonetworks has been working for the last few months flat out and is still hard at it! We set up three specialized teams, each responsible for a different aspect of the game:

The game-system team takes care of all the permanent aspects. It is responsible for developing secure databases for storing the game universe and players' actions. It also falls to them to create the entire production system (construction of buildings, military units, and so on) but also to develop the code for the missions and campaigns that will be suggested to players. That's no mean feat when you consider the enormous mound of work the scriptwriters went through.

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The gameplay team implements the numerous rules of the game that will allow and govern the interaction between the players. Alliances, trading, management of dynasties, espionage, etc. are also areas that fall under the leadership of the game designers. In particular, however, it is the gameplay team that is responsible for designing the game's AI system. We can promise one thing: Players who are already thinking of tactical battles against NPCs (nonplayer characters) as a simple formality are in for a surprise.

The visualization team, finally, has perhaps the greatest responsibility. This team manages all the visual aspects of the game, from the 2D interfaces to the 3D representation of the universe, not forgetting the special effects and sound effects. They are already hard at work on an attractive 3D engine. Initial tests look extremely promising and should allow the graphic designers optimum creative freedom.

GS: Are any of the members of the development team fans of Westwood Studios' series of Dune games?

TL: We particularly like Dune II, which was a real pioneer in terms of RTS [real-time strategy] games. However, the atmosphere and design were too far from Frank Herbert's novels. Regarding Dune Generations, we decided not to develop a simple RTS game but included political, economic, and diplomatic aspects to be faithful to Frank Herbert's universe.

GS: Is there a unique storyline to the game, or are you mainly drawing from the novels?

TL: We decided to use our unique storyline based on Frank Herbert's universe. Players will see references to the characters (the Fremens, the emperor, and so on--but won't be able to play them, as they are NPCs) and to the same general intriguing storyline. As players enter the game, they will discover new missions, as we wanted to add a new dimension to the game.