September 28th, 2024

Recreating Dune II for the Amiga

Bob Koon is developing a new version of Dune II for the Amiga, enhancing gameplay, audio, and visuals while maintaining the original disk count, with 22,000 lines of code completed.

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Recreating Dune II for the Amiga

Bob Koon, a former developer at Westwood Studios, is working on a new version of the classic real-time strategy game Dune II for the Amiga. Originally involved in the game's Amiga adaptation, Koon aims to recreate it from scratch, addressing his dissatisfaction with the original release. The new version will incorporate several enhancements, including multi-unit selection, improved disk swapping, and a more complete gameplay experience that aligns with the original DOS version. Koon is also focused on providing full audio and visual support, including a complete intro sequence and new music arrangements. The project is progressing steadily, with approximately 22,000 lines of code completed, and Koon is committed to ensuring the game feels authentic to its 1993 release context. He plans to maintain the original disk count while enhancing the overall experience for modern players. Koon expresses a desire to balance quality with timely completion, as he has other Amiga projects in mind.

- Bob Koon is recreating Dune II for the Amiga, aiming for a definitive version.

- The new version will feature multi-unit selection and improved gameplay mechanics.

- Koon is focused on enhancing audio and visual elements, including a full intro sequence.

- The project is progressing well, with significant code already written.

- Koon aims to maintain the original disk count while improving the user experience.

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By @Lerc - 5 months
Having played Dune II all the way through on PC and tried it on the Amiga, The Amiga version was a poor substitute. While there may have been holy wars back in the day about which machines were better, it really did come down to how much effort was put into each incarnation of a game. The real testament to this is the things that people have been able to do in recent years with modern support tooling taking on some of the load of the effort required. Grind on a stock Amiga 500 is amazing https://youtu.be/z3_3J7YPaaE?t=20

It's nice to see Dune II being rejuvenated into what it always could have been.

By @wkat4242 - 5 months
I always liked dune 1 a lot better. The gameplay wasn't as RTS but there was a storyline mixed in (following the book which I was not familiar with). It made it a really cool experience.

Dune 2 was definitely the better RTS though

By @teddyh - 5 months
I hate squashed screenshots. Does everyone forget that screens used to be 4:3? Does nobody notice the squashed oval shapes of planets (and other circles)?
By @rightbyte - 5 months
I haven't thought about it until reading this article. The collecting of random "tiberium", "ore", etc laying around, actually makes sense in the context of Dune. Not so much in Red Alert etc.
By @electrosphere - 5 months
Woah, I would have loved a A1200 version back in 1993.

I loved this game, and remember having to swap several discs to play it before I eventually bought a HDD (a whopping 545Mb beast).

It was only recently that I saw the DOS intro on YouTube and realised the Amiga had been short-changed.

By @gman83 - 5 months
One of the first games I played after I got a sound card for my PC. I sunk so many hours into this game. Music was great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_Mlozm6fZY

By @hi-v-rocknroll - 5 months
Software also went the other way from Amiga to PC thanks to Brent Iverson, as with EA's DeluxePaint II Enhanced & III and DeluxePaint Animation. Many gaming titles used the former (Amiga? PC?) to create their graphics.

TIL: EHB, the "VGA Mode X" for Amiga.

By @tonijn - 5 months
Simply incredible that projects like this exist