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[FloatOn]

For those of you that have played the Witcher games you know the prowess CDPR has with adapting a role playing game from literature. I'm not familiar with the Cyberpunk tabletop rpg but from what small details have been released about that game it sounds just as solid as an adaptation.

I'm not the biggest Dune fan by any stretch. I've only read the first novel years ago and I've seen the movies but it seems to me that this franchise has massive potential for video game adaptations. For as detailed of a world as it is I think an rpg would be the perfect fit for such a game. Arthur C. Clarke said “I know nothing comparable to it except Lord of the Rings". From what I understand there have only been a few games based on Dune and they have mainly been RTS games.

As far as we have come now with detailed open world video games I think the time is right for Dune the rpg to happen. I really don't care if it is like The Witcher and follows a more linear plot that has you playing Paul Atreides or just putting you down as some stranger in Arrakis that is given the choice to side with house Atreides or house Harkonnen.

I can see an almost Jade Empire-esque combat system being developed to adapt the weirding way fighting style and spice being found in the game as a buff.

I know this is a bit of a pipe dream but if something as obscure as The Witcher or Metro novels can be adapted to a video game why not make a real effort to adapt one of the most influential pieces of science fiction?

 

[Woorloog]

Dune is very hard to adapt to video games. The RTS games are fun but they do not really even capture the spirit of the books. Dune, the old adventure/strategy hybrid does capture some things but...

I think a Dune RPG should be rather open, absolutely not linear, to allow exploration of many aspects of Dune, the Great Schools, the politics, the religions, etc.

EDIT OH no, fuck, no. No "spice as buff". That would be really lame, no better than it being merely resource like Tiberium in Dune 2000. The spice is much, much more than that.

 

[Dolor]

I love CDPR, and I wish they had 20 teams to work on games, but if they have to choose, I hope they do more fantasy RPGs than Sci-fi.

 

[Cameron122]

Damn you to hell for putting this thought into my head, never to come to fruition

;~; amazing idea

 

[SymbiantXenos]

Still waiting for Dune III RTS

(yes I know command and conquer etc etc lol)

On topic though. An RPG sounds great, I'd buy.

 

[Cameron122]

Reality Exists have you ever played The Matrix: Path of Neo ? Sort of a proto Arkham Asylum combat system with melee and ranged weapons. How I would imagine fighting as Paul. Less guns of course more krysknife

 

[kazebyaka]

Question, are Dune novels worth getting into? I tried to listen to an audiobook one day, and it just throws a lot of weird names and words at you and it's really confusing.

 

[Sanke__]

I honestly dont care what CD Projekt RED makes.

I will play it.

So yeah sure dune sounds good.

 

[epmode]

While Dune would definitely be interesting, I'd love to see CDPR go with their own IP.

 

[Woorloog]

Question, are Dune novels worth getting into? I tried to listen to an audiobook one day, and it just throws a lot of weird names and words at you and it's really confusing.

Reading it is probably a better idea. The glossary helps too.
And "weird names and words" is the standard for science fiction and fantasy. At least for Dune.

And make sure you read "Dune", by Frank Herbert, not "Dune X" or "Y of Dune" (or some such) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson. Non-Frank Herbert books are pretty bad.

Damn you to hell for putting this thought into my head, never to come to fruition

;~; amazing idea

I've thought about a proper Dune RPG for years. You just getting the idea is nothing...

(I'm actually playing Dune 2000 ATM, and Emperor: Battle For Dune. Probably will replay original Dune too.)

 

[Revs]

Nah, Wheel of Time will be next, I tell you...

 

[theepicoftyler]

Goddamn, I love Dune.

This thread title made me jump because I thought someone was making a modern Dune game. I'd love a non-hand hold-y exploration type RPG set on Arrakis.

I'm not sure I'd want it to follow the plot of the novels, but just be a story told in the world of Dune.

 

[Draft]

Limit Break: Turn into a thousand foot long immortal worm that can see all possible futures simultaneously.

 

[FloatOn]

Reality Exists have you ever played The Matrix: Path of Neo ? Sort of a proto Arkham Asylum combat system with melee and ranged weapons. How I would imagine fighting as Paul. Less guns of course more krysknife

I sort of remember that game. I agree though, that if a Dune rpg were to ever see the light of day it should be more focused on melee combat.

EDIT OH no, fuck, no. No "spice as buff". That would be really lame, no better than it being merely resource like Tiberium in Dune 2000. The spice is much, much more than that.

Sorry to offend. I was just kind of brainstorming what could work

 

[Woorloog]

Sorry to offend. I was just kind of brainstorming what could work

The spice could have buff too, it does unlock prescience/other powers in some individuals though it is not, usually, something you could utilize right away, for your current situation.
A vision of future in middle of a fight is kind of useless, worse, it might be distracting.
Perhaps if you character has Truthsay? Basically a buff for conversations*.
But nothing else really (at least i can't think of anything right now). Otherwise you dumb the thing to be a simple gameplay effect.
Consuming spice to unlock other powers later on doesn't work either really, people would just hoard it and eat it as much as possible (and any system, such as cooldown system, would be rather artificial, though you can, of course, overdose spice...).
I'd say it works better as a plot device, and like it works in the book, where long-term exposure to spice everywhere leads to rapid awakening of Paul's power,

Spoiler

and culminates with him taking the Water of Life (spice essence)

.

*Herbert flipflops the Truthsay ability, at first it requires spice, later on it is about seeing minute changes in ones stance and expressions and apparently not requiring spice

 

[kyser73]

Limit Break: Turn into a thousand foot long immortal worm that can see all possible futures simultaneously.

A Dune-based beat-'em up!

Srsly tho, the only way you could do this would be to set it in the Duniverse in another era to the Dune setting. Recreating the original 3 books (I.e. Dune, Muad'Dib & The Prophet, which is what Dune actually is) would limit you solely to the story of Paul. You could maybe do it Uncharted-style, but for fans of the book there would be no discovery, only bitching (and this would include me) that x or y was missing, had been handled badly etc.

Sadly, much like a decent film or TV adaptation (Lynch's version has its moments but deviates far to much from the books and the portrayl of Jessica annoys the hell out of me - the Bene Gesserit are fucking witch-ninjas - but captures the 'mystery' elements well; the TV series is more accurate, but still deviates (a sietch ABOVE GROUND!?!?!) and while it gets the politics/battles correct, it lacks the 'mystery') I don't think a satisfying video game of Dune is possible.

 

[kyser73]

*Herbert flipflops the Truthsay ability, at first it requires spice, later on it is about seeing minute changes in ones stance and expressions and apparently not requiring spice

Sorry about the DP.

The Truthsense is a combination of reading micro expressions, gut instinct and, prior to the use of Spice essence in The Agony, the BG use a drug from Rossak to induce truthtrance. Depends on the characters training background

Spoiler

and some develop it like the Idaho ghola in Messiah/Children

, but it is one of the plot devices that FH is inconsistent about.

 

[hooijdonk17]

Not needed, the perfect Dune game was already made long time ago.

 

[Nikodemos]

I think Dune Heretics is a better setting for a game. It's much more action-oriented (battles etc.) and a lot of said action happens in front of (or, at least, near) the viewer's eyes (like Miles Teg's escape from the Honoured Matre compound), rather than being hinted at in background commentary. Ironically, it being a relatively inconsistently paced action romp makes it work better as source material than Dune's philosophical-heavy narrative.

 

[Woorloog]

A Dune-based beat-'em up!

Srsly tho, the only way you could do this would be to set it in the Duniverse in another era to the Dune setting. Recreating the original 3 books (I.e. Dune, Muad'Dib & The Prophet, which is what Dune actually is) would limit you solely to the story of Paul. You could maybe do it Uncharted-style, but for fans of the book there would be no discovery, only bitching (and this would include me) that x or y was missing, had been handled badly etc.

I'd prefer an open world game.
Choose your house (Atreides, Harkonnen).
Perhaps a class, basically how you've been trained: Mentat, Bene Gesserit, fighter, assassin (Dune Encyclopedia* implies some house members were assassins themselves too), etc.
Branching plot, perhaps the Emperor plots with Atreides against Harkonnen? Perhaps you, the player, playing as heir to Atreides (if not explicitly Paul) flee to the smugglers instead of the Fremen? Perhaps Harkonnens are attacked by Atreides and your character works with the Fremen in the aftermath?

*Dune Encyclopedia is clearly flawed but it is very interesting, and has good stuff that could be used, as inspiration if nothing else

 

[michaelius]

I know this is a bit of a pipe dream but if something as obscure as The Witcher or Metro novels can be adapted to a video game why not make a real effort to adapt one of the most influential pieces of science fiction?

Obscure ? Maybe in West. Both are huge in their own countries and eastern europe.


But anyway as far as games are concerned Dune 1 was really good at catching spirit of books - reboot to modern graphics would be nice.

 

[Woorloog]

Sorry about the DP.

The Truthsense is a combination of reading micro expressions, gut instinct and, prior to the use of Spice essence in The Agony, the BG use a drug from Rossak to induce truthtrance. Depends on the characters training background

Spoiler

and some develop it like the Idaho ghola in Messiah/Children

, but it is one of the plot devices that FH is inconsistent about.

Can you remember where "Rossak drug" or "drug from Rossak" is mentioned in the original books? Ignore all the non-Frank Herbert sequels and prequels.
I recently read all the original books and i can't figure out that. "Rossak drug" keeps bothering me... need peace of mind.

I think Dune Heretics is a better setting for a game. It's much more action-oriented (battles etc.) and a lot of said action happens in front of (or, at least, near) the viewer's eyes (like Miles Teg's escape from the Honoured Matre compound), rather than being hinted at in background commentary. Ironically, it being a relatively inconsistently paced action romp makes it work better as source material than Dune's philosophical-heavy narrative.

Nah, it is not quite the Dune the original book is.
It is watered down version of Dune IMO... I wonder if Herbert originally intended to write something else but later on decided to rework it to Dune sequel...

Not needed, the perfect Dune game was already made long time ago.

It is a good game but it has a lot of stupid things (like Leto leaving with his personal guard only to attack the Harkonnen, WTF?). And it isn't that open, being rather linear. It doesn't allow exploring various interesting things in the Duniverse.

 

[hooijdonk17]

It is a good game but it has a lot of stupid things (like Leto leaving with his personal guard only to attack the Harkonnen, WTF?). And it isn't that open, being rather linear. It doesn't allow exploring various interesting things in the Duniverse.

It was phenomenal at the time and it's still a million times better than 95% of games made today.

 

[kyser73]

I'd prefer an open world game.
Choose your house (Atreides, Harkonnen).
Perhaps a class, basically how you've been trained: Mentat, Bene Gesserit, fighter, assassin (Dune Encyclopedia* implies some house members were assassins themselves too), etc.
Branching plot, perhaps the Emperor plots with Atreides against Harkonnen? Perhaps you, the player, playing as heir to Atreides (if not explicitly Paul) flee to the smugglers instead of the Fremen? Perhaps Harkonnens are attacked by Atreides and your character works with the Fremen in the aftermath?

*Dune Encyclopedia is clearly flawed but it is very interesting, and has good stuff that could be used, as inspiration if nothing else

BURN THE HERETIC!!!

Spoiler

jk

I could see how playing an Atreides heir could work - similar story development (for example you would need to include the Spice and all it brings with it - maybe paralysing you during the fight against a Jamis-character).

I'd love to see how you could implement the wormrider test - that'd be cool.

A Harkonen alternate where you play Feyd could be interesting too...

 

[The Albatross]

I'd play it. Recently audiobooked the first two Dune's... loved Dune, was kind of meh on Dune Messiah, and didn't have a lot of interest in the third one. Really liked Dune though and would be interested in playing it if it were made by CD Projekt because you know they'd do a good job with the story.

 

[Nikodemos]

Nah, it is not quite the Dune the original book is.
It is watered down version of Dune IMO... I wonder if Herbert originally intended to write something else but later on decided to rework it to Dune sequel...

Well, as I said it's a weaker book, but a better source for a setting. You've got several factions, you've got several technological eras/currents in a single place, you've even got a choice between the old spice-and-ghola-based technology or the resurgent cybernetics (due to the worms dying off and spice being increasingly rarer to find; the book shows how factions like Ix openly flaunt the Jihad with their new products, which are becoming increasingly commonplace). It's a great game base due to all the turmoil and upheaval.

 

[Woorloog]

BURN THE HERETIC!!!

Spoiler

jk

I could see how playing an Atreides heir could work - similar story development (for example you would need to include the Spice and all it brings with it - maybe paralysing you during the fight against a Jamis-character).

I'd love to see how you could implement the wormrider test - that'd be cool.

A Harkonen alternate where you play Feyd could be interesting too...

Wormride test? Easy. QTEs.

Sorry.

Nah. Seriously, it is difficult. Mounting a worm should require skill... though arguably, if it were an RPG, you could have a skill for that, or use attributes as base. Ultimately it doesn't seem to be too difficult once you've prepared properly, the book does note that Paul has ridden worms before his test, with help of other Fremen.

I'll note about my concept of open-world Dune that i'd let the player to choose gender too, which would affect things quite a lot obviously. But then, the idea is to capture the spirit, the politics, the world of Dune. The war could have ended differently even if Paul hadn't been Kwizach Haderach.

 

[Wereroku]

Wouldn't the combat be extremely boring though? Shields make it impossible to use guns and melee attacks have to be exceedingly slow to get through the shields. Also most of Dune revolves around political intrigue until you get to Frank Herbert's crazy years then you have spice sex witches, clone dudes running around everywhere, and super worms.

 

[Karak]

"I will kill you!" - Sting.

Loved the movie. The books were hard for me to get into because I started them at the wrong age.
I could see a game set in this way being interesting for sure and Dune is a classic and you know someone will mine it again.

 

[Woorloog]

Wouldn't the combat be extremely boring though? Shields make it impossible to use guns and melee attacks have to be exceedingly slow to get through the shields. Also most of Dune revolves around political intrigue until you get to Frank Herbert's crazy years then you have spice witches, clone dudes running around everywhere, and super worms.

Be fast on defense, slow on attack.
The shield makes you nigh-invulnerable to most things but if you let an enemy attack go unchecked, it can be turned into a shield-piercing attack quite easily.
And you can't use shields that much on Arrakis, making lasguns and projectile weapons viable.
And there were other things about shields, such as them limiting movement and limiting hearing.

EDIT and curse RealityExists for making this thread. I won't get anything done today due to you!

 

[Demicore]

Amazing idea OP, then Eugen Systems could make a Dune RTS using the RUSE engine and the world would then officially be perfect.

 

[Fattony12000]

Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup. Would be sick.
I mean, I had this idea after they made The Witcher 2, so, yeah. Where's MY medal David Lynch? HUH!?

 

[mocolostrocolos]

I do actually play tabletop DUNE rpg and it is full of posibilities.

It has over 15.000 years of history, and many interesting periods, being the Paul Atreides ascension one of the most boring ones.

 

[Dire]

I think it might be interesting as a sort of mix between XCom and the old school map-control games like Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The key issue would be political and social (eg- fremen/bene gesserit/etc) interactions which invariably change the balance of the world. I think the neat thing about this is that it's completely practical for the player to be able to choose from a wide array of factions and experience the game and world from various angles. The ultimate objective would also vary depending on the player's faction - rather than shoehorning in your standard kill-everybody stuff meaning even a side like the Fremen could be playable.

 

[ichtyander]

BURN THE HERETIC!!!

Spoiler

jk

I could see how playing an Atreides heir could work - similar story development (for example you would need to include the Spice and all it brings with it - maybe paralysing you during the fight against a Jamis-character).

I'd love to see how you could implement the wormrider test - that'd be cool.

A Harkonen alternate where you play Feyd could be interesting too...

Wormriding?

Done.

Anyway, I'd rather play a more story heavy RPG without a huge emphasis on combat. Not sure how feasible this would be since it would require some other kind of interactive gameplay that's interesting enough, at least as interesting as combat.

I love the old Dune game by Cryo but it's basically an interactive novel with managerial gameplay elements. Although using this game as a basis and expanding on it would be pretty awesome, like having an RPG like TES or Fallout and also have this larger meta game of conquering Arrakis.

I believe anything can be adapted well, even Dune, but I would love to see some fresh new approach in the very gameplay so that it would give the mystical feeling of the books.

Btw, Morrowind actually shares some themes with Dune, with that whole Nerevarine business, Ashlanders, empire occupiers, the Great Houses, even the Silt Striders are reminiscent of the sandworms.

 

[thequickandthedead]

why did you post screens from that disgusting movie

 

[Woorloog]

Btw, Morrowind actually shares some themes with Dune, with that whole Nerevarine business, Ashlanders, empire occupiers, the Great Houses, even the Silt Striders are reminiscent of the sandworms.

You're right though i wonder if it is a coincidence rather than Dune being an inspiration for Morrowind. Perhaps a bit of both.

It does, though, kind of explain why i love both so much. Harsh, alien world, with strange things combined with mythology, religions and politics...

why did you post screens from that disgusting movie

Hey, it is not perfect but is... hmm. Can't figure out the right word. Kind of powerful visually?
Anyway, Frank Herbert did like the movie overall apparently. And this can be seen in his later Dune books, they have elements straight from the film.

 

[Ilúvatar]

So much of Dune is the political intrigue. I feel like it would really be more suitable to a 4X game. Turning it into an RPG would probably result in something like the Game of Thrones RPG.

I'd also love a Dark Tower game but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Woorloog]

So much of Dune is the political intrigue. I feel like it would really be more suitable to a 4X game. Turning it into an RPG would probably result in something like the Game of Thrones RPG.

I'd also love a Dark Tower game but I'm not holding my breath.

Yet a strategy game will lack the right feel. Sure, it will involve politics but you won't get to feel it on personal level. Also, mystique and other things don't work so well on strategy game form.
There is a Dune mod for Civ 4, it is pretty good but it was never really finished, unfortunately.

 

[Flipyap]

Dune is one of my favorite fictional universes, but I definitely do not want to see a "AAA" developer's take on it.
It's a rich universe with no shortage of violence, but the things that are actually interesting about it wouldn't translate well into marketable game mechanics.
Even strategy games based on the franchise devolved into base building and vehicle combat (bipedal mechs!) on a planet where a careless footstep will kill you (and that's quite an understatement). "Cool video game stuff" and Dune is a terrible combination.
The planet Arrakis is the single most interesting thing about the franchise (obviously, it's in the title), but it's also the biggest obstacle when it comes to adapting it into a video game. Sure, you could set it off-world, in Arrakeen or underground, but I don't think that's what anyone wants to see when they think of inhabiting that world.

Question, are Dune novels worth getting into? I tried to listen to an audiobook one day, and it just throws a lot of weird names and words at you and it's really confusing.

That's a really strange complaint, because compared to the vast majority of genre fiction Dune uses extremely plain names for its characters and sci-fi concepts.
Though I guess it does get pretty weird sometimes. Freakin' Duncan Idaho.

 

[CyclopsRock]

I gotta be honest, I found the book (I only read the first) to be pretty dull and slow moving. I think making the actual story of Dune into a game would be, therefore, equally dull, but the world itself could be fairly well realised. Given the main "thing" about the world, though, was that it was primarily a desolate shit hole, it wouldn't exactly be top of my list for a "good realisation" if there is to be one.

 

[EVIL]

As much as I love dune book series, most of them are pretty dull if you want material for an RPG and they focus on politics more then a heroes story.

Doesn't mean a Dune RPG wouldn't work, but it shouldn't focus around Paul, bu tell its own story in the dune universe.

 

[DavionStriker]

Question, are Dune novels worth getting into? I tried to listen to an audiobook one day, and it just throws a lot of weird names and words at you and it's really confusing.

Read the first three. Ignore the rest.

Also, I cant imagine listening to this on tape. That would be nuts!

 

[FloatOn]

Yet a strategy game will lack the right feel. Sure, it will involve politics but you won't get to feel it on personal level. Also, mystique and other things don't work so well on strategy game form.

I just want to say that I really appreciate your input in this thread. As I said in the first post I'm absolutely not a hardcore fan so I think you've shed much light on what is so intriguing about Dune even to the casual like me.

It really is ripe with possibility for video games.

 

[injurai]

whoa now op... I can't get all into this hypothetical premise when I'm still waiting on cyberpunk

deary me I wants this though

 

[Woorloog]

It really is ripe with possibility for video games.

Almost all franchises offer possibilities for video games. But adapting them is another thing.
How about something smaller, simpler? Like Dune dueling game, a Dune fighting game? Some combatants wear shields, some don't, some might have semi-shield. Slow attacks required for piercing shields don't work against unshielded combatants. And some characters might have poisons, or other tricks.
The books have many characters who are also fighters so it would offer a good variety of characters even if it were only based on the first book...

 

[AuthenticM]

Dune is my personal favorite book of all time. Its universe is fascinating and a triumph of the imagination.

It begs to be adapted into an epic open-world RPG. And CDPR would be perfect for the job.

Spoiler

dose bene gesserit sex scenes

Read the first three. Ignore the rest.

This would entail missing God Emperor.

Big mistake.

Every Frank Herbert Dune book should be read. The only bad one is the second book.

 

[Taruranto]

Well, Paul is pretty much a space-jesus already, so they are off to a good start.

 

[Nikodemos]

Spoiler

dose bene gesserit sex scenes

Clearly you meant

Spoiler

dose honoured matres sex scenes

.

 

[Woorloog]

Every Frank Herbert Dune book should be read. The only bad one is the second book.

I like Messiah more than Children of Dune...

Which reminds me. Tleilaxu. They're quite different in Messiah and Heretics/Chapterhouse.
I mean, from technological people (along with Ixians, though with different focus) to religious fanatics. What.
They're not mutually exclusive but still odd IMO.

EDIT Hmm. Playing a Tleilaxu Face Dancer could be interesting, in a Dune RPG.