Completed Let's play Dune

[Azira]

Thursday.

 

[Abelian]

9. “Mentats” and Fighters of Dune

It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, the lips acquire stains, stains become a warning.
It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
– Piter De Vries, film

Last time: we received the first message from the Emperor, found Harah and some areas rich in spice in the south, got our first vision and sent the first spice shipment to the Emperor.

Spoiler

As I previously mentioned, we didn’t stay that long in the desert for the vision to trigger, but if we were to walk around the desert for a bit (18 screens to be exact), Jessica would comment:

Also, if we check the mirror, we notice that Paul looks somewhat desiccated.
Before:

After:

Paul: …

Paul: I sure did. Such nice curves. Oh snap.

Paul: Relax, dad, I was talking about the dunes, he-heh…

Paul: Could you not be so creepy? You’re freaking me out with this kind of talk. [talk to me]
Jessica: Believe me, Paul! I can sense that your powers have increased. You are now able to contact Fremens in a wider range.
Paul: The plural is also Fremen, mom. [talk to me]
Jessica: Have you realized the importance of the change in you, since your stay in the desert?
Paul: That you won’t be getting me that cellphone I asked for? [talk to me]
Jessica: You are now able to contact the Fremen within a certain range. This range will extend with experience, I’m sure.
Paul: Yeah, about that vision. It was basically the equivalent of a psychedelic missed call alert. [talk to me]
Jessica: Hmm, about this vision … Well, these visions are related to your education, you know, the Bene Gesserit way.
Paul: Cool beans.

plot spoiler

Wrong. The visions are related to his genes. The Bene Gesserit training program includes combat, concentration and relaxation techniques, poison identification and neutralization, and studies in psychology, genetics, linguistics, religion, politics, anthropology and history. Of course, they are interested in breeding a prescient Kwisatz Haderach, but they are not training adepts to have visions.
The Bene Gesserit training does help with accessing the ancestral memories, but that’s another aspect of the Kwisatz Haderach.
Also, it is specifically mentioned that it is Paul’s mentat training which helps him control his prescient abilities and categorize all the incoming information.

Jessica: Because of the presence of such great quantities of spice, you will have unexpected visions of events, places you are not in.

Paul: And I suppose I’m the one who has to something about it? [talk to me]
Duke Leto: Try to find Gurney with your mother.
Paul: Now, do mean that mom and I should look for Gurney or that I should try to spy on Gurney and mom hanging out? [stop talking]

We talk to Jessica, as Duke Leto suggested:

Jessica: Let’s try to find Gurney!

See, even the game refers to the outdoor areas as rooms, so I stand by my decision a few updates ago to use screen and room interchangeably.


Here’s the palace map once again. Notice that the doorways for the communications room and the gray room are open now. Duke Leto is in the throne room, Lady Jessica and Harah are with Paul in the corridor, while Duncan is in the comm room, where we left him after making the spice shipment.

Paul: Are you for real, mom? You missed both hidden doors last time.

Paul: Do you mean he’s dead?! Or are you just making your generic comments?

Paul: Oh, good, you actually noticed him the first time around. [stop talking]

Paul: Is Talk Like a Pirate Day already?
Fun fact: I learned from that Wikipedia link that Talk Like a Pirate Day actually started when a guy yelled “arrr!” upon being injured.

If we try to leave the room and go back, Jessica stops us:
Jessica: I want to stay here with Gurney.
Paul: Stay here.
Jessica: I’m going to try to get Gurney on his feet.

If we try to go south to other new room, Jessica warns us:

We talk to Duncan Idaho.

Paul: Helpful as always, Duncan. [come with me]
I didn’t need to bring Duncan along; I was just curious if he reacts in any way to Gurney or the new room.

Paul: Do the quotes mean he’s a fake Mentat? Or that he’s too old to function effectively?
For some reason, the first part of the conversation is included only if Jessica doesn’t warn us about the trap, making the Duke seem very nonchalant about Gurney.

Out of curiosity, I tried entering the armory before Thufir disarmed the trap. Jessica won’t allow us to go in the armory if she enters the room Gurney is in, so I made her stay in the corridor after finding the entrance. As I expected, I was able to enter the room with no negative repercussions.

We go to the comm room and meet Thufir Hawat, the Atreides Mentat.

Paul: Wait, why do you use quotes around Mentat, too? Anyway, dad said you should disable the trap that knocked Gurney out. [talk to me]

Paul: Come with me.
Thufir: Ok, let’s go!

This is another oblique reference to the novel, where the old mentat failed to find one of the traps the Harkonnen set in the palace. However, the trap was triggered and disabled by Paul.

Also, as Storyfag observed, Thufir’s lips and teeth are stained by the cranberry-colored sapho juice.

This is what Thufir looks like in the Amiga version.

We talk to Gurney:

Gurney: This armoury is of great interest to me. Don’t forget that I’m a military training specialist – I trained you.
Paul: Come with me.
Gurney: Ok… but only to go with you in the armoury.

If we try to move Gurney out of the room and back in to the corridor, he says:
Gurney: No I want to stay here to have a look at this armoury. (sic)

Paul: I’m pretty sure you’ll need to open your eyes for that. [talk to me]
Thufir: The trap was easy to locate… I’ve just removed it. There is an armoury behind this door.
Paul: If it was so easy to locate, why did you miss it the first time? [talk to me]
Thufir: Let’s go into the armoury. I have to talk to you.
We go with Thufir and Gurney into the armoury.

How did that guy get in here? Was he locked in the room?

I found it funny that Thufir mentioned the soldier by the door, since the Atreides guards are just part of the palace décor and have no in-game function. Still, I guess it makes sense to acknowledge him and handwave why there’s a guard in a hidden room that was trapped.
Paul: Talk to me.
Thufir: Did you happen to think that we could use these Fremen against our Harkonnen enemies?
Paul: Yep, I already asked a bunch of troops to fight for me. None of them were up to it, though. [talk to me]
Thufir: Mining spice is necessary – otherwise the Emperor will drive us out us Dune – … BUT …. The Harkonnens are here, on this very planet, and they control almost one quarter of the planet.
Paul: Are you a vampire lord? [talk to me]
Thufir: Sooner or later, they’ll stand against us. Paul, we have to be ready to face them.
Paul: Or maybe a Sith lord? [talk to me]
Thufir: Paul, listen to me. I fell these Fremen could be incredible warriors for us… if you could have a Fremen leader on your side, a leader respected by all of the Fremen.
Paul: But they call me the One. Why do I need the local yokel? [talk to me]
Thufir: Ask the Fremen you know, including Harah. Do as you wish… but GET ME THAT FREMEN LEADER! I’m sure he exists, somewhere on this planet.
Paul: Gee, simmer down, pops. How do you even know he exists? It's not like these Fremen have any semblance of centralized government. [stop talking]

Paul: Isn’t this a bit late to keep this “Paul has amnesia” charade up?
Gurney: As a master in the handling of arms, I’m really interested in looking at the weapons here. This will give me clues… on how we could fight here.
Paul: You can tell all that from staring at a rack of guns? [talk to me]

Paul: I’ll bet you do, Gurney, I’ll bet you do…
Gurney: For the moment, I’m staying here but soon I hope to be able to teach the Fremen our art of combat.
Paul: Sure, I’ll let you and the guard stay here and play with your weapons. [stay here]

Paul:

The weapons cache doesn’t actually have any role beyond reminding Gurney that he knows how to use them and can train other people.

Jessica doesn’t have any new advice.

We talk to Harah.

Paul: If you forgot his name, he can’t be all that great. [come with me]
Harah: I’m still ready to follow you!
Paul: Well, whoop-dee-doo.

Paul: Yep, got it, dad: Thufir is right and I can’t do anything until I find his Fremen puppet.

Here are our current results:

You’ll notice Paul’s charisma has increased to 9. We now have 13760 men under our banner. They are all located in the area east of the palace.

You’ll notice that some sietches have smaller “areas of influence” around them; this is because we didn’t have Fremen occupying them for a long time. The two smallest areas are the prospector’s sietch, which they abandoned to prospect other sietches and the sietch in the south where we relocated the Fremen troop to the prospector’s sietch.

Last time I mentioned that it’s possible for multiple Fremen troops to occupy the same sietch. However, there can be good reason for keeping your forces spread out: if a sietch is conquered, all the Fremen troops will be captured.

Also, while Paul’s charisma is still low (it goes up to 11 100), it’s possible to have Fremen from different hemispheres refuse to work together:

So let’s check out our ability to remotely contact Fremen that Jessica was talking about.

Paul:
No. No. NO! Get out of my head, you little creep!

The remote communication works exactly like visiting a troop and giving orders. You’ll notice that two of the sietches are light gray. This indicates that they are in within communication range. The sietch in the upper-right corner is still brown, so it’s too far:

We now fly around and talk to Fremen chiefs, hoping to find about the Fremen leader. There’s two of them who know him: one of the naibs in a green stillsuit (not one of the first three or the stillsuit maker) and this one:

We talk to Harah about Stilgar.

Paul: Um, does he still (get it?) live there? [talk to me]
Note: Stil is actually used as Stilgar’s nickname in the novel.
Harah: Look at your map, far west of the palace I’ve just mentioned a sietch. Stilgar’s place isn’t very far from it?
Paul: Can’t you just mark his current sietch on the map? Or is it because womyn can’t into navigation?

We fly to Sihaya-Clam, the new sietch west of the palace.

Paul: This place looks abandoned. Where do I go now?

We head north-west of Sihaya-Clam.

We land at Ergsun-Timin. We talk to Stilgar, the Fremen leader.

Paul: You are Stilgar, Fremen naib. You can persuade the Fremen to fight for me and so you deserve our interest. [stop talking]

Paul: Why don’t you go and make me a sandwich? Get it? Because of all the sand on Dune… So, yeah…

Paul: Umm… How about we leave like now. I’ll take a rain check on the water mixing – wait, do you even know what rain is? [stop talking]

Paul: Dude, you were standing right here when Stilgar named me after your moon mouse or whatever. [rally me]
Note: the “work for me” option has been changed to “rally me”. The “rally me” option means that the Fremen troop is willing to fight for us.

Paul: High five, D’Artagnan. [give orders to troop]

Paul: 20% motivation? Gee, don’t sound so enthusiastic… Still, 2350 is a lot of men. [select troop occupation]
Stilgar: Yes, that is a lot of men. [made-up conversation]
Paul: (sigh) Wasn’t talking to you, Stil.

Paul: So can you guys fight for me now that I’m holding your leader captive… ehm I mean your great leader is supporting my cause? [specialize in army]

Paul: Yeah, I don’t think two thousands guys charging into battle with just their fists is such a good idea. Just look at how well it turned out for the Boxer Rebellion. [modify equipment]

There’s a knife icon in the unused equipment section. We’ll give it to the Fremen.

Paul: It’s called a crysknife, dude. Even I know that and I’ve only been on this planet for a week.

Stilgar: We have to rally other Fremen troops to our cause if we want some chances of defeating the Harkonnens.
Paul: You’re right, not to mention they’ll be useful for this jihad I keep dreaming of…

Paul: Really? I bet I can find one you don’t know about.

Stilgar added some new sietches to our map, so we might as well visit before returning to the palace. First stop: Ergsun-Tabr.
Note: the game is starting to become more repetitive so I be including more groups of screenshots without additional commentary.

So I originally thought that this guy at Ergsun-Tabr looked identical to the stillsuit maker, but it turns out that their mouths are different. The stillsuit maker is smiling (see below), while this naib looks rather apathetic.

We assign the troop to spice mining and let them use the harvester. The area will need to be prospected first.

Another Fremen chief. This one’s in Ergsun-Clam, west of Stilgar’s Ergsun-Timin sietch.

A blond Fremen. As you’ve noticed, most of them have dark hair.

Paul: And what, pray tell, do you mean by that? [stop talking]

Cutscene:

Paul: Some dude that Thufir wanted me to bring to him.

Paul: And exactly how do you know this fellow, mom? And why didn’t you tell me about him before I left the palace?

Paul: There you go again. Why can’t you Fremen make a conversation without sounding like a bunch of stalkers?

Paul: Um, mom?

Paul: I know, dad.

Paul: No, thanks. I don’t swing that way.
End of cutscene.

Paul: Uh, thanks? It was already here when we arrived on Dune. [stop talking]

Paul: … you’re welcome? [talk to me]

Paul: You’re seriously creeping me out, dude. [talk to me]

Paul: Yes, Mr. Quest Compass already reminded me. [stop talking]

Paul: Thanks, dad. I heard you the first time.

Paul: I’m not sure I really want that, to be honest. [talk to me]
Jessica: You say that gave you a name: Muad’Dib. Hmm… Good!
Paul: Yep, Desert Rat: that’s me. [stop talking]

Sometimes, we’ll be notified of harvesters being broken due to sabotage. I couldn’t get a good screenshot of the notification but it says something like “Something’s wrong with our harvester here in Tuono-Tabr”.

The sabotage is only a minor nuisance and I actually had a hard time replicating it.

This screenshot shows the rough location of the sietch. The spice density map can be useful for guessing sietch locations because some sietches can only be found by encountering them while travelling. However, not all gray areas are associated with sietches (this is mainly the case with large rocky areas).

Jackpot!

Paul: All you do is complain. [stop talking]

Paul: How is inspecting equipment a step away from a sietch “venturing aimlessly in the desert”?

Paul: Take a chill pill, dude.

We tell another troop to specialize in army.

Paul: I just have a bunch of frequent-flyer miles I have to use up.

Paul: I know . Told you I'd find a sietch you didn't already know in your backyard.

This is one of the hidden sietches. If I remember correctly, it’s in the Ergsun region. It’s fairly easy to locate on the spice density map because it’s surrounded by other sietches.

Paul: They smell a little funky.

Paul: Not anymore, I don’t.

We return to our headquarters.

Here our results so far:

Finally, here are some screenshots where I successfully broke the sequence for discovering the armory.

Thufir only accompanies Paul when disarming trap to the armory and the end of the game, so my goal was to get as many characters in one room as possible. The obvious room was the throne room since Duke Leto never accompanies us.

Under normal conditions, when Jessica discovers the room when Gurney collapsed, she prevents us from entering the armory because the door is trapped. So I left her in the corridor, as I mentioned previously, talked to Gurney, then talked to the Duke, which causes Thufir to arrive in the comm room.

I then moved Thufir, Jessica and Harah to the throne room. I was able to move Duncan because Gurney’s disappearance occurs when Paul goes alone in the desert and get the first vision about a spice shipment due date and Duncan thought we were going to the comm room. Finally, Jessica not entering the room means Gurney is already awake when we find him and he doesn’t say he will only go to the armory.

Paul: Oh, I’m sure.

Such a nice family photo, don’t you think?

Interestingly, the room where Gurney collapsed can only fit three NPCs on screen:

The armory has no problem fitting five NPCs, however.

Sometimes an NPC will sit at the head of the table (they will also sit on chairs in the comm room).

 

[Storyfag]

I love this LP.

 

[Dehumanizer]

Loving this so far. Funny, I beat the game about half a dozen times, and never saw the north / south "deep desert" conflict. Maybe because I never thought of moving several troops to the same sietch.

You've been mentioning the differences in the CD version, but this time I think you missed a couple. For instance, when setting a troop to military, they say (with a very enthusiastic voice) "Ahh, there's nothing like military training!" (instead of "a good training"). Much like the other differences, I think that the English-speaking actors corrected some unnatural-sounding phrases from the original translated-from-French script, and the corrections went back into the subtitles.

 

[Abelian]

Loving this so far. Funny, I beat the game about half a dozen times, and never saw the north / south "deep desert" conflict. Maybe because I never thought of moving several troops to the same sietch.

I missed many small details until this playing for this LP as well, mostly because it made little sense to do certain actions:
- Jessica's reaction when Paul brings her into the desert while searching for hidden rooms
- Thufir's "Are you sure of where we are going" comment when we go to other rooms rather than go directly to the armory
- Gurney saying "it's impossible to discover new places without precise indications" when talking to him near the ornis in front of the palace for the stillsuit quest
- the stillsuit maker saying "Wait... Wait... I haven't finished yet!" if we ask him to work for us before he explains about the stillsuits
- attempting to move the stillsuit maker to another sietch and his refusal before we find Stilgar
- Duncan saying "You definitely have to find Fremen who can prospect an area for spice. You've got to!" if we visit the palace after learning that we need to find the propectors but before recruiting them
- some of Gurney's "quest compass" hints
- Duncan not allowing us to leave the comm room after making a payment but before getting the Emperor's reply
- the Emperor's reaction when making two partial payments in a row
- manually controlling the orni (I always flew in a straight line by clicking a destination or general direction on the navigation screen)

I've got to give Cryo credit for thinking about a lot of non-standard interactions. The only reason I've found them is because I deliberately chose to play with little meta-knowledge in order to test the game's limits (which goes well with role-playing Paul as an arrogant but clueless brat). I've read somewhere that software users should be treated as ingenious idiots by the developers.

You've been mentioning the differences in the CD version, but this time I think you missed a couple. For instance, when setting a troop to military, they say (with a very enthusiastic voice) "Ahh, there's nothing like military training!" (instead of "a good training").

Thanks for pointing that out; I missed it and I'm sure I missed many more in other dialogues. I think I'll stop pointing out the differences between the versions, since this is around the place where the strategic gameplay starts becoming more routine and the unique adventure-style interactions stop after a couple more quests.

 

[lightbane]

I must say that your efforts to make this LP as complete and informative as possible are impressive. In fact, yesterday, while I was looking around in a library to see which book to get, I saw Dune IV: The Worm-Emperor (I don't recall th exact title but I know I was missing this one) was available, with an extremely tempting price to boot. I'm sure this was a sign of some sort.

 

[Abelian]

10. Time Enough for Love

Hear my soul speak:
The very instant that I saw you, did
My heart fly to your service.
Shakespeare, The Tempest

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Last time: we lost and found Gurney, met Thufir Hawat, found the hidden armory, gained Stilgar as a travel companion, found some new sietches and started training army troops. Paul also got a suntan.

Spoiler

Here’s how I found that sietch in the Ergsun region in the last update (the one which Stiglar didn't know about):

I noticed the missing sietch in the middle and headed southwards from the northernmost sietch.

I’ve read that all the hidden sietches are in one of the eight principal winds (N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) relative to another sietch. However, most of them are not initially discoverable and require certain plot events to flag them as discoverable. There is one sietch is that undiscoverable due to a bug: Celimyn-Tuek. However, this can be fixed by editing the save file with a hex editor.

The last actual gameplay screenshot from the previous update was of Harah in front of the palace. We returned because Duncan reminded us of another spice shipment:

Paul: Actually, I let Duncan do most of the work for the Emperor’s shipments…

Well, that’s that.

Paul: Oh, Thufir. You and your crazy conspiracy theories. How can you distrust someone who openly admits his use of terror troops? That's brutal honesty, with emphasis on the brutal. [stop talking]

Paul: Are you talking about that pervert I sent here to prospect? I knew I couldn’t trust him. [talk to me]

Paul: That’s the spirit: always use protection. [stop talking]

As long as a spice-mining troop uses a harvester, there is a chance the harvester will be attacked by a sandworm. If the troop does not have an orni, there is a chance the harvester will be destroyed. In this case, we were lucky and our harvester survived.

Paul: Oh, did I forget to zip up? [talk to me]

Paul: I think you mean “thankfully” instead of “hopefully”. [stop talking]

I’d say that this mistake was fixed in the CD version, but I’m too lazy check by starting up a new game and wait for a random event to occur.

I gave this troop an orni at some point. It’s true that harvesters were accompanied by worm spotters in ornis. But an orni would not be able to lift a harvester in the novel because they were so large. A carryall would be used to lift the harvesters to safety instead.

He’s right, you know. Visiting Fremen chiefs every few days keeps their motivation from decreasing. I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit ones who are far out of the way, though.

The motivation can be very important in winning battles. I think it also improves spice mining performance. I’m not sure whether contacting the naibs remotely counts as a visit or whether you still need to show up in the flesh, though.

While travelling around, I happened to discover a smuggler village early. This bit of sequence-breaking doesn’t affect the game, however.

The village in the background is just for décor: if we attempt to enter it will just take us into the desert.

The smugglers sell ornis, harvesters and various weapons.
Cryo used the same trick as for the Fremen to give each smuggler a unique look: varying haircuts, facial hair, headgear and even eye-patches.

We assign this guy’s troop and the troop from Carthag-Tuek (the sietch where we found Gurney) to military training. We send them both to look for crysknives.

I’ve read that it’s better to assign troop with more than roughly 1,500 men to specialize in army. That way we’ll need fewer troops to attack Harkonnen fortresses (ex. three troops of 2,000 men each vs six troops of 1,000 men each).

Jessica notices that Paul’s eyes are starting to turn blue from the spice.

I initially thought that the degree of blueness corresponded to Paul’s charisma and his contact radius, but it turns out that his eye color is strictly a function of time (which makes sense because the Eyes of Ibad are a result of spice exposure and addiction, not of prescience).

Here you can see Paul’s eyes turning blue at two different stages. This is the other purpose of the mirror, I mentioned in update 5.

At some point I told the prospectors to start working in the Ergsun region. We tell them to continue.

We make another payment to the Emperor.

Paul: Hey, did you know that “eager” means “lustful” in British slang?

Paul: Lighten up, dude. I’m just messing with ya. [stop talking]

We forgot about Gurney.

Paul: Yes, Gurney, tell me more about your personal taste in men… [talk to me]
Gurney: Paul… I’ve studied the weapons here. Interesting… really!
Paul: Ah, so what you’re interested in is men’s weapons. So how do you like to fight other men? Do you prefer thrusting with a spear or sword? How about bludgeoning with a hammer or mace? A short knife for jabbing? Whacking with a cudgel? Or beating them off with a nice long polearm? [talk to me]
Gurney: I think that now I can train some Fremen, in the same way as I taught you before coming here on Dune, remember?
Paul: Do you actually think before you say these things? [talk to me]
Gurney: Bring me to a sietch where I can teach the Fremen our art of combat.
Paul: Apparently not. [stop talking]

Paul: Knock yourself out, old man. [stay here]

Paul: … [talk to me]
Gurney: I’m teaching the Fremen my art of combat. They’re learning quickly.
Paul: Yep, I’m sure a week of training in unarmed combat will result in their mastery of several different weapons. [talk to me]
Gurney: We can send spies to discover Harkonnen fortresses. They could tell us how many troops there are. Then we could move troops to this fortress to attack it.
Paul: Thanks for the crash course in the art of war, Sun-Tzu. [stop talking]

Paul: I wonder if Duncan missed a spice shipment?

You may wonder why I waited a few days before talking to Gurney and brining him to a sietch to train Fremen. I knew that doing so would trigger the next stage of the plot and wanted to have a couple of Fremen troops who already trained a little. It wasn’t necessary that I did that.

The great thing about replaying Dune and using meta-knowledge is that it’s in character to do so, due to Paul’s prescience.


We go back to the palace.

Jessica: Leto is really upset. Talk to him!
Paul: Talk to him? That’s your job! You’re his wife!…-like female companion.
Jessica: I’m still amazed by this change to your eyes, Paul!

Paul: Alright, alright. Just stop talking. [stop talking]

Paul: Did you call me all the way here just to make me look at the hentai in your inbox? My vision that “something horrible happened in the palace” was true.

Paul: I’ll say. I’m pretty sure that including a full body shot like that violates some clause of the Great Convention. [talk to me]
Thufir: We can’t let these Harkonnen attack our sietchs like that. We must show them what we can do on their fortresses.

Having seen the message, we talk to the Duke once more.

Paul: Yep, and unfortunately what has been seen can’t be unseen. [talk to me]
Duke Leto: This crime can’t go unpunished. I’m planning a punitive expedition with my personal guard. I’m sure Thufir Hawat will agree with this.
Paul: Wow. That plan rocks. Get out of the palace for once and show the Harkonnen who’s in charge of this planet. [stop talking]

Paul: So what you’re saying is that you prefer a back-door attack? [stop talking]

Paul: Your clothes and your haircut and your face are a joke. And you know what else? Your face is a punk… face (Snappy comeback, Paul)

Paul: I thought mad and crazy were synonyms. [talk to me]
Thufir: Soon, our Fremen will be formidable warriors… The Harkonnens are very numerous in the area north of the palace. Heavily armed too!
Paul: I found some crysknives for our Fremen. You think that’s not going to cut it? (Get it, old man? Because they’re knives.) [talk to me]
Thufir: Now if we have to attack, it would be better in Stilgar’s native area: Ergsun. The Harkonnens there are very far from the Arrakeen palace. The Harkonnen weak spot is there!
Paul: Oh, yes. How fortunate that I’ve assigned Fremen troops to military training for the past week in the Ergsun region. [talk to me]
Thufir: Go and tell this to the Duke, Paul, he may listen to you.
Paul: Sure, I wouldn’t miss a chance to brag about my marvelous plan. [stop talking]

Paul: So you sit around the throne room for two weeks and now you want to rush gung-ho? [talk to me]

Paul: If your guard is ready, why are you making them wait a few extra hours?

A single tear rolls on Paul’s cheek.

I love Leto’s reaction . I never saw it until this playthrough because I figured it’s pointless to ask him to come with me and I’ll always get the same reply.

Thufir: You tried your best to convince the Duke not to go… but nothing could stop him.

Paul: You sound way too excited… and how exactly are you preventing me from contacting the troops? You know, TELEPHATICALLY?

So it turns out that I underestimated the Harkonnens and they attacked sooner than I anticipated (ironic, huh?). You can see the captured fremen troop in the upper right corner. The sietch has been converted into a Harkonnen fortress.

I’ve already showed the screenshot where we got sabotaged. I was supposed to send an army troop to investigate, but I may have forgotten to do so.

Paul: Yes, somebody here better keep an eye out for Harkonnen traps. [talk to me]
Thufir: Anyway, you surely must be able to attack some remote Harkonnen fortress by now. But be careful.

He’s advice is good. Attempting to win back over our captured sietch will result in having more troops captured, since the Harkonnen are better trained and better equipped. I know this, because I tried it.

Paul: Nothing fazes you out, does it? [talk to me]
Duncan: The Fremen I see often complain about worm attacks: The worms arrive suddenly and attack the harvester. If the miners don’t have an orni, they can’t watch for the worms.

Start the first video as the background music and start the second one with the sound disabled about 20 seconds later:

Spoiler

Paul: [talk to me]
Duncan: Paul you have to find ornis… Hmm… It has come to my attention that in the villages there are smugglers. They trade equipment and other stuff.
Paul: [stop talking]

Paul: So you’re telling me that you, the Great Fremen Leader, cannot locate a single smuggler village on the map? Is that what you’re saying? [stop talking]

Paul: Do you even know what a fish is? [stop talking]

Actually, she does. Fremen keep predator fish in their water catchbasins in order to attack the sandtrout, which is the sandworm’s larval stage. Contrary to their name, sandtrout are nothing like the fish trout.

Also known as Little Makers, sandtrout are leathery, flat, eyeless and mouthless slug-like creatures who are attracted to water and attach to one another via cilia to capture pockets of water under the planet’s surface, so as to create a waterless environment suitable to their final life stage sandworm.

When the fungoid excretions of the amassed soundtrout come in contact with water, they form a pre-spice mass. When the temperature and pressure reached a tipping point due to the accumulation of a carbon dioxide bubble, there would be a spice blow, an explosion in which millions of sandtrout died. The pre-spice mass would become spice melange after exposure to sun and air and the few surviving sandtrout would grow into small sandworms.

Of course, all this sandtrout life cycle is absent from the game. Dune 2000 and Emperor: Battle for Dune featured spice-blows as a means of providing the player with a steady stream of resources.

Returning to our playthrough, our current task is to find the smuggler village mentioned it Harah’s riddle. If the player hasn’t caught on, Stilgar provides this helpful hint:

As can be seen from the screenshot below, she was in fact referring to the fish-shaped rocky area south-west of the palace.

We spot the village.

Exterior shots of the village Oxtyn-Pyons. Unlike sietches, which all look alike from the outside, the village backgrounds are varied.

Paul: Do you have a thinking machine? Either you’re lying or you are in violation of the Great Convention. [talk to me]

He’s lying. This particular smuggler only sells ornis and harvesters at this point. Thus, we need to find new smugglers from which to buy weapons for our troops.

I like how the smuggler seems to chuckle to himself in gleeful anticipation in the screenshot.

This greeting is actually shown only the first time we meet a smuggler. The screenshot is from a different playthrough than the main one where I accidentally found the smuggler with the eyepatch early.

The funny thing is that future smugglers will say “It’s been days, man” as an introductory greeting if we don’t visit any smuggler for a few days, even though we never met them before.

Smuggler: Well, let me see if I have something for you…
Paul: The next words that come out of your mouth better be related to spice mining, or else. [talk to me]

That’s not a bad price, but we can sometimes buy a harvester for under 800 kg (it might be related to charisma, but I’m not sure). We can choose the “argue” option to negotiate a better price.

Paul: Seriously, dude? Three hundred and twenty liters of spice are enough to buy half of a planet. [argue]

Paul: LOWER. (nice use of the Bene Gesserit Voice) [argue]

Paul: You don’t like to haggle, but you choose to do business on a Middle Eastern-influenced planet where the natives use a barter economy? [argue]

Paul: So at 1980 kg, you were losing money, but you’re willing to give me a 25% discount in a seller’s market?

Alright, it’s a deal. [accept]

Paul: Can you come with me to the palace? I think Duncan might want to place some bulk orders on candy... [come with me]

Paul: How about another deal? [talk to me]

The interesting thing is that we can actually take the equipment from the smuggler without paying for it after agreeing to the transaction. However, the smugglers won’t do any more business with us until we pay the balance. Fortunately, they don’t charge interest.

Neither Harah nor Stilgar want to stay here.

If we were to speak with a smuggler a short time after the previous visit, he’d say:
Smuggler: It seems I see you very often, these days… Hmm?

You can see two ornis at Oxtyn-Pyons: the one we travelled with and the one we bought.

This is an old screenshot of a notification received when one of our harvesters was destroyed by a sandworm.

We chat with Duncan. After his usual talk about spice mining, he mentions the smuggler’s bill:
Duncan: Ah… one moment… I have received some kind of bill… Let me find it…
Paul: [talk to me]
Duncan: Yes… A smuggler from the Oxtyn region is claiming a payment of 1530 kgs of spice.
Paul: [talk to me]
Duncan: Our stocks of spice are currently 13210 kgs. Do you want me to send 1530 kgs to this smuggler?
In the CD version, he uses a rather indignant tone when he asks “Do you want me to send 1530 kgs to this smuggler?”

There are three options now, though argue and refuse have the same result of not making the payment:
Paul: [argue]
Duncan: Hmm.. er… I understand that you have more important things to think about now…
Paul: [refuse]
Duncan: I hope he’ll wait…
Paul: [accept]
Duncan: Ok that’ll be done.

When we return to the palace corridor, Harah finally gets fed up with Paul:

Paul happily obliges. This is actually another required step in order to move the plot forward. Until we bring Harah back to Tuono-Timin, she will repeat her message every few steps like a broken record.

Paul: Dude, I said I don’t swing that way. Just forget it. [talk to me]

Paul: Oh. It better not be another of your stalker Fremen friends. [talk to me]

Paul: Really? That sounds kind of random. You’ve been holding out sietch locations on me! [stop talking]

Another translation mistake: Cryo should have used “marked” or “added” instead of “mentioned”.

If you’re wondering why I’m in the Ergsun region instead of Tuono-Timin in the screenshot, it’s because I went there to move the prospectors.

Paul: A woman!

Paul: Uhh… hey, there. [talk to me]

Paul: SCHWING! [talk to me]

Paul: I guess you'll have to show me, cupcake. (Get it? Because cupcakes are dessert and it sounds like desert so now it looks like you were talking about yourself aw forget it) [talk to me]

Paul: I thought all sietches are deserted. You know, Desert Planet? [talk to me]

Paul: Man, setting us up like this was totally righteous. [talk to me]

Paul: Way to ruin the moment, Stil. You stay here and I’ll take Chani in the desert to “use the equipment”. [stay here]
Stilgar: Have you seen the ornis?
Paul: <sigh> Just… stop talking. [stop talking]

Paul: Take my hand. [come with me]

She’s behaving like the temporary companions (Jessica, Duncan, Thufir) right now: if we attempt to fly away from the current location, she’ll say “I’m staying here” and automatically leave our party.

Paul: You are Sihaya, the desert spring. [talk to me]

This is the only time in-game where the “wait for evening” action has a purpose.

Those are two harvester, two ornis and the sietch in the background.

This is the first time that the Morning/Chani’s Eye track is played in game. In order to recreate the experience, I’ve added the track below for your convenience (my thanks to SCO):

From now on, it will occasionally be played when visiting sietches.

Paul: Well, that was easy…

This is what I was talking about in update 5: the make-out scene always occurs at Oxtyn-Tabr. It’s impossible to have the palace in the background like in the intro video.

Paul:
WTF are you doing here, you sneaking spawn of a lizard! That was not cool, man! Not cool!

The game assumes we still have Stilgar as a companion, since he told us about Oxtyn-Tabr and there’s no reason to tell him to leave the party.

Paul: What a coincidence: I’m very good at going deep in the south. [talk to me]

Paul: Oh no, not you too… [stop talking]

For those of you who are fans of deep purple skies, here are alternate screenshots of meeting Chani.

Spoiler

I forgot that you can pause the game by pressing P and resuming it by pressing any key. However, you can’t switch focus to another window, since if you try to press Alt+Tab, the game will resume. I couldn’t even take a regular DOSBox screenshot using Ctrl+F5 and had to use the Print Screen button instead.

 

[Abelian]

I must say that your efforts to make this LP as complete and informative as possible are impressive. In fact, yesterday, while I was looking around in a library to see which book to get, I saw Dune IV: The Worm-Emperor (I don't recall th exact title but I know I was missing this one) was available, with an extremely tempting price to boot. I'm sure this was a sign of some sort.

Thanks for the kind words. You're probably talking about God-Emperor of Dune, which is the fourth Dune novel. It's generally considered the second best one after the original Dune, but you should first read Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, if you haven't already read them, in order for the plot to make more sense.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

I’m not sure whether contacting the naibs remotely counts as a visit or whether you still need to show up in the flesh, though.

it should because if you neglect to call some naib when you telepathically call them they complain but the morale stops dropping and the timer resets.

 

[LusciousPear]

Glorious LP, thx bb

 

[abnaxus]

I love Harah's butthurt when you return to her with Chani in tow.

She even speaks a p. poignant line then.

 

[Storyfag]

I love Harah's butthurt when you return to her with Chani in tow.

She even speaks a p. poignant line then.

Given how Harnah's looks compare to Chani's, I'm not even a bit surprised Paul decided a change was in order

 

[taxalot]

Would have banged both.

And Jessica.

 

[abnaxus]

Would have banged both.

And Jessica.

 

[Abelian]

11. Spoils of War

The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on. – Ulysses S. Grant

Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war – William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

Last time: we had Gurney train some Fremen, the Duke left to attack the Harkonnen, we found two smuggler villages, dropped off Harah, and picked up Chani.

Spoiler

First, here are a couple screenshots I forgot to include last time:

You can't make out with Chani right next to the sietch entrance. I wanted to take a funny shot with the harvester in the background, but Cryo thought ahead.

Paul: That sounds awfully hung-up for someone who lived her entire life on planet covered in sand.

Paul: Every since dad went on his expedition I needed some ego stoking.

Paul: Good, because Harah’s complaints about traveling were the last straw. Speaking of which, how about we pay her a little visit. Exes it love when you bring over younger, hotter dates and start gloating.

It looks like she’s literally cringing in the screenshot . Her uneasiness is palpable.
Paul: How about I leave you to chat with Harah for a while? [stay here]

Paul: Stilgar, you misogynist rascal, how dare you talk that way about Harah?

Fun fact: we find that Harah will become Stilgar’s favorite wife in Dune Messiah.

In case we miss one of those “a message has arrived in the palace” or “don’t forget about the Emperor’s spice shipment”, Stilgar helpfully reminds us.

Paul: What can I say? I’m an equal opportunity philanderer. Don’t worry, there’s always a place for you in my harem. [come with me]

She’s referring to the fact that Chani is three fourths Fremen.

Harah won’t become a companion if Chani’s already in the party, so we go to the back room and tell Stilgar and Chani to stay there.

Paul: … what? Wait a minute here, I’ll be right back. [stay here]

To be honest, I’m not sure why Harah will still join us, because she won’t leave the sietch and doesn’t serve any other role in the game.

So it’s possible to have both Chani and Harah as companions, but while Harah didn’t want to join while Harrah is in the party, Chani doesn’t want to leave while Harah is in the party:

Paul: Are you talking about a threesome? Harah, are you down or do you want to stay here by yourself? [stay here]

Paul: Uh, which part of the question did you answer? Never mind, I don’t want to deal with catfights between you and Chani. You stay here with those swarthy spice miners. [stop talking]

Remember those Fremen we sent to the Ergsun region for military training? It’s high time we actually put them to use.

At some point, I gave this troops lasguns in addition to crysknives.

They’re only average, but it’s enough to defeat the Harkonnen in this area.
We select the ‘Espionage’ option, which will cause the troop to look for a Harkonnen fortress that is adjacent to the current sietch. If there are no fortresses adjacent, the Fremen will let us know and we will have to relocate to another border sietch.

The Fremen found the fortress Bledan-Tuek a short distance to the north. They don’t have any information to give us yet.

The longer they spy on the fortress, the more information they will be able to find, but it also increases the probability that they will be discovered and captured by the Harkonnen.

It is important to not send to many troops in espionage missions, since it can seriously hamper gameplay to have your best trained and best equipped fighters out of commission. It’s similar to but not as bad as not being able to make a full payment to the Emperor: it can be avoided with a little planning, but once it happens, it can difficult to recover from the setback.

There can actually be abandoned fortresses, but most will have defenders.

We check again at a later point and find there is only one Harkonnen troop present.

We need more time to determine whether the Harkonnen are lightly, medium, or heavily armed and trained.

These previous screenshots are actually nor from the main playthrough because I forgot to take screenshots when first using troops for espionage.

Attacking is done by simply moving the troop to a fortress.
We actually attack a fortress east of the one I showed previously.

The screenshot shows that I’m sending five troops. It’s usually best to concentrate an attack from a single sietch to ensure the Fremen arrive in full force.

The troop already at the fortress was captured before they were able to find any information, as indicated by the fact that the Fremen are sitting there as opposed of doing the spying animation seen earlier.

As shown last time, we can’t contact the captured Fremen telepathically.

There is no fighting animation. The fighting Fremen surround the target fortress, then freeze in their walking animation and shake back a forth towards the fortress.

We can contact the Fremen during combat to see how the battle is going.

I didn’t get a good shot of the victory message. Don’t worry: there will be plenty of others.

We fly to inspect the aftermath.

The fortresses use a couple different designs, as opposed to the sietches, which all look alike.

Fortresses have a either two or three rooms: the first room will be occupied by the victorious naibs, while the rooms on the left or right will be occupied by captured Fremen.

The player has the ability to liberate troops from captured fortresses, be they troops captured earlier or new troops from the northern hemisphere. The Harkonnen, on the other hand, have no way of rescuing troops. The disconcerting implication is that the Atreides never take prisoners in-game, while the Harkonnen always do.

Paul: Actually, the fortress looks kinda cool. [stop talking]

This is a captive Fremen troop we have liberated.

This is the troop we sent to spy and was captured.

This is the drawback to attacking with too many troops: they all have to participate in redecorating the sietch and I don’t think they do the job any faster if there are more Fremen around. The liberated Fremen can be relocated, however.

I think I read somewhere that it’s a good idea to send three Fremen troops for every defending Harkonnen troop. I assume that the training level and weaponry of the attackers has to match or exceed the defenders’ for this rule of thumb, but this is speculation on my part.

We find two crysknives and a lasgun.

The game calls them laser guns instead of lasguns.

Paul: Way ahead of you, man. Found that place on my own. [talk to me]

Paul: Thufir notified me halfway across the planet but was too lazy to move his ass across two rooms and let you know. [talk to me]

You know this routine, so I’ll cut it short.

We had to leave Chani in the dining room to make room for Duncan, so we pick her up again.

Paul: You haven’t seen the bedroom yet. Follow me. [come with me]

Paul:

Paul: Actually, I am feeling kinda horny. That's not what you were talking about, is it? [talk to me]

Paul: Good. I plan on showing Chani my close contact skills next. [talk to me]

Paul: My eyes are not the only thing feeling blue… [stop talking]

Paul: Sounds like a blast. [stop talking]

Paul: Hey, Stil, do mind waiting for me here a little bit? I going to show Chani some blue-on-blue action. [stay here]

Paul: I believe this is the point where I’m supposed to say: bow-chika-wow-wow.

Here are our current results. You can see a blue area in our territory where a sietch was captured by the Harkonnens.

We buy a new harvester to replace the one that was eaten by a worm earlier.

We drive a hard bargain.

We make the necessary payment.

Paul:

We visit the other smuggler and buy a replacement harvester.

The fortress has been converted into a sietch so we send this naib’s troop on. He has less than 1000 men, so it won’t matter too much if he gets captured. And even if he does get captured, at least we’ll discover a new place to attack.

We move Gurney to train some fighters.

Paul: It runs in the family. [stop talking]

This is a newly discovered sietch. I honestly forgot where it is.

Paul: OK… how’s the prospecting going?

Paul: You just said there is not much spice in the area. [stop talking]

This is Oxtyn-Tabr, the sietch where we found Chani. There are two Fremen troops present: the prospectors and a spice mining troop. The miners are represented by the orni, since we gave them the orni but did not give them the harvester yet.

We return to the palace.

Paul: Did the Baron send another message or what? [talk to me]

Paul: That’s horrible. He was such a righteous dude. There is no shame in defeat so long as the spirit is unconquered.

… so that means that I’m the Duke now, right? The Duke is dead, long live the Duke. [talk to me]

Paul: Probably because it’s not part of any guideline on Wars of Assassins. [stop talking]

Paul: Oh, man, that blows. So he didn’t even get a chance to make a final stand and go down fighting. Even I know not to fly over Harkonnen territory.

Paul: I know that Mentats are supposed to focus on asking the right questions, but shouldn’t they occasionally ANSWER them, too? [talk to me]

Paul:

By the way, the Fremen word for “spoil of war” is “ghanima”.

 

[abnaxus]

Traveling to a fortress under attack is fun.

 

[Azira]

Moar.

 

[omega21]

I'm guessing the lack of Harkonnen prisoners is due to programmer sloth or something.

 

[Sranchammer]

11. Spoils of War
The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on. – Ulysses S. Grant

works great when you have unlimited manpower and can suffer innumerable setbacks because the enemy is overstretched from things not of your making

 

[Abelian]

12. Big Maker

"Ah-h, the worms," the Duke said. "I must see one sometime."
"You may see one today," Kynes said. "Wherever there is spice, there are worms."
Frank Herbert, Dune

Walk without rhythm, and we won't attract the worm.
Paul Atreides, Dune film

Last time: Chani and Harah got into a catfight, Paul’s Fremen troops captured Bledan-Harg, Paul bought a couple of harvesters, found out that Duke Leto died, and Thufir suggested that Paul find another means of transportation.

Spoiler

Paul: Stil, how do Fremen travel around Dune aside from walking?

Paul: Chani, how about you?

Paul: You both know that Thufir asked the question and I’m going to tell him anyway, right? [stop talking]

Paul: What’s this have to do with… [talk to me]

Paul: … You ride the Old Man of the Desert? [talk to me]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA-

Paul: -HAHAHA huh? Dude, naw. [stop talking]
Chani, he’s joking, right?

Paul: What do you mean “try”? How about a little encouragement instead? [stop talking]

Paul: Assuming I survive this, I’ll name all my sons after him. Satisfied? [talk to me]

I purposely didn’t draw attention to it, but whenever Paul is in the desert (that is, at least one screen away from the nearest sietch/palace entrance), there is an option “Call a worm” that was disabled until now:

Upon selecting “Call a worm”, we see first choose the destination a short animation of a sandworm emerging from the desert:

Now you can make your very own sandworm animated gif.


The background is always the same, but the sky changes color to reflect the time of day.
If you compare the first screenshot with the second, there is a very small change in the dune in the background near the sandworm’s mouth. It’s easier to see during gameplay that it represents the worm traveling underground and snaking its way under the sand. It might also represent wormsign, the static electricity that indicates a worm is traveling close to the surface

The first video includes information on how to summon the worm, which is done using a thumper, which is a “short stake with spring-driven clapper at one end” (source: Terminology of the Imperium). The rhythmic vibrations attract sandworms. The video one is in better resolution and has been touched up as well.

The sandrider would then run beside the sandworm and use metal maker hooks to lift one of the worm’s segments, exposing it to the abrasive sand. The worm would roll to lift the exposed area and sandrider to the top, as far from the sand as possible. The sandrider could then steer the worm. Dozens of Fremen could then climb and ride the sandworm.



Finally, the end of the Emperor: Battle for Dune features a sandworm attack:


Traveling by worm is similar to traveling by orni, with the difference that we see worm segments moving in front and the field of view is lower.

Paul: Chani, would you like to ride my giant worm?

I inadvertently found an abandoned sietch southwest of the palace. Theoretically, it should be able to spot new sietches from a greater distance with the orni due to the height advantage, but I don’t think the game takes this into consideration.

Also, I find it funny how characters walk around to casually talk to Paul while riding the sandworm

Paul: I guess it’s like riding a bike, once you learn it, you don’t forget. [stop talking]

Paul: Then what was the need for secrecy and going into another room? [stop talking]

Here are two harvesters working at night.

The sandworm looks a little strange, since Cryo didn’t choose to shade it based on the time of day, so it always has the same color.

This is a small graphical glitch: the top of the palace is always cut off when travelling by worm.

Paul: I’d be proud of a son who ran all diplomatic, economic and military matters, too. [stop talking]

Paul: I guess that makes me incredible, too. [talk to me]

Paul: Well, that’s a change… That’s good because it’s basically a Mentat’s job to think. [talk to me]

Paul: Wow, that actually sounds really good. What’s this secret weapon? [talk to me]

Paul:
So your great idea is to find “something that would turn the balance” and that our enemies “can’t even imagine, even in their most pessimistic plans”? I’m pretty sure that every commander hopes for a super-weapon to turn the tide of battle. Idiot.
And of course I am the one who’s supposed to find it. You know, the whole idea of feudalism is to provide intermediaries and reduce the need for micromanagement. Gurney needs me to be his chauffeur. Duncan can’t even make a payment to the Emperor without my holding his hand if his life depended on it (and it does).
You want a super-weapon? You want something that will turn balance and the Harkonnen can’t imagine in their most pessimistic plans? You want to know the truth?
You can’t handle the truth! It’s me! I’m your ninety-generation in the making Ubermensch with Bene Gesserit and Mentat abilities. I’m Duke Paul-Muad’Dib Atreides of Arrakis, the Voice from the Outer World, the Kwisatz Haderach. Son to a murdered father. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next. 'Bout time we kicked this revolution into overdrive. [stop talking]

Paul: Oh, yes, I’m also good at technical stuff. [stop talking]

Our results:

Paul: HAHAHA Ow wow. The Harkonnen actually attacked the fortress they lost to FIVE troops of Fremen. Who are still there and being trained by Gurney Halleck.

There’s actually six troops defending. I assigned one of the liberated troops to military training.
That icon shows two arms engaged in arm wrestling to indicate how the battle is going. It’s just started, so it didn’t have a chance to update.

We won.

Paul: Oh, really?

We fly to Bledan-Harg.

Sometimes, when winning a battle, Fremen will capture a Harkonnen captain.

Paul: HEY! Muad’Dib means kangaroo mouse, not RAT. You look a little unsure of yourself. [talk to me]

Paul: Shouldn’t someone have disarmed this homicidal maniac? [talk to me]

Paul: Be right back. [stop talking]

Paul: Do you mean “mad” as in “angry” or as in “crazy”. You could make a good case for either one. [stop talking]

Paul: The general consensus is that you’re mad and I’ll need to take you to an asylum.

Paul: Actually, I am. [stop talking]
Gurney, overpower the prisoner.

We can also ask one of the Fremen naibs to overpower the Harkonnen captain. Funnily, Stilgar is unable to do this, since he says: “I can’t overpower him alone. I need help.”
I think this is because Chani is in the party. If Gurney was the companion instead, I think Stilgar can disarm the Harkonnen. Gurney, being a badass, can do it without additional help.

Paul: This is gonna be good. [talk to me]

Paul: Which moron decided it would be a good idea to tell you what I don’t know?

And isn’t that the exact thing that someone concealing fortress locations would say, anyway?
You realize the information you offered in exchange of your life is “you know everything, so there’s nothing to tell you”? If that’s how highly you value your life, I have a Master of Assassins back at the palace who could probably use a test subject for a new type of poison. [come with me]

Paul: Ok, I’ll leave you with the Fremen here. What was it that a Harkonnen captain once told me?
Ah, yes: You’re our prisoner now! And now, you will know what kind of tough fighters they are…! AH!

Paul: You can tell with your eyes closed? [stop talking]

Paul: It looks like regular sand to me… [stop talking]

We attacked the fortress to the southeast where our spies we captured.

abnaxus said that traveling to a fortress under attack is fun, so we’re going to do just that.

We hop into our orni and head southwest.

Paul: But I want to travel to a fortress under attack and have fun! [IGNORE WARNING]

We’re almost there!

And then this happens:

No changing the destination now.

Thanks, abnaxus.

Spoiler

We left two troops behind in case the Harkonnens attack again. Also, we knew from the spies that there was only one troop defending Bledan-Timin, so four of our troops should be enough.

This is what abnaxus meant and Thufir alluded to earlier: riding a sandworm into battle.

Let the utter awesomeness of that statement sink in: we are riding a frigging SANDWORM into battle.

The battles are actually kind of boring. There are some animations of green projectiles being shot in the sky, as seen in the intro video. The plasma projectiles are displayed even when fighting unarmed or with krysknives. That orni looks huge compared to the fortress and packs some serious firepower

There only four things we can really do in battle: (1) order a massive attack, which ends the battle quickly but may cause us to lose more men; (2) fight for a whole day, which fast-forwards the time similar; (3) wait for the battle to end; (4) call a worm to go elsewhere.

Attending battles gives the Fremen a motivation boost. The potential risk is that Paul will die if we lose the battle. Thus, it’s a catch-22 situation: if a battle is closely-fought, Paul’s presence might tip the scale and ensure victory; on the other hand, the greater the Hakonnen force is relative to the Fremen, the greater the chance to lose.

It’s good idea to save the game before joining a battle and then joining it: if you win, great; if you lose, reload and don’t go into battle.

The sky lights up when we choose “massive attack” or “fight for a whole day”.

Paul: So the Fremen enjoy “beating off” the Harkonnens? [talk to me]

Paul: Nice change of topic. [stop talking]

Paul: When I through with them, they’ll be running back, not stepping. [stop talking]

We go directly to the prisoners’ cell on the right. The Fremen is green is the one captured while spying.

We return back to the palace to deal with that message Stilgar mentioned. It’s another spice demand from the emperor. You know the routine.

The sandworm is also known as Shai-Hulud, the "Old Man of the Desert," "Old Father Eternity," and "Grandfather of the Desert". Another name is “big maker”, in contrast with the “little maker”, the sandtrout.

 

[abnaxus]

You can know the outcome of the battle by the comments of your companions.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

also worms travel slower than ornis. noticeably slower. they're not to be relied upon when you have to meet a deadline.

 

[Abelian]

I don't think worms travel noticeably slower than ornis. When I started the LP, I tried circling the planet due westward from the palace and it took me roughly 1.5 days either way.

However, the trip took about 8:40 in real time when riding a worm, while the orni finished it in 4:15. When traveling by orni, time passes roughly six times as fast as usual. The speed up is only about three times when using a worm, so traveling by orni is twice as fast in real time, but about the same in game time.

Also, the player can skip to destination when not searching for new sietches, so the point of comparison becomes the length of the orni take-off animation (which is sometimes skipped) versus the length of the worm-summoning animation (which is longer and always shown).

In the CD version, both the orni and worm trip take almost 26 min in real time and a little over 3 days of in game time.

I'm working on the next update, which will be finished in the next few days.

 

[omega21]

Slow, but what's the difference between 'fight for a whole day' and 'wait for the battle to end'? Are the battle choices just 'risky, less risky and safe'?

 

[Abelian]

I'm not sure if there's any difference from fighting a whole day and waiting for the battle to end. The massive attack will cause the Fremen to attack and end the battle immediately but also incur more losses, which can't be replenished.

Here's what the Dune Wiki says about it:

Massive Attack
Paul will order his troops to launch an immediate full scale war.

Fight for a day
Paul will order his troops to reserve their resources and fight for a whole day.

Based on that, I'd say fighting a whole day is the safest option, and I can personally attest that I've won battles with zero losses that way.