Dune: Spice Wars - 4X/RTS from Wartales developers

[kangaxx]

Just picked this up, it seems quite fun so far. In a small way it reminds me of Z, a game I played to death when I was a kid.

Still haven't worked out which of the ability trees is best to spec into yet though. I've gone all in the green one with a bit of espionage and my army feels pretty weak... not sure that is viable.

 

[Storyfag]

In a small way it reminds me of Z, a game I played to death when I was a kid.

Oh Z was awesome. Do tell, how is this one similar?

 

[Naraya]

In a small way it reminds me of Z, a game I played to death when I was a kid.

Oh Z was awesome. Do tell, how is this one similar?

I'd like to know as well. As I said in another post, I'm no stranger to Z and in my opinion Dune Spice Wars is nothing at all like Z.

You control map regions that produce units... I guess?

 

[kangaxx]

I did say "in a small way", but the zonal control nature of the map and the inability to sit in your base building hundreds of tanks if you want to win. Means managing small numbers of units across a wider area in more but smaller skirmishes, and it brought Z to mind. That's where it ends though because this game has several other systems on top of that, and the combat in Z was much more varied.

 

[Late Bloomer]

So how is the Early Access version, what is missing compared to release? (if that is known)
And how does it run, does it need some strong PC or can it run on older ones as well?

It's missing multiplayer and the 5th faction. Maybe camapaign as well? I don't remember if the game's supposed to have one. Otherwise it's feature-complete, though the devs said they might add more stuff based on feedback.

It runs pretty well on my PC. R7 3700X and RX 580.

Looks like multiplayer has been added.

 

[ELEXmakesMeHard]

House Corrino confirmed as 5th faction.
https://steamcommunity.com/games/1605220/announcements/detail/3328738190607959594

Now they've just gotta make the game good.

 

[Readher]

House Corrino confirmed as 5th faction.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1605220

Now they've just gotta make the game good.

They're going to have a flamethrower unit.

 

[ELEXmakesMeHard]

Decided to give it another shot, and am glad I did.

• They must've fixed the bad optimization I experienced the last time, it runs smoothly now.
• Liet Kynes is still wearing blackface (and looks very effeminate), but at least that's not game breaking.

I've sunk 23 hours into it over the past 2 days. Very engaging, time flies. Given how long the matches last I'm skeptical that multiplayer will ever pop off (I've spent around 8 hours per single-player match so far). Maybe 5-6 hour matches when you can't pause to think. Probably hard to rush/zerg people in this game, due to the Command Point & Supply mechanics, and how extremely durable the main bases are.

 

[Harthwain]

• Liet Kynes is still wearing blackface (and looks very effeminate), but at least that's not game breaking.

I... don't see any changes. Liet Kynes seems to have the same model as she did before. So how come it was game breaking before and it isn't anymore?

 

[Harthwain]

ELEXmakesMeHard

Spoiler

This screenshot is from devblog "Introducing: The Fremen": https://www.dunegames.com/en/introducing-the-fremen and is the same as the Early Access version (I just checked). How Liet Kynes looks in your game?

 

[HeatEXTEND]

Liet Kynes seems to have the same model as she

So we're here now huh? Shame.

 

[Harthwain]

Liet Kynes seems to have the same model as she

So we're here now huh? Shame.

We were "here" since the Fremen faction was revealed, so I don't get what you're trying to say.

I still maintain my stance on making Liet Kynes into a woman.

 

[ELEXmakesMeHard]

Harthwain You probably misread. I never wrote that Liet Kyne's appearance broke my game, or that his appearance has changed. I wrote that he's still wearing blackface (that hasn't changed), and that at least it doesn't break my game (it never has).

Morally speaking it should however have broken the game.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[pizza_microwave]

How's the PvP so far? Worth buying?

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

i completely forgot this existed.

 

[kangaxx]

How's the PvP so far? Worth buying?

Never played the PvP but if you can get a cheap deal it's worth a quick blast IMO. It gets repetitive though.

 

[Raghar]

Even pirates forgot it exists.

 

[Cyberarmy]

I think it's on sale?

 

[Junmarko]

Why would you pirate something in early access?

 

[Trithne]

I got gifted this a couple of months ago and played it a bunch. It's honestly not a bad game, bastardisation of Liet and the Fremen aside.

Problem is, is has no real longevity. It's too niche to really make it as a pvp game, and there's no single player content other than skirmishes. I took to trying to get achievements but once I'd won a game as each faction I haven't touched it since.

And being a Dune game, they're limited in what they can add. They've done a good job of making factions that fit the lore (again, other than the flanderised Fremen) and offer different playstyles, but I don't really see many more factions they can add.

Also their balance is somewhat reliant on player counts and the number of houses with Landsraad access in a game, complicating that further.

 

[luj1]

This any good? Looks a bit generic

 

[Harthwain]

I got gifted this a couple of months ago and played it a bunch. It's honestly not a bad game, bastardisation of Liet and the Fremen aside.

"Mediocre" is probably the best way to describe it.

And being a Dune game, they're limited in what they can add. They've done a good job of making factions that fit the lore (again, other than the flanderised Fremen) and offer different playstyles, but I don't really see many more factions they can add.

The problem - in my opinion - are the mechanics. Which is a shame, because the material to make them great was there already, both in terms of the lore and how the game could play. Such as "Dune: A Game of Conquest, Diplomacy & Betrayal". Instead they made Northgard: Dune and it doesn't really work out.

Spice collection is the best example of how they botched the mechanics - when wormsign is detected your harvesters will be taken away, but you have to order them to go back manually. Only Fremen don't have this problem, because they collect spice ignoring the worms (for obvious reasons). This makes spice collection tedious micromanagement issue, not a fun mechanic to engage with.

Another example is that harvesters have a lot of health, meaning raids on spice fields are pretty much pointless - they will be taken away by a carryall or enemy will respond by sending his army to beat yours. You are better off sending your ball of death to capture the whole province instead. Yes, there are some risks about the worm showing up when you move in a large group, but in my experience it's usually better to go with large deathball over small surgical strike teams. Which is - again - not how Dune should play, in my opinion.

 

[Infinitron]

In light of the recent events upon Arrakis, the Spacing guild have granted access to the planet and reinforcements are arriving en masse.

In the Air & Sand update, Dune: Spice Wars' combat is evolving, with an array of new flying units entering the fray and offering a host of new ways to enter into battle with and gain the upper hand over your enemies!

Flying units, aerial combat, new buildings, resources, systems and more await in the newest major update for Dune: Spice Wars!

 

[Trithne]

Since I do somewhat enjoy the moment to moment play of this I decided to check what the update did, since the video doesn't tell you shit.

Everyone gets a couple of "spaceship" units. One light aircraft and one heavy aircraft they are limited to one of. Spaceships cost a new resource you get by building a new one-per-faction building that lets you sell resources to the Guild in return for Guild Favour. You can also spend Guild Favour to buy some resources. It's pretty straightforward and works well. I haven't tried the spaceships out yet.

You can shoot at Ornithopters now.

Also a new feature is modifying your units, each unit type can have 2 mods applied out of 4 options, and each has a buff and a nerf. They're conditional but the choices are interesting enough.

One of the main things I noticed though is a lot of changes to village traits to make them less straightforward. Well Diggers is no longer a flat 5 water, it's 2 water per economy building, for instance. A good change all round that encourages fewer template villages.

There's a new option to play 1v1 in Single Player, and a "Coming Soon" single player option called "Conquest", so I think they're aware of the need for more single player content.