Dune 2000 manual

The following article serves as a partial transcript† of the Dune 2000 manual. All material written in this article is of copyright ©1998 by Westwood Studios, Inc. The author of this article claims no right of the material written.

† The following sections were removed to preserve only or mostly the lore-related information:


 * Playing the Game
 * Advanced Game Controls
 * Multiplayer Game
 * Credits
 * Trouble Shooting
 * Technical Support

The Situation on Arrakis
'''Reported by: Lady Elara Moray Trieu - Bene Gesserit Truthsayer and Bound Concubine to Frederick IV - Emperor of the Known Universe. At: The Planet Arrakis'''

'''Submitted to: Reverend Mother Marius Alethea Blasco of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood, Proctor Superior. At: The Wallach IX Bene Gesserit School.'''

My Reverend Mother;

I pray that this communiqué finds you well, my Bene Gesserit Sisters thriving, and myself, somewhere in the great dunes of Arrakis, alive. In these times, one can only hope. On the following pages, I entrust my report to the Sisterhood. Attend these facts carefully.

I have carried out the first stage of my mission, and taken our candidate to Arrakis on the Emperor's own heighliner. (Unwise, I know. Perhaps I thought my Reverend Mother would appreciate the irony.) We have chosen well. There is great strength in this warrior - can it be? The warrior of the Prophecy, the One who will rise to lead the people to bloody peace? We shall see.

The situation on Arrakis is critical. The Emperor is not to be trusted. His demand for the Spice grows unchecked. As my report notes, not only has he challenged three great houses of the empire - House Atreides, House Harkonnen, and House Ordos - to compete for mining rights, but he offers Dune itself as the prize. The Governorship of Arrakis goes to the victor. Why such a generous offer? I rather suspect the Emperor of a darker purpose, yet to unfold. Plans within plans.

There is one small matter I must disclose regarding the Emperor. Frederick no longer trusts me, I fear. Though I will continue to serve the Sisterhood, there must be no further communication between us.

Know that I will see our project on Arrakis through to the end. If our candidate, our hero, is indeed the warrior of the Prophecy, the Bene Gesserit will never want for Spice again.

Deputations from all three houses have arrived. Spice harvesting will surely commence, and with it, the great Spice wars. Our spies are in place. All will be made manifest soon enough.

Your more than humble servant, Lady Elara Moray Trieu

The Padishah Emperor Frederick IV Ruler of the Known Universe
The Emperor Frederick IV, of House Corrino, rules the galaxy from the Golden Lion Throne on Kaitan. The Emperor’s strength lies with his Sardaukar terror troops — his soldier fanatics. The Sardaukar training facility is on Salusa Secundus, the Imperial prison planet. One Sardaukar can take ten ordinary Landsraad conscripts.

Aside from military might, the Emperor controls the one true source of power in the galaxy - the Spice Melange, found only on Arrakis. With the price of Melange on the Imperial market up beyond 500,000 Solaris per decagram, the Emperor knows that every Major - and Minor - House in the Empire seeks the wealth of Arrakis for itself. And so the Emperor trusts no one. Which brings us to the Emperor’s challenge for Arrakis. It is highly illogical that Frederick would offer all Dune to the victors. Frederick would never volunteer Governorship of Arrakis, and a share in revenues, to either the Harkonnen, Atreides, or the Ordos. I suspect he is playing each House against each other, to increase Spice production, and eliminate all potential threats to his throne in one bloody contest.

Whatever the case, knowing my Lord as I do - somewhat intimately - I assure you, there is rather more to the situation on Arrakis than meets the eye.

The Planet Arrakis
ALSO KNOWN AS DUNE, THE DESERT PLANET CLIMATE: DESERT / PRECIPITATION: NONE VEGETATION: NONE

Terrain
The surface of Arrakis is covered by endless dunes. There is no climate control of the planet. When the Fremen planetologist, consultant to the Harkonnen Governor, was asked how long it would take to transition Dune into a verdant, water-giving planet, he presented the figure of 500 years.

Miles of barren deserts hold little more than basins, dunes, and the occasional out-cropping of rock. The sands are dangerous, shifting constantly and unpredictably. Rock shelves and mountain ranges rising through the dunes provide the only possible building sites on the planet.

There are five major types of terrain on Dune.

Spice generally occurs along the surface and is a reddish-orange color which distinguishes this priceless terrain from normal sand.

Obviously, sand is the most common type of terrain found on Dune. Most vehicles on Arrakis are varieties of sandcrawlers, vehicles specially designed to travel upon this terrain. Giant sandworms are a danger when traveling across sandy stretches.

Extensive sand dunes are formed by the constant windstorms that plague the surface of the planet. Dunes are difficult to traverse, especially for ground based units.

Rock formations are the only terrain features that provide acceptable building sites. Sandworms avoid and can not cross rock formations.

The rugged mountains are formed by layers of rock and give the otherwise featureless planet surface its only notable elevations. Mountains are impassable to all vehicles but may be crossed by infantry units at certain locations.

Weather
To most human life forms, Dune is considered hot and oppressive in the extreme. Windstorms ravage the surface of the planet with speeds exceeding 200 km/h often generating intense electrical storms. Gaseous clouds accumulate in the lower sinks and dunes - through the quanats, or canals, which cross the surface. Ultraviolet reflection eventually blinds the unprotected eye, though the local Fremen (Dune’s nomadic population of sand-dwellers) blacken their eyes with stain to reduce these effects.

All who venture into the deserts must do so wearing special stillsuits, built to preserve and reclaim the natural moisture of the body recycling it into catchpockets, where it is made available for ingestion through a network of tubing. Needless to say,maintenance of vehicles and structures is adversely affected under these conditions.

Indigenous Life Forms
There are two.

Sandworms
Far beneath the surface of the sand,giant sandworms cross the dunes - unseen and unheard. At the first signs of an impending worm attack, a Sandmaster or Duneman will call "wormsign", alerting those involved in the Spice harvesting operations to evacuate. The local Fremen population respectfully worship the enormous worms as "Shai-Hulud", the Worm God. Sandworms can grow from tiny sandtrout to worms more than 400 meters in length. Sandworms can be slain, or drowned in water which is toxic to their species.

Fremen
Fremen are the other indigenous population of Arrakis. Fremen are the desert- dwelling sand warriors, the Free Tribes of Dune. Their nomadic ancestry descends from the legendary Zensunni Wanderers, who roamed the galaxy until they were shipwrecked on this barren desert planet. The Fremen are reclusive and secretive; it is unknown how many they number in their tribal dwellings, or sietches, hidden deep in the Desert. However, they are a fierce warrior people whose women and children can outpace most military conscripts. They have no allies, but if they did, they would be a powerful asset in battle.

Duke Leto of House Atreides believes there to be a great number of Fremen, and has sworn to ally them to the Atreides Forces. The Fremen do not reciprocate - yet. My spies will inform us, should the situation change.

The Spice Melange
The Spice Melange is the most powerful substance in the Universe. The Spice enables all interstellar space travel, allowing the Spice-mutated Guild Navigators to warp the fabric of space. Without the Spice,our Bene Gesserit Sisterhood can have no visions, no future Sight. With the Spice, human life can be extended by hundreds of years.

In all the Galaxy Spice is found only on the planet Arrakis. The native Fremen possess the Blue-Within-Blue eyes indicative of Spice saturation. Spice is harvested from the desert Spice fields, and exported throughout the Empire. Without the Spice the Padishah Emperor would have no empire.

We watch Arrakis closely now. We must, beyond all else, insure that our Spice allotments are not interrupted. The Spice must flow.

The House Atreides
HOMEWORLD: The Planet Caladan. Verdant. Lush. Prosperous. The water world.

LEADER: Duke Leto Atreides. Noble. Just. Diplomatic. Intelligent. Duty-Bound.

MENTAT MASTER OF ASSASSINS: Noree Moneo. A Mentat, or human computer, of the most traditional education and schooling. Noble and intelligent, like the House.

MILITARY STRENGTHS: An exceptional air force composed of Ornithopters; high-quality and good condition of vehicles and structures; intense loyalty among the conscripts to their honorable Duke; a highly-skilled Mentat of premier strategic training; the potential of a diplomatic alliance with the Fremen warriors.

HOUSE PROFILE: Virtue is clearly on the side of the Atreides. While not one of the richer Houses, the Atreides have ruled Caladan with a generous, noble spirit for ten generations. Their people are hard-working and desire both peace and honor. Atreides troops are exceptionally devoted to their Duke. Our spies have seen nothing like it in any other House of the galaxy, excepting, perhaps, the Fremen. It is possibly this shared devotion to duty, the fierce honor of the people, that makes the Duke believe the Fremen will come to fight with him. It is perhaps also the Duke’s noble nature which makes the Baron Harkonnen so loathe and swear to destroy him.

Our spies confirm that the Atreides campaign is being advised by the brilliant Mentat Noree Moneo, long-time Mentat to the Duke. Moneo appears to have advised caution; of all the Houses, the Atreides seem most suspicious of the Emperor’s challenge. As expected, the Atreides have been holding off attack of both the Ordos and the Harkonnen, simply defending themselves against a series of raids, sabotage, and larger offensives. True to their nature, the Atreides have first attempted diplomacy. Yet, Arrakis tolerates nothing of diplomacy. Soon, the Atreides will crush their opponents in the sand.

HOUSE INSIGNIA: The Hawk

The House Harkonnen
HOMEWORLD: The Planet Giedi Prime. Dark. Industrial. Toxic. Cruel.

LEADER: The Baron Harkonnen, or Siridar-Baron - Planetary Governor. Like Giedi Prime, the Baron is dark. Cruel. Savage. Driven by greed and a kanly, or vendetta, to use the Ancient Tongue, against Duke Leto and the entire House Atreides.

MENTAT MASTER OF ASSASSINS: Hayt DeVries. Hayt is a Ghola, a re-animated corpse, purchased from the flesh-vats of the Planet Tleilax. Ruthless. Brilliant. Cold. Cruel. Egomaniacal. Like the House.

MILITARY STRENGTHS: Brute force; illegal atomic weaponry, or so it is rumored; the ruthlessness of the Baron and his Mentat; the degree to which the Baron’s Troops fear him - and thus, fear disappointing him. (He has been known to personally drink the blood of those who bear unfortunate news to his chamber. Indeed, it is said the Harkonnen are forced to wear heart plugs, such that the Baron can loose their blood with greater ease.)

HOUSE PROFILE: Giedi Prime is a dark, deranged world as are the creatures of House Harkonnen. The Harkonnen are a cruel people, equally ruthless toward friend and foe, if necessary. The Harkonnen have a long history of employing violence and fear to achieve their objectives. In House Harkonnen status is not bestowed. It is taken. Treachery upon treachery, assassin upon assassin, our spies cannot keep up with the rapid shifting of military rank in the Harkonnen forces, excepting, of course, the nearly totalitarian control of the Baron. Nothing will stop the Baron Harkonnen in his pursuit of Dune. Formerly the sole stewards of the Spice harvesting operations on Arrakis, the Harkonnen feel deprived of something which they believe to be rightfully theirs: the Governorship of Dune. As the Baron has sworn to cut the ducal ring from the hand of Leto, it is highly unlikely that he would tolerate an Atreides victory over Dune.

HOUSE INSIGNIA: The Ram

The House Ordos
HOMEWORLD: Little is known of the icy, remote planet of the Ordos. The economy of the planet is based entirely on trade and smuggling, to be certain. Our spies can tell us that much, if nothing else.

LEADER: Unknown. A reclusive cartel of wealthy noblemen who seem to control the finances of House Ordos, and thus, House Ordos itself. No one has ever seen them except the few generals who formerly controlled what troops the Ordos could muster. One by one, those generals have been eliminated under mysterious circumstances.

MENTAT MASTER OF ASSASSINS: None. The previous Mentat, known only as Ammon, was executed on the alleged charge of embezzlement. Spies have reported on the possibility of an Ixian clone, a computer in the form of a human male, smuggled from the Ixians in exchange for a fortune in Spice. However, since the Butlerian Jihad, there has never been a computer in the likeness of a human mind, so these reports have been largely disregarded.

MILITARY STRENGTHS: Immense wealth. They have the kind of wealth that buys incredibly powerful forbidden technologies, illegal weapons purchased from the house of Ix and then smuggled to the Ordos troops.Aside from wealth, there is little military strength to House Ordos. Their troops are largely mercenary, and tend to desert with great frequency.

HOUSE PROFILE: House Ordos cannot be profiled. We do know they have a tendency towards sabotage, expensive weaponry, and illegal technologies. We believe the Ordos may have Ixian weapons the Harkonnen and Atreides could only dream of. But this could all be speculation. We know nothing else for certain.

HOUSE INSIGNIA: The Snake