I still have Civ4 installed despite not having touched it in like 6-7 years. It’s there if I need it.
That sounds frustrating. I’m no computer wiz but the primary obstacle I encountered was finding the Beyond the Sword folder to install the mod to, then it installed easily.
Since I purchased Civ 4 Complete from GOG the Beyond the Sword Folder is located in Program Files (x86)/GOG Galaxy/Games/Civilization IV Complete/Civ4/
The mod I installed is version 1.9.1 and then I installed the 1.9.7 patch.
The mod folder location will vary based on whether you’ve got the disc/steam/gog version. The installers default paths are almost always set up for the disc path as their default.
When did the Dune mod last get an update? I played it a while back and enjoyed, maybe this is the weekend to jump back in.
So the mod that may not be mentioned isn’t easy. I think I see a better way – oh sorry I didn’t mention it it. Less rocks more sand. I could not figure out how to plant a colony…
Get it ready. Plus I might just be interested in a multiplayer Civ IV uh …. sandy game. The spice must flow!
Yes, I thought that Dune Wars Revival was better than the original Dune Wars. I liked the updated artwork and the minor enhancements in Revival. https://forums.civfanatics.com/resources/dune-wars-revival.24114/
Also, the music pack is worth tracking down. It ought to work with both Dune Wars and Dune Wars Revival. https://forums.civfanatics.com/threads/dune-music-pack.332729/
OK, well, you all inspired me to also not play this game.
In the first game I didn’t start, I went as the Atreides (naturally) and started near the Corrino, who I guess are the Imperial faction. I had (and have) no idea what I’m doing. I just researched the things they recommended and did standard Civ 4 stuff but switched “food” -> “water”. Still I had a great time building a bunch of quads and taking it to those imperials when they declared war on me… at least for a while. Then I got into a stalemate and they had these tiger things (which honestly weren’t really that much of a problem) but I was falling behind in points…
So I didn’t start a second game, still Atreides, again next to Corrino (this time the princess instead of Saddam, er, Shaddam IV). I realized that the Atreides get a unique combat ornithopter unit so I went all in on those (rather than quads) and took it to those imperials… I wiped them off of our shared starting island (though another faction is to the north). They have one city somewhere I don’t know about but that’s good enough–I wasn’t getting techs on conquer so I made peace for a couple, figuring maybe I can extort the rest. I’m now leading in points, but last in tech… so I guess it’s time for a tech boom! (Also, to my shame, I dropped from prince to noble…)
If I were playing this game, I’d be loving the faction differentiation. I really only understand about 10% of what’s going on but the differences between the Atreides and the Corrino are quite stark (for Civ 4). My combat 'thopters are flying around sniping off their lone units, but every time I go in for a city kill their governors keep conscripting units (always rocket troopers, sigh…) to drag out the fight. But since we’re the good guys (apparently) when we finally do march in we are greeted as liberators (no unrest, no final pop loss).
I also saw that sonic tanks are in my future–a nod to that old game, I guess–but I don’t know if I can handle the fact that Atreides here are green: they’re supposed to be blue! (Green is for Ordos, of course…)
Anyway, definitely not playing this game. Nope.
Also is that Derek Jacoby?!
Jumping in like you’re doing is fine, and you’ll certainly have a grand ol’ time discovering the asymmetry you’re talking about and just exploring how they express the Dune universe. But the Dune-o-pedia, or whatever they call it, is a great read. It’s thorough and full of information that will give you an even deeper appreciation of what this mod does.
Man, I’m really trying to hold off NOT playing this. I can’t believe no one DIDN’T vote for it for my Request Wednesday stream. :(
-Tom
Ooomalley that was Excactly what I did. Atreides and just play what they want.
But I started to see a more glorious future… the spice must flow.
Whatever this game is anyways.
Hmm are there Sardaukar units? That would be --wait… Ok I may try House Corrino….or
Yeah, I assume the Sardaukar are for house Corrino, not that I really remember the lore at this point.
I have been enjoying reading the Dune-o-pedia with every new tech! But they really seem to be lacking hotlinks from other places I’d want: build menus, unit info cards, etc. If you mouse over the faction list in the lower right you get a list of faction abilities, which is great… but I don’t know what half the things mean.
I am also definitely not playing this. Not playing as Fremen because who would want to turn Arrakis green, that’s madness.
Also, your comment on Atreides colors has got me (mis)remembering, wasn’t their house color described as red in Dune? Of course one of the films/miniseries had them as green/black and Dune/2000 had them as blue as well.
Honestly I remember Dune II better than the book or movie even though I was probably eight years old and have read the book / seen the movie much more recently. Go figure.
The Atreides color discussion reminded me of a really neat Dune article, about how a great deal of Dune was inspired/plagiarized from an earlier book about Muslim warriors fighting against Russian expansionism in the Caucasus:
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-secret-history-of-dune/#!
Apparently the Atreides green comes from the traditional color of Islam, and the Atriedes black from the traditional color of their holy warriors. You know, like ISIS. Which then raises the question: was the entire Dune fandom a multi-decade, deep cover recruiting operation by Radical Islam? All signs point to yes.
Very interesting, thanks!
A very nice retrospective on a game from a great reviewer.
Nice read! Thanks for sharing.
Man makes me want to play it again. Then I realize I had almost 2,000 hours into the game, and really shouldn’t be looking backwards.
I’m surprised that reviewer missed one of the best things about Civ IV the best music ever
I’ve performed Baba Yetu! It’s so great.
Sadly I don’t have the high range for the tenor solo, but it was still a ton of fun.
As one of the creators of Dune Wars, I’m glad to see that people are still NOT playing it nearly 10 years after Dune Wars 1.0 was released!
I would definitely recommend people DO NOT play Dune Wars:Revival 1.10 as it’s the most complete and polished version of the mod. It includes the Music Pack so there’s no need to install that separately.
And yes that is Derek Jacobi. We need a leader graphic for House Richese so we hijacked him from Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet. And Atreides are green/black as that was their banner colour in the books. We tried to create a fusion of all the different versions of Dune out there from Herbert to Westwood to Lynch - so some things are going to contradict people’s expectations!