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Dune Legacy, the open source Dune 2 game engine has a major update

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Dune Legacy is the fantastic open source game engine that allows you to play Dune 2 on modern systems. It has recently had a major update.

Major changes:
* New AI Smart Bot and Quant Bot
* Port to SDL 2
* Use hardware acceleration for drawing
* HD graphics: Use mask overlays to generate high-res graphics out of the low-res ones of the original game
* Maximum number of units per house (either map dependent or as a new game option “override maximum number of units”)
* Use a smaller logical resolution for high resolution displays, e.g. 960x540 for 1920x1080
* Lots of other smaller changes, see here for the full changelog

Projects like this are yet another reason why I love open source, as Dune 2 was something I adored in my childhood. I had it on the Amiga and put tons of time into it. I don't think I ever finished it either!

Like other open source game engines, it does need the original data files. Sadly, it's not really sold anywhere anymore. Hopefully one day GOG will stock it, as I would love to legally own it to play on this game engine. Does anyone know a place still selling it? Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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7 comments

emphy Jan 2, 2017
Who actually has the copyrights on this game, EA?

As for getting it, second-hand marketplaces are your best bet.
rea987 Jan 2, 2017
Quoting: emphyWho actually has the copyrights on this game, EA?

Must be EA which doesn't give a carp. Just download it from abondonware sites. If the game is no longer available digitally, one should feel no shame for pirating it. Simple.

I am still waiting OpenRA to finish implementing Red Alert campaigns.
Vuko2000 Jan 2, 2017
Download 1,8 MB today biger are mp3 files :-)
Marky Jan 2, 2017
Oooh thanks for making me aware of this, Liam. I just tried it and had a blast.
If anyone one else is having problems with the screen flickering weirdly; I first fixed it by disabling fullscreen. Then I got fullscreen back, by deactivating "Unredirect Fullscreen Windows".
This was on Ubuntu 16.04. I Guess Dune Legacy requires composition to work.
boltronics Jan 3, 2017
Oh man, I finished Dune 2 many times when I was a kid. So good.

QuoteDoes anyone know a place still selling it?
Yes, from eBay.

I picked up a brand new unopened (still in shrink wrap) retail box very cheap a couple of months back, and I finished the game under Wine with the High Resolution Patch (since I wanted to watch the cut scenes). I've since moved on to playing Emperor: Battle for Dune (again, brand new copies can be found cheap on eBay), which I didn't even know existed until late last year (but beware it has some weird SafeDisc copy protection which wouldn't read in my main optical drive - grab the official patches from ftp://ftp.westwood.com/pub/emperor/update/EMPENGINSTFIX10.ZIP to bypass).

I'll have to take a look at the Dune Legacy project at some point.
HexDSL Jan 3, 2017
didn't know about this version of the game, i loved this as a kid, cant wait to play it again :)
Plintslîcho Jan 4, 2017
Good news.

I gave it quick whirl. Only played the first campaign mission. I had graphical glitches when playing in full screen. But in windowed mode everything works fine.
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