Dune (DOS)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Dune (DOS).

A non-interactive demo of Dune featuring only the game's opening sequence was released in early 1992.

Gameplay Differences#

A playable, incomplete version of the game is accessible from the demo with some fiddling.

There is no clock next to the followers' portraits.
The spice density display is available from the start of the game.
The mirror in the palace bedroom is not present.
The palace balcony is to the left of the throne room (see Graphical Differences).
Flying to Arrakeen and the Harkonnen fortresses is a lot less fatal.
Characters who would normally stop speaking after exhausting their lines (like Leto) instead repeat them.
Leto stops you from entering any other room until you've spoken to him once. In the final game, this only happens when you try to go into the dining room.

Graphical Differences#

The demo features some graphical differences to the finished game. Apparently Cryo/Virgin did not yet have the rights to Kyle MacLachlan's likeness.

Demo	Final

Demo	Final

Demo	Final

Demo	Final

Demo	Final

It's worth noting that in the final game, Paul's appearance resembles that of the demo version during the desert kiss scene.

Text Differences#

The demo contains (but does not display) an incomplete English language script. Unlike the released game, some in-game text is found inside the executable itself.

Demo	Final
We don't have enough people working for us. Go out and see more Fremens! We've spotted three troops of Fremen around the palace and I've sent Gurney Halleck to meet them. Fremens have a special garment which they call a "stillsuit". He visited x sietchs and now y troops of Fremens are working for us.	We don't have enough people working for us. Go out and see more of the Fremen! We've spotted three troops of Fremen around the palace and I've sent Gurney Halleck to meet them. The Fremen have a special garment which they call a "stillsuit". He visited x sietchs and now y troops of Fremen are working for us.

The final game removes some (but not all) erroneous plurals when referring to the Fremen.

Demo	Final
You are now able to be in contact with the Fremens within a certain range. This range will extend with experience, I guess.	You are now able to contact the Fremen within a certain range. This range will extend with experience, I'm sure.

Jessica was a lot less confident of Paul's potential.

Demo	Final
A stillsuit is a body-enclosing garment invented by us. Its fabric is a micro-sandwitch performing functions of heat dissipation and filter for bodily wastes. Reclaimed moisture is made available by tube from catchpockets. I give a stillsuit to both of you and gonna send some to the palace.	So you want to know about the principles of our Stillsuits... It's good that you are so keen to learn our ways. A stillsuit is basically a high efficiency filter. Perspiration passes through the first layer and is gathered in the second. Salt is separated. The reclaimed water circulates to catchpockets from which you can drink through a tube at your neck. Breathing and walking provide the pumping action. Here's some stillsuits for both of you, and I'll send some to the palace as well.

In the release version, the stillsuit maker's dialogue is lifted directly from Liet-Kynes in the film.

Demo	Final
I want a shipment of spice today! You didn't send a shipment of spice as I required. I'm warning you: If you refuse to send me all the spice you extract, I will expulse you out of Dune. That's a good quantity you've just sent. Keep it up! Hum... That's just fair enough. Aren't you by any chance trying to keep spice for you...? You're trying to FOOL ME, PAUL ATREIDES! I know you can do better than that! Don't do that again... I'm telling you. Don't think you can get away with this!!	I want a shipment of x kgs of spice today! Your last shipment wasn't what I demanded. So, I want you to send me x kgs of spice NOW! You didn't send the spice I required yesterday. As your last shipment was far more than I had asked for, I close my eyes on this. But send it today! Your last shipment was more than I had asked for, indeed. But this doesn't dispense you from sending me the x kgs I demanded. You've just sent me lot more than I've asked for. I understand that you are people I can trust. I allow more from people I trust. You'll hear from me in x days. Your spice has just arrived. More than I've asked. I'm really pleased. I'll call you again in x days. You sent me the spice I've asked you. Good! Next shipment will be x days from now. Are you by any chance trying to keep some spice for yourself? I won't tolerate this next time - x days from now. I'm warning you. You're trying to FOOL ME, PAUL ATREIDES! I know you can do better than that! Don't do that again in x days... I'm telling you. This is the second time you don't send me the spice I demand. I've warned you, so don't think you can get away with this!!

The final game expands the Emperor's dialogue, having him actually state how much spice he wants and when he wants it. It also removes his threat of exiling the Atreides from Arrakis, as failing to meet the Emperor's demands means death.

Demo	Final
Ah! Strange modules... It seems to be a terrific weapon!	Ah! Weirding modules... It seems to be a terrific weapon!

The final game fixed what was most likely a mistranslation from the French version.

Demo	Final
You have entered the Harkonnen zone and your ornithopter has been intercepted. You die in the deep desert. You die terribly burned by an internal fire.	Ah ah! One day, this Paul Atreides went flying over us. We shot down his ornithopter. He died somewhere in the desert. Paul Atreides died as he tried to drink the Water of Life. Many now say that he was too hasty. But I miss him. He was the only man able to send these Harkonnen back. You know what?... Paul Atreides, he simply arrived one day at one of our fortresses. Needless to say, he was immediately shot! I've seen his body rotten under the sun... Ah ah! * WARNING ** ENTERING HARKONNEN ZONE Winning a battle, one of my captains captured Paul Atreides. Ah! It was a real pleasure to leave him in plain desert without any protection. As Paul Atreides failed to respond to my spice demands, my Sardaukhars terror troops took control on the planet. That was the end of the Atreides.

The death messages have been greatly expanded in the release version to cover the different ways in which Paul can die. A noticeable change is that in the final game, other characters speak about Paul's death rather than the game just describing it. A warning message that the player is about to enter Harkonnen territory was also added, for when Paul is flying alone.

This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically: Are these commands accessible in any version of the game?

Demo	Final
SELECT ADV->REFL. EFFECT PHASE LOC KNOWN ALL SIETCHS KNOWN RALLY ALL FREMENS/SIETCH ALL LOC PROSPECTED MUAD'DIB + 10 SHOW COORDS/SMALL MAP TIME VERY FAST TIME NORMAL HARVESTER SHOW TRAVEL ANGLES SHOW PAUL COORDS BACK TO SCR SHOW TIME AND SPEED BUF TO SCR ALL LOC KNOWN NO "TOO FAR..." PAUL'S DEATH INCPHASE PHASE 123 TOUS POUVOIRS TIME in REFLEXION SLEEPER 9 PERSOS ICI TOUS PERSOS	SUPER FREMEN HERE PHASE LOC KNOWN ALL SIETCHS KNOWN RALLY ALL FREMEN/SIETCH ALL LOC PROSPECTED MUAD'DIB + 10 SHOW COORDS/SMALL MAP TIME VERY FAST TIME NORMAL VEGET EVERYWHERE SHOW TRAVEL ANGLES SHOW VARIABLE BACK TO SCR ALL TEXTS SHOW TIME AND SPEED BUF TO SCR ALL LOC KNOWN NO "TOO FAR..." GOTO PHASE 80 INCPHASE PHASE 123 GO->GAME END HARKO ATTACK NOT KILLED 9 PERSOS HERE ALL PERSOS

Some debug options vary between the demo and the final game. A few options in the demo remain in French.

Vt Pull
Spiral
Turn over
Bigpix 8
Pitipiti
Piti blank
Corner
Corner (fast)
Fade
Water
Shutter
Fold
Fold 2
Hz Pull
Sweep
Blurred sweep
Hz Scroll
Vt Scroll
Vt scroll (fast)
BigPix 4
BigPix 2
Escargots

A list of what appears to be screen transitions.

This is the end of the prepared events up to now. BUT other events will follow: 
Chani gonna be kidnapped by Feyd-Rautha, epidemic among the Fremens... 
Drink the water of life (visions of the future), blackmail from a smuggler, 
Capture of Harkonnen captains, and of course the final attack on the Arrakeen palace.

A message not found in the finished game, for obvious reasons.

v · t · e The Dune series
DOS	Dune (Prototype)
Genesis	Dune: The Battle for Arrakis
Sega CD	Dune

See Also