{"id":1187222,"date":"2026-02-16T11:18:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:18:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bPXbb3m5bBgXEySN4mRLQV"},"modified":"2026-02-16T11:18:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:18:31","slug":"i-hope-dune-awakenings-base-building-get-weirder-and-wilder-than-what-we-saw-in-the-beta-because-its-going-up-against-decades-of-killer-dune-artwork","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/i-hope-dune-awakenings-base-building-get-weirder-and-wilder-than-what-we-saw-in-the-beta-because-its-going-up-against-decades-of-killer-dune-artwork\/","title":{"rendered":"I hope Dune: Awakening’s base-building get weirder and wilder than what we saw in the beta, because it’s going up against decades of killer Dune artwork"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When I think Dune, I think long treatises on politics and philosophy, dramatic knife fights, hands melting in mind torture boxes, Sting in a speedo with glistening abs, and, of course, giant toothy sandworms. I think about the striking scale and imagination of each and every adaptation of Dune over the years, from illustrated novels to David Lynch and Denis Villeneuve’s films to the Dune Bible<\/a> from the unmade Jodorowsky’s Dune.<\/p>\n

What I don’t<\/em> think of are small, square granite hovels, which is pretty much all I saw in a few hours of playing Dune: Awakening<\/a>‘s beta last week.<\/p>\n

As my colleague Chris Livingston wrote, a lot of Dune: Awakening’s survival game elements mesh quite well with the sci-fi universe. Thirst is a perfect survival mechanic on a desert planet, and being able to drink the water out of the bodies of your enemies<\/a>? Excellent. Fleeing in terror from the worms that patrol the barren gulfs between zones? Riveting. But starting off building shelters with Dune’s equivalent of sticks and rocks in a game like Ark? Ehh, I’m not quite sure how well that fits.<\/p>\n

Take a look at a few player bases from the beta:<\/p>\n

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Image 1 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n
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\"Dune:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Funcom)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Image 2 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n
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\"Dune:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Funcom)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Image 3 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n
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\"Dune:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Funcom)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Image 4 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n
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\"Dune:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Funcom)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Image 5 of 5<\/span><\/p>\n
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\"Dune:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

(Image credit: Funcom)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Even that last one, which has quite a cool design, is still built of uniform gray blocks, with little cosmetic variety when it comes to colors, windows, angled roofs, different sized walls and foundations, and so on.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in Villeneuve’s Dune, scale and texture turn giant slabs of stone into far more evocative buildings.<\/p>\n

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