Dune: Awakening – These are the five pillars and the combat of the game

In an interview with the colleagues from PC Gamer, the developers from Funcom revealed some new insights and information about the upcoming survival MMO Dune: Awakening.
For example, they talked about the five pillars of the game and the way battles in the game can take place.

So during the PC Gaming Show 2023 there was some new info for the fans!

From the start of the game to the endgame

Creative Director Joel Bylos describes the start of the game like this:
You start as an outcast, with nothing but a knife improvised from scrap metal, and you have to fight for every drop of water at first.
But if you’re willing, you can work your way up completely.

Then Bylos gives you a glimpse of what to expect in the endgame – and what guild combat might look like in the game:

By the end of the game perhaps you’re running a guild, you have a fleet of vehicles, ornithopters flying in formation, sand bikes cruising across the desert beneath them, tanks kicking up a cloud of dust as you drive to a spice blow in the distance in order to harvest with your guild.

You see in the distance another guild coming towards you. And just as you clash, you hear the rumble of a sandworm coming.
That’s combat in Dune: Awakening.

The performance is reminiscent of fight scenes from the movie, which Funcom is quite deliberately trying to capture here.
And indeed, such a fight sounds pretty exciting.

It won’t be a classic MMO fight, but you’ll have to adjust to the new circumstances at any time and act accordingly.
The developers themselves appropriately call the fight “Sandbox Combat” – in this case even literally.

The five pillars of the game

The developers also named the five pillars on which Dune: Awakening will be based:

• Survival – You’ll need to keep an eye on your water budget in particular.
• Politics & Intrigue – You need to know who else is grabbing power on Arakkis and who might be plotting something.
• Endless Exploration – Sandstorms and other environmental factors will constantly reveal and disappear interesting places on the map.
• Combined Arms Combat – From hand-to-hand combat with bare fists to firearms to aerial combat with ornithopters.
• Expression & Customization – Shape your game experience to your liking.

(The fact that the these add up to the acronym “SPICE” is surely just a coincidence, isn’t it…?).

Survival as an important cornerstone

Both Bylos and game director Viljar Sommerbakk emphasize how important the survival aspect will be in the game. This includes, of course, the water budget, on which everything depends.

In the beginning, you’ll have to provide yourself with a few drops to survive, but later you might need huge amounts to industrialize your base and mine certain resources.
However, at any moment there should be enough incentives to leave the base and explore the world.

The storms in Dune: Awakening are also an important factor in the game. You can only get some resources if you venture into them and make it out again.

In addition, the giant sandworms are of course a danger you have to reckon with. If one of the worms grabs you, you and everything you have with you will disappear into the desert sand.