Dune II
Westwood's 1992 strategy game, widely seen as the template for real-time strategy.
Where Dune II comes up1 episode or test
- Players could take ages to plan
- Planning time, not speed, decided play
- Players had to react on the fly
- Mouse speed mattered as much as thinking
- Led to Warcraft, Command & Conquer, StarCraft
Real-time strategy overtook turn-based for a time
From Dune II (Westwood, 1992) page
What was said about Dune II
Westwood made strategy real-time and created a new genre with Dune II. Dune II, Westwood's 1992 game, turned strategy into a format where players could not take ages to plan and had to react on the fly. Mouse speed mattered as much as thinking.
It led to Warcraft, Command & Conquer, Age of Empires and StarCraft, and real-time strategy overtook turn-based for a time. Blizzard applied the same move to RPG combat in Diablo, which had been planned as turn-based. As the source puts it, "you just had to come up with tactics on the fly".
The History of Every Video Game Genre
Westwood made strategy real-time so players had no time for slow planning, and mouse speed mattered as much as thinking. It led to Warcraft, Command & Conquer, Age of Empires and StarCraft.
Westwood made strategy real-time and created a new genre with Dune II. Dune II, Westwood's 1992 game, turned strategy into a format where players could not take ages to plan and had to react on the fly. Mouse speed mattered as much as thinking.
It led to Warcraft, Command & Conquer, Age of Empires and StarCraft, and real-time strategy overtook turn-based for a time. Blizzard applied the same move to RPG combat in Diablo, which had been planned as turn-based. As the source puts it, "you just had to come up with tactics on the fly".
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