Fan Suggestions

the map editor has no triggers!!!
- tal

YA YA YAWM!
first, i dont own the game, i want to, computer sucks. i have been checking it out and i have a few questions:
1)who the hell are Duke achilles atreides baron rakan, and lets face it, everyone else ESPECIALLY ordos?
2)what is a 3-d accelerator, a friend bought it and it didnt work cause of that, do most new computers come with them?
3) on caladan, geidi prime, and draconis(?) what replaces spice (does anything) for money resources?
4) (not a question) if they do make an expansion, maybe they could dip into the brian herbert prequels (seems like its based more on the lynch movie than the books) and bring in house vernius, the grummans and the ginaz, and use that lasgun-sheild explosion thing, if thats not used already.
BI-LA KAIFA
- Lisan-Al-Giab

Oh, by the way, learn to spell people, I can't read a thing you're writing here!
- Stephen O'Donnell

Did you ever notice that ammo never ends? How about ammo limitations, and new infantry, like Archer infantry?
- Stephen O'Donnell

i think emperor is a good game, but the story line fits nowhere in the dune universe and sheilds atract worms from even outside there territory so there should not be ordos apc and tank with sheild and worms shold appear more offtene the carry all pick harvy up when worm sign apears near them and it should be based more on infitry like in the books because tanks cannot cross dunes without geting worms to come and most infantry should be attacked by worms if not fremen or properly trained. sardukar use there hands or las rifles to kill in books and fremen use pistols and knifes the sonic/werdin stuff is dumb cause he bene gesserit don't teach any1 their fighting tricks and there is no machin to use the voice as they do.
- tsnr

emperor can be made more realistic, by depending more on infantry, rather than armor. i mean, anyone who builds 20 minotaurs or devastators automatically win the game. even if a newbie uses that strategy, its pretty hard to beat up an entire column of armor. Infantry makes the game seem more realistic. at least make the infantry miss a few shots to make the firefight a lot longer. i mean, playing online, i don't see anyone ever using infantry anymore. its just armor. making strategy depend more on infantry is a MUST! it would make the game more realistic, bringing on a new dimension of warfare!
- borderguard

I think that Emperor is a good RTS, yet it has the same mistakes as all other RTS.
First of all, special weapons are the bane of a really good game.
Then, authors still don't understand what the tank is for. It is not just a slow heavy-shielded vehicle with heavy cannon/cannons. It has a variety of weapons, including machine guns, what gives him unique attack capabilities, it is quite fast, at least fast enough for infantry and enemy artillery. Idea, that it can be even harmed by attack rifles makes me sick. But, alas, somtimes one rocket or heavy uranium projectile is enough. In warfare, tanks can never fully replace infantry - they are too expensive to produce and to MAINTAIN (I have never seen this aspect in any RTS) and precious. It would be interesting to make starport the only way to get heavy armoured vehicles. But in RTS you usually end the game by producing huge armies of tanks and mechs and no infantry at all (except engineers).
The infantry has also ability to dig a trench VERY fast (a hole 2m x 0.5m, 20cm deep can be dug in three minutes if you are on grass, believe me). That makes an excellent cover against bombardment (soldier must take direct hit), against tanks (it's difficult to spot you from tank; you can not be also crushed by it; You can also protect tanks this way, but it takes hours and they lose their best defence - mobility). Never seen in RTS too (except starcraft bunker, but it isn't exactly what I'm talking about).
What I appreciate is the use of snipers, mortar infantry, 3D view, balance between the units and houses. The number of units, subhouses is just OK, unit that is too strong and can be produced in huge numbers will ruin the game. If you want many units, some of them really strong, play RA: Aftermath. It's one big... The subhouses were added to support you, not to become equal allies/opponents.
I also must agree with opinion, that path-finding and unit orders are poor (for example the stupidity of my repair vehicles, which are usually destroyed by my own sonic tanks.)
Still, after all this I think that Emperor is a good game and many things improved since the times of RA.
- Andrey

I think westwood or whoever make Emperor should make an expansion paack where you can play as one of the sub houses and each house would have it's own mission(s). I also think you should be able to build the Guild NIAB(NIAP?)Flyer in skirmish games. I also think the Tleilaxu should have more units in fact all the sub houses need more units. However I think that an expansion pack for Emperor Battle for Dune is in order.
- Dark Star

okay, lets get this straight: kobras can beat minotaurs any day.
it is just common sense: kobras have tougher armor, self-repair and a faster rate of fire (rapid fire). minotaurs only have a longer range than kobras.
also, house harkonnen needs some kind of artillery to take care of those pesky snipers and mortar infantry.
- borderguard

Atreides:Assault Bike.Cost:250.Description:A three wheeled,cloaked,sort of looks like a sand bike but has a rotating mini-gun turret on the top for some anti-vehicle but mostly anti-infantry use.
- feydkin

i think there needs to be made a mode that is simple like you activeate it and it will give your house infinite money, power, reveal the map, and instant build. house Atredies needs more mechs like in Mechwarrior 4. the fremen need a tank also along with the sarduaker and not that wippy thing that you get with the cheat, they also need some turrets. just for verification minotaurs win all the time against kobras. also the rules.txt file should be easier to alter with out the game after closing down about 30 mins. I think that they need a new game with a better story u know more movies better story line and so forth. i also think that anyone in st. louis,MO reading this should contact me espcially if u are a female from 14 to 17.
- whohaw2

Like borderguard said in his text box, Minotaurs can be killed by a kobra quite easily, but it really depends on who gets the first shot, kobra's are fast firing and quick to strike, minotaurs are slow and bulky and have some downsides, but if u want increased chances to win aganst kobra's, try getting ur minotaurs on a ridge, (" if u got the time to do that ") if not, prey that the first 4 shots are a direct hit, or use some ornithopters to soften they're hides up, (" NO GOOD IF THEY"RE ARE ANTI-AIR UNITS NEARBY! ")then once softened, use thoose salvos to finish em. although im quite new to online play, i do have a few tricks up my sleeve that i intend to keep safely there.
- Atredies Loyal

This is getting lame, but I have one more idea...
Ordos Chemical Mine- Laid by an upgraded Ordos Engineer, when enemy infantry get close to this unit, It pops out of the sand, spins around, and sprays Zyklon like a demonic sprinkler.
- Youngblood

Atreides Shock Troops- A slow infantry unit with a big ol' battery on his back... he fires quickly at infantry, killing them at moderate range in one electric surge. He can disable mechanical units for a short time.
Atreides Elite Shock Troops- Same as above, but charge has the ability to jump from one infantry unit to another within close range.
- Youngblood

Harkonnen Napalm Bomber... it could drop a line of three bombs, which detonate over the intended target, releasing a heck of a lot of fire and smoke that would stay burning for a while.
- Youngblood

Hows about something like an Ordos or Harkonnen Dismantler? It would look like a basically square tank and move moderately slow. When deployed, it buries itself in the sand and is invisible, except to close infantry. When a mechanical unit comes near, a tractor beam snags it and it is taken into the dismantler. The Dismantler destroys it and produces some basic tank from its parts. Could be interesting. Also, it has no really awesome superweapons...
- Youngblood

Oh yea and anothor thing,when tanks get destroyed,the one whose driving it should come out not like in emperor that they destroy a tank and thats it.And also when you destroy a plane,shouldnt a pilot come out in a parachute.In emperor,the plane is destroyed and thats all.The one thats got my idea is the eye in the sky,when it is deployes,it explodes and a person is in a parachute when it falls.
- Annaracl

When People die they should bleed and stay dead on the ground not just disapear.Thats how empereor is.If my idea is done,it will make the game more realistic.And also,why dont sub houses dont have a standard base?They wont depend on units all the time.They should have turrets or something as a defense.Like fremen,they should have a fedaykin turret.And when you ally with a sub house,why cant you build there structures and units that arent included.Tleilaxu got a living turret and that bug that selfdestructs.When you ally with them you only get a flesh vat and the lech and contaminator.You dont even get the living turret.
- Annaracl

Actually,being only a master of a single house isn't really
that cool.Why not mastering all the 3 houses? That,u can be
called the EMPEROR of DUNE.Though I can say I play best
with HArkonnen,I can say also that I can give my opponent
some hard times when i use other houses.I like Harkonnen for I'm a strategic player.
- ceazar

There is a reason for the Harkonnen being significantly down-gunned since Dune 2. Namely, it was the fact that a Harkonnen player (in Dune 2) could just rush the enemy with missle tanks and Devastators; that isn't exactly strategy. In Emperor, you must use strategy to get the most out of the Harkonnen units. That's why this game is a strategy game afterall. You must select a House based on your strategy type, not by its units. If you're into quick attacks and surgical strikes, pick the Ordos, well-balanced air-ground attacks, pick the Atreides, strategically planned, crushing ground attacks, pick the Harkonnen. To be a master of the Harkonnen, you must rely on strategy, not firepower. If there is an Emperor expansion pack, some changes should be made, namely the re-introduction of the Seige Tank. It should be a Harkonnen unit, and should basically be an upgunned Assault Tank with a turret (just like in Dune 2), kind of an intermediary between the HK Assault Tank and the HK Devastator. Additionally, give the Fremen Feydakin the ability to use their Crysknives; like the Sardaukar Bashars/Elites use their knives. Also, House Corrino should be in any expansion pack, that would add tremendous balance to the game. Something along the lines of Corrino-Harknonnen-Sardaukar versus Atreides-Ordos-Fremen would be neat. The Devastator Tank should be brought back, get rid of the Devastator Walker; let the Atreides have the walkers. Hero characters such as Muad'Dib (Paul Atreides), Stilgar (a Fremen leader) and say, a ghola of Na-Baron Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen (Killed by Paul Atreides, a lot like Gunseng Harkonnen) would be a great addition as well. It would be great to have a mission that's basically Feyd-Rautha and his forces agains Muad'Dib and his Fremen Savages. You could end the mission with a one-on-one of Feyd-Rautha against Muad'Dib. To the glory of Geidi Prime and the House Harkonnen!
- Siridar-Baron Harkonnen

i only use atreides and harkonnen. no ordos!
minotauruses can hit from really long range. however, atreides must depend on many different types of units to stay alive.
the only problem with harkonnen is that you must build a starport to get devastators.
fortunately, the only units you ever need are devastators, so it makes the strategy much simpler than atreides.
i would really like if self-repair could be gained with only one, instead of two veteran stripes.
- atrcmdr

This game is great -- inconsistent with the history of the original series, but still great -- however there is just one little thing wrong with it. It can only be played on WINDOWS operating system. How about a MAC version fellas????????
- Victor Atre

I think that minotaurus do have longer range than kobras.
however, one on one, kobra could beat minotaurus anyday.
I tried it out. An assault tank against a mino: the assault tank would win. Assault tank against kobra? the kobra would win everytime.
whoever out there thinks minotaurus can beat kobras...well, you're a moron!
- borderguard

I decided to go back to dune and again play the harkonnen...
I've never played multi but I'm sure the tactics will be different...
to stop getting humped in game I build three air defence platforms and plant them around where I need serious defence... they totaly screw the computer ordos players since they hardly send enough AA troopers.. blow holes in any spice harvesters they send up... and eventually you overrun them since theyve no money... makes the game kinda boring that way *lol* once you get a hold with the platforms.. send up some missle tanks and a few flame tanks for defence and very little gets past... the only real competition to that is the atreides minotauruses as borderguard says... since they also have AA missiles... a few salvos from the missile tanks solves that problem tho ;) I admit I mod the game with the 'emperor modification file' mod IMHO and I stress it is only my opinion.. the game is now more set around 2&2k rather than emperor.. this is what makes the game more balanced. IMHO the harkonnen will never suck... and that it was the developers that programmed them to do so in the first place... the mod balances that out, it doesnt of course mean I set the devastator to the same speed as the minotauruses or anything.. that would just make the game boring *lol*
- Nostradamus

oh yeah, you said that right. harkonnens suck, eh?
but hey, nothings wrong with mechs, especially minotauruses.
actually, it is pretty fair. everytime the mino fires, it takes 12 seconds to reload.
i such a nerd, i actually timed it.
- borderguard

oops... when I said about the atredies being the most warlike I meant the harkonnen *lol* tha atredies do have the most powerful units in the game... maybe they should have been toned down since they can train themselves up to veterans so quickly...
the whole promotion system I think is excellent... but I rarely get any harkonnen promoted to anything and when they are they are dug in sardukar and don't stay a live long enough to make enough of a difference. (they either get sniped or blasted by those damn walkers !
- Nostradamus

I've always loved the dune series of games.... Dune II was a marvel of gaming... although I bought Dune2k after beating dune 2 several times on both the amiga and PC and was very disapointed, IMHO the graphics werent nearly as good as the competators at the time and furthermore it was the same bloody story with the same bloody units... (thinking that mibbie if dune2k had the same graphics as emperor the game might have been much more of a sucess) I always loved the harkonnen, in Dune 2 they were very strong but slow and expensive... in emperor they are slow, expensive and.... crap. WHY? ok fair enough the missile tanks were too strong if you had loads grouped up... but in emperor you might as well spit on the enemy for the same effect... the attreides and ordos all appear to have better weapons... and to be honest some much more suited to the harkonnen than any of the other houses... I thought the attraides were the most warlike? why arent apcs given to all houses? (maybe because they were running out of ideas for new units?) I mean god, some of the c&c units futurized might have made an improvement. someone further up this message board suggested all this about what snipers should and shouldn't do... how about from the other perspective... why dont the units being shot at run away? I really would like to love this game... great cutscenes and quite awesome graphics, although how a tank can turn into a mechwarrior! I have no idea... why not of called the mechwarrior something else, made it a little less powerfull, little faster and had it as an opponent to the ordos walker? Is there really going to be an expansion to this or is it all speculation?
I agree that westwoods games have in the past become point and click massacares with little tact (especially the c&c series) and to be honest I cant complain that this is the only one that would appear to be as tactful as .. dare I say it starcraft (one of my friends is a starcraft nut) personally I hate the whole idea of starcraft... apart from the tactical side, that all units have a purpose. Yeah sure, if you go the ordos or the atredies all their units have a unique purpose to do a specific job and are certainly powerful enough to do it... but the supposed 'evil' harkonnen are nothing more than piss poor pansies... I'm not suggesting more super units or super weapons... but how about making the harkonnen scary again? their combat machines just dont match up to the games cutscenes and I'd rather watch paint dry than send my 'mechwarrior' in to get its arse kicked!
apart from that.... the game itself is quite fun.. just a pity about the harkonnen *sniff*
any opinions on what I've said?
- Nostradamus

someone please help me. whenever i'm atreides, ordos kobras destroy my minotauruses first. whenever i'm ordos, minotauruses demolishes my kobras first.
something must be wrong.
in a one-on-one battle, who would win? Minotaurus, or Kobra?
someone better know.
- borderguard

Ya Hya Chouhada!
Just an italian translation patch will be an Excellent idea,won't it?I think westwood has made a mistake not to releasing an italian version of the game:it is not a good imagepolicy,aniway.....
I hope that a good soul send to me the text of the dialogues of the movies,because i can't understand all of what the characters say. thanks to anyone that will ask to my request.
Bi-La Kaifa!
- Leto II Atreides

More units:
Atreides:
Pit Trap
Cost: 1000
It is cloaked building and when a unit comes close to it, he will take some damage slowly, but when he steps onto it, the pit trap will be revealed, the unit will fall into it. Up to 5 Infantry or 1 Vehicle when they step on it the pitr trap will eat them up, but if it has reached the limit it will explode.
Harkonnen:
Torture Chamber
Cost: 1000
A huge building, when u built the torture chamber all infantry will not be killed in combat, except yours and those not killed by your units, they will be taken by scouts (they come out from the chamber and take the soldier to the chamber) and then tortures them. Secret Information of enemy Base and Construction YArds will be revealed. Another possibility is u get to build a random unit that u dont have.
Ordos:
Laser Turret
Cost: 2000
Has the power of 8 sardaukers firing together. Can also stop Aircraft. Doesnt seem to fire at Scouts, Fremen, and sards. When it fires at a shielded unit both it and the unit will explode. so dont use them if you are fighting against Ordos!
- gunner154

Let's make our own Emperor units and wish they would come out in the expansion. I have an Idea.
Atreides Bunker
Cost: 1750
Description: When an enemy unit comes near, it will change weapons. Against infantry it uses bullets. Against Tanks it has armour-piercing bullets and salvos of rockets. It can attack aircraft using the rockets. It can also detect stealth units like a vehicle.
Atreides Reinforcement Carryall
Cost: 2000
Description: A Unit that can be sent to any part of the map. When it lands, it deploys random units. It must return to the Landing Pad to refill reinforcements. Either 2 Vehicles or 6 Infantry can be deployed. If APCs pop up they will be filled with Infantry.
Harkonnen Inkvine Turret
Cost: 1300
Description: A Tall Tower with an Inkvine Catapult on top, it is capable of firing Inkvine at incredible ranges. Killing Hordes of Infantry, the inkvine is also heavier than the Inkvine Catapult, but takes a longer time to reach the target. Just as effective against vehicles as the normal catapult though. This defensive turret has NO defense against enemy air armada.
Harkonnen Bomber
Cost: 2000
Description: A slow moving aircraft that moves over it's target to drop Inkvine Fluid over the target. It however doesnt drop a canister of fluid. It pours the liquid over the target, inflicting incredibly severe damage, and rendering the area toxic for like 15 minutes! It also has a light machinegun, which is able to target any inkvine fluid on the ground, in order to light it up and create firewalls at incredible speed.
Ordos Half-Track Raider
Cost: 500
Description: This vehicle moves even faster than a dust scout, able to move over dust bowls (cant burrow) and fires heat-seeking missiles that are so accurate it can never miss, no matter how the target runs. If the target is destroyed before the missile reaches it, it will go around looking for a random target. It's turret is rotatable 180degrees only, making it easy targets for enemy tanks. It does not hover, and is not shielded.
Ordos AA Turret
Cost: 2000
Description: Very deadly and a MUST in every Ordos base. Like all Ordos Defences these are pop-up turrets that open up or pop-up only when there is a target nearby. It is so deadly against Aircraft and fires hundreds of missiles at any aircraft flying over it. No aircraft can fly over it safely. It can engage multiple targets at one time, however. It has a serious draw-back. It is bunker like, and has 4 machinegun ports around it to engage light treats. These also need to open up the Turret in order to fire. The guns' range are poor. But can stop Infantry coming from all directions with ease. When the base has low power, the turret will explode, and release deadly shrapnel that severely damages all units around it. This can seriously damage your base. If you have too many AA Turrets and your base is on low power, most probably you'll lose your construction yard :p
- gunner154

i say that minos, with a couple of mongooses as air defence, are the best against anything! problems solved.
minos are good against infantry, armor. Mongooses good against air. keep repair vehicles around and you are invincible.
- borderguard

why do u all like dune? the only thing interesting are the kobras. wat a couple of losers u are.
- kobra*****

Atreides are the best. Nice well-rounded house. Who cares if the ornithopters suck; I never use them anyway. Forget about the infantry. All you need are minotauruses, mongooses, and repair vehicles. A minotaurus with only one veterancy stripe owns a missile tank!
I pity House Harkonnen. They can't repair until 2 veterancy levels. Devastators are over-rated. They can't kill infantry as well as minotauruses, cost too much.
Inkvine catapults do absolutely nothing, they are just there for decorations. Only the music is good.
House Ordos are better than harkonnen actually. Kobras are okay. However, deviators are over-rated by some people. They aren't that fast, can't defend against air units and the shot is way too slow. I use a mongoose to circle around the deviator and won't get hit once.
Basically, House Harkonnen really stunk in this game, unlike Dune II.
- atrcmdr

first of all i would be pleased to know exactly how to acquire rapidly the degrees for my units:sometimes the go up in grade very fast,sometimes they make me go mad to obtain those grades; second,i've noticed that many structures of all the houses have the possibility to grow up in degree (like the atreides infantry barracks):well,how can i make this structures gain levels? (for example the harkonnen factory)thanks to anyone that will respond me
- Leto II Atreides

Try to play dune2000, it's really good. I like it!
- dune2000

Emperor are really good, BUT I have some problems. I can't deploy all marked units, it sucks! AND, I can't get the red color in skirmish, AND I can't change name in the skirmish!
Somebody got the same problems? Write to me.
I've played dune2000 too, it's good.
- ordos god

i have read most of the suggestions here, and some of them are really really lame, they obviously never read the book, or watched the miniseries or played other dune games, i am saddened by the state of westwood fans today
- Godwin

1. Allow troop formations e.g., strong units in front, mid-strength in the middle and weak in the back etc. Much like what AOE offers.
2. Allow for setting the stance of a unit e.g., offensive, defensive, hold ground, retreat when attacked etc. Again this is an available feature in AOE.
3. Imporve the path-finding. Units do not follow way-points very well.
4. I used to love to play Ordos, but switched to Hark because they are very poor in longer games. They are disadvantaged because of a poor air defense and a poor air offense. Hark has a great advantage to Ordos in this regard. Also the cobras range should be greater then a Min's. Mins are more heavily armored and can move whereas a Cobra must deploy, therefore I believe a Cobra should have greater range then a Min. If Ordos had improved air defense or an airforce (one or the other) and greater range with the Cobra they would be a far more balanced house to play.
5. The bugs I've noticed that drive me crazy are: Ix tanks stop producing sometimes and air units get stuck together at times.
6. Changes I'd like to see to the default behavior: Carryalls cannot be rallied (grr)and carryalls cannot be gifted to an ally in team play.
7. When playing off Arakis it would interesting to have units applicable to those invironments e.g., Caladan was ruled by air and sea. On Arrakis you need desert power. It only plays to reason if there were unique units for these home worlds. This would make the off world games more interesting. Also if you gave another method for income when off world it would be a lot more interesting. I hate waiting for cash. If each world had a main income source as Arrakis does it would open a whole new deminsion to Emperor.
Overall I think Emperor is a fantastic game. Probably the best RTS I've ever played. With some improvements it really could rule the universe. The RTS universe anyway. =)
- Purmalice

One more thing, you can deploy all selected deployable units together by pressing 'd' and you can move the rally point of reinforcements from just around your conyard.
- Duracien

Emperor is one of the most amazing games I've ever played and I really have only 2 problems with it. Number one is the inability to move carryalls... How many times have countless carryalls fallen victim to enemy air defense units??? Number two, the Ixian projector is much too powerful a unit... There is nothing more annoying than having my base fall to an enemy who hasen't paid nor gone through the trouble of producing the assaulters!
One thing I'd like to see in the game was to have the option to make the environment much more hostile. Like fast worms (maybe a smaller variety), HUGE sandstorms that affect people on nearly the entire map, drumsands that call worms, and sand which units sink into (I forget the exact term).
Oh and to the people who want more units - where the hell else can you find a game that has this degree of both quantity and quality units? I agree an expansion would be nice. Add a few new subhouses and maybe a Corrino house. Take out some minor inconsistencies, add a new storyline, make worms primarily go after shielded units, and remove all traces of the fremen EVER owning yaks!
Other than that kudos to Westwood for producing such an original and quality game. I only wish more people had the opportunity to experience it.
- Duracien

"Westwood did a very good job making the game balanced." This was a comment somebody left about the game. I have to agree completely. Almost every unit in the game seems to have strengths and weaknesses, much like units in Microsoft's popular Age of Empires. The only exception I believe are the Fremen. Upgraded Fremen in groups are nearly indestructable in hit and run tactics because of their firepower and stealth. Yes, I love'em, but I wish that when they walk over hard rock, they become unstealthed (like in Dune 2 and I think Dune2000 as well). Also, game slows too much with lots of units, I guess I cannot really complain because the graphics are awesome, and I wouldn't want them to downgrade to have it run smoother. Okay, second gripe: The Atreides Ornithopter is much too weak. You have to group several of them in an attack, and they still barely manage to destroy a target while being damaged or destroyed by enemy anti-air units. This is very disappointing for two reasons: 1.)they require structure to maintain and are costly. 2.) they are a unique vehicle/weapon, becoming an actual unit for the first time, and being so, I think most of us expected it to play a significant role in playing house atreides. Oh, gosh, I have a couple more things to say. The serial number protection key sucks. I lost my number, and has to re-install. I was bummed out and had to email dozens of people to get it. Westwood and EA were no help whatsoever, not even returning my inquires. The FAQ on their site just listed an address to mail the disks away, presumably to get a new serial number key returned to you. I love the idea of having a disk per house to play. The music is absolutely awesome, I hope all future Dune games can meet the new high bar that was set in this game. I posted to MadOnion.com's discussion group for games and nobody like Emperor, but I tried to fight their foolishness. It is harder and harder to impress people these days with good computer games, but for me, Emperor Battle for Dune exceeded my expectations.
- Jason McAllister

almost everything u guys r posting here is completely stupid. Seems 2 me that a lot of u wanna make every unit in the game extremely powerful with no disadvantages. Like one person said how minotaurus's should be much faster. THEY R EXTREMELY HEAVILY ARMORED AND HAVE UNBELIEVABE FIRE POWER THAT HAS AN AMASING RANGE, WUT MORE DO U WANT, MAKING THEM MOVE VERY FAST WILL TURN THEM INTO AN UNDESTRUCTABLE SUPER UNIT 4 GODS SAKE!!!! And someone said how there should b a carrior that carious interceptors that fire oppon enemy units...hmm...y is that so familiar. MAYB CAUSE IT'S IN STARCRAFT, GEEZ, IF U HAVE AN IDEA ATLEAST MAKE IT ORIGINAL, AND WESTWOOD COULD GET SUED 4 DOIN THAT CAUSE ITS AN EXACT COPY OF WUT STARCRAFT HAS, AND DONT SAY U CANT SUE 4 THAT CAUSE NOWADAYS U CAN SUE 4 JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING. And all this talk about more airial units and more powerful super-weapons, those r the things that ruined Star Craft and Red Alert 2, in star craft u rely 2 much on airial units and barely build anything else bcause the rest is rather pointless, and in red alert 1 super weapon will destroy half the enemies base, thats no fun when u can win so easily. U guys should b happy with the amasing game that u have.
- GDX

I think it would be a good idea to have an option to upgrade the buildings to have a powershield which will give extra protection and which can be upgraded to a mask shield so the building can't be seen by the enemy.
For example:
a group of turrets near the entrance and the enemy can't see it (only if they start to fire or by a scout)
- zemsys

The buildings should have more armor. Even less that 5 Fremen Fredykin(or what ever is that) can easily blows the factory or barrack up
- phoenix3k

Balance the super weapons better. For example, change the Hawk Strike to a robotic hawk diving and fiering a big barrage of sonic cannons. Also change the Chaos Lightning to something like a "Snake of Domination", a missile that when a bit above its intended target explodes, releasing a lot of the same gas as Deviators use, making most units in a certain radius temporarily controllable by you. These are only ideas to make all the super weapons more balanced and worth the charging time.
- G12

1. I suggest a future expansion, in which House Corrino become a fully playable house. The Corrino can have units such as:
a/Plasma Tanks (Mount a single Devastator plasma cannon)
b/Desert Weasels (anti-infantry units, which can dig under the sand)
c/Sand Scythes (Heavy - firepower MLRS, which can disable a whole massed rush, but is useless against fast vehicles)
d/Scout APCs, which are fast, mount an Ordos Infantry Mortar and can house two infantrymen)
2. New Subhouses (One of them should replace the Sardaukar, which will become Corrino Units). They can be: House Richese, House Ginaz, Honored Matres, etc.
- Peter Ostoich

For one, the Minotaurus may be strong, but its speed is way low. If only the guys at Westwood could make it faster, I'd be really appreciative. Another mistake is, when the air drone is flyin, notice there is a shadow of its flame. Shouldn't be there
- Pedishah Emperor

Two simple things : 1. we should be able to know how much units of each knid we have, especially for harvesters. Sometimes you hera "unit destroyed" but you never know which one on the map! As harversters are always moving with carryalls you cant' find and count them easily. It would be great to add a key such like "next harverster" similar to "next veteran unit" or to include a list of the units we control on the map in the game.
2. Westwood should simply release some new units from time to time available on the westwood web site, for mutliplayer game. Or even some small scenarii like there are in the game. Stuffs like "four snipers to save other units in a cargo" are quite fun, or defending the duke etc. The simple solution would ni fact be releasing a mission editor.
That's all.
- QDel

okay, seriously, people.
I don't mean *any* offense at all when I'm saying this. So please don't take this personally. You guys should just learn to adapt to things. I move my units in smaller group; guerilla tactics. I deploy my kindjal infantry while other units draw enemy fire. Take that into consideration. Westwood worked hard on this game. Oh sure, I agree about the aircraft. Some are too powerful, others too weak. But I think the guys at Westwood did a very good job making the game balanced. It's just that they have different strategies than what we all use. Would the game be fun if all you had to do is get aircraft first to win? I don't think so. That's what happened with StarCraft, people! All you need in that game are battlecruisers, and you're set. No strategy there. No challenge there. No fun there.
And yeah, I agree about the Harkonnen not being all that great. Their Missile Tanks aren't all that good. The Inkvine is almost worthless. The Assault Tank isn't very good. But that's what the subhouses are for. Mix some armor with some Sardaukar and you're set to go!
Sorry. I'm just a crazy psycho. =)
- Duncan

You could deploy all the deployable units by pressing 'D'... even if the group contains not deployable units!
- Kisk

I think it would be a good idea to give the AI the possibility to be diplomatic with another house so you can bring an even stronger enemy into a multiplayer session!
- Psychoteddy

Only a simple suggest:the idea of acquiring degrees for the units during the battles is very good,but completely useless if units cannot be repaired:in fact quite all the units are destroyed or too heavily damaged before they obtain the maximum degree;what i suggest is to dotate all the houses with a repairing structure or unit:in this whay the experience gained on the battle field can be preserved and increased,untill it can be in effect used for assaults or defence!
- Leto II Atreides

As far as new units are concerned, what about some more additions to the Sub-Houses?
Tleilaxu: Infester - Infests vehicles and infantry and turns them into Infesters. Faster than Leech.
Ix: Stealth Tank - Cloaks units around it, like StarCraft Arbiter.
Sardaukar: Commander - Plasma Rifle and Knife, basically an infantry version of the Devastator but less power, range etc.
Fremen: Heavy Warrior - Plasma / Laser gatling gun (like in the movie).
Guild - NIAB Transport - Can teleport and move normally but teleports in faster than NIAB tank and can transport infantry.
- Mark Charters

Ok i have more sugestions form EBD. First i think the 'Thopter should be standard for all houses. Atreides should get a new kind of Air unit, maybe a bomber of some kind, or maybe an anti infantry aircraft with a potent cannon like on the pillbox. I think also the sniper might need to be removed and replaced with a medic. As well the Kindjal need to be adapted, a slower rate of fire but the ability to fire air bursts. Also i think that infantry should be able to shoot at aircraft, doesn't need to be highly effective but they should be able to.Why don't the Fremen ever kill people with knives, this was a huge part of the Fremen why was it over looked? Any way that all i can think of for now i hope some of these sugestion make it into a patch
- Cap'n

ouhh ... one another thing ... Fremen can ride sandworm ...
- Loxias Atreides

hi all, great game, I love! it ... but it need more units and more houses, especially more Fremen and Sardaukar units ...maybe waterunits on Caladan:o)..... Ordos turrets are extremly weak, I think,... its also very easy to finish the game with Harkonnen forces ... rocket lancher tanks in combination with Sardaukar are too strong ... I mean indefeatable ...
- Loxias Atreides

Enough has been said about unit AI, so...
*since the homeworlds don't have Arrakis' high winds, don't you think that there should be an actual power plant players have to build there?
*it would have been interesting if there were buildings you could garrison with infantry ala Red Alert 2, as well as neutral tech buildings (hospital, repair pad, et cetera).
*some units are conspicuous by their absence, even though their inclusion would make a great deal of sense: medics, RA2-styled spies, and commandos for three.
- Firefly

hi all..
i want more units and subhouses....
- omer

hi. emp is a great game but...
more units, more subhouses units, more houses and subhouses, maps, homeworlds, and new story!!
plz.
- shom

I'd like to see better defence systems for Harkonnen and Ordos, Atreides have the rocket turret which is superb, but the other two have comparatively weak defences, for example, Harkonnen flame turrets and machine guns do not have enough range- they can be destroyed by almost any vehicle if they sit and fire just out of range. Secondly, I would like to see more 'intelligent' carryalls, it would be good if they picked up the harvesters when attacked or at the sight of a worm, being able to control them would also be useful. Also, it would be better if the harvesters had memory, like in red alert 2; going back to harvest from where you last told them to, rather than returning to the closest patch of spice every time.
Other than these few greviances, the game on the whole is very good.
- Wozza

allow people to select more than one advanced carryall and more than one eye in the sky and allow people to control carryalls
- Brian Tanke

I think better controls of moving and deplying units. It is very difficult to control a large army and move it accross an expanse of territory. The new Formation Move hot key seems a little inaccurate. I think cleaning it up so that you can actually move ranks of assembled units in formation would be great. Second, allow multi-level group control (control 1-9) so that you can control your entire army with one control number and the divisions within with another number.
- Nagathon

New units so we can have a larger range of options. What else, better ai, an attack move mode, a mass deploy, better pathfinding, better wormriding (too short,too slow), better air units, better balance between houses, better units for subhouses, a blitz move mode (move and attack any enemy and not care about defense and keep moving while attacking), not have to stop to fire (most units), command lists for units (like move here THEN deploy), infantry trys to dodge oncoming crushers, better super weapons (ordos weapons kinda sucks), that should be all i want.
- Rasolas

More maps of the other planets. A good way to shut up a player who always uses the atredies air drone rush is to fight him on another planet where you don't have to worry about collecting spice. At the least it would even out the gameplay a little.
- lactosemonster

House IX is a lot too strong. In many maps you can crush the enemy with only few projector. You just have to make a lot of long range unit projection, so they can shoot once before being killed.
Another thing: the fremen fedaykin should cost a lot more. They can easilly kill a lot of units with their cloaking ability.
- Shamallow

Emp is a Cool game but could use better AI. There should be a set point option for repair units to return to after repair without me telling it to do so. MAp editior and better oppent AI are always needed in RTS games. It is unfair that atreides and ordos repair while harkonnen are left for dead. The Hark engineer is already different from others, why not let him enter in vehicals to bring them to full strenght. A fight or flight AI especially with infantry would help greatly. How about courage and loyalty to determine whether they will fight or run. Ordos weakest and Atreides strongest. And a carryall fear factor, or it picks its harvestor up and runs(flies back to base)at first shot at spice harvestor or it.
I would suggest three new infantry types to make it more interesting. Harkonnen Ponieer INF, Atreides Paratrooper, and Ordos Rock Viper.
OK, this is where I get creative. Harkonnen got the short end of the stick so know they get Ponieer Infanrty. Ponieers have pistol and a shovel but don't let that fool you they can use the shovel like elite shadakur use knives.
Their main purpose is to build fortification. At first they may only build barbwire, But after first elite bar they can build trenches and concrete fortifications (bunkers). Wait it gets better. AT second veteren bar they self heal and at third bar can place land mines. only ENG and other poineers may remove them without detonation. Suggested price 350.
Now the other shorted infantry Ordos. The rock viper can scale rock and climb right into his base makeing your oppent defend all of his base not just the front door. Rock vipers carry a rifle (simalar to fremen) and must deploy to fire a grapple hook with rope at flat surface. AT first veteran bar may fire to grapple hooks.(Not AT same time) This means he can hook a vehical to a rock or another vechial. Only lasts while he is alive but could prove useful in holding vehicals back during airbone(carryall) assults. At Second bar self heal, at third becomes invisible. Ordos have snipers too! Suggested retail price 200.
Not that they need it, atreides get para toopers. The nice thing here is there already in the game.(eye inthe sky.) An advanced carryall would pick up a APC and you would deploy APC in air. Paratroopers have armor close to gernrals but regular infanrty machine guns. At first veterancy level they manuver parachutes in mid air to avoid fire. At second level Self heal, and at third they get gernades to throw at any time even when parachuting down! Suggested retail price 200. REmember they only have regular machine guns to start out.
- J15

I think that Emperor is a great game but it has its downs. The makers have left out some of the options that we are so used to in previous Westwood strategy games. First, there are no more hotkeys for the individual buildings or units for the sidebar. Granted that some people don't want to use hotkeys, but you should have a choice. Lets say, you are out of power and want to place a quick wind trap, but you are in the middle of a battle. You should be able to press two buttons on your keyboard and the windtrap starts building. That can be a life saver. Uhhhhmmmm (commercial)
- Rafal

I enjoy playing Emperor quite a bit. Much like all the people who posted here i see the small changes that would make the game better. I agree with alot of what people wrote here about AI and that Harkonnen units could use a little beefing up. My main concern is Air units, I find that Ornithopters amn Gunships are not as effective because they take too long to destroy things. They each carry the fire power but they carry too much and it is to weak. My idea is that the Ornithoper (which currently has 10 missiles) should carry only 4 which would be more then twice as powerful as they currently are. The Gunship would operate along the same lines carrying 2 powerful rockets. This would make both units much more effective. If this is not possible perhaps a salvo option where i would be able to select a the amount of missles or rockets the air units fire at once. Also a small bug i have found is when air units get to close together they get stuck. Like one 'thopter's trying to land and there is another trying to take off from the same place and they get stuck. HOpe this is helpful
- Cap'n

there should be freman raids
- Brad

heres an idea have programs available online to us gamers to fix the problems we are having with your games like me with Emperor Battle for dune i have problems with my game freezing up on me so if i had a program it fix it i would be ever so happy
- jay dragon

I would like to see units get out of the way of oncoming tanks etcetra, i meen I wouldn't sit around and let someone run over me, also evasionary tactics would be nice... i.e. a mongoose circling its target while firing, or infintry circling/running around a targed while firing, i love the crawling infintry. I don't like having to control all my units individually in order to achieve success, I think that you should have a group deploy, i.e. i don't like having to individually deploy my kindjal infintry, half of them are dead before i can get 3 or 4 deployed I would like some way to deploy all 20 at once. Unit movement needs to be improved. I would like better a.i. out of the carryall, or the ability to force move it, though I really don't want to be in control of spice harvesting. I don't like that a spice harvester may crawl all the way across the map when there is spice right outside the base. Air units are very weak especially for what they cost. I would like to see an attack move, that is, units which engage oncoming units on the way to their destination, I hate it when i have to stop moving to manually engage enimies, and the thing i hate most about combat is the fact that you have to tell your units which units to engage, they don't automatically engage, that is to say "click this unit... ok its dead, click the next unit" meanwhile the computer a.i. is tearing my units up by cluster firing at them Units don't return fire if an enemy unit is out of range, they don't even try to return fire, my minotaurs get chewed up by catapults and the ordos cannon thingummy, i would just like them to move towards, or run away or do something in order to engage or get out of the way of the hail of fire. I know it sounds like I hate the game but I really love it, there are just a few things that I would like to see employed.
- masamune

This game is really ROX!! =)
It's really an improvement compared to the more recent RTS games from WW...
N-e-way, I was thinking like this, you all probably know that if you tell a Mongoos to walk somewhere it will automatically fire upon anny unit that comes in range, since it has a turret mounted weapon and it doesn't have to stop to fire, right?
Well... I was thinking along these lines and came to the conclusion that WW should add a sort of attack mode, that you can click on a pice of ground that you want to take, and as your units move twords the ground they will automatically engage anny unit (enemy) that comes in its path, not just keep moving, and after the destruction of the enemy keep on moving twords the spot that was clicked using the "attack mode" command.
Sorta like in StarCraft... ( I know its not a WW game but it is quite good. )
- Applepie

probably one of my more favorite subhouses are the fremen, but whats the deal with them not attacking on there own, i have to click on an Atredias infantrymen, wasting an extra 9 bullets on it, while the other infantrymen wasted my fremen. They should be more like the Sardaukar. If the Sardaukar kills an infantrymen and still isnt done shooting, it will start shooting something else immeadiately. Why cant the fremen be like that too? If their target is killed, they should simply track something else and shoot that instead of shooting an already dead infantry. Oh yah, the pathfinding sucks, even when using waypoints. I lost half my army one time because they drove through the enemy base to get to a waypoint that was right in front of them. I lost so much i had to pull back the survivors before they ever fired a shot. One last thing, AA guns (except for Ordos) kill aircraft to easily, and the aircraft arent that good anyway and you should be able to control Carryalls, ive seen several carryalls pick up a harvester infront of a worm to set it down on the worm, and when the Carryall's harvester dies, it just sits there. This could easily be a great game, but only after a patch comes out.
- OHAannihilator

im thinking that when teh fremen are on guard they should fire at enemy units cloaked or not it pisses me off when i have to select every unit i want and you have to be so accurate too its annoying and can make all teh difference in ambush or battles. if you dont want em to fire take em off guard
- dave

I think a test level is a good idea. A level where you start off with ALL the buildings and upgrades, and there are no other players (no humans or computers). This will be useful to test out personal changes and modifications made to the game.
- bob

- Ability to set 0 AI players in Skirmish, to allow the choice of the color Red
- Saving of preferences in Skirmish, to allow for faster replay
- Units in Guard Mode will move out and fire back when fired upon by artillery such as Minotaurs, Kobras, or Inkvines. (Currently Guard Mode waits until the enemy gets within a certain distance to move out and attack)
- Ability to re-target Harvesters. Currently, when they are finished unloading at a refinery, they will go to the closest spice patch, rather than the one you instructed them to harvest previously.
- Ability to add groups to a selection
- Ability to have an "entry" cursor for infantry rock, so you don't have to micromanage your infantry onto it?
- Ability to place repair vehicles in Guard Mode (so they return to thier origional position)
- Weapon-Armor analysis, so units will attack what they kill best
hmmm I think that's pretty much it :)
The one thing I would really like is a way to reduce the level of unit micromanagement currently in the game, I believe the guard mode where units will return fire when fired upon would probably accomplish that task, but still unsure. Any way to reduce micromanagement and make unit control less stressfull would be highly appreciated, WW :)
- Thalassicus

THIS GAME IS AWESOME. The game is extremely stable, both me and my friends play against each other all the time. Me and one of my pals have 1.1 Ghz with 512ram and GeForce 2 (actually we have identical computers). All my others have at least 750Mhz and we all have cable. This is the way strategy games were meant to be played. Only big complaint with the game is that the Ordos need one big attack vehicle.
- Sniper Dude

harkonnens totally smash ordos.ordos are totally shit there got nothing with firepower except kobras theyre turrents are totally shit theyre completely fucking useless.the sabortue should cloak and destroy a building out right.
- matt

rocket tanks should have longer range than minataurs
- matt

Saboteurs used to be one of my favorite infantry units. Once you diploy them they gained stelth and could distroy an entire building. Now they just suck. The whole human mine thing doesn't cut it. They can't gain stelth or enter buildings to distroy them. That just defets the whole purpouse of the saboteur. What can he sabotosh? If you want to distroy a whole building, you have to build an Eye in the Sky and detonat it when it's just above the target. You'll be lucky if the saboteur doesn't die before landing.
- Muadi

House IX is the worst of the subhouses. The Infultrators get distroyed before it finds your target, and the Projectors aren't projecting (at least not for me), and yes I have been deploying them. Does anyone have any info to change my mind?
- muadi

I just got Emperor and I think it's great. However, I can't seem to be able to build air drones, AA mines, and air defence platforms. I build all my buildings and upgade them to, but I still can't get them. Not even from the starport. The worst part is my enemies are able to get them. Am I doing something wrong?
- muadi

The mongoose should be faster and do more damage.
Minotaurs should also be faster and have rotatable
turrets.
- Fremen

The mongoose should be faster and do more damage.
Minotaurs should also be faster and have rotatable
turrets.
- Fremen

Co-op is needed in LAN, Harkonnen are too weak and too specialized for their ideology, Ordos need an Anti-Air Turret other than that they are perfect, Carryall AI sucks, they should pickup havaster quicker instead of circuling 5 times and should pick them up at the sign of a worm, Lasgun/Shield explosions should be bigger, and new multiplayer maps like with RA2
- Destroyer of Worlds

...
...
...
This is a WONDERFUL game, it has good graphics, nice story, and many cool units. BUT it's too unstable, HARKONNEN and ORDOS sucks, because they are weak. PLUS, the shortcut keys are too complicated...
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- Dex

ATREIDES - too strong. Snippers, Mongoose and Minotaurs should costs more credits. And build time should be a little increased.
HARKONEN - in comparison to Attreids they are weaker, not stronger. Assault tank and Inkvine catapult damage should be increased a little. Increase hit points of all harkonnen units a little.
ORDOS - very few/weak anti-air units and no anti-air structure (why?). Saboteurs don't gain experience and are quite difficult to use, give them cloaking and increase their building cost. Give Mortars greater splash damage (area) and speedup their reload a bit. Increase APC damage and/or range a little. EITS are very slow... increase their speed or give them ability to cloak.
Advanced Carryalls (all houses) - give them ability to deploy (holded) enemy units in the air - this should cause heavy damage to them (after they fall on the surface) and if they fall on other units, it can destroy the unit underneath. Also increase time to grab enemy vehicle and also its build time and cost.
Air units (all houses) - increase their effectiveness (damage/speed/hitpoints).
TLEILAXU: Contaminators aren't much effective. Decrease their cost and may be increase their speed.
IX: Projected illusions from Projectors should deal no damage or very reduced - at least to one half/quarter.
-X-
-X-
- XehutL

The units' pathfinding is bad. The campaign AI is better than that of RA2, but it still could be improved.
- -

whoo ho, atreides have by far the most powerful infantry.
kindjal infantry n snipers make a very effective base stormin group.
have won 5 missions in a row usin just these troops.
give ord better infantry..
harko sucks
- ja

1. Definately make it possible to selct 2 groups by pressing 1 <shift> 2.
2.More AI, the units are plain stupid, especially the infantry.
3. Regardless of how big the units are, the infantry should be able to damage them, at least more than a micro sliver.
4. Why isn't their an auto retreat???!!!
5. If you build 2 barracks, 2 factories, etc. you should be able to build those units twice as fast, right?
6. If Norton Utilities Imaging utility opens up during the game, it freezes! Also, I'm sure it happens with other programs.
7. It's so hard to click on an opponent to attack him while he's moving, make it easier somehow.
8. Ordos infantry stinks, needs to be better.
9. All air units are terrible, either make them better, or take them out.
10. The andvanced carryalls shouldn't be able to airlift enemys into your base, in real life this would never happen.
Overall the game rules, but it needs some refining. Most important, make infantry stronger, cus in real life war, there is much more infantry than tanks.
- Web250

Well I have been playing EBfD for a couple of days right now and have a couple of observations.
1) My biggest issue with RTS games is the inablity to properly task force groups of units to achieve proper combined arms time on target cooridination. In other words when you group units they should have an option to move only as fast as the slowest unit, so my sarduaker and Minatoures (sp?) arrive at the target at the same time. My infantry always arrives way before my heavy support or my units arrive piecemiel not all at once. Net result unnecessary losses.
2) The movement AI is pretty dumb, I have had several cases where half the units take the long way around an obstacle while the other half is getting chewed up. Hello are they on the same side or what!
3) Total Annihilation still gets my highest marks for RTS interface. Units could be set to guard each other or walk a perimeter. So for example the repair units could be set to walk around and when ever a unit got damaged it would auto repair it.
4) There should be options like in AoEAoK for formations, and various agression levels. There are not enough options in this area.
5) Why am I restricted to building new structures only near my base. As far as I can tell there is no easy way to know how far away I can place a new structure. If I want to put an MG tower on a rock outcropping let me, or at least indicate clearly how far out I can build, don't make me guess.
6) One of the best features is the defensive tower zone of defense. You always know when and an MG Tower is in range of its brother to maximize firepower.
7) I would like to see a unit like a commander or mobile command post that allows units in its ZOC to get enhancements, like may be vet status or auto repair, faster rate of fire, or able to use formations and or improve unit AI.
8) Structure and unit queing is poorly handled. It should offer options per structure with seperate queses for each one. I do not like a combined queue menu.
9) I should be able to direct where I want my reinforcements go when dropped.
- mRgUnN

When I install the game, no problems, but as soon as I start the game it says it can't find my 3D card, and that would be b*llsh*t because my 3d accelerator card is properly installed.
I tried reinstalling the damn game but no succes, can anybody please help me??
- HALeader

Get rid of the Ixian and the Tleilaxu sub houses! I love Dune II and Dune 2000, great stress relief. This one however, is pure stress. Terrible AI, long load times, units hid behind structures, Ornithopters bouncing in one spot- not responding. Units still stay in place when attacked by long range units, would be nice if they would retreat. Carryalls pickup Harvesters being fired upon only to set them down in the same area, before you can select a new location. Rocket Turrets should have a longer range.
The game looks great at 1600 X 1200 X 32 and all quality options on/high. I would prefer a Dune 2000 style of play, with larger maps, longer missions, ect. Very disappointed, and have uninstalled. Will wait for patches and continue playing Dune 2000.
- Rob

Lets tone down the lopsided Harkonnen unit advantages. Hit and run, sneaking around, lets face it. This is war and who has the toughest and biggest gun is gunna win, and that is the Harkonnens. Even the strat guide says that Newbies should play the Harkonnens because they are easy to play and have mondo unit advantages. Now, I'm not grousing, I just beat the Harkonnen's as the Atreides in campaign, but they were a heck of a fight. I feel really sorry for the Ordos, their units are *pathetic*. While each house should have unique units and abilities, Emperor's balance is out of kilter and not like in Dune 2000 at all.
- Tony

i think that the Mongoose takes too long to build and is a bit too slow. (it is supposed to be a light unit, Right?) The Ordos las tank is just too fast. Hope it can be fixed in the next patch.
- Jonathon

A very good slice of RTS from westwood, although certainly an evolution rather than revolution. (but thats always the way with their games)
Anyhow, the AI seems a bit dumb, especially with path finding, target recognition, retreating and the like, I know it's especially annoying for units to get stuck somewhere; or when an enemy comes behind a defending force and the sonic tank at the front turns and blows all his mates up :-( The Carryalls seem to be moronic too, picking up half full harvesters or getting stuck in a loop of moving a harvester to the refinary, but not giving enough time to dock, and picking up and dropping it again (and again)
None the less, I like the territory attack system, and the well balenced sides. Reinforcements are a nice idea, but you should be able to choose when you want them and what they consist of (Because I hate suddenly being given useless APC's and sand bikes etc.)
I like it, and it will remain with RA2 on my hard drive for awhile
- SJT

It's me again.
The game needs to save the skirmish settings like it has in past WW RTS game
- Dragonis

Hi,
I was just thinking about a unit that might be nice for Eb4d. I was thinkink of something like an artellery gun. Like the Flak cannons from Ra2 but they could be mobile(posible pulled by something?) and be used as cover fire or used in numbers to destroy a players base from long range. Also maby you could make a staionary type for base defense. I think this would be a great addition to Eb4d.
- Luke johnson

The game also has a conflict with Counter Strike. If I play CS I have to restart my computer or EB4D will crash after the Westwood logo.
- dragonis

WW needs to fix the online play. It is fun, but it runs really bad.
- Dragonis

There should really be more air units in the game because the ornithopter is a terrible flyer that starts lining up above the target getting shot down when you use it in mass numbers. The gunships seems to be decent but I hadn't used it in mass numbers yet. The Eye in the Sky unit is just terribly useless because of how slow and light armored it is, not to mention it has no weapon. The extra air unit for each side is hardly anymore useful, the Harkonnen's air force is the only half-effective one. Although the ornithopter and the gunship can be great for taking care of enemy siege unit, they're just not strong enough to last. Having only two combat unit for each side and only half-decent ones just doesn't seem to be enough.
A Guy

And I think that riding a sandworm should be easier. Ok, I know a sandworm has a mind of its own but it is really fustrating trying to control it.
Jonathon

is the Guard Mode "Ctrl+Alt" key still available in Emperror.
cacated

is there any other way where we can skip the two intro movies, ie the EA and the Westwood thingy. Coz pressing ESC will skip the intro in RA2.
repusez - kcufuoy@mail.com

a major improvment of the Netcode is really an issue
it lags BADLY on a 100mbit network !
Excerion

I would suggest a major upgrade to the AI/path-finding algorithms in the game, especially the Carryalls. Almost every time a Harvester reaches near-full capacity, a Carryall swoops in, scoops up the Harvester, then puts it back down 5ft from the previous location and waits for the Harvester to get that last bit of Spice before the Carryall picks it up again and takes it to the Refinery. This is very inefficient. The Carryall should only pick up the Harvester if it is completely full, under attack, or there is no Spice in a large radius. In the first two cases, the Harvester should be returned to the Refinery, in the second case, the Harvester should be taken to the nearest Spice bloom.
Forgive me if I am wrong here, but I do not think Emperor has an attack-move command like Starcraft does. This command allows the unit to move to a location, but it will attack and defend itself on the way to the target location. This is sorely needed in Emperor. My units often overrun the enemy and are torn to shreds as they attempt to turn around and attack. There is also a noticeable delay in the time a unit's target is destroyed and the unit selects a new target. Often it is long enough that the unit is destroyed before it can select a new target. I like to be involved in combat, but this required level of micromanagement is very tedious!
Other than the AI/path-finding, I think the game is great. The 3D is very cool and the cutscenes are first rate. Good job Westwood!
Matt

How about some bonus, like a Map of the Week? Or possibly a Unit of the Month... but I think things would tend to get unbalanced there (what about a feature to turn them off, sort of like superweapons?). I don't know, just some ideas.
Lazer - lazer@neodevastators.com

I need left handed mouse support bad!!! This is rediculous guys, why did you hard-code mouse buttons, you should have just used interface provided by windows? Please Please Please add option to switch left-click with right-click and vise-versa.
Thanks,
also how come units don't retreat when they are in danger? Like in Myth: The fallen lords, if enemy is inside unit's danger radius, it starts retreating. Very simple and very very useful in combat.
Otherwise this is a wonderful game, I am loving it, except I have to stop playing every fifteen minutes because my right hand starts craming.
doctor_no - Argh!!! The Pain

A couple of things:
-hitting ESC in game brings you to the options screen....however you HAVE to click "Resume" to go back into the game..you simply cannot hit ESC to go back in.
-One lockup I have found is due to running MSN Messenger or AIM in the background. When someone sends you a message in AIM a window appears..when a buddy comes online in Messenger, a little window pops up telling you this...either way..running AIM or Messenger in the background can cause your crashes...Ive been able to repro this without fail.
-A "deploy all" option for the Mortor infantry...selecting a group of these guys and giving a "deploy all" command would kick ass.
thats it for now..
Xion - krish@riotsoftware.com

Is it me or is the cursor control a bit fiddly in Eb4d? I find it tricky to select individual units sometimes. Also you cant drag select a group of air units.
Yorky46 - yorky003@ntlworld.com

Me again. I just thought of something. The units are quite stupid in thir pathfinding. They always get clogged up in narrow passages.
Im not trying to complain or anything. I think that this game is great. Westwood should make a C&C:Tiberian something which would be in 3D. I think if they did that, it would be the best of strategy games
Robert

E:BFD is the BEST westwood game I've played so far. Keep up the good work Westwood. Here are some suggestions that I think will improve the game.
1. In RA2 you could press "1" then hold down "shift" and press "2" and you would select your groups 1 and 2. But in E:BFD you can no longer do that.
2. In RA2, there were 4 build tabs. I liked how you could build defence structures at the same time you could build normal structures. Again in E:BFD this has been taken out. Now you cannot build a pop-up turret and a windtrap at the same time, thus saving time.
3. It is also very hard to target defferent units on the screen in E:BFD. It gets annoying when you try and target something and you end up clicking the ground instead.
4. I think that the EITS is a bit slow, I think that it should be made a bit faster because its armor is already quite light. The Ordos shoud also be able to build better air defence, maybe a pop-up sam site or something.
5. I also do not like how all your reinforcements always crowd around the conyard. It gets irritating when you try to move them, especially if you have lots of buildings around your conyard.
Well thats it for now. I hope you like my suggestions.
Robert

Nice game, but I agree with @uth that the troops should have some default AI. The computer AI in campaign mode could still be improved. Maybe the number of subhouse units can be even more. I like the greater emphasis placed on infantry. But my favourite feature is the great unit balance for each house. I don't really think there is a 'supreme' house in Emperor.
Jonathon

I brought it and I think its very good but it has some annoying problems. I think your unit's AI could be improved. For instance if you send a troop to attack a building, some of them will go right next to the building firing pointblank range and when it explodes those units die. Also units don't get out of the way of enemy units and just stand there and get ran over by SLOW MOVING enemy Spice collectors of all things. Also the AI, from what I see so far is not tweakable like in The Moon Project. I wish I were able to set the aggressiveness for each unit. A sniper should run from a tank or when units get too close. And not stand there fighting a losing battle. Another BIG problem is if you send your troops to attack a unit or a structure and another enemy is firing on your troops that is firing at the target you told them to, they wont stop attacking the target to defend themselves, even when the target that there are firing on serves no threat to him and the other enemy is slaughtering them. They should at least retreat on their own to a safe area on the map after receiving a certain amount of damage that you control. Your units exhibit no self-preservation. So you are left to baby-sit (micromanage) your troops to make sure they don't get slaughtered foolishly. I still think the game is different enough from all the other RTS while being fun to play. But can be frustrating. Not because of the difficulty, but because your troops behave like morons. Each unit should have a default AI, which you should be able to tweak your liking. A patch has to be released addressing these problems. Some of these features should be automatic and some tied to experience.
The Story is very good, almost up to Starcrafts standards. Bottom line is you care what happens to the faction you are fighting for.
This little mini opinion is written at 3:10am and not proof read so...
@uth - b0guz@hotmail.com

A little more stable would be nice.. playing it today (fresh out of the box) and it has crashed twice. :(
Brodie Davis - brodieda@voyager.co.nz