Dune 2: The Golden Path Blog (formerly, The Sleeper Has Awakened)

Welcome to D2TGP V2!

2026-05-10T18:36:00.000-05:00

The project has been entirely rewritten and updated for modern play.

Please go and join the Discord server. I will be posting all further release notes and information there.

Core

Entire project rewritten in Go and Ebiten for cross platform
Full networking lockstep implementation
Online Relay Server to avoid opening ports and to store replay files
Mapmaker mode reworked
Up to 6 human players (legitimately) with shared factions sharing victory conditions
Improved AI and difficulty levels
Three Game Speed settings (100%, 120% and 150%)
Treacherous Dunes have been replaced with Drum Sand (same effect, new name and look)

GUI

All menus and screens have been reworked to be consistent, modular (mostly for my own ease of use) and cleaner
Mentats for all factions are now visible in-game
Greatly expanded on the "tip" system and added triggers for first-time events
Reworked the Mentat mode visuals
Units now "jiggle" when moving on Rocks like the OG game

Graphics

60fps rendering
Fixed resolution for fair play
Resizeable window with pixel-perfect scaling

Replay Viewer

All online games store a Replay file on the server for 1 week that can be downloaded
Replay is "mostly" accurate, still needs some work

Victory Conditions

For normal "annihilate enemy" games, players lose if they have no Conyards, factories or units
The "spice accumulation" game mode has been altered significantly
It now requires each player to build CHOAM Stock buildings in sufficient quantity to win
CHOAM Stocks are 1x1, cost 500, have low strength and are slow to build
This should create a very interesting critical infrastructure point to protect/attack
After the game is over, you will have the option to continue Observing the game if players are still involved

Worms

Reworked with new visuals
Trigger and behave differently, will attack the closest units they can reach
Subject to further balance

Buildings

Buildings indicators for current working queues and power supply
Refineries can be built with their dock facing either LEFT or RIGHT for flexible access
Silo buildings now allow an extra Harvester to be created, are easily destroyed, and only give 1000 extra credit limit
CHOAM Stocks are new and tied into the credit total victory condition

Units

Devastators cannot use Move, Protect, Patrol or Retreat orders
Deviators always stun targets briefly and convert them if they are stunned long enough (requires multiple Deviators)
Sonic Tanks do damage based on target size, and interact with power differently and can more easily cause outages
Ornithopters are less suicidal now and will retreat and forget targets if they need repairs

New release tomorrow

2026-05-01T09:28:00.000-05:00

Downloads, release notes and all new content will be discussed on the Discord server, so head over there and sign up for the Event tomorrow!

Adding a Discord server :)

2026-01-12T20:33:00.003-06:00

Back from a brief hiatus, I'm adding a Discord server which you should see on the right. Feel free to apply to find players or just discuss this oldie-but-goodie.

1.1.25 Released!

2015-09-28T19:35:00.002-05:00

This is a large balance update. After talking with a few players and brainstorming a bit, I think these changes will have a very positive effect in many ways and give the game some more life.

Some of these changes were specifically to address weaknesses, and others were made to encourage the use of less commonly seen units and tactics. Fremen and Sardaukar for instance have been given more interesting roles to ensure that Troopers and Infantry still have valid use cases. Turrets have had their ROF reduced so that they do less sustained damage, but still have the range and power to discourage initial confrontation and loitering.

Changes since 1.1.24:

Atreides now get free MCV research instead of Microwave Power (this was simply too strong)
Warriors are now proper guerilla assassins.

Now fully stealthed. As with Saboteurs, they can only be detected when moving too close to an enemy or when in combat
Base damage increased to 4 from 3 and bonus damage vs Foot units increased to 16 from 15

Sardaukar are cheaper and still strong in the open, but less useful against bases. Troopers do 66% greater DPS to structures so we should see even mixes

Strength reduced to 60 from 75
No longer do any bonus damage vs Buildings
Cost reduced to 100

Saboteurs cost reduced to 150 from 200
Trikes are now 20% faster
Raiders repurposed to be the ultimate flanker vs artillery lines and harvesters.

Speed is now slower to match Trikes
Strength reduced to 40 from 45
Weapon type is now Small Missile with half the ROF
Weapon now does bonus damage to Heavy Vehicles

Quads and Flak Trikes are now 4% faster
Ornithopters should be very viable again. Possibly overpowered.

Range is now 6 up from 5
Strength is now 70 up from 60
Now prioritize hostile enemies with Anti-Air abilities

Deviators buffed to give Ordos more late-game power.

ROF now matches Sonic Tanks
Range improved to 3-9 from 3-8

Rocket Launchers receive one small change that will dramatically change the game.

AOE reduced by half

Armed Harvesters now have a weapon similar to the new Guard Turret to better defend against light units
Guard Turrets changed dramatically.

Is now a rapid-fire bullet weapon doing extra damage to Foot units, instead of AOE
Range is now 5 from 6

Gun Turrets nerfed.

Rate Of Fire is now 50% slower

Rocket Turrets nerfed.

Rate Of Fire is now 50% slower

Fixed issues with Results web site (http:\\krizikcraft.no-ip.info) preventing results from being submitted properly. Note that you still need to play until the "mission complete" or "failure" message has been received for this to happen.

It's very likely I'll have to make another patch after this one to even things out. Some of these balance changes are going to have very wide-ranging effects. I'm actually very worried I just made the Ordos the strongest faction by far with these simple changes, but time will tell. I encourage you to have patience and try some new things. :)

1.1.24 Released!

2015-09-07T00:52:00.004-05:00

Hey guys,
This may be out of left field but it's really just a fix update. I recently noticed the server list wasn't working any longer, and a couple players mentioned it as well. It would seem the site originally hosting the DB was updated to the point where it couldn't handle the old code from this game any longer. So, in order to fix it, and to avoid dealing with my $*@! web hosting company any further, I decided to pull it in-house.

The crux of the update is that the server list is fixed, and I also added a page for historical game info:
http://krizikcraft.no-ip.info
You may want to bookmark that site.

Do me a favor also, if anyone knows much about server security and they feel like they see some holes that need plugging in what I've set up, please let me know!

Changes since 1.1.23

Game server list URL is now kept in the config.ini file (and now works)
Client now updates additional result information
Shift-Enter now also activates All-Chat

Server list issues

2015-09-04T13:28:00.002-05:00

Hey guys,
I recently looked at this old gem again and I've noticed the feature that registers and lists server hosts for D2TGP is no longer working for most people. I don't yet have an explanation; the call is coming through as it should be from the game, and the sites it points to are easily accessible by hitting the web address in a browser. My best guess currently is that a recent Windows update that was pushed to almost everyone has changed something in security. If you have any suggestions please post them in the forum.

In the mean time, please be aware that you can easily host games just by giving out your IP address for others to connect to manually (though keep in mind you may still have to open ports 10191 and 10192 on your firewalls as usual).

Cheers
Drackbolt

1.1.23 Released!

2013-06-16T01:14:00.004-05:00

Changes since 1.1.22:

Flak Trikes now cost 250 up from 200
When Flyer Repair is enabled at the HTF, flying units will retreat after taking any damage (previously they only retreated after being driven down to 33% health)
PageUp and PageDown keys can now be used to zoom in/out
TEAMCHAT is now enabled. :) Pressing Enter will Team-Chat, while pressing Y will use All-Chat
In-game chat font size has been doubled

1.1.22 Released!

2013-05-12T00:39:00.001-05:00

Kind of a drastic update, and rather random in nature. I needed something fun to code in a couple hours. :)

Changes since 1.1.21:

Added a new terrain type, Treacherous Dunes!

This spawns on random maps about half as often as regular Dunes
It is completely impassible by any ground unit (due to sinkholes, water traps, worms, etc)
It looks like a high contrast version of regular Dunes and shows up slightly lighter colored than sand on the minimap

Doubled the cost of Refineries and increased build time

Hear me out on this one... I realized after much thought that somehow down through time I had allowed Refineries to get much too cheap. In the original game they were 400 Credits and while the first Harvester was free, every additional one was 300 credits more. Now in that context, 800 credits for unlimited harvesters (albeit one at a time) doesn't seem so unreasonable. And the simple fact is that it is just too easy to rush to a massive economical advantage. Yes, this change will slow down the early game, but I think the change to the meta game will be fantastic in that nearly every game should make it to mid-game (especially with the recent defensive buffs), and making good building decisions will have a greater effect toward the late-game. Battles will be smaller and more interesting. There will be more time to build strategies and counters. I'm very interested to see the ripples this will make through the community!

Added graphical icons showing when units are receiving a defensive bonus (from Dunes or Crags)
Fixed more bugs associated with new queues being created in odd circumstances for Flyers at the HTF

1.1.21 Released!

2013-04-02T00:25:00.000-05:00

Changes since 1.1.20:

Guard Towers now do 5 damage (down from 6.25)
Subtitles are now enabled correctly when sound volume is set very low
Aggressive Units is now set to Enabled by default to cause units to fire at unarmed enemies/buildings more readily
Fixed bug preventing clients from building where infantry had moved in some cases
Fixed bug with Radar Upgrade not working correctly in some cases
Fixed bug with visible power produced by Atreides Windtraps being at 200%

1.1.20 released!

2013-03-24T23:04:00.001-05:00

Hey guys,
Felt like doing a little fun coding this weekend, so I sat down with Frontliner and went over a bunch of ideas. This version has some sweeping changes for faction balance.

Changes since 1.1.19:

Faction bonuses for health and speed no longer apply
Instead, each Faction has certain research items granted or restricted to effect a total playing style. Atreides now have bonuses that make them both more effective and more reliant on using open rock space and spreading out. Ordos have greater intelligence but cannot build heavier units. Harkonnen cannot build faster and cheaper units but begin with combat advantages researched.

Atreides

Cannot build Troopers, Raiders, Devastators or Deviators
Cannot research Power upgrade
Begin with Auto-concrete and Microwave Power researched

Harkonnen

Cannot build Infantry, Raiders, Trikes, Tanks, Sonic Tanks, Deviators, or Ornithopters
Cannot research PSM Detection
Begin with Siege Tanks, Trooper Squads, and Armed Harvesters researched

Ordos

Cannot build Quads, Siege Tanks, Sonic Tanks or Devastators
Begin with MTP and PSM Detection researched

Fixed bug preventing client from using HTF controls to force flyers to return and remain docked (Ornis should be easier to keep alive now)
Fixed bug sometimes preventing Tier 2 research items from showing up
Fixed some minor issues

Gas Powered Games out of business?

2013-01-28T21:35:00.001-06:00

Hey guys,
Chris Taylor is a legend in the games industry... he created Total Annihilation, one of my favorite games of all time, as well as many other popular and excellent games. However, his company Gas Powered Games has had a bad run on Kickstarter and he was forced to make massive layoffs. All is not yet lost however... the funding campaign still has over two weeks left and hey, who knows, maybe a whole bunch of people will find out about it and save the project and the company.

Please, when you have a good block of time, check out this interview. There's a lot more to the layoffs I think you ought to know about. You might already be a fan of his, or you might just gain respect for him, or maybe you'll just get some good insights into the gaming industry. But, I'm a backer for the simple reason that I want to see Chris Taylor continue making games.

Matt Chat Interviews Chris Taylor

Playing on Linux

2013-01-04T00:15:00.002-06:00

Just a quick note... I recently heard from a community member that the Linux software called Crossover will run the Windows version of D2TGP seamlessly. I've also heard Wine will work, but success there seems to be very mixed. At any rate, I've taken down the Linux download link, since I couldn't maintain a working environment for development and the last version I finished was old and largely non-functional. And no, there are no plans for another Linux version. Developing and supporting on that OS is pure hell in my opinion. :) However, my future projects will have much better support for multiple platforms.

Happy Holidays everyone

2012-12-25T18:51:00.002-06:00

I hope it was a great day. :)

As some of you know now, I'm starting a new job right after New Year's. So, development will slow back down on D2TGP again. I'm glad I had this time off and was able to fix up some bugs and improve a couple things. Now however I'll be spending more of my free time on separate projects, some of which are game-related and will hopefully one day be available for download or purchase. ;)

Cheers
- Drackbolt

1.1.19 released!

2012-12-19T17:09:00.000-06:00

Changes since 1.1.18:

Official map pack is now included with each download (thanks to Frontliner)
Choosing AI opponents now offers three levels of difficulty (1= Easy, 2= Normal, 3= Hard)
Rocket Launchers now move slower than Combat tanks. This is to help them stay behind tank lines and also to remove the unnecessary advantage. Deviators also are slower, but have increased range (and being Ordos will be slightly faster anyway)
Ornithopters now do 35 damage up from 25, and are size 8 down from 9. Buffs are due to recent increased range from Rocket Turrets and previous lack of usage
Fixed bug preventing clients from being able to use Microwave power
Fixed bug allowing clients to possibly queue more flyers than allowed

1.1.18 release!

2012-12-17T20:08:00.004-06:00

Lolwuuuut?

Big update here. Mercs are available again (and more often), big client-side cheats are fixed, and all turrets have been buffed considerably.

The turret changes bear some explaining. The fact is that in Dune 2, space is at a huge premium; even making turrets cost next to nothing in spice doesn't take away the intangible cost of that loss of building area. There is no melee attack in D2TGP, so placing turrets in key locations is less effective when units can always outrange them to hit other buildings. Plus, in the late game, armies are vast and powerful, while the amount of open space is still limited.

So, this all added up in my mind to base defense needing to be more viable in the early game to get people into the mid-game and beyond more often. Making them cheaper and keeping them less powerful was not the correct choice. So while it may shake things up and not be within the original Dune 2's ideas, I think this will be a great change.

Updated since 1.1.17:

Cleaned up some old code
Added sanity checks and fixed major bug with client queue creation that now FIXES and PREVENTS the ability to spam buildings in the same location, queue more harvesters than allowed, or build units beyond the unit cap
Fixed Sonic Tank power cost for firing weapon to properly be set at 25 now
Fixed major bug with Mercs preventing them from being accessible even after the Tier 2 research option
Merc options are now statically available and depend on the distance to the nearest base from the closest MTP
Buffed all turrets and increased cost to make base defense viable once again. In general they have 50% more range and a better rate of fire.

1.1.17 release?? O.o

2012-12-08T20:15:00.003-06:00

Yeah, this will seem weird maybe... but I felt like playing a few games with Frontliner and we got around to some D2TGP. We reminded ourselves of a few serious bugs and as it happens, I'm off of work this month. So, after a couple hours of pulling my hair out I got the old development environment working again, and I now present to you a totally random bugfix release a couple years after I stopped working on it. :)

Changes since 1.1.16c:

Spamming buildings should no longer be possible; the old "rubble" effect temporarily preventing you from rebuilding over damaged ground should always be operational again
Death Hand targeting has now been corrected
Sonic Tanks now draw 25 power when attacking, up from 15
Some other small bugs fixed

For those of you still reading this, enjoy. :)

Help this go viral

2012-08-29T19:01:00.001-05:00

Please. :)

http://youtu.be/abGgUaG9EoI

Go!

2012-07-22T11:15:00.002-05:00

Hey guys,
Been a while since I posted, let alone about anything having to do with Dune 2. I hope you all have been doing well. I've been very busy at work for the most part, which has also included learning more about object-oriented code and practices.

I've been looking around for a "primary" language/environment to use that both better conforms to industry standards than what I was using (BlitzMax) and also "feels" right for me. Right now I've got my sights set on the Google Go language. As many of you know, I've wanted to rewrite the D2TGP project for quite a while now, and with Go's in-built support for clean networking and what (so far) seems like fun code to write, I'm going to make it a priority to dig further here and see if I can't reboot this project. Plus, it's not Microsoft, and it will compile on Windows/Mac/Linux, so that maintains my intention to have multiple versions available.

That being said, don't get too excited yet! I'll be using this as my opportunity to learn Go and to exercise my knowledge, much more than to get D2TGP back on a development cycle. However, this undertaking will allow me to get more involvement with others, so maybe progress will be good. If I can maintain control of the project I'll see about making it open source also, though we'll need to get around the IP issues.

I've already (secretly) made a dedicated server version of D2TGP in the old code, so I think I'd start there. This server version isn't fully fleshed out since it would take a lot more to rewrite how games are connected, started and finished, but it does run its own hard-coded CPU games well.

So hey, maybe something will come of this, maybe not. Many of you know that I've started and stopped other projects before, but I'm feeling more determined and I'd really like to make a Go of this. :) Talk to you guys again in a while and we'll see where it goes. Wish me luck.

--Drackbolt

Minecraft

2012-04-23T07:37:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone,

Just a quick note to remind you that we have a nice Minecraft server running with Dune-based modifications, currently administrated by Gusstuff. He's put a lot of hard work into the mods and brought some of the structures over from the old map, so be sure to head to the forums to check it out and join the community!

Cheers

Drackbolt

DuneCraft Minecraft world back up :)

2012-01-29T17:48:00.002-06:00

Please check the forums for updated texture pack and IP address. We also have online dynamic mapping and permissions are in place, so you will need to request build access. Hope to see you there. :)

Happy Holidays

2011-11-29T11:39:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone,

Just taking a lunch break to get a post out to you guys. As a few of you know, this year has brought a lot of changes for me, and I've had almost no time to myself for most of it. I did have a long vacation a month ago, but aside from that I've been on the move constantly. I do still check the forums though and it's good to see people still enjoying D2TGP.

Frontliner started up a new chat room that uses some security measures, so hopefully it won't get spammed into oblivion any time soon if I post it here:
http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=dune2TGP
We'll call this the "Official Chatroom" of D2TGP for now. There is of course also the forums and the Steam group, and you can find other resources on YouTube and Facebook. But when you want to find a game with someone else, check out this chatroom first.

As for me, I've still got a lot of work to do, and hope to get settled into a new place early next year. I haven't had time for any kind of a project but I hope to get more free time after that. We'll see how it goes.

I hope you all have a great holiday season!

Cheers

Dunecraft world for download

2011-07-31T21:38:00.000-05:00

Hi guys,
My new job is fantastic, but I don't have time for much else nowadays, and I've got some ambitious plans moving on. So, I'll no longer be hosting the Dune 2-based Minecraft server. The hosting company went down and I was lucky to get one last backup of my world files, and I don't have the time anyway. So, head to forum and download the world files if you so desire. I'd love it if someone else hosted it and spent more time on it.

Have fun guys.

-Drackbolt

Dunecraft changes

2011-06-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

Well things have moved along... I start my new job tomorrow, and I've successfully moved the Dunecraft server to an online hoster, as well as gotten a number of mods installed (my curiosity ran right over my apprehension :) ) and set up permissions. So, the server is now open to the public at 50.22.62.244:25568, but you still need to post in the forums if you want permissions to modify the world. However, this will at least give anyone interested the chance to come in and look around.

Cheers

New job!

2011-06-02T13:37:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,

I just scored myself what looks like will be a fantastic new full-time job in Chicago, so I'm going to be pretty busy over the next month getting my old position wrapped up and settling into the new one. This happened unexpectedly quickly so it's going to put a hold on my new projects for at least a while. But, I think it will be a huge step up for me and has the potential to be the best job I've ever had. :)

On a related note, I'm tired of the Minecraft server hogging my personal bandwidth and time, so I'm going to buy space on a hosted server to run it. I'll keep the boards in the D2TGP forums updated to show the new address and keep you guys informed. My plan is to keep up with the whitelist, but I might also use the hosted server's tools to add some mods or other neat stuff. Stay tuned on that!

I hope everyone's having a good year so far. See you guys on Steam, the forums, in Dunecraft, and YouTube. :)

Cheers

Dunecraft!

2011-04-24T14:18:00.000-05:00

I'm now making my Dune 2-based Minecraft server public. It is whitelisted however, so you'll need to go to the forums and post your username in the General Topics board so I can add you.

http://dune2.krizik.com/index.php?topic=511.0

Cheers!