Dune FAQ



Welcome

This FAQ (frequently asked questions) is designed to help anyone who's having problems or questions about playing dune. The most frequent problems we have to answer often involve but are not limited to : routers, firewalls, the Rotorz program, game lag, slow speed, and how to create a name.



Who are the current regulars?
Who are you?
What is NERTHH?
What is Rotorz, and Where can I download it?
Who are the all time best players in Dune 2000?
I heard there are statistics on all the games being played. Where can I find this?
Why do I need to be in 8 bit graphics mode?
How do I create a new nickname?
What does TVB stand for, and how do I allie?
Help! It keeps saying Out Of Sync (OOS). How do I stop it doing this???
I heard you can play without the CD, how can I do this?
Why does everyone get 10x the units I get, and how do I build faster?
What hotkeys are there, and what do they do?
HELP!!! I didn't say that!!!
I can't see any games when people host!
Are there any tournaments? I see some people are ranked
Help! How do I turn the pager off? I'm getting spammed!
What is a clan, and are there any left?
So is dune dead?

Who are the current regulars?

In (approximate) order of attendence:

ArRedPain
DRFsimmsy
ASItrike
Ophirus
downtow78
redclown8
TEACHERO1
FOHide4me
muis2004
fcampione

And many others that I've forgotten about. (See here)

Who are you?

I've been (along with ASItrike) the most frequent and dedicated dune player since about June or July 04, my name in dune is DRFsimmsy. I've been in Dune since approximately the year 2000 and have trained many newbies (including Neo0o0o0o). Thanks to DRFachim for training me.

What is NERTHH?

NERTHH is an acronym that has it's origins in the 2000/2001 period, I'm not sure who invented it, but it's been used extensively in 4 ways and even 1v1 games for many years now. NERTHH stands for No Engineers, Rush, Turrets, or Harvester Hunting. Of course you don't have to use it, and many feel it detracts from the playability since engineering someone's base is indeed very fun and causes much frustration for your opponent. Indeed, ASItrike has invented his own rule : erthh, where you are only allowed to engineer, rush, etc.
Anyhow, below I go through each part of this idea :

No engineers : This means you can't engineer your opponent's buildings, however you are allowed to engineer your allies building (it's always wise to ask them first.

No rush : This one causes a lot of arguments, basically all it means is no attacking your opponents base until the first 8 minutes of the game is up. By attacking their base I mean attacking their base, destroying the units inside a base IS NOT breaking this rule.

No turrets : This one's simple, no rocket or gun turrets.

No harvester hunting : This causes more arguments than "No rush" and is an extremely dubious rule. The problem being that units automatically attack harvesters without you telling them to so sometimes it's extremely difficult not to kill harvesters. Sometimes people break this rule very subtely by sitting their units around on spice fields, so this is not completely breaking the rule, because 'hunting' implies that you're attacking the harvester, as in clicking on it. Basically just try and play with a bit of honour, if you're playing nerthh don't hang around in the spice all the time, try and build carryalls, and if you're being attacked in your base send your harvesters elsewhere with carryalls.
In the end it's usually the fault of both players that someone has been harvest hunted. So all I can say on this one is use your own good judgement.

What is Rotorz?

Rotorz is a program written by a player called FoXrotorz which has several functions :

1) If you're hosting a game it forces all the players in the game to connect, without it sometimes not all players connect.
2) Sometimes you host a game and it will freeze, forcing you to ctrl alt delete end task to get out. Rotorz solves this problem.
3) The latest version (93b) enables people with routers to connect and even firewalls
4) Allows you to set an away message while you're in the lobby, whenever someone privates you it replies to the person with the away message.
5) You can set an autoban list for those unfriendly individuals you don't want joining your game, this means you don't have to ban or kick them (kind of detracts from the fun in my opinion).
6) Allows you to host 5 and 6 way games.
7) Allows you to copy text from outside dune and paste it in using the !paste command.
8) Allows you to create a "friends list" so you can see who of your friends are online

All in all, a very useful program that every dune player should have. However, if you feel you could do without the extra functionality then you can always get the DLL file which prevents freezes and forces connection

Where can I download Rotorz?

You can get it here

Who are the all time best players in Dune 2000?

This is a very tough question, but the candidates probably include, TankTrix, Tano99, and Griffin65.

I heard there are statistics on all the games being played. Where can I find this?

Click Here

Why do I need to be in 8 bit graphics mode?

8 Bit graphics mode makes the game run faster, because the packet size being sent is smaller. Also 16 bit doesn't work properly online, you'll find your game to be laggy and slow, and the person you play with will probably be very annoyed and send you to this page :). To get in 8 bit mode go to the main menu of dune 2000 and click options.

How do I create a new nickname?

Click here

What does TVB stand for, and how do I allie?

TVB stands for top vs bottom, IE the players on the top of the map vs players on the bottom of the map. So find a base that is on your side of the map, and allie him. To allie him click on his unit/building and press A.

Help! It keeps saying Out Of Sync (OOS). How do I stop it doing this???

A fairly common problem and also a bloody annoying one because you can't tell when it's going to happen, known causes include:

1) Cheats : if one of the players has any kind of trainer, or has edited their dune files in anyway, OOS will occur. To prevent this uninstall dune, uninstall all trainers and dune map editors and reinstall.
2) The GeForce graphics card : this one i'm unsure of but it could be a cause. Make sure you have the latest drivers for your graphics card.
3) Sometimes it just randomly occurs, in which case all players participating in the game should restart their computers and try again.
4) None of the above : try downloading rotorz connect and see if that helps. If it doesn't, Email me at all_the_hits@hotmail.com and I'll see what I can do.

I heard you can play without the CD, how can I do this?

While we don't support pirating software of any kind, it is inconvenient to keep putting the CD in. You can download the no cd patch here (note this means you CAN NOT PLAY MISSIONS after installing this patch, and a reinstall will be needed to play them again)

Why does everyone get 10x the units I get, and how do I build faster?

Whatever your connection, there will always be a small amount of lag, maybe 0.2 of a second, for instance. So click your unit 0.2 seconds before it finishes, (or rapid fire click a second before it's finished), so that it starts building the next unit instantly. Also get 3 heavy factories, 3 light factories, 3 barracks, 4 refineries, and 12 harvesters.

What hotkeys are there, and what do they do?

H - This returns your screen to your base, very useful indeed.
A - Use this to allie with someone, click on their unit/building and press A
Ctrl 1 - Use this to assign a group of units, recall your units with Alt 1, note any number can be used not just 1 (IE you can have several units). Very useful for scouting and general unit control.
Arrow keys - The arrow keys can be used to scroll through your unit and building list. Right clicking on the scroll arrows gives the same effect. Useful for building quickly.

HELP!!! I didn't say that!!!

Because of the way text wraps in the lobby, it's possible to type another person's name and have them say what you want. You can tell who the perpetrator is because their name is always above what they made you say. (They usually say "lol" too).

How can he type that much stuff!?!?

If you have rotorz connect 93b (latest version) (see downloads page) there is a special character _ which allows you to type more than two lines of text, simply type _ and the text won't appear on the screen, allowing you to type again, of course then you can do another _ and so on. Note : only the other people see the effect of this, you can only see the effect if you do it in private, so private yourself with it for testing.

I can't see any games when people host!

This is basically because the dune server is using rubbish technology. Use the refresh button located on the top toolbar to see any games that have been hosted. One problem with this is that it often freezes when you press refresh. If this happens regularly, refresh by exited the lobby and rejoining. (Note you DO NOT need to disconnect and reconnnect to do this).

Are there any tournaments? I see some people are ranked

Not yet... we need 100 users per day before tournaments will start again, ranks at the moment are based on how often people play. One minute in a game gives you 1 point. The person with the most points is Rank 1. Note : sometimes your points will drop for an unknown cause. To be able to view your amount of points you need rotorz 93b.

Help! How do I turn the pager off? I'm getting spammed!

While you're in game simply press F8. If you're in a channel click the options button (a gold cross on the top right of the screen), where you can turn the pager off.

What is a clan, and are there any left?

A clan is a group of players who fight together and support each other. At the moment there are no actual clans, but our nicks still bare the name of the clans we were once in.

So is dune dead

Dying would be a better word. The only way it will survive is if all the old players come back. I'm doing my best to persuade them, but they're mostly too busy or obsessed with some new game like Generals or something...

Well, that's it! Email me at all_the_hits@hotmail.com if you have any questions/comments at all.








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