Emperor: Battle for Dune

Dune
Dune	1992
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty	1992
Dune 2000	1998
Emperor: Battle for Dune	2001
Frank Herbert's Dune	2001
OpenRA (unofficial)	2010
Dune: Spice Wars	2023
Dune: Imperium	2024
Dune: Awakening	TBA

General information

Dune2K.com - A major Dune fansite with an active community

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v2 DRM - SafeDisk removed with the official install fix, generic volume-label CD checks persist; see Playing with out CDs & restoring cutscenes

Essential improvements

Install Fix + Patches

Install Fix Fixes Installation and Game Startup. Required on Windows 10+

Patch 1.09 updates the game to the latest version.

Official Install Fix procedure for Windows 10

Copy ONLY the setup up folder of disc 1 to the hard drive.
Replace the setup executable INSIDE the setup folder with the one from the official install fix.
Install the game.
Extract the file EMPEROR.EXE from the install fix archive and copy it to <path-to-game>, overwriting the old file.
The Official Win 10 Install Fix is now Complete
Install Patch 1.09.

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename video files^{[citation needed]}
Delete or rename the file `<path-to-game>\DATA\MOVIES\LEGALS.BIK`

Performance/Crash fix in Windows 8/10

Follow the procedure^{[citation needed]}

This section is only for people who've applied all the install fix patches above and still have issues. The game can behave oddly on modern operating systems, such as Windows 8 and 10. Hyperactive mouse cursor, strange stuttering despite good framesrates. Some users report an immediate crash with error message "Action not supported". The most commonly recommended fix for all these problems is a wrapper called "dgVoodoo 2" by Dege. Follow the instructions in this video (Dark Ruler fix). This should eliminate any issues. If you still have problems, recheck both that the install fixes were applied and that dgVoodoo 2 is installed correctly. (Note: the program may be detected as malware, this is because heuristic malware engines can't really tell a good function modifier from a bad one. Do some research if you have any concerns. You will see it is quite a popular fix for old games.).

Download dgVoodoo2 and unpack it.
Locate the file "dgVoodooSetup.exe" inside the MS folder.
Copy and paste the files in the base game directory. By default, it's "C:/Westwood/Emperor".
Run "dgVoodooSetup.exe" in the game base folder.
An application will open: select your appropriate graphics card from the drop-down menu in "Adapters to use/enable"; in "Appearance," choose "Centered". Now click on the "DirectX" tab above. New options will appear, input "512 MB" in the "VRAM" menu. Deselect "dgVoodoo watermark". Click on the "apply" button, then press "OK."
Run the game. Notice the main menu will still lag, but the game itself will run fine.

Playing with out CDs & restoring cutscenes

(There has been serious misinformation surrounding this subject that needs addressing)

The official SafeDisk patches (SETUP.exe/EMEPROR.exe) only remove the advanced SafeDisk checks that broke under Windows 10.
Several generic volume label CD checks persist during campaign selection even after the official install fixes are applied.
The patch was never meant to remove the CD requirement, only restore playability.
THERE IS NO OFFICIAL WAY TO PLAY WITHOUT A CD. You will have to source the UNOFFICIAL GAME.EXE patch (Google it)
The following steps only work to restore cutscenes when using the UNOFFICIAL GAME.exe patch
These facts were carelessly omitted in the original version of this article.

Follow the procedure carefully

Source the unofficial 1.09 NOCD GAME.EXE and copy over the original GAME.EXE.
Applying this patch breaks cutscenes(because they are on the CDs) You will have to follow the remaining steps below to restore cutscenes in-game.
Copy the contents of the game disks 2, 3, and 4 into separate folders in the games directory, e.g. CD2, CD3, and CD4.
Edit the file <path-to-game>\resource.cfg. Look for the following section, where the letter X:\ represents the drive you installed the game from:

CD1
.\data\

CD2
X:\

CD3
X:\

CD4
X:\

8. Replace the letter X:\ with the respective folders for each disk, e.g. Make sue you do the same for the Movies files as well.

CD1
.\data\

CD2
.\CD2\

CD3
.\CD3\

CD4
.\CD4\

9. Do the same edits to wherever it says Movie.

10. Save the file and run the game.

}}

Game data

Game options

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Westwood\Emperor\Options\^{[Note 1]}

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\DATA\saves\^{[Note 2]}

Video

Advanced video settings

Graphics feature	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Forcing a resolution other than 4:3 results in a cropped screen. See the WSGF entry.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed	Use dgVoodoo 2
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)	Can be forced in video card's Control Panel or by using dgVoodoo 2.
Vertical sync (Vsync)	See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS	UI animations are framerate dependent and seem to be intended for 30 FPS, playing twice as fast as they should at 60 FPS and four times as fast at 120 FPS.

Input

Input settings

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Mouse controls can't be changed. LMB is for selection/orders, RMB is deselection/viewport panning, LMB+RMB viewport rotation.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Touchscreen optimised		Depends on system to co-operate. Only if touch input doubles as mouse input (tapping = LMB, holding = RMB, etc.). No special touch-screen controls or touch-screen control-overlay
Controller
Controller support

Controller types

Audio

Audio settings

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music, Sound and Voice
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Korean
Traditional Chinese

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8	Versus
Online play		4	Versus

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video
Multiplayer	Westwood Online

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95	98, 2000, ME
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 400 MHz
System memory (RAM)	64 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	600 MB
Video card (GPU)	16 MB of VRAM DirectX 7 compatible

Notes

↑ Applications writing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.
↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References

[HKLM-1] Applications writing to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE will be redirected to other locations based on various criterias, see the glossary page for more details.

[gamedir-2] When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

[Note 1]

[Note 2]

Developers

	Westwood Studios
	Intelligent Games
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Release dates
Windows	June 12, 2001
Taxonomy
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	RTS
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	Dune