Emperor: Battle for Dune

Emperor: Battle for Dune

Developers
	Westwood Studios
	Intelligent Games
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Engines
	Xanadu
Release dates
Windows	June 12, 2001
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Bird's-eye view
Controls	Multiple select, Point and select
Genres	RTS
Themes	Sci-fi
Series	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	EA
Dune: Awakening	TBA

Emperor: Battle for Dune is an RTS game made by Westwood Studios and Intelligent Games. It is the last game by Westwood Studios set in the Dune universe. Unlike Dune 2000 which was a remake of Dune II, Emperor: Battle for Dune was a proper sequel that took place after the storyline of the original, featuring entirely different factions as opposed to ones sharing most of their arsenals. It was the first Westwood-branded RTS to use a 3D engine, but it used Intelligent Games' Xanadu engine rather than Westwood's then-in development W3D, contrary to subsequent beliefs. It was distributed on 4 CD-ROMs, one for installation and the other three for each faction's campaign.

Due to security updates to Windows 10 and later and certain prior versions of Windows, the game will not run without using the official install fix due to an un-fixed version using SafeDisc. This fix was originally intended for computer configurations at the time of release which were incompatible with SafeDisc despite the then-available versions of Windows still supporting it.

General information

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

XWIS (legacy multiplayer replacement, default server lookup leads to this service)

Emperor: Battle for Dune section on CNCNZ.com

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v2 DRM and CD-ROM volume label check. SafeDisc is removed with the official install fix; see Bypassing SafeDisc

Essential improvements

Bypassing SafeDisc

The game will not run on Windows 10 and later and certain prior versions of Windows without using an official installation fix (see the SafeDisc DRM article for more information).

Follow the procedure

Copy the contents of disc 1 to the hard drive. Replace the setup executable with the one from the official install fix. Install the game using the new setup executable. Install Patch 1.09. Extract the file EMPEROR.EXE from the install fix archive and copy it to <path-to-game>, overwriting the old file. Notes: This fix also applies to certain computer configurations which existed during the game's original release, which were incompatible with SafeDisc.

Patches

Patch 1.09 updates the game to the latest version.

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename video file
Delete or rename the file <path-to-game>\DATA\MOVIES\LEGALS.BIK

Lag fix in Windows 8 and newer

Use dgVoodoo2

The game lags terribly in modern operating systems. In order to fix this, use dgVoodoo 2. Download dgVoodoo 2 and unpack it in <path-to-game>. From the MS\x86 subfolder, copy all files to the main directory. Run dgVoodoo2 setup through dgVoodooCpl.exe in the game directory. 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. 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.

Game data

Game options

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Westwood\Emperor\Options\

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\DATA\saves\

Video

Advanced video settings

Graphics feature	State	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		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Can be forced in video card's Control Panel or by using dgVoodoo 2.
High-fidelity upscaling
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.
High dynamic range display (HDR)

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

Audio

Audio settings

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

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Korean

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
LAN play		8	Versus
Online play		8	Versus Lobbies point to XWIS by default since 2005 as part of an agreement with EA.

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 7.0a compatible