Based on the famous sci-fi universe, the upcoming survival MMO Dune: Awakening takes inspiration from Valheim.

Dune: Awakening will take players to the deadly, sandworm-infested desert planet Arrakis. But developer Funcom doesn’t want the various systems of the upcoming survival MMO to discourage those who aren’t fans of the genre.

New details of the MMO, set in Frank Herbert’s sci-fi universe, come via PC Gamer’s Dune: Awakening interview with the creative director.

The developer revealed that Funcom is exploring some of the genre’s assumptions and rethinking what survival game systems might look like.

“There are assumptions that have just been there since the start of the survival genre, because the first [survival game] did them,” said Joel Bylos, creative director of Dune: Awakening. “And everybody else sort of copied that, so we’re rethinking some of those paradigms. And so I would say that we want to create these very strong survival tensions, but we also don’t want to punish players in a ridiculously harsh way. So we’re kind of trying to find a nice balance with that.”

Bylos points to indie sensation Valheim as an example. It was a popular survival game that dropped some survival staples and made its systems more accessible to a broader audience. For instance, in Dune: Awakening, players will want to consume spice, the most valuable substance in the game’s universe. But players will not be excessively punished if they do not. Instead, they will be encouraged in some ways to keep their spice levels high.

According to the interview, Dune: Awakening will focus on three fundamental survival pillars that players must think about consistently: shelter, sandworms and water.

Moving too regularly on open sand will attract sandworms, true to the Dune books. Players will therefore need to keep a constant eye on their movements. Sandstorms in the harsh desert will require players to seek shelter or build their own. Water is, of course, a persistent problem in the depths of the desert. But as in Valheim, players will not die instantly if they do not maintain their water levels or if they are left without shelter.

In terms of crafting, the point of Dune: Awakening is that players will explore the open world to discover blueprints that can be used to create special items. One of the pillars of the game is “endless exploration”. The desert sands of Arakkis shift and reveal new areas to explore. Or it can temporarily bury existing sites.

The first player to discover some of these locations can be the first to claim a rare new scheme, allowing him to corner the market on a particular type of item for a limited time until a sandstorm revisits that location.

This latest interview finally sheds some light on what players can expect. Little concrete details about the game have been shared since the original announcement. One component of Dune: Awakening that has been confirmed is that the game will include vehicles. A release date is not yet known.

Source: PC Gamer