Why private servers work differently in Dune: Awakening
Dune: Awakening is powered by a unique server and world structure, something we went in-depth on in a recent blog post. In short: each server belongs to a World consisting of several other servers, and each of those share the same social hubs and Deep Desert. This allows us to retain a neighborhood-like feel to the Hagga Basin and provide persistent, freeform building, and other server-demanding mechanics you typically see in survival games. We combine this with the large-scale multiplayer mechanics you would expect to find in MMOs where hundreds of players meet each other in social hubs and the Deep Desert to engage in social activities, trade, conflict, and more. Naturally, transferring this setup to a private server model has not been trivial. We decided early on that we did not want to remove the large-scale multiplayer aspects of the game as that is such a crucial part of the Dune: Awakening experience, and the game’s content and mechanics are deeply rooted in this setup. It was simply never an option for us to release “half a game” for private servers. We knew we had to come up with a solution that retained the fundamental MMO-like features that make Dune: Awakening so unique, while still giving players some control, perhaps most importantly over who has access to their server. That meant we had to make some concessions in terms of how much control players have over their private servers. The result is a model where you have fewer settings available than you would in some other survival games such as Conan Exiles. We want to be completely clear and upfront about that so you can make an informed decision as to whether it’s worth it for you and your friends to rent a private server.
How private servers work
When you rent a private server, you essentially rent a server containing one Hagga Basin, just like the official servers. Here you have the full Hagga Basin map, and you can do everything you would do on an official server. Your private server will belong to a World consisting of other private servers, and you can choose a World for your private server when you rent yours from a provider. That means that you will still be able to take full advantage of Dune: Awakening’s large-scale multiplayer content and mechanics, including visiting the social hubs and the Deep Desert, to meet and play with people from any private server in the same World. Players do not rent or control social hubs nor the Deep Desert. These are provided by the server hosting company, who ensures each private server’s World has them.Private server settings
So, what settings will be available for your private server? Because your private server will belong to a World of other private servers, and you will be meeting and playing with other people in the social hubs and the Deep Desert, you won’t be able to control every aspect of how your private server works. Which settings you can configure for your server is ultimately up to the third-party server provider, but these are the settings we are making available:- Security Zones: you can disable security zones entirely, making all parts of Hagga Basin PvP enabled, or you can choose to have pockets of PvP like on official servers
- Taxation: you can disable taxation on your server
- Sandstorms: you can disable sandstorms, making them not appear on your server
