Building Arrakis
Hello everyone, Rich here. I’m super excited to show you all what we’ve been doing with the environments for Dune: Awakening. To start off, I’d like to talk a bit about what sources we’re drawing on to achieve our vision of Arrakis. I’ll then get into the size of the world, our principles for staying true to Dune from an art perspective, and the tools we’re using to achieve it. Finally, we’ll explore some of the diversity of Arrakis through landmarks, points of interest, and player-built structures.On the shoulders of giants
Dune is a universe so rich that we’re spoilt for sources of inspiration. Our main source is the books, principally the ones written by Frank Herbert. Having said that, we draw from everything, including the most recent movie by Villeneuve, and even various real-life locations like the Oregon Dunes, the southern deserts of the USA, Wadi Rum, the Acacus Mountains, Tassili n’Ajjer, Ennedi, and even planet Mars.


A vast, brutal world
From the get-go we knew that the world had to be really huge. Dune is a universe that thrives on its epic sense of scale. The deserts of Arrakis seem endless, its storms like mythical tidal waves that rise into the sky to blot out the sun and destroy all in its path. The sandworms are mind-bogglingly huge, large enough to devour massive man-made vehicles. And in the midst of all this, you stand. A mere speck, yet you stand, and survive. In Dune: Awakening, we seek to deliver the awe that lies in the contrast between you and the vastness of a vicious planet.

A varied world
With such vast spaces, the natural question becomes: how do we make it varied and exciting to explore? We want you to feel like you’re actually traversing the planet of Arrakis, a natural environment, not crossing artificial borders from one area to another. Deserts are so much more than rolling dunes, both in real life and on Arrakis. Once you start to explore, you’ll discover countless mysteries to unveil.

