Dune Awakening: PC Release Prioritized, but Optimized for Controller Use

Transferring a game from PC to console isn’t exactly a walk in the park, particularly for genres that typically feel at home on a PC. It’s a fine art to move games across platforms without any hiccups or loss, but with Dune Awakening, they’ve been gearing up for this with controllers from the outset.

However, there’s still radio silence on when a console version might drop. Even the PC release, which will lead the charge, remains a bit foggy. To dig deeper into the cross-platform strategy behind Dune Awakening, I had a chat with Nils Ryborg. Ryborg, who’s producing Dune Awakening, has got some chops from his previous work at Funcom and tackled the console port of Pillars of Eternity over at Paradox. He’s got some firsthand tales to tell about this tricky business.

He chuckled as he recalled, “With Pillars of Eternity, we really wrestled with the UX. We mixed in a bit from action RPGs to handle movement.” He emphasized, “It’s a tactical game, and using a controller can cramp your style. We brought in AI helpers to make sure NPCs make smarter moves and give you that little bit of space to direct them.”

Ryborg elaborated, “We made it simpler to maneuver your character and make those snap decisions in real-time fights. But we didn’t ditch the classic mechanics where you can pause and ponder over more involved strategies. Plus, we tweaked the way you interact with the buttons. The goal was to nudge it towards action RPG territory without stripping away the tactical essence.”

That’s how the Paradox crew tackled it, but how is Funcom handling the shift? Did they choose to smooth the rough edges a bit differently?

“Starting with the console is admittedly simpler,” Ryborg explained. “It tends to translate back to PC with ease, whereas bringing a keyboard-and-mouse-centric game to console can be a headache. We’ve designed this with controllers in mind right from the start.”

Even though the initial release is PC-bound, Ryborg remains at ease about the console’s user experience. “Obviously, PCs come first, so we’ll have that well-tuned. But there’s no sweat about the console UX—though they come with the usual technical constraints. We just have to ensure it performs well without getting overly intricate.”

So, while console warriors eager for Dune Awakening might need to sit tight for more news, there’s comfort in knowing their console experience won’t stray far from what PC players enjoy.