Frank Herbert’s Dune is still the template for the entire RTS genre
Every genre has two ingredients that got them started: a first game that brought all the ideas together, and a big non-gaming influence. The FPS had Wolfenstein 3D and Aliens. The RPG had Ultima and either Dungeons and Dragons or The Lord of the Rings. The battle royale had DayZ and, er, Battle Royale. However, only one genre had the influence become the first game - the RTS.
Despite earlier strategy games such as Herzog Zwei having real-time elements, it’s widely acknowledged that 1992’s Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty (or The Battle for Arrakis) from Westwood marks the point where all the core concepts, mechanics, and ideas of the genre truly came together.. Westwood then went on to polish the Dune 2 formula and create Command & Conquer. Yet, what made Dune 2 such a great adaptation was that all of its elements were already in the original novel - and as such, Frank Herbert’s Dune is the true template for the RTS genre.
If you don’t know Dune, it’s an epic sci-fi novel from 1965. It’s had a 1984 David Lynch movie, a miniseries, and a new movie directed by Denis Villeneuve is coming in 2020. It’s had a few videogames too, most notably Westwood’s Dune 2 - plus the Dune 2000 remake - and Emperor: Battle for Dune. It tells the story of two great houses, Atreides and Harkonnen, warring on the planet Arrakis, aka Dune, over the valuable resource known as Melange.
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