I have made some progress on my custom version of Dune. I’ve got quite a bit of the board artwork done. I hadn’t decided on a particular style at first, but I knew I needed to at least have all the board spaces drawn out. So I re-drew all of the locations from the original board. As I did so, I started playing with textures, colors and effects. I went with more abstract outlines for the regions, more like something you’d see on a Risk board. My goal was to differentiate the types of regions and still maintain the desert planet look.

I still need to add some iconography and I may add additional texturing, but this is getting close to something I am really happy with.

You can click on the image for a larger version.

Here is the original board from the game, for comparison:

Before I decide on art or any of the other components, I need to tackle how I want the storm to work. In the original game, the sandstorm is represented by a small cardboard token that moves around the edge of the circular board. This is not very dramatic for how important a role it plays. It also fades into the background too much and is easy to overlook.

My idea is that the sandstorm should clearly overlay the entire segment of the board it is affecting. But how to do so without disrupting any pieces on that segment (in the safety of rock regions, for example)? I propose a layered board which is effectively one giant dial. The storm is printed on a transparent plastic disc sandwiched between another clear plastic layer (the actual board surface) and a base cardboard layer with the board art.

This way the sandstorm will move underneath the pieces on the board and clearly designate what area it affects.

Here is a mockup of the cross-section:

A fastener at the center would hold the three pieces in place but still allow the storm to rotate. There would also need to be some kind of adhesive at the four corners for stability, but also allow enough play for the storm to move easily.

The result would look like this:

As you can see, there would need to be sections cut out from each edge of the top frame to allow for access to the storm layer’s edge. My one concern is that it may be a bit clunky when moving the storm great distances.

I may further elaborate on this by printing the regions protected from the storm on the topmost plastic layer. This would provide a clear visual indication of which units are safe and which are destroyed.

Like many designers who have played the out of print board game Dune, I have thought to myself, “I could make my own version of this.” Indeed, the image gallery on Board Game Geek is full of custom renditions of the game. It would be no problem to download some PDFs and print out a copy of the game, but I’d like to have a go at making my own artwork for it. Also, I have an interesting solution for the sandstorm I’d like to attempt.

So far, the project is in the planning stages. I have accumulated PDF components of the original game, reference artwork, and some links to sites which might provide game components which I will shape to my own purposes.

Most of the designs I have seen stick very closely to the components of the original, but I wonder if there aren’t alternatives to the combat wheel, for example. Beyond the physical aspects, I also feel like some of the more ridiculous mechanics (such as the whole blind bidding on Treachery cards) can be overhauled. We shall see.