The player can only build on rocky terrain and must build concrete foundations to avoid deterioration of the structures due to the harsh weather conditions. In addition to enemy incursions, there are other dangers such as the marauding, gigantic sandworm, capable of swallowing vehicles and infantry whole but blocked by rocky terrain. Unlike later games such as Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness, the fog of war is lifted forever with initial exploration it does not become dark once more when units leave the area. As the units explore the map, the darkness is removed. The game map initially starts with a fog of war covering all area which is not covered by the player's units range of view.
The basic strategy in the game is to harvest spice from the treacherous sand dunes using a harvester vehicle, convert the spice into credits via a refinery, and to build military units with these acquired credits in order to fend off and destroy the enemy. House Ordos is not featured in the Dune novels and is mentioned only in the non- canon Dune Encyclopedia. The player takes the role of the commander of one of the three interplanetary houses, the Atreides, the Harkonnen or the Ordos, with the objective of wresting control of Arrakis from the other two houses. The weaponry and units also vary from house to house. The introductory, mission briefing and endgame cutscenes are different for each House, in keeping with their very disparate world views. The final showdown is the battle between the player's House against three enemy sides, among them Frederick's forces the Sardaukar (an unplayable elite force whose heavy infantry are particularly powerful). When the player dominates Arrakis on the world map, the two other enemy factions ally against their common enemy. Later, when the three Houses divide Arrakis among them, the player has to assault and capture enemy territories.
In the first few missions, the objectives are to establish successfully a base on an unoccupied territory of Arrakis, to harvest spice, and to defeat intruders. The player is a military commander from a House of their choice. War begins as deputations from all three Houses arrive on Arrakis. To achieve this, he now offers the sole governorship of Arrakis to whichever of the three Houses ( Atreides, Harkonnen, and the non-canon Ordos) delivers the most spice for him. Emperor Frederick IV of House Corrino is desperate for the harvesting of the valuable drug melange (also known as "the spice"), found only on the planet Arrakis, to pay off all of his debt incurred on internecine wars with family members.