I will neither confirm nor deny that I was among those miffed that a powerplanning mistake got their base pillaged and destroyed in Dune: Awakening, but I will say auto-run sure could make the recovery process from such an error less painful. Funcom must’ve heard that complaint more than once too, as Dune: Awakening has a new auto-run toggle on the way.
The blessed new keybind was included in the latest version of Dune: Awakening’s public test client and outlined in the patch notes. Behold:
- “Implemented auto-run toggle which automatically moves character/vehicle forward.”
But yeah, truthfully I did screw up the power on my smaller mining outpost and felt so annoyed by the whole ordeal I put my Arrakis adventuring on hiatus. Auto-run was one of the first things I looked for when I started playing to make a quick alt-tab in and out of the game less annoying, and little quality-of-life goes a long way—I’ve been wanting to get back into it.
Of course the update doesn’t just center around auto-run. Dune: Awakening’s upcoming build also added new rewards for completing the Advanced Trainer Contracts with an “exclusive armor set specific to each trainer,” and players already done with those questlines get the goodies retroactively.
There’s also new quests for the journey storyline—remember you gotta find the Fremen and all that jazz—plus a Character Recustomizer for those of us who want a makeover without creating a whole new character. Funcom says they’re available in Harko Village and Arrakeen City along with new hairstyles and tattoos, though altering your appearance isn’t free. Can’t wait to skip out on my taxes after spending too much on tattoos.
A few other noteworthy highlights include:
- Assault Ornithopters storage capacity increased to 20 slots/2,000 volume
- A new Duraluminum-tier weapon, the Adept Missile Launcher
- Easier organization from the Placeables and Vehicles menu with a new renaming function
The “improvements to mismatching and glitching building pieces” also has me itching to jump back in, but that could be such a small change I don’t even notice. It’s no secret I can be a bit of a base-building snob, but sometimes my building blocks misbehaved in some wild ways.
Anyone can try out the new patch through the Dune: Awakening Public Test Client, and Funcom is asking for player feedback before it pushes this update to the live build. If the patch keeps the same cadence as others, then I’m assuming it’ll be one or two weeks before I can auto-run my way straight into a big ol’ worm’s maw.
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