I hope you guys don't mind me butting in on the discussion, but I discovered Abandonia after a boring afternoon, surfing the web for PC games
I didn't know I would stumble upon a treasure chest!
Anyway, I am a big fan of the Dune books and I was just blown away to discover there was an existing game I could download (I've never played this before, computers were not yet the rage when this game came out where I live.) This game is awesome! I love strategy-adventure games, too and to have that and my most favorite characters in literature in one game ... wow. I've been playing it for three days now.
Ecology/plants raise the motivation of your troops. I found this out after a Fremen chieftain told me something like the experiments were raising my troops morale, and then I found out that my victorious troops started having 100% motivation. Easier to win battles that way.
A few more tips:
1. Thufir is always right, good old Thufir
Start at the Ergsun region if you want to attack the Harkonnens. I initially attacked at the Carthag region and my troops always got their butts whupped.
2. Don't use the "Skip to Nearest Destination" button often. You'll discover more new sietches if you don't. And always fly with Harah/Gurney/Stilgar or Chani
3. Troops learn faster if Gurney is with them
4. Click on everything
I still have to finish my game, but am almost there.