Icewind Dale The Icewind Dale Series Thread

[Kaanyrvhok]

Should have gone with a modified NWN interface instead to accomodate multiple controllable characters. Would have worked far better, but sadly, they were stuck with the shit Infinity engine at the time.

How would that matter? How is a fixed camera more of a burden? NWN 2 is basically a wannabe Infinity engine. It holds well except for some reason individual commands cancel group commands. I can draw a square and select the party in both games but in NWN 2 if I want 5 people to attack 1 enemy and 1 enemy to do something different I have to select them individualy. In IWD I can select 6 then select 1 and only issue two commands.

The Infinity Engine lets you control six characters as efficiently as any engine I could name.

 

[Hamster]

No, really, the Infinity engine is unbelievably horrifyingly awful for combat. On a scale of 0-10, where 10 is Wizardry 8's combat engine, it is rated a negative 18/99.

I never had any problems with combat and always found it very entertaining. I can understand complaints about it not being strategic enough, but " unbelievably horrifyingly awfu"? Why?

As for the graphics, Icewind Dale is one of the most beatiful rpg's there is.
Are you trying to say that this is bad graphics:
http://www.ag.ru/screenshots/icewind_da ... 59604#show
?

Thats why i though you were trolling, because IWD is gorgeous.

I am now stuck in some caves against an ogre that kills both my paladin and warrior with ease, and throwing ogres at DnD parties at level 1 is actually fairly hardcore.

Ah, so the combat is bad because you suck at it. Seriously, stuck at the beginning?

Sadly, I do not find this to be all that much FUN, as the lack of a PST-like resurrect spell from the start makes a single bad diceroll lethal for a low-level character, meaning you have to run back to town and pay 100 gold for resurrection. I now have no money left and cannot afford to lose any more party members.

Quick save - quick load?

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

Still, I appreciate that it seems to be the kind of game that isn't afraid to kick you in the balls if you just charge in and expect to kick ass. I got several party members killed in the very first fight against some pissant goblins and had to reload and exploit their lack of AI to beat them comfortably. I am now stuck in some caves against an ogre that kills both my paladin and warrior with ease, and throwing ogres at DnD parties at level 1 is actually fairly hardcore.

If you want it easier turn the difficulty to the max setting (you will get twice the XP then for everything), roll up a party of 6 fighters all with 18 STR and also high DEX (for using composite longbows). Everything will be dead before it even reaches you, including that Ogre. Later dual class them out into clerics or mages.
You can make 2 of them multiclass fighter/cleric and fighter/mage. That way you have a bit healing and arcane backup from the get go.

 

[kmonster]

If you want it easier turn the difficulty to the max easiest setting

fixed.
You also get double XP at the easiest setting too (with HoW which the GoG version includes) and monsters do far less damage.

Unbelieveable that there are noobs who don't want to enable autopause, don't won't to turn down the difficulty, don't want to understand the game mechanics, don't want to create a powerful balanced party, don't want use powerword:reload and complain about the game being too difficult.
Hamster was right. What a pathetic trolling attempt.

 

[Sceptic]

You also get double XP at the easiest setting too (with HoW which the GoG version includes)

Really? I thought the easiest setting gave half XP, and the hardest double. Or was that before HOW?

Unbelieveable that there are noobs who don't want to enable autopause, don't won't to turn down the difficulty, don't want to understand the game mechanics, don't want to create a powerful balanced party, don't want use powerword:reload and complain about the game being too difficult.

At level 1, no less

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

You also get double XP at the easiest setting too (with HoW which the GoG version includes) and monsters do far less damage.

Didn't know that. Lame.

Really? I thought the easiest setting gave half XP, and the hardest double. Or was that before HOW?

That's how I thought it worked too.

 

[Eyeball]

party, don't want use powerword:reload attempt.

No, that's really my only complaint as far as "game difficulty" is concerned - the fact that your wimpy level 1 characters die from a single unlucky roll of the dice necessitating abuse of the quickload function. I like games that punish you when you fuck up, not just when they feel like it, although this is unfortunately a staple of the DnD game system with the entire idiotic "saving throw" thing too.

My main complaint about IWD specifically is that the game interface is awful and ten times more awkward to control than it should be, making each fight a clusterfuck more often than not. I did, in fact, acknowledge that I could appreciate the game being challenging while expressing my distaste for low-level DnD in general.

My other complaint is that I find the game extremely visually unappealing due to art style and the drabness of the graphics, but that's a matter of taste. The interface being poor is a fact in itself and not really open to discussion.

 

[deus101]

The interface being poor is a fact in itself and not really open to discussion.

Apparently it is.




Pretty sure its a troll but it dosen't matter saying retarded things still leave retarded words....and we need to fight the good fight....with words....

I like games that punish you when you fuck up, not just when they feel like it, although this is unfortunately a staple of the DnD game system with the entire idiotic "saving throw" thing too.

Have you considered that you're an idiot for not taking Saving throws and To-hit modifiers into account?

 

[Eyeball]

When did I say I didn't? I rerolled enough times to make sure that my frontliners have decent str, con and dex stats and my spellcasters int and wis. I just never liked the saving throw system in general. Clunky and artificial.

 

[deus101]

When did I say I didn't? I rerolled enough times to make sure that my frontliners have decent str, con and dex stats and my spellcasters int and wis. I just never liked the saving throw system in general. Clunky and artificial.

:clap:

 

[Eyeball]

Yes, I'm certain that your piling on another noob with an unpopular opinion with limp-dick oneliners will win you approval on these boards. Keep it up.

 

[deus101]

I got a personal stake in this actually...

http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1290742

 

[Hamster]

My main complaint about IWD specifically is that the game interface is awful and ten times more awkward to control than it should be

You click on a character to select him and then click on an enemy to atack. I don't see any problem.

making each fight a clusterfuck more often than not.

You can pause the game at any time, what clusterfuck?

The interface being poor is a fact in itself and not really open to discussion.

Oh yes it is.

Clunky and artificial.

Automatic ressurections and hp-bloats are clunky and artificial.

Yes, I'm certain that your piling on another noob with an unpopular opinion with limp-dick oneliners will win you approval on these boards.

I doubt being an Infinity Engine faboy like me will win a lot of approval here. IE is not considered hardcore enough. So stop playing the victim

 

[Hamster]

I got a personal stake in this actually...

http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?p=1290742

I remember when i first played baldurs gate, i was blue eyed, woefully trapped in fantasy world and all the locations...

And i remember thinking..."Wouldn't it be amazing if i could see these locations in full 3D, beautifully vistas of the fortresses, temples and landscape"..

Well...years later...my dreams came through and turned into a nightmare....

 

[kmonster]

Really? I thought the easiest setting gave half XP, and the hardest double. Or was that before HOW?

Without HoW it works just like in BG. 50 percent XP at easiest, 75 at easy, 100 at normal, hard or hardest.

Didn't know that. Lame.

It's a good thing. Easy difficulty is supposed to be easier which isn't the case if you get more XP at the harder levels. It's a pity that there's an XP bonus instead of a penalty at the hard levels due to popular demand which ruins the challenge.

 

[CappenVarra]

Sheesh Eyeball, why are you even playing the game?

No, that's really my only complaint as far as "game difficulty" is concerned - the fact that your wimpy level 1 characters die from a single unlucky roll of the dice necessitating abuse of the quickload function. I like games that punish you when you fuck up, not just when they feel like it, although this is unfortunately a staple of the DnD game system with the entire idiotic "saving throw" thing too.

Your characters dying to the ogre has nothing to do with "saving throws", so why are you mentioning them? Because you don't like randomness in games? How many RPGs did you play where randomness was absent? Would you prefer to always automatically defeat any monster that you could defeat with average rolls (all 10s on both sides)? If you want to see how a game with no randomness in combat rolls looks like, start DA2 and then come back and say randomness sucks.

Turn the combat log on in the options ("show combat rolls" or whatever) if you're unfamiliar with the mechanics, and I don't seem to remember 2nd edition rules being hard to find online, if you bother to search. Also, low levels are pretty much the part of D&D gameplay that sucks the least (warning: personal opinion detected). But maybe you'll like higher levels more with such an attitude, who knows?

My main complaint about IWD specifically is that the game interface is awful and ten times more awkward to control than it should be, making each fight a clusterfuck more often than not. I did, in fact, acknowledge that I could appreciate the game being challenging while expressing my distaste for low-level DnD in general.

The interface is basically the same as used in all Infinity engine games. If you think the Infinity engine sucks, you can find hordes of people who agree by just searching the thread archive. Auto-pause or pausing manually often enough is what makes it usable, real-time is for walking around. I don't remember does IWD have it, but BG1 used to have the "auto-pause when enemy sighted" option which I always used. Does the interface make the game unplayable, or clunky? Not really. What would you say about game interfaces from the 80s then? Also, if a Pretty Princess can handle the interface, why can't you?

My other complaint is that I find the game extremely visually unappealing due to art style and the drabness of the graphics, but that's a matter of taste. The interface being poor is a fact in itself and not really open to discussion.

IWD1 looks better than anything Bioware ever made (personal opinion again, yeah I know). What's a good looking game for you?

EDIT: fuck, I'm too tired to be coherent.

 

[Cypher402]

What difficulty is the hardest then? Since the "harder" difficulties seem to be broken because of the extra EXP. Any answers would be great as I'm playing this game through for the first time and I want it to be challenging.

Thanks

Cypher

 

[Hamster]

Try playing with a 3 man party. It will get easy near the end due to extra xp but should be entertaining for most of the game.

 

[Carceri]

What difficulty is the hardest then?

That would be Heart of Fury mode. You have to activate it from the configuration setup. In the beginning it's pretty hardcore if you go with a party from scratch

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

I would not suggest playing HoF with a level 1 party for a first play of the game though. If you do it anyway, have fun with the wolf and the goblins in Easthaven.

 

[Desmodus Rotundus]

How the hell are you still level one when you reach the ork caves anyway, even on normal the non mutlyclass chars should get enough exp from kuldahar quests to get to lvl2,

clean up the tavern cellar
bring vine to the fisherman
kill the wolf in the shop
the siren and fisherman quest
get the kid his stuff back from goblins

also double xp with max difficulty on all quest rewards, and apparently on easyest as well, didn't know that since never went below normal.

 

[Kaanyrvhok]

How the hell are you still level one when you reach the ork caves anyway, even on normal the non mutlyclass chars should get enough exp from kuldahar quests to get to lvl2,

clean up the tavern cellar
bring vine to the fisherman
kill the wolf in the shop
the siren and fisherman quest
get the kid his stuff back from goblins

also double xp with max difficulty on all quest rewards, and apparently on easyest as well, didn't know that since never went below normal.

That might level up a theif on normal everyone else will be lvl 1

 

[Daemongar]

My main complaint about IWD specifically is that the game interface is awful and ten times more awkward to control than it should be

You click on a character to select him and then click on an enemy to atack. I don't see any problem.

making each fight a clusterfuck more often than not.

You can pause the game at any time, what clusterfuck?

The interface being poor is a fact in itself and not really open to discussion.

Oh yes it is.

I'm with you, Hamster. You can also just hit 1 to select player 1, 2 to select player 2, 7 to select players 1 and 2, etc. The interface can be customized, any key mapped or remapped. Someone complaining about the interface? That's ignorance and really hurts Eyeballs credibility.

Personally, I never really liked combat centric RPGs, but IWD was the complete hack and slash package. I enjoyed IWD, IWD:HoW, and IWD2 for beautiful graphics and sound, better enemy group tactics, and (something that doesn't get much credit) very well done treasure distribution and balance.

People not liking it for what it is? I can see that. People not liking it IWD for technical reasons? That's just stupid.

 

[Roguey]

I'm with you, Hamster. You can also just hit 1 to select player 1, 2 to select player 2, 7 to select players 1 and 2, etc. The interface can be customized, any key mapped or remapped. Someone complaining about the interface? That's ignorance and really hurts Eyeballs credibility.

The spell selection in the UI for all the IE games is terrible. No, I don't want to constantly assign and reassign spells to hotkeys. I want to be able to look at all of them at once, like in Dark Sun Shattered Lands, instead of that horizontal scrolling crap.

 

[J_C]

No, I don't want to constantly assign and reassign spells to hotkeys. I want to be able to look at all of them at once.

So you want an ugly HUD like in WoW, which is full of spell icons. Yeah, this looks so good.