Icewind Dale Beamdog's Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition

[Lyric Suite]

Thankfully, that retarded blue guy isn't actually there lmao.

 

[Tigranes]

Are there no UI mods for these EEs that restore the superior UIs of the originals? Like, I would never play Planescape Torment EE, because of that abomination of a UI. ghostdog's UI is just so much better. But why has nobody modded that or something similar into the EE yet? Not that I searched a lot, so maybe something like that exists?

Play the original. You won't miss a thing.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Are there no UI mods for these EEs that restore the superior UIs of the originals? Like, I would never play Planescape Torment EE, because of that abomination of a UI. ghostdog's UI is just so much better. But why has nobody modded that or something similar into the EE yet? Not that I searched a lot, so maybe something like that exists?

There are UI mods that improve the shit Beamdog one but don't quite restore the original look.

Of course, wonder if they even work with this update and if the author is still around to give a shit.

 

[Palomides]

Lefreut's enhanced UI is currently the most popular and least disgusting looking UI that one could use for the EEs.

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussi...anced-ui-for-bg1ee-bg1ee-sod-bg2ee-and-eet/p1

 

[ghostdog]

Are there no UI mods for these EEs that restore the superior UIs of the originals? Like, I would never play Planescape Torment EE, because of that abomination of a UI. ghostdog's UI is just so much better. But why has nobody modded that or something similar into the EE yet? Not that I searched a lot, so maybe something like that exists?

Just a reminder that I recently did some updates on my UI. (see sig)

Basically because I tried to play PSTEE and the small dialog window made me furious. Also, their upscaling algorithm fucking sucks. So, I went back to the original and did some new stuff.

 

[Russia is over. The end.]

ghostdog has anyone figured out a way import custom fonts for dialogues in EE yet? Cause their stock font absolutely sucks.

 

[ghostdog]

ghostdog has anyone figured out a way import custom fonts for dialogues in EE yet? Cause their stock font absolutely sucks.

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/57230/changing-in-game-font

Not sure if this still applies though, they've made some retarded engine patching through the years.

 

[Parabalus]

PSTEE has a nasty bug where resetting the modron maze can reset a bunch of areas (the Hive, Wards, etc.), care recommended when playing it.

UI isn't that bad though.

 

[Konjad]

Lol at dexers playing this shit instead of originals

 

[Fishy]

So, I have never rated IWD or been too far before, disappointed at the pure-combat design after the BG/BG2 storylines, and finding it boring to plow through repeated lizardmen set pieces (dropped at Dragon's Eye then).

Felt like going through it for some reason at the weekend though, and I am loving it. This time obviously, I know what I'm signing for, so I guess it makes a difference. Party has 4 dwarves and 2 humans, since there are no dwarven option for arcane spellcasters. Rolled with Dwarven Defender, Fighter/Cleric, Fighter/Thief, Cleric, Bard and Wild Mage (I love wild mages, even when mine entangles the party instead of webbing the enemies, or turns herself into a wolf instead of hasting the party). I am loving how each dungeon has its own lore explaining its existence and layout, general encounters can easily catch you unaware if you go in stupidly (those bombardier beetles, lol), and a few fights here are genuinely challenging and elicit a few retries. From the top of my head: the ton of skeletons with mages just before Kresselack, the room with 984362 trolls and evil priests in the prisoner section of Dragon's Eye, most of Yxunomei's floor and final fight, and some of the ambushes in the Severed Hand (be it orcs or skeletons with shade priest support).

Just reached the dwarven halls now, so I'm far from done yet, but this is a pretty chill experience. Take it a room at a time, push your luck through spell/hp attrition because resting once per room is just plain boring, and clean up the places. Itemisation is pretty good too. Items are just scarce enough to make you happy to find one, yet plentiful enough that you don't feel lacking, even though for example I only have a single character wearing a ring at level 11.

So I'll eat my former words: IWD is a lovely game. And feel free to sue me: I love the additional kits, the 16:9 resolutions and the zoom control on the mouse (that one is one of the best additions to IE games imho, it makes justice to the gorgeous background art).

 

[Gargaune]

So, I have never rated IWD or been too far before, disappointed at the pure-combat design after the BG/BG2 storylines, and finding it boring to plow through repeated lizardmen set pieces (dropped at Dragon's Eye then).

Story-wise, you might find Heart of Winter a bit more captivating, thought it does cut short rather abruptly. And then you've got Trials of the Luremaster, I think Castle Maluradek might just be the second most compelling megadungeon after Durlag's Tower. If you want my advice, don't go campaign-hopping, just keep a savegame handy and treat them as separate adventures - the OC, then Heart of Winter, then Trials of the Luremaster.

And feel free to sue me: I love the additional kits, the 16:9 resolutions and the zoom control on the mouse (that one is one of the best additions to IE games imho, it makes justice to the gorgeous background art).

I'm also particularly fond of the Quickloot feature in the EE. It does sort of undermine one particular trap in Trials of the Luremaster, but picking up all those Goblin Axes in IWD2 really made me miss it.

 

[Sacibengala]

Nearly a decade later, I still fail to see why anyone would play the IE EEs over the originals.

You can pirate it and the mp works better than the original nowadays.

 

[Fishy]

Almost finished the base game, but the final battle is *rough*. So I went back to a previous save and headed to HoW instead. And then almost instantly got thrown into TotL...

Anyhow, managed to complete TotL, that was some ride. I don't think I ever spent so long on single floors in an IE game. The cave full of harpies in particular took me a while to clear, and I had to abuse everything: rest-scumming, haste, every protection under the sun, fire immunity+fireball spam... That was even worse than the hordes of specters in the castle, and these already required to be taken seriously. Unless I missed a gimmick, that cave really felt overtuned. That's a cool dungeon in general, it tells its story neatly and each floor is a challenge.

Starting HoW proper now, exploring the burial isle.

 

[Fishy]

And that's Icewind Dale completed, yay.

HoW was excellent. Still the same very combat-oriented style, but with just enough story and side quests around it to take it up a level, and very heavily snow/ice themed, which I missed in those long indoors sections of the base game. The extra levels it made for were also pretty entertaining as spellcasters get to enjoy the high-end of their books. Didn't go far enough for the Wild Mage to reach level 9 spells, but ah. As I understand, higher difficulties massively increase xp? Because otherwise I can't imagine how one would reach level 30 for those achievements. Or is it about solo runs maybe? Guess I'll have these as available challenge runs one day when I feel like going back. The final HoW fight was surprisingly easy, dragons took a lot more effort in BG2, this one was a bit weak and just got pummeled in melee by my 4 dwarves, completely ignoring the extra mobs until after the big one was down. No breath, no pushback... And that was with a party that hadn't rested/buffed as I had entered the area without expecting the fight to happen immediately. The temple just before that fight took more attention. It was good to get closure though, and well, it feels good to enjoy those levels and that insane stock of +4 and +5 weapons.

Back to the mainland and off for the finale again. Except this time I have pumped up the levels, I have shitloads of Heal in the memory of my two healers, my arcane casters have stoneskin, and everyone's loaded on +4/+5 weapons so that final bastard won't be immune. Poquelin just melted, and so did the idiot and his clones in the tower. Then for the final fight, I got a surprise as I always had seen just the boss and 2 iron golems, but this time the boss had also invoked 2 corlagons. I used a different dialogue tree this time, so not sure whether that's what did it, or if it's because I had HoW completed and the game adds a bit of extra challenge. Well, the extra challenge lasted about 3s per corlagon, and the golems didn't last much longer. The boss then took some micromanagement with poison/disease potion quaffing, Heal casting and some kiting, but otherwise, it was straightforward enough. Mad respect to the people who beat that without doing HoW/TotLM, my body wasn't ready, personally. And though I appreciate that it's part of changing things and challenging the players, I hate the dual concept of denying placement (round room, party in centre with traps around) and denying pre-buffing (party-wide dispel effects on engage). With expansions thrown in though, it works, so fair enough.

It's a lovely game in the end. The no-nonsense sequential area cleanup is enjoyable once you get enough tools. It's just a bit slow to get started, and Dragon's Eye is imho a pretty poor area, early on, and it gives a rather bad impression. Once you reach the temple below though, things improve a lot, and the expansions are pretty good and feel just right time-wise. The level range is good too, allowing a lot of fun with magic: I had a lot of fun with spell sequencers, and am impressed that they bothered adding stuff for divination spells to actually work! I'm glad I decided to give it another chance.

Random favourite moments: my Wild Mage attempting to cast a fireball at Salamanders and... summoning 8 squirrels instead... Also, in HoW, that party from Luskan after the wizard/innkeeper, I wiped the floor with them, it was so beautiful I almost cried. And of course, my chaotic neutral fighter/thief dwarf sleeping with the cooper's wife and telling him about it, then proposing to pay him for the service. Lost some party reputation but totally worth the lulz.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

How are you even supposed to play this with how awful the pathfinding is? My characters get stuck together so hard I can't even enter the the houses in the first village. I can't imagine this being playable in cramped dungeons.

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

How are you even supposed to play this with how awful the pathfinding is? My characters get stuck together so hard I can't even enter the the houses in the first village. I can't imagine this being playable in cramped dungeons.

Ctrl+J baby.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

How are you even supposed to play this with how awful the pathfinding is? My characters get stuck together so hard I can't even enter the the houses in the first village. I can't imagine this being playable in cramped dungeons.

Ctrl+J baby.

It doesn't do anything

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

It doesn't do anything

I was just kidding... sort of. If you enable the console, Ctrl+J lets you teleport to wherever your cursor is. Obviously, it's cheating so if you care about such things you'd want to exercise restraint and only use it to unfuck yourself. I found it necessary in the remaster of BGII where the bug you describe also happens frequently.

The command itself may have changed in Beamdog's version of IWD.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

It doesn't do anything

I was just kidding... sort of. If you enable the console, Ctrl+J lets you teleport to wherever your cursor is. Obviously, it's cheating so if you care about such things you'd want to exercise restraint and only use it to unfuck yourself. I found it necessary in the remaster of BGII where the bug you describe also happens frequently.

The command itself may have changed in Beamdog's version of IWD.

Does this problem not exist in the originals?

 

[Grunker]

i always suspected people complaining bout ie pathfinding of being dim-witted

being mentally unable to make your party enter the houses in kuldahar is perfect confirmation

 

[Shadenuat]

nop, EE adds pathfinding issues to the point you have to reload game.

 

[Grunker]

nop, EE adds pathfinding issues to the point you have to reload game.

If so it’s introduced in a patch. I completed the whole game six months after release and didn’t have pf issues outside of regular ie quirks

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

Does this problem not exist in the originals?

There are two problems that exist relating to movement in the IE games. I was unsure of which you were referring to. Put short, there had always been occasional hangups when going through doors or up/downstairs in Infinity Engine games. This is due to characters moving in close formation who are commanded to interact with the same "object" which is the invisible zone transfer point. 2 or more characters wedge up against each other preventing either of them from physically touching it and start jittering in place. It was always like this and it's not really a bug per se. Reissuing the command, or selecting one and manually moving it out of the way will often fix this.

The second problem was introduced in the remasters, where party members will somehow get stuck inside each other (anywhere) and be unable to move even if there's plenty of room. Either way, Ctrl+J fixes the issue neatly because teleporting rearranges the party formation back to default, as if you just entered a zone, albeit a little closer packed depending on space.

 

[Shadenuat]

yes, it's not easy to replicate, I had it once in ilmater temple. the sprites basicaly overlay on top of each other, and from then on, characters are stuck forever and can't move.
a few other times it was same but eventually they would get unstuck if you move every character one by one out.

 

[Grunker]

yes, it's not easy to replicate, I had it once in ilmater temple. the sprites basicaly overlay on top of each other, and from then on, characters are stuck forever and can't move.

If it’s that rare, using the clua hotkeys sound like an ideal solution

 

[KörangarTheMighty]

If it’s that rare, using the clua hotkeys sound like an ideal solution

In BG II, it happened to me every half-hour or so.