Icewind Dale The Icewind Dale Series Thread

[Heresiarch]

Coz finding the right torrentz is teh hard

And dl stuff needs tiem

 

[Jaesun]

Yes IWDI and IWDII are worth playing.

Did any of the IE modding teams ever attempt something like IcewindGate (BGII in the IWDII engine), specifically IWD ported into the IWDII engine?. I know that IcewindGate died and failed, as some functions in BGII do not exist in IWDII (such as there is NO way to check if you are casting spells when in Athkatla, to name one of many) so it failed.

That said, IWD in the IWDII engine would be awesome.

 

[Johannes]

I've tried IWD 1 and found it pretty boring and quit. Combat consisted too much of just fighting boring trash mobs, be it goblins or yetis or skeletons. Rarely there was an interesting encounter with enemy mages, archers etc. (and even those felt worse than what I remember of BG2 for example) but vast majority of time all I did was run 1 guy around as decoy while others shoot at them enemies.

Maybe the encounter quality got better later in the game but I couldn't be assed to find out.

 

[visions]

I don't mind IE combat. Sure it's missing a lot of things that probably should be there, but I always found it to be fun. Kind of like a RTS in a way.

This.

As for the supposedly inane puzzles in IWD 2, I only remember two, the volcano timefuck thing and pathfinding in the haunted forest. Didn't really mind the forest, the volcano was annoying though.

 

[Merkwürdigliebe]

That said, IWD in the ToEE engine would be awesome.

Fixed that for you sir.


Any way IWD is a decent party based hack and slash/dungeon crawler. If you like the genre it is absolutely worth playing, encounter design and visuals are much better than Baldur's Gate if one is to compare them. Though one do miss turn based combat, the whole click fest characters running around like crazy with shitty path finding can get frustrating. Thankfully though there is no Nashkel mines in this game.

 

[TalesfromtheCrypt]

Buttom line: If you don't mind the IE combat, IWD is a nice dungeon crawler with good visuals, great atmosphere and music etc.

Personaly, I think my taste in games is not refined enough to OMG HATE THE IE COMBAT. Sure, it's not Jagged Alliance 2 but somehow it always felt fun to me. I'd rather play BG 2 or IWD then the oh so "good for what it is" popamole shooter Mass Effect 2.

 

[visions]

The ironic thing about IWD 2's visuals is that I remember when it came out it got quite a bit of flak for its "dated" look, yet in hindsight it has aged a lot better visually than games that came out roughly around the same time and were praised for their looks, like Morrowind and NWN. Kind of captain obvious here but still find it somewhat funny how journos were writing stuff like "the visuals are awfully dated compared to the greatness of some other recent titles like NWN and MW" or whatever.

 

[Jaesun]

I've tried IWD 1 and found it pretty boring and quit. Combat consisted too much of just fighting boring trash mobs, be it goblins or yetis or skeletons. Rarely there was an interesting encounter with enemy mages, archers etc. (and even those felt worse than what I remember of BG2 for example) but vast majority of time all I did was run 1 guy around as decoy while others shoot at them enemies.

Maybe the encounter quality got better later in the game but I couldn't be assed to find out.

Joined: 19 Nov 2010

Jebus C Rist

 

[Dark Matter]

For some reason, I found the combat in IWD to be much more fun than in BG and PST.

Also, the setting, visuals, music, voice acting are all superb.

I would definitely recommend it, but then again I'm not one of the people who can't stand IE combat. As far as hack'n'slash games go, I would pick IWD over Diablo any day.

 

[Phelot]

As for the supposedly inane puzzles in IWD 2, I only remember two, the volcano timefuck thing and pathfinding in the haunted forest. Didn't really mind the forest, the volcano was annoying though.

Yes, I happened to have a ranger in my party when I played through the forest and I can only imagine what it would be like without one.

I vaguely remember the volcano... wasn't there something about having to finish a quest a certain way or it keeps repeating? I do remember it being annoying, but don't quite recall why.

 

[Jools]

I liked IWD very much, in no small part because of the settings.

Altogether, it is a solid game, maybe not outstanding as BG, but still very very good.

I recommend you play it.

 

[Jaesun]

It's a dungeon crawler. If you are looking for an EPIC ROLEPLAING EXPERIENCE, then well, you know what to play.

 

[Crispy]

Combat consisted too much of just fighting boring trash mobs, be it goblins or yetis or skeletons.

Welcome to starting-level Dungeons and Dragons. FFS moran

 

[thesheeep]

Yes. Forgive the perspective, forgive the story, and just play it.

If you're a connoisseur of quality RPGs, you'll be sucked in the moment the title screen pops up. The music is fucking awesome. The atmosphere is just right.

Damn. Just play it.

Allllriiiight.... I'll buy it just to support the devs. And maybe I'll be able to forgive the perpective.

I never get the beef people have with that perspective. Is it because stuff is tilted to the side as well as backwards? How about Dark Sun or Albion - is that bearable?

Yup. I found both to be mighty fine.
As I said, KotC's perpective is more like the one the Ultima titles have (well the newer ones, obviously). Maybe because the perspective of objects is a different one than the perspective of walls, etc.

And this difference is more extreme in KotC/Ultima than in Albion/Dark Sun. I just looked at some screens and while the perspective in DS is indeed strange, at least everything is depicted from the same strange perspective. But I never thought about that topic that much

 

[SCO]

I deleted it (IWD II ) from my hardrive.



Not before completing the Heart of fury mode with a broken party though
(removed level cap, Monks/Sorcerors).

 

[piydek]

Both are awesome. Great art and atmosphere. And the first one has a better story and better story development than for example BG2. Anyone who thinks differently is a retard and a sheep.

 

[Crispy]

As has been said many times here, the music alone is almost worth it by itself. The tune that plays when you enter Kuldahar? Did I get that right? By Jeremy Soule I think? My bad, Inon Zur. Is a very memorable one.

Agreed about the atmosphere.

 

[kmonster]

The IWD games are better than the BG games. Less mainstream and less marketing oriented but more quality.

 

[bonescraper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEqDtbC3bL8

I'll just leave this here.

 

[Johannes]

Combat consisted too much of just fighting boring trash mobs, be it goblins or yetis or skeletons.

Welcome to starting-level Dungeons and Dragons. FFS moran

Huh, so it's ok to have boring enemies because it is common with the system they used?

 

[Crispy]

Yes. It is. There are traditions to maintain, you know.

This is Forgotten Realms. You're all very raw, new adventurers. Goblins and orcs infest this part of the world. You're going to encounter them.

What would you rather have? Rats?

Edit: I wish I were your DM. I would throw so many goblins at you you'd be crying into your character sheet.

 

[Radisshu]

My main beef with trying this series is that Infinity Engine combat is shit. BG2 already has just about more of it than I can stand, I don't think I want to play a hack-and-slash on the same engine.

It can get a little chaotic, but I think it's very manageable.

 

[Heresiarch]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEqDtbC3bL8

I'll just leave this here.

OMG that is the awesome :D

Acquiring ii through less physical means now.

BTW, shall I acquire 1 too? I dunno when you guys say iwd is worth it, you mean the whole iwd series or just the first one.

 

[Sceptic]

1 is usually (and rightly) considered superior to 2, so you should defiintely acquire it. Better music, a more cohesive structure, better atmosphere, better story development (not that it matters in a dungeon crawler)... besides, playing them in sequence is fun so you get to revisit some familiar places.

 

[bonescraper]

2 is usually (and rightly) considered superior to 1, so you should defiintely acquire it. Better writing, better mechanics, better interface, more races, classes, spells, more thoughtful tactical encounters and there's even some C&C (don't make the paladin your public relations guy though :D). But please, play them in sequence anyway. They're both awesome.