Icewind Dale The Icewind Dale Series Thread

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

Weird, I was under the impression that BG1 was held in high regard in most places.

 

[Jaesun]

Baldur's Gate is a vastly more enjoyable low level D&D campaign. Baldur's Gate II not so much, not that Baldur's Gate II is bad, it's that all those higher level's and spells start to get kind of wacky. Kind of simillar to why the Gold Box (and FRUA mods) are such a blast to play. If they had the same higher level equivalence of Baldur's Gate II it probably would not be as enjoyable.

 

[Johannes]

High levels are fun exactly because you get wacky spells and abilities. It makes the combat much more complex and satisfying.

 

[Infinitron]

Some people prefer a sparser, tighter experience.

Like Fallout 1 vs Fallout 2.

 

[Corporate_Jew_Master]

High levels are fun exactly because you get wacky spells and abilities. It makes the combat much more complex and satisfying.

 

[suejak]

Baldur's Gate 1 is neither sparse nor tight, of course. It's mostly just a plodding, sprawling splurge of bad combat against low-level melee monsters.

It was a newish experience at the time, but the sequel is easily a better game.

EDIT: Icewind Dale, on the other hand... a game with bad combat where the only thing to do is fight? Kool.

 

[selkin]

What I really disliked in the IWD series that it wanted to "measure up" so badly to Diablo - and to its sales - that it became very unfaithful RPG in the process.

Although the art and the music were just splendid. And it was superior to BG as well..

I've always wondered who was responsible for keeping the art together so tightly?

Heart of winter's new portraits and voice acting was

 

[tindrli]

i just do not understand how can you compare diablo with dale man.. i just.. it cant be..

 

[suejak]

i just do not understand how can you compare diablo with dale man.. i just.. it cant be..

"A good example here would be the differences between the Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment. All of the products use the same engine (the Bioware Infinity Engine), but all of them are seen as very distinctly different products. The way we think about them is along a line from adventure to hack-and-slash. Torment is almost an adventure game, Icewind Dale is almost a true hack-and-slash like Diablo, and Baldur's Gate is somewhere right in the middle."

- Feargus Urquhart, Division Director of Black Isle Studios (currently CEO of Obsidian)

 

[roshan]

Dungeon crawlers and hack and slash are different genres.

 

[suejak]

Are they now? Never heard that one before. Is one more of a Democrat thing?

 

[Revenant]

i just do not understand how can you compare diablo with dale man.. i just.. it cant be..

It's not we who are comparing IWD to Diablo, the comparison was in the official IWD advertisement. The promo IWD video that shipped with BG2 had a line "It would be a shame to spend $60 on Diablo 2 and have IWD pass you by", so the game was obviously targetet to the H&S market by the publisher.

 

[selkin]

There you have it tindrli. I'm glad I didn't have to answer this by myself.


Anyway, I hope the people who made these decisions about IWD back then, are not in the game industry anymore. Or at least not in InXile's or Obsidian's team.

 

[Infinitron]

There you have it tindrli. I'm glad I didn't have to answer this by myself.


Anyway, I hope the people who made these decisions about IWD back then, are not in the game industry anymore. Or at least not in InXile's or Obsidian's team.

Lol, those exact same people are making Project Eternity.

Icewind Dale is nothing like Diablo. That was just marketing speak.

It's also Brian Fargo's favorite Infinity Engine game.

 

[Captain Shrek]

Icewind Dale is nothing like Diablo. That was just marketing speak.

Yeah. But P:E is.

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Roguey]

There you have it tindrli. I'm glad I didn't have to answer this by myself.


Anyway, I hope the people who made these decisions about IWD back then, are not in the game industry anymore. Or at least not in InXile's or Obsidian's team.

Lol, those exact same people are making Project Eternity.

Icewind Dale is nothing like Diablo. That was just marketing speak.

It's also Brian Fargo's favorite Infinity Engine game.

http://www.gamestm.co.uk/features/chris-avellone-a-man-of-many-words/4/

After a few months, he slowly moved Avellone into a design role on the hack-and-slash-oriented Icewind Dale – unofficially, Interplay’s response to Blizzard’s frighteningly successful action-RPG, Diablo.

“Competing with Diablo was one of the goals handed to us from up high,” Avellone says.

It has randomized loot and a focus on combat.

 

[Infinitron]

Trying to compete with Diablo or marketing the game as a Diablo-like don't change the fact that the game isn't, in fact, like Diablo at all.

 

[Captain Shrek]

Trying to compete with Diablo or marketing the game as a Diablo-like don't change the fact that the game isn't, in fact, like Diablo at all.

You mean real time hack and slash with top down view?

 

[Surf Solar]

Don't be retarded, the gameplay of IWD is hardly the same as Diablo.

 

[Infinitron]

You mean real time hack and slash with top down view?

No, I mean a party-based game, with auto attack instead of clicking, no randomized dungeons and minimal randomized items.

 

[suejak]

You mean real time hack and slash with top down view?

No, I mean a party-based game, with auto attack instead of clicking, no randomized dungeons and minimal randomized items.

You seriously think that these are the things that distinguish IWD from Diablo? Are you fucking kidding me?

Your brain works in mysterious ways.

 

[Infinitron]

Among others. Then there's the D&D classes, races, spells, etc, and the awesome Black Isle writing and dialogue with class and race checks. At a higher level, the game doesn't have as much of Diablo's rigid separation between town areas and dungeon/combat areas, with that tiresome gameplay loop of exploring dungeons in between town portaling to stock up on potions.

 

[tindrli]

i just do not understand how can you compare diablo with dale man.. i just.. it cant be..

It's not we who are comparing IWD to Diablo, the comparison was in the official IWD advertisement. The promo IWD video that shipped with BG2 had a line "It would be a shame to spend $60 on Diablo 2 and have IWD pass you by", so the game was obviously targetet to the H&S market by the publisher.

yep.. my bad bros.. i was too drunk last night anyway.. now i remmember

 

[selkin]

Among others. Then there's the D&D classes, races, spells, etc, and the awesome Black Isle writing and dialogue with class and race checks. At a higher level, the game doesn't have as much of Diablo's rigid separation between town areas and dungeon/combat areas, with that tiresome gameplay loop of exploring dungeons in between town portaling to stock up on potions.

Interplay never had a big hit, and it needed one. Brian Fargo said that himself.
Yes, Diablo and IWD are different but still, IWD (and IE games in general) aimed to have the same effect on the market by adopting Diablo-like features. e.g. a more linear story-telling, random loot, respawning enemies, and so on. Not to mention the multiplayer.

Anyway, IWD got simplified.

But the biggest obstacle was that H&S and turn-based AD&D is incompatible. In my opinion.

That's why IWD became shitty in combat and dysfunctional in multiplayer.
I can't believe no one realized this at Black Isle/Interplay before the release.

But in the end against all the odds it turned out to be a really lovable game. A little gem from the North.
Probably that's why Fargo loves it.