Icewind Dale...

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 7:44 pm

OK, so I picked this up for $10 today. But reading the package, I'm confused. Is this an expansion pack or a complete game? I never played any of the Baldur's Gate games. Will I still be able to enjoy this one? Can I start from scratch or will I need a high level party to compete?

SuperHiro · Post by **SuperHiro** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 7:51 pm

Quick follow up questions.

1) Is this the "Super Icewind Dale collection pack" thingy? I personally think it's a great value. Just curious.

2) You won't need baldur's gate to run it. It's a completely different, standalone game.

3) You will start from scratch.

4) It's like Baldur's Gate with a much lighter story and a much bigger emphasis on combat.

Orpheo · Post by **Orpheo** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 7:57 pm

It's a lighter story, maybe, but it is by no means light. Overall I think it's a much tigher, more polished experience than Baldur's Gate (1). If you picked up the Ultimate Icewind Dale Collection or whatever its called, the one that has the add-on bundled in, be sure to download Trials of the Luremaster, which is the final patch and also a sort of add-on for the add-on, with another new area and dungeon.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:04 pm

This is just the regular Icewind Dale...if I like it I'll track down the expansions. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't an expansion pack to something else.

bluefugue · Post by **bluefugue** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:07 pm

It's a good game. Maybe the best score of any IE game (though I love BG2's music as well).

I put below BG, BG2, and PS: T among the IE games (didn't play enough of IWD 2 to really rank it). But it's still worth playing.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:12 pm

I also picked up Planescape: Torment today. Which do you recommend playing first?

Orpheo · Post by **Orpheo** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:15 pm

Try to get the expansion if you possibly can, it really adds a lot besides the new area. New spells, new items, new abilities for most classes, and I think you can't play in higher than 800x600 without it.

SuperHiro · Post by **SuperHiro** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:17 pm

Little Raven wrote:I also picked up Planescape: Torment today. Which do you recommend playing first?

Icewind Dale is a solid solid game (I personally like Icewind Dale II much better. Yeah I'm a total 3e whore)

But Planescape is a CLASSIC. One of the greatest RPG's ever made.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 9:45 pm

If you like AD&D, it's a fine game. If you like Icewind Dale, you'll love Baldur's Gate. I must've easily put 100+ hours into BG2, and still haven't played the expansion.

Don't be afraid to use walkthrough and hint sites, though. There were a couple of hide-the-pixel-type triggers in Icewind Dale that really frustrated me.

rrmorton · Post by **rrmorton** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 11:15 pm

Icewind Dale is the only Infinity engine RPG I completed. I loved it, along with the free add-on Trials of the Luremaster. Never got out of the gate on #2 but I keep meaning to go back.

I recently tried to get into Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark but failed (I hate puzzly/mazy dungeons so I was turned off immediately by the first floor of the Underdark.) Maybe I'll load up IWD2 again and see if it isn't too graphically dated.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Thu Nov 11, 2004 11:29 pm

rrmorton wrote:Icewind Dale is the only Infinity engine RPG I completed. I loved it, along with the free add-on Trials of the Luremaster. Never got out of the gate on #2 but I keep meaning to go back.

This was my experience, too, but I came within a failed disk 5 of finishing Baldur's Gate (the original) where I had a save at the final boss.

IWD was, by far, the funnest of those games for me. I've tried Planescape: Torment three different times, and twice I've made it basically to the point that everyone says it starts getting good, and both times I was BURNT OUT by that point. It could be the greatest RPG since they started making RPGs, but those first ten hours (or whatever they are) absolutely DRAINED me. If you're looking for the bowl full of Snickers bars that will satisfy you from beginning to end, IWD is it. If you enjoy the first three hours, you're going to enjoy the final three hours. Unfortunately for me IWD2 had that tedious stretch about five or eight hours in, and I never made it over that hump.

~Neal

Zekester · Post by **Zekester** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:03 am

I'm with morton and Meal too;
Icewind Dale was the only game of this ilk that I finished. It was a blast.
Not too sure how it'd hold up nowadays though.

I had an even better time with the game when I used the 3rd party program "DaleKeeper"(?) that allows you to alter any of the stats for any of the characters.

I started the game from the beginning with a pretty strong party, and it was fantastic.....there's nothing like one-hit-hammer-smashes on the skeletons

Orpheo · Post by **Orpheo** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 12:06 am

I'm actually in the middle of playing it now. It holds up fine at high res.

knob · Post by **knob** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 1:31 am

I vote start/finish PST first. That game deserves to be played. It's a bit hard to get into if you're not a huge reading fanatic, but damn is it worth it.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:16 am

Ok, I've started Planescape. I'm a reading fanatic, so that won't be a problem. I just finished playing Sanatarium. PST looks a lot like it.

One thing I am worried about though...is my sound working correctly? Most conversations are strictly text, but some have some spoken dialogue, though not the entire conversation. Is this normal or do I have to kick my soundcard?

bluefugue · Post by **bluefugue** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:27 am

SuperHiro wrote:
Little Raven wrote:I also picked up Planescape: Torment today. Which do you recommend playing first?
Icewind Dale is a solid solid game (I personally like Icewind Dale II much better. Yeah I'm a total 3e whore)

But Planescape is a CLASSIC. One of the greatest RPG's ever made.

I am the resident PS:T naysayer; I don't think it's one of the greatest CRPGs ever. But it is very good and worth playing before IWD.

bluefugue · Post by **bluefugue** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:28 am

Little Raven wrote:Ok, I've started Planescape. I'm a reading fanatic, so that won't be a problem. I just finished playing Sanatarium. PST looks a lot like it.

One thing I am worried about though...is my sound working correctly? Most conversations are strictly text, but some have some spoken dialogue, though not the entire conversation. Is this normal or do I have to kick my soundcard?

Normal. Vast majority of the dialogue in PS:T (as in all Infinity Engine games) is text only.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 9:36 am

...and major characters frequently speak the first line or two for flavor.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 11:29 am

Blackhawk wrote:...and major characters frequently speak the first line or two for flavor.

That's what I suspected was going on, because otherwise I would expect the sound to come and go at more random times. But thank you guys for confirming it!

Post by **godhugh** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 11:46 am

I love BG2, but IWD2 is the best IE game IMO. It has an incredible combat system and the modified 3e rule set it uses it pretty swanky.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:04 pm

Little Raven wrote:I also picked up Planescape: Torment today. Which do you recommend playing first?

Please tell me where you bought this...can't find it anywhere. And how much if you don't mind.

tks

bluefugue · Post by **bluefugue** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:07 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:
Little Raven wrote:I also picked up Planescape: Torment today. Which do you recommend playing first?
Please tell me where you bought this...can't find it anywhere. And how much if you don't mind.

tks

For a long time now PS:T has been packaged as a budgie twofer (~$10) with Soulbringer. I've seen em in Best Buy budgie racks last few years, though they might be getting rarer now.

Little Raven · Post by **Little Raven** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:15 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:Please tell me where you bought this...can't find it anywhere. And how much if you don't mind.

I bought the PST/Soulbringer twofer that bluefugue was talking about. Cost me all of 5 dollars. I bought mine at Fries, but I've seen them all over. They are starting to get rarer, though. I really had to dig to get the one I snagged.

jcompton · Post by **jcompton** » Fri Nov 12, 2004 5:54 pm

Interplay lost the rights to publish in the PST universe a couple of years ago, so those budget packs went out of print. That's what makes them hard to find.