Iwd2 was fun for me just trying builds with a different system than BG. I did grow bored with it fairly quickly though due to the constant battles and no real storyline. I keep saying ill go back to it but haven't (I'm at the part where you go through the maze woods like six times, borrrrring) maybe now that BGEE2 is in limbo I will go back.
Oh lord, that maze was in IWD2? Then that is the only thing I remember from playing it - hours of stumbling around, cursing at the load screens, and finally finding a walkthrough online. *shudders* I'd like to point out that I'm a fan of adventure games, so endless repetitions and trying 'everything with anything' are no foes of mine, and yet this forest defeated me.
Hmm, now that I'm actively searching for memories of playing IDW1, the only clear ones are: 1) having great fun with creating the party 2) having fun discovering that Martha from PS:T had a cameo in one of starting areas. That's it. I'm sure I played this game to the end, as I have some vague recollection of some mountains, and some caves, and some dungeons and possibly a tower, but other than that, I might as well have never seen it. So to answer the thread title question, no, there's no point to playing IWD, unless you just want to burn some time and have nothing else to do.
@CamDawg: I'm pretty sure I have all of those installed already - do I need to remove them in order to install the new ones?
If you're on Windows, you just drop the new stuff into your game folder, let it overwrite everything, and then re-install. Don't nuke the existing mod folders outright (or at least, not without uninstalling them), since WeiDU needs the existing backup folders from each mod to properly re-install everything.
Some of the dialogue was a little more detailed. Like after a paladin used detect evil before talking to somebody, it brings about new conversation options. I also like some of the grinding dungeons, like that one with the dragon head shaped entrance with the lizard men and undead stuff. Plots are boring, I don't even remember the plots.
If anybody can do better go right ahead. I'd like to think that I could, but who knows, might be a lot worse.
The thing that I love most about the RPG genre is the one thing that every game gets wrong. FREEDOM. I don't need to be pulled along by epic plots. Build the world. Detail it. Make it a living thing that is waiting to be explored and then how about I just go explore it whenever and wherever my whims tell me to.
When I PnP DMed back in the dizzle, I was never boring and I never dictated what my players should do, even if I worked hard designing stuff for them to explore and they never explored it. I would keep things fun for them AND me by thinking on the fly.
For example, my players wanted to just bounty hunt, they were not all into the quests. No problem, I came up with an epic bounty hunt that lasted several sessions and lead the players through many challenges only to have it end up with them finding their target slain by another group of bounty hunters. Facing them with a dilemma of murdering honest hard working bounty hunters like themselves or swallowing their pride and going home empty handed.
In the RPG game world, quests are way more black and white, writers only seem to work hard on the epic plot and EVERYTHING points towards doing that. Like OMG I get that there is an iron shortage every NPC has told me over and over again.
@Lateralus - You might like Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. They don't push you along very much on the story line (though eventually you'll get bored if you don't follow the story at some point). Amazing number of side quests. Fallout 3 is also like this (same company developed it). The down side for those first three games is that the rules are funky. Lots of "training" :P
In my opinion, the best way to play IWD is solo. This way you do not have to worry about the low interactions between party members and can give yourself a real challenge. This way, for me, is the only way to genuinely roleplay this game. I have to be honest - I got very much into my character and felt very epic throughout the entire story. Immersion doesn't break and you can really get involved.
Try to think of it in a sense of a Bethesda game. Forget the party, forget what they want. This story is about YOU.
@EntropyXII - A party of one? That's a pretty good challenge, especially in HoF mode! OTOH I had a party of 4 in IWD2 and they became really powerful because of the extra XP. The only irritating thing in IWD2 is that in HoF mode you can't pickpocket a few really nice items early on (I even tried cheating by maxing my rogues PP skill and it still wasn't possible!). Soloing IWD1 might not have any of these problems.
@FredSRichardson - I had the most fun with a fighter/mage/thief multiclass. On HoF mode solo you gain so much experience, so very quickly it matters little that you play alone. With those three classes you also get to use the majority of items you find in game. It opens it up a little more and allows you to mix and match. I felt like a true jack of all trades adventurer.
Of course you have to remain tactical and careful, but like I said: In my opinion it is the best way to roleplay this game.
@Lateralus - You might like Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. They don't push you along very much on the story line (though eventually you'll get bored if you don't follow the story at some point). Amazing number of side quests. Fallout 3 is also like this (same company developed it). The down side for those first three games is that the rules are funky. Lots of "training" :P
@Lateralus - You might like Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. They don't push you along very much on the story line (though eventually you'll get bored if you don't follow the story at some point). Amazing number of side quests. Fallout 3 is also like this (same company developed it). The down side for those first three games is that the rules are funky. Lots of "training" :P
I am familiar with the Bethesda's work, and I find it very good. Thank you.
If I had my wish, all the great game designers would work together with all of the great fantasy writers of our time. I would drool for a Morrowind type detail, with a Middle Earth type of world, and ADnD mechanics.
I hate the way these developers over think the game engine, I just want to pick them up and shake them sometimes. It's like, "Dude, you have a masters degree in math, you must be very proud. Check this out, I'm not trying to split an atom here, I just want to know what this new sword will do for me. A simple plus or minus is all the knowledge I require. I'm unwinding from work with a cold beer and an RPG, and you're making me dust off my algebra book. I hate you".
@Lateralus - I agree and I like your ideal game. Learn as much as possible from prior mistakes and take the best aspects of all prior cRPG game engines and bring them together. Hire good writers, artists and voice actors and make a great game.
But wait, there is danger ahead. Remember Ishtar. Having all the best components in one place doesn't necessarily lead to the best out come.
But ultimately I think we may see some amazing games in the future (based on what we've seen so far). One motivating factor is the tremendous amount of money there is to be made (if nothing else).
The only way I could play Icewind Dale 1 is if it came to Enhanced Edition and got an update. IWD2 while has improvements is boring.
The other main problem with Icewind Dale series is everything that they do, Avernum Escape from the Pit does better. Character customization is almost endless in Avernum, its got a better story. Its got 3 endings of which you can choose which one, two or three you want to complete. And to top it all off, I can actually control 4 characters in tb combat rather than not. Baldurs Gate I can control 2 characters but any more than that is too frustrating and tedious in real time combat. I completed Bg 2 with a full party only because my friend was helping me along the way.
Real time is fun but gets way too confusing when you add more than 2 characters.
You do realise that you can, you know, pause the game whenever you want to give new commands, right? I don't see how controlling 6 characters could in any way be a problem.
Ive tried controlling 3 and its way too confusing. I prefer turn based when you control more than 2. If I can control 2 at a time, I will prefer Infinity engine. Thats just my preference. They dropped the amount of npcs you control when they made KOTOR, and then again with Jade Empire. If I could control 2 in Icewind Dale I would but I doubt its possible. Icewind Dale is a brutal game.
You just need to tweak your auto-pause settings, and you can play the game in almost turn-based. Hell everyone who plays this game a lot either sets their auto-pause or has their thumb on hair-trigger alert on the space bar (I'm a space bar guy myself, since auto-pause just bugs me).
Ive tried controlling 3 and its way too confusing. I prefer turn based when you control more than 2. If I can control 2 at a time, I will prefer Infinity engine. Thats just my preference. They dropped the amount of npcs you control when they made KOTOR, and then again with Jade Empire. If I could control 2 in Icewind Dale I would but I doubt its possible. Icewind Dale is a brutal game.
As far as I know, people have soloed IWD1, so it should certainly be possible. Though it would probably rather help to have played through it the regular way at least once.
But I still don't get what's so confusing about controlling more than 2 characters. You can automatically pause pretty much whenever anything of note happens in combat, or you can just hit the space bar yourself. Where does that become confusing? I might get it if it were fully real-time rather than pause-and-play, or if you had to click for every swing of your character's blade/axe/shovel/whatever. But that's clearly not at issue here.
I started playing Icewind Dale a couple of weeks ago. Played lots of BG 1 & 2 but never IWD so thought I would finally give it a try.
I've been really enjoying it so far. Given that it's so linear I can't see myself coming back to play it again (like I have with BG1 and particularly BG2). But even with just one playthrough it's provided plenty of entertainment. Especially as I picked it up cheap on GoG (along with IWD2 which I'll play afterwards).
Every so often I go back and start a game of IWD because it's beautiful to look at and the soundtrack is exceptional. And an hour or so later I find that I am very, very bored ...
I can't play Diablo alone (at least repeat grinding...once for the story is all I can really do because it just doesn't click with me, I don't really like the setting (mostly because D3 has largely poisoned by opinion of the series as a whole, even though I know that D1 and D2 were made by an entirely different group then D3)...it's too boring...having friends along makes just about anything more enjoyable, cause you can shoot the $%#^, roleplay, whatever...makes things more interesting.
Yeah, I completely agree. NWN1/2 were this way for me. Didn't like the solo game very much, but MP is great. D2/3 are the same way. But I've never tried MP BG1/2 or IWD1/2.
BGEE multiplayer is fun though having played vanilla too much in the past I still find myself just going through a mental checklist of quests and items, even in company.
The black pits on the other hand was just pure awesome
I never went after party creation with that, 3E is not my cup of tea, but I'd like to try again sometime... let's hope BeamDog will EE the crap out of it too one day
If we're talking "EE", then my person dream would be to see IWD1 and IWD2 on the IWD2 engine, but this is a big job. I have my own failed attempt documented here http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showforum=109
Comments
Hmm, now that I'm actively searching for memories of playing IDW1, the only clear ones are:
1) having great fun with creating the party
2) having fun discovering that Martha from PS:T had a cameo in one of starting areas.
That's it. I'm sure I played this game to the end, as I have some vague recollection of some mountains, and some caves, and some dungeons and possibly a tower, but other than that, I might as well have never seen it.
So to answer the thread title question, no, there's no point to playing IWD, unless you just want to burn some time and have nothing else to do.
If anybody can do better go right ahead. I'd like to think that I could, but who knows, might be a lot worse.
The thing that I love most about the RPG genre is the one thing that every game gets wrong. FREEDOM. I don't need to be pulled along by epic plots. Build the world. Detail it. Make it a living thing that is waiting to be explored and then how about I just go explore it whenever and wherever my whims tell me to.
When I PnP DMed back in the dizzle, I was never boring and I never dictated what my players should do, even if I worked hard designing stuff for them to explore and they never explored it. I would keep things fun for them AND me by thinking on the fly.
For example, my players wanted to just bounty hunt, they were not all into the quests. No problem, I came up with an epic bounty hunt that lasted several sessions and lead the players through many challenges only to have it end up with them finding their target slain by another group of bounty hunters. Facing them with a dilemma of murdering honest hard working bounty hunters like themselves or swallowing their pride and going home empty handed.
In the RPG game world, quests are way more black and white, writers only seem to work hard on the epic plot and EVERYTHING points towards doing that. Like OMG I get that there is an iron shortage every NPC has told me over and over again.
Try to think of it in a sense of a Bethesda game. Forget the party, forget what they want. This story is about YOU.
Of course you have to remain tactical and careful, but like I said: In my opinion it is the best way to roleplay this game.
If I had my wish, all the great game designers would work together with all of the great fantasy writers of our time. I would drool for a Morrowind type detail, with a Middle Earth type of world, and ADnD mechanics.
I hate the way these developers over think the game engine, I just want to pick them up and shake them sometimes. It's like, "Dude, you have a masters degree in math, you must be very proud. Check this out, I'm not trying to split an atom here, I just want to know what this new sword will do for me. A simple plus or minus is all the knowledge I require. I'm unwinding from work with a cold beer and an RPG, and you're making me dust off my algebra book. I hate you".
LOL
The WORST game engine is Turbines LOTRO. Stop it.
But wait, there is danger ahead. Remember Ishtar. Having all the best components in one place doesn't necessarily lead to the best out come.
But ultimately I think we may see some amazing games in the future (based on what we've seen so far). One motivating factor is the tremendous amount of money there is to be made (if nothing else).
The other main problem with Icewind Dale series is everything that they do, Avernum Escape from the Pit does better. Character customization is almost endless in Avernum, its got a better story. Its got 3 endings of which you can choose which one, two or three you want to complete. And to top it all off, I can actually control 4 characters in tb combat rather than not. Baldurs Gate I can control 2 characters but any more than that is too frustrating and tedious in real time combat. I completed Bg 2 with a full party only because my friend was helping me along the way.
Real time is fun but gets way too confusing when you add more than 2 characters.
But I still don't get what's so confusing about controlling more than 2 characters. You can automatically pause pretty much whenever anything of note happens in combat, or you can just hit the space bar yourself. Where does that become confusing? I might get it if it were fully real-time rather than pause-and-play, or if you had to click for every swing of your character's blade/axe/shovel/whatever. But that's clearly not at issue here.
I've been really enjoying it so far. Given that it's so linear I can't see myself coming back to play it again (like I have with BG1 and particularly BG2). But even with just one playthrough it's provided plenty of entertainment. Especially as I picked it up cheap on GoG (along with IWD2 which I'll play afterwards).
I also think that I would get bored pretty quickly once I remembered how the game unfolds.
The black pits on the other hand was just pure awesome
Getting IWD1 to work with the BG2 engine would be awesome. There was an effort underway to do this here:
http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showforum=155
If we're talking "EE", then my person dream would be to see IWD1 and IWD2 on the IWD2 engine, but this is a big job. I have my own failed attempt documented here
http://forums.gibberlings3.net/index.php?showforum=109