Does anyone know if there will be an expansion pack for Icewind Dale II? If so, do you know what the release date is?

Currently, there is no plan for an expansion. But honestly, things change. And there could always be an unofficial mod.

Unofficial mod like the Luremaster expansion or mod done by amatuers :) ?

There is almost certainly going to be unofficial mods, given the existing IE mod community. Whether there will be official or semi official ones like TotL or Ascension isn't so clear.

Most of the development staff has indicated a strong desire to work with a different game engine in any future projects. The dev team has pretty much said that they have no interest in doing an IWD2 expansion and would only do so if management put a gun to their head.

And even if it were to happen, it wouldn't be any time soon. The game hasn't even been released outside USA yet, and won't be till the middle of October.

Btw, Trials of the Luremaster was made only because most buyers of HoW were complaining that it was way too short. So don't expect this to happen for IWD2.

There won't be any official IWD2 expansion.

Remember the d&d level cap/rules?
That is the reason #1.

????

The game already doesn't use that level cap nor does it use anything resembling the epic level rules for going over the level 20 cap. I can't say I agree that level cap issues are causing any BIS employees concern at this point.

Isn't Trials of the Luremaster an official expansion for IWD1?

No, it's an official expansion of HoW... :)

Har har. HoW is IWD1. Expansion is part of the game.

IIRC,
Icewind Dale is THE game.
Heart of Winter is the expansion of Icewind Dale.
Trials of the Luremaster is the expansion of Heart of Winter.

But enough said, this is IWD2. :)

[Correct, on both counts.] -Tal

[ October 03, 2002, 13:16: Message edited by: Taluntain ]

so if they're not plannin on making an expansion unless the engine is changed, are they planning to unveil a new engine or what to use?

It's pretty obvious IWD2 is the end of the road for the Infinity Engine. Everything from this point forward will almost certainly be in 3D, so if there was another Icewind Dale, it'd be in 3D and not for a few more years...

And I doubt it they'd create a new 3D engine themselves. The only thing that makes sense at this point is to license NWN's Aurora from BioWare, but I don't know if this is even a possibility for them after all those lawsuits.