A High Score for Heart of Winter
Posted Saturday, March 31, 2001 - 4:01 CET by Darien
The reviewers at Gaming Unlimited loved this expansion to Icewind Dale. They score Heart of Winter at 92%, and toss in a few screenshots as well. Here's why:
I think of Interplay RPGs as the pinnacle of their genre. You know what I’m talking about: Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate II, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, Fallout, Fallout 2, etc. Each of those games has set a high-water mark when they were released. When an expansion pack is released for one of them (check out “Tales of the Sword Coast” for Baldur’s Gate, and the upcoming “Throne of Bhaal” for Baldur’s Gate II), you’re virtually guaranteed a new, intense adventure that has the same level of quality as its base title. Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter is a worthy addition to an already spectacular game. Though a bit on the short side, Heart of Winter comes with enough of the same tried-and-true gameplay of the original, as well as heaps of enhancements, to make it an Editor’s Choice title here at Gaming-Unlimited. Good luck to you, as you venture out into the cold, barren, unforgiving Heart of Winter.
Read the rest of this great review here.
More Neverwinter Nights Wallpapers
Posted Saturday, March 31, 2001 - 3:49 CET by Darien
Gamespy Daily has two exclusive wallpapers featuring Neverwinter Nights creatures. There are 4 sizes available for each, so download yours.
Throne of Bhaal Diary by Kevin Martens
Posted Saturday, March 31, 2001 - 1:16 CET by Darien
RPGPlanet has posted an article by Kevin Martens, Lead Designer on Throne of Bhaal. Below he talks of the current status of the project.
We are currently in the tweaking and balancing phase of the project. Both sections of the expansion (The Massive Dungeon of the Watcher's Keep and the culmination of the Child of Bhaal storyline) are technically finished. We can play through them from beginning to end but a fair bit of tweaking, both major and minor, remains to be done. Big buglists hit our desks everyday and everyday the form of the game becomes clearer. We continue to prune the treant without getting swallowed.
Two MoreThrone of Bhaal Previews
Posted Saturday, March 31, 2001 - 0:58 CET by Darien
Gamespot has posted another short preview of BGII: Throne of Bhaal, including some screenshots.
Throne of Bhaal will feature around 50 new high-level spells for clerics and magic-users, powerful new skills for melee classes, as well as a new character kit, the wild mage, whose spells have a chance of generating unforeseen, chaotic surges of magic. The content in the game will be split between a high-level dungeon and the main narrative path, and you'll be able to move between these as you like.
Here's another preview from PC.IGN. Here's an excerpt:
Another area of particular note that we saw in the demo today was a map that contained the Machine of Lum the Mad. As you probably know, the Machine of Lum the Mad is an artifact that creates a variety of random effects. You can choose from a variety of different levers, switches, and dials to poke, pull, or twist. Depending on the combination, you might get a stat boost or you might lose five levels...you just never know. That Lum was mad, y'know.
Black Isle Studios Board Update
Posted Friday, March 30, 2001 - 22:01 CET by Darien
Check out the latest from the new developer message boards at Black Isle Studios.
BGII: Throne of Bhaal
Dave Gaider, Senior Designer:
On romances: Anyway, before I say anything at all about the romances, I want you to think of something. In the space of the expansion (and this has to be the part that continues on after defeating Irenicus, since Watcher's Keep can occur in the space of BG2, itself), how much time really do you think there is, playing-wise?
Think of Heart of Winter, if you've played it. Throne of Bhaal will be longer, most likely, but not by leaps and bounds.
In that short space of time, even the romances that exist can't have a long and complicated conclusion to them. Now...if we were to try and fit an entire romance into that timespan, would someone be at all satisfied with it?
I'm not going to say, yet, what we're planning with all the romance stuff (some of it still isn't finalized, after all), but I want you to think about this question honestly, especially considering for BG2 itself how many people who liked the romances so much said that they were too short, even despite the monumental amount of effort that was required to write them in the first place.
Think about it and let me know. I'd be interested to see the response.
(And, no, don't tell me how unfair it is that female PC's 'only' got Anomen. That has nothing to do with anything I'm talking about.)
And later: While we can add a few things into BG2, itself, a romance cannot be one of them. There are just too many places that the romance has to come into play, and the scripting gets too complex...and therefore the chance of new bugs being introduced is too great.
QA has to test enough things in the expansion, itself, without going back and re-testing all the way through BG2 again. Just testing the bug fixes will be enough of a resource drain.
It's be nice to have another full romance in BG2, I agree with you, but it realistically can't be done. Any additions for romance plots will have to come into the space of the expansion.
As for the person who suggested a short 'fling' or two...well, that is an idea. But would it be appropriate? Or maybe a bit disappointing? I mean...if it's a fling, we'd have to script in the fact that it ends so quickly, whereas the player might have other ideas. I dunno...I'd be pissed. We could do it, though. Heh...Edwin or Korgan comes to mind.
Anywho, the idea of a fling still isn't a bad one, I suppose, if it was done right. "I had a one-night stand in BG and all I got was this t-shirt?" :P
On play balance and quests: I'm sure I don't need to tell... anyone else here that the skill level of people playing the game is wildly different. We're not just talking about who's good at combat, either...I mean, there are *still* folks who get stuck in the initial dungeon.
I'm not saying they're stupid, there's just a whole lotta people that don't want to think too much when they play...and it is extremely frustrating to be caught in the game and you can't figure something out.
Do we want to simplify things to the point that they're inane? No. But in a game that's played as much as BG2 is, we can't have hordes of people getting stuck, either. What you consider moderately challenging (and therefore fun) could be frustrating to the extreme for a lot of others.
Okay, okay, enough of that.
As far as the original question goes, we intentionally don't intend to have people running up and giving the player quests. The player is, for the most part, involved in one giant quest throughout the expansion (workin' on new area #88 right now...this is no small thing)...anything that could be considered a 'side' quest, per se, is something that leads the player further on their own quest or something that they've discovered on their own.
Hmm. Actually, now that I think of it, there *are* a couple of side-quests. But they are appropriate to your level. You are a BIG deal in the FR now and the NPCs treat you as such...there's no Mr. Schmoe running up to you and offering you a job. You're above that, obviously.
As far as the player being able to direct the response to situations, that sort of thing is limited for the same reasons that we didn't have multiple paths for every quest in BG2. To implement all these different routes makes the whole plot larger without increasing length (and in an expansion, space is at a premium on one CD).
But I think I get the gist of what Justy was talking about. You as the player WILL feel much more in charge of your actions and not at the beck and call of others...even in situations where your course is pretty much laid out for you.
To the one who wanted us to include the ability to initiate dialogue with your NPC's, we *did* consider that. We like the idea...and has we considered the design advantages waaay back when BG2 was being designed initially, I'd hazard a guess to say we would have gone that way. It was really effective in PS:T.
But it wasn't done in BG2 and BG2's style worked well enough. And while we could change it in the expansion, there are a LOT of people who wouldn't know about this feature simply because it didn't exist in BG2. An expansion seemed, to us, a poor place to have such a change of style.
So while we like it, that's something we'd do in the future. For now, your NPC's still do the talkin'.
On Gorion: Hmmm...how can I put this carefully?
...OK, here goes:
Gorion does play a part in Throne of Bhaal. In fact, you learn quite a bit about him, as well as yourself.
Beyond that, I'm not sayin'. :P
NWN Adventure Creation Guide
Posted Friday, March 30, 2001 - 20:13 CET by Darien
Gamespy has posted the first of a monthly series on creating adventures in Neverwinter Nights. Here is a brief summary of what to expect from the series.
I believe that the first step is in settling on the story that you wish to tell. Determine your intended audience and determine also the style of narrative that most interests you. The second step lies in visualizing the story you wish to tell. By actually pressing quill to page and sketching maps, for instance, you force yourself to bring the mass of ideas into a discernible vision. Once you have your tale envisioned, you can work out the major details of your story, as well as the challenges, the rewards, and the clues that shall propel your tale ever forward.
Throne of Bhaal Wrap-Up
Posted Friday, March 30, 2001 - 6:40 CET by Darien
An indepth look at the development of Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal has been posted at Gamespot. The long version is good reading and includes some great screenshots. The short version is below.
The Short Version: What We Learned
- Designers must have enough time to allow the game to reach its full potential.
- Make a feature list, ranking features in order of importance and noting as well which features could be cut if needed.
- Do not reverse decisions lightly--a development decision should be reversed only if it is absolutely essential to do so, and then only after being carefully thought out.
- Establish development guidelines and follow them, but also continually work on refining the guidelines based on the progress of the game.
- Ensure all elements of the team are talking to each other and working as a group, rather than as a bunch of individuals!
- Beware the mid-project; morale can take a precipitous drop before it again climbs when people see the light at the end of the tunnel.
- Constantly look at the target date and adjust content development accordingly. In many ways, quality is more important than quantity. Even though Baldur's Gate II was bigger than Baldur's Gate, the content in BGII was still of a much higher quality--we just didn't realize how much more we had made in the sequel until it was too late!
- Test early! Test often! You don't have the time at the end to test adequately.
- Save some energy during the final crunch because you need it at the very end of the project.
- Post-project support. Ensure development staff is designated to provide very quick (same day or as close to it as possible) technical support to fans--their goal is to make sure people who purchase our games can play them.
- Support the fans who buy the games. This means shipping a bug-free product and being completely available to help people who are having trouble with our games--on message boards, via contact e-mails, and anywhere else you can think of.
Throne of Bhaal Official Website
Posted Friday, March 30, 2001 - 6:23 CET by Darien
The official website for Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal has been launched by Interplay. You'll find an introduction to the storyline, a summary of the new features, screenshots and a list of FAQs.
In the expansion set to the award-winning Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn continue your quest and conclude the epic saga. Even if you have completed Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn, return and discover the mysteries of a dangerous new dungeon - Watcher’s Keep. In addition, an exhilarating adventure unfolds when you explore new lands, battle fierce monsters and villains, and gain high-level abilities that bestow awesome powers. Fulfill your ultimate destiny in… Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.
Throne of Bhaal Preview at Daily Radar
Posted Friday, March 30, 2001 - 6:09 CET by Darien
Daily Radar has a preview of the Baldur's Gate II expansion, Throne of Bhaal. It's a quick read, but it also includes a few new screenshots.
The expansion is really two parts, an add-on and an add-in. The add-in can take place any time, prior to finishing BG II or after starting the new section of that game. It focuses on Watchers Keep, a massive dungeon. During the 20 or so hours of gameplay inside the dungeon you'll come upon various interesting creatures and people, though the most interesting should be the Machine of Lum the Mad.
Ray was specific: Bioware wants this to be the best part of the series so far -- at a minimum as good as BG II, but with the goal of being better in every way. Look for Throne of Bhaal sometime in Q2 2001.
Neverwinter Nights Preview
Posted Thursday, March 29, 2001 - 9:01 CET by Darien
ZDNet: Gamespot has posted a preview up the upcoming Neverwinter Nights. It's quite full of information and also includes several new screenshots. Here's an introduction.
Neverwinter Nights is one of the most highly anticipated computer role-playing games to date because it stands to be one of the most impressive. We recently visited BioWare's offices in Edmonton, Alberta, to see its forthcoming online Dungeons & Dragons-based role-playing game and to give you the lowdown on how it's been coming along since we saw it last year. The good news is Neverwinter Nights still looks very exciting. The great news is it's still got plenty of potential. We've got the scoop on how its multiplayer mode and dungeon master tools are coming along and also on some of the first details about the game's single-player campaign.
Black Isle Studios Board Update
Posted Thursday, March 29, 2001 - 5:50 CET by Darien
Here is the first batch of comments from the BIS message boards.
BGII: Throne of Bhaal
Kevin Martens, Lead Designer:
On the accessibility of old areas: To start - here's a brief explanation of the Add-On and Add-In sections.
The Add-In section is a massive dungeon complex called The Watcher's Keep. When you install Throne of Bhaal (TOB), the area is added to your existing Shadows of Amn (SOA) map. You can play it whenever you access to it although you should have an average party level of at least 10 to venture in. The Watcher's Keep makes up approximately half of the expansion and can be accessed from both Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal. The area is on both maps.
The Add-On section continues the main story after the final confrontation in SOA. An Ill-wind sweeps across the Sword Coast and the party drives southward in an attempt to learn more about the Prophecy of Alaundo and to find his or her place (as a Child of Bhaal) in that prophecy. We give you an entire new WorldMap with tons of stuff to do. This new map is made up of Southern Tethyr and Northern Calimshan. Just like the transition from BG1 to BG2, everything is new.
One of the concerns mentioned was that some people are concerned about accessing the stuff that they've stored in their stronghold or elsewhere in the SOA areas. We have several solutions for this:
1) You can import from your final save in SOA. Like BG1, this is just before the end encounter. All of the equipment that you've loaded yourself out with for the final battle will be imported over into TOB. Alternately, you can do the final battle and the game will flow directly in TOB from the end movie of SOA.
2) We have tons of importation options. You can import from any other SOA save games. If you left something behind or have not yet finished SOA, you can still import into TOB. You can also import any of your created characters into the game. Any characters that are below 2 million XP will be bumped up and be given a bag of holding full of appropriately powerful goodies. We insure that you will be at an approprite level to be able to face the new challenges in the Add-On section regardless of where you've imported from.
3) You can start a new game in TOB - you can go through the character creation just like in SOA, including new options like the Wild Mage (also available from the start of SOA). You will build a 2 million XP character who will also be given tons of spells and items appropriate to his or her class and/or level.
4) All of these import or new game options give you access, in your new stronghold, to all of the Shadows of Amn characters who are not dead. There is also a new joinable-NPC who you meet in your new stronghold.
In short, you have options. Approximately half of the expansion takes place in SOA (although it is also accessible in TOB). So, anyone who's worried about items or tying up loose ends, should take some time there and gather up everything you want to take with you before moving on. If you're not interested in this, we always make sure that you have enough good loot to make it through the game, regardless of what you have when you start the Add-On section.
Experience cap in BG2:ToB: Everyone caps out at 8 million XP and all of the individual 2DAs are filled out to 40th level. We had to choose somewhere to stop and 40th level was what we chose. 40th level is ludicrously high by any standards. What may not be understood is that we did this to essentially remove the XP cap. A normal run through of Shadows of Amn/Throne of Bhaal will leave you at approx 30th level or 5 million xp (level, of course, varies according to class). The extra 10 levels or 3 million XP is in place for those people who play the game several times via reimporting and other people who might reach the cap abnormally soon. The majority of players will not reach the cap but everything is filled out to 40th for those who do.
If there was no cap whatsoever, we would have to fill out 2DAs for all classes to any number that the player might be able to reach by reimporting over and over again. Our solution was to place a cap that just isn't attainable through normal play, hence, effectively removing the cap. Die hard players like solo players or people who import back into the game over and over again could reach the 40th level/8million XP cap.
About the new Stronghold: The new Abyssal stronghold applies all of the lessons that we learnt from the Shadows of Amn strongholds.
1) It's very connected to the story.
2) Lots of things happen it.
3) There is a portal function so that you can visit is at your convenience.
4) All of the NPCs in the game can be left there so that you have access to them whenever you need them.
And so on.
Inventory storage: We have potion bags and they're quite handy. We also have more bags of holding and ammo belts in addition to the gem bags and scroll cases from Shadows of Amn.
James Ohlen, Director of Writing and Design:
More on the XP cap: The reason we use XP as a cap instead of level is for balance. In 2nd edition, a 10th level fighter is far more useful than a 10th level thief, but the fighter requires more XP to reach that level. If we used the level as a cap, then the classes that progressed the fastest would be at a disadvantage. These classes would cap out at a level significantly weaker than the classes that advanced at a slower pace.
IWD: Heart of Winter
Steve Bokkes, Designer
HoW Dungeon Pack: As you all may or may not know, the development of a free, downloadable dungeon pack for Heart of Winter is now under way over here at the BIS. If all goes well, it should be available sometime in early or mid May. As I mentioned, the Dungeon Pack will be free, though it will require the installation of both Icewind Dale and Heart of Winter.
The Pack is essentially a self-contained side adventure that will offer roughly four new areas to explore, as well as 20-30 new items, and at least one new monster.
This little treat is simply the Icewind Team's way of saying thanks to all the fans that purchased, and hopefully enjoyed Icewind Dale and Heart of Winter. With that in mind, I figured I'd hit you all with a few poll questions so that we can get a better idea of what you might like to see in this new adventure. I don't know how many of you have made the switch over to the new boards, but hopefully we can get enough feedback here to get the ball rolling. So, without further ado, here are the questions:
1) What experience level should this new adventure be geared for? The removal of the level cap in Heart of Winter has made determining a target level range a bit difficult. I'd like to get a general idea of what the average level was upon completion of HoW, as well as what level of difficulty you prefer.
2) What new monster/s would you like to see in the Dungeon Pack? Keep in mind, we're on a rather accelerated time schedule for this project, so there will be no giant size critters or ones that require magnificent feats of animation (sorry, the Tarrasque and Kraken are right out).
3) What new items would you like to see? I know this topic has appeared in a number of threads on Josh's board. However, this time I'd like to offer the chance to get your ideal item, along with its own unique history that you wrote, implemented into the game. I'll take all item suggestions, but limit yourself to 200 words or less for the description (remember, this will be a downloadable expansion, so size is a concern). Just so you know, there is no set criterion for judging each suggestion; I'll pick out ones that are both cool and easily implemented (so stay away from items like the Sentient Blade of Tongues +5, +6 against non-elvish speaking races, +7 against one-legged orcs on a rainy day).
That's about it for now. I'll have more details such as story background, etc. in the near future. Thanks in advance to everybody who takes the time to participate in my little polls. And remember: this Dungeon Pack is all about you, the fans. If there's something you want, let us know. We'll do our best to get it in there for you.
Jason Manley, Concept Artist:
On new portraits: I can tell you that I have some more portraits done for you all. I'm not sure yet if they will be released separately or if they will be released with the full download. If I had only one more portrait to do for HOW....what portrait would you all like to see?
What a great response...I totally appreciate all the ideas you guys are throwing around. Ill give it a few days to see what the general concensus is and make the portrait that you all feel is needed most.
I am currently working on the FREE downloadable expansion levels and art for HOW. I am doing some more concepts and 4 portraits for you all.
Keep an eye out for some art soon.
BGII Online Flash Game
Posted Thursday, March 29, 2001 - 4:29 CET by Darien
The German site RTL2 has posted a four part flash game for your enjoyment. Timed to coincide with the European release of the Dungeons & Dragons movie, this game features portraits and music from Baldur's Gate II. Check it out here.
ALFA Accepts Player Apps. Again
Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 22:20 CET by Erran
From Jon 'Kellith' Atkinson:
April 1st
The new and improved Player, ADM and HDM forms will be online.
April 6th
The new server map will launch.
Which is good news for any would be AORTAns of Sorcerer's board who want to play NWN in the biggest, best and free world of A Land Far Away. One of the rival worlds has already said it wants to charge its members for the privilege, but ALFA has pledged to be forever free. If you want to visit ALFA.
Last Week's Poll Results (+ Rant)
Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 22:12 CET by Sorcerer
What we asked:
Q: Who is your favourite fantasy book writer?
(658 votes total)
J. R. R. Tolkien (267) 41%
R. A. Salvatore (108) 16%
Robert Jordan (83) 13%
Other (68) 10%
Weis & Hickman (61) 9%
Terry Pratchett (39) 6%
Terry Goodkind (20) 3%
Elaine Cunningham (8) 1%
Ed Greenwood (4) 1%
Polls about fantasy literature we have done in the past were very well received by our readers, and this latest one was no exception.
J. R. R. Tolkien, the founder of the whole fantasy genre as we know it today and an extraordinary author of such epic tales as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit still dominates the hearts of more than 40% of people who have voted in the poll.
It seems that time can do little to prevent people from finding his books to be something truly magical. The author may have passed away, but he has left us with an amazing legacy of works that have yet to be published and a great number of titles that have been reprinted dozens of times since their original release.
Who knows, maybe someday a better storyteller will be born, but I do not anticipate this to be anytime soon and am quite certain that Tolkien will remain on the throne as the most beloved of all fantasy writers for generations yet to come.
R. A. Salvatore is the second most popular fantasy writer at the moment with 16% of people voting for him. His unforgettable characters like the dark elf Drizzt, the barbarian Wulfgar and the dwarf Bruenor are probably the most widely known residents of the Forgotten Realms.
While Salvatore's writing could hardly be called epic, it does have a certain appeal and "magic" that makes it popular by today's more modern generations of readers, especially those familiar with Dungeons & Dragons.
Third place and 13% of votes go to Robert Jordan, another prominent name in the fantasy field of literature. His Wheel of Time series of books are getting more and more popular and some have even named him to be the best fantasy author since Tolkien.
The choice Other (authors) was selected by 10% of the participants in the poll. People have many other personal favourite writers that we did not include in the poll, so I will list them here as they were submitted in the poll comments:
David Gammel, Janny Wurts, Frank Herbert, Robert Rankin, Raymond E. Feist, J. K. Rowling, Patricia McKillip, Terry Brooks, David Eddings, Richard Awlinson, Robert E. Howard, George R. R. Martin, Michael Moorcock, Stephen R. Donaldson, Michael Stackpole, Katherine Kurtz, David Faraland, Roger Zelazny, Mel Odom, Dennis McKiernan
The list is in no particular order but it does include all other authors people have suggested.
Next with 9% of all votes are Weis & Hickman, the creators of the Dragonlance Chronicles saga and many subsequent books about dragons. A recommended read if you are looking for a bit of diversity from the stereotypical fantasy worlds most of today's fantasy writers prefer.
6% of people have chosen Terry Pratchett as their favourite fantasy writer. While his fantasy is fundamentally different from that of all others on the list, it is quite popular nonetheless.
Pratchett's writing about Discworld, his own mixed up fantasy world began as a parody of other fantasy, but after more than 25 published novels, Discworld has become a full-fledged fantasy world in itself. Just goes to show what you can end up with if you are not careful enough, eh? ;)
The last 3 authors on the list (Goodkind, Cunningham and Greenwood) only scored 5% of votes combined.
While I was not totally surprised with the outcome in the case of the first two, I was amazed that only 4 (!) of 658 people chose Greenwood as their favourite writer.
Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that the quality of his writing dictates that he should be any higher, but the sheer amount of material he has produced over the years and the wide circulation of it made me think that he would have at least a small number of die-hard fans. Obviously not so.
For those not familiar with his works I should note that it includes everything from novels, game sourcebooks and manuals to entire fantasy worlds. And not just any ordinary worlds, the man created the Forgotten Realms! Yes, that's right, your favourite game playground in the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series of games, not to mention all the pen & paper campaigns.
Quantity obviously does not denote quality in this case. And another ironic thought to ponder: The Forgotten Realms fantasy world is a blatant copy of just about everything Tolkien came up with, from monsters, races, type of behavior certain fantasy races display, names and a number of other things. There is very little creativity in FR, unlike in some other fantasy worlds such as Planescape, which is in my opinion the only really original and cool world TSR has come up with.
And guess what? It is also one of the least popular fantasy worlds. While I like it very much, the majority of others seem uncomfortable with it.
Why?
Could it be that we have grown so accustomed to the type of fantasy Tolkien introduced us to that we are unable to accept something that does not relate to him at least to some degree?
Yes, in fact I think that IS the case. So with Tolkien's idea of fantasy, a great problem was also born. Lack of creativity in the genre, a feeling of being restricted in what you can write, and fear of writing something that will not appeal to the general public. To make it even worse, all three go hand in hand.
There are few fantasy writers who were able to go beyond the frames set by the genre a long time ago and succeed. Pratchett is one of them, and yet he is most popular in United Kingdom where people have a bit different perception of humour and are maybe just because of that, also more ready to unconventional fantasy.
Who knows? This is certainly a topic that could be debated a lot more.
(Sorry, I usually do not have the time to get so philosophical about things, but I do hope that my rant here will at least make some of you think for a moment about what I wrote. Drop me a note in e-mail, our forums or in our chatroom if you feel you have something to add.)
Screenshots of BGII: Throne of Bhaal
Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 21:44 CET by Darien
GameOver Online has posted over 20 screenshots from Throne of Bhaal. Althought the site is Russian, you can still check out the screenshots here.
Unofficial IWD:HoW Board Closing
Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 21:34 CET by Darien
J. E. Sawyer announced the closing of his unofficial Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter board. Thanks, J. E. for all the time you put into that board. We appreciated your effort and your comments! :-)
There are new message boards for Black Isle Studios at www.blackislestudios.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi. Please use them for discussing Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter. The IWD and IWD:HoW fora on this site will close on Thursday, March 29. Thanks for your support and understanding.
Black Isle Studios Forum Opening
Posted Wednesday, March 28, 2001 - 21:17 CET by Darien
Black Isle Studios has opened their new message boards. I will, of course, keep you informed of any new and interesting tidbits that pass from the lips of the game developers who post there. Read the announcement below for a brief introduction.
Dear Community,
You have asked and we have listened!
Our community will now have the choice to discuss the latest development news for selected Black Isle products not only within Interplaygames forums, but also through the Black Isle Developer forum. The new forum will be utilizing UBB(Ultimate Bulletin Board) software and will focus on the following games: Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, Baldur’s Gate: Throne of Bhaal, Torn, and Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. We will be testing the functionality and usability of this software in our ever increasing desire to meet your community needs.
To get to the Black Isle Studios Developer Boards goto: www.blackislestudios.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi.
Let us know what you think and how we can further improve your experience by emailing us at:webmaster@interplaygames.com.
On the Official BGII Board
Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2001 - 17:11 CET by Darien
Lead Designer Kevin Martens had some comments on the Offical BGII message board.
XP cap and rogues: Rogues gain levels faster than any other class and get numerous, powerful high level abilities that are unique to rogues. Single-classed, kitted or otherwise, the rogue gains tons of levels and abilities and also gets class specific items.
To clarify - there is a cap of 8 million XP with a maximum level of 40. Things have to stop somewhere and, like all previous games, we chose this point. Unlike previous games, we've expanded the cap enormously. The actual typical XP to be reached in the expansion is 5 million. An enormous amount of experience. The rogue class only slows down at level 39. They need quite a bit of XP for the final level only. They reach level 39 faster than any other class.
On familiars: The familiars are tougher in the expansion.
On spells and abilities: Regarding high level abilities and high level spells - all classes and kits get some high level abilities or quests spells.
Another HoW DevTV Update
Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2001 - 16:48 CET by Darien
Hear more from the development team of IWD: HoW with two new questions answered by designers.
Chris Avellone - Senior Designer answers:
Q: What is your favorite D&D character class in Icewind Dale, and why?
John Deiley - Designer responds to:
Q: Do you play any 'pen and paper' Dungeons and Dragons?
Neoseeker Reviews Heart of Winter
Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2001 - 16:37 CET by Darien
Yet another review of the Icewind Dale expansion has been posted by Neoseeker, with a few screenshots included. This time the final results are broken into two categories by the reviewer: For hardcore IWD fans: 72%, All others: 50%. Here's why:
All in all, if you are an absolute and only absolute diehard Icewind Dale fan and want to hack and slash some more as well as take advantage of the new XP cap (as well as the “Heart of Fury” mode) then by all means get this expansion. However, for the rest of the gamers out there who are looking for something new, you would best be advised to look elsewhere. This expansion does offer some new bells and whistles, but combined with the lack of real areas to explore and new monsters to fight it is simply not worth the money despite its high production values.
Gaming Globes 2001 : The Winners Are...
Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2001 - 16:24 CET by Darien
The winners of the second annual Gaming Globe Awards have been announced by Eurogamer. You had your chance to vote for your favorites, now see the full results here.
For the last few weeks EuroGamer has been running its second annual Gaming Globe Awards, recognising excellence across the entire spectrum of game design, from storylines and soundtracks to visual effects and artwork. Having invited our readers to nominate their own favourite games, developers and characters for the fifteen categories that make up the Gaming Globes, our team of experts here at EuroGamer put together a final short list of five nominees for each category.
Public voting on which of those five nominees would win each award ended last week, and now we are happy to announce the final results of the 2001 Gaming Globe Awards!
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - Best Game
Once again the big winner in the Gaming Globe awards is a role-playing game from Interplay's Black Isle Studios division. Last year it was their own Planescape Torment which picked up several awards, while this year Bioware's Baldur's Gate II has collected the all-important Best Game trophy. The Baldur's Gate series and its various spin-offs have helped to pump new life into the twisted corpse of the role-playing genre, and with more Baldur's Gate on the way (this time on console), as well as Bioware's innovative online game Neverwinter Nights, it looks like the companies might just be on a roll...
Minsc - Male Supporting Character
Having proved to be one of the most popular characters in the original Baldur's Gate, it was perhaps inevitable that the mad ranger Minsc would return for the sequel with his friend Boo, a miniature giant space hamster. Unfortunately we were unable to track down Minsc to present him with the award in person and get a comment from him, but we have a feeling that his acceptance speech would have gone something along the lines of "less talk, more fight" anyway...
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - Art Direction
Baldur's Gate II picks up its second award of the night for its beautiful backdrops, giving a colourful fantasy feel to the world with settings ranging from the traditional caves and dungeons to vast cities, forests and temples, featuring towering pillars, fanciful houses and enormous statues. Building on the work done in the original game and taking advantage of the increased graphics resolution supported by the updated engine powering the sequel, Baldur's Gate II featured some of the most gorgeous scenery seen in an isometric role-playing game to date.
Icewind Dale - Original Music
Described by our reviewer as "a truly epic musical score that greatly enhances the atmosphere of the game", Icewind Dale's soundtrack was clearly a hit with our readers as well, romping home with the Best Original Music gong and picking up yet another Gaming Globe award for Interplay's Black Isle Studios role-playing division, who swept the board with Planescape Torment last year.
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - Adapted Storyline
Based in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting which is so familiar to role-players around the world, Baldur's Gate II picked up where the first game left off, with your character having just discovered that he / she is in fact the child of Bhaal, the God of Murder. Now in the southern kingdom of Amn, you find yourself first imprisoned by a mad mage and then hunted by an evil mastermind, with a plethora of sub-plots and side-quests to keep you busy and add some colour to proceedings. Another epic masterpiece from Bioware and friends then.
From the Neverwinter Nights Board
Posted Tuesday, March 27, 2001 - 15:49 CET by Darien
Here are a few more comments from the Official Neverwinter Nights message board.
Rob Bartel (Co-Lead Designer)
What will happen when a party rests, especially in a multplayer game where as far as I know everything works in real time?
Sorry, I think a clarification's in order here, as there's been some confusion on the boards about this, as of late.
1) Everyone rests independently. Just because you're resting doesn't mean your friend is, too (this makes for a better system in multiplayer).
2) Spells and special abilities do not regenerate over time. The only way to rememorize your spells or regain your abilities is by resting. We may or may not choose to implement a slow regeneration of hit points. This decision will be made as part of our testing and balancing phase.
3) Resting is instantaneous. Resting is something you'll be doing a lot so we don't want it interrupting or slowing down the more enjoyable aspects of your game.
4) Once you have rested, a certain amount of time must pass before you can rest again. The length of this "day" will be determined through testing.
5) After performing a hostile action, you will not be able to rest until a certain 'cool-down' time has passed. This is to keep spellcasters from using two day's worth of spells in a single battle. Again, the length of this 'cool-down' period will be determined through testing.
If a PC is granted an AoO for any reason, do they have to click to take it?
Attacks of Opportunity (AoO) will be automated in Neverwinter. The instance you suggest of foregoing an AoO is a rare enough occurrence that we felt it didn't warrant a manual AoO interface. Also, as the window of time in which an AoO can be performed is quite small, we felt that a manual interface would needlessly penalize those with low pings or slow reflexes.
Are people with the combat reflexes feat going to just pop enemies repeatedly as the oppertunities come up?
To a certain point, yes. Given enough opportunities, your character will make as many attacks as can be squeezed into the combat animation system. If your character is in mid-swing against one opponent, for instance, a secondary opponent may be able to use that moment of distraction to make a safe exit. On the other hand, if your character is currently between attacks, that secondary opponent's going to get clobbered on any attempt to flee. All of this might change during the testing phase, of course, but those are our current plans for attacks of opportunity.
What is that eye?
The eye has a vital role to play in the official campaign, that I promise you. I've made only one post about it in the past, when Lost Dragon turned over his new leaf. Today, I think I'll make another. The following is taken from the frontispiece of that wellspring of information, "Volo's Guide to the North"...
"Wind by the Fireside"
So as you shiver in the cold and the dark,
Look into the fire and see in its spark--
My eye
Watching over you.
As you walk in the wind's whistling claws,
Listen past the howling of the wolf's jaws.
My song
Comes to you.
And when you're lost in the trackless snow,
Look up high where the eagles go.
My star
Shines for you.
In the deep, dark mine or on crumbling peak,
Hear the words of love I speak.
My thoughts
Are with you.
You are not forsaken.
You are not forgotten.
The North cannot swallow you.
The snows cannot bury you.
I will come for you.
Fearun will grow warmer,
And the gods will smile
But oh, my love, guard yourself well--
All this may not happen for a long, long while.
(A traditional trail ballad of the Savage Frontier-- composer unknown)
Terry Pratchett Interview
Posted Monday, March 26, 2001 - 21:56 CET by Sorcerer
Since we have just opened a new book section with Terry Pratchett's books, I thought it would be fitting to post one of his interviews that have appeared at Amazon.com after the release of his last novel, The Fifth Elephant. So without any further ado, the interview:
Post-Fantasy Fantasy
An Interview with Terry Pratchett
Fantasy is pretty serious stuff. After all, there are dangerous dragons, sharp swords, and black magic to be dealt with. But British author Terry Pratchett has flipped the genre over onto its back and tickled its belly. The Fifth Elephant is the 24th hilarious episode of his Discworld series. Pratchett stopped by Amazon.com for a chat with Science Fiction & Fantasy editor Therese Littleton about how he fits into the fantasy world and why the city of Ankh-Morpork has a condom factory.
Amazon.com: What do you think is the difference between the American and British senses of humor?
Terry Pratchett: I think the thing you have to remember is that America has four times our population, which means you've got four times as many of everything, including morons. You've also got four times as many intelligent people. You've got more, shall we say, people who are differently stupid. What we often see in the U.K. is a slightly distorted view of what things are like in America, because journalists like to go for the story that shows what a weird place it is--the sort of place where dogs sue cats and that kind of thing.
I don't think there are any real differences. A lot of humor is based on cultural association. So I could watch a late-night American show, and the audience is laughing hysterically--mind you, I think they empty the asylums to get the TV audiences, there's no other explanation--and it's all cultural references, so I can't hook into it. But the same thing happens in the U.K.
Amazon.com: Some American fans of "British humor" act a bit superior, maybe because most of it is on public television stations.
Pratchett: Oh, yes: [snootily] "We love your Monty Python."
Amazon.com: Why do you think most fantasy takes itself so seriously?
Pratchett: I think there is this kind of constipated seriousness about a lot of fantasy. But there are degrees of it, I have to say. You've got to make the difference between what I call light fantasy and comedy. Although the Discworld started off as a kind of spoof on fantasy at the time, within about the first four or five titles I was no longer sniping, because I was out there among the soldiers. Discworld was a fantasy universe in its own right.
A lot of The Fifth Elephant is not funny. It's certainly not funny to the people who are participating in it. There are murders and people in fear for their lives. We think it's funny in the same way that we laugh at the man slipping on the banana skin.
Amazon.com: Do you ever want to write something completely different?
Pratchett: I've got plans for other things. I've done a lot of work on the Arthurian legends, predicated on the fact that the person who pulled the sword from the stone was a female. The nice thing about that is that you don't get the classic Arthurian myth with the sexes changed, because it can't possibly work like that. The dynamic is wrong. So you get a completely different story. It's fun tracing that one out. Trouble is, knowing me, it will probably become funny, because I don't think I can do it any other way.
Amazon.com: Did you cut your teeth on Tolkien like the rest of us?
Pratchett: I discovered The Lord of the Rings when I was 13 years old. I went to sleep with the book open, woke up, and continued reading. That's how much of an effect it had on me.
But then you grow older, and you learn things that don't detract from Tolkien but rather position him. There's a dire phrase that is used: "of his time." And Tolkien was "of his time." The qualities of people were distinguished by where they lived, for instance. So it's quite difficult to imagine a bad elf or a good orc. It didn't fit into the way Tolkien worked. And there were people in the landscape, but no infrastructure. There was the occasional city, but you didn't get the feel of a continent that was operating.
Amazon.com: How does Tolkien figure in fantasy these days?
Pratchett: Tolkien appears in the fantasy universe in the same way that Mount Fuji appeared in old Japanese prints. Sometimes small, in the distance, and sometimes big and close-to, and sometimes not there at all, and that's because the artist is standing on Mount Fuji. He has had such an effect, even if someone has said, "Bugger me, I'm not going to write like Tolkien!"
The big thing he did was open up the fantasy market. Before then, if you were not a genre reader, you would never hear about that sort of thing. The Lord of the Rings seems to me to be the first major fantasy book to really appear on the everyday shelf. Maybe a few too many kids were given names like Galadriel and Bilbo, but none of this matters, because he was an enchanter. It's as simple as that. It was magical to everyone who read it.
Amazon.com: Do the physical constraints of Discworld help you keep the continent alive and busy?
Pratchett: Yes. When we mapped it, I got even more ideas, simply because you see more places in the city, and you don't know what's there. Ankh-Morpork, the largest city in Discworld, operates all the time, like mad. You get the feeling, I hope, of slaughterhouses operating, and factories and things going on. Even though the stories are happening, thousands of people are bustling by, all on errands of their own. I'm almost certain that I've done the first fantasy city in which there is a condom manufacturer.
It's just there, and it hasn't got a main role to play in the plot. Ankh-Morpork hasn't got electricity, but it's got a lot of clever people, and it's at the crossroads of the world. So why not? It's a pretty big city--they don't want it to get any bigger. I was quite pleased that I could work this in, and it actually isn't too anachronistic because it is quite a modern city. I would say it's like London would be if goblins, dwarves, and trolls really existed and moved in to start earning a dollar. And if no one had really built anything new since about 1700.
Amazon.com: They are advanced... now they've got semaphore!
Pratchett: They've got semaphore addresses in the one I'm working on. I'm bringing in the Igors, out of Carpe Jugulum, because they're useful plot devices. If you wish to hire an Igor, you send a semaphore to "We R Igors"--of course the R is the wrong way round--at Yeth Mathter, Uberwald. When I was doing the semaphore system, I thought, this is going to be a kind of slow-speed Internet. Hex, the university computer, will eventually have a semaphore modem. It will be slow, but it will get there in the end.
Amazon.com: Do you read anything while you write? Or is it too hard to avoid being influenced by others?
Pratchett: I read an awful lot of nonfiction. I read what I call "edge" books. I don't read a book about geography. I read a book about the science of geography. In other words, you get the boundary conditions. And I will read fiction. I've got The Green Mile with me for reading on the plane. But I absolutely steer clear of the fantasy genre, which I don't really read much of in any case.
Amazon.com: How do you parody fantasy without reading it? Is it because so much fantasy plays off the same themes again and again?
Pratchett: I remember picking up a copy of Locus and seeing either reviewed or advertised no less than three books with dark lords in them. In The Last Hero, the big illustrated project I'm doing with Paul Kidby, we've got a dark lord--evil Harry Dread. He's this little, wizened guy, always smoking cigarettes. He's got all the special dark lord armor with the skulls and everything. But he's the dark lord who never made it big. He works hard, but then another dark lord will open up out of town, where there's plenty of parking. Harry has the "Shed of Doom."
Amazon.com: Where does Discworld fit in to the fantasy genre?
Pratchett: Discworld is kind of post-fantasy fantasy. Let's consider The Lord of the Rings. What happens when the good guys win? You've got an entire landscape that's been ravaged by war. You have armies of millions of people, and the war's just stopped. Think of the aftermath of that. Metaphorically, who's going to take out the garbage after that? Tomorrow, things have to happen. Things have to be replaced. And we're talking about a very large continent. Discworld is everything that happens after.
Amazon.com: What would you say to people who are reluctant to read science fiction and fantasy?
Pratchett: Last year I was standing in the street in Perth, Australia, talking to my wife, who was in England, telling her what color a dress was. When we'd been there on holiday about three months before, she'd seen a dress in a shop. So I was telling her what colors and what sizes they had--and this was a call all the way around the world. That is science fiction. We don't think about it because we've gradually moved into these things, but every day we do science fiction stuff, by the standards of the 1960s or '70s.
Science fiction is about the impact of technology on humanity and the changes that arise thereof, and humankind's curious relationship with our creative technological environment. Yet films like Star Wars and Star Trek have made us think that science fiction is something that's kind of off, and doesn't involve us any more. I say science fiction is like an exercise bicycle for the mind. Maybe it won't take you anywhere, but it will tone up the mental muscles that will. It teaches you to think about the strange outcomes of things. The relationship between the mating habits of the average American and the invention of the motor car, for instance. You put connections together and see what comes of it.
Amazon.com: Why are so many people reluctant to read SF or fantasy?
Pratchett: People who don't read science fiction think it's all about robots and spaceships and everything. But it hasn't been like that for ages! Trouble is more than half the science fiction movies are really monster movies with a few nuts and bolts stuck on the outside.
As for fantasy, all fiction is fantasy and always has been. The first fiction was told around a campfire about gods and giants and heroes. It's all fantasy. Think of the thrillers. In a thriller, more or less, you've got your clues, you've got your police. It doesn't happen, at least classically, the way it happens in real life. Has there ever been a murder as tidy as in Agatha Christie, with the neat clues and all?
G.K. Chesterton once said that fairy tales--this applies to fantasy too--can take the familiar, and turn it around and show it to us from a different angle so that once again we see it for the first time. So if there's no other use for this, it's kind of mental aerobics. It's also good fun!
In case you missed the link on top, check our very own Terry Pratchett book section.
Interview with J. E. Sawyer
Posted Monday, March 26, 2001 - 20:49 CET by Darien
J. E. Sawyer, Co - Designer on both Icewind Dale and IWD: Heart of Winter, was recently interviewed by Computer Games Online. Although they couldn't seem to get his name right (J.D.?), the interview is nonetheless a good read. Here's a short excerpt from this entertaining interview.
What is the biggest misconception that the general public has regarding the game making process? What was your biggest misconception when you started working at Black Isle?
I think the general public often has a skewed perception of the reasons behind developer choices. I also think that the general public perceives too much power in the hands of game designers. We often get credit for things we weren't responsible for. On the flip side of the coin, we often get blamed for things we weren't responsible for. Part of the difficulty with this is that designers have different roles and responsibilities at different companies. At Black Isle, designers are responsible for the story, characters, items, game system, and so on -basically, game content. We don't program anything and we don't illustrate anything that goes into the game.
Site News - Tons of New Additions
Posted Monday, March 26, 2001 - 18:31 CET by Sorcerer
Subsection Updates -> Fantasy Books
Where to start...
Our Fantasy Books section has certainly grown substantially with today's update. By popular demand I have added two brand new book sections, one for Terry Pratchett's books, and one for Robert Jordan's.
Currently their last novels are only available in hardcover editions, but check back regularly as I will replace them with paperback versions as soon as they become available.
Both Pratchett and Jordan are excellent writers and I am sure you will enjoy their books. So next time you plan on buying any of their books from Amazon, please do so at Sorcerer's Place and support us!
Side note: Two new manuals were added to the 3rd Edition D&D Books subsection.
Subsection Updates -> Community -> About Us
The About Us section has been updated as well. It now reflects the fact that the newest member of the Sorcerer's Place Team - Darien - has earned herself the position of Daily News Editor.
Thanks to her, Sorcerer's Place is now the prime website to get daily (a)d&d gaming news from, as well as the biggest resource for the games we cover. Bravo Darien!
Subsection Updates - Games -> Icewind Dale
After a short period of inactivity in this subsection of the site, the magic man (heh) returns with a number of interesting new additions.
First of all is the updated (and final) version of the Heart of Winter features document I started putting together a couple of months ago. It now contains everything that was actually implemented in the game and no more rumours and guesses. Kudos to the guy on our message boards who reminded me that this needed to be done.
Another addition in the same Walkthroughs & Guides subsection is a sparkling new Heart of Winter walkthrough.
Also updated were a bunch of cheat pages (one for the original IWD and a new one for HoW), plus I added another pdf file with cheats for Heart of Winter. To top it all, there is a list of all the new merchants the expansion adds, and what kind of things they sell. You can find all this useful stuff in the Tips, Tricks & Hints subsection.
The last updated subsection is the Editors, Hacks & Cap Removers. Here I have added a new Icewind Dale trainer. If cheating your way through the game is what you prefer, then do so in style!
Subsection Updates - Games -> Baldur's Gate 2
Finally, the reason for the delay of today's update. I would have had this whole update up on Saturday, but making (and uploading) a 250 screenshots gallery of Baldur's Gate 2 is not exactly a small task. But all that is behind us now, and the final product of hours of labour is now online for you to enjoy.
The gallery details my entire path through the game, from beginning to Irenicus' bitter end.
The second important update here is the Throne of Bhaal features list which can be found in the Walkthroughs & Guides subsection. I have added some more known info about it and tweaked some of the wording from the last update.
Basics of Armor, Armor Class and Shields in BG1 and BG2 is a quick guide that was submitted to us and is available in the same subsection. After an extensive spelling check, a bit of translation and some error fixing on my part, it now makes a useful guide which will enlighten a casual reader as to what AC is and how it is calculated.
The latest new scriptwork from Kalthorine is "Happy Group", a hack that completely disables the game's incompatibility between good/evil NPCs. Well, not completely, but enough that they will not leave the group because of it, or even worse, kill another NPC. Get this much sought-after hack in the Editors, Hacks & Cap Removers subsection.
Subsection Updates - Games -> Pool of Radiance: RoMD
A small update was made here. There is a new page about the Secret Societies in Myth Drannor up for reading in the Miscellanea subsection. Does the name "Cult of the Dragon" ring a bell?
Subsection Updates - Games -> Neverwinter Nights
There were no actual updates made in this section, I have merely fixed the broken Screenshots link on all pages. Not that it makes much difference, since there aren't any there to see yet.
However, now that this big update is finished, I am pretty sure I will be able to put together a big NWN screenshots gallery for the next update, so stay tuned for more goodness, as usual.
Official BGII Board Update
Posted Monday, March 26, 2001 - 6:58 CET by Darien
Senior Designer Dave Gaider had plenty to say on the Official Baldur's Gate II message board over the last few days.
1. Was the BG series originally planned to be a full trilogy, and if so have there been problems including as much plot into ToB?
There's been no problem including the ending of the story into ToB. BG2 was quite a bit longer than an 'ordinary-length' RPG would be...so while we could certainly draw out the end storyline by adding more obstacles and more plots and such, it's really not pertinent to the endgame plot. Plus, it's fairly difficult to balance an adventure meant for 20+ level characters...especially when you've got so much variance for the number and level of characters that can be imported into the game, their equipment selection and the skill levels of the players. A full-blown sequel at this point would be a monumental task.
That said, ToB is no ordinary-sized expansion, either. It's a BG2-sized expansion, so take that to mean what you will. :)
Wish I could be more forthcoming on some of your questions, but it's still a bit early for some of them, yet.
2. What is a REALISTIC estimate of the additional gameplay time for the ToB additions?
We've only a rough estimate, currently, which is around 40 hours (possibly more). We won't have a more realistic estimate until after we've completed all the areas and QA has had the chance to run through the complete product. The same applies to the split between the add-in and add-on...can't really say until we have a better idea of the overall length.
3. Does Throne of Bhaal have any plans to introduce final tweaks to the Infinity Engine itself?
Yes, although what exactly those will be will depend on what we can implement and get to work properly.
4. Any news on potential new romances, particularly for female players?
We plan on extending the current romances to the end of the Bhaalspawn storyline, that's for certain...as for new romances, there's nothing I can mention at the moment.
5. Is it possible to allow summoned beasties to move from one area to another with the party?
Sorry to disappoint, but as I understand it, there is a definite limitation to creatures being able to move from area to area with you. In fact, creatures that can do so have to be specified at the start of the game. Considerable programming had to be done just to allow for familiars, even.
If we could make the change you want, we would do it...believe me, it certainly wasn't a capricious thing. But the resources required are not so easily manipulated as you think.
In fact, I just asked Mark about this again just for fun and he gave me THE LOOK. :)
In the future, hopefully this will be something we can plan to accomodate. I wouldn't mind seeing that capability, either.
6. Idea for future games: Unlimited adventures!!
There was a game that had something like this. Daggerfall. Interesting concept, but it got pretty old pretty quick.
I suppose I could see how randomized missions could be done, but in order to prevent them from being continuously repetitive or simplistic, a LOT of work would be required. If you've a suggestion (a feasible one) on how such an idea might be implemented and still be fun, that would be interesting.
Myself, I think NWN is the way to go as far as unlimited adventures is concerned.
7. About making a game for evil PCs:
Are you joking?
I agree it might be cool, but then I'm a D&D fanatic. We may be vocal and obsessive, but our numbers are not exactly gargantuan. Making a product that would be very cool to a small number of people might make those people very, very joyous (heh) but it doesn't exactly translate into mass sales.
Not that mass sales is *always* the focus, but it is nice. Like getting paid is nice. :)
But who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. One can never tell what will catch the attention of the mass market. I certainly would have thought No One Lives Forever would sell a bit better than it did. But even though it'd be the marketing types telling me that catering to a niche market right off the bat would be a bad thing, they can't be wrong *all* the time.
(As for the game being completely engineered to be evil, I don't know. Maybe. Personally I think that'd be fun...once. And then it would just be kinda sad. But I know others may feel differently than me, so I don't feel very strongly about it.)
8. Just give us the name - is that too much to ask?
Yes.
I know you're eager, but we've got to reserve some stuff for the sake of surprise.
As it is, I expect that as we get closer to release we'll start seeing elements being released for public consumption on news sites. But to blow our wad (so to speak) all at once would be a bit silly, I'm sure even you have to agree (no matter how momentarily satisfying it might be). :)
Heart of Winter Deal at Amazon.co.uk
Posted Sunday, March 25, 2001 - 21:16 CET by Darien
Hey, if you don't yet have a copy of the IWD expansion, or you were afraid of not getting your money's worth, wait no longer. Amazon.co.uk has lowered the price of Heart of Winter, so go get your copy now! Just use the link below, and support your local Sorcerer! :) Please note: This item can only be delivered within the European Union and these additional countries.
Heart of Winter Review at XGR
Posted Sunday, March 25, 2001 - 1:31 CET by Darien
X-treme Gaming Radio has posted another review of Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter. The review comes to the same conclusions we've heard before - a good expansion with great visuals, but overpriced. It's worth checking out, however, for the 19 screenshots, including screens showing new weapons and new spells. Here's the final verdict:
HOW amounts to basically a side quest if you play it during IWD. If you play it after, HOW extends the life of your IWD install by about 15 hours, since it really doesn't contain many side quests of its own. If I know Interplay, they will eventually release a combined box containing the original IWD and also this addon. For those of you who haven't played IWD, that would be my suggestion.
For the rest of you, I'd say wait for the price to come down from the MSRP of $40, or if you can find it cheaper now, then go for it. HOW isn't very long, but there are some nice surprises and philosophical concerns in there. It's a good addon that could keep you busy until the Baldur's Gate 2 addon comes out.
More from Interplay's DevTV
Posted Sunday, March 25, 2001 - 0:43 CET by Darien
Two more video clips from members of the Heart of Winter team have been added to DevTV. For those of you not familiar with this feature here is a short introduction from Interplaygames:
Welcome, all, to Development TV or DevTV as we like to call it. Here is a place for you, the gamer, to find out exactly what comes out of your favorite developers mouth. No silly misinterpreted interviews or misspelled words, only pure streaming answers to the questions you want to hear. Built for both high and low bandwidth types, no one will be turned away! So please, stay a while and enjoy what we have for you because, after all, it is what you requested and so we have provided!
This time the questions are for Darren Monahan - Producer and Scott Everts - Technical Designer.
Darren's Q: Have you felt any pressure in the last month, since your development timeline is so close to Baldur's Gate 2?
Scott's Q: What are the steps necessary to create a monster and put it into the game?
Pool of Radiance Developer Profile
Posted Saturday, March 24, 2001 - 15:29 CET by Darien
As part of their relaunch the Scrying Room has posted an interview with Ken Eklund, a freelance writer who collaborated on Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. Here's a quick introduction:
Us: Can you introduce yourself and explain your responsibilities on Pool of Radiance 2: Ruins of Myth Drannor?
Ken Eklund: I'm Ken Eklund, I'm a freelance writer, especially of interactive fiction and computer games. On PoR2, I worked with Sarah Stocker, Lead Writer at Stormfront Studios, to develop the game's storyline, themes and characters and script the cutscenes and interactive dialogs. Once all that was done, Stormfront kept me on as a consultant to help direct the voice recording, to add color and consistency to the encounter design, and for general game polish as we approach going final.
CattiDrizzt's Wonderland
Posted Friday, March 23, 2001 - 22:23 CET by Sorcerer
While browsing through my weekly cache of links, I came across a very cool website that I think many of you will like, especially fans of Drizzt&Co.
It is a homepage of an artist with dozens of pictures of the popular dark elf Drizzt on it and some other art as well. The front page looks messed up in 800×600 but the others load fine.
Last Week's Poll Results
Posted Friday, March 23, 2001 - 20:54 CET by Sorcerer
What we asked:
Q: Which was in your opinion the most useless thing of any kind in Baldur's Gate 2?
(589 votes total)
Helm of Infravision (205) 35%
Darts (162) 28%
Familiars (74) 13%
Boots of the North (39) 7%
Horn of Blasting (37) 6%
Wand of Wonder (32) 5%
Other (23) 4%
The Equalizer (17) 3%
It is an honour to present the most useless item in the game: Helm of Infravision. 35% of people who voted in the poll have selected it, so its fan base is really quite small. But I guess I must point out that it was originally an item in Baldur's Gate 1 and not something created anew for Baldur's Gate 2. (Thank God for that.)
Next come Darts. While I have used them occasionally if I happened to pick up a stack of them, I can't imagine anyone having them as the weapon of choice. Just remember what happened to the World's Greatest Darter in BG 1. ;)
But all our rants were not in vain, for shortly after this poll was created, the folks at Bioware have promised to make darts more useful in the upcoming Throne of Bhaal expansion. We will have to wait and see. For now, 28% of people find them useless.
In third place are Familiars with 13% of all votes. And since not everyone played a character that could summon one, I'm certain that the level of dissatisfaction with pets is extremely high among us more magically inclined types.
Bioware also promised some improvements in this field, but nothing concrete is known at this time. Stay tuned for more info when we get it.
Boots of the North are another popular set with 7% of people ranking them as the most useless item of all. Due to the fact that next to no monsters in the game deal cold damage this footwear protects you from, no doubt. Still, they look good on your paperdoll screen, huh? ;)
Finally we come around to the Horn of Blasting. Blasting is right, usually half of your party into oblivion while at it. We have had countless rants about this at our forums, and no one liked this horn, so I'm surprised it wasn't ranked higher than 6%.
Wand of Wonder, i.e. "That Screwy Wand" gained 5% of votes. Either there are actually people who found it useful, or few of those who voted actually found it. Frankly, I think this one should be among the top three.
4% of people chose Other. Nothing really smart came up, but I'll list a few that came up anyway:
- Most useless are of course all short swords and daggers, because even thieves can use much stronger longswords or katanas
- Wand Of Magic Missiles
And that's about it. There were dozens of listings of NPCs who sucked in someone's opinion, but the poll wasn't about that, so I see no sense in listing them.
And the last item on the list, the Equalizer, seems to be quite popular with the masses. I wonder why, since by the time you put it together, you have an arsenal full of better weapons. Or maybe it was just me, since only 3% of people found it useless.
Pool of Radiance Preview
Posted Friday, March 23, 2001 - 18:32 CET by Darien
GamesDomain has posted a great two part preview of Pool of Radiance: The Ruins of Myth Drannor. The preview is full of information from a short history of the game to a discussion of the stats and available feats. There are also several screenshots scattered throughout both pages. Will the game be worth the wait? I guess that remains to be seen.
While the attention paid to the graphics and interface is apparent, and some tough decisions in implementation have been made, how the final game will turn out and which type of RPG fanbase it will appease is still up in the air. Certainly, compromises were necessary given both the complications involved in translating AD&D to a computer game, and also the pressures of the current gaming market, which did not leave the SSI/Stormfront teams unscathed. Changes in high level team members and a delay in release date suggest some scrambling was necessary.
Regardless, the development teams have been listening to fans since the process began and overall the game is looking solid. Whether it will live up to its heritage is a question that can only be answered when we get our hands on a final copy, of course. In the meantime, the debates will rage on and we'll be following its progress.
From the Neverwinter Nights Board
Posted Friday, March 23, 2001 - 18:19 CET by Darien
Because we've all heard so much about the multi-player capabilities surrounding Neverwinter Nights, some people are worried that the single-player game may not get the same developmental attention. Here is Co-Lead Designer Rob Bartel's reassurance:
Q. How much effort is going into single player games?
A. Yup, we're paying a *lot* of attention to the official campaign. While it's designed to be much more multiplayer-friendly than our Infinity Engine games, it's still got all the richness and depth that made those games so enjoyable. The mission-based structure we've developed for the NWN story might take BG fans a little getting used to but I think you'll be happy with the result: a very tight story focus, well-paced adventures, and some serious attention to detail.
Our intent with Neverwinter is to give every last one of you your money's worth - even if you never touch the toolset, play online, or download other people's modules off the Net. Those things are all super-cool and are an important part of what Neverwinter is but, without a kick-butt game in the first place, they don't do a whole lot for anybody.
Rest easy,
Rob Bartel
Co-Lead Designer
Neverwinter Nights
BioWare Corp
Throne of Bhaal Infobits
Posted Friday, March 23, 2001 - 5:09 CET by Darien
Here is another update from the Official BGII board.
Dave Gaider (Senior Designer):
1. Was the change to darts that eliminated the STR bonus and the BG1 number of attacks/round deliberate?
The elimination of the STR bonus was deliberate, because it was overkill...especially when compared to a bow. I understand that the rate of fire cap wasn't deliberate, though, and will likely be removed with the patch.
Somebody obviously thought it was a good idea, though, I guess, but it wasn't planned that way.
2. The Staff of the Magi's Protection From Evil is not broken, it's totally not there. Was it removed deliberately? The colourglow effect of it is still present.
I'm not sure about this one, myself. I haven't heard anything about it. I will pass it on to the bug fellas and see if it's known.
3. Are Beastmasters supposed to be restricted from wearing metal armour as well as using metal weaponry?
They are supposed to be, yes, but I think the kit description is missing this, currently.
4. Were Dwarven Skalds deliberately excluded or just overlooked?
Is this a serious question?
5. Were the Saving Throw bonuses (not in their descriptions) of the Ring Of Earth Control and Staff Of Curing both oversights?
If they aren't in the description of the item, then probably, yes.
6. Was making the higher-damage-vs.demons mace sold by Joluv (Jerrod's Mace?) only +2 enchantment, which means it cannot damage the Balor, deliberate?
Yes, although I can't say I agree, personally.
7. Currently, if rangers remove the exp. cap, their stealth appears to wrap around to 0.
Well, the stealth ability is not looked-after up to the 8 million XP. If someone wants to remove the XP cap and take their chances once again, though, they're on their own. :)
Jonathan Epp (Quality Assurance)
1. That's strange; isn't there going to be an add-in (some tower I think) that is going to be accessible in BG2 through the mainland?
The add-in dungeon (Watcher's Keep) can be accessed from both the main BG2 game as well as from within the add-on part of the expansion.
2. If you use a final save from BG2 that was saved BEFORE you install the TOB expansion, your character will have all those neato Bhaal bonus thingies that you got right at the end. If you beat BG2 after the expansion is installed you will not have said powers. Why?
That isn't quite right. If you import from the BG2 final save, you will not have those extra powers you get at the end, because you actually get those powers after it makes the final save. However, if you load the final save and replay the end fight, and keep playing straight into the expansion you will keep the bonuses.
The bonuses aren't touched at all by the expansion. If you don't have them in the save you import, we don't add them for you. If you play through the end and get the bonuses, we don't remove them.
Boo Sighting at MegaTokyo
Posted Friday, March 23, 2001 - 0:00 CET by Darien
Once again, our adventurous little friend is unable to prevent disaster at MegaTokyo. Or is he encouraging it? Here's a recap of the last few days.
Mar 16
Mar 19
Mar 21
Electronic Playground Reviews Heart of Winter
Posted Thursday, March 22, 2001 - 19:35 CET by Darien
For any of you who haven't yet gotten your taste of Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter, check out this review by Electonic Playground. You can read the full review or just check out their lists of the "Goods" and the "Grief". With a score of 7.5 of 10, this is EP's Bottom Line:
While it might be a little short for the price, it is one hell of a terrific ride while it lasts.
Those fertile minds over at Black Isle Studios have done it again. Ever since Fallout 2 they have turned out role-playing masterpiece after masterpiece. Their latest offering Heart of Winter (HOW), an expansion pack for last summer's hit Icewind Dale (IWD), is sure to please any fan looking for some good old fashioned dungeon crawling fun.
Neverwinter Nights Desktop Wallpapers
Posted Thursday, March 22, 2001 - 8:21 CET by Mollusken
A couple of cool NWN wallpapers are out for downloading. Simply choose your resolution below:
DevTV Update at Interplaygames
Posted Thursday, March 22, 2001 - 4:38 CET by Darien
Two more questions have been added to the growing list of commentary by the developers of Heart of Winter. Don't forget to check the list for any you might have missed. The first question is for Senior Designer Chris Avalone:
Q: What is your favorite new feature in Heart of Winter, and why?
The other is answered by Programmer Tom French:
Q: Has there been any more or less of an emphasis on combat in Heart of Winter?
Neverwinter Nights Update
Posted Thursday, March 22, 2001 - 4:25 CET by Darien
GA-Source has posted a short Neverwinter Nights development update by Co-Lead Designer Rob Bartel, complete with screenshots.
Neverwinter Nights is progressing steadily but we’ve certainly come to recognize the sheer amount of effort it takes to pull off a project of this scope. As for where we’re at right now, the system itself is almost in place. We have a graphics engine, we have most of the underlying system in place for a rules engine, we have a solid networking layer, our interface is becoming increasingly present and functional, the basic art content is almost complete, and the Neverwinter Toolset will soon reach a point where the Design Team can start making final game content.
Bioware Has Had Enough
Posted Thursday, March 22, 2001 - 4:15 CET by Darien
Bioware is ending its request for saved games earlier than anticipated. Here is what they had to say.
We've had enough!!!
...we're ending the Call for BG save games early. Response has been incredible…far beyond our wildest expectations. Fans have flooded our email box with their save games, so much so that we’ve had to end the call early. In the last 24 hours, we received over 500 saved games from all over the world. At one point we were receiving 2 save-games a minute. These saved games came from every chapter of all three games in the Baldur’s Gate saga.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the saves received:
60% - Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn
30% - Baldur’s Gate
10% - Tales of the Sword Coast
Our developers are now working through the flood of email, pulling out the submissions, and setting up the import test regime for Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhall.
The developers at BioWare would like to send a hearty Thank You to everyone who took the time to bundle up their save games and send them to us. It’ll be a better game because of your help.
More Throne of Bhaal on the Official BGII Board
Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 15:14 CET by Darien
Dave Gaider (Senior Designer) had a few more comments on the upcoming expansion.
Wild Mages in BG2: Yup. Nahal's Reckless Dweomer was actually in BG2, just not implemented because we didn't have the resources to finish off the wild mage as we would have liked, nor to test it out properly.
In the expansion, there's Nahal's Reckless Dweomer plus several other wild mage spells as well as a list of over 100 wild surge effects.
High level Druid abilities: We don't intend on telling all prior to release, as much as I'm sure you're anxious to find out about all the abilities and such. Suffice it to say that druids will now be able to achieve the higher levels the same as a cleric will, will have some of their own high-level spells as well as some unique abilities and shape-changing forms...just as you mentioned.
As to what, exactly, those will be...like I said, you'll just have to wait. Sorry.
Playing as a God: The only system I can recall that dealt with this sort of thing was the old Immortal set for D&D...the third in the series following the original 'Basic' and 'Expert' rules. I never played them, myself, though, so I have no idea how good it is.
The fact that it sort of dropped out of existence not long after release is probably an indication.
You're right, though...playing at the level of a god is a practical impossibility, except as a strongly-themed campaign, perhaps, in the hands of a good storyteller. You might be better off with a Peter Molyneaux game, though.
Throne of Bhaal Screenshots
Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 15:03 CET by Darien
Two sites have posted some new screenshots from BGII: Throne of Bhaal. There are four shots at PC Zone and another four at The Adrenaline Vault.
Two New Heart of Winter Reviews
Posted Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - 3:02 CET by Darien
Gamesmania has posted a very well written review of Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter. It scores the game at 75% and also includes a few screenshots. Read this introduction, then check out the rest.
Those fertile minds over at Black Isle Studios have done it again. Ever since Fallout 2 they have turned out role-playing masterpiece after masterpiece. Their latest offering Heart of Winter (HOW), an expansion pack for last summer's hit Icewind Dale (IWD), is sure to please any fan looking for some good old fashioned dungeon crawling fun.
An ancient evil roams the land of the Ten-Towns, bringing with it the threat of war. The barbarian tribes have united under a new King, Wylfdene, who has risen from the dead and claims to be possessed by the sprit of the great barbarian hero Jerrod (the story of Jerrod is told in the original game). A shaman of the tribes, Hjollder, has a vision of you and your party participating in the events that are about to unfold. Unfortunately, his vision is clouded and he is not sure what role you are to play. He asks that you travel north to Lonelywoods to meet with Wylfdene. And so begins your new adventure in the frozen region beyond the Spine of the World mountains.
In another review, Gameraiders has given Heart of Winter a final score of 69. Game graphics and sound get high ratings, while unsurprisingly, the value gets the lowest score.
The highly anticipated expansion pack to one of last year's best RPG games, Icewind Dale, is finally upon us. Heart of Winter features an enhanced engine, new story, higher character levels, new monsters, new items, and new spells. If it wasn't for the fact that you'll only get a few hours of gameplay out of it, it'd be an excellent expansion.
Game Banshee's BGII Question of the Day
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 15:18 CET by Darien
Game Banshee is open to questions about BGII and Throne of Bhaal for Producer Doug Avery. Here is the first one:
GameBanshee: Heart of Winter brought Icewind Dale a variety of enhancements, such as higher resolution settings, more details during combat (amount of damage resisted, etc), and the Heart of Fury mode. Aside from new equipment, spells, and monsters, what enhancements can we expect to see to the original Baldur’s Gate II after installing Throne of Bhaal? Will some of these enhancements only be available to those who play BG2 from the beginning again (such as new equipment at NPC merchants)?
Doug: There will be noticeable differences between Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal. We are changing the music in the game by adding new theme music and area music for the new areas. We are also increasing multi-player stability, which will make multi-player even more enjoyable. We will be modifying some of the items from Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn in Throne of Bhaal and making them even more powerful. We are also adding a whole slew of new items that players can find and create. We will also be including the option to show character movement on the world map. This will make it much easier to keep tabs on your characters as they make long journeys.
BGII: Throne of Bhaal Preview
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 15:01 CET by Darien
RPGPlanet has a preview of Throne of Bhaal. It includes some new screenshots and short descriptions of some of the new areas.
Although always meant to be a trilogy, the Baldur's Gate series will resolve itself in two games and two expansions. But, fans should not be disappointed as the games were much larger than today's typical fair and the newly announced Throne of Bhaal expansion is no exception. Estimated to take 40-50 hours to complete, it will offer eleven new major areas (Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter had four), including the five-level main dungeon Watcher's Keep. One of those levels is a thirteen-room teleporter maze, reminiscent of the Modron maze from Planescape: Torment.
Baldur's Gate II Board Update
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 3:45 CET by Darien
Here are a few comments from the Official Baldur's Gate II board.
Lead Designer Kevin Martens talked about introducing a new NPC in the expansion.
We are aware of the late NPC syndrome which is why every NPC in BGII could be accessed in Chapter 2.
We're also aware that people wanted an NPC for Tales of the Sword Coast so we really wanted to add one for Throne of Bhaal.
Solution - a very cool NPC that the player has a history. This is someone the player knows, not a brand new personality. Even if the NPC doesn't end up fitting a player's party in the long run, I still think that everyone will want to try the NPC. We've made sure that the NPC is extremely useful.
I remember a discussion on our own BGII board about how to roleplay the choice between the Shadow Theives and Bodhi. Here's what Senior Designer Dave Gaider had to say about justifying that choice.
We actually argued a fair bit, ourselves, about including a third option to get into Chapter 3. We finally decided that the situation should be an unpleasant one, having to choose between the lesser of two evils. Had we had more time, we probably could have done a third option (through the Radiant Heart, was the idea being bandied about)...but the complexity and length of the quests involved in each side sort of prohibited it.
The Shadow Thieves aren't evil per se...just unethical. Even Linvail himself is simple True Neutral...although the fact that the Shadow Thieves have assassins certainly wouldn't bode well for them in the eyes of any paladin.
What it boils down to is, basically, whether you are willing to do the tasks that a side asks you to. I don't remember off-hand, but I'm pretty sure the Shadow Thieves' tasks are more benign.
But I'm glad you found a role-playing reason to justify going forward. That's the important thing...and until a game can encompass every decision or attitude a player might take (like a human GM could), justifying their actions is something that's going to crop up once in a while.
Heart of Winter DevTV Update
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 3:18 CET by Darien
Interplay's latest update to the DevTV feature is a question for Designer J.E. Sawyer.
Q: What are some of the new, powerful spells in Heart of Winter?
Bioware Wants Your Saved Games
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - 3:02 CET by Darien
Check out this announcement from Bioware:
Wanna help with the development of Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal?
Here's your chance. BioWare is looking for saved games from any Baldur's Gate game. If you want to give us a hand, here's a quick rundown on how to deliver what we're looking for:
1) Browse to your save game folder (on BGII it's usually "C:\Program Files\BlackIsle\BGII - SoA\save")
2) The folders you see (inside "save") are your saved games - choose one
3) Make a .zip file of the folder you want to submit to BioWare (do not send the "save" folder)
4) Create an email message to: bg2saves@bioware.com
5) Attach the .zip file to the message.
6) Send the email, with the .zip file attached.
We're going to gather saved games for the next two weeks, then close it down. We really want to ensure that the game works with every possible save game, so dust off your Baldur's Gate games (BGI, Tales, BGII) and send them to us.
Pool of Radiance: The Scrying Room
Posted Monday, March 19, 2001 - 10:17 CET by Nazgul
The Scrying Room has been updated with the newest information on the Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. There is even a preview/review of the game by one of the members who actually tested the game. A exclusive interview with the former producer. 23 brand new screen shots. An online Character generator (to see how the 3E point system works)
You can check out all the info here at the The Scrying Room .
Site News - New Additions
Posted Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 23:43 CET by Sorcerer
Subsection Updates -> Fantasy Books
I have added a short explanation of the book ordering process to the recommended fantasy books section. Hopefully this will clarify things a bit since some people have been asking me what the best way to order books from Sorcerer's Place is.
A big "thank you" to all who have shown their support by either buying any books or games (or anything else) from Sorcerer's Place. Thanks to people like you, we can continue to run this website you have all grown to love. :)
Subsection Updates -> Games
It has been a while since I announced here that you can also buy all of the games we cover from Sorcerer's Place, so here goes.
I have updated our game store and it now has all titles listed, although you can currently pre-order Throne of Bhaal and Neverwinter Nights only from Amazon.com. Since all of these games are released a bit later in Europe, I will update the page when Amazon.co.uk makes them available too.
Subsection Updates - Games -> Planescape: Torment
Thanks to Rakanishu (a regular on our message boards), we now have the full text of the Unbroken Circle of Zerthimon available online. It makes for a fine read, especially for anyone who likes the Planescape setting.
You will find this gem in the Tips, Tricks & Hints subsection.
Subsection Updates - Games -> Icewind Dale
There are two new additions in this neck of the frozen tundra today. The first is an updated version of Dan Simpson's Icewind Dale walkthrough. It now also includes a complete Heart of Winter walkthrough, so if you are looking for one you can download, this is it. Get it from the Walkthroughs & Guides subsection.
The second is a collection of 6 pre-made Icewind Dale characters you can import into your game and play with. Thanks to Piotyr for letting us have them. If you want them too, get them from the Editors, Hacks & Custom Characters subsection.
Subsection Updates - Games -> Baldur's Gate 2
Rhys Hess has sent us another edition of his Baldur's Gate 2 Story. This time we present you with the counterpart to the previously posted Good Side story. Anyone interested in the evil path through the game might find this an interesting read.
Next we have two more walkthroughs for the game. One is of the online sort and still unfinished, but was added by request. The second is the updated version of the most detailed downloadable walkthrough available.
And finally, there is an updated version of the Throne of Bhaal Features I have started putting together a while ago. Check it out, a lot more content has been added.
As you probably suspected, you can find all of the above in the Walkthroughs & Guides subsection.
Soldier Armories Site Relaunched
Posted Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 23:42 CET by Sorcerer
Arkady has let us know that their website has been relaunched recently.
Check them out if you're interested in the customization of Infinity Engine games.
Preorder Your Interplay Soundtracks Now
Posted Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 20:28 CET by Darien
Get your order in early for the latest soundtracks soon to be available from Interplay-Store. You can now preorder the music of Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and Planescape: Torment. Already available is the sensational soundtrack of Icewind Dale.
Neverwinter Nights Board Update
Posted Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 18:27 CET by Darien
Here are some bits from the last couple of days on the Neverwinter Nights forum.
Co-Lead Designer Rob Bartel:
Subterranean Dwellings: It's not entirely clear yet whether we'll have enough room to include subterranean dwellings in the various dungeon tilesets or not but we are keeping them under consideration. Another suggestion would be to scatter a whole bunch of doorways throughout your cavern area and attach normal interiors to them. Their 'houses,' then would actually be inside stalagmites and rock formations, etc, which strikes me as being a lot cooler than the typical brick and mortar anyways.
Spell Interface: You'll be happy to know that we are considering the possibility of allowing you to cast spells directly from your spellbook, as well. A general rule of thumb when it comes to interface design is that, if there's only one way to do something, it's not enough. If there are five ways to do something, you'll have five times as many happy customers.
Right now, that means a spell book as in a BG-style spell book: a special interface panel, not a specific item. If that changes, though, I'm sure we'll make the news very clear.
Producer Trent Oster:
Combat Animations: The combat system is what I would term version 0.85. Most of the basics are in there, but it still needs some polishing and cleanup. The system is built on a number of different weapon animations per character, broken down by "class" of weapon. We have no-weapon combat moves, one handed, two handed, pole/staff weapon and missile weapon combat moves. Each melee class has a number of different attack moves, parries and dodges. It makes for a more interesting combat experience as a whole.
We also implemented tactical movement while in combat, so you can control your character's movement while in combat and stay engaged and continue fighting. It works like this: while fighting a horde of small, pesky, annoying, whimpy gnomes you could slowly move backwards into a doorway, so only a few could attack you at once and your ankles would be safe. All the movement is done without breaking combat, so no attacks of opportunity emerge unless you turn and run away.
We will be demoing at E3 and we will be showing off the combat system there. (in addition to a few more things) and mortar anyways.
Writer and Designer Bob McCabe:
Feats, spells, etc: I don't think we're planning on releasing the complete lists of creatures, spells, item types, items, magic items, script functions, tile sets, groups, features, skills, feats, etc. at any point in the very near future ;) It's actually part of our PR campaign... :)
Trent and Bob both had responses to some questions about tile height transitions.
1. Will height transitions be limited to 1 raise/lower next to the adjoining tiles?
Trent: Yes, you are limited to one level in height change per tile.
Bob: As far as I know, the answer is yes. If I raise a tile one, it does not affect the tiles around it, but it does enter into their area. If I want to raise that tile twice, it will lift up the adjacent tiles surrounding it as well. Think Populous.
2. If there are tilesets that will allow for more than one height transition at a time, which are they and how many will be allowed?
Trent: There are no tilesets that allow for more than one "unit" of height change per tile.
Bob: There are tilesets that allow you to use height transitions. I think we're saving tileset information for PR, so I won't give you the answer on this one. Sorry! :) As for how high you can go, it depends on the size of the board you are using. Again, think Populous. If you use a two-height map, then you need at least 4x4 of real estate. If you want one height transition, then you need a 2x2 map minimum. To further clarify, you can't raise one tile multiple times, without also raising the tiles around it. If the entire map is at one height transition, no part of that map will be higher than one additional transition. Make sense?
3. Are " bottomless chasm" tiles taken into consideration when raising the height of an adjoining tile?
Trent: Yes, bottomless chasm tiles cannot have a height change on the same tile.
Bob: Bottomless chasms are not height transitions like I described above. They're a special grouping (I forget if they're referred to as terrain or feature or group).
You know, one interesting thing you can do is lift the entire map up several height transitions. By so doing, you don't have any requirements; the entire map is at a higher point. Then, you can make underground lakes and such. Looks nice! :)
I'm not sure how many height transitions you can use in this manner, or if there will be any limit.
Another Heart of Winter Clip at DevTV
Posted Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 9:12 CET by Darien
Let's go back again to Interplay's DevelopmentTV. This time the question is for Danien Chee (Programmer).
Q: How is programming for games different from programming for other types of apps?
IWD: Heart of Winter Patch Update and More
Posted Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 9:05 CET by Darien
Here are some comments by Producer Darren Monahan from the Unofficial Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Board.
Patch Update: We'll essentially have two "patches". The first, v1.41, will address issues you guys have been finding since we released HOW. It should be about a 4-5 MB download.
The second which I'm hoping within the next month or two is the downloadable dungeon that we're putting together for you guys right now, which will include 1.42. 1.42 will also be available separate from the download pack in case you have a slower connection and don't want to download the dungeon but want the fixes.
Compatibility of downloadable dungeon pack: Yep, we won't leave the non-English people out in the cold, we plan to localize it for everyone to play.
Heart of Winter soundtrack: The current Icewind Dale soundtrack does not feature music from Heart of Winter, however there is a LOT of good music on there (and I'm not saying that because I work here. Jeremy Soule (the composer) is a talented guy and it shows on this CD.
There's some ideas being tossed around right now for the HOW music, perhaps some kind of Baldur's Gate/Icewind thing or a Black Isle Soundtrack or something, I dunno. Nothing firm at the moment though.
Major trends in gaming: Well, our marketing folks do some surveys and such, but in Development, we're just like you guys, we buy tons of games, play them all the time after work, and ultimately try to just make games that we think we'd like to play and hope you guys feel the same way.
As for looking what people want, a lot of times, we just read what people post on message boards. I read through the Interplay ones, this one, and quite a few others and just jot down things I see that sound interesting.
As for the future of PC gaming, I think we've got a lot of interesting stuff coming. The GeForce III stuff I've been seeing is AMAZING, and we're getting so close to real life graphics, it's scary. All that stuff I read about Consoles crushing the future of PC's, I think right now that's a lot of BS. Don't get me wrong, I love console games too (in fact I'm producing one now), but I just don't think at this point PC gaming is going down any time soon. Just my opinion I guess.
Darren
BGII: Throne of Bhaal Infobits
Posted Saturday, March 17, 2001 - 8:45 CET by Darien
Senior Designer Dave Gaider had a few thoughts to share about Throne of Bhaal on the Official BGII Boards.
On fan suggestions: We listen a lot, actually. BG2 had a great many ideas implemented in it which came straight from the fans. And we're always looking for input and feedback.
So it's not like there are topics that are not open to suggestions.
In the end, though, it's us who have to make the game and we have to rely on our judgement of what to include or not to include, what's do-able or not do-able as well as what works or what doesn't. We have to make decisions on these things. Some of them are hard but, unlike what some people would like to believe, they are not made capriciously.
We're adapting a game into a format it was not designed for. Obviously this is going to call for lots of the above decisions, and while we didn't get everything perfect (who could?) we got a damn sight closer than anyone else has in making a real D&D game. If we do it wrong, our accountability lies with those who license us the game (WotC) and those who buy it (you, the fans).
And we've always listened to our fans. We're listening right now. It chagrins me a bit, though, to find some people automatically trumpeting their assurances that we *don't* listen just because we've made a decision that someone doesn't like or because someone isn't satisfied with our explanations for those decisions.
We're here to get input...and we do (heaps), both negative and positive. And that's good...and probably more than many other developers get. We've never said 'be thankful that we're here' and nor would we...I and others at Bio enjoy coming here and find it useful.
But everyone has a different idea on what's needed, desired or wanted...that should be obvious with even a cursory glance at any part of this board...so pleasing everyone just isn't possible no matter how much we might want to...so don't fault us for making the decisions we have to or not looking at things (like the rules) the exact same way you do. You can applaud or complain about our decision if you like, and we'll listen and take it into account the next time the issue arises...but in the mean-time, we have a game that has to be made, as well.
Shoot, I hope that doesn't come across as babble. It's been a long day for me. :)
Weapon that adds proficiency points: That is certainly possible. Proficiency levels are scriptable.
Weapon that adds proficiency points if you already have some in that area: That is much more difficult to do without involving some character scripting. You'd have to make the weapons set some kind of "I have this weapon" global and then have the game script check for both the presence of the weapon and the pre-existence of the proper proficiency. Not easy, but not impossible.
You know what might be do-able with this? Have the weapon gift you with style proficiency as opposed to weapon proficiency. That way, if you were unskilled with the weapon it still wouldn't be very useable to you. But it could give you ability in, say, single-wielding or dual-wielding...and even go beyond that. With scripting, you could give someone a 'mastery' in a style that wouldn't ordinarily be possible.
It's something to mull over. Thanks for the input.
Class-based items: Items can be restricted to certain classes. Personally, if I was going to put a weapon of this sort in the game, I would put it towards classes that are normally deficient in melee. Bards, druids and thieves pop to mind.
Magic darts: You'll be able to find darts with a decent enchantment level through the expansion. Like I've said before, we've focused our efforts with items on areas that weren't very broad in BG2.
A dart that returns to the wielder? I dunno about that one. The only thing that makes darts different from daggers is the fact that they are an expendable missile weapon. There are already daggers that return to the wielder.
Last Week's Poll Results
Posted Friday, March 16, 2001 - 20:54 CET by Sorcerer
What we asked:
Q: Which new feature in the BG2 expansion, Throne of Bhaal, excites you the most?
(358 votes total)
XP cap at level 40 (104) 29%
New areas (74) 21%
More romance(s) (46) 13%
Wild Mage kit (40) 11%
New NPC (31) 9%
New spells (29) 8%
New weapons & items (24) 7%
New monsters (10) 3%
As expected, the majority of people (29%) are very pleased with the fact that they will finally be able to reach truly god-like levels without cheating. The limit now set at level 40 should be enough for even hard-core power gamers.
21% of people are waiting to see the new areas impatiently. One of the them, namely Watcher's Keep, a dungeon similar to Durlag's Tower in the Tales of the Sword Coast (BG1 expansion) was described by Bioware as "one of the coolest dungeons we've ever made". Add to the list your own Abyssal Stronghold, an Underdark fortress and a few more and you've got a lot to look forward to.
More romance(s) are in third place with 13% of votes. Bioware have promised that all previously started romances will continue in the expansion as well, and just maybe there'll also be a new one (Mazzy). We will have to wait and see.
Fourth most popular new feature in the expansion is the Wild Mage kit. Obviously quite a lot of people (11%) are looking forward to playing this powerful but unpredictable new kit, or recruiting the new NPC who might be a wild mage him/herself.
9% of people are very interested in the new NPC, but alas, there is no official information regarding him/her at this time. Most likely (s)he will be a wild mage, but this is purely speculation at this point.
New spells excite 8% of people who voted in the poll. Not only will you now have the option to cast all those high level mage spells that you couldn't previously because of the experience cap, but there will also be a slew of new ones for wizards and priests.
In seventh place with 7% of votes are new weapons & items. Obviously not something that most people would have missed in the original game, since there were really so many good items that it was hard to choose which ones to use. But still, the expansion will bring even more better and more powerful weapons and items.
Only 3% of people are excited about the new monsters in ToB but since there is little known about them at the moment, this isn't surprising. What we do know is that there will be at least one new powerful dragon to kill and that solars will be in the game also. Stay tuned for more info.
Throne of Bhaal Infobits at RPGvault
Posted Friday, March 16, 2001 - 19:50 CET by Darien
A large collection of comments from the Baldur's Gate II message boards has been compiled for your perusing. Posts by Lead Designer Kevin Martens, Line Producer Nathan Plewes, and Designer David Gaider touch on everything from new weapons, items, and spells, to the question of continuing romances. Here are some points made about dual-wielding ability for thieves:
1) Dual-wielding is a class ability for rangers. They are the only class we feel the need must be able to dual wield well.
2) Yes, I understand according to the dual-wielding rules in the 2nd edition rulebook, a high dexterity allows for lesser negatives when dual-wielding. We attempted to implement this rule...and it ended up being pointless to do anything *but* dual wield. So we used our judgement to come up with a different system.
Do regular-class thieves come out with the short end of the dual-wielding stick? Probably. Fighter-thieves and Swashbucklers can still dual wield well, however, so we feel the option is still available to those who want a dual-wielding rogue. And that is why we won't give any special abilities to the regular class thief...why should they get the same bonuses as a ranger?
Check out the rest of the Infobits.
Forum Highlights at Neverwinter Vault
Posted Friday, March 16, 2001 - 19:26 CET by Darien
Neverwinter Vault has posted some comments by Rob Bartel (Co-lead Designer), covering traps, clerics, and this bit:
character faces: You won't have piece-by-piece control over hair, moustaches, hats, beards, etc, because each "piece" we add to the character model costs a little bit more in the engine (slows down performance, etc). Instead, we've gone in and created a bunch of mix-and-match heads on your behalf. As a result, you get a fair amount of variety (including bald dwarves) and we get to keep everything down to just a single piece.
Neverwinter Nights Dates
Posted Friday, March 16, 2001 - 17:19 CET by Darien
I just stumbled across a couple of tidbits at the Neverwinter Nights board, regarding the release of the beta and the game itself.
From Cord Grimwinder-8d:
Beta Testing: Yet To Be Determined:
At this time BioWare/Interplay/Black Isle have yet to determine when a Beta test of Neverwinters will take place or in what form it will occur. The minute this happens they will post an announcement in the Official Annoucements Conference on this board and on their corporate web sites giving details as to how, when and where to sign up.
We realize that everyone is eager to be among the first to get their hands on this game, so rest assured we will let you know as soon as possible after the Beta guidelines are set.
Release Date: Yet To Be Determined:
There has been no official release date set for Neverwinter Nights at this time. BioWare is targeting a 2001 release, but the *real* release date is- "When it's finished and it is the best game BioWare can produce!".
So, until you see an announcement in the Official Announcements Conference, or on the official BioWare and Interplay/Black Isle sites, don't believe any rumors you may hear or read elsewhere regarding potential release dates.
Thank you,
Cord Grimwinder-8d
Interplaygames.com Moderator
Throne of Bhaal Screenshots
Posted Friday, March 16, 2001 - 15:52 CET by Darien
Need another BGII: Throne of Bhaal fix? Well, here you go! Check out these 16 screenshots at GameOver Online.
Heart of Winter Giveaway at Sybex Games
Posted Friday, March 16, 2001 - 2:49 CET by Darien
If you haven't got your copy of Heart of Winter yet, then this is the contest for you. Sybex Games is giving away autographed copies of Icewind Dale and IWD: Heart of Winter. You must be a U.S. resident to win.
One lucky fan will walk away with the grand prize of over a C-note's worth of Icewind Dale merchandise, including:
A copy of both Icewind Dale and Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter games (autographed by the folks at Black Isle Studios)
A copy of Icewind Dale: Music CD
A copy of both Icewind Dale: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets and Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets
Enter here.
GamesFirst Reviews Heart of Winter
Posted Thursday, March 15, 2001 - 23:39 CET by Darien
With all the stellar reviews of this Icewind Dale expansion flying around, it's been tough to find one that gives less than high marks for Heart of Winter. Well, here is a review that holds no punches. In summary:
Where Tales of the Sword Coast added an insanely difficult dungeon crawl to a game that lacked exactly that, Heart of Winter adds a not-so-tough dungeon crawl to … a dungeon crawl. While high-level characters are nice, what’s the point if those levels aren’t concomitant with the magic and challenge that ought to go with them? If Heart of Winter came with a lower price tag, I’d recommend it, but since it rides around thirty dollars, I’m forced to say wait until it hits the bargain bin. Heart of Winter is fun but not fun enough.
Neverwinter Nights Weapon Screenshots
Posted Thursday, March 15, 2001 - 23:25 CET by Darien
Lost Universe has two exlusive weapon screenshots from NWN for you to enjoy. There's also another of a forest scene.
Status of the D&D License
Posted Thursday, March 15, 2001 - 15:44 CET by Darien
Desslock has written an article detailing the history and the current situation surrounding the licensing of D&D.
Interplay retains the rights to produce future D&D games (including Neverwinter Nights), but its license is unlikely to be renewed when it finally expires (some time in the next few years). While SSI retained the right to make a sequel to Pool of Radiance, that right is also in doubt, given the production delays and other problems that game's development has faced.
Secret Societies in Myth Drannor
Posted Thursday, March 15, 2001 - 10:04 CET by Nazgul
By Chuck Yager
Associate Producer
Pool of Radiance: The Ruins of Myth Drannor
While players plunder the depths of the ancient, ruined Speculum Grounds, or explore the once-grand heights of Myth Drannor's Castle Cormanthor, they will undoubtedly run into the forces of evil and good that have propelled their fates along the path they now tread. The nefarious actions of the Cult of the Dragon and their dragon-worshiping ilk, tempered by the benevolent forces of the Sisters of the Silver Fire, will introduce players to a few of Faerûn's secret societies as the story of Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor unfolds.
You can read the full article here.
Heart of Winter Clip at DevTV
Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2001 - 16:06 CET by Darien
There's a cool feature at Interplay called DevTV, which has been updated with a clip from Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter. What is DevTV, you ask?
Welcome, all, to Development TV or DevTV as we like to call it. Here is a place for you, the gamer, to find out exactly what comes out of your favorite developers mouth. No silly misinterpreted interviews or misspelled words, only pure streaming answers to the questions you want to hear. Built for both high and low bandwidth types, no one will be turned away! So please, stay a while and enjoy what we have for you because, after all, it is what you requested and so we have provided!
Today's question is for J.D. Sawyer (Designer).
Q: What new characters in the story do you believe will be particularly interesting to players?
Flashback to Baldur's Gate with Game-Guru
Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2001 - 3:30 CET by Darien
Do you remember way back when you first brought home a game called Baldur's Gate? Well, Game-Guru has taken a trip down memory lane in Baldur's Gate: A Retrospective. It's a pleasant reminder of the hallowed beginnings of all we've come to know and love about some of our favorite games.
Boo at MegaTokyo Again
Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2001 - 22:32 CET by Sorcerer
In the newest edition of the MegaTokyo comic, Boo is starring again, this time as the Conscience for The Day. He seems to fail miserably at the task. Or maybe he's just facing impossible odds.
Anyway, why do only the guys drawing comics get Bioware mouse pads?! You'd think that we would be eligible for one or two by now. Preferably one with Boo on it. My mouse on top of a hamster. Err, never mind.
And stop imagining it! Dirty little... :p
In Depth with Bioware
Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2001 - 18:52 CET by Darien
There's a great article over at Firing Squad, that covers a lot of information. The author spoke with Trent Oster, producer of Neverwinter Nights, about some of the technical aspects of the game, including the Solstice Toolset for DMs. It also has some good screenshots from both NWN and BG2: Throne of Bhaal. Here's an excerpt:
"Evil DM Grin" not included
To give the NWN Dungeon Master as close to as much power as they get with a pencil and paper game, DMs will have the Solstice Toolset. Since Neverwinter is a real-time game using a system designed for turn-based play, some adjustments had to be made. BioWare has created some dirty tricks for DMs to use.
Read it here.
UBI SOFT ACQUIRES THE LEARNING COMPANY'S ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION
Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2001 - 11:31 CET by Nazgul
PARIS, France - March 7, 2001 - Ubi Soft has signed a deal with parent company, Gores Technology Group, for the acquisition of the entertainment division of The Learning Company. Thanks to this acquisition, Ubi Soft, one of the world leaders in interactive entertainment, becomes the publisher of the next two episodes of the Myst® series and grows its catalog by more than 80 titles, including other world-renowned brands like Pool of Radiance™, Prince of Persia, Chessmaster® and Harpoon™. Additionally this new operation in the U.S. considerably reinforces the presence of the Ubi Soft group in North America.
You can read the full press release here.
Pool of Radiance: Mature Rating
Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2001 - 11:27 CET by Nazgul
From Garrett Graham, Producer, Pool of Radiance
The game is indeed rated M. Its not what we were shooting for, but we can live with it. I'm somewhat surprised that we got hit with that - we show blood, but we don't have exploding deaths the way BGII does. If we were still owned by Mattel, we'd have to change the game to a Teen rating, even if it meant delaying the game. Luckily, that is not the case.
HoW Question of the Day at Game Banshee
Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2001 - 4:42 CET by Darien
Get your Heart of Winter questions answered by Darren Monahan, Producer. Here is today's question:
GameBanshee: Will the downloadable dungeon pack feature any new items, spells, or monsters? If so, can you give us a general idea of how many of each will be added? If not, what can we expect to see in the pack (how many dungeon levels, game hours, etc)?
Darren: The downloadable pack will feature new items and one or two new monsters, but no new spells. We’re still fleshing out the item population, but 20-30 is about where we’re standing at right now. We’re looking to provide gamers another 3-5 hours of gameplay through roughly 5-10 new levels.
Want to read few more?
More Notes From the Unofficial IWD:HoW Board
Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2001 - 4:24 CET by Darien
Here are a few more comments by J.E. Sawyer (Designer), including some news about the upcoming patch.
Patch ETA: Darren asked me to let you all know that it will probably be done near the end of the month.
BG2: Dark Alliance: Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is a PS2 action D&D game being developed by Snowblind Studios, published by BIS. ... It's a console RPG. As we all know, that's a loaded term for a lot of people. Console RPGs are usually linear, action-oriented, and seem more like adventure games to our PC RPG backgrounds.
It's using a lot of D&D rules. No game -- and I mean *no* game -- ever gets all of the "roolz" into the game exactly as written. Even the Gold Box games occasionally had to fudge things. Exactly how "D&Dish" BG :DA will be remains to be seen.
Static Charge Question: Static Charge is potentially one of the most devastating spells in the game. When you cast it, if there is an enemy in range, it picks one and calls down a bolt of lightning on it. If there is no enemy in range, the message, "Static Charge dissipates harmlessly." should appear and a small electical animation should play on the caster. Every ten rounds after that, Static Charge will randomly strike an enemy in range. If there is no enemy in range at the time, the message and animation listed above will appear again.
This spell is great when it's cast in a cycle of "buff" spells before a large battle. When I played through again recently, I had my druid cast it three times before the battle with Yxunomei. When all hope seemed lost, Static Charges started killing the yuan-ti. It's also good to blow your Static Charges before resting. If monsters interrupt your sleep, they'll get a gut full of electricity at the beginning of the battle.
The Gaming Globes 2001 Nominees
Posted Tuesday, March 13, 2001 - 4:02 CET by Darien
It's time to vote your choice of games to take home the Gaming Globes 2001. Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn has been nominated for Best Game, Male Supporting Actor (Minsc), Art Direction, and Adapted Storyline. Icewind Dale is nominated in the Original Music category. Here is a short introduction from Eurogamer:
Last year saw EuroGamer launch the Gaming Globes, the gaming industry's answer to the Oscars. Intended to recognise excellence across the entire spectrum of game design, from storylines and soundtracks to visual effects and artwork, the Gaming Globes gives you a chance to help pick out the best games and developers of the year in fifteen different categories.
The final shortlist of five nominees for each category is now ready to be announced, and until midnight GMT on Monday 19th March 2001 you can have your say by voting on which game you think should win in each category. Please vote for the game which you think is the best in that particular category - don't just vote for your favourite game in every single category unless you honestly think that it deserves it. Any duplicate votes will be discarded, so only vote once in each category.
Go check out the rest of the nominees, and vote here.
QuebecPC Review Heart of Winter
Posted Monday, March 12, 2001 - 19:49 CET by Septic Yogurt
QuebecPC have posted a review of Heart Of Winter, for those of you interested in reading it, it is all in French.
Read it here.
NWN Interview with Brent Knowles at Broken Pixel
Posted Monday, March 12, 2001 - 19:14 CET by Darien
Broken Pixel recently had an opportunity to interview Brent Knowles, co-lead designer on Neverwinter Nights. Brent talks about what many consider the most exciting facet of NWN, its Dungeon Master and remote game hosting capabilities. The interview also covers some common questions about the single- vs. multi-player aspects of the game. Here's one:
5. BrokenPixel > Will players be able to import their single-player character into the multi-player realm?
Of course you can; there is no distinction between the multi-player game and the single-player experiences. The joy of Neverwinter Nights is that you may play through our campaign, even off-line if you wished, and then continue the adventure with, for example, downloaded modules made by other players, or the on-line campaign run by a human Dungeon Master.
Read more.
A Note From the Unofficial IWD:HoW Board
Posted Monday, March 12, 2001 - 14:52 CET by Darien
It seems some players have been troubled by a few bugs in HoW. (Imagine that!) ;) Don't despair, it seems help is on the way. Here's a short note that J.E. Sawyer (designer) posted yesterday:
I believe Darren will be able to give a patch update when he returns tomorrow. I think he's been gone since Friday. He's Black Isle's producer for Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, and he had to go up to Snowblind Studios.
Game Power Reviews Heart of Winter
Posted Monday, March 12, 2001 - 14:36 CET by Darien
Just in case you've missed the first few, here's another positive review of the expansion. This one lists the pros and cons of the game, and it also includes some good screenshots. Here's an excerpt:
Heart Of Winter is a fine example of an expansion pack improving upon and adding to an original game in all the right ways. The pack doesn't just add more gameplay time, but improves the old game's visuals and gameplay. While Heart Of Winter will prove to be a bit on the short side for most role-players, for fans of Icewind Dale, this is an excellent upgrade.
Check out the rest here.
BioFiles Column at GA-RPG Updated
Posted Monday, March 12, 2001 - 11:32 CET by Sorcerer
At GA-RPG, the BioFiles Column has been updated again, this time Drew
Karpyshyn, Designer on Throne of Bhaal and the Star Wars RPG, makes his debut.
Drew talks about the book he wrote for Wizards of the Coast that the expansion pack is based on, and how just how closely the game mimics his work.
You can check out the latest edition of the column here.
Also, read the farewell note from Chris at this touching page. *sniff* ;)
Heart of Winter Review at Outer-Edge
Posted Sunday, March 11, 2001 - 21:04 CET by Darien
Here's another great review of Heart of Winter, where the add-on earned a 91% rating. Most impressed by the graphics and the music, the review gives high praise to the expansion in almost every area. Here's a short summary:
All in all, this is a great expansion. With either more length or a lower price, it could have gotten a better rating from me. However, I would still buy it in an instant as it is. The upgraded technical features, new spells, new items, new monsters, new areas and balanced classes, just make the game that much more fun and challenging and offer more to love. Any fan of Icewind Dale should pick this one up and any player looking for a good RPG should try it out. I even hear Black Isle is working on a downloadable add on for HoW, even more reason to keep playing, because who knows what creature we could face next.
Read the rest here.
Infobits Of BG2: Throne of Bhall Released
Posted Sunday, March 11, 2001 - 20:10 CET by Shad
Over at RPGVault a summary of information relating to the up and coming expansion for Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, Throne of Bhaal was posted. The information has been gathered from numerous Throne of Bhaal message boards. Here is a short extract:
"While familiars do have inventory slots like any creature, accessing and manipulating the equipment in those slots is problematic since there's no inventory screen for them. We can't tell a familiar to 'equip' an item. The most we can do is have them give the player what's in their inventory...which we already do for those familiars that pick pockets. Creatures can be instructed to use equipment in their inventory, but only through scripting...the player wouldn't have any control over it (which is not helpful for a familiar). Alternatively, we *could* have equipment that is meant solely for a familiar...in the way that when you 'give' them this piece of equipment, it gives them a new special ability or raises their HP, AC or something similar."
To read more click here.
Welcome Darien, Our Newest News Poster ;)
Posted Sunday, March 11, 2001 - 18:20 CET by Darien
We at Sorcerer's Place would like to welcome our newest news sleuth, Darien Noella. A frequent poster/troublemaker on the Boards O' Magick, Darien is now willing to try her hand on the News Page. Please join us all in congratulating her!
Annual Help Wanted Party...
Posted Sunday, March 11, 2001 - 11:29 CET by Sorcerer
The couple of times before that I've made this announcement I always seemed to be writing long-winded stuff about what we need, but I'll make it really short this time.
We need some RELIABLE people who wish to either
a) scour the web for interviews, screenshots, previews and similiar and post them here at the front page of Sorcerer's Place
b) scour the official (and the unofficial IWD one) message boards for any relevant news regarding Baldur's Gate II, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights or Pool of Radiance: RoMD and post those news at the front page or
c) all of the above
If you think you have what it takes to fill any of those roles (you don't have to do everything, better take on little and do that well), reach me on ICQ 1508832 and I'll tell you what to do. (You can e-mail me too, but ICQ is much preferred for news posters.)
As always, Sorcerer's Place is a non-profit fansite, so I can't really pay you anything, since I don't get paid either. But at least when you post something here, you can be sure your work will be noticed by thousands visiting us daily.
P.S.
Please do not apply if you aren't willing to commit some time to this task. We've had way too many posters here who posted two or three articles and then disappeared.
There are some nice perks for news posters who will take their job seriously, but after seeing so many failed attempts, I have decided to put each new guy/girl on a one month trial period. If you can prove yourself in that time, bonuses will start rolling in.
If not, you're out.
Last Week's Poll Results
Posted Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 22:14 CET by Sorcerer
What we asked:
Q: Which CRPG(s) will you be playing next?
(744 votes total)
Throne of Bhaal (BG2 expansion) (261) 35%
Neverwinter Nights (213) 29%
Heart of Winter (IWD expansion) (176) 24%
Pool of Radiance: RoMD (94) 13%
This time the poll was a multiple-choice one, so there are a few more votes than usual.
Most people (by far) will be playing the expansion to Baldur's Gate 2 next. That comes as no surprise since the series have been immensely popular since the original Baldur's Gate was released.
Neverwinter Nights is the game a few people less will be playing next. It was probably the prime choice for those that did not choose any other games off the list.
Heart of Winter is not that hot anymore, with only about one quarter of people who expect to be playing it next.
Of course, at the time of the poll the game was already widely available in the USA and some have finished it already, but Europe has yet to see the first copies of it.
Tailing alarmingly behind is the new Pool of Radiance, delayed yet again by the latest reports. It is quite understandable that people get a bad feeling about a game that has been delayed for almost a year already.
Hopefully we will see this title before Neverwinter Nights ships, otherwise it will have to settle for being the second 3rd edition D&D CRPG released.
Interview with Aidan Scanlan (NWN) at Lost Universe
Posted Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 22:08 CET by Sorcerer
A rather short interview with Aidan Scanlan, a designer on the Neverwinter Nights team was posted at Lost Universe.
A snippet:
How many different ways can you play this game in mutiplayer (castle storming etc.) giving a little description on how it will work.
The first and foremost way to play a multiplayer game is to form an adventuring party and play through an adventure. The other ways are as limitless as your imagination. Modules involving arena combat, dungeon races, castle stormings, and capture the flag are only the beginning. Counter-Strike was never foreseen by the makers of Half-Life, for instance, and we expect to be equally surprised by what the Neverwinter Nights fan community comes up with. That's what makes working on a project such as this so exciting.
Check out the rest here.
Heart of Winter Review at Intelligamer
Posted Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 21:52 CET by Sorcerer
Will the freezing flood ever stop I wonder? (Not bloody likely with so many game sites out there.) ;)
Well, one of the latest reviewers, namely Intelligamer has come up with a pretty positive review regarding the expansion to the windy dales full of ice. Ugh, that was original...
Anyway, they liked the addon and awarded it 3.5 stars for the effort.
To save you the trip in case you don't feel like reading reviews, here's the final verdict:
If you liked Icewind Dale then you are likely to enjoy this expansion. It fits in well to the game, essentially as an optional side quest to the main story line, and expands the possibilities of the original game as well with new items, new spells and higher level limits. Overall it's a worthwhile addition despite the steep price tag and somewhat limited new areas added.
Heart of Winter Interview at Gamesmania
Posted Saturday, March 10, 2001 - 21:31 CET by Sorcerer
The folks at Gamesmania had the chance to interview the Heart of Winter producer, Darren Monahan, and designer J.E. Sawyer. The BIS guys answered some interesting questions, for example:
Gamesmania: How much did fan feedback play into Heart of Winter design decisions? What was the thing you worked on most?
Darren Monahan: Heart of Winter included a lot of fan feedback, particularly relating to the balances of each of the classes in the original game. Druids, bards and paladins were seen by some to be less useful, so we focused on giving each of the sub-classes some overhauling. Druids got more spells and creature forms to assume, paladins gained new special abilities and a new spell progression table. Rangers gained tracking and a new spell progression table, and thieves were given several new skills, some based on feats from the new Dungeons & Dragons rules. From a programming standpoint, we spent a lot of time bringing over a lot of the cool things the guys at Bioware did for BG2, and the designers worked on rounding out the classes and coming up with new content.
Read the rest of the article here.
Messages from the official BG2 boards
Posted Thursday, March 8, 2001 - 13:40 CET by Mollusken
The following is a cut-out from the official Shadows of Amn message board:
Dave Gaider (Senior Designer):
Wild mage kit: The wild mage is in because it was pretty much already made in BG2...we just had to polish it a little to include it in the expansion. Beyond that there will be no new kits, period.
Using suggestions from fans: A lot of times plots and encounters get changed during the course of QA and bugfixing...sometimes beyond recognition. And sometimes they're nixed altogether (like the whole Haer'Dalis murder plot, tsk tsk).
I don't remember the specifics of your e-mail, but I do remember writing one down and using a very close version of it in the game. That was waaaay back, though, so who knows what happened to it?
But thanks for the suggestion, anyway, even if it looks like it didn't get in at the end. Sometimes a very unrelated suggestion will drag me out of a writer's block, which is very cool (and makes James stop sweating).
Adding Griffons in the game: Ahhhh, you know, we would if we could. Nothing would please me more, but unless said griffon was stuck on the ground (as the dragon is...think of the carnage we could make if dragons could fly...) there's no way the engine would allow it.
And if a griffon can't fly...well...it's basically just a giant cat with wings. Too bad.
Ending the story line: I'm sure that whatever we come up with will be dissected and reviled regardless of its merit or lack thereof by people who have preconceived notions of how the whole thing should go. Ideally, we'd include numerous endings for various types of players...but you and I both know that's not going to be enough for everyone.
So we're just going to end the game like we think it should be, and damn you all. How's that for ego, eh? )
(heh...just kidding...)
Kevin Martens (Lead Designer):
Bonuses given at the end of the game: To be honest, the bonuses that you were given at the end were not well enough planned out. I was originally planning to take them off of your character completely (it's not like you aren't powerful enough by the time you've finished BGII) but I have a feeling that this might not make sense so...
The current solution is that if you fight Irenicus and move into the expansion pack in that manner, the effects will remain. If you import from an earlier save or start a new game, you won't get them.
For those that might be worried about balance, not having the abilities doesn't seem to be making the game any tougher for our QA guys so I feel that this solution is best.
Summoning NPCs: You can only summon in characters who aren't in your party. If you import them in through your save, they will keep all of their current gear. If you don't have them and they're not dead, you will be able to summon them with the new stuff that I've given them. They will also be set to 2million XP.
Wild mage information: Wild magic is a new type of magic that is characterized by powerful and dangerous surges or unpredictable magic. Generally considered to be an unfortunate byproduct of the Time of Troubles, wild magic has recently begun to attract the attention or many a curious or scholarly wizard.
A Wild Mage is a wizard or specializes in the study of wild magic and has access to spells to protect him/herself from Wild Magic as well as bend it to his/her will. Wild magic is extremely unpredictable and should be used with caution.
Wild surges and wild mage spells: We have approx 100 wild surges and several Wildmage spells like Chaos Shield and Reckless Dweomer. The wild surges are very similar to those in the wild surge tables. Naturally, some of them could not be properly implemented so we added a few.
Making of the wild mage kit: Don't thank Design for the wild mage. Mark did it on his own time. He's the man! We just tweaked it.
Final save game: Yes, the new final save will overwrite the old. I would suggest simply making another folder called BackupSaves or whatever and copy the older save there before you reach the point where it will overwrite.
Curious to the outcome: They are running a poll at planetbaldursgate.com regarding which chapter people like best in BG2. If you have a moment, please respond to the poll. We're curious to see the outcome.
Or, you could respond to my post and tell me which chapter you liked and why.
Or both...
XP Cap: Playing without cheating, we expect the player to reach approx 5 million XP with one play through. All characters CAN go higher than that. Raising the cap to 8 million essentially removes it. There's really nothing to do after 40th level.
Site News - New Additions
Posted Wednesday, March 7, 2001 - 22:51 CET by Sorcerer
Subsection Updates - Games -> Icewind Dale
I have added the edited chat log from the recent HoW chat held at Gamespy Arcade. It is a pretty interesting read and can be found in the Miscellanea subsection.
Subsection Updates - Games -> Baldur's Gate 2
There are quite a number of new additions here.
Same as I did with the Icewind Dale expansion, I have compiled an interesting list of features the Baldur's Gate 2 expansion, Throne of Bhaal, will offer.
The list will be continuously updated, so check it regularly.
It occurred to me that I did not have even one complete map of all areas you can travel to in the game available online, so I quickly set about making one. It took a while, but the end result turned out pretty nice. I have put it in the Maps subsection where it replaced the old scanned version of the map. As it turned out, the paper map was actually missing half of the areas...
There are also two new sound sets available in the Editors, Hacks & Custom Characters subsection. Pete Wearne was kind enough as to provide us with his excellent "Kalthorine ut Wistan's Paladin Voice Pack", perfect for all paladins and holy warriors out there. The authentic British accent is certainly convincing. ;)
Last but not least, Balthazar has provided us with a soundset of the WWF champion The Rock. You will also find a pre-made half-orc character going by the same name in the zip.
Subsection Updates - Games -> Neverwinter Nights
Erran, our AORTA guildmaster sent me a listing of all current members of the guild, and I promptly inserted it into our AORTA guildpages. Check out the AORTA guildpages to see who you will be battling with.
It seems we are a bit short on warriors and rogues, so if you think you meet out criteria, apply ASAP!
An interesting Neverwinter Nights chat was held at IGN Vault a few days ago. Our resident wizard Blackthorne logged it and sent me an edited log which is now available in the Miscellanea subsection. I have also corrected it a bit where spelling was the worst.
The log is chock full of interesting details so if you missed it originally, it is imperative that you read it now. If you are interested in the game, of course. Which you are, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this, right?
Throne of Bhaal Preview
Posted Tuesday, March 6, 2001 - 8:21 CET by Mollusken
A preview of Baldur's Gate II: The Throne of Bhaal has been done by GameSpot.
Epics tend to be in three parts. The notion of the trilogy is often associated with ambitious works of fiction. These are the sorts of works whose far-reaching ideas and rich casts of characters couldn't possibly be encompassed in a single volume. Trilogies are well known in fantasy and science fiction. Who hasn't heard of The Lord of the Rings, let alone Star Wars? And now, the culminating chapter of what's certainly one of the most significant works of computer gaming fiction has been announced: Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.
The rest of the writing can be found by clicking here.
Neverwinter Nights First Look at GamePen
Posted Sunday, March 4, 2001 - 13:33 CET by Sorcerer
GamePen put together some of the known information about the upcoming 3rd edition D&D game, Neverwinter Nights.
There is no new information in the article, and I'm pretty sure those sized-down screenshots have appeared in their full glory before too.
Still, if you haven't been keeping an eye on the progress of probably the hottest CRPG to come out this year, check the article out.
Here's a snippet:
To begin with, the game features a 3D environment that can be swivelled in any horizontal circular motion. Moreover, the terrain, objects and buildings are rendered beautifully, from grassy farms to underground dungeons. If that doesn't float your boat, some of the creature animations, like a spider crawling out of a pit, are incredibly done.
The lighting effects are neat, too. Light sources are in real-time - making torches actually necessary. One of the screenshots show the effect of lighting, as torches cause shadows to play on the floors in directions relative to the source.
What makes this even more incredible, though, is that as beautiful as the scenery is, it's all editable. DMs can create environments using a modular map editor that'll make some of the locations in Baldur's Gate II look pale in comparison. The maps themselves can become quite large - the largest map possible would be 16x16 "tiles" that would require a 10 minute walk from one edge to the other. (Maps may be able to link together.)
BGII Expansion Interview at Daily Radar
Posted Sunday, March 4, 2001 - 13:21 CET by Sorcerer
Featuring new locations, spells, and characters, the expansion pack will mark the surprising final chapter to the Baldur's Gate series.
To learn more, Daily Radar spoke to Alan Miranda, BioWare's producer on the expansion pack:
DR: Will you be introducing any new NPCs that can join the party?
AM: Well, we have all the NPCs from BG II, so if you're starting from scratch you can summon them in. Close to the start of the game you begin in a stronghold that sort of resembles the abyss at the end of BG II where you fought Irenicus. So it's sort of a representation of yourself as you gain these high-level abilities that you would've gained throughout BG II. And one of the first abilities is the ability to summon in all these NPCs from BG II.
Not included in that list is a new NPC, a really cool one that we're not mentioning right now. But, he isn't necessarily a new face; you may have seen him in past BG games.
Read the whole thing here.
Last Week's Poll Results
Posted Saturday, March 3, 2001 - 22:16 CET by Sorcerer
What we asked:
Q: How often do you customize any Infinity Engine games with new custom portraits, voice sets and similar items?
(242 votes total)
Never (66) 27%
Sometimes (50) 21%
All the time (45) 19%
Rarely (44) 18%
Quite often (37) 15%
It would seem that customization of the Infinity Engine games isn't really very popular, at least judging by the rather small number of people who voted in the poll.
Of those that did, the majority with 27% never changed anything about the games but play them such as they come straight out of the box.
21% of people do twiddle with custom portraits and sound sets, but only casually.
There are some enthusiasts who do it all the time, namely 19% of all people who have voted in the poll.
18% of people customize their games on rare occasions and lastly, 15% of them do it quite often.
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal Preview at CGO
Posted Friday, March 2, 2001 - 0:35 CET by Sorcerer
Geez, that was fast. Barely officially announced, the expansion to Baldur's Gate II already has its first preview.
CGO scored a sweet article with 5 screenshots of the new areas of the expansion, plus a quite extensive look at the new features it brings:
The new story starts in your own personal stronghold in the Abyss. From there, you'll learn a variety of new (and extremely potent) powers, each of which opens up new areas of your stronghold to explore.
The first power you get is the ability to summon any character from Baldur's Gate II. To them, it seems as though you never left, and they will join your party immediately. You can also create or import a party of your own, if you prefer. The game will automatically bump any character you use to 2,000,000 experience points and outfit you with items appropriate to that level.
Spoil yourself utterly at your own risk here.
BIS Finally Officially Announces Throne of Bhaal
Posted Friday, March 2, 2001 - 0:23 CET by Sorcerer
It seems that the press machine at Interplay finally got it right and announced the expansion we have been aware of for the last month or so. Keeping secrets is one thing, but after so many leaks it seems silly that we had to wait this long for an official annoucement.
Anyway, read it here in all it's glory, minus the legal mumbo-jumbo:
Black Isle Studios Announces Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal
(Vast New Expansion Product Completes the Epic Saga of Baldur's Gate)
IRVINE, Calif., March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Black Isle Studios, the role-playing game division of Interplay Entertainment Corp. (Nasdaq: IPLY - news), and BioWare Corp. announced today plans to develop an expansion product to the award-winning role-playing game Baldur's Gate(TM) II: Shadows of Amn(TM). Entitled Baldur's Gate(TM) II: Throne of Bhaal(TM), the add-on product expands and enriches the gameplay experience by adding several new locations, high-level spells and powerful new characters to the Baldur's Gate game. Set in the Forgotten Realms® campaign world of the Dungeons & Dragons game, Throne of Bhaal is the ultimate conclusion of the Baldur's Gate legend as gamers fulfill their destiny as the child of Bhaal.
Developed by BioWare and published by Black Isle Studios, the Baldur's Gate franchise -- consisting of Baldur's Gate, its Tales of the Sword Coast (TM) expansion and Baldur's Gate II -- redefined the role-playing genre and has since dominated the PC game charts with sales of over 3.5 million units worldwide. The franchise continues to receive accolades from press and pundits around the world. Top PC gaming magazines Computer Gaming World and PC Gamer have awarded RPG of the Year nods for Baldur's Gate in 1998 and Baldur's Gate II in 2000, as have the popular gaming-oriented online sites GameSpot and IGN (Black Isle Studios has been presented the RPG of the Year award from Computer Gaming World and PC Gamer for the last three years running). Additionally, Computer Games, Computer Games Online, Imagine Games Network and Vault Network named Baldur's Gate Game of the Year for 1998, while leading websites MSNBC.com and Gamespot have named Baldur's Gate II Game of the Year for 2000, an honor rarely bestowed upon role-playing games.
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal takes players through an all-new storyline rich with intrigue and treachery as they unravel the mysteries of the Dungeon of Watcher's Keep and explore other new areas such as the City of Saradush, the Fortified Monastery of Amkethran, Sendai's Underdark Fortress and the player's own Abyssal Stronghold. Throughout their journey, characters may reach up to level 40, made possible with a raised experience cap of 8 million points, quite possibly the highest level ever achieved by characters in any Advanced Dungeons & Dragons computer game. Also included in the quest are over 40 new powerful high-level spells and abilities. The Wild Mage Character Kit will also be included to the already extensive class list allowing gamers to create a powerful new character able to cast spells with very unpredictable results.
Baldur's Gate II players will be pleased to hear that Throne of Bhaal is fully playable either while questing through their BG II adventure or after they have completed BG II.
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal is due to ship summer 2001 for Windows® 95/98 and gamers will need to own the original Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn in order to play.
Yet Another HoW Review
Posted Friday, March 2, 2001 - 0:13 CET by Sorcerer
This time at CGO. It's pretty much standard issue with a couple of screenshots and not really anything new we haven't seen or heard before. Most of us, anyway.
The expansion got 4 out of 5 stars and you can check the review out here.
NVidia Displays Some NWN Screenshots
Posted Thursday, March 1, 2001 - 23:48 CET by Sorcerer
Neverwinter Nights has been designed specifically for the online, multiplayer environment and the latest 3D technology. NWN allows you to experience all the magic of pen-and-paper Dungeon-Mastering on your home computer!
Using NWN's powerful and user-friendly Neverwinter Toolset, you can create and populate entire new modular worlds and stories for others to adventure in. As an all-powerful Dungeon Master (DM), NWN even allows you to alter the plot, possess characters, and manage combat from behind the scenes, all in real-time.
The GeForce3 nfiniteFX engine is used to intensify the ambiance of the Bioware Aurora Engine in Neverwinter Nights. The programmable effects enabled by the nfiniteFX engine will help to enhance the engrossing nature of the storyline and the overall gaming experience.
I wanted to comment about that bit above, but come to think of it, there's not much I could say about it. It's all true.
Check out the three exclusive screenshots here.
All I could say was: WOW!
Even though you will not be able to look at your characters from that angle in the actual game (the camera view was shifted for those shots), it still gives you a pretty good idea what Aurora is capable of.
Heart of Winter Review at Gamespy
Posted Thursday, March 1, 2001 - 23:35 CET by Sorcerer
Another Icewind Dale expansion has popped up, this time at Gamespy. Their final rating of the game was 82%. In conclusion, they offer a reply to the question many of you might still be wondering about:
Should I Buy This?
If you have Icewind Dale, absolutely. The expansion pack is worth every penny. If you don't have Icewind Dale, what are you waiting for? Get it! Then refer back to the opening sentence. Anyone who enjoyed Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment or Baldur's Gate 2 wants Icewind Dale and its expansion, Heart of Winter.
It seems that we are in agreement here. ;)