Mod News Icewind Dale Complete Remake Mod Released for NWN2

[Volrath]

Imagine all the hours they wasted on this project...

 

[Stabwound]

I take it Prosper was the lead graphic designer for this project?

 

[laclongquan]

The severed hands and the icy landscape look okay to me.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

There's a similar project for BG1. As far as I know it isn't finished yet.

 

[Infinitron]

Does it include the room in Kuldahar that teleports you to the expansion town?

 

[Johannes]

Maybe there are some misguided people out there who prefer D&D edition 3.5 to edition 2 rule set. But can’t imagine there are many of those. IMO ed. 2 was better balanced and didn’t force the player to plan the character build 40 levels in advance.

Meh, rather a system that lets me plan 40 levels in advance compared to 2nd ed where there's next to zero options to character customization after chargen.

 

[Deakul]

IWD is already in NWN2, it's called Storm of Zehir.

 

[Pope Amole II]

Usual codexian bitching. While I agree that this conversion probably looks worse than original, since when did codexia become such a graphixwhore? Who cares what it looks like? Who cares that the engine is shitty (well, as long as it isn't crashing every 5 min)? What important is that IWD is a 100% combat driven cRPG and in terms of cRPG combat 3.5 edition is times, I repeat, times better than 2. I mean, at least here fighters and thieves are something bigger than "just pop moles from either front or back". It's not like they're good, though, they're still crap, but at least not as crappy as they were. There are also more breeds of mages and mage-hybrids which is also nice since magic is all that dnd is about(probably unfortunately). But I guess that after all those hours devoted to endlessly replaying Mass Effect series everyone is too next gen to appreciate a deeper RPG system...

 

[oldmanpaco]

I don't get putting all that effort into a remake of a perfectly playable game. Why not use that energy to create something new? Not saying which engine is better but tell your own story for christ's sake.

 

[The_scorpion]

IWD may not have had the best combat. But it had awesome art direction. Now they ruined the only redeeming factor about IWD for one slightly less horrible combat system?

 

[Konjad]

wasted potential. they could've remaked something that is actually old an few people play today because it has issues on new OS. Seriously, I have no idea why would they remade IWD, which was beautiful, in NWN2, which looks just m'kay, while IWD is perfectly playable and even if not - there's GemRB or whatever it's called.

 

[Average Manatee]

The real question is why didn't they make it for ToEE? Surely they could make some gizmo that automatically extracts the areas from IWD and imports them to ToEE, so after writing all of the dialog and triggers and whatnot it would end up playing and looking exactly the same except with a near-perfect 3ed ruleset.

 

[Quetzacoatl]

The real question is why didn't they make it for ToEE? Surely they could make some gizmo that automatically extracts the areas from IWD and imports them to ToEE, so after writing all of the dialog and triggers and whatnot it would end up playing and looking exactly the same except with a near-perfect 3ed ruleset.

And turn based, don't forget turn based.

 

[Excidium]

Usual codexian bitching. While I agree that this conversion probably looks worse than original, since when did codexia become such a graphixwhore? Who cares what it looks like? Who cares that the engine is shitty (well, as long as it isn't crashing every 5 min)? What important is that IWD is a 100% combat driven cRPG and in terms of cRPG combat 3.5 edition is times, I repeat, times better than 2. I mean, at least here fighters and thieves are something bigger than "just pop moles from either front or back". It's not like they're good, though, they're still crap, but at least not as crappy as they were. There are also more breeds of mages and mage-hybrids which is also nice since magic is all that dnd is about(probably unfortunately). But I guess that after all those hours devoted to endlessly replaying Mass Effect series everyone is too next gen to appreciate a deeper RPG system...

 

[jiujitsu]

I'd rather play Neverwinter in Icewind Dale engine.

That's what I'm talking about! The IE engine is better than the NWN2 engine. The interface and background resemble highly detailed paintings which is far better than the blocky 3D undetailed crap of the newer engines.

Infinity Engine for life!

 

[Black]

It's like that mod that remakes bladder's gate 2 in dragon age. Just... what's the point oh jesus.

 

[thesheeep]

I'd rather play Neverwinter in Icewind Dale engine.

That's what I'm talking about! The IE engine is better than the NWN2 engine. The interface and background resemble highly detailed paintings which is far better than the blocky 3D undetailed crap of the newer engines.

Infinity Engine for life!

The biggest problem does not exactly lie within the engine, it lies within the shaders the engine uses. Everything just look waaaay too sterile and shiny. I really wonder why nobody bothered to make good looking shaders... Can you not mod shaders in the engine?
That would be an explanation.

There are also the meshes, which only rarely look believable.
And also the lighting... everything looks like you are running through some kind of artificial movie set.
Oh yeah, and the camera.
Complete art direction fail.

Also, it is not fair to call people graphic whores here. It's not just that NWN 1 + 2 engine games do not look as good as other games, that would be okay. It's that they (in big parts) look downright ugly, and in contrast to the first 3D games, they don't have an excuse. They will never "age well", in contrast to BG, IWD, etc.

That bashing was really necessary. Thanks for the opportunity.

 

[Mozgoëbstvo]

I'd rather play Neverwinter in Icewind Dale engine.

Maybe if they edit out Neeshka. And Elanee. And Khelgar. And that annoying paladin. And the gnome. And everyone else.

 

[Black]

You leave Sand out of this.

 

[Kalin]

Those screenshots.

 

[20 Eyes]

I didn't hate NWN2, but I can't understand why someone would waste all this time porting a pretty good game into an inferior engine. If all you want is titty-monster NPCs in g-strings, you can just fire up Bethesda's latest 3D porn engine.

 

[PorkaMorka]

Thank goodness for 3D graphics, otherwise games from 2006 might actually look better than games from 2000.

Who cares that the engine is shitty (well, as long as it isn't crashing every 5 min)? What important is that IWD is a 100% combat driven cRPG and in terms of cRPG combat 3.5 edition is times, I repeat, times better than 2.

Except that the majority of mechanics which make 3rd edition's combat system so detailed are left out when the games are translated to real time with pause.

With combat tactics dumbed down, the focus is placed squarely on the strategic, character building aspects of the game.

And in terms of character building, third edition is notoriously broken and while second edition is reasonably functional.

I mean, at least here fighters and thieves are something bigger than "just pop moles from either front or back".

Except that fighters are completely superseded by battle clerics.

 

[Shannow]

Shannow, I don't really see much difference between what I wrote and what you think I should have written. However, neither of us is a native english speaker, if I'm not mistaken.

My version stated your opinion of the engine. Yours stated your opinion of anybody who disagreed with your opinion.
Given that you're one of the more level-headed members of our community, I thought, I'd point it out.

Regarding the resource-demanding engine, I think it might have to do with specific hardware combinations and some in-game settings.
At least on my pcs (which have always been mid-range gaming builds, so nothing fancy) it did run well enough.

The problem arises in comparison:
I agree that NWN2 was the first 3D party-RPG that could visually compete at least with the IE games (if not with ToEE) as long as you played zoomed out. But what kind of computer do you need to run BG2 "well enough" and what for NWN2. Add to that that there were far better looking 3D games that were less demanding.

 

[Grunker]

I agree that NWN2 was the first 3D party-RPG that could visually compete at least with the IE games

Not even close, I'm afraid.

Regardless, I don't get this project at all either.

 

[Mozgoëbstvo]

You leave Sand out of this.

Wherein it was decided to make a smart-mouthed man instead of a smart-mouthed bitch. Succesfully, I might add.
Where did the time go?
*sigh*

 

[Pope Amole II]

With combat tactics dumbed down, the focus is placed squarely on the strategic, character building aspects of the game.

First, while there is no grapples/bull rushes/etc., there still are fighters with activated abilities and limited spellcasting (more than in 2) so they are not as limited as in 2 ed.
Second, if a system is broken that doesn't mean you should get rid of it altogether. If you think that multiclass is broken (btw, it was as broken in 2e games if you knew when to multiclass), just don't multiclass as hell, play with pure classes with 1 prestige class or something like that. Sorry, but the availability of feats and prestige classes (and also races having deeper impact on your build) makes 3.5e much more strategic than 2.

Except that fighters are completely superseded by battle clerics.

And that's why I've said that they still sucked in my post. Besides, it was pretty much the same in 2e, so your point is?..