Icewind Dale The Icewind Dale Series Thread

[Kevlor]

Absolute legend. I found this post:

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/icewind-dale-i-icewind-dale-ii-mod-thread.91645/post-4898445

But now I want it for the dialog box too... might delve into how to do that later... could there be a modding guide for the widescreen mod perchance?

 

[Kevlor]

Well I found how... guess it's just a matter of editing the images... I will try to mirror the pattern symmetrically across the y axis to see if it looks better... thank you for the pointer!

 

[Melcar]

I don't think there was a GUI mod/fix for the original IWD, only for IWDII (which sort of worked).

 

[Kevlor]

Well I did something quick and dirty... the community has made some great tools... if I do something more involved I will be sure to post the files here.

 

[Taim]

I don't think there was a GUI mod/fix for the original IWD, only for IWDII (which sort of worked).

ghostdog didn't you make a UI mod for this?

 

[ghostdog]

I don't think there was a GUI mod/fix for the original IWD, only for IWDII (which sort of worked).

ghostdog didn't you make a UI mod for this?

Yeah, I did a 1280x720 UI Fix for the widescreen mod

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/icewind-dale-i-icewind-dale-ii-mod-thread.91645/post-4898445

 

[agris]

Hi I am new, I am running the original game from gog with the widescreen mod at 1280 x 720(2x integer scaling for 1440p res), it looks great except for the UI on the sides seems to be repeating and looks ugly, is there a way to make it look nicer? Thanks!

That doesn’t look right, it looks like you’re playing in straight 2560x1440 not the 1280 variant. If you get 1280 working correctly the font will be larger and UI tiling diminished

 

[Kevlor]

Hmm I didn't install the font enlarger because I can read it just fine on my monitor... actual 1440p just turns the game into SimAnts.

Also thanks ghostdog I can finally play the game without getting distracted by OCD lol. 720p with integer scaling is the perfect resolution for playing these games in 1440p or 4k screens. O.O

 

[Melcar]

Hmm I didn't install the font enlarger because I can read it just fine on my monitor... actual 1440p just turns the game into SimAnts.

Also thanks ghostdog I can finally play the game without getting distracted by OCD lol. 720p with integer scaling is the perfect resolution for playing these games in 1440p or 4k screens. O.O

It is. That's how I play nearly all my 2D pixel games from those days. FO, FO2, FOT, Arcanum, ToEE, IWDII. Recently uninstalled BGEE and BGIIEE and reinstalled the originals (no mods aside fixes) and that's how I play them too. IWDEE I still have because fuck game balance. Some of the BGII kits are rather fun to play.

 

[Kevlor]

Yup, there was a weird time when resolutions got ever higher and the addition of widescreen made it a bit confusing what was the best way to run the games but now resolutions got so high you can run the games at 2x scale and with integer scaling available at the driver level they look better than ever. I am just running the fixpack too and it's taken me back to 2000. Just need to experiment with other wrappers... the one that comes with the gog version makes scrolling kinda wonky but no big deal. Also wanted to line up all the UI elements and make it look nicer but the game is so good I can't put it down for now lol. Also forgot how hard and strategic it was. Had a blast killing Yxunomei!

 

[Konjad]

I tried to replay it recently, but it's such a borefest. I quit after over 5 hours in.

The game is focused on combat and treats the rest as a mere background. Not many dialogs or quests. Audiovisuals are great, and music is worth to listen even outside the game. However, the boring, repetitive and mostly unchallenging combat makes Icewind Dale a dull waste of time. Perhaps if it wasn't so linear, had less trash mobs and allowed more exploration it could be better, but it's not. You just follow long corridors to kill more trash mobs and once in a while a boss. Aesthetics cannot save it. It's a cheap and quickly made game to raise some money on the Baldur's Gate's engine before releasing BG's sequel and it lets you know about it every minute of the gameplay. I'm surprised back in the day I had enough patience to finish both Icewind Dales, although I remember being bored plenty of time. As an adult even some nostalgia can't hold me on.

 

[Butter]

I tried to replay it recently, but it's such a borefest. I quit after over 5 hours in.

The game is focused on combat and treats the rest as a mere background. Not many dialogs or quests. Audiovisuals are great, and music is worth to listen even outside the game. However, the boring, repetitive and mostly unchallenging combat makes Icewind Dale a dull waste of time. Perhaps if it wasn't so linear, had less trash mobs and allowed more exploration it could be better, but it's not. You just follow long corridors to kill more trash mobs and once in a while a boss. Aesthetics cannot save it. It's a cheap and quickly made game to raise some money on the Baldur's Gate's engine before releasing BG's sequel and it lets you know about it every minute of the gameplay. I'm surprised back in the day I had enough patience to finish both Icewind Dales, although I remember being bored plenty of time. As an adult even some nostalgia can't hold me on.

Roll a 3-man party.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Not many dialogues? Not that it would matter, since it's a crpg after all, but there's plenty of them, they're much better written than BG and they have stat/class checks that are very satisfying.

And for difficulty, go to the add-on undead island, particularly when underleveled.

The hated and dreaded EE also has ways to make the game extra difficult (or extra easy).

 

[Konjad]

I tried to replay it recently, but it's such a borefest. I quit after over 5 hours in.

The game is focused on combat and treats the rest as a mere background. Not many dialogs or quests. Audiovisuals are great, and music is worth to listen even outside the game. However, the boring, repetitive and mostly unchallenging combat makes Icewind Dale a dull waste of time. Perhaps if it wasn't so linear, had less trash mobs and allowed more exploration it could be better, but it's not. You just follow long corridors to kill more trash mobs and once in a while a boss. Aesthetics cannot save it. It's a cheap and quickly made game to raise some money on the Baldur's Gate's engine before releasing BG's sequel and it lets you know about it every minute of the gameplay. I'm surprised back in the day I had enough patience to finish both Icewind Dales, although I remember being bored plenty of time. As an adult even some nostalgia can't hold me on.

Roll a 3-man party.

Sorry, I'm not into threesomes.

 

[Konjad]

Not many dialogues? Not that it would matter, since it's a crpg after all, but there's plenty of them, they're much better written than BG and they have stat/class checks that are very satisfying.

I think that's more the case with the sequel, but the first game doesn't have many.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

Both the base game and the add-on have just the right amount to make them feel cool and satisfying and they always actually do something (another long lost art that modern games can't grasp). First two towns have them, first big dungeon has them, second big dungeon has them, add-on town has multiple right away and so on.

 

[Eirinjas]

I am curious. Has anyone played both the Enhanced Edition (EE) and the Special Edition (SE) mods for Icewind Dale II, and if so, how do they compare? Which is better? The SE file is 5x larger and the features sound interesting, but EE is "officially" promoted by Beamdog.

 

[cretin]

I am curious. Has anyone played both the Enhanced Edition (EE) and the Special Edition (SE) mods for Icewind Dale II, and if so, how do they compare? Which is better? The SE file is 5x larger and the features sound interesting, but EE is "officially" promoted by Beamdog.

I cant speak to "special edition". On the other hand I've played IWD2EE and even posted some screens a while back in this thread I think, and I consider it to be very good to the point where I feel it makes IWD2 feel like a finished game instead of the half-baked one vanilla is. I think its commendable how they managed to implement features of 3.5e that for years people were insisting were left undone and not possible in infinity engine games because "engine limitations" - clearly now that was never the case. For example, AoOs work (and are implemented in a clever way that avoids the AI just eating shit all the time), grappling works, trips work and so on.

 

[Melcar]

Those are done? May have to check them out. How is the widescreen support on them?

 

[Eirinjas]

Those are done? May have to check them out. How is the widescreen support on them?

I know you have to use a separate widescreen mod for SE. I am not sure about EE.

 

[Brancaleone]

Hmm I didn't install the font enlarger because I can read it just fine on my monitor... actual 1440p just turns the game into SimAnts.

Also thanks ghostdog I can finally play the game without getting distracted by OCD lol. 720p with integer scaling is the perfect resolution for playing these games in 1440p or 4k screens. O.O

It is. That's how I play nearly all my 2D pixel games from those days. FO, FO2, FOT, Arcanum, ToEE, IWDII. Recently uninstalled BGEE and BGIIEE and reinstalled the originals (no mods aside fixes) and that's how I play them too. IWDEE I still have because fuck game balance. Some of the BGII kits are rather fun to play.

I do the same (with Integer Scaler, specifically): use widescreed to set the resolution as exactly one quarter of my screen (960x540) and then 2x.

My problem now is with IWDEE: since Davide Wallace made his Sword Cost Stratagems work with IWDEE only (not with IWD), I'm trying to do the same with it.

Problem is, even if you dsable the filters, the picture is still fuzzy/blurred/smudged. Does enybody have any idea of how remove ALL scaling/filtering from the EE games?

 

[Average Manatee]

Have you checked the option that locks the zoom level to 1:1?

 

[Brancaleone]

Have you checked the option that locks the zoom level to 1:1?

Yes, but it still smudges things, it's very easy to notice it from the green circles under the party members.

 

[cretin]

Have you checked the option that locks the zoom level to 1:1?

Yes, but it still smudges things, it's very easy to notice it from the green circles under the party members.

Best you can do is use the alternate renderer. Unfortunately smudge is built in.

 

[KainenMorden]

Not many dialogues? Not that it would matter, since it's a crpg after all, but there's plenty of them, they're much better written than BG and they have stat/class checks that are very satisfying.

And for difficulty, go to the add-on undead island, particularly when underleveled.

The hated and dreaded EE also has ways to make the game extra difficult (or extra easy).

Saying IWD doesn't have many dialogues is like saying PST didn't have much combat. Revisionist history. Personally, I enjoyed the dialogues of IWD quite a bit, not sure if they're better than BG but they're definitely not worse than BG.


EE can make it harder? How? I did a run on EE 5+ years ago and remember that it just shouldn't be played that way though you could avoid many of the things that the game was not balanced for that EE introduced. I think EE has a new difficulty setting?

I believe the EE has its own version of SCS now but it is in the early stages of development and reportedly buggy so I haven't tried it.