Icewind Dale 2

[Michael Rabattino]

<img src="http://icewind2.blackisle.com/images/screens/15b.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://icewind2.blackisle.com/images/screens/16b.jpg" alt="" />
Nice.

And the Collector's Edition will contain: "a spiral bound manual, full color cloth map, four high quality character cards, a Bonus disc, Ice Dice, a spiffy Black Isle Studios notepad and even Icewind Dale and Black Isle Studios stickers!"

[Michael Rabattino]

Bump.

Come on, I know there are plenty of chewers who share my enthusiasm for this title!

[Jacob Singer]

I'm all over it, Verbs. Morrowind this week has me pretty stoked as well.

[Richard Dickson]

The new character creation looks really neat. I may have to trot out the original and take another party through it so I can bring them into the new one.

[Subotai]

So we'll be able to use original party members? Sweet...

[Richard Dickson]

I assume so, Subotai, since you were able to in Baldur's Gate 2 and the Heart of Winter expansion for Icewind Dale.

[Michael Rabattino]

The new "feats" system is gonna add a lot of depth, I can't wait..

[Michael Rabattino]

New screenies:
<img src="http://icewind2.blackisle.com/images/screens/18b.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://icewind2.blackisle.com/images/screens/20b.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://icewind2.blackisle.com/images/screens/19b.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://icewind2.blackisle.com/images/screens/21b.jpg" alt="" />
<img src="http://icewind2.blackisle.com/images/screens/17b.jpg" alt="" />

The new spell icons are drool-worthy..

[Michael Rabattino]

Subotai:
So we'll be able to use original party members? Sweet...I don't know why I didn't answer this a week ago, but the answer is no.

The game takes place a full generation (or 2) after the first game, so your characters are long-gone.

[Michael Rabattino]

Oh, and just for sheer terror,

A Hook Horror
<img src="http://www.blackisle.com/images/hook.gif" alt="" />

Look at him tear up the message board!

[Michael Rabattino]

Bump.

Awww come on, no one likes the hook horror??

[Kevin Matchstick]

Just when I think I'm out...

[voltes5]

So many games, so little time. Screw the One who invented sleep! :p

[Joram Manka]

With this game and NeverWinter Nights it's going to be an RPG year!

Cheers!
Joram

[Michael Rabattino]

Go <a href="http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=322" target="_blank">here</a> for 3 great IWD2 Mp3's!

[Michael Rabattino]

Bump.

Go listen to those MP3's. The second one is the BEST. Hell, they're all great.

[Hollow_Point_Massacre]

Verbal Kint Fears Yoda:
Bump.

Go listen to those MP3's. The second one is the BEST. Hell, they're all great.Damn, you were right. Those are pretty cool. I'm not one to care about video game music too much, but I am bored shitless so I gave it a try. GREAT STUFF.

[voltes5]

Verbal Kint Fears Yoda:
Go listen to those MP3's. The second one is the BEST. Hell, they're all great.Wow. So far I've listened to the second one, and it's given me goosebumps. Man, I'm seeing epic images in me mind.....

[Michael Rabattino]

That's what I like to hear, guys. I'm so glad there are those who share my enthusiasm.

[Subotai]

Anyone got a hold of this yet? More of the same sweet stuff?

[Richard Dickson]

It just went gold, should be out the beginning of September.

[Michael Rabattino]

Hopefully my worthless soul will have gotten a job by then, because if it came out say tomorrow I wouldn't be getting it.

[Michael Rabattino]

Coming out this week, folks.

Although I face a bit of a dilemma...I won't be starting at GameStop until late September so I have no money. I can still get one game, however, as I will pay my Mom back. It will be either this or Super Mario Sunshine. Such a hard damn choice...on the one hand, i've never missed buying a Black Isle RPG the week its released since Baldur's Gate and not getting it would break that trend. On the other hand.....it's friggin' Mario.

Choices, choices, choices.....

[Richard Dickson]

Cleaning grafitti.

Fireball.

The choice is easy, my friend.

[Kevin Matchstick]

Yeah, it is.

Mario.

[Michael Rabattino]

Know what else factors into the decision?

A party of Frodo, Arwen, Gimli, Legolas, Aragorn, and Gandalf....

Could even throw Sam in there....

I'll let you know what I do.

[Jacob Singer]

Give me a dark, dank dungeon with bloodthirsty monsters over jumping on sunshiney platforms any day of the week.

[Michael Rabattino]

It looks i'll be getting both, only because my Mom knows I will pay her back and that she knows where I live... wink

[Richard Dickson]

HAVE.

And Carnage Incorporated is together again:

Brannon Highwater, human paladin
Hurok Stonecleaver, dwarf fighter
Finwyck Culliver, halfling thief
Jander Ryll, half-elf ranger
Athernon, human sorceror
Brilla Valhau, human cleric

Bring on the goblins!!!

[Big Black]

How is it Poxy?

[Richard Dickson]

I'm a sacrifice-offering disciple of anything Bioware/Black Isle puts to disc, so my opinion is highly biased, but so far, it's everything we've come to expect from the Baldur's Gate engine games. I'm not too far in (work and preparing for a live NFL fantasy draft this weekend), but the intro is gorgeous, a story accompanied by pages turning a journal. Very nicely done. And the interface was always easy to use, and it's easy to slip right back into.

[Jacob Singer]

Picked it up too. Haven't started it yet. Man, between movies, games and books, I've managed to waste an enormous amount of time this summer...

[voltes5]

Jacob, don't you wish you were 13 right now? Kids today are so lucky. I used to think "Pong" was the bomb (how's my use of "the bomb" young 'uns?).

[Michael Rabattino]

I pre-ordered the game on Tuesday on a whim so I could get the collector's edition but lo and behold they are shipping that last (I think it's been shipped) but I won't have it till like next week, which sucks...but i've got Mario to hold me over.

Until then, I can't wait....and i'm gonna make a Fellowship of the Ring party.... wink

[Michael Rabattino]

Damn, Interplay sucks.

If you did Next-day delivery on your pre-order of the Collector's Edition no matter WHEN you ordered it, you're getting it next Wednesday.

And if you did 3-day or anything worse than next-day, you're getting it next Friday.

Is this not the most ridiculous thing ever?

I want the CE but i'm so tempted to just cancel the order and hope the CE will be in stores by tomorrow or Saturday....

[Michael Rabattino]

Ok, those who have played it-

Is it THAT good that I should cancel my pre-order for the CE and run out and get this in a small-ass box? And it comes with the adventure pack still, right?

[Michael Rabattino]

I cancelled the CE, i'm getting the game later today.

Fuck 'em...

[Michael Rabattino]

Made my party and for some reason I can't remember all their names but I will give a detailed rundown some other time.

I haven't done much but it's cool so far and it's got that "feel". Runs well, too. The music is TERRIFIC...it's Jeremy Soule again, right?

[Michael Rabattino]

Played it all afternoon, i'm really getting into it. Right now i'm in the Palisade doing those quests for Shawford, right on the edge of Chapter 1. Got measly stuff right now, Splint Mail for my guy and chain for my Drow. Just longswords and stuff. Oh yeah, here's my party as best as I can remember since I made some obscure names...I was gonna do the Fellowship of the Ring party I was thinking of but I got pissed that there was no good Frodo portrait so I said screw it...

Elswick Nashkel- The name I use no matter WHAT. Level 2 Human, Paladin of Helm

Darzan El'Bane- Level 2 Drow Ranger- I had to play a Drow just because of the cool voice.

Elmquad Shale- Level 2 Human Wizard- Eh, he's weak right now obviously and only has 2 spells but it's still really early in the game.

Clarena Devale- Level 2 Female Cleric (Silverstar kit)

Elvanna Desannae- Level 2 Half-Elf Druid- She's gonna be another Jaheira, i'll multi-class her to a Fighter.

Strazos- Level 2 Rogue- He's ok, but how the hell do you detect traps now? I'm confused....

And about 3rd Ed. rules....the higher the AC, the better? This is all new to me, first 3rd. Edition game i've really played.

The Feats are kinda cool, every one of my person has thieving abilities which is weird. Don't even know what I selected for that. My people can't Search real well yet but i'm sure that will come in handy.

Other than that i'm having a great time...it's really addictive- the time just flies when you are playing it like all the classic BIS games. I remember playing Fallout for the first time and the hours literally going by like minutes.

Where are you guys in the game? Probably further than me....

[Michael Rabattino]

Oh yeah, and he's a Human Rogue....i'm still trying to figure out what I was thinking when I made him.

[Michael Rabattino]

Come on, I know you guys are playing this. You're making me look like a post-whore..... wink

I'm on Chapter 1, about to head off for the Horde Fortress. It's been sorta difficult so far but it's addictive as hell. I've got some cool items....I was able to get Emma's Moonblade which is pretty neat, i've got my main guy using it. These boots that let you walk in an entangled area, a shield called Footman's Folly....some other cool stuff too. My people are getting pretty good also, they're about level 4 or 5 now, and I actually have a Wizard/Sorcerer. You could do it, just figured i'd try it....also made my Rogue a Necromancer too for some idiotic reason but he has no spells yet...could be cool in time, though.

Other than that I won't be playing again till Tuesday or so because of the 24 marathon but it's been awesome so far. Voltes, Poxy....where are you guys?

[voltes5]

I actually want to get the Collector's Edition and did not find it at Best Buy. I actually want to finish "The Thing" first (despite my negative thoughts on it) before playing with "Icewind Dale II." Still it's great to hear that you and Poxy dig the puppy. I can't wait to play it.

[Richard Dickson]

Still in Tampa, about 70 miles away from the game!

[Richard Dickson]

Okay, I've had some time to get into the game, and I am loving it!

First of all, the 3rd edition rules really give you a ton of variety when creating your characters. You get to choose the specific type for each race -- this means Tieflings are available for humans and Drow are available for elves, each with their own plusses and minuses. And for those who don't want to or don't feel comfortable making their own characters, the game goes one step better than having pre-made characters and offers pre-made parties, nicely themed and balanced for those who want to jump in right away.

The gameplay is classic Baldur's Gate and a breeze to get used to. And there are some great touches -- for instance, my party completed its first quest and returned to the man who gave it to us, only to have my Paladin of Helm refuse the gold reward he offered as it was "against the tenets of my faith." Needless to say, I make sure my paladin is not the leader when reporting back from quests!

Also, the game pokes fun at some of RPG conventions. Some NPCs you talk to complain about how the Captain of the Guard you do missions for in the Prologue does nothing but tell them to go pick up items and bring them back over and over, a nice dig at the FedEx quests common early on in many computer RPGs. And there's an orphan named Swift Thomas who knows short-cuts through the town so you can move faster as you zig-zag doing all these go-and-fetch quests (you ask him to take you somewhere and it automatically loads that area without you actually having to navigate there).

I'm having a blast -- the moment my wizard cast Sleep on a group of goblins followed by my thief tossing a Bottle of Fiery Burning on the group, I knew I'd be hoooked.

[Michael Rabattino]

Glad to hear it Poxy- MAN is this game fun. Classic gameplay all the way.

I'm plowing through the game, i'm on Chapter 3. My Paladin is 11. I'm having a hell of a time, but it's REALLY difficult. Rest a LOT between battles, that's the only way you're gonna survive.

And yeah, I was mad when my Paladin refused a monetary payment so I have other people claim rewards.

If you need a tip or anything or get stuck let me know.... wink

[Jacob Singer]

I've only just started it. After Morrowind, Neverwinter and now this, I may be on the verge of RPG burnout.

[Michael Rabattino]

Chapter 4 now. More and more i'm getting the urge to cheat.

I did twice already, just insta-killing a few things. Some areas have been damn near impossible, i'm sorry.....

[Michael Rabattino]

Want to listen to the soundtrack for every BIS game? I found out a way to convert acm files to wavs.

1. Go <a href="http://3ddownloads.com/?file_id=161266" target="_blank">here</a> to dld the acm2wav file. When you unzip it, place the 3 files that it contains in your IWD2 (or BG, or BG2, or whatever) install directory.

2. Go <a href="http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4/download.html" target="_blank">here</a> to download the JavaScript Runtime Environment 1.4. Once it's downloaded run the setup program and that's it.

3. Finally, go <a href="http://www.idi.ntnu.no/`joh/ni/NearInfinity.jar" target="_blank">here</a> to download Near Infinity, the program you use to listen to the files. Then, place that in your game install directory where you placed the acm2wav files.

Then, click on the Near Infinity icon. It should bring up a box prompting you to choose a destination to open from. Go to Black Isle/Icewind Dale 2/Chitin, and click Chitin. Once you open that the Near Infinity application comes up and on the left hand side find "MUS" and it should say 53 files or something like that. Double-click that folder and scroll down a little bit to find the song files, stuff like MX1100 and B1. Sometimes you have to experiment to make some of them play, but they ALL play.

Also, once you start listening to one you can stop it and the whole file appears in your game directory. Just move it to another folder if you want to keep it because Near Infinity will delete it when you click the next one. You can also convert them to mp3's but i'm not sure how.

Hope you can listen to the songs and my instructions don't leave you lost.... wink

[Michael Rabattino]

The Near Infinity link did not work.

Go <a href="http://www.idi.ntnu.no/~joh/ni/download.html" target="_blank">here</a> and click NearInfinity.jar at the top of the page and that should start the download.