Any IWD devs still about?

[CamDawg]

Hello. I'm CamDawg, and I've recently been working on a project for Icewind Dale called Unfinished Business, that aims to restore original content that ended up being cut or dropped before the game shipped. Mainly this means trolling through game files and the strings looking for cut content. I've heard some of the old IWD devs are here, so I'm hoping to ask them if there's anything else to be restored. So far, I've found and restored:

 

• The Voice of Durdel Anatha
  
• Malavon's Golems
  
• Marketh's Ring
  
• Expanded Guello/Beorn Quest
  
• Presio's Duel
  
• Orrick's Rhino Beetle Shield
  

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Big Bottom]

Hey Cam, wasn't there some intricate quest to do with elves and dwarves that got cut?

[CoM_Solaufein]

JE Sawyer would be your best bet here.

[CamDawg]

Hey Cam, wasn't there some intricate quest to do with elves and dwarves that got cut?

Beyond all the existing stuff? The Voice quest ties in a bit with the elf-dwarf conflict, but if there is something more I haven't found it yet.

 

JE Sawyer would be your best bet here.

Cheers.

[J.E. Sawyer]

Hmm. I'm pretty sure that covers all of my cut content. I can't remember any of the content that other designers cut. Durdel Anatha

was the dwarven name for all of Lower Dorn's Deep, but was usually used to refer to the first section of it, containing the watchtower. The Voice was intended to appear in that area, in the garden, in the artisan's district, and in the forge area. He was supposed to appear on a timer, each appearance coinciding with the ringing of a bell (I can't remember where the bell was supposed to be... possibly in the palace with Marketh/Ginafae). His appearance with the corrupted priests was only supposed to coincide with the party's (old, cut) conversation with Harken. The rewards for the quest were items from the priestess of Ilmater in Kuldahar, but that's a bit of a hike for that late in the game.

[CamDawg]

Very cool; thanks for the response.

 

Hmm. I'm pretty sure that covers all of my cut content. I can't remember any of the content that other designers cut. Durdel Anatha

was the dwarven name for all of Lower Dorn's Deep, but was usually used to refer to the first section of it, containing the watchtower. The Voice was intended to appear in that area, in the garden, in the artisan's district, and in the forge area. He was supposed to appear on a timer, each appearance coinciding with the ringing of a bell (I can't remember where the bell was supposed to be... possibly in the palace with Marketh/Ginafae). His appearance with the corrupted priests was only supposed to coincide with the party's (old, cut) conversation with Harken. The rewards for the quest were items from the priestess of Ilmater in Kuldahar, but that's a bit of a hike for that late in the game.

 

 

There's a bell in Marketh's palace, yeah. So it would ring every so often, and that would move the Voice about the areas? The journal entry suggests the first appearance should be in the watchtower area, though disabuse me of that notion if it's wrong. Was there any tie-in with Pale Justice and the body in the Artisan's district?

 

The Harken stuff was restored, and the Ilmater rewards were already there (they just needed the Voice's Bones to appear as dialogue options).

 

[damonors]

Make sure you add that every time the voice appears, he gives you a returning frost dart.

[ramza]

Make sure you add that every time the voice appears, he gives you a returning frost dart.

 

Shouldn't everyone already have 3 or 4 of these at this point of the game?

[GreasyDogMeat]

Sounds very cool!

 

I loved the restoration projects for Baldur's Gate 2 and some of the restored minor quests for Planescape Torment. This would give me another excuse to replay the Icewind Dale saga so thats a big plus.

[Big Bottom]

Make sure you add that every time the voice appears, he gives you a returning frost dart.

 

Hur hur hur.

[Qwerty the Sir]

This is very interesting. Icewind Dale is my favorite game so please keep us informed about this mod and thanks so much for taking the time to finish it up. :D

[CamDawg]

Returning Frost Dart... I can spot a forum inside joke when I see one.

 

I loved the restoration projects for Baldur's Gate 2 and some of the restored minor quests for Planescape Torment. This would give me another excuse to replay the Icewind Dale saga so thats a big plus.

I worked on both the BG and BG2 Unfinished Business mods, which is what gave me the idea for the IWD one. To entice you further, allow me to pimp my other two IWD mods: Tweaks and Item Upgrade.

[GreasyDogMeat]

About two or so years ago I took an 'epic journey' through the entire series of Infinity Engine games an their expansions with the various tweak and enhancement packs, and I'm getting to a point where I wouldn't mind taking that journey again.

 

I really love how you can choose what specific tweaks you want and none of them are forced. Playing the game that introduced me to D&D, Baldur's Gate 1, with Tutu and the tweak packs was especially awesome!

[Dark_Raven]

This idea sounds familiar.

[Shryke]

Sawyer deserves a cookie

[J.E. Sawyer]

Was there any tie-in with Pale Justice and the body in the Artisan's district?

I don't believe so, but there certainly could be.

[CamDawg]

Was there any tie-in with Pale Justice and the body in the Artisan's district?

I don't believe so, but there certainly could be.

Cheers. You've given me more than enough info to know I've got to recode most of what I've done. Thanks for the help, and thanks for a great game.

[Gromnir]

you know, the sad thing is that iwd were probably the best game josh has been part of as a developer & contributor. the streamlined and quick development o

[Zoma]

JE's Aliens game seems to be at "good"prospect so far.

Edited February 27, 2008 by Zoma

[Gromnir]

JE's Aliens game seems to be at "good"prospect so far.

 

can hope... otherwise we start calling josh by a different name: jonah.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Musopticon?]

Good to see that member-dev-relations are steady. Some recent...goings got me worried that we'd scare everyone away.

 

Now, I'm sorry to evolve this thread further, but since this about IWD, I guess I could post it here anyway:

 

The game was recently offered to me by a friend, and, with deadlines allowing, I'll plan to make my first playthrough two weeks from now on, finally. In any case, my question is the oldest one; viable party composition. I've played through the sequel with a four person party and undoubtedly am aware of intricacies in the D&D system. However, this is not 3rd edition yet. So, with that in mind, is the following a party that can survive through the main game +expansions?

 

Hum. Fighter/dualed Mage(6 levels of fighter and then dual), great swords, fireball frenzy

Elv. multiclass Fighter/Thief, bows, swords, occasional thievery

H-Elv. Druid, shapechange, support caster/healer

Gno. multiclass Cleric/Illusionist, buffer, main healer, magic machine

 

I was thinking a bard at first, mainly because I loved using one in IWD 2, but I want a druid a long and desperately need a real healer instead of some sad excuse for thief/mage with a lute. Another I'd like to use is a paladin, but every party of mine in IWD 2 had one, so I'm not so interested. Sure, I'm gonna miss the auras and tanking, but(from what I heard) a unique weapon and some unique dialogue doesn't really sway me.

Edited February 27, 2008 by Musopticon?

[Kelverin]

In many ways my favorite game.

 

I would go with a 6 person party, the game is meant to be played that way, and the encounters get to be too easy with a 1

[Qwerty the Sir]

I will probably and hopefully give the game another run in the summer. I've played through the game 3 times now and I go with a core of:

 

Human Paladin - Leader with the funny "Fighter 5" voice. I spend by far the most time rolling his stats to get high Strength, Constitution, Charisma, and moderate Wisdom and Dexterity. My 1b tank. Always put proficiencies in large swords in order to

use the best weapon in the game (at least non-expansion).

 

 

Dwarf Fighter - Max out Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. The main tank.

 

Human Mage - Sometimes I've tried some specialist schools (make sure to check which spells they are prohibited). Max out Intelligence, Constitution, Dexterity, and if you can, Strength.

 

Beyond that I mix it up a bit, sometimes going with Thieves, Clerics as well as Bards and Druids, although now I really do understand the importance of Thieves in the game. Find Traps is really important in some areas and Pick Pocket can nab you great stuff,

especially in Kuldahar

, while I'm kinda less impressed with Clerics now as you can rest pretty easily.

 

Pretty much, depending on your style, you'll want a core of 3 warriors and 1 spellcaster or 2 warriors and 2 spellcasters with the supporting classes filling in as needed.

 

I really thought the story of this game was underrated (my favorite story), and my one wish for this game is that it would have been more detailed. You can still have a lot of fun by skimming, but if the story interests you, it's worth your while reading carefully.

[Kulyok]

For those of you who prefer NPCs a-la BG2("walking, talking, living, loving puppet, and I love you" - no, seriously, with banters, interjections, romances and other stuff), Icewind Dale NPCs project is in development at Pocket Plane Group, another Infinity Engine modding community. So, if you are willing to wait for a few weeks, I recommend you to do so.

[Nick_i_am]

Ranger, Cleric, Druid, Bard, Wizard, Theif was good fun, screw fighters.