Icewind Dale II - Development

Development

During summer 2001, Black Isle Studios employed three development teams. These included the Icewind Dale team, the team developing Torn, and a team working on an unannounced project. Before and during Torn's development, several members of its team expressed interest in developing another game using the Infinity Engine. The development team was not made aware of Black Isle Studios' decision to develop Icewind Dale II until Torn's cancellation. Lead designer J. E. Sawyer described, "I don't know when the producers decided to make the game, but I was told that we were making the game when I learned that TORN was being cancelled ... on a Wednesday afternoon", and that Feargus Urquhart "asked me to work with Steve Bokkes to create a story and area overview by Thursday afternoon. Steve and I talked about it for the rest of the day. I went home that night and worked on the overviews until the next day. I came in and turned the docs in, and after the Friday division meeting, the project was in development." During this period, Interplay Entertainment relied on Black Isle Studios' games to alleviate financial trouble, which put pressure to release games quickly. The decision to develop Icewind Dale II was based partly on the original Icewind Dale's reception, and the development teams' ability to create a game with the Infinity Engine relatively quickly. Sawyer said of the decision, "In all honesty, the reasons for making Icewind Dale II have to do with limiting risks and maximizing our chances for a popular title." Conceptualization of Icewind Dale II progressed during the development of the Icewind Dale expansions, and production began late July 2001, shortly after the completion of Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster. After six months of development, Icewind Dale II was officially announced on February 4, 2002.

Icewind Dale II was originally planned to be an incomplete conversion to the D&D Third Edition ruleset, with many rules omitted. The kit system (class specialization) introduced in Baldur's Gate 2 was to be used, but this idea was later abandoned. Sawyer and several other members of the team pushed for the game's conversion to Third Edition. The development team was eventually granted an extension, which allowed them to complete the change to Third Edition rules. The Infinity Engine required extensive modification to comply with Third Edition rules, as it had originally been designed for Second Edition rules; certain elements of the rules were removed due to interface and engine issues. The game's interface was redesigned, and all-new art was created. It features new item icons, with new spell icons by Brian Menze; Menze had previously created Planescape: Torment's spell icons. Jason Manley, the portrait artist for the previous Icewind Dale games, left Black Isle Studios in late 2001; several new works he painted before his departure were later used in Icewind Dale II. Black Isle Studios artist Justin Sweet was asked to substitute. The game's resolution was increased to a minimum resolution of 800x600, with an unofficially supported maximum resolution of 2048x1536.

J. E. Sawyer managed rule implementation, but the areas of the game were divided between designers. For example, designer Chris Avellone created the opening sequence, designer Dave Maldonado developed the Black Raven Monastery and a large area of wilderness, and designers John Deiley and Damien Foletto created the ending areas. Partway through development, Sawyer left the team to work as the lead designer on another internal project; Dave Maldonado and Chris Avellone were given his areas to finish. The developers wanted the game to contain more breaks from combat, with character interaction and puzzle solving, than the previous Icewind Dale. The decision to include more puzzles was influenced by the positive reception to the puzzles in Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster.

The game went gold on August 5, 2002, and was released on August 27. After the release of Icewind Dale II, Sawyer expressed dissatisfaction over the Icewind Dale series, saying that, "I wasn't particularly thrilled with how my work on came out..." and, "... managed to actually be worse than my Icewind Dale stuff." In regards to Icewind Dale II he said, " came out better than I expected, but still, not exactly awe-inspiring." Chris Avellone later said, "Icewind Dale was a fun series, but it didn't try to set the bar for anything other than a fun romp. People may remember enjoying it, but it wasn’t trying to break any new ground or do anything revolutionary. In some respects, it was almost a step back from other games we'd done and focused more on exploration and dungeon crawls." A Collector's Edition containing bonus material, such as a full-color cloth map and soundtrack CD, was also released. Icewind Dale II was the final game developed using the Infinity Engine.