Icewind Dale II - Gameplay

Gameplay

Icewind Dale II is a real-time adaptation of the D&D Third Edition ruleset. The game is viewed from an isometric perspective, and a head-up display (HUD) occupies the bottom of the screen. Accessible from the HUD are an automap and a journal that records quests and important events. The player uses a point-and-click interface to interact with the game; for example, clicking on the ground moves the selected player character, and clicking on a passive non-player character (NPC) will initiate dialogue. When conversations occur, the game presents multiple dialogue options. The game world is separated into area maps—obscured by fog of war—that are revealed as the area is explored. A multiplayer mode is available for up to six players over a local area network or the Internet. The "Heart of Fury" mode is also available, which increases the game's difficulty and contains more powerful items. The game features over seven hundred items; the designers included a system that randomizes the items the player obtains from enemies.

When beginning the game, the player may choose to play a pre-selected party, or to create a party of up to six characters. While creating characters, the player chooses their gender, race, class, alignment, and attributes, among other things. The player can sometimes choose a subvariety of a race or class, such as Deep Gnome or Cleric of Ilmater. Race, alignment, and attributes affect the player character's available dialogue options, as well as NPC responses. For example, some NPCs will be prejudiced against certain races, or a character of low intelligence will have limited dialogue options. Some sub-races in the game are significantly more powerful than the core races present in AD&D Third Edition; these sub-races must earn more experience points than others before leveling up. Characters can reach a maximum level of thirty.

Icewind Dale II's gameplay is focused on combat. The combat system is a real-time adaptation of the turn-based system used in D&D Third Edition, which caused the developers to remove certain aspects, such as "attacks of opportunity". Die rolls are simulated by the game. In place of the turn-based rounds used in D&D, characters have independent rounds, during which they may execute one or more actions, depending on such factors as the duration of the action. The player can pause the game and issue orders to characters at any time. Each character can carry a limited amount of items.