Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Q&A

Interplay and Black Isle recently announced the development of Heart of Winter, the official expansion pack to the company's successful role-playing game, Icewind Dale. For players who've finished Icewind Dale, Heart of Winter will take place immediately after the events of the original game. For those who haven't had the opportunity to complete Icewind Dale, the expansion pack will let you start roughly midway through, at the town of Kuldahar. The developers at Black Isle are planning to include up to 40 new items, 60 magic spells, and up to 20 enemy characters into Heart of Winter. And aside from offering additional quests and playtime to fans of the original game, Heart of Winter will also incorporate a number of improvements to the aging Infinity engine like higher resolution modes; improved 3D support under OpenGL; and an optimized multiplayer component for lag-free sessions over LAN and Internet connections. Black Isle's Josh Sawyer, designer on the Heart of Winter project, took time to sit down with us and answer a few questions about the upcoming expansion pack.

GameSpot: When did you decide to develop Heart of Winter? Was the decision made in light of Icewind Dale's commercial success? If not, did you at some point decide to cut the original game short to leave room for the expansion?

Josh Sawyer: We talked about doing an expansion when the [Icewind Dale] project started to wrap up. It wasn't until a few weeks after the game shipped that we actually decided to start working on Heart of Winter. We made the decision based on the commercial success of Icewind Dale and a personal desire to expand the game in terms of content and core features. We didn't cut the game short for the expansion, though. Anything that was taken out toward the end of development has been left out. The expansion is entirely new material.

GS: Heart of Winter will incorporate some of the technological advances that first appeared in Baldur's Gate II, such as support for higher resolutions. Will you be borrowing any other elements from BioWare's game like the ability to wield two weapons at once or use the difficulty slider?

JS: As much as I'd really like to give you a full rundown on everything we're trying to get implemented, I don't want to promise anything right now. Let's just say that we're working on including some of BioWare's improvements as well as our own. We're hoping to give several of the classes an overhaul in terms of special abilities, but our scheduling will determine how much of that we can accomplish.

GS: The expansion takes place after the events of Icewind Dale, right? Will the story comprise a new set of chapters, with all new cinematics as in the original game?

JS: Actually, the expansion takes place as a result of the early story of Icewind Dale. You can enter it from Kuldahar or simply move to it after the end of the core game. The expansion is a fully developed ministory on its own and will feature new cinematic sequences and narration.

GS: So does that mean that players will be able to transfer their original Icewind Dale characters to Heart of Winter?

JS: Certainly. You can access the expansion from within the game by beating the core game or through an individual in Kuldahar, or you can simply start an expansion game and import your favorite characters.

GS: Icewind Dale's plot progression was mostly linear, and dialogue with nonplayer characters was relatively scarce. Will the majority of Heart of Winter also be action sequences?

JS: Yes, Heart of Winter will continue in the same vein as Icewind Dale. Dialogue will be relatively uncommon, but will still retain the quality of writing that people expect out of Black Isle games. We figure that anyone who liked Icewind Dale enough to want an expansion wants to see the same core design principles carried through.

GS: Well then how do you think players who've finished both Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate II respond to Heart of Winter, since the expansion seems to feature a similar level of challenges? Do you think these players will still want more 2nd Edition AD&D so soon after Baldur's Gate II?

JS: I think that people will enjoy it. The number of improvements that we are making will not only make the expansion a great deal of fun, but the core game will be more interesting and exciting as well. I believe there's a level of familiarity with 2nd Edition AD&D that many gamers appreciate. We might make a few changes to "hybridize" some of the classes between 2nd Edition and 3rd Edition, but the rules will essentially be 2nd Edition.

GS: So you won't incorporate any 3rd Edition rules into Heart of Winter? Not even some of the newer classes?

JS: We will not be including any new races or classes, but we may attempt to incorporate a few 3rd Edition-class features into the existing 2nd Edition rule set. There are a number of classes that people complained about in the core game, and we hope to make them more balanced and useful in the expansion. Don't worry, though. Most, if not all, of the changes we make will be positive. We're trying to build up weaker characters instead of knocking tough characters down or "nerfing" them.

GS: What new monsters will we see? Any chance of a white dragon?

JS: There will be a number of new monsters in the expansion. The barbarians will be the most common new foes, with character models for their warriors as well as their shamans. There are also several new types of undead: wailing virgins, drowned dead, and barrow wights. They are featured in the middle of the expansion. In the later areas, you can expect to face powerful polar worms, evil aquatic denizens, and other nasty beasts. There is certainly a possibility of seeing a white dragon in the expansion, but we can't spoil everything.

GS: What about other characters? What NPCs and villains will we see in Heart of Winter?

JS: Sorry, I don't want to spoil it. I guess I can let the following slip without giving away too much:

A barbarian shaman, an ancient blind seer, and the spirit of a long-dead queen of the north walk into a bar...

GS: Interesting... And what will be the experience and level cap for the expansion?

JS: The tentative XP cap is 2,900,000. This allows characters to reach 17th-23rd level, depending on class. This might change in the near future, though.

GS: Will you be developing Icewind Dale as a franchise, like Baldur's Gate?

JS: I honestly don't know. I think it remains to be seen how successful the core game and expansion are in the long run. Icewind Dale sold well for its development costs, but it wasn't a runaway smash hit. I believe the success or failure of the expansion will help determine whether or not sequels would be a worthwhile endeavor.

GS: When do you expect Heart of Winter to release?

JS:This winter 2000/2001.

GS: Thanks, Josh.