Editing Icewind Dale II (section)

==Development==
During summer 2001, Black Isle Studios employed three development teams. These included the ''Icewind Dale'' team, the team developing ''[[Black Isle's Torn|Torn]]'', and a team working on an unannounced project.<ref name=gamespotinterview>{{cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/icewinddale2/news.html?sid=2844076&mode=previews&page=1/ | title=Icewind Dale II Q&A | date=February 4, 2002 | work=[[GameSpot]] | access-date=August 18, 2009}}</ref><ref name=dailyradar>{{cite web|last=Rice |first=Kevin |date=March 22, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010804152418/http://www.dailyradar.com/previews/game_preview_1382.html |archive-date=August 4, 2001 |url=http://www.dailyradar.com/previews/game_preview_1382.html |title=''Torn'' preview |work=[[Daily Radar]] |access-date=August 18, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Before and during ''Torn''{{'}}s development, several members of its team expressed interest in developing another game using the Infinity Engine.<ref name=rpgdotinterview /> The development team was not made aware of Black Isle Studios' decision to develop ''Icewind Dale II'' until ''Torn''{{'}}s cancellation.<ref name=rpgvaultinterview /> 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".<ref name = rpgvaultinterview/> During this period, [[Interplay Entertainment]] relied on Black Isle Studios' games to alleviate financial trouble, which put pressure to release games quickly.<ref name=gamespyinterview /> 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.<ref name=rpgdotinterview>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021012145714/http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=337 |url=http://www.rpgdot.com/index.php?hsaction=10053&ID=337 | date=June 11, 2002 | archive-date=October 12, 2002 | title=Icewind Dale II Interview | work=[[RPGDot]] | access-date=August 18, 2009}}</ref> 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".<ref name=rpgvaultinterview>{{cite web | url=http://rpgvaultarchive.ign.com/features/interviews/icewindii.shtml | date=February 4, 2002 | title=Icewind Dale II Interview | work=[[RPG Vault]] | author=Aihoshi, Richard | access-date=September 15, 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020831024940/http://rpgvaultarchive.ign.com/features/interviews/icewindii.shtml | archive-date=August 31, 2002 }}</ref> 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]]''.<ref name="gamespotinterview" /><ref name=developer3>{{cite web | url=http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/357/357318p1.html | title=Icewind Dale II Designer Diary #1 | date=February 15, 2002 | author=Maldonado, Dave | work=[[RPG Vault]] | access-date=August 18, 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091221003600/http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/357/357318p1.html | archive-date=December 21, 2009 }}</ref> After six months of development, ''Icewind Dale II'' was officially announced on February 4, 2002.<ref name=gamespotinterview /><ref name=pressreleases>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040409082019/http://icewind2.blackisle.com/press.html |url=http://icewind2.blackisle.com/press.html |archive-date=April 9, 2004 |title=Press Releases |access-date=September 15, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''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.<ref name=rpgvaultinterview /><ref name=rpgdotinterview /><ref name=developer4>{{cite web | url=http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/357/357328p1.html | title=Icewind Dale II Designer Diary #3 | author=Maldonado, Dave | date=March 15, 2002 | work=[[RPG Vault]] | access-date=August 23, 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205231644/http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/357/357328p1.html | archive-date=December 5, 2006 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=rpgdotinterview /> 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.<ref name=igninterview /><ref name=gamezoneinterview>{{cite web|url=http://www.gamezone.com/news/09_19_02_01_16PM.htm/ |title=Journey into the world of Icewind Dale II with Josh Sawyer |author=Lafferty, Michael |date=September 19, 2002 |work=GameZone |access-date=August 23, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090610062724/http://www.gamezone.com/news/09_19_02_01_16PM.htm |archive-date=June 10, 2009 }}</ref><ref name=rpgdotinterview /> The game's interface was redesigned, and all-new art was created.<ref name=gamezoneinterview /><ref name=developer4 /> It features new item icons, with new spell icons by Brian Menze; Menze had previously created ''Planescape: Torment''{{'}}s spell icons.<ref name=spinterview>{{cite web | url=http://www.sorcerers.net/Main/Articles/iwd2_interview.php | title=Icewind Dale 2 Interview with Doug Avery | date=April 4, 2002 | work=[[Sorcerer's Place]] | access-date=August 24, 2009}}</ref> 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.<ref name=gamespyinterview /> The game's resolution was increased to a minimum resolution of 800x600, with an unofficially supported maximum resolution of 2048x1536.<ref name=manual />

J. E. Sawyer managed rule implementation,<ref name=developer3 /> but the areas of the game were divided between designers.<ref name=rpgvaultinterview /> 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.<ref name=developer3 /><ref name=developer5>{{cite web | url=http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/357/357333p1.html | title=Icewind Dale II Designer Diary #5 | date=April 12, 2002 | author=Deiley, John | work=[[RPG Vault]] | access-date=August 24, 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090804100426/http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/357/357333p1.html | archive-date=August 4, 2009 }}</ref> 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.<ref name=rpgvaultinterview /> The developers wanted the game to contain more breaks from combat, with character interaction and puzzle solving, than the previous ''Icewind Dale''.<ref name=developer3 /> The decision to include more puzzles was influenced by the positive reception to the puzzles in ''[[Icewind Dale: Trials of the Luremaster]]''.<ref name=armchairinterview>{{cite web | url=http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/icewind-dale-2.htm/ | title=Icewind Dale II Q&A | date=March 14, 2002 | work=[[The Armchair Empire]] | access-date=August 13, 2009 | archive-date=January 29, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129193203/http://www.armchairempire.com/Interviews/icewind-dale-2.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref>

The game went [[gold release|gold]] on August 5, 2002, and was released in North America on August 27 and in the United Kingdom on August 30.<ref name=pressreleases /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bye |first=John |date=July 2, 2002 |title=''Icewind'' to hit Europe this summer |url=https://www.eurogamer.net/article-46245 |access-date=June 25, 2024 |website=[[Eurogamer]]}}</ref> After the release of ''Icewind Dale II'', Sawyer expressed dissatisfaction over the ''Icewind Dale'' series, saying "I wasn't particularly thrilled with how my work on [''Icewind Dale''] came out..." and, "...[''Heart of Winter''] managed to actually be worse than my ''Icewind Dale'' stuff". In regards to ''Icewind Dale II'' he said: "[It] came out better than I expected, but still, not exactly awe-inspiring".<ref name=joshsawyer>{{cite web | url=http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=24 | title=I thought I could organize freedom. How Scandinavian of me. | author=Sawyer, Josh | date=December 16, 2002 | work=[[RPG Codex]] | access-date=August 23, 2009}}</ref> 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".<ref name=chrisavellone>{{cite magazine | url=http://www.next-gen.biz/features/chris-avellone-dark-knight | title=Chris Avellone: Dark Knight. | date=April 21, 2009 | magazine=[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]] | access-date=August 23, 2009}}</ref> A Collector's Edition containing bonus material, such as a full-color cloth map and soundtrack CD, was also released.<ref name=pressreleases /> ''Icewind Dale II'' was the final game developed using the Infinity Engine.<ref name=gamespotreview>{{cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/icewinddale2/index.html | title=Icewind Dale II Review for PC | date=September 6, 2002 | work=[[GameSpot]] | author=Kasavin, Greg | access-date=September 2, 2009}}</ref>

===Audio===
The music of the game was composed by [[Inon Zur]], whose previous works included ''[[Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal]]'' and ''[[Fallout Tactics]]''.<ref name=rpgplanetinterview>{{cite web | url=http://www.rpgplanet.com/features/interviews/inonzur/ | title=Inon Zur Interview | author=Ladewig, Bruce | date=October 11, 2002 | work=[[RPGPlanet]] | access-date=August 27, 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130315003839/http://www.rpgplanet.com/features/interviews/inonzur/ | archive-date=March 15, 2013 }}</ref> Inon Zur worked with Jeremy Soule, the composer for ''Icewind Dale'', to maintain the tone of the music.<ref name=gamespotinterview /> Inon Zur also worked closely with Interplay audio director Adam Levenson while composing the music; Zur and Levenson had worked together on several previous titles. Inon Zur said that while composing the theme for the game, "I wrote and rewrote the main theme several times", and "we tried to create a piece that would preserve the sound of the first Icewind Dale[...] we made great efforts to convey the new elements also. Capturing all of this in 30–45 seconds was not easy however I believe that we eventually found the right path for this game's soundtrack". Zur described the composing process: "After learning the storyboard and getting additional insight from the producers/music supervisor I'll start to compose. The thematic idea (main melody or rhythmical groove) comes first. Then comes the accompaniment followed by the orchestration and that each piece should have its own unique flavour so every step is carefully examined. I have to make sure that the main idea of the piece is reflected in all these steps". He called the composing experience "pleasant" and "rewarding".<ref name=rpgplanetinterview />

The music was composed in five weeks, and the recording and mixing lasted three weeks.<ref name=rpgfaninterview>{{cite web | url=http://www.rpgfan.com/features/inon-zur-interview.html | title=Inon Zur Interview | author=McCarroll, John | date=December 2, 2002 | work=RPGFan | access-date=August 27, 2009}}</ref> As the game's music budget was low, a small Los Angeles orchestra was used to record the music; the sound of the each instrument was doubled during production.<ref name=gamedaily>{{cite web | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030626222950/http://gamedaily.com/features_new/inon_zur/index.asp |url=http://gamedaily.com/features_new/inon_zur/index.asp | archive-date=June 26, 2003 | title=Inon Zur: Videogame Music Composer | work=[[Game Daily]] | access-date=August 27, 2009}}</ref> Inon Zur described the music as having "some uniqueness to it, that basically it developed throughout the game [with] the [inclusion] of more instruments, taking flutes and percussion and combining them with the standard orchestra". Zur later said: "I thought that we definitely met some high standards; we compared our products to big budget films scores and in the end we were quite happy".<ref name=rpgfaninterview /> The game features voice work from [[Gabrielle Carteris]], [[Peter Stormare]], and [[Grey DeLisle]], among others.<ref name=manual />