IWD - The game vs. the book

txa1265 · Post by **txa1265** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 9:38 am

Hi all:

New here, and just started IWD on my Mac. Got it on a special 'Adventure Pack' set with BG2. I had been scared off RPGs since my wife bought me Diablo when it first came out and I really disliked it. I only got NWN when it came out for Mac last August in prep for the PC release of KotOR (I'm multi-OS

), and have been immersing myself equally in my usual FPS and lots o'RPGs since.

So I'm playing IWD, and enjoying it so far.

But I also had picked up Salvatore's Icewind Dale Trilogy (needed reading for when my son was going into the hospital for renal surgery ~5 weeks ago, and also for our vacation last week). Right now I'm nearing the end of 'Streams of Silver'. Very good books, but I'm wondering ...

... first, I expected more similarieties in story ... perhaps even the ability to use the named story characters in the game.

But are there more similarities as I play on - I'm just in Ch 1.

Thanks,

Mike

Paisley_Killer · Post by **Paisley_Killer** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 4:27 pm

Icewind dale is more of a name for an area than a name for a book series.

Icewind dale is to Forgotten Realms as the Midwest is to America.

I think that's right....

Aerich · Post by **Aerich** » Thu Jul 15, 2004 11:07 pm

Yes, PK has it right. Icewind Dale as it is in the book bears little resemblence to the game. Easthaven (the starting place in the game) is in the first book of the trilogy, and a certain artifact features in both the game and the books. However, that's about it. The stories are not otherwise related.

txa1265 · Post by **txa1265** » Fri Jul 16, 2004 12:07 pm

Thanks ... I guess I just *assumed* they'd be more related - like Dark Forces & Jedi Knight, and those associated books.

No matter - good books, good game, not related by much ... it's still all good

Mike

Malignus · Post by **Malignus** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 4:19 am

Furthermore, the game happens a good while before Drizzt sets his feet on the surface.
Hmm... Does that certain artifact's name begin with "K"?

iamweaver · Post by **iamweaver** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 3:08 pm

I believe the game is set a century before the Time of Troubles. Don't remember where I read that.

Remember that the books themselves are merely placed in an AD&D world that existed well before they were written, with continents and cities explored by thousands of nameless AD&D adventures rolling dice in homes, college dorms, and the like. I remember thinking, "hey! That's not the way *I* pictured xxx" when reading one of the books

.

Nightmare · Post by **Nightmare** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 11:07 pm

[QUOTE=Malignus]Furthermore, the game happens a good while before Drizzt sets his feet on the surface.
Hmm... Does that certain artifact's name begin with "K"?[/QUOTE]

Its actually a "C", yes. And at the time of the game, Drizzt wasn't even born yet.

The game has VERY little to do with the books, other then explain a certain artifact's location in the books. There really wasn't supposed to be crossovers or anything: both are just named for where they take place.