Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Web Expansion

Those of you unsatisfied with Icewind Dale’s Heart of Winter expansion pack will be happy to hear that the add-on has officially received its promised downloadable extension. Here are the details, straight from Interplay:

The Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter Web Expansion is a free downloadable expansion pack for Black Isle Studios’ Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter role playing game.

In response to some players wanting more game experience from Icewind Dale and Heart of Winter, Black Isle Studios has begun development on a free, downloadable dungeon pack add-on for customers of Heart of Winter. The pack is tentatively sized at 75MB, and will plug directly into the game, provided Heart of Winter is installed. This web expansion set will include several new monsters to Icewind Dale, as well as a brand new adventure in a castle/dungeon setting. It is tentatively planned to be available for free at the end of May/very early June 2001 on Interplay’s official web site.

Brief Story Introduction
After the web expansion is installed, a mysterious halfling introduces himself in the Whistling Gallows Inn in Lonelywood. He seeks a party of stalwart heroes for a quest to a place of great wonder, with treasures beyond the imagination. Should the party accept, they will be transported to a new place, far from the icy terrain of the Dalelands, finding themselves within the walls of a ruined castle in an unfamiliar land…

The story is currently being held under wraps because the adventure is meant to surprise the character, and its story is conveyed throughout the various puzzles/combats.

Expansion Details
The web expansion will require an installed copy of both Icewind Dale and Heart of Winter. It is currently planned as a 75MB (100MB maximum) download from Interplay’s official web site.

New Stuff
The web expansion will tentatively offer the following to our Heart of Winter customers:

‘¢ 2 main new areas to explore with a variety of sub levels

‘¢ 20-40 new magic items, 5-10 of which will be taken from our customer’s submissions via our web boards at http://www.blackislestudios.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi

‘¢ 1 original new monster, and 4 creatures animations from Baldur’s Gate/Baldur’s Gate II.

‘¢ Playable from Lonelywood in the Whistling Gallows Inn.

‘¢ The new areas feature a separate story, independent from the Icewind Dale and Heart of Winter storylines.

‘¢ Targeted for players from 11th – 18th level, and will also be adjusted for higher level parties via Heart of Winter’s “Heart of Fury” mode.

‘¢ Many new puzzles, traps, and more.

‘¢ Introduces version 1.42, with some additional program fixes.