BG2 and IWD

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I am asking about the differences between IWD and BG2, the two game looks so much alike and yet so different and I like them both. I wonder if different groups of people worked on them. Is there a heavy connection between IWD and BG2 or they are very different and sperate projects that used only the same engine and AD&D rules. There are distinct differences between the two (well except the things like story ofcourse) for example spells are way different, both game has unique spells the other lacks, same spells work differently and spell casting animations are different even though other things like character and monster animations look similar. I wonder what causes these? Different groups of firms or artists worked on them? I am very ignorant in this subject, Bioware, BlackIsle, WoTC, how are these connected in both games? Thanks for your replies hope you understand my problem.

 

BioWare made the engine and Baldur's Gate. Black Isle made Icewind Dale. Hence the differences in spells, items (e.g. Baldur's Gate doesn't have masterwork items) and even rules. By the way, IWD was before BG2. Black Isle took a lot from BioWare but some things were changed. Some of the solutions introduced in Icewind Dale appeared in Baldur's Gate 2, such as item containers and perhaps bigger quivers, but I'm not sure about the latter.

 

Hmm thanks for clearing the confusion. So Balck Isle and Bioware acted differently and eventually helped eachother with game-mechanics. BG2 is a Bioware or Black Isle game or both? It has Black Isle introduction so? What about expansions and IWD2? And what is Interplay and its role? Is it only distrubuting? OOH I am starting to get confused again! Why the relationship between those designers are so complex I do not know!

BTW all these firms are long dead now right? A pity.

 

Bioware isn't dead, is it? Black Isle, Interplay and TSR (assimilated) are dead.

Think like this: Bioware created the game engine, similar to id creating the Quake engine. Now, Black Isle had the money to make the game, like Raven did for id.

 

Now that's what I call "condensed and informative".

You should be a scientist Tal

 

Small addition regarding TSR/WoTC: pre-2000, TSR owned the rights to anything D&D, so Interplay bought the rights to that RPG system from TSR. Sometime in 2000 TSR went bankrupt, and was bought by Wizards of the Coast. If you've got ToB try this: install SoA only and you get the TSR logo. Now install ToB, and you get the WotC logo instead.

 

The really funny part is the man who started TSR also owns WotC.

 

So, he basically bought his own firm? Any theories regarding whether this was a financial stunt?

What!?! You mean you haven't been that all along? So I've been sucking ye **** and licking ye boots for eons now, and it didn't even make a difference

 

Actually he was pushed out long in advance of even the 2e rules being published. There was a link to that story and the man's history here somewhere.
After his departure the majority shareholder family parcelled out the various worlds, Faerun & Planetscape etc, to various publishers. That is why the game rules are different for BG and for PS:T,etc. both CRPG and PnP.

When finally TSR failed due to its own management's faults, he bought over the rights to D&D via his company WotC.

 

The man in question is Gary Gygax, and he has nothing to do with WotC.

If you're interested in reading the entire history of D&D, up to 2004, this should do:
http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/538/538848p1.html
The Games article has all of the IE games as well as NWN.

The whole thing is an interesting read, but takes quite some time to go through.

It just occurred to me... I think it would be a nice idea to have a link to this on SP somewhere. After all, all the games on SP are based on D&D, and this is a rather comprehensive history of TSR and D&D.

 

Or Dave Arneson. I thought Brian Blume (who came in TSR later) was part of WotC, but apparently not.

 

Wow, thanks Tal, I feel really enlightened now!

And that link Ziad kindly shared is very good! Thank you everyone! I am not that ignorant to the history of the games that I just love playing! (including AD&D)