Yes, they will look the same, they use the same engine its called the Infinity Engine. IWD2 uses a different version of it.

The "Enhanced Edition" is an "Update" to the old game done by Beamdog to run on new machines. I wont give you the full history, however Beamdog basically took an old working game, applied a widescreen mod to the games (BG, IWD, P:T) and then released them at more than twice the price, a nice little earner for them. They haven't done IWD2 at the moment as that would mean they actually have to do work themselves. Basically Beamdog are one of the lowest of the lows in terms of devs.

With regards to walkthroughs and such like, gamefaqs is generally my first port of call. These Forgotten Realms games however have been around for decades and very popular so there is information everywhere. There are also so many mods you could spend much of your remaining time adding mods to the games. You should however just be able to jump in and play, have two fighters up front and a thief and wizard behind, standard setup, you shouldn't have too much difficulty getting into it. And its DnD so should be relatively familiar if you know that.

Overall BG had the storyline, IWD was more action focused, basically each map is another battle, although its still good in a different way. Don't think I ever completed IWD2, just seemed to drift out of it half way through each time. Don't forget there is Planescape Torment in the list as well.

Finally, if you do want a massive package, then consider BG1/2 plus BigWorld setup which is a megamod, adds 30gb of companions/quests etc. into the main two games, it is massive have been through it twice (solo, I always solo where possible) and it can take months to do everything.

Oh, and stop copying my moniker!!

For walkthrough, I recommend this:
http://www.gamebanshee.com/icewinddale/

There are tons of resources on the web though.

form one Nitecrawler to another... many thx!

I do have BG 1 n 2 from GOG... I think there is something also called Dark Alliance but hvnt dl it. Are they expansion packs`? And where do i get this Big World u mentioned`?

thx.

Have you come across Game banshee? They are a nice and elaborate site for certain RPG walkthroughs. Although, they are majorly doing game reviews now.

Icewind Dale walkthrough -

http://www.gamebanshee.com/icewinddale/

Icewind Dale 2 walkthrough -

http://www.gamebanshee.com/icewinddaleii/

The [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldur's_Gate:_Dark_Alliance]Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance[/url] games were console games of the PS2 era.

Big World Project.

Dark Alliance was two games for the Xbox, based loosely on the Baldurs Gate games, they focus solely on action. The engine was different two. So the games in the series are:
Baldurs Gate 1 + Tales of the Sword Coast
Baldurs Gate 2 + Throne of Bhaal
IWD (Plus an expansion can't remember the name)
IWD 2
Planescape Torment
Neverwinter Nights 1 (plus expansions) <- start of new 3d engine
Neverwinter Nights 2 (plus expansions)

These are of course not all them, there are D&D games preceeding these and after these and games like Dragon Age which were based on those quite heavily.

Big World:
http://www.shsforums.net/files/category/72-big-world-project/
You can see the version if you scroll down a bit. There are websites which you will know about playing these games, Spellhold Studios is one, Gibberlings 3 is another. A shed load of user content on them, help. And if your really into look up GemRB which is an open source re-implmentation of the Infinity Engine.
That should keep you going for a year or so :o)
NWN also has a ton of content out on the web, some scenarios are very good, check the games sub-forums for more information.

IWD:EE is more or less a port of the game to the enhanced Baldur's Gate 2 engine that BG:EE and BG2:EE used. In particular, this means that the mechanics resemble those of Baldur's Gate 2 more than the mechanics of IWD complete.

For example, in IWD Complete, rangers get an extra melee attack if they are not equipped with a shield. In IWD:EE, they do not because true dual wielding has been implemented. Another difference is that weapon proficiencies are more broad in IWD than in IWD:EE; in IWD I believe that there is a "Large Blade" proficiency, which covers things like batard swords, 2-handed swords, and I believe long swords. In IWD:EE, however, you must separately gain proficiencies for each weapon type. (I actually don't like the weapon proficiency mechanic, as it limits what weapons you can use, and that particular aspect is actually worse in the EE, to the point where, if I get around to playing it, I will use a mod to restore the original IWD weapon proficiency categories.)

Another major difference is the presence of BG2 classes and kits. Some of them are quite good in IWD:EE (Sorcerers due to scrolls being scarce), while some aren't (Inquisitor because enemies don't use BG2's protection spells and because undead are common in IWD).

So yes, there are definite differences between the two.

People actually complete these!? XD

NOT A TROLL POST I SWEAR. :D

I love all of these games, from BG to IWD to Neverwinter, but they are so damn vast and I always thought for people like me who insist of seeing every inch of the map and doing every quest, it would take more time than current life expectancy allows to actually finish these. :P

Bah, couple of months tops to go through completely with a party. You don't need to do everything, although like you I am a completionist as well. Once you know where the powerful items are, what the good spells/skills are then you can speed it up considerably, but that is part of the fun, finding those things out, I mean first time you beat Kangaxx!
Obviously its a bit deeper than Huniepop!

Screw it, I'm reinstalling IWD EE. :P

I for one don't mind the EE. I don't doubt it was all a money grab on the part of the devs, and for die hard fans I can certainly see the changes being very disconcerting, (I'm that way with the Star Wars movies) but as an old broken down gamer, I welcome the tweeked graphics and widescreen.

AND as I was installing IWD EE, I got a promo from the installer suggesting I purchase IWD EE.

Mind = blown :P

While it can be argued whether these EE versions are "needed", I think it is still wrong to claim they just took the game and applied a widescreen patch, or something.

To me it is quite obvious that the underlying engine has been rewritten at least for some parts, as the old versions have the "CPU core overusage"-problem that the EE versions don't have.

https://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/baldurs_gate_12_enhanced_editions_also_100_or_50_cpu_usage/page1

I've completed BG1 several times, BG2 only twice, IWD1 at least 2 dozen times, IWD2 around 10 times. Of course, that could explain my massive backlog...

@Nitecrawler: while the cynicism toward Beamdog isn't entirely misplaed, their EE of IWD is actually very good. I recommend a run through that - but I'd also recommend playing the original first.

If that is so, then why did they not just release an engine patch for the existing game? That would have been welcome. No, what they did was tweak a setting, probably like the 4gb enablers, apply a widescreen mod - already existing - then release them again doubling the price and removing the option of the old games. They then compound this by trying to cram some - and I don't really know about this part as I haven't brought it - dubious storylines into an already complete adventure, again at a vastly increased return. Further to this they then did the same to IWD, avoiding IWD2 which would be too much effort for them, then Ps:T, from which they removed all trace of the original games other than through a menu in their release. Modding was also mostly broken, I have been told that a fair few have now been made to work, I would imagine this is 100% user base rather than any involvement by Beamdog.
It goes without saying that all these games are now in jeopardy, NWN etc. will all likely have the same treatment, why not, easy cash. To be fair its not just beamdog, there are lots of companies at it as well, cost vs effort and all that.
I wont even go into Beamdogs own store which only supplies steam keys.
So nope, no redeeming qualities in the publisher at all.

I easily got +400 hours in the Original Baldur's Gate and due to exploring, trying different characters, different party compositions, cheats, mods and such, I have never (legally) reached Baldur's Gate yet. So yes, I can understand xD