Easy question. Thanks in advance.

Is it strictly to issue general orders, or can it also be played turn-based like Arcanum? And if not like Arcanum, what kind of orders can you give? I'd expect something simple like "hack with melee weapon" but how is magic dealt with during combat?

In general it's the same as with other IE games (BG, PS:T):

- it cannot be played strictly turn-based, like Fallout or Arcanum; there are no 'action points';
- you can pause the game at any time;
- you can set auto-pause settings, to trigger at certain points (i.e. enemy sighted, character injured, trap sighted, etc.);
- during pause you can issue orders to any party NPC, regarding movement, using skills/abilities, spellcasting (which spell, at whom, etc.), attacking; you can change weapons as well (but no armor, at least during combat);
- you cannot issue multiple orders for one NPC, current one overrides previous;

There's an option to let the game pause at the end of each turn.

Go to the options screen (press "O"), Click on the "Game Play" button and click on the "Auto-pause" button. Here you can order the game to pause at the end of each combat round. The orders you issue will still be executed in real time so enemies can move out of the area where you want to land a fireball before it explodes.

I'm one of those grumpy old turnbased fanatics that loathe almost everything that's realtime but this option and the "Pause when enemy is sighted" satisfies me. I'll almost go so far as to say that with those options it IS turnbased. Almost. :P

Hearing that from a fellow "grumpy old turnbased fanatic" is actually quite comforting. I'm just starting ToEE now, but maybe I will get Icewind Dale at some point.

Thank you all.

Bioware tried to keep the mechanics as close as possible to D&D pen and paper, so it is turn based in a sense, however unless you are utilizing the space-bar you are missing out on your rounds (unless your lightning fast like that Korean kid that plays Starcraft ;)). every character in an encounter rolls for initiative in pen and paper and they did something similar in this game along with armor class rules, etc. if your curious, a fella by the name of Dan Simpson wrote a paper on the concepts and how they relate to nearly every rpg during that golden age that used the D&D rule set. Here it is:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/pc/256221-icewind-dale/faqs/8566