Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines (spoilers ahead)

[stoffe]

Nice, though it seems like one of those patches with arbitrary tweaks and not just bugfixes so personally I think I'll skip it.

Originally Posted by Pavlos

Restored third person melee and included alternate files in tools.

I've been playing pretty much the whole game in third person view (except when sniping), so don't know what there is to restore about melee combat?

Originally Posted by Pavlos

Restored unused Daniel Ash - Come Alive song into the Empire hotel.

That song isn't unused, I know I've heard it in-game somewhere.

[Lantzen]

Stoffe from my understanding there is two versions after you downloaded it. One that fixes bugs (And restore cut content i think), and one that add completly new content

[Q]

Lantzen is correct. During the installation the installer will give you the option to install either the "basic" patch or the "plus" patch. Choose the "basic" patch if you want to forgo all of the gratuitous embellishment of the "plus" patch.

And I am in complete ageement with stoffe that Wesp goes way overboard with the changes that he makes to game with the "plus" patch.

[Jae Onasi]

Tessera apparently has made a 'true' patch that's supposed to fix the bugs and restore the game to what Troika supposedly wanted it to be--link is in the post here or here in Tessera's thread.
Apparently Tessera's relations with Wesp are a bit strained because of the 2 rival patches.

Edit: Darling Violetta's 'Smaller God' isn't replaced in the Empire hotel, is it? I prefer her song to Ash's.

[Achilles]

Nice find, Jae. I only wish you'd found it about 2 days sooner.

I'm too far into this playthrough to start over with a new patch now *pouts*

[Lange]

Loved the game. I thought the intro scene was pretty hilarious though. First time I watched it I was like
"Okay... They're making out. Mhm..."
*Guy comes in the door, does a mega jump and stabs them both*
"WTF?"

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

I wish they had different movies for the different clans though. Something about a Ventrue ****ing in some ratty apartment or hotel or whatever just bothered me.

[Lantzen]

Originally Posted by Achilles

Nice find, Jae. I only wish you'd found it about 2 days sooner.

I'm too far into this playthrough to start over with a new patch now *pouts*

Or you could have looked on the page before this ^^ I mention those there, but don't link them I also get some angry response about stolen work, but whatever ^^

[Q]

Yes, there is a lot of controversy concerning Tessera's patch, but I used it in my first playthrough and liked the game experience a lot better than with Wesp's "plus" patch, which I thought made way too many changes. It's also less than half the size, which for people stuck with dialup (like me) means a lot.

I really don't have a clue as to whether Tessera stole anything from Wesp or not.

[Jae Onasi]

Originally Posted by Achilles

Nice find, Jae. I only wish you'd found it about 2 days sooner.

I'm too far into this playthrough to start over with a new patch now *pouts*

Yes, but that's a great excuse to do another playthrough after this one.

[Achilles]

Originally Posted by Jae Onasi

Yes, but that's a great excuse to do another playthrough after this one.

That's kinda what I was thinking too

[The Source]

Originally Posted by jmac7142

I wish they had different movies for the different clans though. Something about a Ventrue ****ing in some ratty apartment or hotel or whatever just bothered me.

The Starline Haven -or- The Pawn Shop Haven?

I have a problem with knowing that the apartment vents are able to be opened. Grrr... I know its all psychological. Lol... I love the fish tank wall and widescreen television you get though. How do you replace the fish when they are dead?

I'm in China Town now. I think this is my 20th+ play through. I will probally choose another clan next.

[stoffe]

Originally Posted by The Source

The Starline Haven -or- The Pawn Shop Haven?

Presumably the intro cinematic where your character gets Vamped. The room you're in there looks pretty seedy.

Originally Posted by The Source

I have a problem with knowing that the apartment vents are able to be opened.

The nosferatu entrance. Though the Skyline apartments building is a bit creepy overall, with the spy monitor in the basement and all.

Originally Posted by The Source

How do you replace the fish when they are dead?

Undead fish. Keeps swimming forever.

[Kristy Kistic]

According to all the reviews and info I've read about Bloodlines, there is supposed to be a song in the game called Needle's Eye by Die My Darling. I have looked through the resources thoroughly and haven't seen it. Is this song actually in the game that anyone knows of? Or was that only on the soundtrack cd itself?

[stoffe]

Originally Posted by Kristy Kistic

According to all the reviews and info I've read about Bloodlines, there is supposed to be a song in the game called Needle's Eye by Die My Darling. I have looked through the resources thoroughly and haven't seen it. Is this song actually in the game that anyone knows of? Or was that only on the soundtrack cd itself?

It's in the game, but not as a stand-alone song as far as I can tell. It's part of the final Deb of Night radio show episode, after the commercials and the Darling Violetta song. It's in the radio_loop_5.mp3 file, beginning at around the 17 minute mark.

[Kristy Kistic]

Originally Posted by stoffe

It's in the game, but not as a stand-alone song as far as I can tell. It's part of the final Deb of Night radio show episode, after the commercials and the Darling Violetta song. It's in the radio_loop_5.mp3 file, beginning at around the 17 minute mark.

You know it kinda scares me that you actually knew this...jk

Thanks stoffe!

[Pavlos]

Source

The seemingly everlasting effort to patch Troika's Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines has just produced its latest update, bumping the game up to the unofficial version, 5.5.

The changes are listed below:

(+) indicates changes in the 'Plus'-version of this patch

• +Moved Pyro Crossbow from Society to Syndicate instead of bloodpack.
• +Changed new stealth rules so that only highest sneaking is harder.
• Made Ocean House quest failure update when reconciling the sisters.
• Fixed details with Isaac, Boris, Jack, Heather, Mercurio and Phil.
• Implemented ZVTool and added readmes to tools, thanks to ZylonBane.
• Lessened vents fade outs at Skyeline Apartments and fixed a decal.
• Added second T-Rex sound to museum and corrected some text details.
• Restored xps at Glaze for peaceful approach and fixed the monitor.
• Fixed morphine quest after warehouse and .38 ammo tutorial exploit.
• Added blood loss when ghouling Heather and having fun with others.
• Made Sin Bin ATM indestructible to avoid breaking connected script.
• Improved card printer usage and added a few more inspection nodes.
• Restored original descriptions for crossbow bolts and rifle rounds.
• Added several missing doors and adjusted SM endgame bus stop maps.
• Moved restored female raver to the Asylum and fixed teeth textures.
• Hid Giovanni crypt trapdoor icons and fixed Nadia and zombie bugs.
• Removed second Dominate tutorial enemy and Johansen basic problems.

[Arátoeldar]

Originally Posted by Pavlos

Source

The seemingly everlasting effort to patch Troika's Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines has just produced its latest update, bumping the game up to the unofficial version, 5.5.

The changes are listed below:

I went to The Patch Scrolls to download the 5.4 patch. When I noticed there was a new version. I guess great minds think a like.

[DeadYorick]

I only very recently got this game. Right now it is barely reminding me of Deus Ex and Half Life 2.

It is to bad this game didn't get a sequel or a console release

[Arátoeldar]

Originally Posted by RakataDark

I only very recently got this game. Right now it is barely reminding me of Deus Ex and Half Life 2.

It is to bad this game didn't get a sequel or a console release

Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky, and Jason Anderson are great story tellers but not very good in the QA/taking responsibility for QA department. Which is what ultimately lead to the demise of Troika Games.

[Q]

Luckily their three titles have such a loyal fanbase that there are comprehensive fan-made patches for all three of them.

[Arátoeldar]

I'd rather had have Troika Games do a better job at QA-QC so they could still be around today. I think they could even be bigger than BioWare.

[Pavlos]

I reckon that the death of Troika games is more to do with the collapse of Black Isle (the RPG giant of the time) due to Interplay's absurd business plans and the rise of BioWare's NWN era (still ongoing) than their abysmal QA. Why would a publisher put money into a risky title like, say, Arcanum, which is entirely without a proven fanbase when it can hire BioWare to do something safe and ultimately boring when compared to the games of yesteryear?

[stoffe]

Anyone know if there is some way of running this game in widescreen resolutions? The options screen only seem to allow 3 resolutions (800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024). Poked around the config file but couldn't notice any obvious way of bypassing this.

[Det. Bart Lasiter]

Originally Posted by stoffe

Anyone know if there is some way of running this game in widescreen resolutions? The options screen only seem to allow 3 resolutions (800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024). Poked around the config file but couldn't notice any obvious way of bypassing this.

The unofficial patch comes with a resolution patcher in the \Tools directory.

[Q]

Yes, the Unofficial Patch will patch the resolution when you install it.

For anyone who's interested, Steam has this great game on sale for $9.99.

[stoffe]

Originally Posted by jmac7142 & Qliveur

"The unofficial patch comes with a resolution patcher in the \Tools directory."
"Yes, the Unofficial Patch will patch the resolution when you install it."

That tool worked fine. Thanks.

[Q]

It looks great in widescreen, doesn't it?

[michael_samualson]

I am pleasantly surprised to find a group of fans still playing and enjoying this game after such a long time. I bought it when it first came out and have never completely stopped playing it. I think an MMORPG based on this game would rock, even better if you could keep the number of players down to less then 500 (but that is just my preference, people building such a thing would rather have the money I am sure).

[Q]

While I'm not a fan of MMOs, I think that you're right. An MMO based on VtM would indeed rock.

[Bee Hoon]

I finally finished the game, although I freely admit that I cheated at parts(especially where sneaking is required!). I went solo after the cabbie somehow talked me into it, and then played back to watch a few alternate endings. I haven't watched the Kuei-Jin one, but I've already read a spoiler for it, so wth! The game probably would have been easier if I didn't piss off Vandal:P I don't think I could have gotten past the Kuei-Jin without godmode. Or the werewolf, for that matter!

The final battle with the sheriff was pretty easy as a Brujah:P In the first part, using Celerity (with Potence and Presence if you wish) can get you through with hardly a scratch. In the second part, you're fine with use of Celerity and switching to melee once in a while to slash the ghouls (? bat things or whatever?) to ribbons.

All in all, definitely one of the best games that I have ever played. It's a shame that Troika no longer exists.

Next playthrough--Malkavian!

[Achilles]

Originally Posted by Bee Hoon

I don't think I could have gotten past the Kuei-Jin without godmode.

spoiler:

After their dialog, run to the back of the short hall you entered from. They will charge single-file down this hallway when attacking. If you have high firearms skills, you can get through this fight without taking a blow.

Originally Posted by Bee Hoon

Or the werewolf, for that matter!

spoiler:

Run past him, through the fence, inside the building to the landing with the controls for the observatory doors. Wait until he's almost inside then hit the switch. The doors will then crush him.

If you're quick, you can do all this without taking a single hit. If you're not, then you can still do all this taking maybe one blow.

Originally Posted by Bee Hoon

Next playthrough--Malkavian!

Enjoy it. Playing as a Malkavian is fun

[Bob Lion54]

Originally Posted by Bee Hoon

Next playthrough--Malkavian!

Welcome to Clan Malkav!

We have cookies and voices in our heads! We have no cookie cutters, but a sharp knife should suffice if you wish to get the voices out of there. They are easier to understand sometimes once you let them out.

[Jae Onasi]

Originally Posted by Bob Lion54

Welcome to Clan Malkav!

We have cookies and voices in our heads! We have no cookie cutters, but a sharp knife should suffice if you wish to get the voices out of there. They are easier to understand sometimes once you let them out.

Shelly, is that you?

[Acleacius]

Originally Posted by Qliveur

I really don't have a clue as to whether Tessera stole anything from Wesp or not.

I really wasn't trying to start anything, only trying my best to state fact, if anyone cared, if they don't that's fine too. As long as you have a good game experience that's all the matters.

It's quite common knowledge and verifiable on the active Bloodlines forums like the official at gamespy and gamebanshee. The true-patch has been allowed to post it's content recently, in the official forums after being banned on gamespy. He also was banned on gamebanshee, though I don't know if he can post there again yet. Basically he had to promise to stop going into Wesp's threads and making up things starting trouble.

I have been testing on the Unofficial Patch since it first was first started by DanUpright, at the first official forums on Dilapidation, in case I needed to make any kind of disclosure. Leonard and many of the devs came to the forum and even asked for help, with the game breaking bug at Society of Leopold, which Dan was able to fix and started the Unofficial Patch.

--------------------------
Best I can tell Troika didn't make it cause they never were given enough time to make their games, by their publishers. Of course all the publishers wanted the best top tier RPGs, but as so often the case they rarely if ever let Devs have the time they need. Troika games always had the most complex choices and possible ways of solving quests, which made it nigh impossible to Q/A, it's not that they weren't good at it, afaik they made some of the best RPGs ever.

Bloodlines was obviously caught up in the Half-Life 2 Code theft which froze the work on Bloodlines since Activision had to wait for HL2 to ship first and there was no way of knowing when HL2 would ship. Gabe later admitted the real reason it took so long was HL2 was not ready which killed Bloodlines development. Troika tried to get another game started and had a demo for Fallout 3, but they didn't get the job. sadly. Once Activision was given the word, they gave Troika 3 months to just bug fix to get the game out the door. This is when they started cutting all the content like Multiplayer, which btw is sort of working now days, with a working server iirc.

[Vlad011]

HEALP ..please,anione!!! I play the bloodlines for aboute 5days..I instal official patch(1.2 I think)and I stil cant pass the boat in leopold caves. Im playing this lvl with ~ cheats, is that a problem?or what? Is ther some cheat for skip that loading str8 to next lvl?Or what shod I do to gone with boat ok?
PLEASE,TELL ME HOW TO PASS THAT THING!Im going nuts!Im in the bout,new log,it start to loud and BOOM! I see u are all in some knowlig of the game,Im in NONE!playing just 5 days..so please.. just HEALP ... Thank you. (srry 4 bad spealing).

[DarthParametric]

You need to run to the cave with the jetty and get on the boat to escape. The easiest way to beat the timer is to use Celerity.

[Vlad011]

No,no man..I get to the bout..but its a bug...whan its start to load the next lvl...i get kick out on my desktop! (( Ill kill mysalf from the frustation! I usa pach 1.2 and nothing! ...\
Do u know of what bug i speak of? And yea - I instal pach just today,and I load a last game,where Im on GOD MODE...is that problem or not?

[stoffe]

Originally Posted by Vlad011

No,no man..I get to the bout..but its a bug...whan its start to load the next lvl...i get kick out on my desktop! (( Ill kill mysalf from the frustation! I usa pach 1.2 and nothing! ...\
Do u know of what bug i speak of? And yea - I instal pach just today,and I load a last game,where Im on GOD MODE...is that problem or not?

There is a bug that sometimes show up at the end of the society of leopold (but not always). Don't think god mode has anything to do with it (even though it can mess things up sometimes).

You can try this workaround if you find no other way of solving it. Make sure you start the game with the console active. Then in the game, get as close to the boat as you can without stepping onto it (you don't want to trigger the area transition). Then pause/go out to the menu, activate the console and type in (it's case sensitive IIRC):

SaveJohansen()
changelevel2 la_hub_1 taxi_landmark

[Vlad011]

If this work ill mery u!!(If ur gearl) ... just pls tell me 1more thing...
SaveJohansen()
changelevel2 la_hub_1 taxi_landmark ...
this 2 things that I hawe to tipe in console..in what order shod thay go? and is the () emptey? .... srry Im N00b for computers
tell me and Ill go riteaway to try... and thank u,my lady...(and if ur a man..well,u got hot pic in avatar(It can be confuzin)...ou,if this work Ill praise u till the jugmant day!