Vampire Bloodlines

[BFG10K]

Latest patch here: http://www.patches-scrolls.de/patch/4647/7/

A semi-open world RPG similar to the Deus Ex series, with hubs that have a lot of side-quests. It’s a phenomenal game with deep character design and excellent dialog/voice acting. Also each of the 7 clans can offer very different play-through styles. Melee combat is third person while guns are first person.

The WESP community patch above can be applied to retail CD/GOG/Steam versions. You can choose bug fix only, or everything which includes restored content and some modifications. The GOG version already has the basic version but I’m unsure about Steam. It’s best to apply the latest version in either case. The other patch by Tessera doesn’t work properly on modern systems and will likely never be updated.

I’m going to keep the OP updated with significant changes.

Original long running thread, OP no longer updated there due to their BS forum rules preventing edits: https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=38278

 

[BFG10K]

First post! Currently on sale on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/2600/Vampire_The_Masquerade__Bloodlines/

 

[Rifter]

Played it many times, great game with the WESP patch, unplayable buggy mess without it.

 

[DigDog]

blimey!

i assume this is a community patch? game is 13 years old.

i never played Bllodlines, however i played the oft forgotten original Vampire: The Masquerade, and liked it very much.

 

[DaveSimmons]

blimey!

i assume this is a community patch? game is 13 years old.

i never played Bllodlines, however i played the oft forgotten original Vampire: The Masquerade, and liked it very much.

Yes, this patch has 2 modes: basic = hundreds of gameplay bug fixes and some engine fixes to get it to run properly on modern PCs, enhanced = 13 years of tweaks and some restored missing content.

It has great art direction and music, and a good story. The graphics are 13+ years old and use an alpha version of the Half-Life 2 era Source engine.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I actually started this game some years ago...I 'think' with the WESP patch. I don't remember how far I got or why I stopped playing it, but I do remember enjoying it up until a certain boss (I think it was a mansion with some ghost like thing that randomly appeared).

 

[DigDog]

the first game ...

let me backtrack. In Vampire in general, the RPG we're talking here, the better you do, the more points you get. This allows you to buy better disciplines.
If you know what you are doing, you can build a super-overpowered character. In the first game, if you did well during the first part, you could waltz through the second and basically by the time you got to modern times it would just be a matter of racing through the maps because you would wreck everything Diablo-style.
(my guess is that's why they added the rocket launcher, in case someone sucked and did not manage to get to be OP by the last stage)

i dont proper remember everything but i think you can get all your vampires to 6th generation, one to 5th, all with 8 in all scores, some 9~10, all disciplies at 5+ , some 8, plus the various armors and weapons buffs that wouldn't normally exist in the game.
That kind of stuff would simply not happen in the original RPG. Frikkin' Baba Yaga doesn't have those kind of stats, and that's one of the strongest antediluvians in existence.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Bloodlines is a bit better balanced. You level up to the point where you can shrug off street punks firing guns at you, but you face other enemies doing aggravated damage that can wipe you out. Also, you're solo so there's no one else to tank, or heal you, or DPS while you tank.

 

[OCNewbie]

Amazing game. Must play if you haven't yet.

 

[zinfamous]

never played it, but always heard about it here, of course....maybe I will now with this sale and it doesn't look all that bad with 13 year-old visuals. In those screen shots, anyway.

 

[Elixer]

Frankly, I say people should NOT buy this game.
It is just way too buggy in the original state they pushed this out.

With the community made patch, the game is finally playable, BUT, these guys do NOT get paid at all. Nadda. zilch.

So, why are people supporting the publisher (who could care less about making future patches) by buying this game?

 

[BFG10K]

So, why are people supporting the publisher (who could care less about making future patches) by buying this game?

Trying to be altruistic means you're just missing out on one of the greatest games of all time. Also I bet the people who make the patch like it when people use it. It makes it worth their time.

 

[Craig234]

Thanks, downloading the patch now, this has always been on my meant to pay backlog.

 

[Craig234]

Stupid windows. It spent like an hour downloading the patch then a Windows popup says 'Windows prevented an unauthorized program from running that could put your computer at risk'.

It had a box labeled 'don't run' but I figured that meant don't run the patch, so I just closed the window - maybe it meant don't run the block, who knows.

 

[yepp]

This game is the reason I opened a Steam account.

 

[BFG10K]

Stupid windows. It spent like an hour downloading the patch then a Windows popup says 'Windows prevented an unauthorized program from running that could put your computer at risk'.

It had a box labeled 'don't run' but I figured that meant don't run the patch, so I just closed the window - maybe it meant don't run the block, who knows.

After launching the game you can verify if the patch is working by going to Options -> Gameplay.

If it worked it'll say 9.9 basic or 9.9 plus to the right.

 

[OCNewbie]

Trying to be altruistic means you're just missing out on one of the greatest games of all time. Also I bet the people who make the patch like it when people use it. It makes it worth their time.

I think he's saying do not buy the game. He's not saying do not play it.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Frankly, I say people should NOT buy this game.
It is just way too buggy in the original state they pushed this out.

With the community made patch, the game is finally playable, BUT, these guys do NOT get paid at all. Nadda. zilch.

So, why are people supporting the publisher (who could care less about making future patches) by buying this game?

I'm not going to pirate games just because the original developers do not receive new royalties.

In the case of VTMB the game probably never earned back the advances to Troika, and Troika no longer exists. Much as I'm fond of the ex-Black Isle devs, they as a group seem to have problems with missing deadlines and with releasing games that are even buggier than Bethesda's.

Also, the trickle of sales does ever so slightly increase the chance of a HD remake or sequel. Pirating the game does not.

 

[Craig234]

I'm not going to pirate games just because the original developers do not receive new royalties.

In the case of VTMB the game probably never earned back the advances to Troika, and Troika no longer exists. Much as I'm fond of the ex-Black Isle devs, they as a group seem to have problems with missing deadlines and with releasing games that are even buggier than Bethesda's.

Also, the trickle of sales does ever so slightly increase the chance of a HD remake or sequel. Pirating the game does not.

Also, the anticipation of sales increases the amount the original devs get paid when their game is bought - if people pirate, that'd seem to reduce how much they get paid.

 

[BFG10K]

I think he's saying do not buy the game. He's not saying do not play it.

Piracy is not the answer. If anything, more sales might lead to a sequel.

 

[Elixer]

I'm not going to pirate games just because the original developers do not receive new royalties.

In the case of VTMB the game probably never earned back the advances to Troika, and Troika no longer exists. Much as I'm fond of the ex-Black Isle devs, they as a group seem to have problems with missing deadlines and with releasing games that are even buggier than Bethesda's.

Also, the trickle of sales does ever so slightly increase the chance of a HD remake or sequel. Pirating the game does not.

I never said anything about Pirating.
Activision sold this to Paradox Interactive, and AFAIK they are still the owners of this game, and the CEO of Paradox said they will (eventually) make a sequel.
Since the game came out in 2004, and they never managed to fix the game-breaking bugs, I just think it should be a freebie, much like how Origin & Ubi have done in the past with old titles. Heck, they can be like iD, and release the source to finally fix the long outstanding bugs that can't be fixed via scripting.

But, paying for a known broken product is 100% BS.
Paradox should just pay for the "community" patch, and that will makes things fine with me.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I haven't seen a request from Wesp for donations in the release notes in any of the patch versions I've downloaded over the years. He's fine with doing it just for the acclaim, and Paradox is selling a game that they know can be patched to be very playable. I don't see an ethical issue here.

 

[Elixer]

I haven't seen a request from Wesp for donations in the release notes in any of the patch versions I've downloaded over the years. He's fine with doing it just for the acclaim, and Paradox is selling a game that they know can be patched to be very playable. I don't see an ethical issue here.

So, you are fine with companies selling defective things?
Sure, it can be patched, and most things will work, but that still isn't an excuse for continuing to expect your buyers to go to some 3rd party site, and download and apply the patch.

 

[DaveSimmons]

So, you are fine with companies selling defective things?
Sure, it can be patched, and most things will work, but that still isn't an excuse for continuing to expect your buyers to go to some 3rd party site, and download and apply the patch.

Paradox might or might not have any of the Troika source code. For several of the HD / enhanced PC games I've read developers had to either be re-create the game without code, or they basically applied fan patches to the old EXEs.

Paradox can't pre-apply Wesp's patch since some people will want Basic, some Enhanced with the restored content, some will want to try both, and some might want an older version with a different set of tweaks.

I do agree that it would be nice for Paradox to get Wesp's permission to offer the patch as free DLC at Steam and Gog so people can get it from the same site as the game.

 

[Rifter]

So, you are fine with companies selling defective things?
Sure, it can be patched, and most things will work, but that still isn't an excuse for continuing to expect your buyers to go to some 3rd party site, and download and apply the patch.

So much this. If i didnt get the game for free with a hardware purchase i never would have owned it.