http://www.patches-scrolls.de/vampire_bloodlines.php

This is the definitive unofficial patch and it restores a great deal of content that was removed from the game late in development, including the dragonbreath shotgun (which is less useful than you'd think).


As for the mods, there can be issues of compatibility. The Cammirilla mod on the page I just linked to makes huge game changes and isn't compatible with the unofficial patch. The Companion Mod is based around an older version of the unofficial patch and thus possibly not compatible with newer versions. The Heather Live mod is based around an extremely old version of the patch.

I haven't tried the Clan Quest Mod, but I understand it is based around the unofficial patch version 6.5 (relatively recent) and can is compatible with the Arsenal Mod (which adds some new guns). There are also a few mods that just improve the graphics and thus shouldn't interfere with other mods.

The unofficial patch has an automated installer. Some others do, too. For those that don't it's a simple matter of unziping them in the correct folder.

Well, I finished the game yesterday evening in a final five or so hour marathon stretch. I guess this whole post is going to be full of spoilers...



It seems like the game would be tough to play through as either a melee-only or firearms-only character. There's a LOT more enemies than bullets up until the very end of the game and enemies tend to require multiple headshots to bring down. The Steyr AUG's zoomed headshots I squeezed off one at a time were probably less effective in dropping people than a .22LR to the face would be in real life. In that way, Vampire definitely stays true to its roots as a pen and paper game because your l33t FPS skills really can only take you so far. Uh, I also felt that the two end bosses pretty much required firearms to be able to beat...



I enjoyed most of the game and thought the characters and the quests on the whole were quite good, as was the atmosphere. I felt like the quests were better and a bit more complex towards the beginning of the game than the end, but I actually feel that way about a lot of RPGs.

As a big FPS gamer and recreational shooter, I did take issue with some of the firearms. Why does the uzi do more damage per shot than the Steyr AUG? Shouldn't the "Jamie Sue" do more damage, seeing as it's the only 30 caliber rifle in the game? Is a "saturday night special" a .38, and if so, why is the LAPD walking around with "saturday night specials"?

Honestly, the interface for selecting firearms was absolutely HORRIBLE. A lot of times when I died it was because I'd spent the whole battle fumbling around with the F2 key and the mouse wheel trying to select the right firearm and pulling out the wrong one. Doom made it easier to pick the right firearm than this game.

I felt stealth and sneaking was kind of shoddily implemented. As it so happened my character had a high stealth score and during a lot of the game he could just crouchwalk everywhere and be hilariously unnoticed by everyone. It looked surreal, was uber IMO, and I felt that stealth had some real rough edges in terms of implementation.

I actually felt that a lot of the boss battles were quite challenging, especially when played in first person mode. The key to avoiding attacks seems to be to jump away at the right moment but it's not always clear when the attack animation is done doing damage, so timing it right can be pretty tough.

On the whole a very good RPG, and I'm planning to do all the recommended play-throughs and check out the community patches. I guess just a few rough edges.

Well, I just started my second playthough. I figured I should do a social playthrough now as that's what people recommended. So I'm doing a female vampire named "Social" and I'm basically going to load up all the social stuff. I guess I can't neglect some of the combat stuff, though, because I presumably still need to get through the boss fights.

Overall, it really is a pretty good game (my kvetching about the core RPG aside). The various endings can be a lot of fun, playthroughs can feel very different based on your character choice, and while you never quite get the "woah" feeling from some of the scenes on second and subsequent viewings, it remains a solid video game that's aged fairly well. It's one I wish we'd get a follow-up for, even if it'd be set in their new WoD which I'm not nearly as familiar with.

The Sheriff is a puzzle boss for melee characters. There is a way to beat him but it's convoluted.

As for the endings

I've applied the Aliens Vs. Predator trinity to WoD. I reckon that werewolves are predators, vampires are aliens, and mages are like the space marines.



Friggin trolls, the bane of any low level PC.

Many Disciplines (like Thalmaturgy, Dominate, etc) are range attacks. The trick is blood management. When going into combat with a social character I use weapons as a last resort when I'm low on blood. Taking 2 dots in firearms and melee is cheap but brawl you will need to keep raising in order to feed.

[edit] example with dominate is blowing up the Sabbat at the begining. You sneak in then drop down in an area and use trance on shotgun boy then suicided everyone else, then feed on shogun boy. Rinse wash repeat.

Just so I don't have to worry about what is and isn't spoiler:

The Clan are the "Tremere," for the record. Big ol' pains in the butt, in a tabletop game (they've just got some weird abilities, and can be a handful for an ST to keep track of)! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

I always loved the Tremere, though some of their powers in the pnp game are very difficult to find a situation to use. Its one of the few clans were being lower gen wasnt as big of an advantage. (it was still an advantage just not as big of one)

I'd say that depended -- almost entirely, in this case -- on how heavily you invested in Dominate instead of Thaumaturgy.

I mean that there are some specific Thalmaturgy powers that are VERY specific situations. Especially when not just looking at Blood. And they were less lower gen = win than say Gangrel, Brujah or some of the other clans (Its still there just not as much).

I am noticing that whenever I hit a segment with scripted NPC movement and dialogue my game seems to get stuck now. The game doesn't crash, but it's like the scripting isn't working properly anymore. I had gone ahead and installed the community patch, which I had been enjoying, but somehow maybe it broke the scripting? What should I do, re-install it through Steam?

Never had that problem that I recall. I suggest deleting your local content, reinstalling via steam, and they re-applying the patch. Maybe do a local backup before you do the patch so if it keeps messing up you don't have to re-download again.

Yeah, when I have a little more time I'll have to attempt a re-install.

Thread necromancy go!

I bought Bloodlines yesterday when Steam had it for 75% off ($4.99). Started off playing a female Brujah, got to the confrontation with Jeanette and Therese, realized I'd made the wrong choices to be able to save them both (or at least Jeanette; yes, it's because I want to save the slutty vampire in a schoolgirl outfit), and restarted as a female Tremere. Her name is Raven, for maximum angsty-Goth ridiculosity.

I played the game long ago and quit it in disgust before the cargo ship mission. Mostly because I was being served shovel after shovel of bullshit sprinkled with nonsense and utter disregard for the system.
First, no ghoul is going to scream "HEY YOU'RE A VAMPIRE!" in the middle of the fucking street, at least not to a Brujah who is going to feed him a knuckle sandwich for that (sadly, it's not an option here). Second, no stealth unless you got Obfuscate - that's a joke. Third, what the fuck is a Nagaraja doing in LA? All that and absolutely horrid graphics (take a look up close at the dancers in red at the Asylum club. They're so horribly off-model it's not even funny. That and the person responsible for shaders on the characters' eyes fucked the job BADLY).
That and then there's a WERESHARK in one of the side missions. Wereshark. WHAT. THE. FUCK.

Tried a Mage game once as a player... I was the only Mage. Everyone else was from a different WoD game. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

It was interesting, kind of like a dysfunctional "Cheers" at a Heavy Metal bar my character owned. And then there was the illegal street racing.

You mean a Rokea? Yes, weresharks are canon in oWoD. Dunno about nWoD. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

BUT OF COURSE they were canon! It was just that the writers apparently got their hands on every "each new one gets more stupid" splatbooks and shoved so much shit into the game it became unplayable!

Seriously, Mike?

Yeah, pretty much. It's a pretty popular opinion that splatbooks for oWoD were sometimes adding unbelievable amounts of bullshit (example: Samuel Haight). As I said, I quit in disgust - they were selective about canon, and badly selective at that. I haven't played as a Toreador, though, but I do believe that then I'd quit even faster (during the gallery mission) - bullshit blood spirits pouring out of the paintings are one thing, going blatantly against Toreador's clan weakness while being unable to just deny the mission would be much more serious.
Also, loading times. Jesus Christ, loading times. Have a level load for five minutes on a powerful machine, walk through it in a minute, have another level load for five minutes, only to have a conversation I skip halfway through every quote because I read subtitles faster than the voice actor plays his part.

My only real experience with playing Vampire was a Dark Ages LARP, where the guy running it was a good friend who told me, "Hey, I need some guys I trust to play the high powered NPCs". I agreed and got handed a character sheet labeled "Lancelot".

Yes. THAT Lancelot. The NPCs were all Arthurian Legend characters, all like 5th or 6th generation vampires. Setting was the War of the Roses historical period.

The players were given 9th and 10th gen vampire templates they could tweak. Most that showed up were used to standard Masquerade LARPs. Soon after we started, one group began with the stereotypical prissy angsty mincing political maneuvering. They were pretty shocked that when they annoyed King Arthur, he unlimbered a greatsword and cut one of them in half.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/wobble.gif)

And, oh, gods, when a 5th Gen uses Presence...



-k

Every Vampire game I've ever heard of was a LARP. Didn't anyone play it around a freaking table?

We did. Which resulted in a couple of epic scenes involving property damage.