Topic: Vampire: Bloodlines -> Update: Bloodlines joins GOG.

[MysterD]

NEW -> 4/25/2016:
GOG -> Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines has joined GOG.
GOG -> V:TM-BL's Store Page - game's currently $20 (normal MSRP price).


OLD:
PC Gamer -> Article on how to get Vampire: Bloodlines going on modern OS's; and also how to run it at 4K (if you have a 4K Monitor)
Eurogamer -> Retrospective on both Troika Games and Werner Spahl "Wesp5" (the modder who did many of his unofficial patches for Bloodlines) for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.



---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EARLY EDIT:
I've renamed this thread to the Vampire: Bloodlines Thread, since 90% of the talk in this thread is about Vampire.
Plus, we already have a separate Arcanum thread, anyways.
(Hell, all I'd need to do is make a TOEE Thread, once I decide to give that a chance...heh!)

ORIGINAL POST:
The Rise & Fall of Troika -> This article sums up the Rise and Fall of Troika games, who worked on Arcanum, ToEE and Vampire: Bloodlines -- from The Escapist
RPGCodex -> Interview w/ Leonard Boyarksy on Interplay and Troika; and their games.

[Quemaqua]

I wish I had time to read.  I'll have to check it out.  I really liked them.

[MysterD]

I wish I had time to read.  I'll have to check it out.  I really liked them.

Make sure you bookmark  this thread then to your Fav's on your Web Browser.

[scottws]

Decent article I guess.  I didn't have much of a love affair with Troika.  The only game from them I played was Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.  It was okay, but I got bored with it pretty fast.

[Quemaqua]

I loved that game, which I didn't expect to.  I hate cheesy vampire shit, but the game had such good characters I managed to really fall in love with it.  Buggy as hell, but not their worst in that regard, and I managed to get really far without running into anything bad.  I never did beat it, though.

[Cobra951]

That's one of those games I started & was very much into, but somehow moved away from too early.  It's still on my PC too.

[MysterD]

If you are looking for Unofficial Patch 3.5 for Bloodlines, get it here.
It's a huge 185 MB.

Remember -- this is "unofficial patch", so use at your own risk.
And, the only way to remove this patch is to do a complete uninstall of the game.

Here's the ReadMe file for it.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines unofficial patch 3.5
=========================================================

This is an unofficial patch for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
by Troika Games. It's a cumulative patch containing all the previous
patches and is intended for english retail or Direct2Drive versions!

Applying this patch to a version in another language will work also,
but all texts in the game previously appearing in that language will
be replaced by the english versions with the exception of the menus.

To install the patch extract this archive into the game folder using
options that keep directory structure and dates intact and overwrite
files of the same name. Removing is only possible by reinstallation.

This patch fixes many bugs, restores unused content and mods some of
the game to improve the consistency of the presented world. It ought
to be installed right on top of the Troika Games official patch 1.2.

More basic changes are listed first in the version history, then bug
fixes and more. It is recommended to start a new game after patching
to avoid odd behaviour, but continueing at hub change may work okay.

Both editors used for the creation of this patch are included in the
vdata directory. Many thanks go to Turvy for VPKTool and RobinHood70
for BSPEdit. Everything else can be done using a normal text editor.

Tips and Tricks:
----------------
When using the console, be sure to activate it from the menu only.
To reinstall clean up registry and remove vtmb.ini from /windows.
On start crashings force refresh rate override or use -dxlevel 80.
If you experience stutter on dual core systems turn one core off.
Don't save or leave maps with disciplines active to avoid crashes.
At high Obfuscate levels use attack to stealth kill successfully.
If a container auto-closes right-click the objects to choose them.
Have four empty inventory slots when taking Imalia's Tawni quest.
If you can't read papers re-bind "use" away from the mousebuttons.
To avoid crashes don't play sounds with the Windows Media Player.
When controls lag use Win98 compability mode and set priority low.
Enemy death may open doors and give items, which Trance does not.
Some feed victims stay in Trance so don't bite quest-related ones.
Occasionally Beckett stays in wolf form when meeting him, reload.
Game may crash in cutscenes if you are Obfuscated, so turn it off.
If you experience random attacking bind attack away from "enter".
Rarely your appartment may get full of strange stuff, just reload.
If a cutscene freezes try reload or type frenzyplayer in console.
When getting problems with a history during the tutorial, skip it.

Stuff not fixed:
----------------
"Skip intro" and special fonts only work at resolutions > 800x600.
Be aware that on dialogue your character will holster his weapon.
There are invisible blocks at the Theatre, the Museum and Fu Labs.
Gary's posters appear in all havens, Mitnick's emails dissappear.
Dead enemies drop only one weapon, some exit map icons are absent.
"Skip intro" appears after a saved game but does not always work.
Occasionally mailboxes do not receive rewards or objects drop out.
Female and male Gangrel show different stances in the background.
During some cutscenes your character will look and move strangely.
Bodies may dissappear and dead people may re-appear in cutscenes.
Prof. Johansen's christian name is stated to be Ingvar and Anders.
Vandal will not give his freebie if you already got a blue blood.
Same objects in containers and inventory will not show up in both.
Draining rats sometimes triggers melee mode after it is finished.
Game may hang on "wait" cutscene, walk on left side or use sewers.
At Confession third person view zooms in when being on the cross.
Testing out too many histories during selection is prone to crash.
Blood Shield stays on until exhausted or removed, this is no bug.
The news will not always fit as will the inside of some buildings.

v3.5
----
Placed Yukie into endgame Temple like planned and fixed more props.
Swapped Boris' Colt with a Glock and updated CIS computer details.
Added female Desert Eagle and gave it to hunters, thanks to MooCHa.
Restored about ten unused lines from Jack, Knox, Trip and LaCroix.
Inverted Milligan humanity loss and clarified a tutorial quest log.
Lowered flamethrower lethality and Eldritch Prodigy damage effect.

Fixed missing stealth kill sounds for replica katana and bush hook.
Restored Protean claw effects and solved some smaller text issues.
Added missing lamps to the Ocean House trailer and locked the door.
Stopped Doris from falling in floor and the need to reset options.
Fixed wrong auras of Ash, Barabas and Julius and raised dog health.
Unified irregular maximal ammo values and changed some ammo worth.

[Quemaqua]

Any ideas on how this works?  I really wouldn't mind playing the game again, but I don't want wonky community shit destroying it.  But if this is good, I'd love to give it a whirl.

[Xessive]

I've been using the unofficial patches, and they're pretty good. They fix a lot of bugs and inconsistencies that the devs didn't get with patch v1.2. It doesn't damage the game or change it in such a way that it's too different.

[MysterD]

I've been using the unofficial patches, and they're pretty good. They fix a lot of bugs and inconsistencies that the devs didn't get with patch v1.2. It doesn't damage the game or change it in such a way that it's too different.

That's great to hear.

Thanks for the info, X.

[MysterD]

TOEE Interview
This is an old interview w/ Troika's Tim Cain from around the time that ToEE was released, either not too long before or after it. It was interviewed by Desslock. This was actually never released....well, until now.

It's basically about the challenges that Troika faced w/ ToEE, content-wise from their publisher, Atari -- since we all know that Troika aims for making M-rated games.

Some of this includes being forced by Atari to remove a lot of M-rated content from the game, to jack it down to a T rating.

And from the sounds of things, a good portion of the game and its side quests were chopped off b/c of this, which surrounded a lot of that removed content.

[MysterD]

I loved that game, which I didn't expect to.  I hate cheesy vampire shit, but the game had such good characters I managed to really fall in love with it.  Buggy as hell, but not their worst in that regard, and I managed to get really far without running into anything bad.  I never did beat it, though.

I've beaten it twice, myself. There's like 7 different endings, Que!!!

Yeah, I loved the game, too. I expected to like it, from the get-go. I expected it to be very good, but wasn't sure if the bugs and performance issues would get to me. For the most part, it didn't. Though, I didn't expect to call it one of the best RPG's since Planescape: Torment.

Yeah, the characters and amounts of ways to finish quests were great -- especially until the final third of the game. Not that the final third was horrible, it still was good -- but it just wasn't as open-ended as the rest of the game.

Any ideas on how this works?  I really wouldn't mind playing the game again, but I don't want wonky community shit destroying it.  But if this is good, I'd love to give it a whirl.

Things to note, from the Readme of the Community Patches.
1. Like it or not, you first must install official patch 1.2 -- that's required.
2. Then, you unzip the unofficial community patch into your game directory -- and let it overwrite any old files, when you are asked if you'd like to do so.
3. It's also highly recommended that if you have any old saves games from past versions of Vamp, you don't continue w/ them. Start a NEW game, once you install the unofficial patch.

Que, I will let you know, once I try it. I'll put it in pretty soon, probably. I am at a waiting point here, uncertain of what to play, for now.

So, I might try Vamp: BL for a third time -- this time, w/ the new community patch installed!

[Pugnate]

I need to reinstall Vampire. Unfortunately Oblivion has grabbed me by the family jewels again. When that happens I don't feel for anything else.

[MysterD]

I need to reinstall Vampire. Unfortunately Oblivion has grabbed me by the family jewels again. When that happens I don't feel for anything else.

Anytime I get an Elder Scrolls game, I play -- pretty much -- NOTHING ELSE for a good time period. Those games are time sinks that completely absorb me and suck me in, until I finish it. They won't let go of me -- yes, and I don't want to let go, either!!!

I think once I purchase Shivering Isles once it goes on sale this Sunday, it'll consume me for...well, quite a while....And I doubt I'll be playing any other game but that, until I finish it.

Jade Empire PC did that to me, too. I wouldn't play any other game, but that, once I got it. I often will play 2 or 3 different games, at once -- especially these days and age, where I'm constantly buying new games. Well, not that time around -- Jade sucked me in...period!


EDIT w/ Vamp: BL Unofficial Version 3.5 by "Wesp" Impressions
-------------------------------------------------------------
I didn't play it for very long, but I noticed the in-game performance is better than Patch 1.2, right off the bat. So, yes -- good start already!

I dunno, but the gameworld seems more lively w/ NPC's than I remember it was before, too. I wonder if they added more NPC's to the streets, even if they just walk around and you actually can't talk to them. Sure looks and seems like it, to me.

I will need more time to spend w/ this unofficial patch, to give more impressions....


Now, I know they've fixed some bugs (game not rewarding you any XP points, quests not listed as done in the journal, etc etc) and restored a lot of old content, too, w/ this patch -- which is all stated in the huge ReadMe File. I gone through reading a lot of these release notes; crap, there's a lot since the first version of that unofficial patch!

For a few small examples of what they done....
--Yukie actually is now in the game endings, as she was originally planned to be, thanks to unofficial patch 3.5.
--A scene that was removed w/ Therese and Jeannette is back in there b/c of Unofficial 3.1.
--More Heather lines have been restored, thanks to version 3.1 and 3.2.
--Fixed grammar, spelling, and punctuation issues in some of the game's areas over many of the patches.

[Pugnate]

Thanks for the info on the patch.

But is it necessary. Doesn't the official patch do a decent job?

[MysterD]

Thanks for the info on the patch.

But is it necessary. Doesn't the official patch do a decent job?

The unofficial patches fix A LOT of bugs and RESTORES a lot of content that was cut out due to namely time restraints and/or b/c their publisher (Activision) told them to remove it (but, this content still so happened to be on the game disc, it was just unused or not completed fully; kind of what happened w/ some of the content in Planescape: Torment and SW: KOTOR series).

Even with official Patch 1.2, there are some miscalculations/bugs where the game gives you for finishing some quests, 0 experience points when you were supposed to actually get some points. There's another bug that gives you the wrong amount of experience points, too. I read about these issues were fixed by Unofficial Version 3.5, which is in the ReadMe.

Oh, plus the game runs better w/ the patch, too. Definitely should note that. I noticed it right off the bat, running much better especially outdoors. It always ran well indoors for me, even though it running better now indoors. Still, when there's a lot on-screen, framerate drops -- but, not as bad as before.

Is the patch necessary? Well, w/ the extensive list of fixed bugs that is there as now fixed, for that reason alone, it probably is. The increase of the in-game performance just adds to it.

I will play more, to see if what I say is even more so true than I already believe....or not....

[Pugnate]

Does it break anything?

[MysterD]

Does it break anything?

Not much, from what I read and experienced w/ it.

From what I read on Steam's Vamp: BL Boards, most people having some major problems w/ this version are only those who bought the game over STEAM and tried applying this patch to the STEAM version of the game. It can be done to implement Unofficial Version 3.5 into your STEAM version of the game, which has been mentioned on Steam's boards on how to actually go about doing this.

Now, here's a list of issues that they know of that still exist, which they have yet fixed. I don't know what issues here are unresolved issues from Troika's last edition of the game (Patch 1.2) AND issues that might've been causing by the actual unofficial patches themselves.

Stuff not fixed:
--------------------------
"Skip intro" and special fonts only work at resolutions > 800x600.
Be aware that on dialogue your character will holster his weapon.
There are invisible blocks at the Theatre, the Museum and Fu Labs.
Gary's posters appear in all havens, Mitnick's emails dissappear.
Dead enemies drop only one weapon, some exit map icons are absent.
"Skip intro" appears after a saved game but does not always work.
Occasionally mailboxes do not receive rewards or objects drop out.
Female and male Gangrel show different stances in the background.
During some cutscenes your character will look and move strangely.
Bodies may dissappear and dead people may re-appear in cutscenes.
Prof. Johansen's christian name is stated to be Ingvar and Anders.
Vandal will not give his freebie if you already got a blue blood.
Same objects in containers and inventory will not show up in both.
Draining rats sometimes triggers melee mode after it is finished.
Game may hang on "wait" cutscene, walk on left side or use sewers.
At Confession third person view zooms in when being on the cross.
Testing out too many histories during selection is prone to crash.
Blood Shield stays on until exhausted or removed, this is no bug.
The news will not always fit as will the inside of some buildings.

[MysterD]

From what I read on Steam's Vamp: BL Boards, most people having some major problems w/ this version are only those who bought the game over STEAM and tried applying this patch to the STEAM version of the game. It can be done to implement Unofficial Version 3.5 into your STEAM version of the game, which has been mentioned on Steam's boards on how to actually go about doing this.

Looks like STEAM has issued -- under the radar w/out mentioning this on their Steam-based Vamp: BL boards -- a new update for Vamp: BL.

And nobody knows what it does, yet -- heh.

Some believe it was done to nerf those who transferred Unofficial Version 3.5 onto their Steam version of the game -- and got that unsupported version of the game running over Steam.

I hope if this is really being done, that there will be some new official updates for Vamp: BL over Steam to fix issues that were still lingering after Patch 1.2. It'd ALSO be nice if those who actually own the 3-CD version get new Official Patches for them, as well.

I have spent a lot of time w/ Vamp: BL the past 2 days, running unofficial patch 3.5. No problems yet w/ it.

[Quemaqua]

Keep us updated.  I've been considering a reinstall but want to wait until I see what's going on.

[MysterD]

Keep us updated.  I've been considering a reinstall but want to wait until I see what's going on.

With Unofficial Patch 3.5, I made my way up to the Jeanette vs. Therese feud w/out any problems, issues, or anything. No crashes, no graphical glitches, no nasty bugs, nada. I didn't have much problems w/ Official 1.2, but I figured I'd try Unofficial 3.5, since the list of bug fixes, restorations, spelling fixes, punctuation fixes, and everything else is now quite extensive. So far, I've found nothing here to break the actual game itself -- whether it's performance-wise or content-wise.

About Steam version of Vamp: BL, I dunno -- I really don't like that Steam is forcing the new patch on users w/out warning. I never liked Steam forcing updates on users like it always has done, anyways -- especially on SINGLE PLAYER games. And I really don't like that Steam hasn't issued a changelog, Readme, or anything on what the hell they changed/fixed for their version of Vamp: BL. The only good thing about Vamp: BL being on STEAM is the game might get some official support -- maybe from Valve or Activision. It's always nice to see games, years after release, getting official support from a game developer.

But really, it seems like so far, the Unofficial Patches were doing just fine w/ patching the game....

[MysterD]

Well, well -- looks like someone else is doing their own unofficial Vamp: BL patches, but they are just to fix the bugs and NOT add content back into the game and NOT change the game content at all.

Tessera's Unofficial "True" Vamp BL Patch can be found here

[MysterD]

I dunno if anyone else saw this, but this is a tech demo of what Troika was planning on next before they wound up defunct....

...An upcoming post-modern RPG (a la Fallout series settings) with combat done in real-time (think like NWN series for combat).

[MysterD]

For those into Vamp: Bloodlines unofficial patches...
I'll list Wesp's Unofficial Patches and Tessera's Unofficial Patches, since these are the two guys who do their own unofficial patches.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
Troika's Official Patch 1.2 MUST be installed first - so click here, if you need it!
Then you can install EITHER Wesp's or Tessera's Unofficial Patches.

Tessera's "True" Patch
This is Tessera's most recent Unofficial Patch 5.04 AT.
These patches are basically intended to only fix bugs and issues -- and restore a tiny bit of originally intended content (not much, though).

Wesp's Unofficial Patches
Wesp has released Unofficial Patch 5.7 for Bloodlines.
Wesp's patches are known to have bug-fixes, make changes, add new content to the game, restore cut-content from the game, and who knows whatelse Wesp intend.

It's been a while since I listed Wesp's patches, so here ya go.
Here's some of the recent Patch Log/Notes.
Patch Notes for Wesp's Unofficial Patch 5.7

(+) indicates changes to Plus version
+Restored Skelter with his dialogue to Lucky Star during the endgame.
+Adjusted maximal ammo to match clip size and raised rifle accuracy.
+Moved Fat Larry into Confession alley and restored Fae Charm reward.
+Restored crossbow bolts and rifle bullets buyable from all vendors.
+Made Toreador start with Appearance +1 and increased falling damage.
Changed severed arm pickup sound and added two missing mode sounds.
Fixed taxi driver, E, Razor, Yukie, Mercurio, Nadia and Jack issues.
Made Larry send spam email to show that vendors update their stock.
Swapped several Ventrues with helipad SWATs and fixed their texture.
Removed second tutorial enemy for Presence because of common popup.
Prevented talking with Chunk when someone else attacked the Gallery.
Corrected sliding doors, some handles and an icon at Venture Tower.
Fixed logs for Copper, Heather, werewolf blood and Metalhead quests.
Corrected wrong icons at the Ocean House and Jezebel Locke's trunk.
Made Astrolite undroppable again and added a Regent Blood Hunt line.
Unified burning barrel and fire explosion damage on several levels.
Turned the Firemage and Ventrues into females for male clan members.
Fixed issues for bums, Pisha, Copper, Empire clerk and Bishop Vick.
Added missing cabbie aura to three maps and fixed minor text issues.
Corrected Temple maps start orientation, inspections and a tin can.
Improved corpse variety in warrens lair and a Blood Hunt enemy pair.

There's so many fixes, restorations, changes in each release of Wesp's unofficial patches.
So, here's the links to many of them.
Patch 5.6 Log Notes
Patch 5.5 Log Notes
Patch 5.4 Log Note
Patch 5.3 log notes
Patch 5.2 log notes
Patch 5.1 log notes
Patch 5.0 log notes

[MysterD]

Vampire: Bloodlines - Companion Mod
Basically, what this mod does is allows your vampire in the game to have certain in-game characters join you on your quest -- like most games that allow you to have a small party (i.e. Mass Effect).

Videos
PROMO Video showing off this new Vamp: Bloodlines - Companion Mod.

Official Web Site
Official Web Site for The VTM:BL - Companion Mod

VTMB CompMod enhances Vampires The Masquerade Bloodlines by allowing you to recruit other NPCs to join your party and travel with you throughout the game.

Other party centric enhancements include:

    * Ability to embrace some select NPCs later in the game.
    * Ability to possess your traveling companions and use their special abilities from afar (if desired).
    * Place party members around your haven in an assortment of animated poses
    * Tell party members to change outfits.
    * Supports installable outfit packs.
    * Over 250 dialog responses were crafted from existing audio to support new transition conversations with companions.
    * Access to secondary traveling inventory through companion dialog.

EDIT, April 6th, 2009:
Brian Mitsoda Interview with RockPaperShotgun on Vamp: BL and Troika
Here's an interview with the former Troika employee, who now is with Obsidian.

[MysterD]

Wesp's Unofficial Patch - Version 6.3
Wesp's Unofficial Patch 6.3 released for Vamp: BL.
152 MB download.

SIDE NOTE: ALL of Wesp's Unofficial Patches AFTER Version 6.0 do not need you to have (Troika's) Official Patch 1.2 installed first anymore. Just install Wesp's Patch 6.0 (or newer) and you're good to go.


Eurogamer Retrospective
Eurogamer has a very nice retrospective here on Vamp: BL.
They tackle on some of the (great) stuff Troika did in the game and also how the community fixed the game.

Dedicated Vamp: BL Community

In many ways, Bloodlines was the greatest game in the world. In many others, it simply wasn't good enough.

Returning with this knowledge does it some favours. This time around, I knew it would be broken, removing much of that crushing disappointment. I also came armed with an abundance of community fixes. Bloodlines' fans are admirably dedicated. That they've felt it important enough to spend years tweaking code and (for want of a better word) revamping animations says a lot for the inspirational quality of the game itself.

Great Quests & Stories

It's the little stories like that of Ocean House - the ones not obviously related to the main plot - that fascinate me most about Bloodlines. Almost every quest, mandatory or otherwise, tells a tale or explores a character. All are fiendishly intelligent, and adult in exactly the right way. Bloodlines tackles issues that would have most games cowering in a corner, but never is it crass or exploitative. It's a game about people, about the nasty truths of our society. Despite the supernatural front, it's irrefutably a game about real life.

[MysterD]

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is $4.95 on Direct2Drive currently until Sunday Nov. 1st.

[MysterD]

Wesp's Unofficial Patch - Version 6.8 Released.
Wesp is back at it again. Get it here.

(+) denotes changes for Plus Edition players

v6.8 10.02.2010
----
+Made bail bond returnable to Lily and restored VV's poster to basic.
Restored three paintings into Empire hotel and moved others around.
Fixed static NPCs on downtown hub and restored some Society weapons.
Restored report to SM clinic and newspaper pictures to Ocean House.
Swapped wrong Luckee Star key model and SPAS into Hallowbrook hotel.
Restored three context icons, three infobar icons and three models.
Repaired dialogues of Heather, Jack, Arthur, Pisha, Dema and hooker.
Corrected Ocean House steam cloud directions and minor map details.
Prevented restored NPC conversations from triggering multiple times.
Hid door icons at Grout's mansion and used phone prop to open one.
Restored rain to beachhouse and removed it from Ocean House outside.

[MysterD]

Escapist has a lookback on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

Sadly, Bloodlines was the last game that Troika would ever make, as the company folded just a few months after its release. With more money, time and manpower, Bloodlines could have been a genuine masterpiece rather than the cult classic it eventually became. But even though it stumbled out of the starting gate, Bloodlines accomplished something great: More than five years on, there is still a dedicated community creating unofficial patches and restoring cut content, a feat that few games - even incredibly popular and well known ones - can boast. Great games may inspire awe, but Troika's swan song stirred a feeling in players that is just as powerful: devotion.

[MysterD]

Wesp releases Wesp Unofficial Patch 6.9 for Bloodlines.
Patch notes here.

Grab the patch here to download.

As with most unofficial patches - use at your own risk.

[MysterD]

Bloodlines Revival Mod announced by modders
Bloodlines Revival Mod project announced.
Basically, the modders are in the process of bringing Bloodlines over to the newest version of Source.

BL Revival - Trailer
Bloodlines Revival Mod - Trailer.

BL Revival - Their Forums
Here's their forums for the BL Revival project

News from RPGWatch

Acleacius sends word of the Bloodlines Revival Project, a work-in-progress, which aims to convert Bloodlines over to the latest Source engine code:

The Bloodlines Revival Project is a community effort to update the original Vampire Bloodlines game, bringing it to the current Source engine.

To achieve this, a dedicated team of hobbyists are working on converting the original content into the new engine. This has the following benefits:

* Fixing all of the bugs still found in the original games (the original developers were only able to release one patch - it's up to us!)

* Among these bugs were slowdowns, bad framerates, quest issues, graphical problems/glitches, and a serious control issue present for most people that locks up all controls for several moments periodically.

* To bring the fans of the game an SDK to work with.

* This allows fans to make their own Bloodlines content - maps, textures, quests, npcs - anything and everything.


We are releasing this as public domain. All source code for any tools our team creates is freely available and we will never charge anything for what we release.

[Quemaqua]

Uuhh... is it just me or does that seem like a colossal waste of time?  Source really isn't a great engine.  Why even bother?

[Xessive]

Uuhh... is it just me or does that seem like a colossal waste of time?  Source really isn't a great engine.  Why even bother?

I don't think it's about the Source engine being great rather than no choice in the matter. A bunch of people who love Bloodlines want to "update" it and the easiest way is to integrate the updated Source engine, since the game is in a much older rendition of the Source engine anyway.

What I like about Source is that it runs fairly well on older systems, it's relatively light and very open to modification. Aside from that there isn't much that's 'great' about it.

Here's hoping the next Vampire: The Masquerade game adopts the Unreal engine.

[MysterD]

Uuhh... is it just me or does that seem like a colossal waste of time?  Source really isn't a great engine.  Why even bother?

1.Source SDK Support
There really is no SDK for Vampire: BL - so, the mod community hasn't really gone all-out w/ adding tons of new content. Basically, Wesp been unofficially patching the game to fix issues/bug/re-balance the game and restoring cut-content, more so than anything else. Games like Morrowind and NWN have lived w/ very long legs and a much longer life b/c of the SDK's they had were embraced by their mod community.

With the modders trying to give Vamp: BL some Source SDK support - which is a popular SDK, I might add - maybe the cult following of Vamp: BL will finally be able to breathe all kinds of brand new life into this cult classic.

2.Improved Performance
Keep in mind, Vamp: BL was built an early version of the Source Engine - so, the performance can still be laggy with more enemies on the screen (see the hotel mission w/ the zombies, when you fight tons and tons of enemies on screen) - even w/ everything on with really good hardware. So, improved performance is a good benefit of bringing it over to the newest version of Source - especially since games like Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 handle lots of enemies w/ no slowdown quite well.


EDIT:

I don't think it's about the Source engine being great rather than no choice in the matter. A bunch of people who love Bloodlines want to "update" it and the easiest way is to integrate the updated Source engine, since the game is in a much older rendition of the Source engine anyway.

What I like about Source is that it runs fairly well on older systems, it's relatively light and very open to modification. Aside from that there isn't much that's 'great' about it.

Agreed 100%.

It'll probably be better to throw it onto new Source than keeping it chugging on the older Source engine. I really like the thought of Source SDK support more so than anything else here.

Here's hoping the next Vampire: The Masquerade game adopts the Unreal engine.

Vampire: The Masquerade is currently over - old rule-set. It's been revised into what's known as Vampire: The Requiem. If there's going to be a new modern Vampire game, it'll be w/ Requiem rules.

There was a new World of Darkness MMO planned, but God knows what's up w/ that. Eve Online's makers were working on that - but we ain't heard jack squat about it in years. I don't even think we've even seen one screen-shot on that game.

I wouldn't mind Vampire adopting Unreal Engine. I'll take that over Source any day.

[Xessive]

I have a Vampire: The Requiem book back home, with some artwork and a storyline indicating that vampires revealed themselves, and so the new pen/paper game is set in that world. Interesting stuff.

I feel the Unreal engine would give a Vampire game the visceral effects it needs as well a wide range of grand environments.

Remember the old VTM: Redemption game? I thought it had a great story and characters. It played a lot like a typical Bioware game. It used a modified Quake 2 engine and pulled it off really well at the time.

[MysterD]

I have a Vampire: The Requiem book back home, with some artwork and a storyline indicating that vampires revealed themselves, and so the new pen/paper game is set in that world. Interesting stuff.

I feel the Unreal engine would give a Vampire game the visceral effects it needs as well a wide range of grand environments.

I'd rather have Vampire: The Requiem Game than the World of Darkness MMO. All we need is another fuckin' MMO.... 

You know who would be perfect for Vampire: The Requiem SP game? Obsidian.

Yeah, Unreal Engine is a great engine that's had a lot of great games made from it, over the years.

Remember the old VTM: Redemption game? I thought it had a great story and characters. It played a lot like a typical Bioware game. It used a modified Quake 2 engine and pulled it off really well at the time.

Never played it. I been meaning to buy it - but it ain't bought it yet.

GOG does sell it to buy-to-download, these days. I should scoop it up, when they have one of their sales.

[MysterD]

Gear Diary has a retrospective on Vampire: Bloodlines.

[MysterD]

Destructoid -> Weekend Modder's Guide for Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (PC).

[Xessive]

This is weird.. I was just thinking of VTM Bloodlines because The Darkness 2 reminded me of it!

I'm still disappointed by Bloodlines. I had such high hopes

[MysterD]

This is weird.. I was just thinking of VTM Bloodlines because The Darkness 2 reminded me of it!

I'm still disappointed by Bloodlines. I had such high hopes

I loved Bloodlines.
I think Wesp's UO Patches [Basic Version] fixed most of the bugs and other issues w/ the game, anyways.