Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines

[Shabado]

Originally Posted by Duppin

Yep, that's Ocean House. Won some well-deserved awards for level design.

Probably my favourite level in any game I've played, and the first time since playing the first Resident Evil when I was about 12 that I've actually been scared playing a game. So fucking creepy!

[Hatorade]

Loved this game...have yet to beat it though. I Really need too.

[Quineloe]

moar awesome dialogue

[Pop]

So like, anybody playing this game on Vista? Downloaded it off direct2drive to check it out, but i'm getting a bink error every time I try and start it. Done all the usual administrator work arounds that usually work on Vista as well.

[Himeo]

Damn you Troika! /pours a 40

This was one of the better games I've played, and easily the best of any goth/occult game. Patch it before you play it.

The music score was excellent, the art breathtaking, and some of the level designs were brilliant. Too bad the game suffered from a rushed release, =/. Easily one of the best games of 2004.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

Play through the game as anything once and then go back and play it as a Malkavian. It's like playing a different game. The same can almost be said for the Nosferatu and Tremere.

[Vorph]

It wasn't really that rushed. Sure there was the usual batch of bugs that goes without saying when you're talking about a Troika (QA? What's that?) game, but the real lesson to be learned was that you don't license an engine two years before it's done. HL2 was supposed to come out at least six months before VTM:B, but instead they both came out on the same day. Troika never had anything close to a current version of Source to work with, and because of them shutting down soon after they never benefited from the engine upgrades after release. Everything that's been patched past 1.2 is pure lua.

Regardless I still consider it to be in the top 5 games of all time. I'd put it at #1 if not for the lackluster endgame that involved way too much combat compared to the rest. It's kind of funny/sad that the final Black Isle game (Lionheart) suffered from similar problems too.


Also, if you're playing it now, I'd highly recommend the alternate unofficial patch instead of the 'official' unofficial patch that most everyone uses. Details here, direct link here (because the first link is somewhat NSFW, you've been warned). Basically it fixes the bugs but doesn't fuck around with anything else that didn't need to be changed. The other patch has changes that alter the game balance for no real reason.

[Quineloe]

Patch 4.2 also finishes a lot of unfinished content that got removed from the game, but not removed from the game files. You should play both - with the highly diverse character classes, you actually can replay it 2-3 times.

Patch 5.0 (Vorphs link) does not change anything, just fixes the bugs

[Vorph]

Yea, I meant that for first-time players. Once you've played through the bugfix only version, it's definitely worth going back to try the other patch. Especially since you really need to play the game at least twice anyway (once as Malk, once as something else--probably Tremere if you're going to stop after two playthroughs).

[Wildstone]

I refuse to use Tessmage's patch. That person redefines asshole. Not to mention moronic.

He got upset that Mages weren't powerful enough in WoW, so he started a "Mage's Union" and then made alt accounts to make it look like it had actual support of the player base. Once Blizzard revealed that all the accounts were his, he threatened legal action. At that point, Blizzard just banned him and the collective Blizzard forums breathed a sigh of relief.

Use the original "unofficial" patch. The filled in content really helps some of the more "WTF" parts of the storyline. Plus, you should be supporting the dude. He's been working on this patch for nearly 3 years. Tess just took his stuff, ripped out what he didn't like, and then renamed it. Ass.

[Vorph]

I agree that Tessera is a prick of the highest order, however the patch he hosts really is best for someone looking to play the game as Troika intended, sans bugs. I don't have anything against Wesp like the tessmage people do; I think he's done a great job even if I don't agree with a lot of his changes. I just wouldn't suggest that someone playing the game for the first time should use it, much like I wouldn't suggest someone who'd never played BG1 and BG2 play those games with the Tutu mod.

[Handaar]

This game was amazing. The Ocean House is by far one of my favorite levels in any game. Also I don't think i've laughed so much in a single game ever.

[Wildstone]

Originally Posted by Vorph

I just wouldn't suggest that someone playing the game for the first time should use it, much like I wouldn't suggest someone who'd never played BG1 and BG2 play those games with the Tutu mod.

But...but...its TESS. Winner of the douchebag award 5 years in a row...

But ok ok, I can see how different people might want different things in their patches. But I personally first played through with the complete patch, and had a grand old time. Your pleasure may vary though.

[Quineloe]

What's with the tutu mod? All it does is make BG1 run in the BG2 engine I thought

[Duppin]

Originally Posted by Quineloe

You should play both - with the highly diverse character classes, you actually can replay it 2-3 times.

What does this mean, exactly? Just histories unlocked, or did they enable the clans that were half-done like the various Antitribu, Assamite, etc?

[Quineloe]

Unlocked quests and stuff as well that were sealed in the release, best you read the patchlog - it's HUGE.