Duck and Cover

PiP wrote:Perhaps they could use more (varied) char models

Do you mean appearance or what? I think the different character 'classes' provided a very distinct game experience from another, although I only played with two characters.

and make bigger environemnts to lessen the 'fake world' feel I had

In this regard, Bloodlines is very much like Planescape: Torment, but on the other hand the environments were atmospheric and well designed. I'd rather have a more restricted gameworld than one filled with shitloads of generic fluff with little or no significance, like in Bethsoft games.

Blargh wrote:...
An SDK was cobbled together quite recently, if I recall. Blank to how populous or tasty the fruit might be, though.

...

SDK?

I wonder if it is compatible with other Source engine assets/etc.

Antlion vs. Brujah?

AWP vs. Nosferatu?

Rescue the Familiars?

Escort the Ventrue to the helicopter.

Plant the C4 in Werewolf nest?

Gangrel munching on headcrabs like popcorn?


Probably not.

VasikkA wrote:Do you mean appearance or what? I think the different character 'classes' provided a very distinct game experience from another, although I only played with two characters

sorry I didn't make myself clear; I meant how passers-by etc look.

In this regard, Bloodlines is very much like Planescape: Torment, but on the other hand the environments were atmospheric and well designed. I'd rather have a more restricted gameworld than one filled with shitloads of generic fluff with little or no significance, like in Bethsoft games.

true that, yet some spaces felt so small to me that I thought I was plying in a theater set scene, not in a city.
I actually think I need to replay the game so I can make more sense in this discussion. And for the fun, too!

This is the vampire bloodlines thread number twentyhoundredandsixtyfour.

The best part is the ghost house.

That was some scary shit.

yeah that was well done, it was quite spooky

MR Snake wrote:This is the vampire bloodlines thread number twentyhoundredandsixtyfour.

The best part is the ghost house.

That was some scary shit.

i <3 dialog with gary, i wanted a whole game with nothing but garys running around.

The only game that actually made me jump several times.. since the first Resident Evil

oh I just adored the hand

I'm thinking about replaying this game in the next couple months and I was wondering if any of you have tried the fan made patches? There is some controversy about one changing lots of questionable ones and the other being true to the game or whatever. What are your guys preference?


The drama can be found here:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=18356

I tried it, pretty good for a re-play.

I think within the patch there's a basic one which handles bugs, balancing and releasing buried content. and abigger one that has all that plus different weapons and modded content etc. IIRC.


I do love the way BL handled the sleazey LA atmosphere - peep shows, whorehouses, snuff flicks, dismembering serial killers, etc. Good shit.


Play a Malkavian female, pick the batshit insane trait for extra fun. I'm not one to get turned on by video game whores, but she's got some twistedly delicious outfits.

Albeit fairly appropriate, this is thread necrophilia.

In a nutshell, I had never got this game working on my computer, so the other day, I redownloaded it, spent a good 2+ hours fucking and fucking and fucking with it until it actually let me play the game. No regrets. Fucking awesome game.

I played with the official patch + latest fanpatch, 4.2. I think, but I just checked and it seems that 4.3 is out or something.
I'll start with the bad parts:
-Forced third person. Now this annoyed me a lot. A LOT. I found it acceptable how guns were in first person and melee combat in third person. Took a while to get used to, but acceptable nevertheless. What annoyed the hell out of me was how they liked sending you into the shitter, forced third-person and no matter how you turned your camera, you couldn't get rid of itl. Annoying game mechanic.
-100% linear. Well, I only played it once, but it didn't really seem like you had a lot of choice. It was sort of like an improved version of Deus Ex, you had the illusion of choice, but in the long run, you were just walking down the same corridor all the time.
bad.
-albeit nice, the converational skills, Persuasion, Intimidation, etc were pretty useful. Seemed like the only thing they gave you was some extra money here and there. Seemed pretty useless. Oh and what about that Perception? skill? So that you could have a blue aura around shit that you could pick up even without the blue aura? Whole load of balls.

The good bits:
-combat. Yes, in the beginning, I was thinking WTF. However, the combat is unique in its own way. The more I did it, the more I started enjoying it. Yet, combat difficulty fluctuated too much. If at first you failed, then next time, blow all disciplines (some of them were clearly overpowered) and you win. Yet, you had those bits that were way too difficult. Maybe I was a fool for playing with Stamina 1 throughout the whole game, but I really did not feel like raising it just to get through those few parts of the game that were a real pain in the ass. AI was shitty. Against most melee enemies, you could just walk backwards and shoot them with the .38, they were incapable of attacking you. Still, overall the combat was not
-token mention to the plot, storyline, immersion, etc. Simply the best RPG I've played in a long time. Nothing else to comment. Fucking superb.

Now my question is:
My first playthrough was with a edit: Toreador (I played with the clan that had human modifiers 2x). I decided to go as deep into the storyline as possible, so all conversational skills were maxed, secondary emphasis on lockpicking / hacking etc. I did basically all of the side quests that I could find anywhere. Sort of disappointed that there weren't more. I know that it is unlikely that subsequent playthroughs will be much different from the first one, so how can I soup it up? I don't feel like playing with a Nosferatu just yet, but I read the thread and gathered that Malkavians would be pretty fun. I started a second game with Ventrue, because I though that the game would be a little more challenging (fun) if blood wasn't available in abundance, but no matter on how many whores and homeless I fed, I still didn't manage to get my char to vomit, or see any other disadvantages. However, I got the starting trait a little wrong, so I will make a new char soon, so probably Malkavians are the way to go?

Some bugs I encountered:
-in the Nosferatu sewers, I got a quest from that "model" to go and install cams in that bitch's mansion. Did not get a quest failed message, but read up on planetvampire forums and realized that you weren't allowed to make any noise downstairs either (apparently you fail the quest, even though it doesn't say so). Oh well, game me an excuse to go back with a Sledgehammer.
-the hacker that gave me the quest for the breach of security networks quest, Spider's Web or whatever it was called. Did that massive line of quests and the shitfist bugged, not giving me a reward in the end. In fact, he pretended as if nothing happened and merrily gave me the quest a second time. Figured that I'd do it again for double experience (or I thought that maybe I had loaded the game at a wrong place or something) but could not do it again.
-needless to mention, a shitton of crashes that I managed to bypass with the console.

Malkavian


And remember to interrogate the street signs.

And the TV.


Etc.


Female, of course.

You spend the whole game watching her



wiggle.

Frater Perdurabo wrote: Some bugs I encountered:
-in the Nosferatu sewers, I got a quest from that "model" to go and install cams in that bitch's mansion. Did not get a quest failed message, but read up on planetvampire forums and realized that you weren't allowed to make any noise downstairs either (apparently you fail the quest, even though it doesn't say so). Oh well, game me an excuse to go back with a Sledgehammer.
-the hacker that gave me the quest for the breach of security networks quest, Spider's Web or whatever it was called. Did that massive line of quests and the shitfist bugged, not giving me a reward in the end. In fact, he pretended as if nothing happened and merrily gave me the quest a second time. Figured that I'd do it again for double experience (or I thought that maybe I had loaded the game at a wrong place or something) but could not do it again.
-needless to mention, a shitton of crashes that I managed to bypass with the console.

i'm pretty sure you're missing a patch of some sort, as i had neither of those problems when playing the game (the quests resolved themselves normally). i remember i had the 4.2 patch plus some other fan-made "true" bloodlines patch for playing the game the way it was intended or whatever, though i forget the name of it, ehue.

iirc persuasion is quite useful because it allows you to get some quests, and get max xp from completing other quests in the most desirable way, plus you get to learn some new exciting things. intimidation and seduction are total wank, they can't do anything that persuasion can't. firearms are also rather shit from my experience, just go with a melee weapon and max it out, gameplay shouldn't be too hard.

the stealth skill is also useless, especially if you're a malkavian since you can max out obfuscate(?) and sneak your way past most combats which gets you loads of bonus xp (okay, like three)

There are circumstances where Obfuscate is a waste of blood, such as against most supernatural opponents. At such times, Stealth can be quite useful as it is inexpensive, consistent and can easily compliment both melee and ranged builds. Short of the occasional infringements by plot, the game can be ghosted with Stealth and patience alone. Not so Obfuscate.

Ventrue is forgettable as opportunities for the use of Dominate in conversation are, more often than not, functionally identical to Persuasion. With the exceptions of Malkavian, Nosferatu and to a paler extent, Tremere, the clan based divergences are minor and scarce.

Also, I've heard that Children of Men is a rather spiffy film, confirm/deny.

Frater Perdurabo wrote:Albeit fairly appropriate, this is thread necrophilia.

qfe

Malkavian. Fun to play drunk and see if you can follow the conversation.

MR Snake wrote: The best part is the ghost house.

That was some scary shit.

i love that they made it completely empty. you walk around, gun raised, adrenalin pumping, always expecting to see some horrible boss-ghost or something around the next corner, but it never comes. chandeliers are falling, furniture is flying around the place, an elevator tries to squash you, the floor under your feet is falling apart, but never any actual enemies. pure genious.

I can't help getting bored when I'm at the Tzimisce's house.