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Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines -Lets play it again with mods!

Since I'm playing Dark Souls for the first spine-stomping time, I decided to re-install this for more calm, relaxing RPG experience. Being in a "silly" mood, I answered the character creation questions and ended up rolling a Malkavian.

seasonsgreetings.jpg


Oh my god.

I didn't think it was possible to find funnier games than Portal 2 and Sam & Max's but THIS GAME. Unholy hell. Malkavian interpretations and reactions (said in whatever interior voice you prefer) are unbelievable. Beautiful. Hilarious. Fantastic. Better than most published literature.

Thank you OP for the mod list, it's running something beautiful. I don't know how you found that SweetFX config post but THANK YOU!
 
Since I'm playing Dark Souls for the first spine-stomping time, I decided to re-install this for more calm, relaxing RPG experience. Being in a "silly" mood, I answered the character creation questions and ended up rolling a Malkavian.

seasonsgreetings.jpg


Oh my god.

I didn't think it was possible to find funnier games than Portal 2 and Sam & Max's but THIS GAME. Unholy hell. Malkavian interpretations and reactions (said in whatever interior voice you prefer) are unbelievable. Beautiful. Hilarious. Fantastic. Better than most published literature.

Thank you OP for the mod list, it's running something beautiful. I don't know how you found that SweetFX config post but THANK YOU!
There are few things as funny as playing a full lunatic Malkavian :D
 

Oeufcoque

Banned
Well, this game has sat in my library installed ever since I bought it last Halloween sale and I guess it's time to start playing.
 

Azih

Member
Loved all three of my playthroughs.

Toreador for the elite conversation skillz, Tremere for the unique powers, and finally Malkavian for the funniest god damn experience any game has ever given me.

I could play Nosferature for the most unique experience, but *sigh* I think I'm done.

Malk as first playthrough will make all the other ones feel dull, sorry Mr.Poolman!
 
Loved all three of my playthroughs.

Toreador for the elite conversation skillz, Tremere for the unique powers, and finally Malkavian for the funniest god damn experience any game has ever given me.

I could play Nosferature for the most unique experience, but *sigh* I think I'm done.

Malk as first playthrough will make all the other ones feel dull, sorry Mr.Poolman!

This is correct, also it is pretty funny to see how accurate the Malk "insight" is!
 

Dries

Member
So I bought this on Steam a while ago and I'll be starting this really soon. Are the mods in the OP still the best way to go? I understand that the wesp unofficial patch is absolutely mandatory. Is the hi-res texture pack in the OP also still the best?
 
This is one of my all time favorites. And I always play the malkavian chick! Too good to pass on. You have made a reinstaller out of me. Again.
 

danwarb

Member
Based on the before and after of the environmental texture mod I'm really not feelin' it. It takes away most of the grungy aesthetic and makes everything really clean for some reason. I think it makes the game look worse as a result.

But regardless, I support the thread because the footer image holds true.

Yes. I was confused as to which was before and after, whether my memory was playing tricks, because it looks much better before.

I turned off a lot of the post process mod tweaks on a recent play through because they were distracting. Especially the motion blur and bloom.
 

cripterion

Member
Never liked Bloodlines cause of the first person view. Why does redemption never get a mention? The game was great. There was a nice toolset to create your own adventures.
 
so how is this game? i got it a few days ago cause i am REALLY REALLY itching for an RPG and skyrim bores me to death and i had heard good things about this one.

havent started yet, what am i in for?
 

OTIX

Member
So I bought this on Steam a while ago and I'll be starting this really soon. Are the mods in the OP still the best way to go? I understand that the wesp unofficial patch is absolutely mandatory. Is the hi-res texture pack in the OP also still the best?
The unofficial patch is great but maybe save the PLUS content in the patch for a second playthrough. I don't like the high res pack at all, it changes the look of the game too much. It removes a lot of the dirt and wear, makes some things look too pristine and out of place. The SweetFX settings in the OP has a pretty heavy blue tint, I can upload my settings when I get home.
 
Haha I meant to address that to afternoon delight.

* ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?!?!?

The unofficial patch is great but maybe save the PLUS content in the patch for a second playthrough. I don't like the high res pack at all, it changes the look of the game too much. It removes a lot of the dirt and wear, makes some things look too pristine and out of place. The SweetFX settings in the OP has a pretty heavy blue tint, I can upload my settings when I get home.
Agreed, I skipped all the graphics mods because I found them way too shiny as well. Also, I believe most of the NPC mods listed/linked to from the OP aren't much of a improvement.
 

Sentenza

Member
Still can't believe the series went from this:

Foto+Vampire%3A+The+Masquerade+-+Redemption.jpg


to this:
1- As someone else already pointed, it's not a series. They are two entirely different games merely based on the same IP.
2- Bloodlines is so much the better game of the two, it's not even funny to compare them.
 

cj_iwakura

Member
1- As someone else already pointed, it's not a series. They are two entirely different games merely based on the same IP.
2- Bloodlines is so much the better game of the two, it's not even funny to compare them.

Redemption is hardly a bad game, but it's like comparing System Shock to System Shock 2. The medieval/modern divide was a neat idea, at least.
 

Dries

Member
So I downloaded the latest Official Patch and I now see the Sweet FX shaders, ENB stuff and some FXAA/SMAA thingies in the Extras folder. How do I implement these in the game? Or is it implemented already? I don't believe so, cause it's jaggies all over.

Also, if anybody can reccomend an HD texture mod, that would be great!
 

Vlodril

Member
Is Redemption playable? I remember it being pretty buggy back in the day

Played it recently it run fine. without any modding i think either.

As far as TucoBenedictoPacifico To the abyss with thee. On a serious note Redemption is playable and even decent but yea it does not hold a candle to Bloodlines.

Too bad the ip is stuck with ccp and the mmo's development hell.
 

Dries

Member
Question about the SweetFX preset mentioned in the OP. Are we supposed to just copy the whole

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////// Grimm_Ninja's SweetFX preset //////////////////////
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// Set to 1 for ON or 0 for OFF
#define USE_SMAA_ANTIALIASING 1
#define USE_LUMASHARPEN 1 //Also sharpens the antialiased edges which makes them less smooth - I'm working on fixing that.
#define USE_BLOOM 0 // Bloom makes bright lights bleed their light into their surroundings (relatively high performance cost)
#define USE_HDR 1 // Not actual HDR - It just tries to mimic an HDR look (relatively high performance cost)
#define USE_TECHNICOLOR 1 // Attempts to mimic the look of an old movie using the Technicolor three-strip color process (Techicolor Process 4)
#define USE_TONEMAP 1
#define USE_VIBRANCE 1 //Intelligently saturates (or desaturates if you use negative values) the pixels depending on their original saturation.
#define USE_SEPIA 0
#define USE_VIGNETTE 0 //Darkens the edges of the image to make it more look like it was shot with a camera lens. May cause banding artifacts.
#define USE_DITHER 1 //Applies dithering to simulate more colors than your monitor can display. This lessens banding artifacts (mostly caused by vignette)

#define USE_DPX 1 //Unfinished - Should make the image look like it's been converted to DXP Cineon - basically it's another movie-like look similar to technicolor
//I think the shader itself works, but the default settings need a lot of work. Maybe you can find some good settings?

/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ SMAA Anti-aliasing settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/

#define SMAA_THRESHOLD 0.16 // (0.08-0.20) Edge detection threshold
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS 64 // [0-98] Determines the radius SMAA will search for aliased edges
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS_DIAG 12 // [0-16] Determines the radius SMAA will search for diagonal aliased edges
#define SMAA_CORNER_ROUNDING 64 // [0-100] Determines the percent of antialiasing to apply to corners.

// -- Advanced SMAA settings --
#define COLOR_EDGE_DETECTION 1 // 1 Enables color edge detection (slower but more acurate) - 0 uses luma edge detection (faster)
#define SMAA_DIRECTX9_LINEAR_BLEND 0 // Using DX9 HARDWARE? (software version doesn't matter) if so this needs to be 1 - If not, leave it at 0.


/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ LumaSharpen settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
// -- Sharpening --
#define sharp_strength 0.9 // (0.2-2.0)Strength of the sharpening
#define sharp_clamp 0.045 // [0.0-1.0]Limits maximum amount of sharpening a pixel recieves - Default is 0.035

// -- Advanced sharpening settings --
#define pattern 2 // Choose a sample pattern [ 1, 2, 3 or 4 ] - 1 = Fast, 2 = Normal, 3 = Wider, 4 = Pyramid shaped.
#define offset_bias 1.0 // [0.0-6.0](1.0) Offset bias adjusts the radius of the sampling pattern.
// I designed the pattern for offset_bias 1.0, but feel free to experiment.

// -- Debug settings --
#define splitscreen 0 // Enables the before-and-after splitscreen comparison mode. Left side is before.
#define show_sharpen 0 // Visualize the strength of the sharpen (multiplied by 4 to see it better)


/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ Bloom settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
#define BloomThreshold 20.25
#define BloomPower 1.446
#define BloomWidth 0.0142

/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ HDR settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
#define HDRPower 0.79 //Strangely lowering this makes the image brighter
#define radius2 .64 //Raising this seems to make the effect stronger and also brighter


/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ TECHNICOLOR settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
#define TechniAmount 0.11
#define TechniPower 2.8
#define redNegativeAmount 0.35
#define greenNegativeAmount 0.5
#define blueNegativeAmount 0.5


/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ Tonemap settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
#define Gamma 1.175

#define Exposure -0.1
#define Saturation 0.0

#define Bleach 0.0

#define Defog 0.02 //How much of the color tint to remove
#define FogColor float3(2.55, 2.55, 2.55) //what color to remove - default is blue


/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ Vibrance settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
#define Vibrance 0.2 //Intelligently saturates (or desaturates if you use negative values) the pixels depending on their original saturation.


/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ Sepia settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
#define ColorTone float3(1.40, 1.10, 0.90)
#define SepiaPower 0.58
#define GreyPower 0.11

/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ Vignette settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
#define VignetteRadius 1.00 // lower values = stronger radial effect from center
#define VignetteAmount -1.00 // Strength of black. -2.00 = Max Black, 1.00 = Max White.
#define VignetteSlope 8 // How far away from the center the change should start to really grow strong (odd numbers cause a larger fps drop than even numbers)
#define VignetteCenter float2(0.500, 0.500) // Center of effect.


/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ Dither settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
//No settings yet, beyond switching it on or off in the top section.

//Note that checkerboard pattern used by Dither, makes an image harder to compress.
//This can make your screenshots and videos take up more space.


/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
///////////////////////// Work in Progress //////////////////////
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

/*-----------------------------------------------------------.
/ Cineon DPX settings /
'-----------------------------------------------------------*/
//I have yet to find good default settings for this .. maybe you can?
float Red = 10.0; //[1.0 - 15.0]
float Green = 12.0; //[1.0 - 15.0]
float Blue = 8.0; //[1.0 - 15.0]

float ColorGamma = 2.5f; //[0.1 - 2.5]
float DPXSaturation = 2.0f; //[0.0 - 8.0]

float RedC = 0.4f; //[0.6 - 0.2]
float GreenC = 0.36f; //[0.6 - 0.2]
float BlueC = 0.35f; //[0.6 - 0.2]

float Blend = 0.65f; //[1.0 - 0.0] How strong the effect should be

in the SweetFX_settings.txt file? Or do we just replace the "sections" he has mentioned in his preset and leave the rest untouched.
 
Question about the SweetFX preset mentioned in the OP. Are we supposed to just copy the whole



in the SweetFX_settings.txt file? Or do we just replace the "sections" he has mentioned in his preset and leave the rest untouched.

Replace everything in the SweetFX_settings.txt with the one from the OP.
You can toggle it on and off to see the difference in game.
 

Dries

Member
Replace everything in the SweetFX_settings.txt with the one from the OP.
You can toggle it on and off to see the difference in game.

Well, that's what I did and it kind of looks like shit :-/ everything is way too dark and blue. Also, no significant AA, but I'll try forcing that with radeonPro. I just think that it's strange that it doesn't look like those screens at all. It's just so dark.

Maybe I'll try and play around with the settings.
 

Dries

Member
Ugh, all my blood textures are strange red squares now... anoyone else recognize this?

Edit: Nevermind, it went away after restarting the game!
 

Dries

Member
Two quest questions for the Santa Monica area:

- I have found the
painkillers
Mercurio requested, but Mercurio has vanished.. He isn't lying on his couch anymore and once I travel to Downtown I fail the quest. Is Mercurio not being in his suite a bug or could he be in another location as well?

- I found all the stuff at the
Diner
concerning Lily. My quest log is hinting me very obviously to visit
Kilpatrich, the bail bond dude ("Hmmm.. a bail bond")
, but he has nothing to say about this quest. Am I supposed to find a clue elsewhere or is this a bug?
 

Servizio

I don't really need a tag, but I figured I'd get one to make people jealous. Is it working?
Two quest questions for the Santa Monica area:

- I have found the
painkillers
Mercurio requested, but Mercurio has vanished.. He isn't lying on his couch anymore and once I travel to Downtown I fail the quest. Is Mercurio not being in his suite a bug or could he be in another location as well?

- I found all the stuff at the
Diner
concerning Lily. My quest log is hinting me very obviously to visit
Kilpatrich, the bail bond dude ("Hmmm.. a bail bond")
, but he has nothing to say about this quest. Am I supposed to find a clue elsewhere or is this a bug?

That first one sounds like a bug. Unless I'm mis-remembering/something has changed with the patches, I thought Mercurio was required to progress the game and should stay on the couch until he's better.

The second one, I think the information you need is in Kilpatrick's computer.
 
- I have found the
painkillers
Mercurio requested, but Mercurio has vanished.. He isn't lying on his couch anymore and once I travel to Downtown I fail the quest. Is Mercurio not being in his suite a bug or could he be in another location as well?

Did you rat him out to the Prince?
 

Dries

Member
Did you rat him out to the Prince?

Nah, haven't even left Santa Monica yet. Sigh... I guess it's a bug then :-/

Thanks for the tip on Klipatrick's computer. Hopefully my hacking skill is high enough. I also can't finish the quest where I have to retrieve
the werewolf blood
for LaCroix from the Medical Clinic. The only way (I can see) to retrieve the package is to open the safe via a computer, but my hacking skills are too low. Bloodbuff doesn't apply to hacking, right?
 
Thanks for the tip on Klipatrick's computer. Hopefully my hacking skill is high enough. I also can't finish the quest where I have to retrieve
the werewolf blood
for LaCroix from the Medical Clinic. The only way (I can see) to retrieve the package is to open the safe via a computer, but my hacking skills are too low. Bloodbuff doesn't apply to hacking, right?

I believe, but can't recall for certain as it's been nearly a decade, that there are two other options to get into that safe beyond straight hacking.

Maybe I'll do my first post-release playthrough for the 10 year anniversary this year...
 
Oh man, I miss playing this game so much.

My husband keeps telling me that our computer won't run it though (apparently our computer i's too new??)

From what I remember, doesn't pretty much everyone hate the Setites?

I think it's because they're straight up evil. They don't follow the masquerade, and feel that vamps should completely dominate humans. Jeez, I miss the table top books too. Those were fun to read about the different clans.
 
Interesting. Can anyone confirm this?

My recollections:

I think you can use a conversation skill/discipline on the phlebotomist to get his password. I also think you may be able to use the lockpick skill on either the safe itself or somewhere else (his desk/office?) to find his password written down?
 

Braag

Member
Oh man, I miss playing this game so much.

My husband keeps telling me that our computer won't run it though (apparently our computer i's too new??).

There's an Unofficial Patch that makes it playable on modern PCs and fixes a whole ton of bugs. You can find a link in OP.


If I could choose one game which could get made, just one and my wish would come true. It would be VTM - Bloodlines 2 made by Obsidian or CD Projekt RED.
 

Dries

Member
Concerning the quest about retrieving the
werewolf blood
from the medical clinic:

You can buy a skill book which brings your Hacking to level 2, which is enough to hack the computer in the Administration Office. From there on, you can make your way towards finding the password needed to open the cabinet.
 
Still unable to beat that Blood Guy boss in the museum, I circle him and attack and try to dodge but he's just too strong
Blood buff him maybe? Do all the sidequests you can to get the most experience? Stock up on blood bags? I don't remember him being so hard.
 
Subscribing for when I'm less strapped for time. I picked it up on a good sale for nostalgia's sake and have been meaning to get modding... glad someone scoured for me!

I remember loving the little nooks and crannies in this game. Truly awesome.
 
There's an Unofficial Patch that makes it playable on modern PCs and fixes a whole ton of bugs. You can find a link in OP.


If I could choose one game which could get made, just one and my wish would come true. It would be VTM - Bloodlines 2 made by Obsidian or CD Projekt RED.

Awesome! Do you know if it matters if you're downloading off of Steam though? I think that's why my husband said we wouldn't be able to run it, compatibility issues.
 
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