Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines patches, fixes, and the rest...

[v1rus]

So, I decided to give VtMB another spin, since I've never actually finished the darn thing, despite the fact that i started a new play through like 8 times. Ninth time is the charm men.

So, which patches/ fixes/restorations/w/e should i install? Any good custom stuff?

 

[Deleted Member 16721]

Don't remember if I used anything in my playthrough. I generally try to avoid fan-made stuff and unofficial patches on a 1st playthrough.

Whatever you choose, enjoy! It's my favorite RPG of all-time, I'd say, and I just played it for the first time ever last year. Amazing game!

 

[Delterius]

Wesp's patch without casting animations and restored disciplines for a first playthrough.

 

[v1rus]

Don't remember if I used anything in my playthrough. I generally try to avoid fan-made stuff and unofficial patches on a 1st playthrough.

Whatever you choose, enjoy! It's my favorite RPG of all-time, I'd say, and I just played it for the first time ever last year. Amazing game!

Ty, I certainly will do. The thing is, I already beat a good deal of it. I know the first 1/3 of the game really damn well, and I'm potentially looking for something to spice the things up a bit, so that Unofficial Patch Plus sounds nice. Also wanted to know what's happening in the community, did the antribu mod work out, etc., etc.

 

[KlauZ]

The only fan-patch
http://www.moddb.com/games/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines/downloads/true-patch-gold-final

 

[duchU]

Go plus version of UP if you are "looking for something to spice the things up a bit".

1. SweetFX (it's with the patch: ...\Vampire - Bloodlines\Patch_Extras\Player Mods\SweetFX)

2. Force anisotropic filtering x16 for the game

3. Put these lines into autoexec.cfg (...\Unofficial_Patch\cfg):

// [Sound Patch]

snd_surround 1
dsp_on 1
dsp_spatial 41
dsp_stereo 1
dsp_dist_max 9999
hisound 1

4. You may want to try Bloodlines Audio Overhaul v2.0 mod

5. Playing on 120/144 Hz monitors can cause some timing/speed problems you can override with "fps_max <frames per second>" console command (if needed).

6. There is no command to disable v-sync (no 'mat_vsync' command available, probably because the game uses very early version of Source engine). So if you need to disable v-sync for some reason you have to do it through GPU driver settings or something.

 

[Xathrodox86]

The unofficial patch is your best friend.

For a second playthrough you can try out the Final Nights mod. It's pretty baller.

http://www.moddb.com/mods/vtm-the-final-nights

 

[Ismaul]

The only fan-patch
http://www.moddb.com/games/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines/downloads/true-patch-gold-final

some shit advice right here

Get Wesp's unofficial patch, the basic version if you don't want added stuff. It's the guy's life work.

 

[typical user]

This thread is a godsend, I was thinking about playing VTMB for first time but with restored content.

 

[Mexi]

True Patch, man. This is a must for anyone's first playthrough. WE5P's patch adds shit in, even the one that says doesn't add shit in. I remember that dude that made True Patch has a bit of an outline on that, but I haven't played this game in forever. I haven't been keeping up. Still, no doubt, the True Patch runs flawlessly. True Patch+HD thing that dude has.

 

[Mangoose]

Wesp5

 

[pippin]

Please don't start with the patch wars again because these discussions are often the saddest ones on the whole modding scene.
I'd just say that gog's version has Wesp's basic patch while Steam's has the latest official patch. You'll have to tweak something for some memory issues preventing you from starting the game, but other than that, I played it for likr 45something hours without any kind of issue. No game breaking bugs or stuff like that. Haven't tried the gog version yet though.

 

[duchU]

Few more lines for autoexec (if you have no problems with performance):

// [Video Patch]

cl_ragdoll_collide "1"
lod_Enable "0"
lod_TransitionDist "6400"
cl_v_geometric_detail "10"


Besides you may want to enable HDR in SweetFX preset, though default power 1.3 is kinda too dark (I use 1.1).

 

[Delterius]

Please don't start with the patch wars again because these discussions are often the saddest ones on the whole modding scene.

Mostly because the ultimate result is always that Tessera forbids people from using the patch he didn't really make forever, which would render everything moot if that sort of thing mattered.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

I remember this game. It was very good in the beginning but at the end it was insanely hard. Back in the day the loading screen was the most annoying thing, but now with the CPU power I want to give it a new start with the latest patches.

 

[Coma White]

I remember this game. It was very good in the begging but at the end it was insanely hard. Back in the day the loading screen was the most annoying thing, but now with the CPU power I want to give it a new start with the latest patches.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

Didn't have a clue the game aged so well. Troika's legacy is such a wonderful thing...

 

[Mastermind]

I remember this game. It was very good in the beginning but at the end it was insanely hard.

 

[Azrael the cat]

Didn't have a clue the game aged so well. Troika's legacy is such a wonderful thing...

Yeah, particularly weird when you consider that HL2 really hasn't aged well (other than the arcade type levels, like the boat, which are still great if you like the arcade style), and VtM:B consciously aimed to be a sort of rpg companion to it (as in, they not only used the engine, but tried to keep the same feel with respect to movement, and have stated that the reason for all the irritatingly drawn-out combat in the sewers and end-game was because they wanted to utilise the shooter potential of having the FPS engine).

Aside from Wesp's patches, I think that part of the reason it's aged well is that the worst parts, like the sewers and end-game, are much quicker the 2nd time around.

 

[Florian Gheorghe]

It even looks better then Fallout 3 or New Vegas. And that inventory and character screen, Man! The game shows love and attention to detail from every corner. I can't believe it took so much time for people to start taking this into consideration (I'm looking at you Paradox!). I thought I was obsessed with only Isometric games but it looks like I only wanted reactivity and role playing games after all.

 

[v1rus]

So, I decided to give VtMB another spin, since I've never actually finished the darn thing, despite the fact that i started a new play through like 8 times. Ninth time is the charm men.

What's different this time around?

Nothing. Exactly nothing. I stopped playing near the end of Santa Monica. Don't know what the hell is wrong with me.

 

[Coma White]

Nothing. Exactly nothing. I stopped playing near the end of Santa Monica. Don't know what the hell is wrong with me.

Weird -- every time I make the mistake of starting a new Bloodlines play through, I can't put it down.

 

[Roqua]

Didn't have a clue the game aged so well. Troika's legacy is such a wonderful thing...

Yes, they are still on top. It is a shame the monkeys didn't support Troika when they were making games and really needed the support and less whining about a couple bugs here and there, instead of the monkeys throwing all their money at shitty console games that sucked then and suck more now.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Yes, they are still on top. It is a shame the monkeys didn't support Troika when they were making games and really needed the support and less whining about a couple bugs here and there, instead of the monkeys throwing all their money at shitty console games that sucked then and suck more now.

Weren't all three games shot down on account of unplayable bugginess? How was their reception upon release?

 

[Coma White]

Weren't all three games shot down on account of unplayable bugginess? How was their reception upon release?

They were acknowledged as flawed gems. I think Bloodlines caught the most flak though -- its Top 10 brilliance wasn't acknowledged until years later.

Though it's worth noting The Temple of Elemental Evil was literally unplayable at launch.