Messages

1

Announcements / Re: Cease and Desist

« on: November 22, 2014, 09:31:05 am »

Let us all e-mail them.. Maybe an e-mail bombardment can change their minds..

If they do not understand that you do not intend to sell anything, we can always try to MAKE THEM UNDERSTAND.. I mean, it is really not fair, you are not selling and never intended to sell any of their intellectual property..

COME ON PEOPLE! LETS JUST TRY TO FIX THIS.. There must be some people we can talk to that can help us with this.. Hell, lets make them sell it.. They can sell it using GOG with a fair price.. I am sure they can see the benefit in this..

2

Suggestion Box / Expansion Pack Idea

« on: November 08, 2014, 12:01:16 pm »

The game itself is being renewed and improved and that's really really great, but how about an optional expansion pack to refresh the game and to add more gameplay? I am not talking about anything too big like "lets visit another city", but rather few more quests, few more named characters and maybe one or two new locations.. And everything should be fitting to the lore and the original game.

I will throw away one example idea:

When you visit the Santa Monica parking lot for the first time, a cutscene plays, a biker chick enters the scene, she rides a motorcycle from the 70's, she wears a leather jacket and shirt that shows her belly, really really tall boots and a pair of really old biker goggles. Imagine her a bit like this:



She parks her bike and leaves for the beach and you wont see her again for a while. After finishing Santa Monica quests and returning to Santa Monica after a while, you can find her cursing in the parking lot where she originally parked her bike, but the bike is missing, it is stolen. At this point you can talk to her and learn that she is a vampire from the middle ages and she is from brujah clan. You can tell her that you wish to help her and she will ask you to find a friend of her in Chinatown who might have some info then to find her again in the Nocturne theatre, her friend is a gangrel and was a WWII spy before he turned. If you talk to him he will tell his name (Rick) and how he was a hunter before he started spying for the government. He will give you some information and then you will return to the biker chick, she will then join you as a companion. If you pass a speech check, she will tell you her name (Alena) and tell you a bit about her past and her brother, before she was turned, she traveled with her knight brother against her fathers wishes. Her father wanted her to never leave the house and marry a suitor of his choosing. One day while traveling, some villagers approached her brother and asked for his help, a mad man named Horeta was killing people in a nearby village for no reason and no one was able to stop him. Her brother left her in some inn and told her to stay there until he returned. She really wanted to go with her but after seeing how worried he was about her she accepted to stay. Days passed and her brother didn't return. She later learned that the village her brother went to was wiped out. She left the inn and searched for her brother for days, after all that searching she found the mad man instead of her brother and asked if he killed her brother or not, mad man told her that he didn't kill her brother but turned him, but he became more insane than any of his subjects because he hated the foul creature that he had became. She tried to kill him but he was too fast and too strong, he wounded her and left her to die alone under the sun. Just when she was about to give her last breath, some vampires from brujah clan happen to be passing by, she told them about the mad man and they turned her and told her about the vampires, how her brother turned into a malkavian and about his sanity. She spent the fallowing years searching for her brother. Always one step behind him."

After fallowing the lead given by Rick, you will find a vampire chick named Dasy, she is from 1940's, she is a malkavian and a fallower of Horeta. At this point, you can either fight her (and she is a tough nut to crack) or you can convince her with a speech check to tell you about whats going on. (if you convince her, she will become attached to you and become your companion, she will fallow you only on this quest, but you can ask her to stay at your haven. (much like Heather) She will do pretty much anything you want, but make sure not to piss her off, she may leave the haven and attack you when you least expect it.)  She will tell you that she has stolen Alena's bike herself for her master Horeta, her plan was to make sure that she wouldn't leave before the trap is set. Alena's brother is in Downtown with his master Horeta. (Let this place be the car repair place from the tutorial map) But the place is surrounded by Horeta's followers. If you go to the location she has given you, you will find Alena's brother who does not seem to recognize his sister. With the help of Alena (and if you have learned everything you can learn from Alena), you can talk him down and make him remember who he was and his sister. This will restore a small part of his sanity and he will become a companion. He is still quite insane, but at least now he will help you kill Horeta. Horeta is strong but not unbeatable. You kill him and get a pair of Colt 1911 which should be the only pistol you can dual wield.


It is a very rough idea, since i don't have much time to improve upon it, but what do you guys think? Wouldn't something like this with a little history and lore added freshen out the game?

3

Suggestion Box / Re: Map Connectivity and Inconsistencies

« on: November 08, 2014, 10:34:06 am »

Thank you very much for the reply Atrblizzard! I am glad you have liked it.

I see your point about the issues on combining some maps, but those can be solved one way or another I think. As for the Foxy Boxes building, the inside doesn't really fit the outside either does it.. From outside it looks like a regular building, but from inside it is a warehouse type of thing. (Not to mention that the height and the windows doesn't match) I really don't think Foxy boxes is where it is supposed to be. It feels like it would be better if some apartments were there for you to explore, especially if you were able to return to the place you were turned to learn more about your sire. No one ever seems talks about her/him. Why did she/he choose to turn you into a vampire? This could have added some more dept to the game. And maybe Foxy Boxes could be moved to the place it belongs. (wherever that place may be, perhaps ex-developers could answer that) Maybe Foxy Boxes could be moved to the building next to it. Without changing a lot.

Issues about Downtown started to bug me more and more after I noticed there are too many them, when you look at the whole thing, the map seems like a badly trimmed mess. It shows that it was supposed to be much much bigger and consistent than it is now, as the cutscene maps suggests, but what really went down is a mystery. If you could fill out that missing pieces by talking the ex-developers that would do the job nicely.

Again, thanks for answering.

4

Suggestion Box / World of Darkness

« on: October 25, 2014, 02:14:42 pm »

You all must know about the canceled Vampire the Masquerade MMO World of Darkness. This game, while didn't make it and would probably suck as all MMO's do, had some great ideas. (Not to mention visuals) With the Unity engine at hand, some of these ideas could hopefully be implemented.

Firstly the visuals:

The atmosphere, basically the slightly blueish gray fog effect:


Imagine how much better Downtown would look with that effect:


Maybe a bit more like this: (which could be used to make the streets look longer and larger)



Window effects and room lighting:


Some features listed on this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QApPl1Vt-zE

While VtM Bloodlines was great, I feel like it could never fully give that specific feeling VtM universe should give, you know, like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEi7nQbNDog

And these:





You know, that specific tone of darkness..

And some other features here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxC8vX2zAgY

Things like realistic fake windows and stuff. If a place has no real interior, something like this could be useful.

5

Suggestion Box / Re: Map Connectivity and Inconsistencies

« on: October 25, 2014, 10:40:03 am »

I wasn't saying that Malkavian haven should be in a Hospital , but in the building next to it. Which looks like a Elderyhouse or
some attached institution to the hospital. Which happened to be as hospital itself abandoned.
Maybe for same reasons as main institution work ended.

anyway. Just for clarification.

I understood that, but I thought two buildings were connected. And it is too large a space for a player haven in my opinion. Thats just my opinion though.

No other comments on the finds though, thats shameful.

6

Suggestion Box / Re: Map Connectivity and Inconsistencies

« on: October 04, 2014, 12:34:11 am »

Nice mate. Spot on , good suggestions.

Just for a Malkavian haven i think that the best place which exist in game is placed nearby Hospital in Downtown.
This attached building looks for me  ( from outside) like a House for Elders or a nursery home.

And has nice suggestions from makers (Troika team ) which is a sigh paced on the fence and says :
" Trespassers will be shot, surviwers will be shot again"   which makes me think about Malkavians.

I would place Malkavian haven there , with abandoned Elder house feel and atmospfere.

Old chairs , TV's and some table top games, cheep coffee express, some old clothes, wardrobes, ugly carpet.
poor rooms, some rats, and cliche pictures on the walls.
some shoes here and there, worn out stuff uniforms.

and worms. Yeah like in the Prodigy VideoClip, Breathe. That kind of worms.
 

Thanks mate. I am glad you guys liked it! I wish Artblizzard would check this out and commented on it as well, but i guess he is busy with life and this project. I might PM him though, would love to learn his thoughts about these.

I am not sure about the abandoned hosbital player haven though.. It is too large and it is already inhabited by a flesh eating madwomen.. How about that abandoned building in Downtown LA? (you know, the building right across Last Round, it was involved in a mission i think, after that it could be a nice haven) You know, this building:





It still kinda has that Malkavian vibe and if fixed up, it could be a great player haven. (hire a private contractor via computer, easy )

By the way, i just noticed, before deciding to name it Last Round, Bloodlines developers almost named it Exhause Pipe.. I am not making this up, here check:



And Nocturne Theatre was named Sunset Theater before the release.. I guess they felt it didn't really fit the atmosphere they were trying to create, so they changed it. They changed lots of things before the beta. Scrapped a lot of great ideas too.. All because of the time and budget restraints. Not to mention engine limitations. (Also, as far as i know, Activision really forced them to release the game before it was finished.) If they had more time and resources, this game could have been even better. Here are some examples, these pictures are from before the release and they show a lot more features than the game currently have:


In this picture, it shows that police would come, with their cars, sirens and everything, if you committed a crime: (possibly either NPC's would call the police, or police officers would call for back up)


Santa Monica Pier is open, with Ferris wheel and roller-coaster and all that:




(You see, as open as the eye can see, also, look, real buildings in the background, not those cheap 2d ones. This shows that the whole Pier was accessible at one point. Imagine that.)

And i found this picture of "The Asylum", you notice the differences?:



Like the whole place! I don't know if you noticed but according to this picture, "Vesuvius" club was once "The Asylum".. (this one isn't that relevant, but i wanted to show what i have found.)

7

Suggestion Box / Re: Clothes in the Game

« on: September 24, 2014, 01:28:55 pm »

Just wanted to reply to Konstantinos, because he missed parts of my previous post and I want to expand and clarify.

I am not talking about obvious human psychology, or even immortal Kindred psychology. I am talking about how the system is built and how it is meant to shape the gameplay. In VtM clothes are inherent to Appearance.

Let me prove it - Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition page 98-99:

 " The Appearance Attribute is a measure of how well a character makes a first impression. This may be conventional “attractiveness,” but it can also be the effect of distinctive features, an exotic mien, an air of confidence, distinctive posture, a flair for dressing well — anything remarkable upon initial observation can contribute to a character’s Appearance.

*  - Poor: Your clothes stink, you turn people off right away, or you’re just damned ugly."

Why is this important? - Because it implies that Appearance is not only something with which you are born with or can pay for with money. It's a trait you can work on and improve. A character with high Appearance will have the style and forethought to always wear appropriately impressive clothes - no Hazmat suits at parties.

If clothes, or in other words Appearance can be bought, that breaks down the system. Even if it is a single dot.

In conclusion I think it's best for clothes to serve to purposes - cosmetic and storytelling. If we want our characters to feel unique and special and have special gameplay altering things, we should think of other things not connected to the core rules.

It is all good and all, but in the Bloodlines, a Malkavian protagonist will always wear craziest stuff (even though not all malkavians wear crazy stuff) and a Nosferatu protagonist will always wear some stupid fetish clothing.. (even though most nosferatu do not wear those..) Not to forget, the nosferatu protagonist is the only nosferatu to have teeth outside of their mouth.. It looks annoying and that should be something optional.. Just wanted to mention that. I guess what i am trying to say is, the way the protagonist looks in the Bloodlines were already preset. From the face to body time and to the outfit, the whole appearance of the character was already set. The whole system would need fundamental changes to incorporate these new ideas. While that isn't too hard, the best way to do it should be determined beforehand.

When i am playing a Brujah, i would like a protagonist that looks more like Christof Romuald (the protagonist of Redemption) than the one Bloodlines has. (A pile of muscle with a bandana attached to it..) There should be more options i think...

8

Suggestion Box / Re: Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption

« on: September 24, 2014, 01:27:57 am »

I've finished Redemption, and frankly I'm not sure it deserves the effort . Sure there are some things that were great at the time, but the voice acting is hilarious, the Disciplines are an unbalanced mess and most of the levels lean heavily on the repetitive side.

My advice - try it, I run a buggy Windows 8.1 and I had no problems with it. You should be able to play it. In the end it's DnD with vampires with corny accents

I have the game and it is a shame to say that it didn't age really well. Also, it does deserve some effort since it is a "Vampire the Masquerade" game after all.(Though not as much as Bloodlines) All of those mistakes could be fixed after the game is ported to unity. Porting the make and making Redemption more like Bloodlines would be great. Bloodlines is a much better (not to mention much more awesome) game in my opinion, but it didn't have some of the awesome things Redemption had. (Probably because of the time constrains and because of the half-arsed version of source engine)

I mean, the maps themselves doesn't look half bad:



(Day pictures to give a better idea how the maps look):





Setting looks just great:




Anything else, including repetitiveness and bad voice acting could be fixed after porting the game.
I mean, what more would one want in a game? (I am asking, because those too can be added/fixed after the porting)

Anyway, i am not saying this game should be ported right now anyway, but maybe sometime after the Project Vaulderie gets released, why not? It should be a possibility at least..

9

Suggestion Box / Re: Map Connectivity and Inconsistencies

« on: September 22, 2014, 03:50:57 pm »

Sweet attention to the locations up there. The Nines encounter area is accessible some how at least, the guys behind Bloodlines Antitribu have been tweaking on it.

Thanks.. I wasn't aware that another mod was already trying to make cutscene maps usable.. But i checked their work and what they did is not what i had in mind. You just get teleported there. I want two maps to be connected, you should be able to walk there. (like Artblizzard is trying to do)

By the way, the more i look at the Downtown map more of a mess it seems. Did anyone realized that map itself makes little no sense at all?



 I used to think it is just way too small but otherwise OK, but now i realize they just couldn't finish the map, cut it to peaces and tried to make do with whats left.. Did anyone realized that the map has absolutely no place cars can enter or exit? All roads are blocked. No tunnels/roads that connect the outside world like other HUB maps. See it for yourself:



The map has no possible way for a car to exit Downtown, it should have had a tunnel like this: (other hub maps all have more than one)



But i have a solution for both extending the map and to make more sense. Firstly, extending the Downtown LA HUB map with the tutorial map:



The picture above is the rough draft of the tutorial map.. We can take that map and merge it with the Downtown map like this:



In the picture above "A" is the place where you exit the theater at the beginning of the game, "B" and "C" could be a random roadblocks (only for the tutorial mission) so you won't be able to explore Downtown before you are supposed to, "D" is the road that connects the tutorial map with the Downtown map after they have merged (moving one or two fake buildings around maybe required to expand the map like this), "E" could be another way that connects the two together. (only reachable after the tutorial mission)

Secondly, either replacing this car park with a road: (number 11 on the map)



Or preferably replacing this car park: (number 12 on the map)



After that map would look more like this:



In the picture above "A1" would be an extended road that replaces the car parking (number 11 or 12), "C1" would be this map: (from where the taxi drops you off in the cutscene and you get knocked off by Sabbat vampires, name of the map is "ninesintro")



"B1" is the map where in the same cutscene the Sabbat vampires drags you off to after they knock you out and you meet Nines for the first time:



And "F1" is the tunnel/bridge entrance to the Downtown main road. (something like the above tunnel/bridge picture)

This way mistakes in the map could be fixed and map could be extended with the content from the game. Map itself would certainly make a lot more sense.

10

Suggestion Box / Map Connectivity and Inconsistencies

« on: September 21, 2014, 09:40:11 pm »

I was thinking about this and reading "Friday Devblog 12", especially the part about reconstruction of Santa Monica Pier and a haven for each clan. Given how unfinished the maps are do to the engine limitation and a time constrains the original developers faced i think it is great that this project makes up for that and make this game more like what the original developers initially imagined. Then i remembered about a few locations i had found during my original run of the game. Most of my ideas are to make the map more connected and fix map inconsistencies created by the original developers.. So... here we go:

Anyone remember the place we start the game? ... Not there, i am talking about the place in the cutscene where our characters got turned into a vampire.. This place to be specific:



But where the heck is this place? Lets look out the window:



Oh my.. Isn't that the Asylum? We were in Santa Monica the whole time.. Right across to Asylum and next to the Diner.. Upper floor of the Foxy Boxes building:



This place can serve as a Haven for one clan or another (but i am thinking probably Malkavian)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Then there is the second place we go as we become a vampire, the Nocturne Theatre, where we almost got executed but didn't:



It even has a sever access:



Yet we are not able to come back to this place ever again, perhaps originally this place served a greater purpose than it does in the release. It is a shame really, this place can be made accessible in the game to add more dept. Perhaps there can be a play or two here, people could come and go as they please and it can be a feeding ground for vampires as well.

Not many of you would know this but this place can actually be located in Downtown LA:



Since the maps are going to be merged, the doors in the front could be used to access the theater.

Also there is the matter of exiting the theatre from the back door, after the cutscene, you exit this door and then you meet Jack:



And normally (according to main Downtown LA map), you should find yourself here:



Yet after exiting that door you find yourself here, the tutorial area: (where Jack waits for you)



Both use same textures and have same exact shape with the front side of the Nocturne Theatre building but there are full of inconsistencies.. As far as i understand, originally the Downtown LA map was to be much larger, but they trimmed it down to save space. (also the tutorial map is probably from the earlier versions of the game) Both maps should be merged (so this area can be made accessible after the tutorial) and the whole tutorial area should be used to expand the Downtown LA map.. Place has a garage, a warehouse or two and some apartments. (hey, some of the clans can have havens on this location as well and a place to buy some clothes can appear around here.)



When you look from the location on the picture above, you should be able to see both Empire Arms Hotel and Skyline Apartments.. (And most of the barriers shouldn't be there after the tutorial.




This area should start after above location.

xxxxxxxx

Empire Arms hotel and Skyline Apartments.. Both are inconsistent. From outside Skyline Apartments is a short building with four floors and a ground floor:



But from inside, it has six floors and a ground floor:



Empire Arms hotel on the other hand is a tall building with too many floors to count...



Yet from inside it has only six floors:



They didn't even bother to add more numbers there to make it look like there are more floors.. It is a shame really.. Same applies with the Venture Tower..

xxxxxxx

Lets not forget the Ocean House, i think this map should be merged to the Santa Monica Map as well: (Wouldn't it be nice to be able to come here by walking? Only reason why you would need to use sewer access would be because the front gate is locked. There is a parking lot right next to the ocean house, so some NPC's would definitely be there.



Why? Because according to the sewer map it is right next to Bail Bonds:




Ocean House should be located right next to this bridge/tunnel thing: (also, wouldn't it be nice if real cars used those bridges?)



There is even a beach and a lighthouse behind the Ocean House, with the support of the unity engine, this could be a beautiful sight.. (And even if you physically can't reach there, it would be visible from both inside the house and from the parking lot)



And the front side doesn't have a bad view either:



xxxxxxxx

And then there is this map, it is from the cutscene where you meet Nines Rodriges, i am certain it belongs somewhere in the Downtown LA (it should be walking distance since the taxi driver drops you off here) yet i can't seem to place it anywhere:





Maybe you guys can figure that out.. If we can expand these maps with the content that already belongs in the game, it could be both fitting and amazing, since they are already a part of the game and the setting..

Well, this is it for now.. I have many more ideas, but for another time, so more to come soon.. Hope you guys liked it. And hey, if you got ideas like these, please post it here..

And a special thank to atrblizzard and his team of modders...

11

Suggestion Box / Unity

« on: September 20, 2014, 05:13:57 pm »

Will the game use Unity engine to its full potential? Such as DX11 features, HDR, Tessellation, Ambient Occlusion etc be in the game?

With the Unity V5 coming out, will the new features of the engine will be the part of the game?

To see what features i mean:

Unity 5 Feature Preview

Unity 5 beta - Lighting workflow quick look

12

Inventory Items and Weapons / Re: Weapon reference

« on: September 20, 2014, 04:03:29 pm »

New weapon models look great!

By the way, what about the Revolver .38 ? I didn't see it on the first page.

Also, how about making Remington 24SWS look a bit more different than Remington M700? It is a swat rifle after all... With a different muzzle brake?

Maybe a bit more like this?:



Or this:

13

Suggestion Box / Re: Cars, make cars.

« on: September 20, 2014, 03:21:44 pm »

Not that i agree with you completely, it would be nice to see moving cars and motorcycles around here and there.. Maybe some cars moving from the bridges instead of just lights.. And maybe some parked motorcycles on the garage.. Thats my two cents anyway..

true, although it would be fun to play a GTA based VtM game i dont think it would fit well with Bloodline's scene based setting and lack of an open world although it would be interesting if there were some traffic around the hubs to make them seem more alive. Also it would be fun to see some subway stations here and there like the way you moved through hubs in the original Darkness game.

Yeah, thats what i think as well. Bloodlines already had some traffic on at least one of the cutscenes:



By the way, look at that sight, traffic, tall buildings and some other stuff.. Simply beautiful. It makes me wonder why hub maps are not like this.

Also, car models needs to be replaced. (Cars doesn't even have interiors) Modders already made models of the same cars for the GTA games, i am thinking this mod can use those models as well. (by asking permission first of course)

Look at this car model from the original game.. Its quality is so low, it looks as if the game was released in 1995 and not 2004:



For instance, 1974 Dodge Monaco Police car, same vehicle from Bloodlines:




With a simple retexture, it could replace the one in the game no problem.

And most cars doesn't have to be exactly the same either, as long as it looks like it belongs in the game, it would be fine.. (original models for the cars are way half-arsed anyway) Places like Santa Monica could have average cars like old and new but mostly old and not really expensive, while places like Hollywood would have better cars like mostly newer and more expensive cars.. (like cars made after the year 2000, game takes place 21 century after all, it doesn't make sense that most if not all car models are from 70's.)

Cars and motorcycles should range from 1960's to 2000's..

Example, Honda Civic 2000:



Another example, 1971 Dodge Dart:



Nissan Skyline 2000:




And maybe some parked motorcycles and bikes around. (as props) Because, why not? It never made any sense to me that there isn't a single motorcycle or bike in entire LA. (parked or otherwise)




Most of these cars would probably need to be retextured to make it belong to the Bloodlines. (world of Dloodlines is a darker place after all) With some details like that HUBs could be made to look more lively..

14

Suggestion Box / Re: Cars, make cars.

« on: September 11, 2014, 04:49:01 pm »

Not that i agree with you completely, it would be nice to see moving cars and motorcycles around here and there.. Maybe some cars moving from the bridges instead of just lights.. And maybe some parked motorcycles on the garage.. Thats my two cents anyway..

15

Development / Re: Translation

« on: September 06, 2014, 03:49:59 pm »

Well, i can translate it to Turkish and maybe one other language if need be.. But that's probably it..