Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Also known as: Developer Having problems with the VTMB Unofficial Patch. When i start a new game and get done with the character creation and hit accept to continue it goes to a loading screen and loads completely than i get Vampire.exe has. Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Of added artificial Humanity. Wight the things have only animal intelligence so the player would become an.
There’s a bittersweet flavour to playing. It’s not because of the vampiric moodiness and the twilight tales that it tells, nor the real-world tragedy of its costly development finally undoing brave development studio, Troika.
No, the sense of sorrow comes from the realisation that there’s nothing like this on the horizon. The idea is begged: why should there be so few games like this? Oh right, because it’s so very hard to do. Bloodlines – a clever, multi-faceted RPG – is a rare animal. Even under the blazing light of Fallout 3’s recent release, there’s a sense that we’ve not yet reached our promised land of games that do more, games that do worlds, games that do people. Bloodlines points the way to those games.
Indeed, there’s a sense that these games might just be becoming a myth. Like the plight of an animal species on the verge of extinction, the lack of games comparable to Bloodlines is one of the great tragedies of our time.
Our plight is this: if your great pleasure is hybrid action-oriented first-person role-playing games, with nuanced, open-plan stories filled with interesting characters, then your fantasy life is necessarily stunted. You have very few options. Games that offer a personal experience of worlds that we could never otherwise access outside of film and literature are rare. Ultra-violent warmonger, battlefield overseer, even sneaky thief man – these are all catered for in some way. But other, wider ideas are harder to come.
What, indeed, would it be like to live life as a 1950s private detective, or an FBI agent, or a nano-tech enhanced super agent of the near future, or a vampire? Not many games bother with such wide open scope. Bloodlines does. And it does what a select few videogames have articulated: giving us sudden, direct access to something wonderful and alien. But it’s drama, and pseudo-social, as much as it is videogame action.
It is filled with brilliant artificial people. Bloodlines allows us – like a participant in some larger soap opera – to make decisions about what might happen to those individuals. In this case, it’s always something wonderfully dark.
Bloodlines manages to be funny, humane (if not human), brutal, horrifying, and thrilling, all at once. Its vampires are larger than life and yet nevertheless alive. Their twisted traits come tumbling out in excellent dialogue and strange quests. It is heavy on heavy themes, ideas that might otherwise pervert the purity of any other action game.
Seduction, sedition, schizophrenia, propaganda, pornography, purgatory: these thematic notions are the lifeblood of vampire fiction, and they’re essential what’s going on in here. The struggle between the vampire castes is at once noble and despicable, and picking your route between its pitfalls is a delight. Ultimately, though, this is about exploration: about seeing something out of the ordinary. Toxic tourism in vampiric clubland.
Bloodlines is something like an action soap-opera. I truly wish I could say that of more games. So few games have attempted to access this most natural of game approaches: analogy of the real world, with conversation and violence intermingled, rather than simply delivering uninterrupted carnage, or endless management. These ‘immersive sim’ games are tough to make, granted, but when you play something like Bloodlines they also feel like they’re the games we deserve. Game developers often talk about the strange sense of entitlement that gamers seem to bring to their hobby, but when you taste games like this, it becomes entirely understandable. To be to be stealthy or stabby, seductive or violent, well, it’s almost like the game is spoiling us with options. After ten hours in Bloodlines you’re struck by the nagging concern: why aren’t other studios reaching for the stars like this?
Even Bioshock and Stalker seem vapid in their shooter-obsessions. Of course, it’s a matter of complexity. To make a game like Bloodlines is a task of terrifying scale. It’s one thing to make a game about running around putting bullets into people, and quite another to make it the tale of a weak young vampire who can talk to almost anyone in a series of thriving city hubs, travelling back and forth between them amid of a web of quests that range from simple puzzle solving, through the seduction of innocent human victims, to the brawling battles with rival monsters. To make this, you really have to know what you’re doing. And therein lies the crux of the matter, the black heart inside the game: the crucial problem with Bloodlines was its complete and utter brokenness on release.
Troika had tried to reach the highest peaks of game design, and faltered, and then fallen. My first journey through this glitchy underworld left my character stranded in a sewer pipe. I never did get any further and, savegame deleted, his weird adventure game to a permanent end. Getting past that point months later sent me trudging into endgame of horrifying hack-and-slash tedium, where nothing of the early game intricacy remained to give us respite from the melee. Even if you didn’t get that far, a sojourn with Bloodlines exposed you to animation failures, spelling mistakes, and all other kinds of design splatter. This was not a finished game.
Bloodlines, despite all its riches, was incomplete. Ultimately the lamentable collapse of the final act of the game cannot be fixed without money and studio expertise, but many of the other problems have been dealt with.
I’ve played through now with the, and dozens of problems have been fixed. Dialogue trees have been trimmed and punctuated, animations have been been altered and replaced, bugs have been uncovered and squished beneath a fashionable gothic boot heel.
Hell, the original boxed version of the game had glitches in the opening cutscene. Those have been mended. Bloodlines is so very far from perfect, but it is perfectly far from almost any other game we could pick up and play today. If you’ve not sunk teeth into it, then I fear you’re truly missing out. A shorter version of this article first appeared in PC Gamer UK.
If i wanna download these patches,is the latest one 'all-in-one' or do i need to install all the unofficial ones seperatly?And what's the latest OFFICIAL patch form Troika?just reinstalled the game. Basically you need to install the latest official patch, and then just install the latest unofficial patch.
No need to install all of them. Just keep in mind that there exist two versions of the unofficial patch. The one posted in this thread is the conservative one (that is, it doesn't include many changes). The other one, which is called simply the 'Unofficial Patch' (without the word 'Real'), can be found pretty much everywhere.
That is the one I recommend since it includes a lot of fixes and extra story that enhance the original experience. It's is also recommended if you are playing the game for the first time, though others might disagree with me. If i wanna download these patches,is the latest one 'all-in-one' or do i need to install all the unofficial ones seperatly?And what's the latest OFFICIAL patch form Troika?just reinstalled the game.
What genci88 said, but basically the latest official Troika-released patch is v1.2. Every version after that is a compilation of fan-made bug fixes and additions. To get this latest patch installed, you must first update your game to the official v1.2, and then add on top whatever version of the fan made patch you want.:). There are two 'unofficial patches'. One has both bug fixes and extra content added of which you can install or not install if you like and just add in the bug fixes. This patch here is just bug fixes but it's work was based off the first 'Unofficial Patch.'
Wiki clears it up a bit more as to which is which and what they each do. Two lines of unofficial patches currently exist: The first 'unofficial' patch series was started by Dan Upright and then continued by Werner 'Wesp5' Spahl, and members of the Planet Vampire community. This patch not only contains quest, text, sound, and level based fixes; it also restores content not present in the 1.2 version but hidden within the installed game files. These include two additional character sequences, four occult items, one quest item, one discipline, one weapon, several new character and object models, many new dialogues, lots of new sounds, and rudimentary multiplayer support. Gameplay has also been changed in parts of the game for consistency reasons. A 'basic' version, which contains most of the restored content but less gameplay changes, is included with the regular 'Unofficial' Patch. The latest release is version 4.2,3 released on September 19, 2007.
An alternate line of patches, the 'True Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines Patch' series, was started by Acrimonious and Tessera on the adult-only Tessmage.com forums with assistance by several forum members. It was intended to be a 'true' patch to the official 1.2 version, only fixing bugs found in the original game or the official 1.2 patch, and is without any of the gameplay changes found in the Unofficial Patch or the 'basic' version of the Unofficial Patch. The latest, and possibly final, release of this 'True' patch was version 5.04AT, released October 1, 2007, and can be found at Gamespot 1 and several other gaming sites.
Is it possible to mix these two together, so that you can get all the goodies that the 4.2 provides, as well as all the latest bug fixes that the 5.04 patch include? Say it's possible, please someone, tell me it's possible!!!:):cry::p. Although this game is pretty old, it is still one of my FAVORITE PC games, ever!! =) I love these types of FPS games where you get the standard FPS look but with atmosphere, a good storyline, good dialogue and voiceacting, and, of course, VAMPIRES!! =) I must've played this game like 6 times already.
It ran horribly on my old 6800GT, but plays smoothly on my 1900XT 512MB. If you guys like the Vampire fiction, check out the TV series, Moonlight. It's pretty decent and it plays every Friday night. Is it possible to mix these two together, so that you can get all the goodies that the 4.2 provides, as well as all the latest bug fixes that the 5.04 patch include? Say it's possible, please someone, tell me it's possible!!!:):cry::p There is no need to mix the two. The 4.2 version can be installed with just bug fixes instead of the full extra content.
So install 4.2 with the bug fixes only and then play through the game that way and then try out the extra content later. IMHO the version from 'Wesp5' is superior considering how the AT patch is just a fork from his and Dan Wright's original work. Keep in mind the two 'unofficial' patches are not compatible with each other. If using the current 4.2 patch (by Wesp) and then wanting to switch to the 'true' patch, the game will need to be un-installed, and re-installed before you can apply it. I've had Bloodlines since it first came out. I have used almost all Wesp's unofficial patches since he started making them (he's been making them for a long time).
He is currently at 4.2 and expect another one shortly. All of his patches can be applied on top of each other with no problem whatsoever. This 'True' patch came out not too long ago. I have never tried the 'true' patch because I am quite comfortable with Wesp's patches and they have made the game more enjoyable for me. The thing that is very distasteful to me is how this one guy who takes credit for it (I won't name names) has taken the approach of of slamming Wesp personally, slamming his work and slamming anyone who uses Wesp's work as inferior Bloodlines game players.
He has been banned from forums because of his attitude regarding the comments he makes. It's one thing to promote one's work but quite another to do it by slamming the other maker the way he is doing it. It's just uncalled for. He even has his own forum and if anyone questions his methods of promoting his product, you get banned.
I've had runs in with him myself on forums. The thing that is very distasteful to me is how this one guy who takes credit for it (I won't name names) has taken the approach of of slamming Wesp personally, slamming his work and slamming anyone who uses Wesp's work as inferior Bloodlines game players. He has been banned from forums because of his attitude regarding the comments he makes. It's one thing to promote one's work but quite another to do it by slamming the other maker the way he is doing it. It's just uncalled for. He even has his own forum and if anyone questions his methods of promoting his product, you get banned.
I've had runs in with him myself on forums. IIRC that guy also 'stole' a lot of fixes made by the DanUpright/Wesp patch, but I could be wrong! Anyway I just reinstalled Bloodlines and I'm using Wesp's patch, and I've found a bug, it seems that AI is disabled in Santa Monica hub (all peoples stand still, but answer to your question); maybe I did something wrong:P. Anyway I just reinstalled Bloodlines and I'm using Wesp's patch, and I've found a bug, it seems that AI is disabled in Santa Monica hub (all peoples stand still, but answer to your question); maybe I did something wrong:P That is an issue that had been addressed in next patch cominig out shortly. In the meantime there are two files that can be deleted to fix it.
Here is the quote from Wesp from gamebanshee forums. I just checked the issue and the pedestrians were frozen for me too. I will try to get the patch updated, but for anyone already experiencing this just remove the two files smhub1. in the maps/graphs folder as mentioned above and ignore the later AI-node message on loading the map.
There is no need to mix the two. The 4.2 version can be installed with just bug fixes instead of the full extra content. So install 4.2 with the bug fixes only and then play through the game that way and then try out the extra content later. IMHO the version from 'Wesp5' is superior considering how the AT patch is just a fork from his and Dan Wright's original work. I don't know if it's changed, but a lot of these 'bug fixes' are in fact changes that dumb the game down and lower it's difficulty.
That is one thing I never liked about that line of patches and why I never played with anything but the official patch. If this 5.04 patch is really just bug fixes then that is a step in the right direction if you ask me.
![Vampire Vampire](/uploads/1/2/5/4/125497788/821220918.jpg)
I don't know if it's changed, but a lot of these 'bug fixes' are in fact changes that dumb the game down and lower it's difficulty. That is one thing I never liked about that line of patches and why I never played with anything but the official patch. I don't think Wesp's patches do that at all. It does expose hidden content that is in the game but not used. It opens up different dialog choices that can expose other options that wouldn't normally be there.
To me the patch opens up the game more. More choices are always better to me. Wesp took advantage of the things that were in the game (but unused) and exposed them to make a good game better yet.
Some of the changes are quite subtle. Example; I never liked the dialog when the character had to let Heather go, I always thought it was quite cold. It's now changed to have a choice to send her off in a good way.
When you play this game as many times as I have, you really see and appreciate the changes Wesp has made. As far as making the game easier.
The original game (without Wesp's unofficial patches) has some strange dialog choices/consequences in it. What I mean is there were times for something to happen you had to choose one specific answer (and only one) that at the time was totally disconnected and unforseen to the event. The only way you would know what was the correct phrase or what happened as a result of it was to read a forum where someone commented on it and then play the game again. Wesp's patches connect the dots more clearly so the player knows more of what the direction is going to be in the first place.
The choices are still there to make, thinking is still required to pay attention to what you are doing, but now you have a clearer (more logical) indication of what direction one answer is going to go vs another. If someone thinks that makes the game easier, so be it. I personally don't think it does, I think it makes the game more thorough. Another thing I'd like to say. Wesp has made MANY unofficial patches since he started doing this. He gets criticism for this from the other maker as not knowing what he is doing and crap like that.
The truth is Wesp is continually scanning this game for unused content to make the game better. Anyone who has played this game knows how complex it is and how many dialogs and choices are there. One dialog change will affect another and another and can change outcomes. I imagine it's enough to give a guy like Wesp big time headaches trying to figure this out and tie it all together. It's apparent from all the work Wesp has done to say he is one dedicated dude regarding Vampire Bloodlines. So he adds some content (keep in mind he is not adding anything that was not already in the game even though it may not have been in the official release, this game has tons of unused content).
When he does things like this, there may be another issue come up that he didn't consider and may alter something he didn't intend. So he will fix those things (along with anything new he's found) in a subsequent patch (keep in mind he does all this without having the game source code).
It's why there are so many. They just keep getting more refined and better. He is also now working on an installer. Right now it's unzipping to game folder. He is going to include in this installer a choice to just install bug fixes (basic) and another to install the added game dialog/content (enhanced). The best of both worlds.
I PM'd Wesp in another forum and invited him over to join in the discussion. He could give input to his work a lot better than I ever could. I don't think Wesp's patches do that at all.
It does expose hidden content that is in the game but not used. It opens up different dialog choices that can expose other options that wouldn't normally be there. To me the patch opens up the game more. More choices are always better to me. Wesp took advantage of the things that were in the game (but unused) and exposed them to make a good game better yet. Some of the changes are quite subtle.
Example; I never liked the dialog when the character had to let Heather go, I always thought it was quite cold. It's now changed to have a choice to send her off in a good way.
When you play this game as many times as I have, you really see and appreciate the changes Wesp has made. As far as making the game easier. The original game (without Wesp's unofficial patches) has some strange dialog choices/consequences in it. What I mean is there were times for something to happen you had to choose one specific answer (and only one) that at the time was totally disconnected and unforseen to the event.
The only way you would know what was the correct phrase or what happened as a result of it was to read a forum where someone commented on it and then play the game again. Wesp's patches connect the dots more clearly so the player knows more of what the direction is going to be in the first place. The choices are still there to make, thinking is still required to pay attention to what you are doing, but now you have a clearer (more logical) indication of what direction one answer is going to go vs another.
If someone thinks that makes the game easier, so be it. I personally don't think it does, I think it makes the game more thorough.
Another thing I'd like to say. Wesp has made MANY unofficial patches since he started doing this. He gets criticism for this from the other maker as not knowing what he is doing and crap like that. The truth is Wesp is continually scanning this game for unused content to make the game better.
Anyone who has played this game knows how complex it is and how many dialogs and choices are there. One dialog change will affect another and another and can change outcomes. I imagine it's enough to give a guy like Wesp big time headaches trying to figure this out and tie it all together. It's apparent from all the work Wesp has done to say he is one dedicated dude regarding Vampire Bloodlines.
So he adds some content (keep in mind he is not adding anything that was not already in the game even though it may not have been in the official release, this game has tons of unused content). When he does things like this, there may be another issue come up that he didn't consider and may alter something he didn't intend. So he will fix those things (along with anything new he's found) in a subsequent patch (keep in mind he does all this without having the game source code). It's why there are so many. They just keep getting more refined and better.
He is also now working on an installer. Right now it's unzipping to game folder. He is going to include in this installer a choice to just install bug fixes (basic) and another to install the added game dialog/content (enhanced). The best of both worlds. I PM'd Wesp in another forum and invited him over to join in the discussion. He could give input to his work a lot better than I ever could.
QFT.Let me add that Wesp5 can not add anything that was not already in the game. The reason being is that VTMB was pretty much hard coded in many areas which makes modding to add non-game content pretty much impossible. All the 'Extra content' as you stated is basically stuff left out of the game as it was rushed to market.
No one can actually change or add much to VTMB because of how hard coded most parts of the game are in fact. The tools used to create this game are heavily mired in licensing issues and thus will never be released to the public. I didn't say 'extra content' in the enhanced version, the term 'added' was referring to the hidden content (already in the game). The enhanced version is what the patch is now.
The Basic version will be without the hidden content (which is about what the 'True' patch is). One little correction from myself here. The 'basic' patch contains a lot of hidden content as well, as long as the gameplay is not affected. This includes about 100 never before heard dialogue lines, over 50 missing sounds and several hidden models.
Only mayor changes like the new Blood Heal discipline or the new occult items are reserved for the 'full' patch. BTW, to prevent further misunderstandings about the two variations of my patch from the next version on, the former 'basic' version will be the default and the former 'full' version optional and called 'plus'. This should make it easier for first time players that don't know which patch to choose. One little correction from myself here. The 'basic' patch contains a lot of hidden content as well, as long as the gameplay is not affected. This includes about 100 never before heard dialogue lines, over 50 missing sounds and several hidden models.
Only mayor changes like the new Blood Heal discipline or the new occult items are reserved for the 'full' patch. BTW, to prevent further misunderstandings about the two variations of my patch from the next version on, the former 'basic' version will be the default and the former 'full' version optional and called 'plus'. This should make it easier for first time players that don't know which patch to choose.
So you are the one creating both the 'true' and 'full' patches? I thought you only took care of the so called Unofficial Patch (which is currently at v4.3), while someone else was releasing the 'true' patch.:confused: In any case, welcome to R3D.:) EDIT: BTW, guys, when should we team up and perform on Wesp the welcoming manches ceremony? He is, after all, fresh innocent blood.:bleh. So you are the one creating both the 'true' and 'full' patches?
I thought you only took care of the so called Unofficial Patch (which is currently at v4.3), while someone else was releasing the 'true' patch.:confused: I'm the creator of the original unofficial patches but since all the trouble with the 'true' patch (that started ripping off my own work without permission) I decided to offer a 'purist' version on my own which I called the 'basic' patch (after all who is to say what Troika really intended to do had they had the time to patch and finish the game). The 'basic' patch stays much closer to the original game than the 'full' unofficial patch but fixes much more bugs than the 'true' patch. So in my opinion this should be the patch for first time players unless they use the official 1.2 only. I'm the creator of the original unofficial patches but since all the trouble with the 'true' patch (that started ripping off my own work without permission) I decided to offer a 'purist' version on my own which I called the 'basic' patch (after all who is to say what Troika really intended to do had they had the time to patch and finish the game). The 'basic' patch stays much closer to the original game than the 'full' unofficial patch but fixes much more bugs than the 'true' patch. So in my opinion this should be the patch for first time players unless they use the official 1.2 only. OK, that makes sense.
Will the basic and full patches carry the same version number? If they did, it would surely clear up some confusion for people who are deciding which patch to install for the first time. BTW I played the game for the first time with your unofficial patch (v2.x or v3.x at the time). I didn't encounter any quest bugs at all, so I guess I should thank you for making my Bloodlines experience smoother than what it would have been without it.
So yeah, thanks.:):p. OK, that makes sense. Will the basic and full patches carry the same version number? Both patches always have the same version number. So right now we have the full 4.3 and the basic 4.3. But the crew of the 'true' patch always tried to have a higher number than the unofficial patches to confuse people to use their patch instead. They started with 4.0x when my patches were at 3.x and then suddenly jumped to 5.04 with no visible bug fixes from 4.04 when my patches reached 4.x:(.
BTW I played the game for the first time with your unofficial patch (v2.x or v3.x at the time). I didn't encounter any quest bugs at all, so I guess I should thank you for making my Bloodlines experience smoother than what it would have been without it. So yeah, thanks.:):p You are welcome:)!
Well hell, glad you accepted the invitation Vampire dude! Welcome aboard to a forum that won't allow all the BS that is currently going on in another forum (unnamed).:) Glad you cleared that up about differences in your patch. I see I hadn't got it exactly right. Now I'm a little confused. I recently installed the 4.3 (from FileFront).
Now I don't know which one I installed as there was only one to download. Please clear this up for me. Thanks Where can I see a Readme to see what the differences are? Now I'm a little confused. I recently installed the 4.3 (from FileFront). Now I don't know which one I installed as there was only one to download.
Please clear this up for me. There is only one archive which includes both patches. At the moment the default patch installed if you extract everything correctly is the 'full' patch. If you want to go the purist route, you can install the 'basic' patch on top. It's as simple as that and the differences are described in the patch readme and I'll just quote them here: Basic Patch: - Extracting the Vampire folder in basic to the game folder after the normal patch was applied reverts some of the controversial changes: + No bonus xp for freeing Ash from the Leopold Society, letting Julius go, leaving Zhao alive or getting Imalia's magazine. + No humanity changes regarding Copper, Imalia, Julius, Killer, Hannah, Wong Ho, Ash, Tourette, Johansen and charity money. + Books are available again from Trip but no bat and tire iron from the start (book duplicates stay in the other levels).
+ Occult items and blood are available again from Tseng (with Galdjum instead of Fae Charm because of the Isaac issue). + CD quest restored to Nosferatu and second Imalia quest removed. + Larry quest condition restored and Jeanette encounter removed.
+ Blood Heal discipline removed and all sheet stats restored. + Warehouse xp restored and Yukie at temple scene removed. + All weapon names and stats restored to original values. + All new added items removed and item stats restored. + Conditions for Christopher and Johansen restored.
+ Ox gives money only and Venus her original cut. + No SWAT rifle, armor and crossbows buyable.
+ No axe and crossbows found in any levels. And to add some more info about the new stuff missing in 'basic': + New Blood Heal discipline common to all clans. + Yukie appearing in the first Temple endgame map. + Chewing gum sellable to Copper (found on the pier). + SWAT sniper rifle (available from Mercurio and Bach). + Occult Charisma powerup (aquired as reward from Isaac).
+ Occult Obfuscate powerup (present in the Nosferatu haven). + Occult hacking powerup (received during the Mitnick quest). + Occult lockpicking powerup (obtained as reward from Mr. I don't know if it's changed, but a lot of these 'bug fixes' are in fact changes that dumb the game down and lower it's difficulty. Can you give some details what you exactly mean by that? After all I made the most powerful weapons in the game (the sniper rifle and the flamethrower) less powerful, I toned the Blood Buff down and the Blood Heal discipline needs blood to heal you which was done automatically before. If you mean the removal of the unreasonable respawning in some levels, I admit that I removed it but I think most people agree that this was annoying anyway, especially towards the end of the game;).
If you mean the removal of the unreasonable respawning in some levels, I admit that I removed it but I think most people agree that this was annoying anyway, especially towards the end of the game;). Oh god, I HATE respawning enemies. Glad I didn't have to deal with them. In System Shock 2 I had to tweak the game in order to reduce the respawning to a minimum. Made my gaming experience much more enjoyable.
Personally I didn't think the game was dumbed down at all. Hell, some parts were downright difficult (for example, the 'Gehenna' boss was a b.tch to kill) BTW has any of the Troika developers ever been involved in the creation of the Unofficial patch, or have they sanctioned any of its improvements?
Or have they pretty much just ignored it? I thought the last third was just as good as the first two thirds. The game is a classic.
Just don't get in a hurry. It's not that kind of game. Soak it up, get into the atmosphere and enjoy. The last few portions of the game are forced combat. No sneaking will get you through, no dialog to pass the combat either. Its complete hell for a non-combat oriented character, which I played on my first go round.
The first two-thirds are great for a character with enough persuasion or intimidation. It was as if the beginning of the game were Fallout, in that you can do missions through dialog only and the ending became that of Oblivion, where your only option is which weapon to kill the enemies with.
Wesp5 is a super great guy and his efforts to patch are really appreciated by many. The patch in the title is actually Tessmage or whatever his name is.
Thier patches are not compatible to eachothers and they have different patch philosphies. I am sure they both make great patches. I use Tessmages Truepatch 5.04AT myself and I have not had problems. Not sure about the Wesp5 ones accept that I had used 5.0 and it had a few bugs in the tutorial that I had to use console hacks to fix. Like the 'cant pull out my fists' bug.
But then I reninstalled and have been using this 5.04AT from Tessmage and no problems but I am only as far as the haunted hotel. The makers of the so called 'True' patch came way after Wesp's patches and they basically copy his work and talk a lot of trash. The True patches also don't expose as much hidden things in the game (that were always there but not exposed) as Wesp's patches do. Wesp is the true creator and the other is a wannabe. I could care less who was first and whatnot.
Some have better luck with one guys patches and others with the other. But I only get that from reading in both forums. I have had better luck in the early game with Tess's to be honest so I will play through with that for now. I have been bug free from the start up to and after the haunted hotel. I doubt Tess copied Wesp5's.
But I would honestly appreciate a link to that being exposed because I don't know either guy from jack and don't care about either. But it that is true, then I would like to switch out. Out of principal more than anything else. I like facts and not BS.
I don't know who is telling the truth. But I find it an interresting read non the less. Well to start, try reading some other forums besides the one you're getting your info from. It's well documented the rift between the two for a long time.
The dude from the true patches has been banned from more forums that I care to mention because of his rudeness, lies and personal attacks to Wesp. That forum you're reading is his forum (it's the only reason he hasn't been banned from that one). People who goes there and disputes his info gets banned. I have been posting on forums myself desputing the trash the guy sputes out.
When he doesn't like or want to answer the crap he comes up with, he then resorts to more personal attacks to whoever is disputing his BS. I've personally used every patch Wesp has made from the beginning.
They have been rock solid but a few has had bugs that all got worked out. When you experiment with patches without source code (that has never been released), some bugs pop up from time to time. When it happens, it gets fixed.
Whatever patches you use is up to you. Well to start, try reading some other forums besides the one you're getting your info from.
It's well documented the rift between the two for a long time. The dude from the true patches has been banned from more forums that I care to mention because of his rudeness, lies and personal attacks to Wesp. That forum you're reading is his forum (it's the only reason he hasn't been banned from that one). People who goes there and disputes his info gets banned. I have been posting on forums myself desputing the trash the guy sputes out.
When he doesn't like or want to answer the crap he comes up with, he then resorts to more personal attacks to whoever is disputing his BS. I've personally used every patch Wesp has made from the beginning. They have been rock solid but a few has had bugs that all got worked out. When you experiment with patches without source code (that has never been released), some bugs pop up from time to time.
When it happens, it gets fixed. Whatever patches you use is up to you. The game is a blast either way. The 5.04AT has not had a single problem for me yet. However, I ran into a few problems with the 5.0 from wesp5. I would have been happy with his too and I have nothing against either one of them.
I respect that both patched a game for free and that is great. Tessera is a bit rude I suspect.
But his patch is good so far. That and I concure with his attitude of only bug fixing in patches and keeping unearthed content in mods. But it really is unimportant I guess. I have read other forums as well. I don't think either of them are truely innocent in the matter.
It is an old fued. Great damn game is all I can say. I wish actually that valve would pick it up and polish it just for fun but I know they won't. Wesp's patches have the option of either 'Basic' which is mainly bug fixes and the 'Plus' patch which exposes more hidden dialogs and events in the game that the original game didn't have (though it is in the game, just hidden). So there is the best of both worlds. I personally prefer the 'Plus' version as I'll take all I can get to experience (for example, you can save Heather and keep her with you in the Plus option). I've played this game more times than I can count since it first came out and it's still fun everytime I give it a spin.
I'm currently using the 5.1 patch (with no problems whatsoever)and I'll continue to use everyone after that that Wesp makes (though I suspect he is about done). I have no reason to try the other one as Wesp's patches have served me well. If I would have ever considered trying the other patch, after I saw (and interacted with) what the dude was doing (the personal character assassination of Wesp and the self proclaimed arrogant master of Bloodlines BS), that killed it for me right there. Wesp's patches have the option of either 'Basic' which is mainly bug fixes and the 'Plus' patch which exposes more hidden dialogs and events in the game that the original game didn't have (though it is in the game, just hidden). So there is the best of both worlds.
I personally prefer the 'Plus' version as I'll take all I can get to experience (for example, you can save Heather and keep her with you in the Plus option). I've played this game more times than I can count since it first came out and it's still fun everytime I give it a spin. I'm currently using the 5.1 patch (with no problems whatsoever)and I'll continue to use everyone after that that Wesp makes (though I suspect he is about done). I have no reason to try the other one as Wesp's patches have served me well. If I would have ever considered trying the other patch, after I saw (and interacted with) what the dude was doing (the personal character assassination of Wesp and the self proclaimed arrogant master of Bloodlines BS), that killed it for me right there.
I am sure the 5.1 is great. Continue to enjoy the game.:up: C. I am sure the 5.1 is great. Continue to enjoy the game.:up: C.
Yeah no need to ramble about the greatness of the patch your using.:D We can read what each does and decide what suits us better, the fact still is, wesp's mod gave me the 'no fists' bug in the tutorial and 'true patch' didnt. Many people will not go thorough the hassle of searching for the solution online as it's not that easy to find. So not being able to complete a simple tutorial cannot be replaced by all the basic and plus modding happening afterwards. Im gonna play through the game with both eventually since its definitely worth it to experience this game with all the twists both patches bring., but the weekly patching that wesp does has already put me off from finishing the game a few times, so I ll pass on it until the updates slow down a bit. There has to be a point where enough is enough lol;). Ok, so all this talk about Bloodlines got me to dig up the disc again, install the latest patch, 5.1 unofficial on top and finally change to widescreen resolution. But the graphics!!!
MY EEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!! I dont remember them being that bad the first time I played. After all, its the source engine: Half-Life 2 look stunning. But now, Bloodlines look like its using extremely low res textures with a GUI at 640x480 resolution stretched to 1680x1050 (its enough to make you vomit) all topped by a nice fisheye lens. I think it looked better on my 9800 Pro than it does on my HD3870:hmm. Ok, so all this talk about Bloodlines got me to dig up the disc again, install the latest patch, 5.1 unofficial on top and finally change to widescreen resolution. But the graphics!!!
MY EEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSS!!! I dont remember them being that bad the first time I played.
After all, its the source engine: Half-Life 2 look stunning. But now, Bloodlines look like its using extremely low res textures with a GUI at 640x480 resolution stretched to 1680x1050 (its enough to make you vomit) all topped by a nice fisheye lens. I think it looked better on my 9800 Pro than it does on my HD3870:hmm: Make sure you use respatcher to get actual 1680x1050. Then you need to do the patch for res first and then adjust the FOV and so on. It's called vtmbrespatcher.exe You drop it in the BIN folder of the game and run it.
Hit the button than says converts the stock resses to widescreeen resses! Run the game and in game you set your res (I set to 1680x1050). Bounce out again and then run the shortcut with the -console switch in the line like this 'C: Program Files Activision Vampire - Bloodlines vampire.exe' -console And in the game you type 'ranamorphic 1' in the console. It's normally '0' but '1' fixes aspect to WS resses. Then you type 'FOV 75' which supposedly give a little tweak to Field of View. I used 75 to look as close to HL2's default FOV (visually only in my personal prefereance.
Use whatever FOV you want. 70 to 85 are about normal.) Then close the Console and it appears you never have to do that again. My game looks perfectly good. I am running 1680x1050 with 75 FOV. I use Tessera's patch 5.04AT (not to be confused with Wesp5's 5.0 or 5.1) patch. I am going to play through with Tessera's to get the 'un-modded original game content as it was concieved by Troica with only bug fixes done' sort of experience and then play through again with Wesp's mods to get the gameplay changes and extra weapons and so on. Damn this game is addicting.
And there are more voice actors in the first 2 hours of VTMB than all of Oblivion! I've done all that with the camera and ok, I can make the fisheye go away decently. But its the low-res textures and GUI that look wierd. Forgive the horrible image, I havent installed Photoshop yet and can only use Paint. Which apparently suck at something as simple as saving a screenshot, lol! Just imagine that screen stretched to 1680x1050 and ignore the white. That looks horrible!
That is NOT what it is supposed to look like. What patch you using?
Or patches and or mods mixed? Mine looks sharp in comparison. Something is borked. In fact it looks HL2 good.:up: C.
As I said earlier, Wesps patches have both options in the install, either 'Basic' or 'Plus'. Basic has some changes to game play mechanics as well. It depends what you want. The reality is that Tessera and his main scripting debugger friend only debugged known bugs.
So 5.04AT is probably not as exciting to those that have played through already. I personally have nothing against modding and playing mods. To me it is a simple question. Want to play the unchanged version of VTMB then use 5.04AT. Want to play with some minor rebalacing and so on? Play 5.0 or 5.1 basic I guess. Want some added stuff and previously excluded stuff play the Plus version of Wesp's patch.
For me this run was to play the original retail (99% or whatever) un-tinkered. 5.04AT is (mostly) only bug fixes. Then I will probably do the 5.1 Plus patch or whatever is Wesps current thing. I say try em both.
Both patchers (Wesp and Tessera) and the game (and it's history) are somewhat of a legend now as is the fued (however silly it was in retrospect). It's just cool getting to play with it all.:) C. Just installed Vampires yesterday, applied the official patch (1.2 I think?), applied the unofficial 5.1 (basic) and changed the res to widescreen. No mods involved. Its on a HD3870/Cat8.3.
If I were in your shoes. I would uninstall Bloodlines. Delete the folder in Program Files Activision whatever game folder it is. Then I would completely and freshly re-install the game and apply the official 1.2 patch and follow that with 'the patch of your choice' Wesp's 5.1 or Tessera's 5.04AT (the title of this thread). Then play it to make sure the UI is not bugged still.
If you think it could possibly be the other patch, try 5.04AT. But DO NOT COMBINE patches. 5.04AT goes on top of 1.2 but not on top of Wesps or things could be borked big time.
Anyway, whatever patch you use, resfix it last. It's actually a rpetty good looking game when it works right!