I am about to play V:TM-Bloodlines for the first time - what do I need to know before I start?

[Bah]

Don't forget to get a top-hat, a cape, and a cane to wear while you play, and queue up My Dying Bride in your playlist.

 

[JDR13]

Use Wesp5's basic patch, and avoid playing as Nosferatu or Malkavian on your first playthrough. Not that they aren't fun, but I just think they're better for a subsequent replay.

 

[cruel]

Play with latest Wesp patch. Save frequently, keep older saves and don't delete them. There may be cases when you want to load older save.

Also, invest in some combat skill. You won't be able to beat the game without one of those (melee, ranged, brawl). Some points in 'Dodge' also help.

 

[Kaldurenik]

Hmm i should play this again

 

[Wesp5]

Don't believe the haters, there is no fan-fiction in the basic patch, just fixes and restored sounds or lines here and there.

Yeah, that's the issue.

Well, the restored lines in the basic patch are not fan-fiction. They are original Troika lines that just had their connections broken so they couldn't be heard!

 

[Daedalos]

Inb4 this thread turns into another modding vs purism fight like the fallout 1 mod thread.

Bloodlines absolutely benefitted from extensive modding, becuase it was a fucking bugridden shitfest at launch and onwards.

 

[Theodora]

Play as Brujah if you want to crack skulls, Gangrel if you want to punch everything dead, Toreador if you want to talk your way through things (and shoot people when that doesn't work), or Tremere if you want be a mage. Though if you want to be a rich asshole you could go Ventrue.

Absolutely no reason to not install the basic patch. The state of the game on release (no thanks to Activision) is part of why Troika isn't here anymore.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Inb4 this thread turns into another modding vs purism fight like the fallout 1 mod thread.

Bloodlines absolutely benefitted from extensive modding, becuase it was a fucking bugridden shitfest at launch and onwards.

Agreed, Wesp made a good game and Troika made a decent mod for it.

 

[Roguey]

Don't believe the haters, there is no fan-fiction in the basic patch, just fixes and restored sounds or lines here and there.

Yeah, that's the issue.

Well, the restored lines in the basic patch are not fan-fiction. They are original Troika lines that just had their connections broken so they couldn't be heard!

Referring to this line by Chunk: "Nobody expects the Malkavian Inquisition." I have to admit that line is by me, there wasn't anything there for Malkavians in the original game...

Function // added by wesp
{
"name" "Duckling"
"description" "Duckling"
"runtext" "My new kitten! - ***"
"dependency" "G.Jeanette_Boink > 0"

Email // added by wesp
{
"subject" "I want to see you soon"
"sender" "Jeanette"
"body" "I'm bored. Can't you come entertain me? I'm at the club.... XOXOXO"

 

[wyes gull]

Spoiler

BOO

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Don't believe the haters, there is no fan-fiction in the basic patch, just fixes and restored sounds or lines here and there.

Yeah, that's the issue.

Well, the restored lines in the basic patch are not fan-fiction. They are original Troika lines that just had their connections broken so they couldn't be heard!

Referring to this line by Chunk: "Nobody expects the Malkavian Inquisition." I have to admit that line is by me, there wasn't anything there for Malkavians in the original game...

Function // added by wesp
{
"name" "Duckling"
"description" "Duckling"
"runtext" "My new kitten! - ***"
"dependency" "G.Jeanette_Boink > 0"

Email // added by wesp
{
"subject" "I want to see you soon"
"sender" "Jeanette"
"body" "I'm bored. Can't you come entertain me? I'm at the club.... XOXOXO"

I think the second part might actually be restored content that was originally incorrectly placed on the wrong terminal

 

[Roguey]

I think the second part might actually be restored content that was originally incorrectly placed on the wrong terminal

He added it to Bertram's pc.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I think the second part might actually be restored content that was originally incorrectly placed on the wrong terminal

He added it to Bertram's pc.

Yes, because I believe it was on the wrong terminal(and was inaccessible due to checks) — it's merely restored content if so. I'd have to go download the entire game to make sure and I'm too lazy to do that.

 

[Wesp5]

Referring to this line by Chunk: "Nobody expects the Malkavian Inquisition." I have to admit that line is by me, there wasn't anything there for Malkavians in the original game...

Ah, you mean player answers. Yes, some missing Malkavian lines were added by me and others but these are bug fixes!! Or would you have preferred for the Malkavians to suddenly become sane?

Function // added by wesp
{
"name" "Duckling"
"description" "Duckling"
"runtext" "My new kitten! - ***"
"dependency" "G.Jeanette_Boink > 0"

Email // added by wesp
{
"subject" "I want to see you soon"
"sender" "Jeanette"
"body" "I'm bored. Can't you come entertain me? I'm at the club.... XOXOXO"

Good catch, these should be plus patch only and they are now. Anything similar left over in basic, just report and I will fix it! But rusty_shackleford is right, I took the second email from hackexample.txt.

 

[Wesp5]

-The character creation system is poor and some skills are mostly useless (like investigation).

Are there any other skills/perks/etc. I shouldn't use my XP on?

Intimidation and Seduction are pretty much useless if you have high Persuasion.

 

[jackofshadows]

Are there any other skills/perks/etc. I shouldn't use my XP on?

You might avoid investing into vampire disciplines much/entirely for a while in order to concentrate more on defining skills first.

 

[jackofshadows]

Intimidation and Seduction are pretty much useless if you have high Persuasion.

Except in that case you won't see options at all and some of them are just hilarious.

 

[Theodora]

Intimidation and Seduction are pretty much useless if you have high Persuasion.

Except in that case you won't see options at all and some of them are just hilarious.

My first playthrough was with a high appearance, high subterfuge femme Toreador, and I have zero regrets.

 

[Roguey]

Ah, you mean player answers. Yes, some missing Malkavian lines were added by me and others but these are bug fixes!! Or would you have preferred for the Malkavians to suddenly become sane?

Hard to say depending on the line. I think "It will be" is a suitable enough line for a Malkavian, no extra line necessary. Apparently Mitsoda and Boyarsky thought those lines were good enough as is. Typos, misspellings are bugs. I wouldn't consider grammar or "lack of appropriate options" to be bugs a modder should fix in a pure bug-fix patch, as that's all subjective and without knowing the developer intent.

 

[almondblight]

-The character creation system is poor and some skills are mostly useless (like investigation).

Are there any other skills/perks/etc. I shouldn't use my XP on?

Haggle seemed pretty useless to me, though I don't know whether a gun wielding character that had to buy ammunition would find it useful. Lockpicking/Hacking/Research/Intimidate/Persuasion/Seduction are all skills just used to pass skillcheck, so if you invest in more than necessary you're just throwing away skill points. I don't think any of the social skills have a check of 10, for instance, so raising them up that high is a waste. Even raising them up to 8 or 9 doesn't give you a lot more, IIRC. You can also use some buffs to pass skill checks (blood buff will raise your lockpicking skill), so factor that in as well.

Research is an odd one. It allows you to raise other skills for a cheaper price by using skill books, though it might be more expensive depending on your goals and how high you raise it. Keep in mind that skill books only work within a certain range. For instance, the firearms book you find early on - saves you 1 point raising the level if you're at 0, saves you 2 points if you're at 1, and is completely worthless if you're higher than one.

This is just for vanilla, the mods/fan patches change things from what I understand.

 

[Nano]

Don't know about you, OP, but I personally don't like min/maxing on the first playthrough.

 

[almondblight]

Don't know about you, OP, but I personally don't like min/maxing on the first playthrough.

It's not like you're trying to figure out a complex character system though. Upping a social skill to 10 is literally just throwing away 10 XP points for nothing. You're playthrough is going to be the same as someone with 9 points, just with 10 less XP. And there's not even a way to see that in game, because it doesn't give the level for the skill check. Likewise the skill books don't tell you that there's a max skill level, so you only find out after you've wasted one or more.

It's not a difficult game, so it's still easy if you go in and play blind. But a lot of the choices aren't about figuring out different builds, they're more "do you want to waste your XP for no reason or do you want to actually use your XP?"

 

[Storyfag]

I envy you Phos, you're in for a hell of a ride.

By the way, I haven't replayed Bloodlines in a while. Hmmm.

 

[Theodora]

Wesp5 please tell me that the 'G.Jeanette_Boink' variable was named by Troika and not your own doing.

 

[Roguey]

Wesp5 please tell me that the 'G.Jeanette_Boink' variable was named by Troika and not your own doing.

Looks to me like Troika did it. It's a script they set up for people who wanted to have sex with her more than once.
{ 514 }{ I remember something we already did. Is it possible again? }{ I remember something we already did. Is it possible again? }{ 541 }{ G.Jeanette_Boink == 2 and pc.bloodpool > 1 }{ }{ }{ }{ }{ }{ }{ }{ I remember a sweet thing we did. But can we enjoy it again? }