World of Darkness Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 from Hardsuit Labs

[Calm]

Indeed, the verdict is very much still out on whether this will be a dumpster fire or not.

I don't understand how you can say that. It's already a dumpster-fire.

Just from the perspective that if it's anything at all like the original the mods will fix it.

If the player isn't railroaded into being 'ideologically compliant' then there may be some hope.

The issue isn't being "ideologically compliant" or not, but whether there are realistic options. Given how far up their own political asshole they are, it's incredibly unlikely that you'll get reasonable options when not being ideologically compliant and politically correct. The new source material is already beyond absurd in this regard, and it is abundantly clear that they have no interest in actually trying to understand the positions of others beyond their own, and that "their" position is the "objectively" correct one, and that they truly believe this - and reinforces it by painting any opposition to it as whatever pejoratives they can come up with.

I know exactly what you are saying here and support the sentiment. I'm not trying to say that one should be currently inclined to have any positive expectations whatsoever, it is more rational to expect the worst. But in an ideal scenario like (pure speculation) being able to kill every npc, I'm willing to leave the tiniest bit of room for surprise.

 

[Ismaul]

What does that say about Europe?

MerEUca!
or MerUK!

Right now it's hard to tell.

 

[Chippy]

I wasn't aware that 'odd' was a synonym for 'Polish'. It's a common phenotype for that region:

Did I stutter?

Odd. Weird looking. Like her great great granddad was a mongol invader.

Right,nothing like a good american woman.

A US modeling agency told her she was too fat to be a model. A UK modeling agency signed her to a contract.
What does that say about Europe?

Uk is a much different place to other countries in Europe - ugliest eastern european women (if they exist) look like supermodel Kate Moss from the UK. With regard to supersized models though; prepare yourselves for the Swedish version of plus sized Jeanette Voerman - the fat vampire with a clawed supermodel inside her that's just bursting to get out...and probably shouldn't have stood so close to the buffet.

 

[Luckmann]

FYI this is what Tessera thinks about it:

Spoiler

.txt version

My initial response is the same as what I posted on the YouTube video:

This is excellent news. I just hope I don't have to make another True Patch... and I hope this game will live up to the mature standards set by its predecessor.


I'm also curious about which game engine they intend to use for it. I doubt they'll be returning to the Source engine for this sequel.

The trailer looks more like whatever engine was used to make Metro 2033. Of course, it's just a cinematic trailer and the actual
game will probably look much different than what they've shown us.

@Tessera : it was said that the game engine will be UE4

Okay... so basically, the same engine used for Conan: Exiles.

With that same sort of overall look, I expect. The UE4 engine definitely has a certain style to its appearance. Colors tend to be a bit muted... lots of feather-edging and blending... stark shadows... good normal mapping... etc.

Not a bad choice for a "noir" game. The character models should look sharp and the scenery will probably look a bit too delineated, but nice. Should be particularly good if most of the game areas are dark, nighttime scenes.

The only thing I dislike about the UE engine is the way it handles shadows. It reminds me of the GameBryo engine in that respect: it's the sort of overly-dark shadowing that causes most Skyrim players to turn off player shadows altogether. But I can live with it.

Nowadays with all the bullshit in game development nowadays, I'll be wary of it.

I'm worried about that, too.. and it's why I said that they had better maintain the mature theme of the original VTMB. If they don't... and they just crank out another sanitized kiddie game with fangs... then I'll scream.

I disagree with Starwrecker about the Malks in VTMB. World Of Darkness canon gives a very broad definition of Malk behavior... up to and including being stark raving bat-shit crazy. It doesn't say that ALL Malks behave that way, but it does say that SOME Malks are completely off-the-wall. Some are even completely unintelligible, spending much of their time babbling absurd nonsense, and occasionally getting into arguments with stop signs (hee hee). Troika were obviously drawn to the nuttier side of Malk behavior, mainly because of all the opportunities they provide for comic relief and political incorrectness. The first time I played a Malk in VTMB, I was laughing my ass off the whole way through. The female Malks are particularly hilarious (eg: "I'll save the juices of our love in a plastic bag").

That aside, one thing I'm gratified to see is this: I'm glad they opted for a sequel, instead of a remake of VTMB.

For many years now, we've had posts from all sorts of people who kept wishing that someone would do "a modern remake" of VTMB. And I have always been the lone voice of dissent in those conversations, saying that I would rather leave VTMB as it is, and just go for a self-contained sequel instead. One of the reasons everyone loves VTMB is because it's so quirky -- and so much a product of its time. I've always felt that a remake, no matter how well intentioned, would wind up losing half the charm of the original production. The original VTMB belongs in a hall of fame somewhere. A classic doesn't need a remake.

I hear you. I've just never seen a Malk like that "in person" in my years of playing pen and paper VTM

LOL... yeah, I can see where that might be pretty irritating.

But I like what Troika did with the Malks in VTMB. As for the planned sequel, it would be nice if they gave Malks a wider range of different behaviors. We could say that about all of the other clans too, though. For example, I love Velvet Velour... but I wouldn't want an entire game filled with cooing, self-absorbed Torries. One of the biggest laughs I've ever had playing VTMB was the first time when I saw Lilith, my Malk, say to V.V. "I think your head is full of crayons." I had been thinking something similar, from the moment we first met V.V. I think I said something like "Plastic fantastic" at the time... and then Lilith came out with that hilarious insult.

So yeah, a bit more dimension to the different clans would be a nice touch.

Good would be rapid patching by the publisher.

Realistic is that there will be tweaks needed from the modding community. Hopefully VTMB2 will really be Mod Friendly.

Well, I'm going on record right now and saying that unless this turns out to be a REALLY special game... like VTMB was... then I won't be making any patches for it.

I did my bit for VTMB and for the most part, all I received in return was a ton of grief and a ridiculous "patch war." I am not eager to repeat that experience... it went on for YEARS longer than it should have.

...the game is apparently going to be all in first person. I liked the ability to switch back and forth in the original.

If we're forced to play in first-person view, then I probably won't be playing it.

Nope, it belongs here because it's related to the present state of the WoD franchise. I would expect current circumstances at White Wolf to have an impact of some kind on the upcoming Bloodlines game.

I can certainly understand the skepticism that is emerging within this thread. The past decade of PC gaming has been marred by numerous cases of overly-hyped and ultimately disappointing titles.

My own expectations are pretty simple: I am not expecting a faithful sequel to VTMB, nor am I going to be significantly disappointed if it is different from VTMB. I am simply expecting a quality vampire RPG that has the option to view your character in a third-person perspective, like VTMB had. Forced first-person perspective belongs to shooter games... not RPG's.

So anyway, I'm going to maintain an open mind and see how this develops. But none of you should be expecting a clone of VTMB. That's a 15-year-old classic... and the gaming industry has definitely evolved (for good or bad) since then.

Source: http://www.tessmage.com/forum/index.php?topic=60565.0 [Warning, NSFW]

tl;dr
We won't be seeing any Tessera patch because he's not capable of doing it and in the first place Tessera won't play this game because "Forced first-person perspective belongs to shooter games... not RPG's."

lol
I guess he hasn't heard of such RPGs like Wizardry or Grimoire.

Why would I give a shit?

 

[fantadomat]

I wasn't aware that 'odd' was a synonym for 'Polish'. It's a common phenotype for that region:

Did I stutter?

Odd. Weird looking. Like her great great granddad was a mongol invader.

Right,nothing like a good american woman.

A US modeling agency told her she was too fat to be a model. A UK modeling agency signed her to a contract.
What does that say about Europe?

Uk is a much different place to other countries in Europe - ugliest eastern european women (if they exist) look like supermodel Kate Moss from the UK. With regard to supersized models though; prepare yourselves for the Swedish version of plus sized Jeanette Voerman - the fat vampire with a clawed supermodel inside her that's just bursting to get out...and probably shouldn't have stood so close to the buffet.

This fat bitch does look similar to the one from the trailer.

 

[jungl]

no character sheet makes sense. A 5 year old could understand the character sheet but remember this is paradox. Your characters stats will be based on dlc cosmetics and dlc skill trees. I'm sure eventually down the line there will be dlc voice sets for the protagonist.

 

[Luckmann]

Apparently its from 5th Edition which was revised by Paradox HQ after a bunch of Leftists whined that the White Wolf original version implied that some Vampires might be manipulating modern Neo Nazism and Islamist Hardliners persecuting Gays in Chechnya.

Unlike Vampires supporting Hitler and exploiting death camps this was deemed going to far...

Its also a bit of puzzle why Leftists think (real) "Fascists" would have any respect for their disclaimers.
Really big oversight for the Allies if all they had to do to stop the Wehrmacht was post "NAZIS NOT WELCOME HERE!" along the Polish border.

Does WW even know the definition of the term Fascism?

No. Check the shit I linked earlier. It is very obvious that they do not.

 

[Infinitron]

I think Paradox get unfairly accused of going DLC crazy on everything they publish. In reality, it's mainly their flagship grand strategy titles that do that. All of their games have some DLC, but not shitloads of it. Tyranny doesn't have tons of DLC, nor BattleTech.

 

[Fedora Master]

I think Paradox get unfairly accused of going DLC crazy on everything they publish. In reality, it's mainly their flagship grand strategy titles that do that. All of their games have some DLC, but not shitloads of it. Tyranny doesn't have tons of DLC, nor BattleTech.

True but they also get accused of being SJW swedecucks and that very much holds true.

 

[Deleted Member 22431]

This part anyways seems like it could be a mistake by the “journalist”.

One charitable interpretation is that this is a game feature, but only on the demo, which was intended to avoid any criticisms from journalists.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I think Paradox get unfairly accused of going DLC crazy on everything they publish. In reality, it's mainly their flagship grand strategy titles that do that. All of their games have some DLC, but not shitloads of it. Tyranny doesn't have tons of DLC, nor BattleTech.

True but they also get accused of being SJW swedecucks and that very much holds true.

and tbh, that's the accusation the really bothers me.

I'd pay for all the DLC in the world if it meant another Bloodlines or Arcanum, but if it's ruined by SJW schlock, that'd be a much bigger issue to me.

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

Astral Rag
What seems to be the question, my friend?

 

[fantadomat]

I'd pay for all the DLC in the world

Pay it for me too.

 

[Lacrymas]

Spoiler

 

[Orma]

https://www.dualshockers.com/vampire-masquerade-bloodlines-2-preview-gdc/

Players no longer assign attribute points to determine their abilities; instead, you are capable of handling any weapon you come across.

You had one job, Todd Brian. How can a game be so bad before it is even released?

 

[Luckmann]

https://www.dualshockers.com/vampire-masquerade-bloodlines-2-preview-gdc/

Players no longer assign attribute points to determine their abilities; instead, you are capable of handling any weapon you come across.

You had one job, Todd Brian. How can a game be so bad before it is even released?

I love how he doesn't actually answer the question.

 

[Lacrymas]

I told you all - equal power at every skill level! You also won't "increase" points in anything, that would imply superiority and we can't have that, the sheet will have dots placed randomly across the screen, so when you put a point into a dot, there won't be a hierarchy and they'll all just hang unrelated in the air.

 

[Infinitron]

What does "abilities" mean? If you can apply XP to skills and disciplines, what else is left where you can't distribute points?

 

[Luckmann]

What does "abilities" mean? If you can apply XP to skills and disciplines, what else is left where you can't distribute points?

The first info is in regards to combat, such as using weapons. Most likely, they told journos at some point that "You don't have to put points to use weapons, you just aim and shoot! xD!" or some shit like that. The only way both things can be true is if they cut combat skills.

 

[Delterius]

everytime you put points in a skill the game instead sends your character a text message of post modern deconstruction of meritocracy

and then your islamo-communist neighbor's sleeper cell is activated and they bomb your house

 

[Infinitron]

The only way both things can be true is if they cut combat skills.

Or maybe changed the combat skills into something that doesn't meaningfully impair your ability to do basic aiming and shooting if you don't have them. Pretty expected tbh.

 

[Prime Junta]

The attribute and skill system is usually the last thing to be nailed down. It's possible they just haven't decided yet.

 

[Luckmann]

The attribute and skill system is usually the last thing to be nailed down. It's possible they just haven't decided yet.

That would imply that they are lying, telling different people different facts.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

https://www.dualshockers.com/vampire-masquerade-bloodlines-2-preview-gdc/

Players no longer assign attribute points to determine their abilities; instead, you are capable of handling any weapon you come across.

You had one job, Todd Brian. How can a game be so bad before it is even released?

but not attributes.

ffs

What does "abilities" mean? If you can apply XP to skills and disciplines, what else is left where you can't distribute points?

attributes. strength etc.

 

[Roguey]

His statement makes sense to me.

Abilities and disciplines: In!
Attributes: Out!

A streamlining because something that wasn't intuitive even to people I've seen on the Codex, is that that feats box on the right has the only thing that matters. You're just putting points directly into feats (and also spells) instead of putting points into two different things that all contribute to the same number.

You had one job, Todd Brian. How can a game be so bad before it is even released?

Have you played Dead State? Brian isn't someone to go to with regards to system design.