Development Info Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Dev Diary #26: The Masquerade of Seattle

[Infinitron]

Tags: Paradox Interactive; The Chinese Room; Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

https://www.paradoxinteractive.com/...es-2/news/dev-diary-the-masquerade-of-seattle

Last time in Dev Diary 18 (“Building Our Seattle”), we walked through the streets of our Seattle, exploring its foundations and the world you’ll navigate. Tonight, we’re diving deeper into the city, its inhabitants, and the rules that keep everything in check. These rules—the Masquerade—aren’t just a suggestion; they’re the law. Break them, and you might find yourself on the wrong end of a court assassin’s stake.

Masquerade Mechanics
In the World of Darkness, the Masquerade refers to the efforts made by Kindred to conceal their existence from humanity to ensure their survival. This secrecy is vital, as widespread knowledge of their existence would likely lead to a catastrophic response from humans, ultimately resulting in the destruction of Kindred society.

The Masquerade is enforced by the Camarilla, particularly in Seattle, under the authority of the Sheriff. Violations of the Masquerade, such as using supernatural abilities in public, are met with severe punishment, including exile or final death.

In Bloodlines 2, you must maintain the Masquerade. Failure to do so will result in a swift stake through your heart. To help monitor your actions, there is a Masquerade meter at the top of the screen, consisting of two key parts:

1. The Eye Symbol: If the eye is open it indicates that someone is currently watching you. It is best to perform vampiric activities out of sight of human witnesses.
2. The Bars Around the Eye: These bars fill up when you are caught committing acts that breach the Masquerade. The progression of the bars occurs in three stages:
   • Upheld (Green): Minor infractions, such as being seen jumping abnormally high or running too fast. Avoid repeated minor breaches, or the meter will advance to the next stage.
   • Caution (Orange): Triggered by excessive actions, such as feeding, using violent abilities, or accumulating too many minor infractions. At this point, humans become suspicious. If someone witnesses your crime, they may report it to the police. You can deal with the witness directly or avoid the police. Using an ability to make witnesses forget what they saw can be an effective strategy.
   • Engaged/Broken (Red): At this stage, the police are actively pursuing you. You must break their line of sight immediately. If the meter fills completely, the Camarilla will take decisive action to end your activities swiftly and mercilessly.

Maintaining the Masquerade is critical for survival in Bloodlines 2. Stay vigilant and avoid unnecessary risks to ensure you remain under the radar.​

 

[The Nameless One]

Ah yes, the usual big city with differently themed "districts", definitely unexpected. No sewers mentioned? No separate locations in the middle of nowhere? Sad!

 

[Jenkem]

ah yes cities would never have districts or distinct areas/neighborhoods in real life!

 

[RaggleFraggle]

This is probably the most substantial update we've gotten yet, but it really should've been among the first we saw. It's not impressive, since the first game worked more or less like this, and numerous other games have similar police heat meters. This is a sequel and they should write the dev diaries like it is one, with comparisons between mechanics and explanations for the changes and intervening decades of game design innovation, rather than like their audience are drooling morons who are completely unfamiliar with video games.

 

[lukaszek]

No sewers mentioned?

perhaps they are going for gum wall instead?

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

This still looks like a tech demo somehow. Also, whatever sound designer thought crumbling up a bag of chips was a good approximation for the sound of drinking blood from a neck bite needs fired. The noir spotlight feeding of BVtM was not merely better but far more suited to WoD style. Just more evidence that devs today don't understand WoD's appeal.

 

[The Nameless One]

ah yes cities would never have districts or distinct areas/neighborhoods in real life!

ah yes, video games must have bland & generic cliched areas, like in real life!

 

[Tao]

Oof. It doesn't even look mediocre.

 

[Roguey]

TCR has four months to make this look finished, good luck to 'em.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

This still looks like a tech demo somehow. Also, whatever sound designer thought crumbling up a bag of chips was a good approximation for the sound of drinking blood from a neck bite needs fired. The noir spotlight feeding of BVtM was not merely better but far more suited to WoD style. Just more evidence that devs today don't understand WoD's appeal.

Right. The spotlight was to indicate that feeding is an involved process for a vampire. When you feed, you become almost insensate to the world around you and extremely vulnerable. This is why feeding in combat is a bad idea unless you’re fighting a single opponent. The blood meter is ambiguous to follow too, so if you’re not paying attention then you may fatally drain someone when you’re not trying to. It has elements of intimacy and danger.

Then BL2 goes and makes it just another casual combat move.

 

[Riel]

I am glad this game is being developed so smoothly and that as a result it will be released way before schedule.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

ah yes, video games must have bland & generic cliched areas, like in real life!

But the entire point of the setting is being a vampire in a modern big city, semi-hiding so the other vampires don't send a killsquad after you for drawing too much attention. Sending the player to the middle of nowhere would be like making the end game area a long combat gauntlet, who would be dumb enough to do such a thing in this setting?