Preview Bloodlines sneak n' peak by Yahoo! Games Domain

[Jinxed]

Fuck it. Just make Vampire: The Nightclub and dance all night pimping hoes, hacking computers for the latest pr0n and dancing with big jiggly-titted girls. *jiggle* *jiggle*

I wonder if you can choose your breast size if you play as a female character? I'm going to have the biggest, jiggliest tits of them all!

Perhaps a "jiggle o meter" will be present in the game. Allowing players to fine tune breast size and jiggle range. Complete with a parent lock feature.

But seriously...

As long as the sexual content is blended into the game well enough I'm fine with it. Then again, how can huge bouncy boobs blend into anything? I think Troika is focusing mostly on the envirement... Music, visuals and so forth.

If only an experienced masquarade player could comment on how Troikas vision strays away from the actual pnp thing.

Oh and BTW, about the feat thing... Troika was doing a lot of AD&D pnp while creating ToEE, after all that, it's probable that they just adapted it.

 

[Voss]

ah, well that was fairly disappointing.

stuck with stereotypes. All malkavians are frothing loony crazy
twitch combat
and... most interesting of all. the brujah got xp for killing the gargoyle, the tremere got zip for talk his way around the problem. That bodes poorly. (not to mention 'the black hearted and evil like those who created you' thing. Guess who created the gargoyles? The Tremere... not a set up line you what to give a big, nasty brawler who'd probably go apeshit on you if it worked that one out)


Jinxed... whatever. first you ask questions, then you display ignorance, then oh, 'just a fun discussion'. Away with you.

 

[Whipporowill]

The Brujah got xp for finding the exit if I'm not misstaken (combat ends in another room). So I don't think the Tremere would get any xp until he's in the actual next room - having persuaded the Gargoyle to let him pass obviously isn't enough to end the quest. The Nossie could probably just creep on by the sucker and get xp in the next room on the same note.

Stop being so damn pessimistic Voss and think a little. Not saying that you're pnp peeves aren't justified, just that fueling your dislike or scepticism of Bloodlines with questionable stuff like that ain't purdy.

 

[Transcendent One]

I thought it was all nice other than people standing around waiting for you to grab them and suck their blood out. And damn that combat looks BAAADDD.

 

[Whipporowill]

Combat doesn't look all that bad to me, but then I'm not mainly interested in the game for the combat. I'd like to see how feeding in combat would look like though, and a proper shootout without celerity - as well as some melee w/o God mode engaged.

Hopefully the people standing around was just placed (or at least non-responsive) there for the demo - otherwise it's just like placing bloody (no pun intended, seriously) healthpacks everywhere.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

I thought the source engine was suppose to be the second comming, but there like 10 people dancing in a club? I GUESS ILL HAVE TO WAIT TILL SOURCE2

The limited number of nightclub patrons has nothing to do with Source. In fact, out of all the major post-Q3 engines Source can probably render the most entities at one time on any given hardware given its scalability. Any shortfalls are problems at Troika's end - likely with art content. Anyway, you can't abstract criticism such as this away from a costs / benefits breakdown. Spending hours and hours setting up a realistically populated nightclub simulated down to a fine level of granularity is a waste if the player will only spend five minutes there. Yes, adding more would help immersion, but don't forget the opportunity cost of adding more might be more than you would be willing to pay if you knew where it would hurt.

So thats why there was slowdown in the game? OH NOEZ TO TEH MAX

 

[Transcendent One]

Well I hate FPS, so maybe that's the reason it looked bad to me. I'm quite certain certain things were just planted into the demo to make a good presentation. Like the guy levelling up after one dialog. And hopefully the hobos.

 

[Jinxed]

ah, well that was fairly disappointing.

stuck with stereotypes. All malkavians are frothing loony crazy
twitch combat
and... most interesting of all. the brujah got xp for killing the gargoyle, the tremere got zip for talk his way around the problem. That bodes poorly. (not to mention 'the black hearted and evil like those who created you' thing. Guess who created the gargoyles? The Tremere... not a set up line you what to give a big, nasty brawler who'd probably go apeshit on you if it worked that one out)

That's not what bothers me... Notice that the dialog trees were the same for both characters used. Except the persuasion line. Maybe it's the wrong sort of monster to talk to, but I'm starting to think only Malkavians have any real different dialogs.
The xp thing has me worried too, I'm wondering just how far the player will be able to branch out from the plot.

Jinxed... whatever. first you ask questions, then you display ignorance, then oh, 'just a fun discussion'. Away with you.

What you wrote about the changes in the system still remains to be seen. Now just because you feel angry about it, and can't imagine why it has been changed, I can't really give you much credibility.

You don't have the answers and neither do I, but I'm not getting aggravated, yet.

Dude, you already set a light note on the discussion mentioning the voice acting. Don't blame me for not taking you seriously.
Now we are getting to legitimate things to talk about actually.

 

[Nightjed]

its not like i want to be pessimist or anything but i do remember lionheart's demo ... "its nothing like the real game!" they said...

 

[Voss]

The Brujah got xp for finding the exit if I'm not misstaken (combat ends in another room). So I don't think the Tremere would get any xp until he's in the actual next room - having persuaded the Gargoyle to let him pass obviously isn't enough to end the quest. The Nossie could probably just creep on by the sucker and get xp in the next room on the same note.

Hmm, maybe.

Stop being so damn pessimistic Voss and think a little. Not saying that you're pnp peeves aren't justified, just that fueling your dislike or scepticism of Bloodlines with questionable stuff like that ain't purdy.

As for the pessimism... can't help it. Over the long span of interviews for this game, a few things have struck me as good, and quite a lot of things have struck me as bad. It goes beyond the pnp changes- some of the mechanical stuff bothers me a little, but quite a lot of the core stuff is gone, and that bothers me a great deal. The heart of Vampire is how do you deal with becoming a blood sucking fiend, and how to remain human when you're very nature isn't human anymore. There hasn't been anything about this, story wise, in any of these previews, and the core mechanics surrounding it (virtues and willpower) are completely gone. Its coming across as a wacky shooter/almost-rpg hybrid with very little depth. So I'm not all that happy with it.

Jinxed- that voice acting mention wasn't intended to be light. The voice acting in TOEE was horrid. Venus wasn't quite as bad as that, so it was slightly reassuring.
And almost all of those changes I mentioned were evident in the videos. The character creation screen was very enlightening. As was the disciipline usage in the combat video.
And frankly, whether you regard what I said as credible or not is irrelevant. I know enough about the system to recognize changes when I see them.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

I played the farcry demo just to see what fps were like nowadays. I got bored before the boat reached the beach. I have a bad feeling about bloodlines but I will trust in troika enough to buy it, then rain fiery vengeance if it sucks.

[edit stoopid spelling mistake.]

 

[Voss]

reign?

Ah well. If you can trust people, I guess thats a good thing.

 

[Mr Carrot]

You got bored before the boat reached the beach? i can understand if you dont like FPSs but thats under 3 seconds.

FarCry is the best FPS since HL if you dont like FPSs at least you should play a bit more and appreciate the fantastic AI, physics and more importantly the gorgeous engine.

Seriously though VampireTM is looking like a slightly more RPGy version of Deus EX 1 which to me is fantastic as i loved DX1 and you cant really expect much better than that in a FPS based game.

 

[StraitLacedDeviant]

I kept playing , and I appreciate the way the bad guys weave from cover to cover while your sniping them and the way they use cover when firing. I also can see the value in how if you don't keep your ass in coverit gets shot off. The way it flickers to ultra bright when you get hit badly. Its still incredibly hollow and I didn't really care if i was making progress, I just kept shooting guys in the groin and crashing boats into walls for no reason.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

About the only thing I really noticed in the movies that I really didn't like was that you could lockpick right in the open in the nightclub and no one said anything. I generally don't like the idea that you can lockpick out in the open and no one cares about it. If you're going to do something naughty like that, then someone should at least say, "Hey, asshole! Get away from that damned door!"

The only other niggle I had was in the second demo, where the lady was just standing there by the sewer entrance waiting to be a snack.

Other than that, the movies actually impressed the hell out of me. I liked the difference in the dialogue with Fat Larry due to the change in character and gender. I really thought it was rather funny that Fat Larry was calling the chick a crackwhore. I also liked the male's line about the counterfit shirts.

I just fear the fighting thing.. But if I can slip around fights.. Then.. WOOHOO!

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I haven't checked the movies yet (monthly bandwidth wasted again, WHIPPIE!), but it might be that the AI hasn't been tailored to react things like lockpicking yet. It might need certain things like general awareness, line of sight, etc., and may not be finalized.

I hope that's just it though; i'd hate to think a crapfest like Invisible War would have that above Bloodlines.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I saw all the videos, and I was very impressed with the game as it was. Like SP, I thought the lockpicking out in the open was a little strange with no one noticing, but the rest of the game I liked very much.

 

[plin]

About the only thing I really noticed in the movies that I really didn't like was that you could lockpick right in the open in the nightclub and no one said anything. I generally don't like the idea that you can lockpick out in the open and no one cares about it. If you're going to do something naughty like that, then someone should at least say, "Hey, asshole! Get away from that damned door!"

The only other niggle I had was in the second demo, where the lady was just standing there by the sewer entrance waiting to be a snack.

I noticed that the bartender and dancers were far away, and the bartender had his back turned. I definately think the NPCs were messed with to make it smooth sailing in that situation of the demo. Just like the conveniently placed woman AND rat just sitting there. Not to mention the hobo who was conveniently placed and showed no sense of life. Personally, I think they edited it so the barkeep wouldn't give you shit (or was just scripted to be idle for the demo) then the woman, rat, and hobo we're placed there/idle for the demo as well.

Either way, the barkeep's back was turned, and he and the dancers were far away.

 

[plin]

I played the farcry demo just to see what fps were like nowadays. I got bored before the boat reached the beach. I have a bad feeling about bloodlines but I will trust in troika enough to buy it, then rain fiery vengeance if it sucks.

[edit stoopid spelling mistake.]

Farcry was a pretty, shitty, and mindless shooter. It isn't an indication of what bloodlines or HL2 or any next generation FPS games will be like (fary cry was the first).

 

[Whipporowill]

It wouldn't make much sense if you're allowed to break into places in plain sight of people, but not show of your vampiric abilites - as that'd be breaking the masquerade. That makes me relax a bit on that issue - as the latter is indeed in the game (as per interviews, previews and Thain Lymans commentary), the first should be as well. But weird things happens in developers minds sometimes... so, what do I know?

I played Far cry for like 15 minutes, then I was bored. The only shooters I've liked are things like Alien vs Predator 2 and Half-Life.

 

[HanoverF]

One thing that bothered me about the demo (aside from the character running like a Kansas City Faggit) was that the little fleshling creatures seemed to squirm around really fast, not as fast as celerity vamps, but fast enough to be annoying as hell in a twitch combat game.

 

[Surlent]

I was bothered with the realism in Farcry, you need to take time to aim and can't run endlessly.
Those features limit the gamemeplay rather than enhance it, though aiming comes more careful and taking cover is recommended, still it doesn't feel as entertaining as Unreal Tournament is, running around and shooting other players nonstop.

However Deus Ex is a great example where some sense of realism worked well, but that was because you could specialize in different skills and get rid of the limitations.

Hopefully Troika has got it to work in Vampire. At least looking from the movies they are on
right track.

 

[Petey_the_Skid]

hmmm... i haven't watched the movies(probably won't either, being on a 56k with no patience for downloading) but from what everyone's saying, the guy lockpicking the door in the middle of the club is probably using the Obfuscate disicpline...at level 2, this power makes you invisible to people unless you actively do something to disrupt it, like attacking someone, or shoutiing, or doing something deliberate to make you noticed. Quietly lockpicking a door in a crowded nightclub would most likely go unnoticed, though opening it is a different story.

I'm somewhat dissapointed that you're point allocation may be limited by clan, one of my favorite things about vampire is that it is possible to make any character with almost any clan background, like a brujah pacifist speaker, a malkavian mass murderer etc etc. Being limited to clan disciplines is also dissapointing, as this will veen further straitjacket you into playing a certain way(i.e...all nosferatu and malkavians will be required to be sneakers, all toreador and ventrue will be talkers, all tremere will be sorcerers, all brujah and gangrel will be fighters).

Still, it may be worth it to buy the game, if the setting comes across correct. It's always been the setting and mood that drives vampire games, rules are secondaryu, so if Troika can make feel like I'm in the real world of darkness, than I can forgive a lot.

 

[plin]

hmmm... i haven't watched the movies(probably won't either, being on a 56k with no patience for downloading) but from what everyone's saying, the guy lockpicking the door in the middle of the club is probably using the Obfuscate disicpline...at level 2, this power makes you invisible to people unless you actively do something to disrupt it, like attacking someone, or shoutiing, or doing something deliberate to make you noticed. Quietly lockpicking a door in a crowded nightclub would most likely go unnoticed, though opening it is a different story.

I don't think he would even need the obfuscate discipline to get away with that. The only person who would have given a damn (the bartender) had his back turned the whole time. Not to mention he seemed too far away to hear it with dance music going on (or in my opinion without as well). But I still think the devs fucked with the AI to make him stay in that position/be idle so he wouldn't give you shit by seeing you.

 

[Stark]

Still, it may be worth it to buy the game, if the setting comes across correct. It's always been the setting and mood that drives vampire games, rules are secondaryu, so if Troika can make feel like I'm in the real world of darkness, than I can forgive a lot.

yeah. It's very "DX" feeling, except maybe a little darker so if that's what you're looking for then the setting comes across correct. As an earlier poster pointed out, the environment feels abit empty (just like DX again).

the guy lockpicking the door in the middle of the club is probably using the Obfuscate disicpline...at level 2, this power makes you invisible to p

nah. from the video i gather only lock-picking is invoked. no special invisibility disicpline is invoked. However, the bar tender is facing the wrong side and the other dancers are pretty far away, coupled with the dark environment I totally have no problem with player lock-picking away. I think that part is ok.