Game News Vampire Bloodlines True Patch ver.4.02AT

[Roqua]

I don't know the PnP rules.

Thanks for invalidating half my points with your "truth."

 

[Claw]

Re: ....

I have good reasons for every change I made

The question isn't if you think a change is justifed but if I agree. If you just fix a gamestopping bug it's unlikely I'd disagree. But if you start rebalancing the weapons, the chance of disagreement increases exponentially.

But my patches never did that in the first place, that's only Tesseras exaggeration!

Really? Funny, I thought so long before hearing from any Tessera person. Maybe it was telepathy?

 

[Wesp5]

Fair point but without the vamps help she wouldn't have been able to avenge her mentor/grandfather/whoever the hell it was. I thought she was in the most hunting game purely for the vengance aspect. After the hengyokai went down she didn't exactly have much use for it.

That's not really true . Her dialogue file includes some unused dialogue which shows that Troika intended her to help you during the endgame temple fight because "My sword is still angry."! I restored that plot in the latest patch 3.5 and hid the Ra blade in the Fu Labs buildings instead...

 

[Wesp5]

Re: ....

But my patches never did that in the first place, that's only Tesseras exaggeration!

Really? Funny, I thought so long before hearing from any Tessera person. Maybe it was telepathy?

Okay. Then please explain to me what exactly unbalanced the game. Maybe I never noticed and i could fix it back...

 

[Claw]

Are you kidding me? I don't even remember when your last patch was released, not to mention the changes.

All I remember is that I found the changes too far-reaching, and I trust myself enough not to question my judgement at every turn.
Besides, it's not about one or another specific change.
Last not least, the quoted passage was your reply to "near-drastic" changes that "certainly" were "not something that the Troika development team had intended" so your request for "what exactly unbalanced the game" misses the point.

 

[Tessera]

Re: ....

Yeah, as seen in this thread he mentions two years of hard work in one sentence while stating Dans part of being the same size as mine which it clearly is not. Also other helpers who did stuff on their own like fixing models are not credited accordingly like in my readme. All I requested was to include that unchanged readme with all proper credits included so why didn't they do it? Because people would notice that the unofficial patches doesn't alter as much as Tessera claims? Because people would notice how much restored stuff they would miss out on? And regarding further bug testing, I don't think they did something like that. They only removed the stuff they personally didn't like from my patch and never looked for more on their own.

I'm returning to post one final rebuttal to this nonsense... and then I'm going to stop indulging Wesp's paranoia. Wesp has full access to my board and if he wants to hash this out with us directly, then he certainly has that option. I did have to suspend him once for two weeks, mainly because he was repeatedly violating the forum rules by launching far too many personal attacks. Hopefully, he has learned to stop doing that by now.

Wesp and Dan Upright were properly credited in our patch for ONLY those things that Wesp and Dan actually did and ONLY those things that we actually retained from their original work.

That being said, Wesp is incorrect in almost every assumption that he has made within this thread. We did an enormous amount of work and testing, as we constructed our patch. We did not rely on Wesp's mods at all and in fact, we REMOVED almost every single thing that Wesp has ever "contributed" to VTMB in his mods. I have stated this repeatedly and yet, Wesp somehow fails to grasp these facts.

Our sources, when we searched for bugs, were our own expert knowledge of the game as well as the numerous bug reports that have been posted on various forums for over two years. That is exactly what Dan Upright did, too... he fielded bug reports from players. As for Wesp, he simply copied what Dan had done, as well as take on dozens upon dozens of frivolous gameplay requests from players.

Wesp was offered an opportunity -- back when we first began talking about our patch -- to have some constructive input. Instead, Wesp decided to be childish, beliigerent and confrontational. Ultimately, he and his "fans" basically told us to "go make a better patch, if you don't like Wesp's work." Well, we called their bluff and that is precisely what we have done... and ever since, Wesp has been foaming at the mouth (as you can clearly see from his posts here).

We have easily done as much research and scripting as Wesp has ever done... more, probably, because not a single one of Wesp's mods take any actual roleplaying issues into account. They are instead geared towards first-person-shooter fans and also, Wesp's mods seem to favor those clans that Wesp personally enjoys playing (the Tremere, for example). That is unacceptable to many players and is no doubt why they are beginning to prefer our True VTMB Patch over Wesp's mods.

I keep referring to Wesp's work as a "mod" because that is exactly what it is: a heavily modified revision of VTMB that changes far too many aspects of the gameplay to be correctly referred to as a "patch." In fact, his mods seriously erode the roleplay and game balance issues of VTMB, by trivializing too many encounters, Abilities and Disciplines. Wesp's mods fly directly into the face of Troika's intentions and as such, they are unworthy of the "patch" label that he insists upon ramming down the community's throats. Wesp's "unofficial patches" are actually arbitrary gameplay mods, pure and simple.

I repeat that Wesp has been properly credited in the README file for our patch. If you do not see someone being credited in that file, then it is because WE DID THE WORK OURSELVES. Wesp has had exactly zero input when it comes to the development of our patch, so for him to make asinine assumptions about the amount of work we have done is irrelevant. It literally took weeks for us to construct the True VTMB Patch and we did almost all of the bug testing and double-checking ourselves.

Furthermore, Wesp has absolutely no idea who I may or may not have corresponded with, as we constructed our patch. He is making assumptions again -- and he would do well to stop making those assumptions. Wesp is, quite frankly, dead wrong.

Several large commercial gaming sites have picked up our True VTMB Patch during this past week. One of those large commercial sites has actually been kind enough to mirror the True VTMB Patch on their own servers. We are grateful to them for finally taking notice of our work and they have our heartfelt thanks. The response from the players to the True VTMB Patch has been 100 percent positive (thus far) and the site traffic on www.tessmage.com has more than tripled as a result. People are downloading our patch in enormous numbers and I, for one, am delighted about that. It's high time that the players had a "patch for the purists" and we're very proud to have provided them with that option.

For those who do not wish to take that option, then there's no problem: just use one of Wesp's mods instead, if they are more to your liking. This is not the Big War that Wesp has trumped it up to be. We honestly do not understand his outrage, but we also refuse to indulge his unfortunate attitude any further.


All my best,

- Tessera -

 

[Wesp5]

Are you kidding me? I don't even remember when your last patch was released, not to mention the changes.

Well, the changes couldn't have been that drastic if you don't even remember them ...

 

[Wesp5]

Re: ....

We did an enormous amount of work and testing, as we constructed our patch. We did not rely on Wesp's mods at all and in fact, we REMOVED almost every single thing that Wesp has ever "contributed" to VTMB in his mods. I have stated this repeatedly and yet, Wesp somehow fails to grasp these facts.

Because it's a lie! Just compare the readme of the two patches and you will see that Axanimander changed only little compared to the whole stuff I fixed. He already said this himself: "It is not my intention to steal your work. I don't want to take credit for anything you or anybody else has done. If you want the original readme included with this mod, fine. I have no objection. You and others who have worked on your mods deserve most of the credit anyway. What I've done here is easy by comparison." Regard the last sentence and wonder why the readme never ended up inside the patch.

Our sources, when we searched for bugs, were our own expert knowledge of the game as well as the numerous bug reports that have been posted on various forums for over two years.

This sounds as if they build the patch from scratch on their own which they did not. Just look at the readme of their patch and you can tell that Tessera is lying again.

Wesp decided to be childish, beligerent and confrontational.

Now you may guess who started the personal attacks in the other threads and I'm sure the WoW people will recognize a pattern.

We have easily done as much research and scripting as Wesp has ever done...

Another lie, see Axanimanders opinion above or read the patch readme.

Wesp's mods seem to favor those clans that Wesp personally enjoys playing (the Tremere, for example).

Sorry, more bullshit. I never played a Tremere, never especially liked them or changed anything in their favour.

Wesp's mods fly directly into the face of Troika's intentions and as such, they are unworthy of the "patch" label that he insists upon ramming down the community's throats.

One comment to this for the reader of this board. The name "unofficial patch" was choosen by Dan Upright who started it and I just continued with that name.

It literally took weeks for us to construct the True VTMB Patch and we did almost all of the bug testing and double-checking ourselves.

As far as I remember it took just some days in which Axanimander changed my patch and not much bug testing was necessary anyway because most of the changes were regarding humanity issues during dialogues.

Furthermore, Wesp has absolutely no idea who I may or may not have corresponded with, as we constructed our patch. He is making assumptions again -- and he would do well to stop making those assumptions. Wesp is, quite frankly, dead wrong.

Oh, so could you please cite anything any ex-Troika people said about it?

Several large commercial gaming sites have picked up our True VTMB Patch during this past week. One of those large commercial sites has actually been kind enough to mirror the True VTMB Patch on their own servers.

Thanks for the info, I will contact them and tell them how your patch was created.

 

[Fez]

Oops, plagiarism?

 

[Rat Keeng]

Tessie! Awww, Tessie Tesser Besser, you lovely old Tesster you, how is thee?

 

[Fez]

I see Tessie has over a hundred alts on WoW. KC, you have let yourself slide and a new champion has arisen.

 

[Lurkar]

Unfortunately, Tess won't like it here. Unlike the WoW forums, she most likely won't be kicked out just for posting the occasional shock image. Which means she isn't allowed to put up a big hissy fit then threaten legal action.


Yes, that's right. Tess threatened to sue Blizzard for...kicking her off the forums.

Seriously? I dunno shit about any of the Bloodlines patches, or who this Wesp5 person even is. But I think quite a few people will back him anyways, because he hasn't shown that he's nothing more then an attention whoring pre-teen who masturbates to shitty nude patches.

 

[Tessera]

Oops, plagiarism?

Incorrect, but as this is obviously a board that prefers childishness to constructive discussions, I'll simply refer you to the replies that I've already made (here and elsewhere) and leave it at that. Incidentally, Wesp was just given a warning by Gamebanshee, for once again barging into a thread about our patch and carrying on like a wounded four-year-old.

Wesp is angry, mainly because he has enjoyed over two years of being the only person who provided bug fixes for VTMB. Unfortunately, if you wanted those bug fixes, you had to accept his horribly irresponsible and arbitrary gameplay mods at the same time. To make the situation even worse, he insisted upon labeling his mods a "patch," a misnomer that resulted in fooling newcomers to the game into thinking that they required Wesp's mods, if they wanted the game to function properly.

Is it any wonder, then, that many of those players have found the game to have very little replay value..? Had they played it the way that Troika had intended, then they would have known that VTMB has ENORMOUS replay value. Unfortunately, Wesp's mods have managed to trivialize much of the roleplay content of VTMB, as well as trivialize many of the vampiric Abilities and Disciplines that Troika obviously wanted us to employ. Instead, Wesp has turned VTMB into a shallow, one-dimensional first-person-shooter experience. For players who are equally shallow and one-dimensional, then Wesp's mods are definitely their best choice. For everyone else, we have provided an alternative that preserves Troika's original designs.

As a result, the game's replay value has increased dramatically. It may be harder to play than Wesp's version, but it is definitely a lot more satisfying. Wesp would like nothing better than to claim credit for that renewed experience. The fact remains that he has had little, if anything, to do with it. The credit goes to Troika. They created this game -- we have simply repaired it.

The other comments about WoW and so forth are immaterial to this thread. They are also, likewise, completely misinformed and laced with rumors, lies and childishness. I haven't played that game in nearly a year and for good reason: it's community is the worst and most childish community that has ever existed in the history of online gaming -- bar none. This is a thread about VTMB, however. One issue has nothing whatsoever to do with the other and any responsible adult would already know that -- without me having to tell them so.


In other news...


The True VTMB Patch has been updated.
The latest version is now 4.03AT

You can read about it here:

http://www.tessmage.com/forum/index.php ... 293.0.html

Cheers. I'll now let you get back to your "Tessera bashing," or whatever it is that you kids enjoy.

 

[Fez]

Is that one your final, final rebuttal then? Or is there another final rebuttal to come?

 

[Inziladun]

Anyone else notice Tess is obsessed with age. Often referring to people who disagree with him as "childish" or "kids" and those that agree with him as "responsible adults".

I wonder...

 

[Fez]

Anyone that obsessed with mentioning ages and children is either a child or a pedophile.

 

[Amasius]

Anyone that obsessed with mentioning ages and children is either a child or a pedophile.

Well, he obviously likes boobs. Big boobs and lots of them, so I guess the former. :wink:

 

[mister lamat]

he/she's got a thing for hairless cunny though... i'm so torn!

 

[Diogo Ribeiro]

a board that prefers childishness to constructive discussions

Not quite true; if anything, the Codex is usually known for some indepth discussions about videogames, particularly CRPGs. However, in the interest of not making it look like every other RPG discussion or company forum, moderation is particularly lax and this results in a less suffocating environment. While you don't have moderators breathing down your neck, you jsut have to deal with all kinds of people and attitudes.

Besides, you've been shown some support here from several users; neglecting this on account of a few doesn't seem terribly mature. After all, you can't have the sweet without the sour.

Regardless, a news post about the new version of the patch should be up in a few minutes.

 

[Hazelnut]

Oops, plagiarism?

Incorrect, but as this is obviously a board that prefers childishness to constructive discussions

Speaking of childishness, have you seen your site recently. Some damned child (who has delusions of maturity) has obviously hacked it. Just thought I ought to let you know.

 

[psycojester]

I guess the codex will never be able to appreciate the subtle nuance and gritty realism of a nude skins mod.

 

[Wesp5]

Oops, plagiarism?

Incidentally, Wesp was just given a warning by Gamebanshee, for once again barging into a thread about our patch and carrying on like a wounded four-year-old.

Incidentally this warning was given to both of us to take our discussion elsewhere. I have already mailed the owner of the site about it.

To make the situation even worse, he insisted upon labeling his mods a "patch," a misnomer that resulted in fooling newcomers to the game into thinking that they required Wesp's mods, if they wanted the game to function properly.

Once again, this was not my decision. I was just continuing the work that started under that label and it started with gameplay changes in the first version already. Just read the readme of my patches for proof.

Unfortunately, Wesp's mods have managed to trivialize much of the roleplay content of VTMB, as well as trivialize many of the vampiric Abilities and Disciplines that Troika obviously wanted us to employ. Instead, Wesp has turned VTMB into a shallow, one-dimensional first-person-shooter experience.

Well, everyone can probably see that this is just a biased personal opinion but especially the statement about the trivialization of the vampiric Abilities and Disciplines could easily be disproved by comparing the respective files with the originals.

The True VTMB Patch has been updated.
The latest version is now 4.03AT

And still the readme of the patch on which this derivative work was based is not included although it was promised otherwise .

 

[Wesp5]

I don't know the PnP rules.

Thanks for invalidating half my points with your "truth."

Sorry, but that's the way it is and I won't spread untruths like Tessera just because it would fit my agenda. Anyway, concerning your assumptions I don't really see how one could compare PnP weapon stats with those inside a game other than e.g. keeping the same order of power which I tried to do based on common sense. But I did change some things according to the PnP rules without even knowing as far as I can tell, especially regarding humanity issues.

 

[RGE]

Re: ....

... as well as take on dozens upon dozens of frivolous gameplay requests from players.

So he's been trying to be somewhat democratic about the whole thing? That would explain some things.

... and ever since, Wesp has been foaming at the mouth (as you can clearly see from his posts here).

I'm sorry, but since this is the RPG Codex, he actually has to be foaming at the mouth for me to 'see' it. Just disagreeeing with you doesn't qualify. Not nearly. If anything, your posts seem to come with a fair dose of spittle from on high.

This is not the Big War that Wesp has trumped it up to be.

I suppose that it's quite possible that Wesp trumped up a war, but in this thread I think that you managed to wage that war before he even was here. Are you suggesting that he's smarter than you? More diplomatic? Got more friends here? Able to make himself come off as a much more reasonable person compared to you? Because he seems more reasonable to me. Which kind of makes me wonder just how "vicious" the previous attacks were.

Is it any wonder, then, that many of those players have found the game to have very little replay value..? Had they played it the way that Troika had intended, then they would have known that VTMB has ENORMOUS replay value. Unfortunately, Wesp's mods have managed to trivialize much of the roleplay content of VTMB, as well as trivialize many of the vampiric Abilities and Disciplines that Troika obviously wanted us to employ.

Are you referring to stuff like lowered skill requisites for certain dialogue options and such? And removing the clan requirements for certain quests and extra rewards? I guess that's nice if you only intend to play the game once or twice, but there are five different endings, so I guess it's a bad idea to remove replay value like that. Don't know if I'd call it ENORMOUS replay value though. But then again, I never saw the original game either. To me most of the replay value came from having to use different disciplines, mostly during combat.

That's not really true . Her dialogue file includes some unused dialogue which shows that Troika intended her to help you during the endgame temple fight because "My sword is still angry."! I restored that plot in the latest patch 3.5 and hid the Ra blade in the Fu Labs buildings instead...

Sounds like a cool idea. But won't the poor girl just die, even before the you-know-what-with-the-things?

I also remember another couple of bonus XP I once missed out on, by not reading the patch notes and 'doing it right'. I tried to do the warehouse in a stealthy fashion, and managed to set the explosives and get out without anyone seeing me. But for that to happen I had to wring the necks of some goons, which apparently disqualified me for the bonus, since it was given for not killing anyone. Which makes no sense, because a) they're all going to get blown up anyway and b) killing them is encouraged by everyone.

The next time I did that thing I didn't kill anyone, but I jumped/ran out of there after numerous failed attempts, dodging shotgun blasts and whatnot. Sure, that character got her points, but it felt incredibly stupid. Not that I needed those points, but they were there, and it was a challenge and I hadn't done it before, so...

Oh, and I just remembered a bug that I previously had problems with. See, in good old fashioned FPS spirit I reassigned my SPACE key to let me interact with stuff. Because finding E all the time was too much work for something I do that often. That's when I discovered my inability to operate containers: SPACE appeared to be hardcoded to close them. So I'd open-and-close them until I reassigned the interact action to some other key. One that was even closer to the arrow keys I use for moving around. Yeah, I'm not hardcore enough to use WASD.

 

[Trash]

Personally I only really care if there are new quests and wether the formerly boring hack and slash of the endgame has been tweaked in one of these patches. I'd like to retry bloodlines, but that end really ruined it for me.