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

[Wunderbar]

They didn't have to use an unfinished source engine to make the game. Another engine could have been selected.

And lose Valve's physics tech? Fuck that. Think before you post.

it's not like physics tech was used well in vtmb.

 

[Wesp5]

Personally I'd say that aside from the reckless move to use unfinished tech was the decision to try and give the game multiplayer.

I don't believe that. Beyond some unused UI lines and multiplayer clan versions there was basically no specific content, no multiplayer maps, no game modes, no nothing!

2) They could have stopped accepting software updates at any time. Obviously each update that broke the game contained some other functionality that was deemed worth the effort of applying it.

They actually did. A lot of the problems are because Bloodlines runs on a beta version of Source that's held together with duct-tape and good wishes, one that isn't even compatible with release version of Source either.

Indeed. They had to stop updating at one time and decided to code things like AI themselves, which is the main reason why some aspects are worse than in HL2. On the other hand, this is the main reason the Unofficial Patch was even possible! A lot of the game files are plain text or Python scripts that are compiled when run, so they were easy to edit for a layman like me . Also the SDK that was created by some Russians later on is based on a leaked alpha of HL2, so you can imagine how much the Source engine they had to use was behind HL2. And about them wanting too much, all the plus patch content I found hidden in the game files is proof for that, but again, at one point Troika stopped feature creep and just packed all the unfinished things inside the archives for me to restore !

Didn't the publisher force them to use the engine? Or am I remembering things wrong?

IIRC it was because of Valve's demo of their face animation tech.

And that was still the right decision. Just look at the facial animations of The Outer Worlds or Bloodlines 2 right now, or basically those of any Unreal engine game...

 

[Infinitron]

Looks like not a lot of people went to Cara Ellison's erotic vampires panel:

 

[ChildInTime]

Wait. So this Ellison chick is actually the main head writer on Bloodlines 2, and Mitsoda is just an underling?

 

[Zer0wing]

at one point Troika stopped feature creep and just packed all the unfinished things inside the archives for me to restiore !

Too bad they did it just when the last deadline was set to be in one day with HL2. If it was set to a more dead season like early 2005, we'd see a different game.

 

[Vaarna_Aarne]

Wait. So this Ellison chick is actually the main head writer on Bloodlines 2, and Mitsoda is just an underling?

No it's just an expression of how they work. The writing staff is a three-person team, with Brian Mitsoda as the lead writer and then Cara Ellison as senior writer and Chris Avellone as writer.

 

[santino27]

Wait. So this Ellison chick is actually the main head writer on Bloodlines 2, and Mitsoda is just an underling?

She's the senior narrative designer, not the lead. But I don't trust 2019 Mitsoda anyway.

 

[Ibn Sina]

From everything that was released and all the developer diaries they made, I am almost 95% postive that she is responsible for the vast majority of the writing and the overall aesthetics directions of the game, including music. Which would not be a problem if she was not a total prude and knows nothing about the clubbing scene, onto which the foundations of bloodlines in built upon

 

[Sailor Woedica]

From everything that was released and all the developer diaries they made, I am almost 95% postive that she is responsible for the vast majority of the writing and the overall aesthetics directions of the game, including music. Which would not be a problem if she was not a total prude and knows nothing about the clubbing scene, onto which the foundations of bloodlines in built upon

I thought the foundation of Bloodlines was that vampires secretly existed

 

[Kem0sabe]

We got to give the demo for Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 another go at Gamescom. This time, though, we got more juicy info on what to expect from the VTM Bloodlines sequel. Astrid has taken all of this information and arranged it around the Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 gameplay (Gamescom demo) into a deep dive impressions video. Enjoy!

Thanks to Logitech G and the G432 7.1 Surround Sound gaming headset for sponsoring this video. Check out the tech behind the G432 over on the Logitech G site: http://bit.ly/2FkTkbi

After playing through this Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 Gamescom demo, Matthew got to take part in a Q&A to find out some more information on what to expect. Astrid has compiled all of this with some Vampire Bloodlines 2 gameplay so that you have a visual reference for all of the new stuff that we managed to find out, including new information on how Resonance and Merits work, and about the political themes to be expected in VTM Bloodlines 2. We also chat about character creation, new factions, the new Nosferatu look and much more.

We’ve already done a Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 impressions video from when it was shown to us at E3, but this one is a lot more of a deep dive. If you want to discover the basics of the Bloodlines 2 gameplay you can watch our impressions here: https://youtu.be/w3sOTLWUKGs. If you’re craving more details like a Vampire craves blood, then definitely give this Vampire Bloodlines video a watch.

If you have any more questions about Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines 2, let us know in the comments. Please do check out the rest of our Gamescom 2019 coverage too while you’re here, especially our Cyberpunk 2077 interview with lead concept artist Marthe Jonkers about how Night City was made (https://youtu.be/uwSiz5KOe28) and our impressions of John Wick Hex featuring RPS Deputy Editor Alice Bell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIKYY...). Thanks for watching!

 

[Infinitron]

Not good enough for anybody else to tweet about it, though.

 

[Luckmann]

Wait. So this Ellison chick is actually the main head writer on Bloodlines 2, and Mitsoda is just an underling?

Wait. So, you thought that Mitsoda was anything more than just a sticker they could put on the project in order to label it "2"?

 

[Joni Odin von Hassenstein]

Does anybody know what they mean with their "Find bloodpacks on our site" - thing? How would I do that?

[Edit] To clarify: If you create a Paradox account and log in to it via the Bloodlines 2 - hp, you can gather "blood points" for rewards. And you do that by finding "blood packs" on their site, but I have no idea where and how to find them. [/Edit]

 

[Saerain]

They appear as wispy anomalies scattered around each page. If you're logged in and haven't gotten them all yet.

 

[Kem0sabe]

 

[Infinitron]

https://fextralife.com/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-preview-spectral-street-cred-in-seattle/

Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 Preview: Spectral Street Cred In Seattle

During Gamescom 2019 we had the fortunate circumstance of sneaking in to see Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2. It is a sequel to the cult classic PC game Bloodlines, which released nearly 15 years ago, and is based on the table-top game Vampire the Masquerade. Following in its footsteps, the game will feature other supernatural creatures found in the World of Darkness universe, and players must not violate the one sacred rule: DO NOT BREAK THE MASQUERADE. Humans cannot know of the existence of your kind, and should you reveal yourself there will be dire consequences. In this article I want to tell you a bit about Bloodlines 2, and how we think the game is shaping up.

Embrace the Darkness
The game begins in Seattle after an event known as the Mass Embrace, where many Humans were ambushed by Vampires and subsequently “turned”. An unsanctioned attack in a world full of does and don’ts, an investigation has been called to find out just who authorized the assault. And you, a Human, were unfortunately not only caught and turned, but are a valuable witness to the events of that evening.

Will you help certain Clans get to the bottom of it all, risking death or worse? Or will you keep quiet, allying with those that may be a part of more nefarious plots? These decisions are not proposed in a black and white manner, and every one you make will affect your story and the outcome of the game. Bloodlines 2 is a heavily narrative driven experience, leaning on a deep and enthralling story to compel players to unravel its mysteries.

Interview With a Thinblood
In Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2, players begin the game as a Thinblood. Being new Vampires, they are far removed from the source of their blood’s power, and must adapt quickly or face destruction. Not only must they readjust to their new sanguine lifestyle, but they must navigate the political theater that exists between the game’s many Clans, all while avoiding detection by Humans. If it sounds difficult, that’s because it is. Thankfully though you will get to choose from one of 3 starting Disciplines that will function as your “Class”, granting you abilities to help you on your journey.

The Chiropteran Discipline calls on the vampire’s strong affinity to bats, allowing her to move through the air and summon swarms. The Mentalism Discipline allows the vampire to manipulate objects through telekinesis – allowing them to even pull weapons from enemies’ hands. The Nebulation Discipline allows the vampire to call on her affinity to mist, allowing her to summon and command it. Players will gain more Disciplines as they progress the game, but they will only have one one Thinblood Discipline.

Vampire Clans – True Blood
In the table top version of Vampire the Masquerade there are a total of 13 different Clans that have their own Disciplines, appearances and motives. However, Bloodlines 2 will only showcase about 5 of these, and they are: Brujah, Tremere, Toreador, Ventrue, Malkavian. The Brujah are violent, with a predilection for physical combat, where they excel over almost every other Clan. The Tremere are obscure and obsessed with knowledge, often ostracized by other clans for the sins of their past. The Toreador are artists, whether it be in music, painting or in body and mind, they are the visionaries of the Clans. The Ventrue are the most successful of the Clans, the blood of rulers flows through them, and they are charged with guarding The Masquerade at all costs. The Malkavian are often considered the “strange” among the Kindred, often containing the sad, the psychotic and unpredictable, they have insight that no other Clan possesses.

Players can align with any of these 5 Clans, gaining their Ancient Disciplines in the process. This will add new abilities, and change their status accordingly within Bloodlines 2’s complicated civic system. However, just because you cannot play as any of the other 8 Clans from the table top version, that does not mean that you will not encounter of them, and they do have a role to play within the game. I for one look forward to seeing just how it all plays out…

Final Thoughts
Before Gamescom I wasn’t really “enlightened” on Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2, and it was a game that I had on my radar, if barely. After seeing the presentation there I am very excited to play Bloodlines 2, and the thing that really grabbed my attention was how conversations with certain NPCs affected others. That is to say, if you asked one person certain questions and got information from them, you will gain new dialogue options when speaking with others. This is very much something missing from modern RPGs, is rarely implemented, and none to the extent that it is in Bloodlines 2. Finally a game where speaking to everyone about everything has tons of value!

Being a fully first person game, Bloodlines 2 has created some controversy around its community. The original title had the option to play in either first person OR third person, and many fans of the franchise have voiced their opinion about this change. While I usually prefer third person in my RPGs, the gameplay of Bloodlines 2 is much more story driven than combat focused, making this change less impactful than it could be in other games. It remains to be seen whether this gamble will pay off for Hardsuit Labs.

Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines 2 launches in March 2020, so stay tuned for more coverage as we come ever closer to release!

 

[vota DC]

They confirmed no Nosferatu and Gangrel? This Is evil.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

I thought Nosferatu and Gangrel were supposed to come as free update/DLC at some point. Did they confirmed that this game not gonna have them at all?

 

[Infinitron]

They haven't confirmed that those clans specifically will be the free update, but it seems like the obvious move.

 

[Storyfag]

I still hope for Lasombra and Assamites.

 

[ga♥]

Ok per Nosferatu, but why you care for Gangrel? They are a pretty boring WW - Vamp mix.

 

[BlackGoat]

Did I miss something? The bozo in this video keeps saying Troika Games when referring to the people making Bloodlines 2...

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2019/09/02/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-preview-strong-cloud/

A misty-eyed preview of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2
A night in the life of a bitey cloud.

“Strong cloud,” I mutter as our character prepares to drop into a fight with some local drug dealers. As a newly fledged vampire, and merely a thinblood at that, he doesn’t have the same prowess and mastery of a vampire’s many abilities, just yet. In fact, he’s barely got any abilities and, thanks to my persuasive arguing, the group of journalists watching the hands off demonstration of Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 forsook the ability to turn into a bat or telekinetic powers in favour of being able to turn into fog.

At the time I thought it’d be a great idea. Sure, we couldn’t do our best Matt Berry impression and yell “BAT!” as we transformed or knock things over like invisible cats, but I thought becoming a bloodthirsty cloud would be a lot of fun. We could use it for stealth, seep under locked doors, that kind of thing. What I hadn’t quite counted on was just how pathetic a thinblood’s abilities would be. There’s no turning into a fog at will, but rather set moments where it would provide most use. Still, we could probably mist up someone’s glasses, if we wanted to.

Stepping into the seedier side of Seattle’s nightlife as a thinblood seems like a rather daunting task initially. Stepping out into parts of old town Seattle, and it’s a new dusk, a new night to explore, but you can go in so many directions. A few hours into the game and we’re finally starting to make some inroads with the various vampire clans that vie for power and influence in this setting. You see, you want to curry various favour in order to be inducted into their ranks, imbuing yourself with their particular abilities – for the purposes of the demo, though, our character was granted with a clan discipline in addition to a thinblood, with our choice of the Brujah leading to the aforementioned strength of our mild fog.

The events of the start of the game seem to have unsettled the various clans though, and you get a text message from a buddy alerting you that they’re now looking for some outside help to get a job done. All of them suddenly seem rather keen on another thinblood named Slugg, reaching him, and obtaining the information that he holds. And so we’re provided with a huge sprawl of possibilities, both in terms of how we want to advance the game’s story through the clan that we decide to do the job for, but also how we go about getting the job done.

Slugg, though just a thinblood, has already been afflicted by the curse of the Nosferatu. These are the information brokers of the vampire world, but even by vampire standards, they have to hide themselves away. There’s obviously no going out in the day time, but even at night, the disfigurement that they go through as they transform would immediately tug at the thin veil of the Masquerade.

While you’re already a powerful vampire, able to brush aside any regular human that gets in your way, this society lives and manipulates from the shadows. Too much overt vampiric action, too many kills in less than discrete situations and the masquerade could all come crashing down, the populace starting to stay home at night as word of disappearances and deaths spread. You’re actively encouraged to consider your actions in that regard, or find yourself being hounded and hunted by vampires sent to take you down.

Spoiler

Speaking to the Nosferatu helps get you the information you need to go and find Slugg – he’s living with the homeless in The Jungle below an overpass, in another nod to the real world of Seattle – but also sees them extend an olive branch to him, allowing him to be inducted into their clan when he’s been ostracised thus far. So there’s another angle to consider, potentially colouring your later actions.

Working across the city and we see it’s not just vampires out on the prowl in the darkness. Two foolish chaps try to mug our character and he quickly demonstrates that he might just be a thinblood, but this cloud is very strong by comparison, unleashing the Brujah’s Earth Shock that’s powerful enough to simply break their bones. Further, we then come across the aforementioned drug dealers, alongside their cooking lab and catatonic customers as we work through a string of otherwise abandoned buildings. It’s here that the earlier choice of thinblood discipline comes into play, as we need to get up to a particular vantage point. Chiroptian players will just turn into a bat and fly up to a gantry, Mentalists can manipulate some parts of the scenery, but us Nebulists had to go and find a vent to get sucked through.

Though humans are easy to deal with on their own or in small numbers, once they gather in a group, they can pose a threat – “Sneaky cloud?” I suggested when we were given another choice of approach to make. The Nebulist abilities mean we can mistily choke people to death, but that’s only really one person at a time, and you can potentially be overpowered by numbers. Hence the stealthier approach when working through the drug den.

As we catch up to Slugg, he plays a little too hard to get. The dialogue options in the game are broad, giving you plenty of scope to play a more diplomatic character, or simply allow you to impose yourself and threaten. Your background and growing reputation will inform those options, but interestingly just because you might have skilled up a particular side to your character and now have a particular dialogue option, that doesn’t mean that it will automatically succeed. So we decide to cut to the chase and beat down on Slugg.

That’s easier said than done as he’s suddenly supported by waves of gun-toting drug dealers. You can use the same weapons as they do, grabbing their assault rifles (because it’s America, remember?) and blasting away, or mix together your various vampiric abilities. That, however, requires blood, whether it’s snacking on a rat to top yourself up, or getting a more meaningful meal from a human neck.

A key side to the vampiric life is deciding just how much to embrace and enable the blood lust within you. Feeding regularly will make you more powerful in combat, but the brutality of this and other choices you make can cause you to gradually lose your humanity – this in and of itself will open up new story paths and dialogue options to explore. On the other side of things, you can avoid feeding the beast within, at the risk of losing control and slipping into a frenzy.

If the full game can live up to the promise of the demo, with its intimate depiction of a more historic Seattle, the messy sprawl of different clans and a world that adapts to your actions and meaningful choices, this will easily be one of the games of next year. I can’t wait to see more.

For Gamescom though, with a guided hands off demo, our actions meant nothing. With Slugg at our mercy, we convinced him that we’d let him live so long as he told us where his cache of information was kept, only to off him as soon as he told us.

I never said I was a nice cloud.

 

[Prime Junta]

“There’s no turning into a fog at will, but rather set moments where it would provide most use.”

 

[ArchAngel]

Funny thing about that fog turning. You run after that thin blood nosferatu, he closes a gate behind himself. Game does not allow you to turn into fog to pass through the gate so you can keep chasing him but you need to find a vent somewhere and turn into fog so you can enter through the vent?!?!
Is the game going to be full of such stupid and arbitrary situations?