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

[fantadomat]

It's March now. Going by their plan they have three more months to keep building the game, and it's likely that there will be further delays due to coronavirus etc.

The fact that there hasn't been a development update since January IMO suggests that the game is in a major transition and might look a bit different when they're done.

Nigga learn to read...

 

[Harthwain]

Nigga learn to read...

Spoiler

Nice catch, but I am pretty sure it's a placeholder. Everywhere else the release date is unspecified "2020", so "December 31, 2020" falls right into that. It'll most likely change when they officially give us a concrete info about when the game releases.

 

[fantadomat]

Nigga learn to read...

Spoiler

Nice catch, but I am pretty sure it's a placeholder. Everywhere else the release date is unspecificed "2020", so "December 31, 2020" falls right into that. It'll most likely change when they officially give us a concrete info about when the game releases.

Most likely,still it is an official statement. So i will give it more validity than some blind predictions.

 

[Wesp5]

Nosferatu might be added post-launch. Not sure what you're referring to about level design.

Wasn't it said somewhere that the two original clans left out for now will be in a free DLC? Which makes me wonder if this is something about the third person, because both Nosferatu uglyness and Gangrel warform don't really work great in first person...

 

[S.torch]

Which makes me wonder if this is something about the third person

They already said that third person will not be in the game.

 

[Wesp5]

Which makes me wonder if this is something about the third person

They already said that third person will not be in the game.

Except for certain combat moves, so how would they make a Gangrel warform working? Maybe they need to think about this a bit ...

 

[Sailor Woedica]

Covid is ruining the unlife too

 

[fantadomat]

Covid is ruining the unlife too

Ahhh no they can't lol. It is a flu type of virus that needs warm body to inhabit,it is not a fucking blood disease. It just shows how stupid modern writers are and how they lack the most basic life experience and knowledge.

 

[Infinitron]

Spoiler

 

[Jenkem]

don't believe infinitron's lies

 

[Terenty]

we want to give the Malkavians' representation of mental illness the respect and dignity it deserves in Bloodlines 2

I hope every mentally ill vampire who's gonna play the game will be able to appreciate the noble endeavour of Hardsuit Labs

 

[ChildInTime]

Their marketing department really needs to approve some new taking points, the "we respect mentally ill degenerates" is getting old.

 

[jackofshadows]

Hello everyone!

February and March have been intense, for many reasons. Like many others in the US and around the world, the COVID-19 outbreak has changed how we work in the last few weeks. To help mitigate this unprecedented illness, our developers are all working from home. We have provided infrastructure and hardware support for that to happen, as well as provided more tools and procedures to help facilitate communication. The biggest challenge to us has been the separation. We shockingly like each other in this studio and have found it a little difficult not to be able to hang out during the week. But we also want to keep our developers and their families safe, so this is a small price to pay. The new working from home paradigm seems to be agreeing with people, and development is proceeding from the comfort of our own homes.

Speaking of which, we are seeing more and more of the game come together. On the road to “content complete” many features are getting locked including side quests, systems, and animations. We're getting to the point where the game you'll get to play at release is clearly recognizable through the construction dust.

Side quests are where you really get to meet the World of Darkness in Bloodlines 2, just like the first game. They're also one of the main rewards for stepping off the beaten path and exploring our version of Seattle. Most of our side-quests are written, scripted, and locked down in the game, and we are very excited to share them with you. The narrative design department has been hard at work making sure these side quests feel every bit as integral to the fabric of the game as the main quests.

The game grew in other ways as well. It always was central to our vision to make players feel like a vampire through gameplay. One side of it is to create this freedom in movements that a mere mortal could never experience. This led us to the decision to expand your baseline Thinblood abilities to traversal - you can use Chiropteran Glide, Mentalism Pull for specific objects or Nebulation through vents at any time, regardless of your primary Thinblood Discipline choice. We went through the game, particularly the hubs, and investigated all the ways we could make them even more exciting and seamless for you to use. These powers have been with us for a long time, and we can fully leverage their potential uses throughout all levels for puzzles, rewards, and perhaps some secrets for you to find.

We organized a mocap session in February, focusing on facial and dialogue animations. Our animation team has been polishing things like the feeding animations, combat, Discipline usage, and other vampire mainstays (no devs were hurt in the recording of this mocap session, proof in images).

Thanks for reading and stay safe!

https://store.steampowered.com/newshub/app/532790/view/2092425894038214334

> Side quests are where you really get to meet the World of Darkness in Bloodlines 2, just like the first game.

Fuck, that is looks like a positive reframing from "the main quest will be all about ponies and rainbow".

 

[Wesp5]

One side of it is to create this freedom in movements that a mere mortal could never experience. This led us to the decision to expand your baseline Thinblood abilities to traversal - you can use Chiropteran Glide, Mentalism Pull for specific objects or Nebulation through vents at any time, regardless of your primary Thinblood Discipline choice.

Does this mean that you basically have all three Thinblood disciplines right from the start? If so you would really be a very powerfull Thinblood...

 

[Ismaul]

One side of it is to create this freedom in movements that a mere mortal could never experience. This led us to the decision to expand your baseline Thinblood abilities to traversal - you can use Chiropteran Glide, Mentalism Pull for specific objects or Nebulation through vents at any time, regardless of your primary Thinblood Discipline choice.

Does this mean that you basically have all three Thinblood disciplines right from the start? If so you would really be a very powerfull Thinblood...

Not necessarily. With access to many abilities, it's easy to spread yourself Thin.

 

[Infinitron]

One side of it is to create this freedom in movements that a mere mortal could never experience. This led us to the decision to expand your baseline Thinblood abilities to traversal - you can use Chiropteran Glide, Mentalism Pull for specific objects or Nebulation through vents at any time, regardless of your primary Thinblood Discipline choice.

Does this mean that you basically have all three Thinblood disciplines right from the start? If so you would really be a very powerfull Thinblood...

You have to select a primary discipline. I assume you don't get the second ability for the other two: https://rpgcodex.net/article.php?id=11138

 

[ChildInTime]

Well, from the gameplay standpoint it's great that you can use everything.

From the lore perspective - more like extrathiccblood than thinblood. We always knew the MC will be a super-special snowflake, but this is like hitting nails with bombs instead of a hammer at the first opportunity.

 

[Lacrymas]

The MC was a mega-super-giga-snowflake in Bloodlines 1 too, but they were subtle about it.

 

[Child of Malkav]

All games are power fantasies in some way or another, as they should be. You want balance or to feel powerless or simulate a survival situation? Then you have real life for that.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

All games are power fantasies in some way or another, as they should be. You want balance or to feel powerless or simulate a survival situation? Then you have real life for that.

Main issue with the PC was that his rise in power level couldn't be explained in a straightforward manner in terms of the tabletop setting. That aside though, he wasn't more of a Gary Stu than your average CRPG protagonist.

 

[Harthwain]

All games are power fantasies in some way or another, as they should be. You want balance or to feel powerless or simulate a survival situation? Then you have real life for that.

Except roguelikes, simulations/simulators and survival games.

 

[Child of Malkav]

All games are power fantasies in some way or another, as they should be. You want balance or to feel powerless or simulate a survival situation? Then you have real life for that.

Main issue with the PC was that his rise in power level couldn't be explained in a straightforward manner in terms of the tabletop setting. That aside though, he wasn't more of a Gary Stu than your average CRPG protagonist.

Meh, they could use the diablerie excuse and be done with it. Not really familiar with thinblood lore but it's clear that you'll own everyone in the game by the end.

Edit: typos.

 

[Child of Malkav]

All games are power fantasies in some way or another, as they should be. You want balance or to feel powerless or simulate a survival situation? Then you have real life for that.

Except roguelikes, simulations/simulators and survival games.

Yeah but knowing is half the battle. Once you understand the mechanics and patterns and you have priorities set up, threats in roguelikes and survival games become predictable and easy to overcome.

 

[ArchAngel]

All games are power fantasies in some way or another, as they should be. You want balance or to feel powerless or simulate a survival situation? Then you have real life for that.

Except roguelikes, simulations/simulators and survival games.

Lol. You mean those game where you chop down a tree for 10s using a stone axe and then get as nice bundle of stacked wood?! And you never hit yourself by accident, get Sepsis and die?

 

[Harthwain]

All games are power fantasies in some way or another, as they should be. You want balance or to feel powerless or simulate a survival situation? Then you have real life for that.

Except roguelikes, simulations/simulators and survival games.

Lol. You mean those game where you chop down a tree for 10s using a stone axe and then get as nice bundle of stacked wood?! And you never hit yourself by accident, get Sepsis and die?

I was thinking more along the lines of NEO Scavenger, where you can die of...:

• Acute bleeding to the lung
• Cardiac arrest
• Severe traumatic brain injury
• Blood loss
  
• Cholera
• Poisoning
  
• Dehydration
• Hypotermia
• Starvation

...you know, a proper SURVIVAL game? Not some happy crafting game masquerading as a survival game.

Yeah but knowing is half the battle. Once you understand the mechanics and patterns and you have priorities set up, threats in roguelikes and survival games become predictable and easy to overcome.

True, but same can be said for pretty much any game, because in most of them the challenge decreases the more you learn about it.

Still, these games don't lend themselves well to power fantasy fulfillment. In these cases surviving is enough and that's a different area.