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

[Storyfag]

I hated the fact that the weapons disintegrated

I hear that a lot, but breakable weapons are a huge part of emergent gameplay. It forces to improvise in combat and creates unique situations.

And that differs from running out of ammo... how exactly?

 

[Eli_Havelock]

I want to believe that PDX has seen the light and this whole "transference" is a late attempt to save the game but I would not hold my breath.

Unless they announce explicitly otherwise, I wouldn't even assume the game is going to change significantly. The new developer will most likely just attempt to salvage what's already there.

Salvaging what could be salvaged was supposed to have been the job of the wrapper from Ubisoft - Paradox at the time were apparently still a bit optimistic about development. The announcement of Hardsuit being replaced was enough to shit Paradox's website, clearly indicating that Paradox are quite familiar and even okay with sub-par contractors as a regular feature of their operations, so that means Hardsuit really fucked up beyond normal.

It would behoove Paradox to keep the replacement developers out of sight as much as possible (at least until this thing is ready to ship) before the purity police cancel the real talent again, if any can be found willing to touch this. Any replacement is gonna have some real sour grapes from the jilted high school prom nepotism diversities who just got a pink slip instead of continued failing upwards as a career.

 

[Wesp5]

Wesp5 that Bloodlines 1 tutorial segment was always a thing? Came across that for the very first time the last time I played, after all these years.

Don't know if it was in the original version,but it was in the older ones without mods. Tho it is optional,but it gives you reward for doing it.

If you mean Jack giving you the ropes, that was already in the original game and the patch only restores the cut dialogue guard section. If you mean the tutorial starting at the real back entrance of the theatre now, that is a very recent fix!

 

[Spacer's Nugget]

Wesp5 that Bloodlines 1 tutorial segment was always a thing? Came across that for the very first time the last time I played, after all these years.

Don't know if it was in the original version,but it was in the older ones without mods. Tho it is optional,but it gives you reward for doing it.

If you mean Jack giving you the ropes, that was already in the original game and the patch only restores the cut dialogue guard section. If you mean the tutorial starting at the real back entrance of the theatre now, that is a very recent fix!

Ah, that explains it.

I can see why it's there, how it could be useful/essential to some, especially newcomers, but kinda felt out of place in my experience. Not to say you didn't do a very good job at restoring it!

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Still no word from Brian on the recent events.

Also...



It appears that his car is filthy af.

I wouldn't have even noticed the filthiness if you hadn't pointed it out, good catch.

 

[Ismaul]

Still no word from Brian on the recent events.

Also...



It appears that his car is filthy af.

I wouldn't have even noticed the filthiness if you hadn't pointed it out, good catch.

If you look closely, you can see the places where his gloves touched the top of his dashboard.

Broad strokes, no fingerprints.


Who needs to clean the dirt, when you're always wearing protection?

 

[Semiurge]

Every amateur artiste with delusions of grandeur and a thirst for attention on twitter thinks they can become a professional. And where do you think they will instinctively gravitate towards? Yes, "the arts". Not just any kind of arts, but the kind where they can fatten their already shapeless asses in front of a computer, doing what they're familiar with. It's a grand slam of self-expression opportunities for the naive and loud, a chance to "fight the good fight" with their art. The horrible truth is that they only get ahead because of their handicaps and beliefs, and if they don't, those two will be their excuses. They are toxic. Human Resources departments are just as guilty though, for emphasizing insignificant criteria just to make the whole company look better.

If you think that you deserve to be treated as an equal, prove it by behaving like an equal. Nope, it's much easier to just shift responsibility for your actions and lack of success to everyone else. Maybe you weren't breastfed enough, you were bullied, you are fat and ugly, you have a cock or a cunt when you want to own the other, and most importantly: you are a victim of the PATRIARCHY.

 

[True Ukrainian]

You are missing the point. They set the industry standards, making them your superiors. So if you want to be treated as an equal among them, knuckle down.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Who needs to clean the dirt, when you're always wearing protection?

Actually, the fact there are no fingerprints for a man who customarily wears fingerless gloves suggests the culprit wasn't Mitsoda at all.

More to come on the next exciting episode of Dirty, She Wrote

 

[Sweeper]

If we can't take them down over their views, we would take them down over their incompetence.

It'd be more fair to say that they take themselves down with their incompetence. It's a long process though, took 70 years for the USSR.
This whole thing was a pretty good shitshow, start to finish.

 

[deuxhero]

Not tried Condemned no Its made all the way back in 2005 (a year after Bloodlines), guess they made better games back then :D

I played Condemned at the time and while the first person melee was great, I hated the fact that the weapons disintegrated. This was as stupid as in SS2, but at least it made some sense because you were supposed to be outnumbered! In Bloodlines on the other hand you are a powerfull vampire, even as a fledgling, and you had all the choices, you could play it as a talker, a sneaker, a brawler or a shooter or mix up all of these. Why throw that away and force people into one direction? That was a bad design move right from the start.

SS2 also had the excuse that the game constantly talks about how everything on the ship is falling apart due to being built by the lowest bidder. Still way too fast, but at least there's a believable story reason.

 

[Semiurge]

You are missing the point. They set the industry standards, making them your superiors. So if you want to be treated as an equal among them, knuckle down.

I was kind of referring to that with the HR department, but you're right of course.

 

[Wesp5]

SS2 also had the excuse that the game constantly talks about how everything on the ship is falling apart due to being built by the lowest bidder. Still way too fast, but at least there's a believable story reason.

This was just a bad excuse, because you know what? The stupid wrench held the whole game. No, together with all the backtracking the reason behind this was to make a short game appear much longer!

 

[Tacgnol]

Not tried Condemned no Its made all the way back in 2005 (a year after Bloodlines), guess they made better games back then :D

I played Condemned at the time and while the first person melee was great, I hated the fact that the weapons disintegrated. This was as stupid as in SS2, but at least it made some sense because you were supposed to be outnumbered! In Bloodlines on the other hand you are a powerfull vampire, even as a fledgling, and you had all the choices, you could play it as a talker, a sneaker, a brawler or a shooter or mix up all of these. Why throw that away and force people into one direction? That was a bad design move right from the start.

SS2 also had the excuse that the game constantly talks about how everything on the ship is falling apart due to being built by the lowest bidder. Still way too fast, but at least there's a believable story reason.

Dorian Hart claimed there was a cut audiolog in SS2 that was supposed to explain the degradation. Still a bit of a handwave, but it would have at least explained why pistols break down after a couple of magazines.

“The maddening truth about that was, at least once during development, we talked about having an audio log in the game that talked about why that was happening — enough so that some people on the team thought we actually shipped with it. The log would have explained that as part of their takeover, the Many had released a special corrosive gas into the Von Braun that damaged weapons but was harmless to organic creatures.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

That sounds like a horrible explanation tbh. Glad it was cut.

 

[DavidBVal]

Are they refunding the pre-purchases?

Why would anyone pre-purchase a digital good is beyond me (unless it's being crowdfunded and it's clearly stated so, and willingly take the risk).

I suspected it'd end like this when I saw that first video without any gameplay and people started giving them money.

 

[Jenkem]

lots of balderdash in the last few pages.

Paradox will deliver excellence.

 

[compvet24]

This a good thread

 

[Roguey]

That should be Annie, not Cara really.

That sounds like a horrible explanation tbh. Glad it was cut.

Yeah. A gas that destroys weapons but won't ultimately destroy the ship itself?

 

[Eli_Havelock]

That sounds like a horrible explanation tbh. Glad it was cut.

Yeah. A gas that destroys weapons but won't ultimately destroy the ship itself?

That would explain a lot more of the general damage around the Von Braun and the even worse state of the Rickenbacker in areas the Annelid didn't seem to really touch. It furthers the body horror theme into an absolute environmental horror to suggest that The Many weren't just taking over the ships, the ships are being actively digested as the player runs through them. Adds a bit more than just the standard interstellar corporation is cheapassing everything.

The missing audio log would have undoubtedly presented it a lot better than a Rust Monster playing a tragic Pull My Finger gag on an Iron Golem.

 

[DavidBVal]

I am backreading some of this crap, which I (wisely) had been ignoring for a couple years. I still can't figure out why Mitsoda was fired, was ever an explanation given?

Wokeware™ at its best. I suspect the franchise has become so tainted they will never find anyone with any dignity or talent willing to associate with this project, ever. Probably for the best.

 

[Lacrymas]

So, this is never releasing? Color me surprised.

 

[Latelistener]

And that differs from running out of ammo... how exactly?

Worn-out weapons can act differently depending on a weapon.

In Far Cry 2 some weapons may jam in the middle of a shootout, explode in your face, while rockets may have some weird trajectories.

Overall that was really complex and required a shit ton of work so Ubisoft ditched it after FC2 and never thought about it again.

Spoiler

 

[PlacidDragon]

I am backreading some of this crap, which I (wisely) had been ignoring for a couple years. I still can't figure out why Mitsoda was fired, was ever an explanation given?

Not as far as i can recall. Mitsoda said that his department had never been behind on the work, and that every impression he had got was that everything was fine.

 

[PlacidDragon]

So, this is never releasing? Color me surprised.

Its not cancelled, they (Paradox) are switching developer. Depending on who that new developer is, and what can be salvaged from the work up until this point (which isn't likely to be much past story, i am sure some art assets, maps etc), we are looking at...well.. at least 2 years and probably more for a release.. We'll get more information at some point, iim sure