Revisiting VtM: Bloodlines

[Cael]

What's next on the good fight? Wandering into a Werewolf thread and complaining about the Furry Agenda?

Nah. I'll just point them to Skyrim.

 

[Delterius]

What's next on the good fight? Wandering into a Werewolf thread and complaining about the Furry Agenda?

Nah. I'll just point them to Skyrim.

Oh, so you also enter Skyrim threads and complain about open world games?

 

[Cael]

Oh, so you also enter Skyrim threads and complain about open world games?

Nah. I'll just point them to you as illustration of what happens when a person gets too much emptiness in the skull.

 

[Delterius]

Oh, so you also enter Skyrim threads and complain about open world games?

Nah. I'll just point them to you as illustration of what happens when a person gets too much emptiness in the skull.

But saying hello would be that much more effective. I for one don't complain about gayness in gay games.

 

[Cael]

Oh, so you also enter Skyrim threads and complain about open world games?

Nah. I'll just point them to you as illustration of what happens when a person gets too much emptiness in the skull.

By saying hello?

If that is what you want to believe, sure. Why not?

 

[hello friend]

What happened on the WoW forums?

Sounds like some good drama.

 

[Delterius]

What happened on the WoW forums?

Sounds like some good drama.

A patch nerfed Tessera's class, so he created a movement demanding reddress. So it was the Mage's Union, complete with attempts to 'not conjure food or portals for people' (striking) until they got buffed. Tseric, a CM from Blizzard, lost his shit at Tessera's little church of cuntism and revealed that most if not all 'Mage Union' posters weren't people 'afraid of being banned or ridicule' hiding behind an alt, but rather Tessera himself. Cue a bit of drama about privacy. Tseric leaves Blizzard and Tessera gets banned from WoW.

 

[Wesp5]

Are you saying he is lying? That he made it all up so he could hack some extra animations into his waifus under the pretense of merely restoring content? Just asking what you mean by "exaggerate"...

Tessera is known to "exaggerate", as already the name of his "True Patch" shows which implies that the Unofficial Patch is "false". Also he has been caught lying on several occassions, one of which was the WoW thing mentioned above. I wasn't sure about the sisters, but I just downloaded his patch and checked. He is indeed using interesting places with common animations like I suspected, so any claims these are unique animations found due to decompilation of their models are either flat out lies or misunderstanding of the Bloodlines model setup. Most Bloodlines models include an animation list called npc_allsequences to which these animations belong. They are not unique, but you could make any NPC who has access to that list play them...

 

[gaussgunner]

Yes, I followed that guide, but still had some problems.

I guess we need a better guide. This is too important a game to be left like this. If I feel ambitious I'll track down an original copy and see what's up.

Found a thread about it. Someone from GOG (Thiev) posted a script to revert the changes.
https://af.gog.com/forum/vampire_th...2_build_of_vtm_bloodlines/page1?as=1649904300

vanilla_cleaner.cmd

@echo off
@echo WARNING:
@echo ========
@echo Applying the following script will return your install of VTM:B
@echo to the unmodified 1.2 version. There is no guarantee that the game
@echo will launch at all. The script will not backup any files. If
@echo something goes wrong you will have to reinstall the game.
@echo THIS VERSION IS NOT SUPPORTED BY GOG.COM WHATSOEVER.
@echo You are doing this at your own risk.
@echo ========
CHOICE /C YN /m "Do you want to continue?"
if errorlevel 2 goto exit
if errorlevel 1 goto script
:script
@echo removing folders...
RD /S /Q "%~dp0Unofficial_Patch"
RD /S /Q "%~dp0Bin\loader"
RD /S /Q "%~dp0Vampire\resource"
RD /S /Q "%~dp0Vampire\maps\graphs"

@echo removing files...
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Bin\engine.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Bin\shaderapidx9.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0dbghelp.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0vampire.exe"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0loader-readme.txt"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0vtmbup-readme.txt"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Vampire\dlls\vampire.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\client.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\GameUI.dll"

@echo restoring original files...
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Bin\engine.dll.12" "%~dp0Bin\engine.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Bin\shaderapidx9.dll.12" "%~dp0Bin\shaderapidx9.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0dbghelp.dll.12" "%~dp0dbghelp.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0vampire.exe.12" "%~dp0vampire.exe" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Vampire\dlls\vampire.dll.12" "%~dp0Vampire\dlls\vampire.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\client.dll.12" "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\client.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\GameUI.dll.12" "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\GameUI.dll" > nul
@echo replacing links...
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Launch VTM Bloodlines.lnk"
DEL /F /Q "%programdata%\Start Menu\Programs\GOG.com\Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines\VTM Bloodlines.lnk"
DEL /F /Q "%public%\Desktop\VTM Bloodlines.lnk"
%~d0
cd "%~dp0"
REM in-game
REM creating temporary VBscript
echo Set oWS = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") > tmpShortcut.vbs
echo sLinkFile1 = "%~dp0Launch VTM Bloodlines.lnk" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo sLinkFileSM = "%programdata%\Start Menu\Programs\GOG.com\Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines\VTM Bloodlines.lnk" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo sLinkFileD = "%public%\Desktop\VTM Bloodlines.lnk" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo Set oLink1 = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFile1) >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo Set oLinkSM = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFileSM) >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo Set oLinkD = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFileD) >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.TargetPath = "%~dp0vampire.exe" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.TargetPath = "%~dp0vampire.exe" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.TargetPath = "%~dp0vampire.exe" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.WorkingDirectory = "%~dp0" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.WorkingDirectory = "%~dp0" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.WorkingDirectory = "%~dp0" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.Description = "Launch VTM Bloodlines" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.Description = "VTM Bloodlines" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.Description = "VTM Bloodlines" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.IconLocation = "%~dp0goggame-1207659240.ico" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.IconLocation = "%~dp0goggame-1207659240.ico" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.IconLocation = "%~dp0goggame-1207659240.ico" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.Save >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.Save >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.Save >> tmpShortcut.vbs
cscript tmpShortcut.vbs > nul
DEL /F /Q tmpShortcut.vbs
@echo done!
pause
:exit
exit

This is what it does:
1. Remove directories Unofficial_Patch, Bin/loader, Vampire/resource, and Vampire/maps/graphs
2. Restore the original ".dll.12" and ".exe.12" files
3. Make a new link/launcher (without "-game Unofficial_Patch")

Does TP work if you just remove those dirs?

If you're on WINE, be sure to use the "dbghelp" fix. People say that fixes the missing hands problem and much worse scripting bugs later in the game.

 

[Wesp5]

Does TP work if you just remove those dirs?

I htink it should be enough to just install the TP into the vampire folder and then launch the game from the GOG shortcut. Loader support is not needed and the other stuff inside the improved dlls is only about the memory bug, copy protection and widescreen support which the TP would need to provide anyway.

If you're on WINE, be sure to use the "dbghelp" fix.

Can you explain this fix to me in a way that I can include it into the loader script already available in the patch or is this an alrernative for not using the loader in the first place?

P.S.: I just see that this solution is already mentioned in the linux_loader script readme !

 

[gaussgunner]

Can you explain this fix to me in a way that I can include it into the loader script already available in the patch or is this an alrernative for not using the loader in the first place?

See my last post ^. You must've missed it in all the noise about gayness. I would like to know how to find that sewer shortcut too...

edit: It is in the loader script, but a lot of people don't use it and the game SEEMS to work without it.

 

[fantadomat]

What happened on the WoW forums?

Sounds like some good drama.

A patch nerfed Tessera's class, so he created a movement demanding reddress. So it was the Mage's Union, complete with attempts to 'not conjure food or portals for people' (striking) until they got buffed. Tseric, a CM from Blizzard, lost his shit at Tessera's little church of cuntism and revealed that most if not all 'Mage Union' posters weren't people 'afraid of being banned or ridicule' hiding behind an alt, but rather Tessera himself. Cue a bit of drama about privacy. Tseric leaves Blizzard and Tessera gets banned from WoW.

This could be made in a nice hundred episode soap opera. It have all the right ingredients.

 

[hello friend]

What happened on the WoW forums?

Sounds like some good drama.

A patch nerfed Tessera's class, so he created a movement demanding reddress. So it was the Mage's Union, complete with attempts to 'not conjure food or portals for people' (striking) until they got buffed. Tseric, a CM from Blizzard, lost his shit at Tessera's little church of cuntism and revealed that most if not all 'Mage Union' posters weren't people 'afraid of being banned or ridicule' hiding behind an alt, but rather Tessera himself. Cue a bit of drama about privacy. Tseric leaves Blizzard and Tessera gets banned from WoW.

Shoulda used 7x7 proxies

 

[laclongquan]

Yes, I followed that guide, but still had some problems.

I guess we need a better guide. This is too important a game to be left like this. If I feel ambitious I'll track down an original copy and see what's up.

Found a thread about it. Someone from GOG (Thiev) posted a script to revert the changes.
https://af.gog.com/forum/vampire_th...2_build_of_vtm_bloodlines/page1?as=1649904300

vanilla_cleaner.cmd

@echo off
@echo WARNING:
@echo ========
@echo Applying the following script will return your install of VTM:B
@echo to the unmodified 1.2 version. There is no guarantee that the game
@echo will launch at all. The script will not backup any files. If
@echo something goes wrong you will have to reinstall the game.
@echo THIS VERSION IS NOT SUPPORTED BY GOG.COM WHATSOEVER.
@echo You are doing this at your own risk.
@echo ========
CHOICE /C YN /m "Do you want to continue?"
if errorlevel 2 goto exit
if errorlevel 1 goto script
:script
@echo removing folders...
RD /S /Q "%~dp0Unofficial_Patch"
RD /S /Q "%~dp0Bin\loader"
RD /S /Q "%~dp0Vampire\resource"
RD /S /Q "%~dp0Vampire\maps\graphs"

@echo removing files...
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Bin\engine.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Bin\shaderapidx9.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0dbghelp.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0vampire.exe"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0loader-readme.txt"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0vtmbup-readme.txt"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Vampire\dlls\vampire.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\client.dll"
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\GameUI.dll"

@echo restoring original files...
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Bin\engine.dll.12" "%~dp0Bin\engine.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Bin\shaderapidx9.dll.12" "%~dp0Bin\shaderapidx9.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0dbghelp.dll.12" "%~dp0dbghelp.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0vampire.exe.12" "%~dp0vampire.exe" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Vampire\dlls\vampire.dll.12" "%~dp0Vampire\dlls\vampire.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\client.dll.12" "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\client.dll" > nul
MOVE /Y "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\GameUI.dll.12" "%~dp0Vampire\cl_dlls\GameUI.dll" > nul
@echo replacing links...
DEL /F /Q "%~dp0Launch VTM Bloodlines.lnk"
DEL /F /Q "%programdata%\Start Menu\Programs\GOG.com\Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines\VTM Bloodlines.lnk"
DEL /F /Q "%public%\Desktop\VTM Bloodlines.lnk"
%~d0
cd "%~dp0"
REM in-game
REM creating temporary VBscript
echo Set oWS = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") > tmpShortcut.vbs
echo sLinkFile1 = "%~dp0Launch VTM Bloodlines.lnk" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo sLinkFileSM = "%programdata%\Start Menu\Programs\GOG.com\Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines\VTM Bloodlines.lnk" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo sLinkFileD = "%public%\Desktop\VTM Bloodlines.lnk" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo Set oLink1 = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFile1) >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo Set oLinkSM = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFileSM) >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo Set oLinkD = oWS.CreateShortcut(sLinkFileD) >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.TargetPath = "%~dp0vampire.exe" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.TargetPath = "%~dp0vampire.exe" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.TargetPath = "%~dp0vampire.exe" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.WorkingDirectory = "%~dp0" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.WorkingDirectory = "%~dp0" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.WorkingDirectory = "%~dp0" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.Description = "Launch VTM Bloodlines" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.Description = "VTM Bloodlines" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.Description = "VTM Bloodlines" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.IconLocation = "%~dp0goggame-1207659240.ico" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.IconLocation = "%~dp0goggame-1207659240.ico" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.IconLocation = "%~dp0goggame-1207659240.ico" >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLink1.Save >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkSM.Save >> tmpShortcut.vbs
echo oLinkD.Save >> tmpShortcut.vbs
cscript tmpShortcut.vbs > nul
DEL /F /Q tmpShortcut.vbs
@echo done!
pause
:exit
exit

This is what it does:
1. Remove directories Unofficial_Patch, Bin/loader, Vampire/resource, and Vampire/maps/graphs
2. Restore the original ".dll.12" and ".exe.12" files
3. Make a new link/launcher (without "-game Unofficial_Patch")

Does TP work if you just remove those dirs?

If you're on WINE, be sure to use the "dbghelp" fix. People say that fixes the missing hands problem and much worse scripting bugs later in the game.

I honestly doesnt know. Tessera TP require a vanilla with patch 1.2 and that's what I use. from a cd version, then patch, then TP.

For deUP the game back to vanilla, I also doesnt know as I dont touch anything with UP. It might work rnot:

As for Tessera versus Wesp, I dont give that much of my attention. Tessera is no normal person, but Wesp is no one worth my trust, especially in anything related to game modding.

Tessera is a fucking prima donna of a modder. He's like the very proverbial slinky itself, one would be glad to see him tumbling down, but he never give that a chance in game modding aspect. He said he do a bugfix PATCH and that's what you got. Any changes is loudly proclaimed and adhere tightly to the vanilla game as possible. Which is why his patch stop years ago at 4.xxx because any bug get squash long ago. I dont like his personality much but at least I can trust his True Patch to allow me playing a game as close to vanilla as humanly possible. Sure there's plenty of advance in animation and graphic, but that's difference from gameplay.

Wesp is a nearly typical modder but with a mercury mind, change at a flash. He will change the mod as he wills, draped with some vague fan-demand words. The changes are too numerous, too far removed from the vanilla game, you cant remember it all. It is no surprise that his "patch" advance to version 10.xx and I guess will continue indefinitely.

 

[Cael]

Wesp is a nearly typical modder but with a mercury mind, change at a flash. He will change the mod as he wills, draped with some vague fan-demand words. The changes are too numerous, too far removed from the vanilla game, you cant remember it all. It is no surprise that his "patch" advance to version 10.xx and I guess will continue indefinitely.

One of the reason why I was quite wary of the Restoration Patch for Fallout 2. I don't trust modders not to insert their own bias and political idiocy into their mods. However, it turned out to be OK, for which I am glad.

 

[Wesp5]

One of the reason why I was quite wary of the Restoration Patch for Fallout 2. I don't trust modders not to insert their own bias and political idiocy into their mods.

That's why there is a bugfix only basic Unofficial Patch and a seperate plus version including the restorations. Because while info in the game files may sometimes be good enough to figure out exactly where the lost content should have gone, more often it's a wild guesswork and of course the modder must finally decide on his own without, or in my case with only very little, feedback from the original developers.

 

[fantadomat]

One of the reason why I was quite wary of the Restoration Patch for Fallout 2. I don't trust modders not to insert their own bias and political idiocy into their mods.

That's why there is a bugfix only basic Unofficial Patch and a seperate plus version including the restorations. Because while info in the game files may sometimes be good enough to figure out exactly where the lost content should have gone, more often it's a wild guesswork and of course the modder must finally decide on his own without, or in my case with only very little, feedback from the original developers.

I missed what the big deal is,did you put a big gay orgy or a pride fest? Also can you kill the faggot?

 

[Multidirectional]

That's why there is a bugfix only basic Unofficial Patch and a seperate plus version including the restorations.

I've read people claiming that even your Basic patch has some changes that go beyond mere bug fixing. Safe to assume it's bullshit?

 

[Liquorice]

Also can you kill the faggot?

Plot twist:

Spoiler

you are the faggot.

 

[Cael]

I missed what the big deal is,did you put a big gay orgy or a pride fest? Also can you kill the faggot?

WESP added in stuff that wasn't in the original game (e.g., homosexual protagonist) because some emo loon in a Twilight forum wanted it.

To be fair, it wasn't WESP per se that caused the ruckus. It was his fanbois who came in and made stupid claims and started the whole mess.

 

[fantadomat]

Also can you kill the faggot?

Plot twist:

Spoiler

you are the faggot.

At least i am not a butthurt faggot like somebody which avatar name begins with Li have a quo in the middle and ends with a rice.

 

[fantadomat]

I missed what the big deal is,did you put a big gay orgy or a pride fest? Also can you kill the faggot?

WESP added in stuff that wasn't in the original game (e.g., homosexual protagonist) because some emo loon in a Twilight forum wanted it.

To be fair, it wasn't WESP per se that caused the ruckus. It was his fanbois who came in and made stupid claims and started the whole mess.

It is a wonderful mess to read through. Something good to come from faggots,i guess. Honestly i don't get it, there is no sexuality choice in the original. You can play a faggot in the game as much as zoophile. After all vampires are asexual and their pleasure comes from sucking on some hobo's neck.

 

[Cael]

It is a wonderful mess to read through. Something good to come from faggots,i guess. Honestly i don't get it, there is no sexuality choice in the original. You can play a faggot in the game as much as zoophile. After all vampires are asexual and their pleasure comes from sucking on some hobo's neck.

There is not a hell of a lot of sexuality choice in RPG in general, until the SJW twattering twits got into the act. Most of whom, I might add, probably sneered at roleplayers as basement dwelling nerds, before they realised that the RP community is a gold mine for their "society is dominated by intolerant, sexist, homophobic, misogynist perverts" narrative.

 

[HansDampf]

I wasn't sure about the sisters, but I just downloaded his patch and checked. He is indeed using interesting places with common animations like I suspected, so any claims these are unique animations found due to decompilation of their models are either flat out lies or misunderstanding of the Bloodlines model setup. Most Bloodlines models include an animation list called npc_allsequences to which these animations belong. They are not unique, but you could make any NPC who has access to that list play them...

I actually liked it. It adds to the illusion that the NPCs have a life and stuff to do and aren't just waiting for you to hit E. But I don't know how much work it would take to add this to other NPCs or if it's even worth the effort. You'd also have to worry about lighting. In most conversations the game ensures the characters receive proper lighting and aren't standing in some dark corner, like Therese when she walks over to the couch. If you can't do it well, leave it be.

That's why there is a bugfix only basic Unofficial Patch and a seperate plus version including the restorations.

I've read people claiming that even your Basic patch has some changes that go beyond mere bug fixing. Safe to assume it's bullshit?

When I was testing this earlier I noticed lower music volume overall compared to an earlier patch, and a muffled version of Isolated playing in front of The Asylum entrance (like with Vesuvius in Hollywood).

 

[Spark Mandriller]

I've read people claiming that even your Basic patch has some changes that go beyond mere bug fixing. Safe to assume it's bullshit?

It's not bullshit. The changes are usually pretty inconsequential (some discipline powers got renamed, some clans have different hand textures in first person, Jack has a new line in the tutorial, just stuff like that), but they are definitely there. The only gameplay change I noticed is that you don't lose humanity for stealing the charity money in the art gallery anymore, as long as you've asked Jeanette about it and she's claimed it won't really be going to charity anyway. I probably missed a bunch more though, since it's been a long time since I've played it vanilla.