The long awaited sequel to one of the RPG greats is announced. It's a direct sequel and releasing Q1 2020.
Sired in an act of vampire terrorism, your existence ignites the war for Seattle's blood trade. Enter uneasy alliances with the creatures who control the city and uncover the sprawling conspiracy which plunged Seattle into a bloody civil war between powerful vampire factions.
Become the Ultimate Vampire Immerse yourself in the World of Darkness and live out your vampire fantasy in a city filled with intriguing characters that react to your choices. You and your unique disciplines are a weapon in our forward-driving, fast-moving, melee-focussed combat system. Your power will grow as you advance, but remember to uphold the Masquerade and guard your humanity... or face the consequences.
Descend into Seattle’s Dark Heart and Survive the Vampire Elite Seattle has always been run by vampires. Hunt your prey across Seattle locations faithfully reimagined in the World of Darkness. Meet the old blood founders present since the city’s birth and the new blood steering the tech money redefining the city. Everyone has hidden agendas - so choose your allies wisely.
Enter into Uneasy Alliances Choose a side among competing factions, each with their own unique traits and stories, in the war for Seattle’s blood trade. The world will judge you by the company you keep, but remember no one’s hands stay clean forever.
Experience the Story Written by the creative mind behind the original Bloodlines, Vampire: The Masquerade® - Bloodlines™ 2 brings the ambitions of the first game to life and sees the return of a few fan favorite characters.
Confused about the naming, VtmB2 exists already, shouldn't this be VtmB3?
Edit: nvm, it's Vtm2B originally, it's just that everyone calls it VtmB2. So this is Vtm2B2 basically.
On March 22 2019 15:19 Starlightsun wrote: Woah made by paradox?
Paradox bought the license from the bankrupt dev of Bloodlines 3 years ago. I think the new developer is the mentioned hardsuit labs, which are a no-name.
Was hoping a bit for obsidian, but the shown trailer gets the atmosphere right for me and going deeper into the first-person/horror isn't really obsidian's forte, but makes sense for a successor.
We get some news finally about the actual game. Right now it looks like for the first few hours of the game or so you'll be playing as the Thin-Blood and then will be able to choose one of the 5 clans (with other clans coming in later as free DLC). Every clan is supposed to have unique locations and pretty big differences, encouraging replayability. Another thing is that some choices that you make very early in the game can have consequences even very late into it. I like it so far.
Tbh I am mainly worried about storytelling. Vtmb's gameplay wasn't exceptional, it was mainly the characters, voice acting and atmosphere that made it special imo. Very similar to old bioware games actually. It's probably good that many of the old crew seem to be onboard. What I've seen so far fits in terms of atmosphere, could be a bit more dirty.
Hope they also get the balance between action and storytelling right, VtmB was pretty slow compared to modern games.
I played vtmb again like 2 years ago with the fan patches and had a blast until close to the end. It didn't feel too slow, atleast after the beginning (i was Tremere). The last quarter of the game still falls off hard tho.
Slow as in the game has more dialogue than fighting and develops npcs a bit. And the story takes some time.
Dunno, liked the last quarter, the Sabbat sewers are the only part that I thought was (way) too long. Overall I'd rate SM>Hollywood>Downtown>=Chinatown, but mainly because Chinatown is a bit short on interesting NPCs barring revenge girl. On the flipside I liked most of the later main quests more than the early ones.
On May 06 2019 18:03 Archeon wrote: Tbh I am mainly worried about storytelling. Vtmb's gameplay wasn't exceptional, it was mainly the characters, voice acting and atmosphere that made it special imo. Very similar to old bioware games actually. It's probably good that many of the old crew seem to be onboard. What I've seen so far fits in terms of atmosphere, could be a bit more dirty.
Hope they also get the balance between action and storytelling right, VtmB was pretty slow compared to modern games.
Cara Ellison is the senior writer for the game. She is very good and it a great pick to write some good, yet trashy/melodramatic vampire story lines.
On May 06 2019 20:38 Archeon wrote: Slow as in the game has more dialogue than fighting and develops npcs a bit. And the story takes some time.
Dunno, liked the last quarter, the Sabbat sewers are the only part that I thought was (way) too long. Overall I'd rate SM>Hollywood>Downtown>=Chinatown, but mainly because Chinatown is a bit short on interesting NPCs barring revenge girl. On the flipside I liked most of the later main quests more than the early ones.
I finnished it once years ago but have played like 5 times till Chinatown. I allways lose interest there, imho it begins to drag towards the end of Hollywood.
Some of the old staff are back (including Brian Mitsoda, writer behind BL1 and Numenera) and it seems that almost everyone in Hardsuit Labs is a huge fan of BL1 so they're pouring their hearts out there. Most of the writers/developers are also from Seattle (BL2 setting), which will definitely help create realistic and immersive environment.
In other news, some of the initial clan predictions (based on pictures on the official website and rumors): Thin-Bloods (confirmed), Brujah (confirmed), Toreador, Ventrue, Tremere, Lasombra.
I think this list makes the most sense for the initial release, seeing how other clans require a lot more work to properly incorporate into the game. Malkavians need additional content and re-writing of large portions of dialogue, Nosferatu need completely new paths and areas for nearly the entirety of the campaign and Gangrel will most likely get released closer to the expansion (if not at the same time as expansion) since they'll make more sense when more wilderness is added for the Werewolves.
I don't mind them holding off on some of the clans (even though they're my favorites) if it means they'll have enough time to do them justice.
No Malkavians would be a bummer :/ I'm less optimistic about DLCs/Add-ons that require large amounts of redoing leveldesign/rewriting, but time will tell.
On May 07 2019 19:10 Archeon wrote: No Malkavians would be a bummer :/ I'm less optimistic about DLCs/Add-ons that require large amounts of redoing leveldesign/rewriting, but time will tell.
I think it's more a case of adding new paths and dialogue. Not redoing what's already there. Makes sense if they want to release the game sooner.
Sure, cutting content makes always sense when people want to release sooner
Most studios do a lot of work pre-release and then add some minor, slightly overpriced content after the release. There are some exceptions, but they usually come with a higher price tag.
Revisiting levels and adding additional areas however seems like a way to throw money out of the window for little gain for the studio. Especially when a lot of people won't have much interest in replaying a RPG again and again. Many of the VtmB players will do a bunch of playthroughs, but most other players likely won't put 10$ on the table to replay of a game they've already played.
On May 07 2019 20:40 Archeon wrote: Sure, cutting content makes always sense when people want to release sooner
Most studios do a lot of work pre-release and then add some minor, slightly overpriced content after the release. There are some exceptions, but they usually come with a higher price tag.
Revisiting levels and adding additional areas however seems like a way to throw money out of the window for little gain for the studio. Especially when a lot of people won't have much interest in replaying a RPG again and again. Many of the VtmB players will do a bunch of playthroughs, but most other players likely won't put 10$ on the table to replay of a game they've already played.
Many of those DLCs make the game better for later buyers. RPGs don't lose playability in the same way COD #10 does. I often get RPGs a year or two in when the bugs are fixed and the DLCs are included.
Definitive editions, final editions and goty editions sell later on after release if you make a great game.
If you make an average game they are likely not worth doing though, agreed on that.
On May 07 2019 20:40 Archeon wrote: Many of the VtmB players will do a bunch of playthroughs, but most other players likely won't put 10$ on the table to replay of a game they've already played.
They've already said that additional clans will be free DLC, not paid ones. And even without them you'll have 5 different clans to choose from which isn't bad. Most likely DLC clans will be Malkavian, Gangrel and potentially Assamites and The Ministry (former Followers of Set) down the road if they stick to the new timeline.
Even though I wouldn't mind if they added some other clans even as paid DLC later on (Giovanni, Kiasyd and Ravnos would all be great to play).
There's another video game based off the WoD IP in the works. Neat to see WoD having a bit of a small revival in the digital world.
A new Vampire: The Masquerade game is in the works, publisher Bigben revealed today. It accompanies the recent acquisition of the Werewolf adaptation, originally announced in 2017.
The new game doesn't have a name yet, but it will be a narrative RPG inspired by the rules of the tabletop version. The Council developer Big Bad Wolf is behind the adaptation, which seems like an excellent fit. The Council is an episodic narrative adventure full of occult plots, conspiracies, secret organisations and murder. It's Vampire: The Masquerade but without the fangs.
Big Bad Wolf has some big ambitions, too, and apparently aims to "define" the narrative RPG. Expect lots of long chats with dead people. It's keeping quiet about the rest, but more will be revealed at Gamescom in August.
Despite the complete dearth of information about the game, I can't help myself: I'm pretty excited. The studio definitely has the narrative chops, and it's wild that after so long, we now have two V:TM RPGs (read about the other one here), and their furry friend, to look forward to.
On May 14 2019 23:49 Archeon wrote: ^Is she doing different setups/makeup depending on which clan she's talking about?
Yes she is. I've linked her videos instead of the official Paradox ones because she goes into nice detail regarding the clan lore and history for each clan in a much easier to grasp manner than the lengthy and a bit disjointed official ones.
On May 15 2019 02:17 PhoenixVoid wrote: There's another video game based off the WoD IP in the works. Neat to see WoD having a bit of a small revival in the digital world.
A new Vampire: The Masquerade game is in the works, publisher Bigben revealed today. It accompanies the recent acquisition of the Werewolf adaptation, originally announced in 2017.
The new game doesn't have a name yet, but it will be a narrative RPG inspired by the rules of the tabletop version. The Council developer Big Bad Wolf is behind the adaptation, which seems like an excellent fit. The Council is an episodic narrative adventure full of occult plots, conspiracies, secret organisations and murder. It's Vampire: The Masquerade but without the fangs.
Big Bad Wolf has some big ambitions, too, and apparently aims to "define" the narrative RPG. Expect lots of long chats with dead people. It's keeping quiet about the rest, but more will be revealed at Gamescom in August.
Despite the complete dearth of information about the game, I can't help myself: I'm pretty excited. The studio definitely has the narrative chops, and it's wild that after so long, we now have two V:TM RPGs (read about the other one here), and their furry friend, to look forward to.
Good to have him back. I remember that he said in an interview that VtmB was his favorite score he ever made and that f.e. the hollywood track is as depressed as it is because he was "basically a character from the game" as in in a really rough spot. So it remains to be seen whether or not he can deliver a similar performance when he's (hopefully) in a very different chapter of his life.
That being said the VtmB soundtrack is great and it'd be unfair to expect the same level, especially when game music in general imo has taken one step forwards and two steps back. Rik Schaffer is definitely the right pick for the atmosphere and knows the old project well.
I liked the tender song, I think the new main theme lacks a bit of inspiration. It's mostly a remix of the original theme which already was a remix of angel by massive attack and imo the base synthesizer tunes in the foreground make it more predictable and less extreme. But I'd have to lie if I said that the VtmB main theme didn't grow on me and that nostalgia doesn't play a role here.
My biggest hope is that we get proper dialogue options again. Give me every word that I am going to say, nor some bite-sized general gist that could have an entirely different expectation to the player.
The humanity mechanic from the original was cool. You have people whose lives are desperate, they live in squallor and are beaten down by all the maniacs roaming around LA, and to help them is to set yourself up for hardship and abuse, but you do it anyway because of a meaningless humanity mechanic that speedrunners would laugh at.
Malk spoilers are usually more like the clues in Game of Thrones. If you already know what is going to happen you understand it but the first time you have basically zero chance of understanding it. Most players talked to the Malk thinblood in Bloodlines1 at the very first location and he basically spoils the entire game for you but I hardly think most people actually understood that and just thought he was crazy.
My very first playthrough was Malkavian because I was an idiot, but I also did Brujah, Tremere, and Nosferatu later. I really liked the Tremere the most (partly because them and the Malks were super OP), so I'll probably star there this time.
One thing I like about how, given they're parcing down the actives from the disciplines, Thaumaturgy is keeping most of its abilities from vtmb since at rank 5 double casting Blood Purge on a target is Blood Boil.
Maybe not the right thread to ask this, but on the other hand if the second one's approaching might as well finish my playthrough of the first as well... which save file is probably lost on a drive from when I switched pc somewhere. And the whole patching process to make it playable (and still kinda cumbersome) being what it is, is there a way to play the game bug-free without too much hassle now? As in, is the steam version stable? And is it true to the original release or incorporates changes and "improvements" that may or may not change the experience and made me want to go through the original release and its patching process anyway?
Get the unofficial patch, install that(super simple), and you should be good to go. It's what I've been doing. If you have crash issues, set the executable to run with win7 compatibility.
Launching through Steam will default to the vanilla version, but if you go to the game in your library, Right Click => Properties => In the "General" tab select "Set Launch Option" and put in
-game Unofficial_Patch
and you should be able to launch the patched version through Steam directly.
To check if the patch is currently active on the program, from the game's main menu select Options => Gameplay tab and you should see "Unofficial Patch 10.4" to the right of the options panel.
The unofficial patch largely just restores cut content, fixes issues, and whatnot. Everything I've encountered is pretty solid, except for an officer put back into the tutorial that didn't have any VO recordings, so the amateur standing VO they put in for it is a bit out of place quality wise.
Unless you're deadset on exploiting book selling, I can't think of a reason to want to play the game without it.
On June 03 2019 10:06 Gahlo wrote: Get the unofficial patch, install that(super simple), and you should be good to go. It's what I've been doing. If you have crash issues, set the executable to run with win7 compatibility.
Launching through Steam will default to the vanilla version, but if you go to the game in your library, Right Click => Properties => In the "General" tab select "Set Launch Option" and put in
and you should be able to launch the patched version through Steam directly.
To check if the patch is currently active on the program, from the game's main menu select Options => Gameplay tab and you should see "Unofficial Patch 10.4" to the right of the options panel.
The unofficial patch largely just restores cut content, fixes issues, and whatnot. Everything I've encountered is pretty solid, except for an officer put back into the tutorial that didn't have any VO recordings, so the amateur standing VO they put in for it is a bit out of place quality wise.
Unless you're deadset on exploiting book selling, I can't think of a reason to want to play the game without it.
Just remember to select the basic patch, not the "plus" version - this changes some things while the basic one just fixes bugs, restores content and adds some texture improvements (eyes for example) without changing the actual game.
If you want the game to look really nice you can search for high res texture mods and then use ENB/SFX.
Game: Any SweetFX version: 1.4 Author: CeeJay.dk Description:
These are the default settings for SweetFX 1.4 They smoothen jagged edges with SMAA anti-aliasing, sharpen the image with LumaSharpen and make the colors slightly more vibrant with Vibrance.
Please note when tweaking settings that higher numbers does not always equal better (nor does lower). Finding the best settings for your game and your taste is about finding just the right amount to apply.
If you made a good setttings preset please share it with your friends, on forums and websites, and/or submit it to the SweetFX Settings Database : [url=http://sfx.thelazy.net/games/]http://sfx.thelazy.net/games/[/url]
// Set to 1 for ON or 0 for OFF #define USE_SMAA_ANTIALIASING 1 //[0 or 1] SMAA Anti-aliasing : Smoothens jagged lines using the SMAA technique. #define USE_FXAA_ANTIALIASING 0 //[0 or 1] FXAA Anti-aliasing : Smoothens jagged lines using the FXAA technique #define USE_CARTOON 0 //[0 or 1] Cartoon : "Toon"s the image. #define USE_ADVANCED_CRT 0 //[0 or 1] Advanced CRT : Simulates an old CRT TV display. Set gaussian blur along with it to get a halation effect #define USE_BLOOM 1 //[0 or 1] Bloom : Makes bright lights bleed their light into their surroundings (relatively high performance cost) #define USE_HDR 1 //[0 or 1] HDR : Not actual HDR - It just tries to mimic an HDR look (relatively high performance cost) #define USE_LUMASHARPEN 1 //[0 or 1] LumaSharpen : Also sharpens the antialiased edges which makes them less smooth - I'm working on fixing that. #define USE_GAUSSIAN 0 //[0 or 1] Gaussian Blur : can be used to... blur, but also bloom/hazy/glowy look, also unsharp masking #define USE_FILMGRAIN 0 //[0 or 1] Filmgrain effect #define USE_TECHNICOLOR 0 //[0 or 1] TECHNICOLOR : Attempts to mimic the look of an old movie using the Technicolor three-strip color process (Techicolor Process 4) #define USE_DPX 0 //[0 or 1] Cineon DPX : Should make the image look like it's been converted to DXP Cineon - basically it's another movie-like look similar to technicolor. #define USE_MONOCHROME 0 //[0 or 1] Monochrome : Monochrome makes the colors disappear. #define USE_LIFTGAMMAGAIN 0 //[0 or 1] Lift Gamma Gain : Adjust brightness and color of shadows, midtones and highlights (avoids clipping) #define USE_TONEMAP 0 //[0 or 1] Tonemap : Adjust gamma, exposure, saturation, bleach and defog. (may cause clipping) #define USE_VIBRANCE 1 //[0 or 1] Vibrance : Intelligently saturates (or desaturates if you use negative values) the pixels depending on their original saturation. #define USE_CURVES 1 //[0 or 1] Curves : Contrast adjustments using S-curves. #define USE_SEPIA 1 //[0 or 1] Sepia : Sepia tones the image. #define USE_VIGNETTE 0 //[0 or 1] Vignette : Darkens the edges of the image to make it look more like it was shot with a camera lens. May cause banding artifacts. #define USE_DITHER 1 //[0 or 1] Dither : Applies dithering to simulate more colors than your monitor can display. This lessens banding artifacts (mostly caused by Vignette) #define USE_BORDER 0 //[0 or 1] Border : Makes the screenedge black as a workaround for the bright edge that forcing some AA modes sometimes causes. #define USE_SPLITSCREEN 0 //[0 or 1] Splitscreen : Enables the before-and-after splitscreen comparison mode.
#define SMAA_THRESHOLD 0.05 //[0.05 to 0.20] Edge detection threshold. If SMAA misses some edges try lowering this slightly. I prefer between 0.08 and 0.12. #define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS 98 //[0 to 98] Determines the radius SMAA will search for aliased edges #define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS_DIAG 16 //[0 to 16] Determines the radius SMAA will search for diagonal aliased edges #define SMAA_CORNER_ROUNDING 32 //[0 to 100] Determines the percent of antialiasing to apply to corners. 0 seems to affect fine text the least so it's the default.
// -- Advanced SMAA settings -- #define COLOR_EDGE_DETECTION 1 //[0 or 1] 1 Enables color edge detection (slower but slightly more acurate) - 0 uses luma edge detection (faster) #define SMAA_DIRECTX9_LINEAR_BLEND 0 //[0 or 1] Using DX9 HARDWARE? (software version doesn't matter) if so this needs to be 1 - If not, leave it at 0. //Enable this only if you use a Geforce 7xxx series or older card, or a Radeon X1xxx series or older card.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / FXAA Anti-aliasing settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define FXAA_QUALITY__PRESET 39 //[1 to 39] Choose the quality preset. 39 is the highest quality. #define fxaa_Subpix 0.400 //[0.000 to 1.000] Choose the amount of sub-pixel aliasing removal. #define fxaa_EdgeThreshold 0.250 //[0.000 to 1.000] Edge detection threshold. The minimum amount of local contrast required to apply algorithm. #define fxaa_EdgeThresholdMin 0.060 //[0.000 to 1.000] Darkness threshold. Trims the algorithm from processing darks.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Cartoon settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define CartoonPower 1.0 //[0.1 to 10.0] Amount of effect you want.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Advanced CRT settings / '----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define CRTAmount 1.00 //[0.00 to 1.00] Amount of CRT effect you want
#define CRTResolutionX 512 //[1 to 2048] Original input width of the game (ie. 320) #define CRTResolutionY 304 //[1 to 2048] Original input height of the game (ie. 240) #define CRTgamma 2.4 //[0.0 to 4.0] Gamma of simulated CRT (default 2.4) #define CRTmonitorgamma 2.2 //[0.0 to 4.0] Gamma of display monitor (typically 2.2 is correct) #define CRTBrightness 0.9 //[1.0 to 3.0] Used to boost brightness a little. Default is 1.0 #define CRTScanlineIntensity 2.0 //[2.0 to 4.0] Scanlines intensity (use integer values preferably). Default is 2.0 #define CRTScanlineGaussian 1 //[0 or 1] Use the "new nongaussian scanlines bloom effect". Default is on
#define CRTCurvature 1 //[[0 or 1] "Barrel effect" enabled (1) or off (0) #define CRTCurvatureRadius 1.5 //[0.0 to 2.0] Curvature Radius (only effective when Curvature is enabled). Default is 1.5 #define CRTCornerSize 0.0100 //[0.0000 to 0.0020] Higher values, more rounded corner. Default is 0.001 #define CRTDistance 2.00 //[0.00 to 4.00] Simulated distance from viewer to monitor. Default is 2.00 #define CRTAngleX 0.00 //[-0.20 to 0.20] Tilt angle in radians (X coordinates) #define CRTAngleY -0.15 //[-0.20 to 0.20] Tilt angle in radians (Y coordinates). (Value of -0.15 gives the 'arcade tilt' look) #define CRTOverScan 1.01 //[1.00 to 1.10] Overscan (e.g. 1.02 for 2% overscan). Default is 1.01 #define CRTOversample 0 //[0 or 1] Enable 3x oversampling of the beam profile (warning : performance hit)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Bloom settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define BloomThreshold 20.25 //[0.00 to 50.00] Threshold for what is a bright light (that causes bloom) and what isn't. #define BloomPower 1.446 //[0.000 to 8.000] Strength of the bloom #define BloomWidth 0.0142 //[0.0000 to 1.0000] Width of the bloom
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / HDR settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define HDRPower 1.5 //[0.00 to 8.00] Strangely lowering this makes the image brighter #define radius2 0.9 //[0.00 to 8.00] Raising this seems to make the effect stronger and also brighter
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / LumaSharpen settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ // -- Sharpening -- #define sharp_strength 1.15 //[0.10 to 3.00] Strength of the sharpening #define sharp_clamp 0.035 //[0.000 to 1.000] Limits maximum amount of sharpening a pixel recieves - Default is 0.035
// -- Advanced sharpening settings -- #define pattern 4 //[1|2|3|4] Choose a sample pattern. 1 = Fast, 2 = Normal, 3 = Wider, 4 = Pyramid shaped. #define offset_bias 1.0 //[0.0 to 6.0] Offset bias adjusts the radius of the sampling pattern. //I designed the pattern for offset_bias 1.0, but feel free to experiment.
// -- Debug sharpening settings -- #define show_sharpen 0 //[0 or 1] Visualize the strength of the sharpen (multiplied by 4 to see it better)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Gaussian Blur settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define GaussEffect 2 //[0|1|2|3] 0 = Blur, 1 = Unsharpmask (expensive), 2 = Bloom, 3 = Sketchy. Default is 2 #define GaussQuality 3 //[0|1|2|3] Warning: 2 and 3 are expensive. Default is 1 #define GaussSigma 1 //[1 to 4] The higher the wider blur/bloom is (only effective when Bloom selected) #define GaussBloomWarmth 1 //[0|1|2] "Temperature" of the bloom - 0 = neutral, 1 = warm, 2 = hazy/foggy #define GaussThreshold 0.50 //[0.00 to 1.00] [DX10/11 only] Threshold for what is a bright light (that causes bloom) and what isn't. #define GaussExposure 43.0 //[0.00 to 100.00] [DX10/11 only] Exposure of the effect (the lower the brighter) #define GaussStrength 0.10 //[0.00 to 1.00] Amount of effect blended into the final image
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Film grain settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define FilmGrainIntensity 0.46 //[0.00 to 1.00] Intensity of grain. Default is 0.46 #define FilmGrainExposure 40 //[0 to 100] Grain Exposure. Default is 40 (Lower -> darker noise) #define FilmGrainSize 2 //[0 to 10] Size of the grain. Default is 2 (Higher -> thinner noise)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / TECHNICOLOR settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define TechniAmount 0.4 //[0.00 to 1.00] #define TechniPower 4.0 //[0.00 to 8.00] #define redNegativeAmount 0.88 //[0.00 to 1.00] #define greenNegativeAmount 0.88 //[0.00 to 1.00] #define blueNegativeAmount 0.88 //[0.00 to 1.00]
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Cineon DPX settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Red 8.0 //[1.0 to 15.0] #define Green 8.0 //[1.0 to 15.0] #define Blue 8.0 //[1.0 to 15.0]
#define ColorGamma 2.5 //[0.1 to 2.5] Adjusts the colorfulness of the effect in a manner similar to Vibrance. 1.0 is neutral. #define DPXSaturation 3.0 //[0.0 to 8.0] Adjust saturation of the effect. 1.0 is neutral.
#define RedC 0.36 //[0.60 to 0.20] #define GreenC 0.36 //[0.60 to 0.20] #define BlueC 0.34 //[0.60 to 0.20]
#define Blend 0.2 //[0.00 to 1.00] How strong the effect should be.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Monochrome settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Monochrome_conversion_values float3(0.18,0.41,0.41) //[0.00 to 1.00] Percentage of RGB to include (should sum up to 1.00)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Lift Gamma Gain settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define RGB_Lift float3(1.000, 1.000, 1.000) //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust shadows for Red, Green and Blue #define RGB_Gamma float3(1.000, 1.000, 1.000) //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust midtones for Red, Green and Blue #define RGB_Gain float3(1.000, 1.000, 1.000) //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust highlights for Red, Green and Blue
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Tonemap settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Gamma 1.0 //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust midtones #define Exposure 0.00 //[-1.000 to 1.000] Adjust exposure #define Saturation 0.00 //[-1.000 to 1.000] Adjust saturation #define Bleach 0.00 //[0.000 to 1.000] Brightens the shadows and fades the colors #define Defog 0.000 //[0.000 to 1.000] How much of the color tint to remove #define FogColor float3(0.00, 0.00, 2.55) //[0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55] What color to remove - default is blue
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Vibrance settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Vibrance 0.4 //0.15 //[-1.00 to 1.00] Intelligently saturates (or desaturates if you use negative values) the pixels depending on their original saturation.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Curves settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Curves_mode 0 //[0|1|2] Choose what to apply contrast to. 0 = Luma, 1 = Chroma, 2 = both Luma and Chroma. Default is 0 (Luma) #define Curves_contrast 0.30 //0.28 //[-1.00 to 1.00] The amount of contrast you want
// -- Advanced curve settings -- #define Curves_formula 3 //[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9] The contrast s-curve you want to use. //1 = Sine, 2 = Abs split, 3 = Smoothstep, 4 = Exp formula, 5 = Simplified Catmull-Rom (0,0,1,1), 6 = Perlins Smootherstep //7 = Abs add, 8 = Techicolor Cinestyle, 9 = Parabola. //Note that Technicolor Cinestyle is practically identical to Sine, but runs slower. In fact I think the difference might only be due to rounding errors. //I prefer 2 myself, but 3 is a nice alternative with a little more effect (but harsher on the highlight and shadows) and it's the fastest formula.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Sepia settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define ColorTone float3(1.10, 1.00, 1.00) //[0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55] What color to tint the image #define GreyPower 0.01 //[0.00 to 1.00] How much desaturate the image before tinting it #define SepiaPower 0.75 //[0.00 to 1.00] How much to tint the image
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Vignette settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define VignetteRatio 1.00 //[0.15 to 6.00] Sets a width to height ratio. 1.00 (1/1) is perfectly round, while 1.60 (16/10) is 60 % wider than it's high. #define VignetteRadius 1.00 //[-1.00 to 3.00] lower values = stronger radial effect from center #define VignetteAmount -1.00 //[-2.00 to 1.00] Strength of black. -2.00 = Max Black, 1.00 = Max White. #define VignetteSlope 8 //[1 to 16] How far away from the center the change should start to really grow strong (odd numbers cause a larger fps drop than even numbers) #define VignetteCenter float2(0.500, 0.500) //[0.000 to 1.000, 0.000 to 1.000] Center of effect.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Dither settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define dither_method 1 //[1 or 2] 1 = Ordering dithering (good and very fast), 2 = Random dithering (even better dithering but not as fast)
//Note that the patterns used by Dither, makes an image harder to compress. //This can make your screenshots and video recordings take up more space.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Border settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ //No settings yet, beyond switching it on or off in the top section.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Key settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ // This is the section where you can define your own key mapping // See the following URL to find out what keycode a key has: // [url=http://www.cambiaresearch.com/articles/15/javascript-char-codes-key-codes]http://www.cambiaresearch.com/articles/15/javascript-char-codes-key-codes[/url]
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Misc settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ // You can load and chain other DirectX wrappers (ENB, Helix, Windower...) // If the external wrapper is already named d3d9.dll, rename it into // something else like "d3d9_enb.dll" (note that even if this is commented it actually works)
Why wouldn't you play the "+" Patch tho? As far as i understood it, it makes stuff plain better. It was too long ago that i played it whiteout this patch, so i didn't even notice what was new.
On June 03 2019 10:06 Gahlo wrote: Get the unofficial patch, install that(super simple), and you should be good to go. It's what I've been doing. If you have crash issues, set the executable to run with win7 compatibility.
Launching through Steam will default to the vanilla version, but if you go to the game in your library, Right Click => Properties => In the "General" tab select "Set Launch Option" and put in
-game Unofficial_Patch
and you should be able to launch the patched version through Steam directly.
To check if the patch is currently active on the program, from the game's main menu select Options => Gameplay tab and you should see "Unofficial Patch 10.4" to the right of the options panel.
The unofficial patch largely just restores cut content, fixes issues, and whatnot. Everything I've encountered is pretty solid, except for an officer put back into the tutorial that didn't have any VO recordings, so the amateur standing VO they put in for it is a bit out of place quality wise.
Unless you're deadset on exploiting book selling, I can't think of a reason to want to play the game without it.
Just remember to select the basic patch, not the "plus" version - this changes some things while the basic one just fixes bugs, restores content and adds some texture improvements (eyes for example) without changing the actual game.
If you want the game to look really nice you can search for high res texture mods and then use ENB/SFX.
Game: Any SweetFX version: 1.4 Author: CeeJay.dk Description:
These are the default settings for SweetFX 1.4 They smoothen jagged edges with SMAA anti-aliasing, sharpen the image with LumaSharpen and make the colors slightly more vibrant with Vibrance.
Please note when tweaking settings that higher numbers does not always equal better (nor does lower). Finding the best settings for your game and your taste is about finding just the right amount to apply.
If you made a good setttings preset please share it with your friends, on forums and websites, and/or submit it to the SweetFX Settings Database : [url=http://sfx.thelazy.net/games/]http://sfx.thelazy.net/games/[/url]
// Set to 1 for ON or 0 for OFF #define USE_SMAA_ANTIALIASING 1 //[0 or 1] SMAA Anti-aliasing : Smoothens jagged lines using the SMAA technique. #define USE_FXAA_ANTIALIASING 0 //[0 or 1] FXAA Anti-aliasing : Smoothens jagged lines using the FXAA technique #define USE_CARTOON 0 //[0 or 1] Cartoon : "Toon"s the image. #define USE_ADVANCED_CRT 0 //[0 or 1] Advanced CRT : Simulates an old CRT TV display. Set gaussian blur along with it to get a halation effect #define USE_BLOOM 1 //[0 or 1] Bloom : Makes bright lights bleed their light into their surroundings (relatively high performance cost) #define USE_HDR 1 //[0 or 1] HDR : Not actual HDR - It just tries to mimic an HDR look (relatively high performance cost) #define USE_LUMASHARPEN 1 //[0 or 1] LumaSharpen : Also sharpens the antialiased edges which makes them less smooth - I'm working on fixing that. #define USE_GAUSSIAN 0 //[0 or 1] Gaussian Blur : can be used to... blur, but also bloom/hazy/glowy look, also unsharp masking #define USE_FILMGRAIN 0 //[0 or 1] Filmgrain effect #define USE_TECHNICOLOR 0 //[0 or 1] TECHNICOLOR : Attempts to mimic the look of an old movie using the Technicolor three-strip color process (Techicolor Process 4) #define USE_DPX 0 //[0 or 1] Cineon DPX : Should make the image look like it's been converted to DXP Cineon - basically it's another movie-like look similar to technicolor. #define USE_MONOCHROME 0 //[0 or 1] Monochrome : Monochrome makes the colors disappear. #define USE_LIFTGAMMAGAIN 0 //[0 or 1] Lift Gamma Gain : Adjust brightness and color of shadows, midtones and highlights (avoids clipping) #define USE_TONEMAP 0 //[0 or 1] Tonemap : Adjust gamma, exposure, saturation, bleach and defog. (may cause clipping) #define USE_VIBRANCE 1 //[0 or 1] Vibrance : Intelligently saturates (or desaturates if you use negative values) the pixels depending on their original saturation. #define USE_CURVES 1 //[0 or 1] Curves : Contrast adjustments using S-curves. #define USE_SEPIA 1 //[0 or 1] Sepia : Sepia tones the image. #define USE_VIGNETTE 0 //[0 or 1] Vignette : Darkens the edges of the image to make it look more like it was shot with a camera lens. May cause banding artifacts. #define USE_DITHER 1 //[0 or 1] Dither : Applies dithering to simulate more colors than your monitor can display. This lessens banding artifacts (mostly caused by Vignette) #define USE_BORDER 0 //[0 or 1] Border : Makes the screenedge black as a workaround for the bright edge that forcing some AA modes sometimes causes. #define USE_SPLITSCREEN 0 //[0 or 1] Splitscreen : Enables the before-and-after splitscreen comparison mode.
#define SMAA_THRESHOLD 0.05 //[0.05 to 0.20] Edge detection threshold. If SMAA misses some edges try lowering this slightly. I prefer between 0.08 and 0.12. #define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS 98 //[0 to 98] Determines the radius SMAA will search for aliased edges #define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS_DIAG 16 //[0 to 16] Determines the radius SMAA will search for diagonal aliased edges #define SMAA_CORNER_ROUNDING 32 //[0 to 100] Determines the percent of antialiasing to apply to corners. 0 seems to affect fine text the least so it's the default.
// -- Advanced SMAA settings -- #define COLOR_EDGE_DETECTION 1 //[0 or 1] 1 Enables color edge detection (slower but slightly more acurate) - 0 uses luma edge detection (faster) #define SMAA_DIRECTX9_LINEAR_BLEND 0 //[0 or 1] Using DX9 HARDWARE? (software version doesn't matter) if so this needs to be 1 - If not, leave it at 0. //Enable this only if you use a Geforce 7xxx series or older card, or a Radeon X1xxx series or older card.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / FXAA Anti-aliasing settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define FXAA_QUALITY__PRESET 39 //[1 to 39] Choose the quality preset. 39 is the highest quality. #define fxaa_Subpix 0.400 //[0.000 to 1.000] Choose the amount of sub-pixel aliasing removal. #define fxaa_EdgeThreshold 0.250 //[0.000 to 1.000] Edge detection threshold. The minimum amount of local contrast required to apply algorithm. #define fxaa_EdgeThresholdMin 0.060 //[0.000 to 1.000] Darkness threshold. Trims the algorithm from processing darks.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Cartoon settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define CartoonPower 1.0 //[0.1 to 10.0] Amount of effect you want.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Advanced CRT settings / '----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define CRTAmount 1.00 //[0.00 to 1.00] Amount of CRT effect you want
#define CRTResolutionX 512 //[1 to 2048] Original input width of the game (ie. 320) #define CRTResolutionY 304 //[1 to 2048] Original input height of the game (ie. 240) #define CRTgamma 2.4 //[0.0 to 4.0] Gamma of simulated CRT (default 2.4) #define CRTmonitorgamma 2.2 //[0.0 to 4.0] Gamma of display monitor (typically 2.2 is correct) #define CRTBrightness 0.9 //[1.0 to 3.0] Used to boost brightness a little. Default is 1.0 #define CRTScanlineIntensity 2.0 //[2.0 to 4.0] Scanlines intensity (use integer values preferably). Default is 2.0 #define CRTScanlineGaussian 1 //[0 or 1] Use the "new nongaussian scanlines bloom effect". Default is on
#define CRTCurvature 1 //[[0 or 1] "Barrel effect" enabled (1) or off (0) #define CRTCurvatureRadius 1.5 //[0.0 to 2.0] Curvature Radius (only effective when Curvature is enabled). Default is 1.5 #define CRTCornerSize 0.0100 //[0.0000 to 0.0020] Higher values, more rounded corner. Default is 0.001 #define CRTDistance 2.00 //[0.00 to 4.00] Simulated distance from viewer to monitor. Default is 2.00 #define CRTAngleX 0.00 //[-0.20 to 0.20] Tilt angle in radians (X coordinates) #define CRTAngleY -0.15 //[-0.20 to 0.20] Tilt angle in radians (Y coordinates). (Value of -0.15 gives the 'arcade tilt' look) #define CRTOverScan 1.01 //[1.00 to 1.10] Overscan (e.g. 1.02 for 2% overscan). Default is 1.01 #define CRTOversample 0 //[0 or 1] Enable 3x oversampling of the beam profile (warning : performance hit)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Bloom settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define BloomThreshold 20.25 //[0.00 to 50.00] Threshold for what is a bright light (that causes bloom) and what isn't. #define BloomPower 1.446 //[0.000 to 8.000] Strength of the bloom #define BloomWidth 0.0142 //[0.0000 to 1.0000] Width of the bloom
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / HDR settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define HDRPower 1.5 //[0.00 to 8.00] Strangely lowering this makes the image brighter #define radius2 0.9 //[0.00 to 8.00] Raising this seems to make the effect stronger and also brighter
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / LumaSharpen settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ // -- Sharpening -- #define sharp_strength 1.15 //[0.10 to 3.00] Strength of the sharpening #define sharp_clamp 0.035 //[0.000 to 1.000] Limits maximum amount of sharpening a pixel recieves - Default is 0.035
// -- Advanced sharpening settings -- #define pattern 4 //[1|2|3|4] Choose a sample pattern. 1 = Fast, 2 = Normal, 3 = Wider, 4 = Pyramid shaped. #define offset_bias 1.0 //[0.0 to 6.0] Offset bias adjusts the radius of the sampling pattern. //I designed the pattern for offset_bias 1.0, but feel free to experiment.
// -- Debug sharpening settings -- #define show_sharpen 0 //[0 or 1] Visualize the strength of the sharpen (multiplied by 4 to see it better)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Gaussian Blur settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define GaussEffect 2 //[0|1|2|3] 0 = Blur, 1 = Unsharpmask (expensive), 2 = Bloom, 3 = Sketchy. Default is 2 #define GaussQuality 3 //[0|1|2|3] Warning: 2 and 3 are expensive. Default is 1 #define GaussSigma 1 //[1 to 4] The higher the wider blur/bloom is (only effective when Bloom selected) #define GaussBloomWarmth 1 //[0|1|2] "Temperature" of the bloom - 0 = neutral, 1 = warm, 2 = hazy/foggy #define GaussThreshold 0.50 //[0.00 to 1.00] [DX10/11 only] Threshold for what is a bright light (that causes bloom) and what isn't. #define GaussExposure 43.0 //[0.00 to 100.00] [DX10/11 only] Exposure of the effect (the lower the brighter) #define GaussStrength 0.10 //[0.00 to 1.00] Amount of effect blended into the final image
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Film grain settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define FilmGrainIntensity 0.46 //[0.00 to 1.00] Intensity of grain. Default is 0.46 #define FilmGrainExposure 40 //[0 to 100] Grain Exposure. Default is 40 (Lower -> darker noise) #define FilmGrainSize 2 //[0 to 10] Size of the grain. Default is 2 (Higher -> thinner noise)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / TECHNICOLOR settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define TechniAmount 0.4 //[0.00 to 1.00] #define TechniPower 4.0 //[0.00 to 8.00] #define redNegativeAmount 0.88 //[0.00 to 1.00] #define greenNegativeAmount 0.88 //[0.00 to 1.00] #define blueNegativeAmount 0.88 //[0.00 to 1.00]
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Cineon DPX settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Red 8.0 //[1.0 to 15.0] #define Green 8.0 //[1.0 to 15.0] #define Blue 8.0 //[1.0 to 15.0]
#define ColorGamma 2.5 //[0.1 to 2.5] Adjusts the colorfulness of the effect in a manner similar to Vibrance. 1.0 is neutral. #define DPXSaturation 3.0 //[0.0 to 8.0] Adjust saturation of the effect. 1.0 is neutral.
#define RedC 0.36 //[0.60 to 0.20] #define GreenC 0.36 //[0.60 to 0.20] #define BlueC 0.34 //[0.60 to 0.20]
#define Blend 0.2 //[0.00 to 1.00] How strong the effect should be.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Monochrome settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Monochrome_conversion_values float3(0.18,0.41,0.41) //[0.00 to 1.00] Percentage of RGB to include (should sum up to 1.00)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Lift Gamma Gain settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define RGB_Lift float3(1.000, 1.000, 1.000) //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust shadows for Red, Green and Blue #define RGB_Gamma float3(1.000, 1.000, 1.000) //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust midtones for Red, Green and Blue #define RGB_Gain float3(1.000, 1.000, 1.000) //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust highlights for Red, Green and Blue
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Tonemap settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Gamma 1.0 //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust midtones #define Exposure 0.00 //[-1.000 to 1.000] Adjust exposure #define Saturation 0.00 //[-1.000 to 1.000] Adjust saturation #define Bleach 0.00 //[0.000 to 1.000] Brightens the shadows and fades the colors #define Defog 0.000 //[0.000 to 1.000] How much of the color tint to remove #define FogColor float3(0.00, 0.00, 2.55) //[0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55] What color to remove - default is blue
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Vibrance settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Vibrance 0.4 //0.15 //[-1.00 to 1.00] Intelligently saturates (or desaturates if you use negative values) the pixels depending on their original saturation.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Curves settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Curves_mode 0 //[0|1|2] Choose what to apply contrast to. 0 = Luma, 1 = Chroma, 2 = both Luma and Chroma. Default is 0 (Luma) #define Curves_contrast 0.30 //0.28 //[-1.00 to 1.00] The amount of contrast you want
// -- Advanced curve settings -- #define Curves_formula 3 //[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9] The contrast s-curve you want to use. //1 = Sine, 2 = Abs split, 3 = Smoothstep, 4 = Exp formula, 5 = Simplified Catmull-Rom (0,0,1,1), 6 = Perlins Smootherstep //7 = Abs add, 8 = Techicolor Cinestyle, 9 = Parabola. //Note that Technicolor Cinestyle is practically identical to Sine, but runs slower. In fact I think the difference might only be due to rounding errors. //I prefer 2 myself, but 3 is a nice alternative with a little more effect (but harsher on the highlight and shadows) and it's the fastest formula.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Sepia settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define ColorTone float3(1.10, 1.00, 1.00) //[0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55] What color to tint the image #define GreyPower 0.01 //[0.00 to 1.00] How much desaturate the image before tinting it #define SepiaPower 0.75 //[0.00 to 1.00] How much to tint the image
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Vignette settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define VignetteRatio 1.00 //[0.15 to 6.00] Sets a width to height ratio. 1.00 (1/1) is perfectly round, while 1.60 (16/10) is 60 % wider than it's high. #define VignetteRadius 1.00 //[-1.00 to 3.00] lower values = stronger radial effect from center #define VignetteAmount -1.00 //[-2.00 to 1.00] Strength of black. -2.00 = Max Black, 1.00 = Max White. #define VignetteSlope 8 //[1 to 16] How far away from the center the change should start to really grow strong (odd numbers cause a larger fps drop than even numbers) #define VignetteCenter float2(0.500, 0.500) //[0.000 to 1.000, 0.000 to 1.000] Center of effect.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Dither settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define dither_method 1 //[1 or 2] 1 = Ordering dithering (good and very fast), 2 = Random dithering (even better dithering but not as fast)
//Note that the patterns used by Dither, makes an image harder to compress. //This can make your screenshots and video recordings take up more space.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Border settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ //No settings yet, beyond switching it on or off in the top section.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Key settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ // This is the section where you can define your own key mapping // See the following URL to find out what keycode a key has: // [url=http://www.cambiaresearch.com/articles/15/javascript-char-codes-key-codes]http://www.cambiaresearch.com/articles/15/javascript-char-codes-key-codes[/url]
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Misc settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ // You can load and chain other DirectX wrappers (ENB, Helix, Windower...) // If the external wrapper is already named d3d9.dll, rename it into // something else like "d3d9_enb.dll" (note that even if this is commented it actually works)
On June 03 2019 10:06 Gahlo wrote: Get the unofficial patch, install that(super simple), and you should be good to go. It's what I've been doing. If you have crash issues, set the executable to run with win7 compatibility.
Launching through Steam will default to the vanilla version, but if you go to the game in your library, Right Click => Properties => In the "General" tab select "Set Launch Option" and put in
-game Unofficial_Patch
and you should be able to launch the patched version through Steam directly.
To check if the patch is currently active on the program, from the game's main menu select Options => Gameplay tab and you should see "Unofficial Patch 10.4" to the right of the options panel.
The unofficial patch largely just restores cut content, fixes issues, and whatnot. Everything I've encountered is pretty solid, except for an officer put back into the tutorial that didn't have any VO recordings, so the amateur standing VO they put in for it is a bit out of place quality wise.
Unless you're deadset on exploiting book selling, I can't think of a reason to want to play the game without it.
Just remember to select the basic patch, not the "plus" version - this changes some things while the basic one just fixes bugs, restores content and adds some texture improvements (eyes for example) without changing the actual game.
If you want the game to look really nice you can search for high res texture mods and then use ENB/SFX.
Game: Any SweetFX version: 1.4 Author: CeeJay.dk Description:
These are the default settings for SweetFX 1.4 They smoothen jagged edges with SMAA anti-aliasing, sharpen the image with LumaSharpen and make the colors slightly more vibrant with Vibrance.
Please note when tweaking settings that higher numbers does not always equal better (nor does lower). Finding the best settings for your game and your taste is about finding just the right amount to apply.
If you made a good setttings preset please share it with your friends, on forums and websites, and/or submit it to the SweetFX Settings Database : [url=http://sfx.thelazy.net/games/]http://sfx.thelazy.net/games/[/url]
// Set to 1 for ON or 0 for OFF #define USE_SMAA_ANTIALIASING 1 //[0 or 1] SMAA Anti-aliasing : Smoothens jagged lines using the SMAA technique. #define USE_FXAA_ANTIALIASING 0 //[0 or 1] FXAA Anti-aliasing : Smoothens jagged lines using the FXAA technique #define USE_CARTOON 0 //[0 or 1] Cartoon : "Toon"s the image. #define USE_ADVANCED_CRT 0 //[0 or 1] Advanced CRT : Simulates an old CRT TV display. Set gaussian blur along with it to get a halation effect #define USE_BLOOM 1 //[0 or 1] Bloom : Makes bright lights bleed their light into their surroundings (relatively high performance cost) #define USE_HDR 1 //[0 or 1] HDR : Not actual HDR - It just tries to mimic an HDR look (relatively high performance cost) #define USE_LUMASHARPEN 1 //[0 or 1] LumaSharpen : Also sharpens the antialiased edges which makes them less smooth - I'm working on fixing that. #define USE_GAUSSIAN 0 //[0 or 1] Gaussian Blur : can be used to... blur, but also bloom/hazy/glowy look, also unsharp masking #define USE_FILMGRAIN 0 //[0 or 1] Filmgrain effect #define USE_TECHNICOLOR 0 //[0 or 1] TECHNICOLOR : Attempts to mimic the look of an old movie using the Technicolor three-strip color process (Techicolor Process 4) #define USE_DPX 0 //[0 or 1] Cineon DPX : Should make the image look like it's been converted to DXP Cineon - basically it's another movie-like look similar to technicolor. #define USE_MONOCHROME 0 //[0 or 1] Monochrome : Monochrome makes the colors disappear. #define USE_LIFTGAMMAGAIN 0 //[0 or 1] Lift Gamma Gain : Adjust brightness and color of shadows, midtones and highlights (avoids clipping) #define USE_TONEMAP 0 //[0 or 1] Tonemap : Adjust gamma, exposure, saturation, bleach and defog. (may cause clipping) #define USE_VIBRANCE 1 //[0 or 1] Vibrance : Intelligently saturates (or desaturates if you use negative values) the pixels depending on their original saturation. #define USE_CURVES 1 //[0 or 1] Curves : Contrast adjustments using S-curves. #define USE_SEPIA 1 //[0 or 1] Sepia : Sepia tones the image. #define USE_VIGNETTE 0 //[0 or 1] Vignette : Darkens the edges of the image to make it look more like it was shot with a camera lens. May cause banding artifacts. #define USE_DITHER 1 //[0 or 1] Dither : Applies dithering to simulate more colors than your monitor can display. This lessens banding artifacts (mostly caused by Vignette) #define USE_BORDER 0 //[0 or 1] Border : Makes the screenedge black as a workaround for the bright edge that forcing some AA modes sometimes causes. #define USE_SPLITSCREEN 0 //[0 or 1] Splitscreen : Enables the before-and-after splitscreen comparison mode.
#define SMAA_THRESHOLD 0.05 //[0.05 to 0.20] Edge detection threshold. If SMAA misses some edges try lowering this slightly. I prefer between 0.08 and 0.12. #define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS 98 //[0 to 98] Determines the radius SMAA will search for aliased edges #define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS_DIAG 16 //[0 to 16] Determines the radius SMAA will search for diagonal aliased edges #define SMAA_CORNER_ROUNDING 32 //[0 to 100] Determines the percent of antialiasing to apply to corners. 0 seems to affect fine text the least so it's the default.
// -- Advanced SMAA settings -- #define COLOR_EDGE_DETECTION 1 //[0 or 1] 1 Enables color edge detection (slower but slightly more acurate) - 0 uses luma edge detection (faster) #define SMAA_DIRECTX9_LINEAR_BLEND 0 //[0 or 1] Using DX9 HARDWARE? (software version doesn't matter) if so this needs to be 1 - If not, leave it at 0. //Enable this only if you use a Geforce 7xxx series or older card, or a Radeon X1xxx series or older card.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / FXAA Anti-aliasing settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define FXAA_QUALITY__PRESET 39 //[1 to 39] Choose the quality preset. 39 is the highest quality. #define fxaa_Subpix 0.400 //[0.000 to 1.000] Choose the amount of sub-pixel aliasing removal. #define fxaa_EdgeThreshold 0.250 //[0.000 to 1.000] Edge detection threshold. The minimum amount of local contrast required to apply algorithm. #define fxaa_EdgeThresholdMin 0.060 //[0.000 to 1.000] Darkness threshold. Trims the algorithm from processing darks.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Cartoon settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define CartoonPower 1.0 //[0.1 to 10.0] Amount of effect you want.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Advanced CRT settings / '----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define CRTAmount 1.00 //[0.00 to 1.00] Amount of CRT effect you want
#define CRTResolutionX 512 //[1 to 2048] Original input width of the game (ie. 320) #define CRTResolutionY 304 //[1 to 2048] Original input height of the game (ie. 240) #define CRTgamma 2.4 //[0.0 to 4.0] Gamma of simulated CRT (default 2.4) #define CRTmonitorgamma 2.2 //[0.0 to 4.0] Gamma of display monitor (typically 2.2 is correct) #define CRTBrightness 0.9 //[1.0 to 3.0] Used to boost brightness a little. Default is 1.0 #define CRTScanlineIntensity 2.0 //[2.0 to 4.0] Scanlines intensity (use integer values preferably). Default is 2.0 #define CRTScanlineGaussian 1 //[0 or 1] Use the "new nongaussian scanlines bloom effect". Default is on
#define CRTCurvature 1 //[[0 or 1] "Barrel effect" enabled (1) or off (0) #define CRTCurvatureRadius 1.5 //[0.0 to 2.0] Curvature Radius (only effective when Curvature is enabled). Default is 1.5 #define CRTCornerSize 0.0100 //[0.0000 to 0.0020] Higher values, more rounded corner. Default is 0.001 #define CRTDistance 2.00 //[0.00 to 4.00] Simulated distance from viewer to monitor. Default is 2.00 #define CRTAngleX 0.00 //[-0.20 to 0.20] Tilt angle in radians (X coordinates) #define CRTAngleY -0.15 //[-0.20 to 0.20] Tilt angle in radians (Y coordinates). (Value of -0.15 gives the 'arcade tilt' look) #define CRTOverScan 1.01 //[1.00 to 1.10] Overscan (e.g. 1.02 for 2% overscan). Default is 1.01 #define CRTOversample 0 //[0 or 1] Enable 3x oversampling of the beam profile (warning : performance hit)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Bloom settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define BloomThreshold 20.25 //[0.00 to 50.00] Threshold for what is a bright light (that causes bloom) and what isn't. #define BloomPower 1.446 //[0.000 to 8.000] Strength of the bloom #define BloomWidth 0.0142 //[0.0000 to 1.0000] Width of the bloom
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / HDR settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define HDRPower 1.5 //[0.00 to 8.00] Strangely lowering this makes the image brighter #define radius2 0.9 //[0.00 to 8.00] Raising this seems to make the effect stronger and also brighter
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / LumaSharpen settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ // -- Sharpening -- #define sharp_strength 1.15 //[0.10 to 3.00] Strength of the sharpening #define sharp_clamp 0.035 //[0.000 to 1.000] Limits maximum amount of sharpening a pixel recieves - Default is 0.035
// -- Advanced sharpening settings -- #define pattern 4 //[1|2|3|4] Choose a sample pattern. 1 = Fast, 2 = Normal, 3 = Wider, 4 = Pyramid shaped. #define offset_bias 1.0 //[0.0 to 6.0] Offset bias adjusts the radius of the sampling pattern. //I designed the pattern for offset_bias 1.0, but feel free to experiment.
// -- Debug sharpening settings -- #define show_sharpen 0 //[0 or 1] Visualize the strength of the sharpen (multiplied by 4 to see it better)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Gaussian Blur settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define GaussEffect 2 //[0|1|2|3] 0 = Blur, 1 = Unsharpmask (expensive), 2 = Bloom, 3 = Sketchy. Default is 2 #define GaussQuality 3 //[0|1|2|3] Warning: 2 and 3 are expensive. Default is 1 #define GaussSigma 1 //[1 to 4] The higher the wider blur/bloom is (only effective when Bloom selected) #define GaussBloomWarmth 1 //[0|1|2] "Temperature" of the bloom - 0 = neutral, 1 = warm, 2 = hazy/foggy #define GaussThreshold 0.50 //[0.00 to 1.00] [DX10/11 only] Threshold for what is a bright light (that causes bloom) and what isn't. #define GaussExposure 43.0 //[0.00 to 100.00] [DX10/11 only] Exposure of the effect (the lower the brighter) #define GaussStrength 0.10 //[0.00 to 1.00] Amount of effect blended into the final image
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Film grain settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define FilmGrainIntensity 0.46 //[0.00 to 1.00] Intensity of grain. Default is 0.46 #define FilmGrainExposure 40 //[0 to 100] Grain Exposure. Default is 40 (Lower -> darker noise) #define FilmGrainSize 2 //[0 to 10] Size of the grain. Default is 2 (Higher -> thinner noise)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / TECHNICOLOR settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define TechniAmount 0.4 //[0.00 to 1.00] #define TechniPower 4.0 //[0.00 to 8.00] #define redNegativeAmount 0.88 //[0.00 to 1.00] #define greenNegativeAmount 0.88 //[0.00 to 1.00] #define blueNegativeAmount 0.88 //[0.00 to 1.00]
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Cineon DPX settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Red 8.0 //[1.0 to 15.0] #define Green 8.0 //[1.0 to 15.0] #define Blue 8.0 //[1.0 to 15.0]
#define ColorGamma 2.5 //[0.1 to 2.5] Adjusts the colorfulness of the effect in a manner similar to Vibrance. 1.0 is neutral. #define DPXSaturation 3.0 //[0.0 to 8.0] Adjust saturation of the effect. 1.0 is neutral.
#define RedC 0.36 //[0.60 to 0.20] #define GreenC 0.36 //[0.60 to 0.20] #define BlueC 0.34 //[0.60 to 0.20]
#define Blend 0.2 //[0.00 to 1.00] How strong the effect should be.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Monochrome settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Monochrome_conversion_values float3(0.18,0.41,0.41) //[0.00 to 1.00] Percentage of RGB to include (should sum up to 1.00)
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Lift Gamma Gain settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define RGB_Lift float3(1.000, 1.000, 1.000) //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust shadows for Red, Green and Blue #define RGB_Gamma float3(1.000, 1.000, 1.000) //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust midtones for Red, Green and Blue #define RGB_Gain float3(1.000, 1.000, 1.000) //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust highlights for Red, Green and Blue
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Tonemap settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Gamma 1.0 //[0.000 to 2.000] Adjust midtones #define Exposure 0.00 //[-1.000 to 1.000] Adjust exposure #define Saturation 0.00 //[-1.000 to 1.000] Adjust saturation #define Bleach 0.00 //[0.000 to 1.000] Brightens the shadows and fades the colors #define Defog 0.000 //[0.000 to 1.000] How much of the color tint to remove #define FogColor float3(0.00, 0.00, 2.55) //[0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55] What color to remove - default is blue
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Vibrance settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Vibrance 0.4 //0.15 //[-1.00 to 1.00] Intelligently saturates (or desaturates if you use negative values) the pixels depending on their original saturation.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Curves settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define Curves_mode 0 //[0|1|2] Choose what to apply contrast to. 0 = Luma, 1 = Chroma, 2 = both Luma and Chroma. Default is 0 (Luma) #define Curves_contrast 0.30 //0.28 //[-1.00 to 1.00] The amount of contrast you want
// -- Advanced curve settings -- #define Curves_formula 3 //[1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9] The contrast s-curve you want to use. //1 = Sine, 2 = Abs split, 3 = Smoothstep, 4 = Exp formula, 5 = Simplified Catmull-Rom (0,0,1,1), 6 = Perlins Smootherstep //7 = Abs add, 8 = Techicolor Cinestyle, 9 = Parabola. //Note that Technicolor Cinestyle is practically identical to Sine, but runs slower. In fact I think the difference might only be due to rounding errors. //I prefer 2 myself, but 3 is a nice alternative with a little more effect (but harsher on the highlight and shadows) and it's the fastest formula.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Sepia settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define ColorTone float3(1.10, 1.00, 1.00) //[0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55, 0.00 to 2.55] What color to tint the image #define GreyPower 0.01 //[0.00 to 1.00] How much desaturate the image before tinting it #define SepiaPower 0.75 //[0.00 to 1.00] How much to tint the image
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Vignette settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define VignetteRatio 1.00 //[0.15 to 6.00] Sets a width to height ratio. 1.00 (1/1) is perfectly round, while 1.60 (16/10) is 60 % wider than it's high. #define VignetteRadius 1.00 //[-1.00 to 3.00] lower values = stronger radial effect from center #define VignetteAmount -1.00 //[-2.00 to 1.00] Strength of black. -2.00 = Max Black, 1.00 = Max White. #define VignetteSlope 8 //[1 to 16] How far away from the center the change should start to really grow strong (odd numbers cause a larger fps drop than even numbers) #define VignetteCenter float2(0.500, 0.500) //[0.000 to 1.000, 0.000 to 1.000] Center of effect.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Dither settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ #define dither_method 1 //[1 or 2] 1 = Ordering dithering (good and very fast), 2 = Random dithering (even better dithering but not as fast)
//Note that the patterns used by Dither, makes an image harder to compress. //This can make your screenshots and video recordings take up more space.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Border settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ //No settings yet, beyond switching it on or off in the top section.
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Key settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ // This is the section where you can define your own key mapping // See the following URL to find out what keycode a key has: // [url=http://www.cambiaresearch.com/articles/15/javascript-char-codes-key-codes]http://www.cambiaresearch.com/articles/15/javascript-char-codes-key-codes[/url]
/*-----------------------------------------------------------. / Misc settings / '-----------------------------------------------------------*/ // You can load and chain other DirectX wrappers (ENB, Helix, Windower...) // If the external wrapper is already named d3d9.dll, rename it into // something else like "d3d9_enb.dll" (note that even if this is commented it actually works)
Combat obviously still needs a lot of work but I absolutely love the verticality of the city and all the various routes you can take (like traveling through vents in mist form). I also hate the radar/quest pointer. I think that games were better before they started introducing this crap...
The gameplay looks fun and close to the original. I think the game would look slightly better if everything was a little less bright, but tbf that goes for the original game as well.
There's a Tremere based one that we know about from the E3 demo, but not much word on the final one. They are all pretty solid concepts so far, but I'm concerned about the execution problems they could provoke as well.
Game is being delayed further down 2020. Frankly, it's the prudent thing to do, because the game did not look worthy for release with its lack of refinement. Also consider how Q1 2020 has FF7 Remake, TLOU2, and Cyberpunk 2077. If they learned from the lessons of VTMB's release, they'd know that a buggy game against a massive release would not bode well for sales.
For the last three and a half years, we’ve worked hard to bring you a worthy successor to Bloodlines 1. To us, that meant not only making good on the ambitions of this remarkable game, but also a duty to ensure we would not repeat its mistakes. Today, we have to tell you that we need some more time to get you the game you’ve been waiting for. Although Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 will still launch in 2020, we have decided to value quality over making the Q1 launch window.
There are some things we wanted to hit under all circumstances when we set out to follow in Bloodlines’ footsteps: A deep, branching storyline; fascinating and amazingly acted characters; the rich universe of the World of Darkness. We firmly believe that we’re on the right track to get you all of this.
On the flip side, there’s the responsibility to avoid some of the issues that plagued the first game, which was famously launched too early. Over the last few months, it became clear that to stick to our original date would risk repeating that mistake. We won’t do that. In the end, everyone working on this game wants to offer you the best Bloodlines 2 we can.
This hasn’t been an easy- nor our first choice. Throughout 2019 we have been improving our processes and growing our teams, however it soon became clear that this alone won’t allow us to deliver the quality we want at the date we promised.
Your feedback was invaluable in this. It helped us give the proper weight to what we saw, as well. We’d like to thank you, and hope you’ll support us in the decision that came from it.
Many of us from Hardsuit Labs will be in Berlin for PDXCON. For those of you going, we look forward to seeing you there! We will be sharing insights into the development of Bloodlines 2 along with other steps we’ve taken to strengthen our development team to realize our ambitions for Bloodlines 2.
For those of you who won’t be there, we will be sharing more about this during the PDXCON Announcement stream on Saturday the 19th. We are also opening up a Reddit thread to answer any of your questions in the Bloodlines stream on the following Sunday.
Thanks,
Andy Kipling and Brian Mitsoda, on behalf of the team at Hardsuit Labs
I rather have a great game that also works than a great game that is unplayable, but 4 months earlier. In the end those 4 month have to be used to patch it up anyway
Another thing I like about the delay is that I was planning to build a new pc later in the year and it'd be nice to have all the bells and whistles during my first playthrough.
On October 17 2019 21:59 Gahlo wrote: Another thing I like about the delay is that I was planning to build a new pc later in the year and it'd be nice to have all the bells and whistles during my first playthrough.
On October 17 2019 21:59 Gahlo wrote: Another thing I like about the delay is that I was planning to build a new pc later in the year and it'd be nice to have all the bells and whistles during my first playthrough.
Funnily enough, my tax return is going to end up being a decent chunk of my build's cost.
There will be a stream starting soon, will be done in 2 episodes of a TTRPG version of Vampire with campaign leading to events in the game. Might be interesting.
Yeah and they were mostly occupied with hindering the fighting char, then hitting ppl with books and standing on top of rocks followed by healing for 2 rounds. Tbf that sniper would have ripped through them either way, they really needed a long-range ability or a godlike shot from Veronica.
Personally I enjoy parties that do more funny stuff and are playing less optimal (it can get really obnoxious tbh), but it's pretty easy to see why they aren't in the best situation.
For me it's less about optimal and more about competence. One doesn't need to be a black belt, marksman, or savant, but at least know how to throw a punch, aim properly, or swing it correctly. Otherwise you're gonna have to skirt around combat entirely.
On February 05 2020 09:59 Gahlo wrote: For me it's less about optimal and more about competence. One doesn't need to be a black belt, marksman, or savant, but at least know how to throw a punch, aim properly, or swing it correctly. Otherwise you're gonna have to skirt around combat entirely.
I mean you can just make the encounters easier.
It's not like Karim couldn't have let the sniper miss moving vampires in flickering light more than once or couldn't have lowered the damage roll or let the Malk reach the sniper a few turns earlier. Anything but the "you reached 1/3rd of the way after 3 rounds of combat" answer 2 turns before he ends the fight (probably because he noticed that it went south) would have made the fight manageable, 90% of the damage was done by the sniper after all.
Also worth mentioning that the three members who actively tried to achieve something had a bunch of highrolls, so even if everyone was fighting and maybe a bit more fighty a bunch of low rolls would have still made this encounter dangerous. A prone high damage high hitrate attack from super long distance is pretty crippling.
The fight was made for a way more experienced party imo. I enjoy his character acting and storytelling, but the fact that the party is in dire straits is in a large part due to the encounter-design.
On February 05 2020 09:59 Gahlo wrote: For me it's less about optimal and more about competence. One doesn't need to be a black belt, marksman, or savant, but at least know how to throw a punch, aim properly, or swing it correctly. Otherwise you're gonna have to skirt around combat entirely.
I mean you can just make the encounters easier.
It's not like Karim couldn't have let the sniper miss moving vampires in flickering light more than once or couldn't have lowered the damage roll or let the Malk reach the sniper a few turns earlier. Anything but the "you reached 1/3rd of the way after 3 rounds of combat" answer 2 turns before he ends the fight (probably because he noticed that it went south) would have made the fight manageable, 90% of the damage was done by the sniper after all.
Also worth mentioning that the three members who actively tried to achieve something had a bunch of highrolls, so even if everyone was fighting and maybe a bit more fighty a bunch of low rolls would have still made this encounter dangerous. A prone high damage high hitrate attack from super long distance is pretty crippling.
The fight was made for a way more experienced party imo. I enjoy his character acting and storytelling, but the fact that the party is in dire straits is in a large part due to the encounter-design.
I hear he has a lot of ST experience, so right now I'm banking on it being intentionally an overwhelming combat - otherwise it's just terrible design. It still doesn't make sense why they left the scene.
Yeah maybe it was intentional. He did blow up the car despite Meyer highrolling driving twice after all. Even if not first encounters are a bit hard to get right, party power after all can be very different and it's easy to playtest an encounter and then have 2 people who try to hit ppl with books and stand on top of rocks to get shot more easily. Maybe he counted on someone killing the sniper early or the team having more ranged options. Or he's just used to more experienced players.
Tbf I think the cars were broken either way and two motorcycles can't carry 5 ppl, so the current situation was likely his endgame.
It doesn't make sense gameplay wise or story-wise? I think Karim recognized that the party was prone to suffering campaign-threatening damage and pulled the plug. Veronica was the only one actively fighting and she was getting pretty low (and lost an arm). Camellia really started stacking up hunger dices too (and noticeably doesn't get the system, "it's early" is a great reason not to add a red dice to every roll).
I dunno, I think it makes sense for a kindred to try to avoid getting hungry when their ride and possibly provisions all went up in smoke. Granted, it's also an unlife or death scenario so... *shrugs*
I must say I kinda dig the art style which is at the same time realistic and a bit cartoony. They definitely need to work on character animations a bit more but so far it all looks pretty promising.
I'm hoping it looks as rough as it does in that trailer because it's held back by the Xbox. I'm also really hoping that spin move the 2 different characters do is in there for the trailer because it looks pretty jank.
Loved the first. Last time I picked it up was in 2012 playing extensively and modded a bit. When World of Darkness got cancelled, there hasn't been a lot to look forward in the genre.
On May 28 2020 03:11 Dracolich70 wrote: Loved the first. Last time I picked it up was in 2012 playing extensively and modded a bit. When World of Darkness got cancelled, there hasn't been a lot to look forward in the genre.
There's a Werewolf game coming out sometime this year too.
On May 28 2020 03:11 Dracolich70 wrote: Loved the first. Last time I picked it up was in 2012 playing extensively and modded a bit. When World of Darkness got cancelled, there hasn't been a lot to look forward in the genre.
There's a Werewolf game coming out sometime this year too.
I must say I kinda dig the art style which is at the same time realistic and a bit cartoony. They definitely need to work on character animations a bit more but so far it all looks pretty promising.
Looks dope, but also very different to what they presented at the e3 and more in line with the first trailer. Even if it looks like this and plays more fast paced like this Vtm2B had a ton of (mostly technical) issues. Which is somewhat due to them running the game on an early engine, but yeah.
So fingers crossed, but I'll remain sceptical until I see late alpha gameplay.
Played through the first VTMB, it's alright. The first part of the game up until the mental institute is nice when you get to discover everything, try to eat the passer by and get familiar with the story lines, back half of the game ossilate between all right and straight up a pain in the ass. The cool persuation skills and sneeking around to suck people dry get left to the side for batteling endless wave of mobs that you need to shot approximatively 10 time each. Special mention toward the sewers and the chinese temple for being especially bad.
I was quite exited to see what VTMB2 had to offer, not so much now.
Yeah, the game really bogs down when you get to the combat gauntlets. The Plus version of the Unofficial patch gives a couple shortcuts that lets you bypass large parts of them.
On May 30 2020 02:24 Nakajin wrote: Played through the first VTMB, it's alright. The first part of the game up until the mental institute is nice when you get to discover everything, try to eat the passer by and get familiar with the story lines, back half of the game ossilate between all right and straight up a pain in the ass. The cool persuation skills and sneeking around to suck people dry get left to the side for batteling endless wave of mobs that you need to shot approximatively 10 time each. Special mention toward the sewers and the chinese temple for being especially bad.
I was quite exited to see what VTMB2 had to offer, not so much now.
I played VTMB like 5 times... Till towards the end of Hollywood and never further. Its tragic how hard this game falls off a cliff there.
On May 30 2020 02:24 Nakajin wrote: Played through the first VTMB, it's alright. The first part of the game up until the mental institute is nice when you get to discover everything, try to eat the passer by and get familiar with the story lines, back half of the game ossilate between all right and straight up a pain in the ass. The cool persuation skills and sneeking around to suck people dry get left to the side for batteling endless wave of mobs that you need to shot approximatively 10 time each. Special mention toward the sewers and the chinese temple for being especially bad.
I was quite exited to see what VTMB2 had to offer, not so much now.
I played VTMB like 5 times... Till towards the end of Hollywood and never further. Its tragic how hard this game falls off a cliff there.
Yeah. I guess they would've polished it more if they knew how big of a success it will be (after it flopped obviously, when the fan patches started picking up), but hindsight is 20/20.
Unfortunately it was released too early and it shows. The later stages of the game are severely underdeveloped but the earlier portions are an absolute masterpiece. I could replay the Santa Monica part over and over and over again and probably never get bored, it is one of the best designed entry zones in game history in my opinion (right along stuff like Guild Wars Pre-Searing starter area, where some people just never even leave to enter the actual game and there are characters who've been there for like 15 years, max level etc. just stayed in tutorial forever).
On May 30 2020 02:24 Nakajin wrote: Played through the first VTMB, it's alright. The first part of the game up until the mental institute is nice when you get to discover everything, try to eat the passer by and get familiar with the story lines, back half of the game ossilate between all right and straight up a pain in the ass. The cool persuation skills and sneeking around to suck people dry get left to the side for batteling endless wave of mobs that you need to shot approximatively 10 time each. Special mention toward the sewers and the chinese temple for being especially bad.
I was quite exited to see what VTMB2 had to offer, not so much now.
I played VTMB like 5 times... Till towards the end of Hollywood and never further. Its tragic how hard this game falls off a cliff there.
Yeah. I guess they would've polished it more if they knew how big of a success it will be (after it flopped obviously, when the fan patches started picking up), but hindsight is 20/20.
Unfortunately it was released too early and it shows. The later stages of the game are severely underdeveloped but the earlier portions are an absolute masterpiece. I could replay the Santa Monica part over and over and over again and probably never get bored, it is one of the best designed entry zones in game history in my opinion (right along stuff like Guild Wars Pre-Searing starter area, where some people just never even leave to enter the actual game and there are characters who've been there for like 15 years, max level etc. just stayed in tutorial forever).
Troika wasn't offered more funding to finish it and the company went bankrupt before the game was even released.
I honestly like some elements of the finale, especially in the fanpatch version. I think the sewers had it's horror charm initially, but they just were too long. The movie studio f.e. was a pretty cool idea. I liked most of the Chinatown quests and enjoyed sneaking through the museum and thought the combat part in the non-finished skyscraper was fun especially with the fanpatch making the zero wing joke.
But yes the game is much much stronger in the non-combat areas because the roleplaying parts are much better than the combat. And it's mostly combat towards the end, especially once the betrayal happens.
I hope that part is more enjoyable in VTMB2, but I also hope it doesn't get too crazy since I don't want the game to feel strongly like a power fantasy. Would be nice if most of the vampire abilities have some effect on vampires in the next installation though.
On June 15 2020 04:21 Gahlo wrote: Yeah, waiting for a release date to pre-order has paid off for me.
Don't get too excited yet. Seeing the amount of content you get in this collector's edition makes me really wonder how expensive it will be. I mean, even the digital V5 PDF rulebook is like $30 alone if you'd like to get it right now and miniatures aren't cheap either (especially if they come painted).
Edit: found out all the info.
The Collector's Edition of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 will cost $169.99 and only 3000 will be made.
According to a press release sent out by Paradox, it's possible to order the Collector's Edition without a copy of the game or the DLC. This will allow people who already pre-ordered the digital version of the game to claim the physical items, which will cost them $109.99.
The hype level for this game always felt like it was disproportionate to what the devs could actually deliver. I looked up what "Hardsuit Labs" had made before when this project was first announced, and the only game they have to their name is a mediocre f2p shooter released in 2012 that I'd never heard of, and which got mediocre-bad reviews. They formed in 2015 as a bunch of the leftovers from the closure of Zombie Studios, whose entire portfolio is literal shovelware (and before anyone says anything about Spec Ops, no, they did not make Spec Ops: The Line, which is the only non-shovelware Spec Ops title). Expecting them to actually turn out a worthy sequel to VtMB was always a pipe dream.
Hiring a couple good writers and convincing Paradox to let you use the IP isn't going to make what appears to be a B-rate dev studio that's never made a noteworthy game (and in their previous incarnation almost exclusively made shovelware) suddenly turn out a masterpiece.
On August 20 2020 14:58 TheYango wrote: The hype level for this game always felt like it was disproportionate to what the devs could actually deliver. I looked up what "Hardsuit Labs" had made before when this project was first announced, and the only game they have to their name is a mediocre f2p shooter released in 2012 that I'd never heard of, and which got mediocre-bad reviews. They formed in 2015 as a bunch of the leftovers from the closure of Zombie Studios, whose entire portfolio is literal shovelware (and before anyone says anything about Spec Ops, no, they did not make Spec Ops: The Line, which is the only non-shovelware Spec Ops title). Expecting them to actually turn out a worthy sequel to VtMB was always a pipe dream.
Hiring a couple good writers and convincing Paradox to let you use the IP isn't going to make what appears to be a B-rate dev studio that's never made a noteworthy game (and in their previous incarnation almost exclusively made shovelware) suddenly turn out a masterpiece.
I think you are underselling Hardsuit Labs a bit. Sure, they might not've released a full on AAA title but they did successfully finish numerous games that released on multiple platforms. I guess you could call them a workhorse type dev team, which is all you really need as vtmb thrived on the story rather than impressive visuals etc.
Now, firing of Mitsoda and Ka'ai is somewhat troubling, especially it being so sudden. They did hire a very experienced person in their place so that's good.
All this tells me is that perhaps there was a problem with the intended scope of the game, where perhaps Mitsoda started branching out the story too much and adding more and more stuff at the time when it all should've been pretty much wrapped up and just had to be ironed out. I think his social anxiety might also be a problem during stressful final push to finish the product when you really need great hands-on leadership and direction (and Mitsoda has a history of working on cancelled projects).
I don't expect it to be CP2077 level of game, I just want it to be good enough to drag me in like the original vtmb did. Right now I'm not too much worried and I'm actually glad they're pushing the release date instead of releasing a half-assed, buggy mess.
How Paradox was handling the situation seems rather unprofessional to me. Firing 2 big decision makers without giving them a proper explanation as to why is a bad look imho. Haven't read much about the new guy in charge Alexandre Mandryka, only that he's worked on some Far Cry and Assasin's Creed titles, which aren't exactly rpg related in any way...
On August 21 2020 08:35 thePunGun wrote: How Paradox was handling the situation seems rather unprofessional to me. Firing 2 big decision makers without giving them a proper explanation as to why is a bad look imho. Haven't read much about the new guy in charge Alexandre Mandryka, only that he's worked on some Far Cry and Assasin's Creed titles, which aren't exactly rpg related in any way...
This would tie up with my theory of them needing to streamline the experience. I think they have more than enough of a story but had trouble implementing it in a way that would flow properly. I guess they did some secret testing and it didn't go well. It's easy to do a complex open-world-like sandboxy game but then you need to make it in such a way that people won't get confused.
Dunno. This kinda died for me. They don't have that benefit of the doubt that CDPR have with their track record. Delaying time and time again, letting people go mid development, no clear communication, ...
I am open to be positively surprised but for me this got demoted from "must have" to "maybe when it's on sale and I have time"
So, why we wait for more news on VtMB2 we get more news regarding the new battle royale in the WoD universe:
I'm not really a fan of battle royale genre but this interview kind of piqued my interest. Lead behind it is a big WoD fan and has been TTRPG player and LARPer for decades and he was talking about keeping the Masquerade or having to hunt during the battle royale. Could be interesting. Also, it's supposed to be f2p with the business model being based not around lootboxes but monetizing vanity items.
So, there are telltale signs that 10 months after original release date VTMB2 is being re-made from the scratch. Paradox CEO mentioned something about not believing the game being released during the first half of 2021. They're also adding new gen console development for it (which I think might be bad for the game).
Wow, changing the studio mid-production? IDK what the hell was going on behind the scenes but this can't bode well. At least they're honest about it not coming out 2021 (instead of delaying every 3 months...)
So, the rumors of the game being scrapped and basically re-made from scratch were true. I'm actually really curious about what went wrong and why. From the gameplay videos they released it looked like they've had something going on. Sure, it did look like it required more polish and work but it didn't look bad at all. With the firing of lead writer and designer first I would assume that maybe they went a bit overboard with the story and created something that, while grand, can't be feasibly delivered in a reasonable time frame (but then, why fire them and not just move them to other projects and get another designer to fix the mess?).
The lack of communication is kind of baffling. I understand the need for secrecy but at least some communication would be nice instead of months of silence.
On February 23 2021 23:41 Manit0u wrote: So, the rumors of the game being scrapped and basically re-made from scratch were true. I'm actually really curious about what went wrong and why. From the gameplay videos they released it looked like they've had something going on. Sure, it did look like it required more polish and work but it didn't look bad at all. With the firing of lead writer and designer first I would assume that maybe they went a bit overboard with the story and created something that, while grand, can't be feasibly delivered in a reasonable time frame (but then, why fire them and not just move them to other projects and get another designer to fix the mess?).
The lack of communication is kind of baffling. I understand the need for secrecy but at least some communication would be nice instead of months of silence.
I think the remake from scratch is still a rumor. I hope a wrong one unless Pdx actually pushes back release like 3-4 years.
I can't really pretend to be surprised tbh. Troika's downfall was management, Pdx hired the same guys again and well, surprise. I assume Pdx brought in a quality tester or something similar and that guy saw a game with gameplay from the early 2000s that was months behind the deadline. So Pdx started to fire the leads.
I assume Pdx doesn't have a good grip on how far the game is and how quickly they can get it back on track, so they currently aren't communicating until they know more.
My guess as to why Paradox isn't releasing more info is: They're probably embarrassed about this whole clusterfuck and the less details people know about it, the better.
The battle royale genre quickly became one of the most popular genres in video games, but after a while the games lost their edge. The idea needed some new bite, a bit of fresh blood injected into the formula that would give it new life. Enter Sharkmob Interactive, who have partnered with World of Darkness to bring Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt to PCs later this year. At first I thought the idea was too far-fetched, but after spending an hour with the game battling against developers and other press, the concept now makes perfect sense.
The core battle royale gameplay is intact in Bloodhunt: a large number of players enter a confined space, looting and finding weapons scattered throughout the area. Eventually the playing area gets constrained even further, forcing the players to group together and battle it out until the last vampire wins. Simple, easy to understand, and anyone who's played Fortnite or PUBG knows what to expect.
What's interesting is how the game tweaks those mechanics in order to present a more unique experience. Take "the circle," the ever-present barrier between the safe zone and the storm that will eventually kill anyone caught in it for too long. In most battle royales that is a perfect circle, completely round and slowly shrinking until a match ends. In Bloodhunt it can't be called a "circle" because it's simply not, it's an amorphous shape that makes the boundary between safe and deadly much more difficult to predict. In one match an early safe zone was trapezoidal almost before constricting into a straight line, completely catching me off-guard. This is an interesting change, defying one of the previously iron-clad rules of battle royale, and it makes the late-game section of a match very interesting.
The world of Bloodhunt seems ordinary, but even that holds some changes to the standard battle royale formula that really make this game stand out. Let's start with the city of Prague, which serves as the map for Bloodhunt battles. It's a sprawling urban landscape with buildings that stretch to the sky. Every structure in the game can be climbed, allowing for rooftop battles or scouting when planning your next move. Some buildings even have indoor areas, which could be hiding top loot or offer a place for you to hide in a pinch. However, the vampires warring in the city aren't the only beings walking around, which touches on another of Bloodhunt's crucial changes.
NPC human citizens line the streets of Prague as you explore, the extrasensory "scanning" function allowing you to find them in real time. Feeding on these poor souls--you are a vampire after all--not only restores health, but sometimes offer specific buffs for a short time. One NPC I encountered regenerated my health one half-point per second for as long as the buff lasted. Another improved my defense, while a third made my melee attacks stronger. These buffs will stack if you feed fast enough, including leveling up buffs you might have already found to make them stronger. These buffs could easily make a difference throughout a match, so make sure to keep an eye out for a meal.
As you are a vampire, and you need to maintain the "masquerade" in order to not expose yourself as a vampire, the city and its people can also work against you. Entering the indoor areas can sometimes trigger an alarm, tipping off nearby enemies to your location. Jumping on cars sets off their car alarms for the same effect. Worst of all, should you confuse a NPC for an enemy during a skirmish and kill them, your cover is blown and every enemy in the match can see your exact location for a full minute. This is bad enough in a solo match, but imagine how angry your friends will get when you blow their cover in a team match.
But what makes this game Vampire: The Masquerade the RPG and not just a vampire battle royale? That would be twofold, the different classes to choose from when creating a character and the bits of lore scattered throughout the map. Classes vary from tank-style bruisers that deal heavy damage up front to lithe and agile runners that do best from a distance, and you get your choice right from the start. As for the lore, dozens of collectibles across the map fill in the overarching story surrounding Bloodhunt, creating a story that I suspect will continue for a long time to come. These are pieces that make this game feel like a true Vampire entry, like it belongs in the conversation with the rest of the established lore, and they go a long way in making Bloodhunt feel authentic.
The world of Vampire: The Masquerade sounds strange when placed next to the term "battle royale," but right now Sharkmob is well on its way to assuading any fears about the idea. Bloodhunt is a new and refreshing take on the format, making a lot of changes to the normal formula but keeping just enough familiarity to not push battle royale fans away. Add to that the RPG elements that core Vampire fans will appreciate, and this is shaping up to be a solid cross-section of two wildly different genres. We'll know for sure when the Closed Beta for Bloodhunt begins on July 2.
Not only that, but the trailer looks like shit TBH. Looks more like some sort of action first person Doom-style game than RPG.
Remains to be seen when they release some more footage. Unfortunately for them BG3 has set the bar pretty high and even after the initial blunder CP2077 also pulled up to play on par with the big boys.
On September 05 2023 01:26 Manit0u wrote: Not only that, but the trailer looks like shit TBH. Looks more like some sort of action first person Doom-style game than RPG.
Yeah, didn't like that trailer at all either, it just looks like an action game. The ones from 2-3 years ago were so much more promising that this.
This looks more like a teaser than a trailer though. But the Chinese Room, that's...surprising is an understatement. I only know that HL2 mod Dear Esther, they did a long time ago, which to be fair was pretty good imo. But I didn't even know they still existed. Paradox must've either been pretty confident or quite desperate with that pick and I really really hope it's not the latter.
On September 06 2023 00:46 thePunGun wrote: This looks more like a teaser than a trailer though. But the Chinese Room, that's...surprising is an understatement. I only know that HL2 mod Dear Esther, they did a long time ago, which to be fair was pretty good imo. But I didn't even know they still existed. Paradox must've either been pretty confident or quite desperate with that pick and I really really hope it's not the latter.
Well, they also did Amnesia, which was pretty well received horror game. This gives me hope but we do need to wait for some more info/footage.
On September 06 2023 00:46 thePunGun wrote: This looks more like a teaser than a trailer though. But the Chinese Room, that's...surprising is an understatement. I only know that HL2 mod Dear Esther, they did a long time ago, which to be fair was pretty good imo. But I didn't even know they still existed. Paradox must've either been pretty confident or quite desperate with that pick and I really really hope it's not the latter.
Well, they also did Amnesia, which was pretty well received horror game. This gives me hope but we do need to wait for some more info/footage.
I read that too. But it's not the Amnesia you think it is. Those are all made by "Frictional Games"
On September 06 2023 00:46 thePunGun wrote: This looks more like a teaser than a trailer though. But the Chinese Room, that's...surprising is an understatement. I only know that HL2 mod Dear Esther, they did a long time ago, which to be fair was pretty good imo. But I didn't even know they still existed. Paradox must've either been pretty confident or quite desperate with that pick and I really really hope it's not the latter.
Well, they also did Amnesia, which was pretty well received horror game. This gives me hope but we do need to wait for some more info/footage.
I read that too. But it's not the Amnesia you think it is. Those are all made by "Frictional Games"
There are 2 Amnesia games. Dark Descent was in fact developed by FG but Machine For Pigs was done by TCR.
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs is a survival horror video game developed by The Chinese Room and published by Frictional Games.
In any case I think they might pull it off. I'm no game dev but when they took over they should still be left with all the story, dialogues, art assets etc. so even writing it from scratch in a new engine should be easier now.
is something I did not expect. RPG elements will be in the game, and the video about the devs makes me hopeful. In January, a longer gameplay video will be shown that tells a lot more about the story.
On September 27 2023 20:31 Hildegard wrote: I didn't watch the full vods, but + Show Spoiler +
playing as an Elder
is something I did not expect. RPG elements will be in the game, and the video about the devs makes me hopeful. In January, a longer gameplay video will be shown that tells a lot more about the story.
Indeed, going from the original idea of starting as a thin blood to now playing as an elder is kinda wild as those are pretty much the opposite points of the spectrum.
Sorry, got it mixed up with a Dragon Age thing. Meant the beckoning. Basically, the 5th version of VtM's tabletop is trying to focus on low ranked play and a meta-narrative way to do this is have "The Beckoning" making old vampires feel a need(sometimes it's an actual voice, sometimes it's just a thing the vampire feels they need to do) to head to the middle east to fight in a gahenna war to stop the antideluvians from waking up.
This clears out the entrenched vampires in the upper levels on the local level, leaving a power vacuum and a lot of musical chairs nonsense as people get a once in an unlifetime shot.
That sounds a bit like the Cyberpunk story. The hero is doomed from the beginning of the story. I love this mechanic because RPGs tend to give the protagonist silly amounts of power. Kill rats at first, and gods thirty hours later. An elder could work differently and start out really strong, but instead of gaining new powers, the hero loses some, and that's how the difficulty increases.
That sounds a bit like the Cyberpunk story. The hero is doomed from the beginning of the story. I love this mechanic because RPGs tend to give the protagonist silly amounts of power. Kill rats at first, and gods thirty hours later. An elder could work differently and start out really strong, but instead of gaining new powers, the hero loses some, and that's how the difficulty increases.
I guess there's no need for spoilers as it's all speculation anyway
It might be akin to what playing Mummy in the nWoD (alternate World of Darkness setting) would be. Basically mummies when they get awakened by their cults start at full power (meteor shower level powers) but without any memory. As time progresses they grow weaker but regain their memories. This is interesting because you might be woken up, told that the cult is in danger, need to destroy some faction, recover artifacts and such only to realize later you've been awakened by the rival cult and destroyed your original one.
WarCraft 3 also did it in their campaign where Arthas starts at max level but his power is being sapped and gets gradually weaker only to overcome it later (and you have to level up again).
There are some interesting ways to take it.
Edit: Personally I think they should go more of an nWoD way with this as it works better for a single player RPG experience. cWoD (classic World of Darkness with Vampire: The Masquerade) is more focused on the social aspect, politics and big overarching story whereas nWoD (new World of Darkness with Vampire: The Requiem) is more localized and brings personal horror to the forefront. Sure, you're a supernatural creature but whichever kind you're always tormented. VtR vampires have to constantly struggle between their humanity and bestial nature of a vampire for example, leading to some really hard choices and gripping moments. I think it would be fine to blend the two - have the lore/powers from VtM but do storytelling more in the VtR fashion.
That sounds amazing. You make me want to play some WoD tabletop. Most RPGs have no downsides and always allow for 100% White Knight bravery. WoD looks very different in that regard.
On October 01 2023 00:40 Hildegard wrote: That sounds amazing. You make me want to play some WoD tabletop. Most RPGs have no downsides and always allow for 100% White Knight bravery. WoD looks very different in that regard.
You might want to try looking up LA by Night on Youtube for a V5 VTM actual play.
On October 01 2023 00:40 Hildegard wrote: That sounds amazing. You make me want to play some WoD tabletop. Most RPGs have no downsides and always allow for 100% White Knight bravery. WoD looks very different in that regard.
It's personal preference. WoD was always the mature RPG where social skills were typically worth more than combat skills etc. If you want a brief introduction you can either watch it played live on tabletop as mentioned previously or try one of the games that capture the theme:
TTRPG:
OG game for PC (GOG version includes the latest community patch), touted as the best RPG game of all time (and I agree):
If by 1/3rd of the movie above you're not convinced this is the game for you then it probably isn't.
VN in the VtM world:
VN in the WtA world (you're a werewolf not a vampire, brilliant game, the ambience in it is chef's kiss):
On October 01 2023 00:40 Hildegard wrote: That sounds amazing. You make me want to play some WoD tabletop. Most RPGs have no downsides and always allow for 100% White Knight bravery. WoD looks very different in that regard.
If you'd like to try some tabletop stuff I can give you some pointers for start if you want. I've been a big fan of WoD since the 90's (1992 to be more specific). I have all of the books for cWoD and nWoD. Not playing it much nowadays but I like to dig into the lore and stuff. The world itself is amazing and lets you do a lot of different things but it can be a bit daunting when starting out just from the sheer amount of stuff it includes.
If you're more into power fantasy but in a darker, horror-like setting you want to go with cWoD. If you want to go with dark personal horror stuff you want the nWoD.
Personally nWoD in my opinion is better for RPG as it is way more flexible (much less metaplot and quite a bit of vagueness for you to fill in) and has much more interesting concepts for the characters and different games. Just take a look at some of the options it offers:
Demon: The Descent - you're a demon, fallen angel. But God is a machine and angels are just programs that do the work, by some chance/error you gained consciousness which made you faulty, resulting in you being cast down from the heavens. You are now trying to evade killer programs/angels sent after you and use glitches in the system as your powers. Do you want to break the machine? Do you want to reintegrate with it? Techno-gnostic espionage game is not commonly found.
Changeling: The Lost (personal favorite of the OG WoD creator) - you got kidnapped by elves and taken to their kingdom, they left a doppleganger to live your life instead. While in the fae kingdom you were used as a slave to perform a specific task and you were changed to better peform it. Maybe you had to fight in the arena and now your fingers are blades made of glass, maybe you were hunting stuff and now are more beast than man, maybe you were just a table... Somehow you managed to escape but you don't exactly remember how and since time flows different in the fae world it might've been 5 minutes or 50 years since your kidnapping. You are changed but to normal people you look like a regular person (illusion). Do you want to kill your doppleganger and resume your old life? Do you leave it be and start from scratch? All the while evading the huntsmen your fae masters sent after you.
There are so many different kinds of games you could play. Both cWoD and nWod have at least 8 different settings to play (but only 4 or 5 of them are kinda counterparts, while vampire, werewolf, mummy and mage are relatively comparable, changeling is super different and the rest are kinda unique to their world).
Different developer. HSL's version of BL2 got flushed by Paradox and that reveals also shows less of the actual game than the current one.
Ever since TCR has been able to talk about the game they've been clear about what their timeline of revealing the clans this year and a gameplay reveal in January, in addition to releasing dev logs.
In my opinion, I think the story they've chose to tell is a step back, but HSL's BL2 was supposed to be just around the corner from a release that never happened and TCR's has a year to go.
What I meant was that it's not necessarily a bad thing that they're revealing playable clans but the way they do it. Who are those clips targeted at? Practically no gameplay is being shown so people who know VtM clans don't know what to expect. People unfamiliar with the franchise will simply be confused since neither insert_clan_name_here nor those few seconds of combat actually mean anything to them.
On December 01 2023 10:18 Gahlo wrote: I think the expressions in BL1 are massively overrated, personally. Also, post-alpha.
I'm not saying they're perfect or anything but they do a good job on conveying emotion and actually fit what's being said and in what context. Not many games have achieved that lately (games like Fallout 4 or Skyrim fall short for example). I guess source engine was praised for facial expressions for its time not without a reason.
On February 02 2024 01:45 Gahlo wrote: Big picture it's not terrible, but after making us wait 4 months for that, which doesn't answer any concerns the community at large has is... ugh.
First of all, FPP close combat is pretty much always crap so I have no idea why they even went there. Even in BL1 when you were brawling or using melee weapons the camera switched to TPP.
The combat doesn't even look very interesting or exciting either and it seems like it's going to be a large part of the gameplay (since they even announced it in the beginning of the video as "Action RPG").
To be honest I don't really have any more hopes for this game. Big part of playing VtM is creating your own unique vamp and getting stronger as you go. Starting out as predefined elder with the cringe name of Phyre gives me exactly 0 incentive to want to play this.
Took me 5 years of clinging to the hope but now I've finally come to terms with it and requested a refund on my pre-purchase I did back in 2019.
I honestly don't know what went wrong with Hardsuit Labs version of the game but the old trailers looked way more interesting and promising than this.
EPT
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