OVERVIEW: Standard Mod Patch ===================== V0.8 What has changed from Version 0.7 to Version 0.8? Where Version 0.7 tries to be very focused on functionality and actively tries to avoid superficial issues not related to function. Version 0.8 departs from that and does put more focus on superficial changes. Such as better animations, scenes, visual issues, and to a still limited but somewhat expanded scope dialog. Fixing game function is still the overriding focus and there is plenty of progress there, but in addition more attention is directed to superficial issues. Some Features: -------------- Feature to skip many cutscenes such as intro, Isaac horror tapes, etc. So the ugly "skip intro" button on the character sheet is no longer needed. By default this function is mapped to DEL key. Tutorial was redesigned/rewritten so player wanting to use console to create custom character can complete the tutorial regardless of what clan is used for base, or what disciplines the character is given, if any. Dominate disciple will work in dialog for ever character, unless dialog is specific to Ventrue clan. Several area have improved water reflections. Several animation sequences have been improved. Several scenes have been improved/fixed. Taxi dialog volume has been rebalanced to make it somewhat more uniform. Zombies have been extensively redesigned, either fixed or broken depending on how a player defines those words. Improved textures for some PC and NPC models. And of course important bug fixes, such as fixing the gate damage/timer for Romero's zombie quest. ---------------------- The intent of this mod is to make the base game, Official v1.2, playable with the expectation of experiencing no serious game affecting bugs. In addition, I hope this mod to represents a game experience very close to what the original designers intended and/or shipped. I'm not making any evaluation or judgement of the original game design. I'm not concerned if it is good or bad, silly or outdated, etc. If this were a vintage car, I would be trying to fix the engine and drivetrain enough so that it could run and drive. Beyond that I would be fixing features of the car that did not work, but only as they are relevant to the operation of the car. For example if the heater doesn't, or never, worked and the owner lives in Minnesota, it gets fixed. If they lived in Southern California it would not have been fixed. When done it should retain all the qualities that define and gave it character. All the scratches, dents, rattles, wobbles, quirky shifting, inadequate brakes, rough running engine, etc, etc. INSTALLATION: ===================== This mod needs Game Mod Loader support installed in the VTMB game folder so that it can be launched properly. The Game Mod Loader support files are distributed and installed with any UP and with most UP based mods that have an executable installer. If you have already have GOG, any UP, or any UP based mod with executable installer, then this mod can be installed directly into that same VTMB game location. If not, then you will need to install some UP before installing this mod as the Game Mod Loader support files are not being updated or distributed except with the UP. What version of UP you use is optional as long as it has Game Mod Loader support. However, I am using UP 10.8 as in my testing none of 11.XX binary files have proven as reliable as the older 10.XX files. And in no instance should this mod be launched using the new loader program as that is completely unreliable in my testing. When I say unreliable I mean both with this mod and the UP itself. What symptoms would indicate unreliable function? Improper/incomplete/hung initialization of program, not being able to interact with objects, missing dialog and/or bad dialog options, missing triggers for events. Lost global variables that result in many random failures such as missing NPCs, inability to advance quests, etc. Luckily almost all of these failures can be recovered from by either closing and reloading the game or loading an older save and repeating the section with the failure. How often do I experience failures? Using the loader program and 11.XX files, every playthrough, or 100%. Launching from a shortcut using 11.XX files, about 15% of the time. Using the 10.XX files, about 2% of the time. When properly installed alongside a UP, the Vampire.exe file, Vampire directory, Unofficial_Patch directory, and SMP directory will all be in the same location. If installed into a location with a mod other than the UP, the mod directory will be substituted for the Unofficial_Patch directory. For example Clan Quest Mod, CQM directory instead of Unofficial_Patch directory. Summary: 1. Extract this mod's 7zip archive into an appropriate VTMB install directory. See the comment above for how to check if the location is correct. 2. Run "SMP Install" command file (by double clicking on it or RMB->Run as administrator if in restricted folders). This will create Shortcuts and also do some checks for conflicts. 3. Launch the mod using the shortcut/s created by the SMP_Install command file. The shortcut to launch the game can also be created manually by creating a shortcut to Vampire.exe and appending -game SMP to the target: field. Or if launching directly from Steam add the -game SMP parameter to the Steam Launcher profile for VTMB. KNOWN ISSUES: ===================== When going through certain map transitions the flamethrower will sometimes stop doing damage to certain enemies. Un-equipping and re-equipping will solve the issue. Sometimes a player will be unable to equip a new weapon or change perspective. Use either the F1 or F2 functions (melee or ranged slot functions) to select a different weapon to resolve this issue. AUDIENCE: Who should play this mod: ===================== V0.8 Anyone wishing to experience the game in it's original design but who does not want to deal with all the glitches and bugs in the Official V1.2 patch. Anyone interested in exploring some of the more complex design features in Official V1.2 patch, but features that are not working in that patch because of bugs. Any reference to the Unofficial Patch will be to the Basic version. The UP Plus isn't really relevant to any discussions here. What does "experience the game in it's original design form" mean? As and example; in the original game the NPCs as a rule do not drop ranged weapons other than the 38 revolver and M37 shotgun until a player reaches Chinatown. This is a design feature and the intent is for a ranged character it makes the vendors much more useful and important. In the Unofficial Patch Basic the player can start farming mid/late game firearms and end game melee weapons from the NPCs from the first instant they leave their Santa Monica apartment, often without any consequences. Note: in the original game I know of two exceptions to the cited NPC drop rule. However, these exceptions don't contribute anything positive to the discussion. Meaning ignoring 99% of the cases and focusing on the 1% exception isn't logical or proper analysis, nor I suspect in good faith. In the original game the player is expected to keep track of and work out the meaning of some quests. In the UP some of the items and details the player is expected to work out are added to the quest logs so the player doesn't have to do any work or remember things. Yes this is a more modern and accepted method but it is also a design change, which is what I do not want in my game/patch. What are "more complex design features"? For example; on the Dane there are three doors that open silently, this is an intended design feature, and one that the player can "work out" the meaning of... or ignore as they choose. In the UP these three silent door are missing/removed so the player has no possible chance of working out the meaning. This is the most troublesome kind of change made in the UP, where entire features of the game are removed, and unfortunately the most common. There are many of these kinds of game design changes in the UP and in some cases entire designed features are removed by changes made in the UP. For some players, maybe most, these kinds of details mean nothing, which I expect and understand. But for some players, like myself, the changes in the UP will diminish our game play options and experience. ---------------------- If you are considering which would be "better", this mod or the Unofficial Patch Basic, you should play the UP Basic. Because it isn't a valid question, the two mods aren't at all similar in design philosophy and purpose, as I try to explain above. The UP has been developed over more than a decade with thousands of testers and many, many developers making contributions, including myself. If you are wanting to play a mod that is "bug fixes only" or that "stays as close to the original as possible", you should play this mod. The truth is neither of those two statement is true, for either this mod or the UP Basic. But they are "more true" for this mod. If you are considering should I play this mod, Official v1.2, the True Patch Gold, or the Absolutely Unofficial True Patch Platinum, those ARE all valid choices each with pluses and minuses. The True Patch Gold: In a way the TPG is more similar to an early Unofficial Patch than it is to what it advertises itself to be. If the TPG were what it advertises itself to be I never would have made this mod. The TPG follows the same design and philosophy as the UP and really only differs in the choice of what to include and what to exclude. In terms of actually staying true to the original game design it fails in the same way the UP does since it mimics the UP design and philosophy. The Absolutely Unofficial True Patch Platinum (AUTPP): This patch is strictly for getting the game to launch on a modern computer and OS. Which is an issue with many old games and doesn't have anything to do with patching the actual game files. So it should be be considered equivalent to playing Official v1.2. The advantage this patch has is a very small download size. The disadvantage is that the files are not organized in the way a more standard mod would be. For this patch the player must read and follow directions to manually place the various files in the correct places. Luckily there are only a few files to copy and paste. Official v1.2: If you are comfortable and competent using the console and want to "actually" experience the game "as close to the original as possible" this is your only choice. There are three ways I know to do this: 1. Install some UP then launch directly from Vampire.exe file, best way. 2. Install the AUTPP, smallest download, good way. 3. Modify, move, and configure the Steam files as needed to get the game running on your computer. I have done all three but I don't see number three as serving any purpose except for persons interested in learning what is involved. Between the UP and the AUTPP, the UP is preferable except for people where download and/or install size is important, or for people not wanting to run and unknown executable. In that case the AUTPP is superior but a bit more difficult to install. I don't consider Official v1.1 as an option because there would be no Official v1.2 if v1.1 were what the developers wanted the game to be. There may be valid reasons to prefer v1.1 but "because it was the developers vision for the game" isn't one of them. The SMP: This mod and the mod that proceeded it, the Undisciplined Caitiff, focused on fixing serious bugs that hinder game play, many of which had not been fixed since the game released. For more common bugs that are fixed in the UP or other mods, the fix in SMP was often different and unique. So not only does this mod give the player the opportunity to play the game in a way very similar to the original but the fixes it presents are often fresh and unique. The downside of this mod is that not everyone will understand or appreciate what I have fixed or why. And by extension what I have failed to fix and why. GENERAL: some explanation on what and why. ===================== V0.8 As mentioned in the OVERVIEW, Version 0.8 has departed somewhat from Version 0.7 as far as preserving the "jank" quite so rigorously. For me v0.8 plays VERY differently from v0.7, it totally depends on how detail oriented a person is and what types of details they value. ---------------------- When I say close to it's original form I mean what I alluded to at the beginning, with the jank, the spelling and punctuation errors, the graphical glitches, etc. All the odd design choices, the difficulty, the lack of hand holding, etc. Having said that some spelling and graphical issues have been fixed because I felt they fell under the "relevant to the operation of the car" category. For example taking to Knox, not really important if a player is distracted by something because it is a side quest. And anything Knox says is either not that important or can be gotten elsewhere. Talking to Johansen I would be more inclined to fix issues because he is a main character, the information is more important, and it can't be gotten anywhere else. If the game is working but you do not agree with the way it is working, or you don't understand the way it works, or you think it is stupid, none of those constitute it being a bug. Those are personal evaluations of if the game design should be changed, not if it is bugged. As much as everyone in the world might agree with your opinion that still doesn't make it a bug, that just makes it a popular opinion. That brings me to why this mod exists. I could not find any patch/mod to play the base game that suited my wish to play the base game as it was designed, intended, or shipped. The UP Basic makes too many changes that are as described in the paragraph above, they aren't actually bug fixes by that strict definition of a bug. I do agree that some of the changes the UP Basic makes are good choices, but that wasn't the point. I wished to play a game without those types of changes. I'm happy playing UP Basic, I contribute to the UP development where I can. It isn't an either or proposition. I wanted a mod to play the original game and the UP didn't fulfil what I was looking for. True Patch Gold fixed lots of things I didn't care about and failed to fix most of the things that did matter, meaning quests. I don't care if visuals are fixed because those don't impede... or worse stop game progress. In addition some of the quests it did fix were not fixed in a way that I felt followed what Troika intended. The last strike against it was that I couldn't get it to launch using the files it provided. Official v1.2 was the only choice left. And actually a good choice. I played it this way for several dozen playthroughs and that is what actually started me down the road to making this mod. The more I played the original the more I began to appreciate the differences between the original and any of the mods/patches available. Personally I consider the game a masterpiece, not a flawed masterpiece. My interest is to preserve the original game and restore it as necessary to make the game function as intended. However, every change I made is a value judgement on my part, as it is with anyone making any changes. So that makes it a mod. The only way to play the original game without it being modded is to actually play one of the original versions, v1.1 or v1.2. Which I think is a great idea for players that have played the game enough to understand it beyond a superficial level. If the player plays this mod and doesn't experience the game as quirky, janky, odd, and rough around the edges I have failed. Because that is the way Official v1.2 feels... and I think should feel. On the other hand, if the player plays this mod and doesn't notice anything standing out as changed I have succeeded. Many, if not most of the bugs addressed in this mod originated from my own development work. The balance while not being original, I tried to implemented in original ways. The flip side is that common changes in other patches may not be in this patch. There are several reasons for this. First being that I am unhappy with some changes in other mods/patches as I feel they are inappropriate for the design intent of this mod. The second and more serious issue is that I just missed something important. I very much hope this isn't the case, but realistically I know from many years of SW development it will happen. I do think it is stable and playable release but be aware that it is fairly early in the development and I am working alone. So if you decide to play, I encourage you to send feedback, as your help in testing would be appreciated. At the very least I am certain that this release is far more stable and free of serious bugs than Official v1.2. This mod is based off my Undisciplined Caitiff mod as 90% of that mod was bug fixes for Official v1.2 and 10% was my mod on top of that base patch. This patch removes the modded parts of the UC mod and expands the fixes to include all clans. It also greatly expands on the UC base fixes to where the UC mod will need to updated and released after this one. In the beginning of developing this mod I was scrubbing things too clean, fixing too much, and felt the game lost the raw and quirky feel that is unique to v1.2. So I went back and reversed some of those changes. I am trying to capture the raw and edgy experience in the original game minus some of the worst bugs. As I mentioned above if the game is working as designed then making changes isn't bug fixing. But how am I defining a game affecting bug? For me that means things like game mechanics that do not WORK AS INTENDED, map triggers and python scripts that do not function properly, etc. But it is impossible for me to make bug fixes without impressing my ideas into the game. Some fixes I am 90% confident in, others I'm 51% confident... and from day to day the 1% might flip-flop sides. And not all my changes are strictly game mechanic focused but I still have very specific reasons for making each change and in all cases the reason is to accurately represent v1.2. For example Gary's Tap Hotel film in the original game is called a film canister "Put the film canister in your mailbox". But the film you find is a video cassette and not even a Tap Hotel cassette, it is a mislabeled and reused asset. So my conclusion is that they wanted Gary's film to be a film canister but did not have time for this. So I restored it to being a film canister because I feel that is clear intent and it also makes the most sense. It doesn't make sense for the video cassette to be found in a movie theatre. So in this case it seems reasonable to me that the game is not WORKING AS INTENDED even though it is not a code issue. The same situation occurs for Imalia's film, the same reused and mislabeled asset as for Tap Hotel, which is our clue that this is forced and not intended. But in this case it does make sense for it to be a video cassette so I created new assets to represent her film more realistically, even though there is no basis for what I created other that the original asset is labeled incorrectly. INSTALLATION DETAILS: if not using the "SMP Install" command file. ===================== If you have save flies from playing an un-patched game it is a good idea to move these saves out of \Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines\Vampire\SAVE to someplace safe (if you want to use them at some future date), or delete them if not. Otherwise these old and incompatible saves will show up on this mods save menu screen and will cause massive bugs if accidentally loaded. (Running the "SMP Install" CMD file will automatically back up these files if it finds conflicts, and if you give it permission.) If you have a configuration file from playing an un-patched game that has many custom key bindings it is a good idea to leave it, otherwise you will have to re-enter the custom key bindings. If however the configuration file is mostly just the defaults the game picks then it is best to move it to a backup location or delete it. If the config file from an up-patched game is used, you will need to manually setup the keybinding for the skip/reset cutscene feature and automove feature or they will not function. The config file will be found in \Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines\Vampire\cfg\config.cfg. If you decide to keep your custom config.cfg file and experience trouble with this mod then check your custom config.cfg against the mod default.cfg in \Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines\SMP\cfg\defualt.cfg. For players not wanting to use Game Mod Loader to launch the game, it can be installed directly into the Vampire directory with some minor changes. However, the mod will completely replace the original game and to restore the original game it will need to be reinstalled fresh. To accomplish this extract the mod into some temporary location, not the game directory. In the SMP directory rename pack000.vpk to pack011.vpk. Then copy the entire contents from the SMP directory over the files in the Vampire directory that is in the VTMB game root directory. Meaning both Vampire.exe and the Vampire directory must both be present or it is not the correct location. Launch the game directly from Vampire.exe and set new keys for the reset cutscene and automove functions. If using 4:3 resolution, go to Vampire/vdata/signs and copy entire contents of tutorial_popup_original over the files in Vampire/vdata/signs. TROUBLESHOOTING: ===================== The tutorial overlays were changed to work for 16:9 aspect ratio, and only 16:9. If your monitor is something other than 16:9 and that is an issue, you can play in windowed mode at 16:9 until the tutorial is complete. For players wanting to experience the original 4:3 overlays, both sets of files are in vdata/signs so the player can copy them back and forth as many times as they wish. I chose this solution because it retains Troika's design intent for the overlays and is also flexible, allowing player to choose between completely original 4:3 or slightly modified 16:9 by copying a few files. There is a configurable automove function that works like the automove in Skyrim. However, one of the limitations is that if changes are made to forward (w by default) or backward (s by default), then after making those changes the game needs to be shut down and restarted. This is because those changes are not committed to the confg.cfg file until game is closed. If this rule is accidentally broken, in the options menu simply clear both forward and backward key assignments, reassign them, then close and restart the game. Everything will then return to working. If you do not want to use the configurable automove function simply clear the key in the options menu. There is also a hard coded version that can be enabled in the SMP/cfg/autoexec.cfg file by un-commenting 3 lines. The hard coded version doesn't have the restrictions of the configurable but the drawback is that it needs to be manually edited to use bindings other than the game default. There are also comments in the SMP/cfg/autoexec.cfg file for other things the more advanced players may want to use/enable. There is a configurable option to skip and/or reset cutscenes. For certain cutscenes it is specifically designed to skip them entirely. For example; the opening intro cutscene, Nines transition to Downtown cutscene, viewing Grout cutscene, wolf/Beckett warehouse cutscene, LaCroix/Beckett/Player Sarcophagus cutscene, freeing Lily cutscene, etc. It can also universally reset the player character if they are stuck in a cutscene or other types of scripted scene. But do not use this option for simple things like player stuck on geometry, for example in a door, or the menu is frozen because the console was closed improperly. Sometimes the player will be stuck in a frozen cutscene and also on geometry, in that case reset the cutscene first and if player still won't move try noclip. The player can use this feature at any time but should be aware that indiscriminate use can produce negative outcomes. It can also produce some pretty cool and interesting outcomes if used creatively. The player has complete autonomy to use it in any way they see fit, but are responsible for the result they produce. There are some changes that I don't feel make the cut for a standard patch but I still like. So I included a switch for enabling them. From the console run SMP_ExtrasON() or SMP_ExtrasOFF() to enable/disable them. If you have items stored in lockers that SMP_Extras changes, they won't be lost and can be recovered any time by switching SMP_Extras on and off. Running SMP_ExtrasON()/SMP_ExtrasOFF() is local to the character/save and can be done as often as desired but will sometimes not become active till changing maps. The SMP_ExtrasON()/SMP_ExtrasOFF() function can also be passed a parameter to enable global changes that requires a game restart. For now this support involves enabling one new model and the only parameter value supported is 1. For example, SMP_ExtrasON(1) Do not put things in your mailbox unless asked to, or you don't care if you lose them. If you happen to lose/change apartments you also lose access to the mailbox that came with that apartment. If payments are accidentally left in a mailbox that is closed off, the payment/s will automatically be given to PC the first time they renter the locked apartment. There is a new function that tests if the characters stealth has become corrupted. It is run every time the player returns to a hub area after a mission. If the player does not want to see the warnings from this test they can set G.noSteathCheck to a value of 1. I don't know how many, by my definition, important bugs still exist in the mod but if you feel that you have discovered one please report it where the mod was distributed, or on the mod thread at PlanetVampire. Also, if you have any issues with the mods changes and want to discuss them. GAMEPLAY: ===================== This should follow/play similar to the base game, I hope very similar. Unless a player has run through Official v1.2 several times I do expect they will be confused about what is working, what isn't, and why. If a player wants to exploit the game I think they should be free to do so. Some of my changes did remove exploits but my changes were not made to eliminate exploits. That is just a side effect of making the game work the way I felt Troika intended it. CREDITS: ===================== These are listed in a separate SMPcredits.txt file.