Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines: 2 - I want to believe, but...

[Adamska]

Right now I'm most curious how extensive VtmB2's mod support will be. Since they confirmed it has it but not how extensive it is. (IE: Will it be like Ubisoft's Create a quest but nothing else, Doom 2016's snapmap? Or will it have a full sdk?)

Rather hope it does, mainly because I'd not be shocked if it turns out into being a janky mess like its predecessor too given this is a fairly new company when it comes to big projects.

 

[Watcher]

Rather hope it does, mainly because I'd not be shocked if it turns out into being a janky mess like its predecessor too given this is a fairly new company when it comes to big projects.

Janky mess is at this point a certainty given how inexperienced the dev is and how ambitious this project is. (They're attempting something on the scale of Cyberpunk 2077 but on a budget). It'll almost certainly get a constant deluge of pointless dlc and will get patched to a reasonable state post launch. However what I'm curious about is in this deluge, will it get an sdk or not. Because I'm almost certain what mod support might come out will be cripplingly limited because they don't have the time and energy to make a full sdk.

 

[Brad Armstrong]

I have no hope for the sequel. And I'll admit, I was excited when I first saw the trailer but then I realized many things...
Like how it was being published by Paradox, the DLC spamming kings of the smaller budget publishers.
And how it was being made by a developer whose only good game was Blacklight Retribution, an multiplayer FPS not an RPG, and a bunch of other shovelware/movie tie in games.
And one of the members of said developer is an actual Resetera poster.
And jesus, I hate using this word, but the first gameplay demo was just soulless. None of the aesthetics, music, and characters that gave the first game its amazing atmosphere. It just looks like a generic open-world city game like Watchdogs.

 

[YourMommasBackstory]

And jesus, I hate using this word, but the first gameplay demo was just soulless. None of the aesthetics, music, and characters that gave the first game its amazing atmosphere. It just looks like a generic open-world city game like Watchdogs.

i got a nostalgic vibe from radio in a start of gameplay, but then player went to a street and music... just the same as it was in a first part. I dunno, it felt strange and looks like nostalgia is their main selling point.
A chick that gave quest is so bland, but, based on dialoge options, she might be local Vivi or Janett, but her design is so usual and not memorable.
But i liked UI tho, it's very clean and stylish, i like it way more then UI in a first game.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I have no hope for the sequel. And I'll admit, I was excited when I first saw the trailer but then I realized many things...
Like how it was being published by Paradox, the DLC spamming kings of the smaller budget publishers.
And how it was being made by a developer whose only good game was Blacklight Retribution, an multiplayer FPS not an RPG, and a bunch of other shovelware/movie tie in games.
And one of the members of said developer is an actual Resetera poster.
And jesus, I hate using this word, but the first gameplay demo was just soulless. None of the aesthetics, music, and characters that gave the first game its amazing atmosphere. It just looks like a generic open-world city game like Watchdogs.

Fuck you m8, Watch_Dogs was great and had a distinctive style.

 

[Keystone]

Right now I'm most curious how extensive VtmB2's mod support will be. Since they confirmed it has it but not how extensive it is. (IE: Will it be like Ubisoft's Create a quest but nothing else, Doom 2016's snapmap? Or will it have a full sdk?)

Probably not the full SDK since the mod community for VtmB would absolutely remake the original game if given the chance, along with the QoL and extension mods. And a lot of developers seem to hate when game communities do that, if only because fans end up providing a higher quality product.

 

[Watcher]

Probably not the full SDK since the mod community for VtmB would absolutely remake the original game if given the chance

I don't think Paradox would mind this since they own the rights to VtmB1, and like Valve would genuinely wanna capitalize on a fan remake of their most popular game. If anything if the mod was released they'd probably buy the rights and charge money for it to shill more dlc for it.

Paradox I feel would be more open to modders than CCP was (who C&D'd a mod attempting to port VtmB1 to Unity).

And a lot of developers seem to hate when game communities do that, if only because fans end up providing a higher quality product.

they tend to only do this when fans attempt to remake games as full titles in UE4 or Unity. However making it as a mod is different because you still need to own the sequel to play the remake. Which companies are usually way more on-board for since it means they still make money off of it.

 

[HoneyBadgersOfOats]

I'll take a fun, immersive story over decent combat any day as well, I always judge a game as an overall experience, far too many gamers judge a game by it's weakest element rather than looking at the bigger picture, which I've never understood.

That's how I feel about Yoko Taro's games from Drakengard to the original Nier. God did the combat suck, but I enjoyed every minute stories being told along with the characters. To much focus in games these days on presenting graphics and flashy weapons/abilities. In any RPG the areas that should get the most focus and effort are the characters and story. If the story can't hold me I get bored of a game quick, no matter how flashy the combat is.

 

[Agent of Z.O.G.]

Fuck you m8, Watch_Dogs was great and had a distinctive style.

Only good things to ever come out of that shitty franchise were the 4chan webms.

 

[Corbin Dallas Multipass]

I still find the story and the multiple paths you can take pretty refreshing for such a big game. It definitely took the open sandbox idea from GTA, but managed to have pretty much everything you did tie back into the main story and come back to bite you in the ass later, which was rare in those days. The combat was definitely ass, but you can't win em all. I'll take a fun, immersive story over decent combat any day.

It's funny, I have pretty much the opposite idea when playing a game like this:

The combat is what you build your character for. Yeah, there's other stuff too, which I like in RPGs, but I mean look at the talent trees and shit, it's mostly combat stuff. The combat is where you get challenged, the combat is where you see if your build holds up.

A good story will get me to forgive less good combat, but only to a point. The combat moments outweigh the story moments by like 50:1. I have to fight my way through 3 floors of sewers, all by combat. Well it better not suck. At this point, it doesn't really matter how good the story is, I've gotta fight 3 floors of mooks, and the quality of the combat will determine my enjoyment.

I couldn't get through the first one because of how bad the combat was, even though I liked the story. The bugginess of course didn't help...

Fuck you m8, Watch_Dogs was great and had a distinctive style.

You know, I played watch_dogs and sorta liked it at first, but... I dunno, it just didn't grab me at all.

 

[wrangled tard]

Only good things to ever come out of that shitty franchise were the 4chan webms.

Watch_Dogs 2 had some really nice concepts like the spider tank and different types of drones. Unfortunately everything else in the game was incredibly fucking boring and formulaic, just like every other Ubisoft openworld game.

 

[Dom Cruise]

So here's a question.

I was surprised as hell when specifically a direct sequel to Bloodlines was announced and not simply a new Vampire The Masquerade game because wasn't the world supposed to have ended soon after Bloodlines and a new World of Darkness continuity was created?

But now they say it's "15 years later" so clearly something has changed.

 

[Techpriest]

So here's a question.

I was surprised as hell when specifically a direct sequel to Bloodlines was announced and not simply a new Vampire The Masquerade game because wasn't the world supposed to have ended soon after Bloodlines and a new World of Darkness continuity was created?

But now they say it's "15 years later" so clearly something has changed.

Gehenna is cyclical in V5. Or more accurately who fucking knows. It should be the end times but the end times can range from “oh shit all the antideluvians are up now” to “well uh, Caine realizes the curse was entirely in his head the whole time and now his kids are losing their powers because of this.”

Old world is a mess in many ways. Who knows what the cosmology status is in this game?

 

[Dom Cruise]

Gehenna is cyclical in V5. Or more accurately who fucking knows. It should be the end times but the end times can range from “oh shit all the antideluvians are up now” to “well uh, Caine realizes the curse was entirely in his head the whole time and now his kids are losing their powers because of this.”

Old world is a mess in many ways. Who knows what the cosmology status is in this game?

Whoa, “well uh, Caine realizes the curse was entirely in his head the whole time and now his kids are losing their powers because of this.”, is that a thing that's really happened?

Vampirism just being psychosomatic is a hilarious and kind of awesome idea.

 

[YourMommasBackstory]

Whoa, “well uh, Caine realizes the curse was entirely in his head the whole time and now his kids are losing their powers because of this.”, is that a thing that's really happened?

Vampirism just being psychosomatic is a hilarious and kind of awesome idea.

WoD lore is open for interpretetion, it leaves some question without answer, sometimes answer vary from clan to clan, each group of vampires has their own point of view, and who knows who is right. Usually GM desides what is the truth.

 

[Adamska]

Whoa, “well uh, Caine realizes the curse was entirely in his head the whole time and now his kids are losing their powers because of this.”, is that a thing that's really happened?

Vampirism just being psychosomatic is a hilarious and kind of awesome idea.

That was actually a potential Gehenna scenario released in a splat which culminates in him getting into a big bar fight with Lilith. Lucifer was his bro in that one.

 

[SiccDicc]

Paradox I feel would be more open to modders than CCP was (who C&D'd a mod attempting to port VtmB1 to Unity).

>unity
They were just doing everyone a favor.

 

[Techpriest]

Whoa, “well uh, Caine realizes the curse was entirely in his head the whole time and now his kids are losing their powers because of this.”, is that a thing that's really happened?

Vampirism just being psychosomatic is a hilarious and kind of awesome idea.

It’s an actual Gehenna scenario from an official White Wolf book. It presented several ‘canonical’ ways to end the setting.

That was actually a potential Gehenna scenario released in a splat which culminates in him getting into a big bar fight with Lilith. Lucifer was his bro in that one.

Don’t forget the players would somehow be involved, as would Abel as a Wraith. The psychosomatic vampirism and Caine chilling with Lucifer in a bar were the best parts of that scenario. The rest was rather trash.

Let’s try and forget the first scenario entirely.

 

[Ruin]

Why does it look so bad? I'm not a huge graphics whore but the textures are muddy and low resolution, the combat animations are stiff and janky, and the facial animations while not being MEA tier awful are closer to that direction than any other AAA game I've seen.

 

[YourMommasBackstory]

Why does it look so bad? I'm not a huge graphics whore but the textures are muddy and low resolution, the combat animations are stiff and janky, and the facial animations while not being MEA tier awful are closer to that direction than any other AAA game I've seen.

it is still pre-alpha, i belive.
Tho, having only pre-alpha, when there are less then a year left before release, and when you already take money for preorders is kinda sad.