Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines (PC)

[Huntn]

Any fans of Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire:_The_Masquerade_-_Bloodlines) here?

CAUTION: If your using a MacBook, you may have some issues with this game. Unverified.

I'm really thinking about finding a use copy to play again. Amazingly all the copies I found online go for $50 and up. D2D (http://www.direct2drive.com/3/803/product/Buy-Vampire:-The-Masquerade---Bloodlines-Download) does have a downloadable version for $19. My impression is that it will play on Vista and if it will play you should not experience any performance issues running it under BootCamp.

Worth Playing Review (http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=21112).

Playing Tips (some might consider these spoilers)
1. Your Goul Heather- it's worth your while to save her at the Santa Monica Clinic. She gets you stuff including money, a human snack, and the best armor in the game. To get the gifts a-coming, she appears in Downtown L.A. after you return from the Elizabeth Dane expedition She'll be on the street as you get out of the cab. If you lucky enough to be awarded a haven downtown, she heads there or she'll go to the Santa Monica haven.
2. Elevator Caution- As you may or may not know, Jeanette and Teressa Voerman are two competing vampire sisters who run the Asylum nightclub. I don't want to ruin it for any of the un-initiated so I'll just mention your character will make a minimum of 3 trips to the second floor by way of an elevator. This elevator can malfunction in the game. You can be on the second floor and not be able to get the elevator button to work correctly as in it won't light up. If this happens you'll be stuck on the second floor until you revert to a previous save. Anything accomplished in the apartment will have to be repeated. About your 3rd visit to the Asylum second floor apartment there will be a significant scene pushing the story forward with lengthy dialog choices. The last thing you want is to come out and have a malfunctioning elevator.
I'm not sure what caused this but I can confirm it happens. My advice is to save the game on the first floor of the Asylum, get in the elevator, make sure the elevator button on the second floor is lighting up after getting off the elevator. Then go in, complete the apartment content, get down to the first floor and save again. This is a good rule for all elevator rides.

[Fezwick]

Yeah it's a great game. I tried playing it through CrossOver Games but it doesn't work. I think it has something to do with the DRM on the game. If I had a copy of Windows I would play it again. My MBA should be able to handle it.

Play a Malkavian. They are a ton of fun. :)

[MacRumorUser]

I really loved Vampire : The Masquerade and the community patches made the game less buggy too.

Did'nt realise it was fetching so much on ebay! Maybe I should sell my copy :D

[capoeirista]

Yeah wow, I've got a copy in the garage somewhere. Best keep hold of it for a while...

[Huntn]

Allow me to adjust that price, I found used copies at Amazon.com for $37 + shipping. That game seems prime for a remake, but Troika Games went out of business in 2005. I'm sure someone still holds the rights. :)

[txa1265]

This is one of the best RPG's in recent years, even with the bugs. The role-playing aspects are superb, as is the story and dialogue.

I think you can still get it on Steam, but can't hit that site from work to check. Last time I saw it was ~$20 regular with a $10 sale price on occasion.

You could also try Goozex, but there aren't many copies of the game on offer now.

I'm actually replaying it now, as well as Arcanum and Temple of Elemental Evil, for a Retrospective article I'm writing for RPGWatch.

[LukeG]

I bought my copy for $20 new in a bargain bin at EB. I've got it on the PC, but I don't have an intel mac so I haven't tried it under bootcamp. I heard they made a Mac version too.

[txa1265]

I heard they made a Mac version too.

That was Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption, totally different developer and game. Not too bad, especially if you can get it for a bargain.

[Huntn]

This is one of the best RPG's in recent years, even with the bugs.

I just got the game reinstalled. I applied the official 1.2 patch then I applied the tessmage.com 5.04AT patch which seems to work well so far. I'm back into it. :)

[bassism]

A great game, and one that I sadly never finished.
I'll have to pull it out again.
There's really nothing quite like the Malkavian experience in that game.

[Huntn]

A great game, and one that I sadly never finished.
I'll have to pull it out again.
There's really nothing quite like the Malkavian experience in that game.

Years ago, the first time through I played a Toreadore. I just started a Malkavian and I love the dialog! There seems to be other benefits such as through dialog choices being able to waltz into the medical clinic. Outstanding atmosphere in this game! :)

I highly recommend the True 5.04AT patch available at tessmage.com (http://www.tessmage.com/downloads/index.htm) (caution nudity at link) along with the Jeanette Voerman "Sex Kitten" mod. There is also a Velvet Velour mod which is great for a gal in her line of work (exotic dancer). I also noticed a NPC high res mod but have not installed that one yet. Most of these mods seem solid.

BTW, the "Friggin Chicken" Ad on the radio cracks me up all most every time I hear it. ;)

[txa1265]

BTW, the "Friggin Chicken" Ad on the radio cracks me up all most every time I hear it. ;)

Someone had done a repack of the 'soundtrack' and included the 5 'Deb of Night' episodes ... they are amazingly hilarious ...

[Huntn]

Please don't reveal spoilers without prior warning! BTW this is game has a ESRB Rating of Mature for violence and sexual themes.

I just finished my Ocean House adventure. This is an outstanding haunted house experience. I had to keep reminding myself, hey I'm a vampire, why am I afraid?? As far as special effects it's not eye popping, but there is just enough happening that I was unsettled. :D

For any of you thinking about playing this game again or for the first time. I have run into a sort-of bug in the Asylum. And I think I remember it from long ago too.

As you may or may not know, Jeanette and Teressa Voerman are two competing vampire sisters who run the Asylum nightclub. I don't want to ruin it for any of the un-initiated so I'll just mention your character will make a minimum of 3 trips to the second floor by way of an elevator. This elevator can malfunction in the game. You can be on the second floor and not be able to get the elevator button to work correctly as in it won't light up. If this happens you'll be stuck on the second floor until you revert to a previous save. Anything accomplished in the apartment will have to be repeated. About your 3rd visit to the Asylum second floor apartment there will be a significant scene pushing the story forward with lengthy dialog choices. The last thing you want is to come out and have a malfunctioning elevator.

I'm not sure what caused this but I can confirm it happens. My advice is to save the game on the first floor of the Asylum, get in the elevator, make sure the elevator button on the second floor is lighting up after getting off the elevator. Then go in, complete the apartment content, get down to the first floor and save again. This is a good rule for all elevator rides.

There are some good walk throughs posted online. Here is an example (http://faqs.ign.com/articles/711/711280p1.html). There is also a reported opportunity to have intimate relations with one of the Voerman Sisters regardless of the sex of your character. I've never experienced it, and it is unverified although a video is available on UTube, but my understanding it is entirely a "sound" experience. ;) Read about it here (http://starwarsunited.com/showpost.php?p=47663&postcount=5). This link includes spoilers.

[drboboh]

How are people running this game? Obviously on Vista or some PC OS, but did any of you get the Shader System window error? If so, how did you get by it? Do you run at a lower res.. i'm at 1920x1200..

Please! I just DL'd it off direct2drive and this ish aint workin.

[Huntn]

How are people running this game? Obviously on Vista or some PC OS, but did any of you get the Shader System window error? If so, how did you get by it? Do you run at a lower res.. i'm at 1920x1200..

Please! I just DL'd it off direct2drive and this ish aint workin.

I'm sorry you're having troubles. Are you using a Mac Book? I did find a blurb about VTMB not supporting integrated graphics. However it did mention a possible fix. See it here (http://forums.gamespy.com/bloodlines_tech_support/b50391/19700591/p1/?1). But then I found this (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/vtmb/show_msgs.php?topic_id=m-1-42897388&pid=914819) thread which does not look good.

So what hardware are you running it on, what Windows OS, and have you installed any patches or are you running it as it came from D2D? I have a hard copy of the game, not a downloaded copy so I'm not sure what extra twists there are if any with a downloaded version.

I'm running this game on a 3.1 Ghz P4 PC with Windows XP and I'm running it on 32 bit Vista on my MacBook Pro.

[Huntn]

I added 3 Game Tips to the first post in this thread such as:

Apparently (unverified) if you are playing a Tremere, if you want a haven at the Tremere Chantry, it's important that you talk to Mr Strauss, the reagent about the plague problem in downtown LA before you talk to Damsil, the Anarch at The Last Round about it. This was mentioned in a walkthrough and it is a bit annoying if you don't do it right because the Santa Monica Haven is a DUMP. I just did a run through talking to Damsil first and at the end of the plague quest chain, I was not offered a place to stay. I'm gonna try it again in reverse order and see if it makes any difference.

When I first played this game as a Toreador, I automatically got the downtown Apartment from LeCroix so this is a bit frustrating.

Also, added a blurb regarding Vampires Bloodlines to the Windows Gaming on a Mac FAQ Guide (http://guides.macrumors.com/Windows_Gaming_on_a_Mac_FAQ).

Anyone running this game on a MacBook?

[Huntn]

Update: Regarding the Tremere Reagent, I replayed this section of the game, talking to the Reagent before talking to Damsil, then doing the plague quest chain, but I see no difference in dialog choices with Reagant Strauss offering a haven for your Tremere character. The haven is not offered. Some where, some how it might make a difference, but I'm not seeing it up front. Until verified, I've deleted this info from the game play tips.

[Huntn]

Spoilers Below

Hollywood Quest: Hot Stripper Assassin Action
This quest has a problem. Chastity is a stripper who also hunts vampires, as in being someone who kills vampires. VV, the owner of Vesuvius Nightclub wants you to get rid of her. At the Sin Bin, the dude at the front desk says that if you want private action with Chastity you have to wait until all the customers leave from the peep show booths, then the girls come out and will offer private dances. The girls dance, and the peep show guys watch through their window.

So the key is figure out how to make the two peep show watchers leave.

Spoiler

A fat pudgy guy comes out of the booth to get more money out of the ATM. Online walk-throughs say that you must pick the lock of the ATM and rob it so there is no more money. However if your lock pick skills are not high enough even with Blood Buff, lock picking does not work. Plan B is to beat the hell out of the ATM. When it is sufficiently broken, a dialog pops up allowing you to take its money. Then lock pick the Manager's Office next to the ATM, and the dance room door across from the ATM, using Blood Buff if necessary.

What I noticed is that if the pudgy guy comes out while your beating on the ATM, he may cower, (you'll get a "crime message") then he goes back into the booth never leaving, even with the viewing window shut, the quest will not progress.

Solution: When you run into the Sin Bin, immediately head down stairs and beat the ATM for it's money, making sure you he does not see you do it. If he is in the booth he won't see the crime. Then what happened for me, he comes out of the booth just stands at the ATM trying to get money out of it but that will be enough to let the quest progress.

Spoiler Part 2


Getting rid of the guy in the other peep booth, requires hacking the computer in the office and select "lockdown" which closes the viewing window of his booth. Then he leaves, the room to the dance area opens or will open and a dancer will be having a smoke. According to quest parameters, you need to get this dancer to leave. You can do that by inviting her to the private room, but it will cost you $200.

She leaves and poor little Chastidy who know what is what, is standing there with a Katana blade ready to cut you. You can fight and get cut, or as a Tremere you can lay a Suicide spell on her which immediately kills her. Not to sporting, as fighting is more fun. :)

[LostCocoa]

Yeah it's a great game. I tried playing it through CrossOver Games but it doesn't work. I think it has something to do with the DRM on the game. If I had a copy of Windows I would play it again. My MBA should be able to handle it.

Play a Malkavian. They are a ton of fun. :)


I dunno about you but it's working on my Mac...

[davwin]

I just reinstalled this game on my Unibody MacBook over the weekend :) It has been playing fine although I have not found the res patcher yet so playing at default resolution. If anything the game is too fast at this point as the mouse "look" movement and such are way too fast to be used at defaults.

[AAPLaday]

Ah i used to love this game!!! When i had my old AMD 3200 set up i used to play this all the time. I had a cheap graphics card though and it was sooo slow when more than 2 people were on screen but i loved it!!!! Reading things like this makes me want to install windows on my imac and relive the memories. Also all those lovely RTS games also have me thinking of doing it lol :p

[davwin]

I have the respatch on again now and the latest 5.x fan patch and its playing beautifully on my MacBook. Res is set to 1280x800 and all options are on high. Its still a little fast but, you can adjust the mouse settings to compensate for the look speed :) Can't recommend this game enough, just about the best RPG ever made.

[Huntn]

Can't recommend this game enough, just about the best RPG ever made.

I love the atmosphere. It's too good of a game to miss out on. ;)

[aznguyen316]

I played this for awhile until I got stuck in the haunted mansion, couldn't figure out what to do. I may get back into this game though.. everyone talking it up. I like RPG/FPS games so I may give it a try again.

you can also get this on steam for $19.99

[Fezwick]

I finally got this game working and started playing it again. Playing as a Tremere right now. Thaumaturgy is really friggin' cool to use. I just got up to the haunted house part. Hopefully this time I can finish the game in it's entirety.

[Rodus]

Runs fine under Crossover for me, great performance and zero glitching. It is a great fun game and big so you get a decent length of play out of it.


Yeah it's a great game. I tried playing it through CrossOver Games but it doesn't work. I think it has something to do with the DRM on the game. If I had a copy of Windows I would play it again. My MBA should be able to handle it.

Play a Malkavian. They are a ton of fun. :)

[aznguyen316]

Runs fine under Crossover for me, great performance and zero glitching. It is a great fun game and big so you get a decent length of play out of it.

is your steam version or retail? More details please.

[aznguyen316]

I have the respatch on again now and the latest 5.x fan patch and its playing beautifully on my MacBook. Res is set to 1280x800 and all options are on high. Its still a little fast but, you can adjust the mouse settings to compensate for the look speed :) Can't recommend this game enough, just about the best RPG ever made.

also, retail or steam version? Install notes for crossover please

[Huntn]

I played this for awhile until I got stuck in the haunted mansion, couldn't figure out what to do. I may get back into this game though.. everyone talking it up. I like RPG/FPS games so I may give it a try again.

you can also get this on steam for $19.99

Semi Spoiler:



You are looking for an "item" for Teressa. You navigate from the first floor, to the basement, to the top floor, down through an elevator shaft, back up into a wrecked area of the hotel where you start to see visions. The item will be there. I remember one possibly tricky part where there is a something like plywood covering up a hole in the floor you need to jump down through. The first time I went through this mansion, even though I was a vamp, it made me nervous. :)

[Rodus]

is your steam version or retail? More details please.
Retail, bought secondhand from a friend as it gave me the chance to see if it would run. IIRC there wasn't any voodoo required to install it. What problems are you having exactly?

[aznguyen316]

Retail, bought secondhand from a friend as it gave me the chance to see if it would run. IIRC there wasn't any voodoo required to install it. What problems are you having exactly?

No issues at the moment, haven't tried. I was just curious b/c Codeweaver's support forums show issues running the game but someone w/ a steam version had it working without issues. I will probably try this out then.. will prob just run the installer with the 3 CD's. I have them ripped into ISO's hopefully it will install fine that way rather than swapping discs since Crossover doesn't like multiple CD installs it seems.

I'm hoping the fan patches install into this too.. have you tried that? I believe 5.9 or .09 or something

[cryonicjim]

Awesome game, one of the few i chose to bring over from my old windows machine. sadly, performance isn't that great on my pre-nvidia macbook, but it runs well enough to be playable. I didn't buy it for gaming, so as long as it runs bloodlines and KOTOR 1 + 2 I'm happy.

[Rodus]

Actually you're right, I did do it from iso's, force of habit with CrossOver as it's automatic for me to do it that way straight off, Codeweavers' CD support is crap. I haven't tried the fan patches I'm afraid.

I have them ripped into ISO's hopefully it will install fine that way rather than swapping discs since Crossover doesn't like multiple CD installs it seems.

I'm hoping the fan patches install into this too.. have you tried that? I believe 5.9 or .09 or something

[davwin]

Mine is the retail CD version (3 discs + soundtrack) with the official 1.2 patch, the 5.x fan patch and the Fixed EXE to run without the disc in the drive. Playing it in Bootcamp under Windows7 and I set the "autorun" and "vampire" executables to run in Admin mode and set them both to Win XP SP2 compatibility just to be safe.

For anyone that already has this game, as noted in this thread you shouldn't have any issues with the retail or Steam versions under Crossover or playing under Bootcamp. For anyone thinking of buying it Do So Immediately :) and... Go for the Steam version: Its the easiest to find and it's the quickest/easiest way to get the game up and running (and patched) IMO.

[aznguyen316]

via retail ISO's had an issue installing in crossover. Couldn't copy over a file early on disc one. Not sure what's up as I've had it working in Bootcamp before usingsame ISO's. I may try a different method though of mounting.

[AAPLaday]

via retail ISO's had an issue installing in crossover. Couldn't copy over a file early on disc one. Not sure what's up as I've had it working in Bootcamp before usingsame ISO's. I may try a different method though of mounting.

Any luck with that?

[aznguyen316]

Any luck with that?

haven't tried it just yet. the thing was my original ISO's were in .mdf files (alocohol I believe) and I was able to mount them using toast and then try to install via crossover, not sure if this is the reason why the install is failing or not. So I'm gonna convert them into actual ISO images and try again, but too lazy to boot into windows to do this.

[Rodus]

If you're running boot camp then try installing under Windows, creating a new bottle in crossover and then dragging the game file from Windows into the bottle, you'd be surprised at how often this works.

[aznguyen316]

If you're running boot camp then try installing under Windows, creating a new bottle in crossover and then dragging the game file from Windows into the bottle, you'd be surprised at how often this works.

I thought about that, but didn't know if crossover needed registry files etc too.. but I will prob try it when I get some time.

[aznguyen316]

found out it was a bad ISO, I had used it previously but I guess after a few back and forth transfers from my external HDD and back, something became corrupted.

[AngryMetalGuy]

I installed this on my Boot Camp partition and it crashes every single time I pull it up. Anyone got any ideas as to why it would do this?

I've got a MacBook 13" with a 2.16 ghz duo core...

[davwin]

I can only recommend to uninstall and reinstall the game using Admin mode and Win XP SP2 compatibility mode. From the retail disc, just Rt click on the Setup.exe file and set it to run in Admin Mode and set the compatibility to Win XP SP2. After its installed, apply the official 1.2 patch then the 5.x fan patch. Now - set the autorun.exe and the vampire.exe in the main game directory (C:\Program Files\Vampire TM: Bloodlines or wherever you installed it) to run in Admin Mode and set the compatibility to Win XP SP2 for both files Before Running it For The First Time.

Hope that helps :)

[xxbamxbobbyxx]

im attempting to play this on an intel mac through a cider port but the game crashes everytime right after i make my character saying something about not enough drive space and a map error. im running mac 10.5.8 and my graphics card is an ATY,RadeonX1600. and i cant find any patches that aren't .exe so i can't really patch anything. what do i do?

[davwin]

It's been a while since I've messed with a Cider port of any kind but, going from memory...

You can set the available amount of RAM (and even Video RAM?) to the game in the cider settings themselves. These may need to be higher (even if its just "virtual") to prevent the crash.

If that doesn't help, I would suggest installing and patching the game on a native Windows machine and then copying/replacing the existing directory for the game within Cider with the fully patched Windows version. That should give you all the patched DLL's and other files without having to run the .EXE directly.

[Huntn]

Windows 7 Update- For those of you interested in running Vampire:The Masquerade Bloodlines (PC) under Windows 7, the game is available through Windows Steam for purchase, in fact it has been on sale. If you look at the game requirements, Win 7 is not included. However, the fan patch allows it to be run under Windows 7. The game is incredibly atmospheric and well done. Combat is on the weak side. There are several walk throughs available online.

See Windows Gaming on a Mac FAQ (http://guides.macrumors.com/Windows_Gaming_on_a_Mac_FAQ) and check the Specific Game Help section or go to this original Steam Forums post (http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2025035) .
:D:D

It will not run under Mac Steam. :(

[Huntn]

Under Windows 7, just installed the Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines (http://www.patches-scrolls.de/vampire_bloodlines.php) Unofficial Patch No.78. Everything is working great!