VtM: Bloodlines

[Child of Flame]

I started a new Bloodlines game recently, in part because the Vampire PnP game Ender's running made me feel nostalgic for Jack, and Nines, and the rest of the Kindred in that game, in part because it's a damn fine game and I hadn't even come close to playing out all the different scenarios and variables in it.

 

Deciding to see if there was anything in the game I'd missed before that I'd wanna look at in this run through, I went to Game FAQs. I didn't find anything in the normal game content I'd missed before, but I did find the Character History CVAR, which makes the character creation process a lot more deep, and is just a fun thing. I don't know why it was cut...probably for time considering just in the first couple of minutes of playing around with it I noticed that if you abused it by going back and forth between your Base Sheet and you Attributes sheet, switching History types as you went, you could max out all your stats from out the door. If you don't abuse it though, this is a really neat feature.

 

For each Vampire Clan, there are 8-10 diffent 'Histories'. Some of them overlap, but each clan has at least a few that belong to them and only them. There's also specific Histories for Male and Female characters, on a clan by clan basis. There are quite a few histories in it, I'd probably have to play through the game a couple hundred times to try out every single one with every single Clan/Sex.

 

The Histories act very similarly on your character as the Flaws/Merits system in the PnP game. For instance, the History I'm using right now on my Female Nossie, 'Cleopatra', makes her able to use Obfuscate for longer periods of time but Animalism costs more Experience points per level. There's a similar one for the Male Nossies called 'Bogeyman' that does the same thing to Obfuscate, but instead you can never max out his Potence (It caps at level 4, and you start with none.

 

Other ones I remember off the top of my head are Glass Eye (You in fact did shoot your eye out as a child, you start off with no perception it caps at 4 though you get a bonus to your Intimidation because of your unnerving gaze), Perv (Male history. You love women...too much. You also don't treat them too well. Your Subterfuge will never go above one, but you get a bonus when drinking blood from the opposite sex. ), **** (Same bonus as for Perv but reveresed, only the handicap is it's harder to learn skills/knowledges/abilities because in life you made your way be sleeping around. ), and there's also Histories like True Brujah, which change the priority of your point spending during Character Creation. In the case of True Brujah, rather than Physical being the most important attribute, it goes Mental, Physical, Social.

 

I must've spent half an hour just going through all the histories and reading them because they were written in such a fun way.

 

Most amusing History is probably Ninja! it is a Malkavian History, for both males and females. You get bonuses for Melee weapons, but you can't use Firearms because that is not of the Ninja.

 

 

Anyhow, to get all these and more, just enable your console and type

 

vchar_edit_histories "1"

 

into the console, then close the console, and start a new game. Histories will be underneath the Clan and Sex drop down menus in it's own drop down menu on th Base page. Have fun.

[SteveThaiBinh]

Thanks, I'll take a look next time I play.

 

I heard they were planning something like this but cut it. Is it possible there's a mod to restore them, do you think?

 

They (Troika) did much the same kind of thing with 'backgrounds' in Arcanum. Some of the backgrounds were so extreme that I could never find the courage to play them - like the 'sold your soul to the devil' background where you had a big negative reaction from everyone you met. I think I played as a 'Nietzsche Poster Child' once, though I can't remember exactly what that was. :D

[Child of Flame]

Thanks, I'll take a look next time I play.

 

I heard they were planning something like this but cut it.  Is it possible there's a mod to restore them, do you think?

 

They (Troika) did much the same kind of thing with 'backgrounds' in Arcanum.  Some of the backgrounds were so extreme that I could never find the courage to play them - like the 'sold your soul to the devil' background where you had a big negative reaction from everyone you met.  I think I played as a 'Nietzsche Poster Child' once, though I can't remember exactly what that was. :D

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Um...if by 'planning something like this but cut it.' you mean 'left it on the disc and even more easily accessible than Hot Coffee in GTA' then yes, they did indeed plan it and cut it.

 

You just type in the cheat I typed in the code box up there into the console on startup, while you're at the main menu before making a character. Then when you go to make you're character there's a third drop down menu. It's all still there.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Isnt this just what is called Merits & Flaws in the regular Vampire PnP game?

[Child of Flame]

The Histories act very similarly on your character as the Flaws/Merits system in the PnP game.

[SteveThaiBinh]

Um...if by 'planning something like this but cut it.' you mean 'left it on the disc and even more easily accessible than Hot Coffee in GTA' then yes, they did indeed plan it and cut it. 

 

You just type in the cheat in the code box before making a character.  It's all still there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh! I misunderstood your post, sorry. I thought you meant you read information about all this in the game files, not that you could actually restore it. Cool! Why on earth did they cut it then, if it was already complete?

[Child of Flame]

Um...if by 'planning something like this but cut it.' you mean 'left it on the disc and even more easily accessible than Hot Coffee in GTA' then yes, they did indeed plan it and cut it. 

 

You just type in the cheat in the code box before making a character.  It's all still there.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oh! I misunderstood your post, sorry. I thought you meant you read information about all this in the game files, not that you could actually restore it. Cool! Why on earth did they cut it then, if it was already complete?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

It's kind of wonky. It works fine if you don't go out of your way to abuse it, but if you pick one of the ones where the attribute starts at zero, you get an invisible filled in dot. You can unfill it, and if you do, the attribute disappears off the character sheet, though you can place it elsewhere in the same category.

 

Also, if you go to the Base sheet, select and history, then go to the Character sheet and spend the points, then switch back to the Base sheet and select a different history, then go back to the Character sheet, all the points are still spent, and you have the same amount of points to spend again. Like I said, you can max your stats out really easy this way right out of the gate, or screw up your character sheet by getting rid of one of your disciplines or vital stats like perception.

 

Just be careful and it shouldn't be a problem.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Isnt this just what is called Merits & Flaws in the regular Vampire PnP game?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The Histories act very similarly on your character as the Flaws/Merits system in the PnP game.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ir teh admiral of the obvious. Fear my powers.

 

 

 

I screwed up my Bloodlines installation by installing this useless clan mod that did nothing so I might try this if i reinstall it.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

I heard they were planning something like this but cut it.  Is it possible there's a mod to restore them, do you think?

 

I am not aware of any mod, though if there is one in the making the most likely source for it to be announced would be at the Planet Vampire forums.

 

Still, there's a pretty good FAQ written by Offkorn giving a step by step way to activate them.

 

They (Troika) did much the same kind of thing with 'backgrounds' in Arcanum.

 

Fallout's Traits also come to mind.

 

Some of the backgrounds were so extreme that I could never find the courage to play them - like the 'sold your soul to the devil' background where you had a big negative reaction from everyone you met.  I think I played as a 'Nietzsche Poster Child' once, though I can't remember exactly what that was. :D

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Nietzsche once said "That which does not kill me makes me stronger", and he may have been referring to you. All your life you have been making mistakes, but you always seem to come out better afterwards. In other words, you critically fail more than normal but you have a 10% experience point bonus.

 

I used the Escaped Lunatic background for my serial killer and the Frankenstein Monster background for some other character I played back then.

[FFSOMGLOLOLOL]

I screwed up my Bloodlines installation by installing this useless clan mod that did nothing so I might try this if i reinstall it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You mean this one?

 

Also: yeah, the histories CVAR is really cool. If only I had found it before I had beaten the game...

[Baley]

This might help.

 

I dunno.

 

Fixes some thongs.

[Kaftan Barlast]

I screwed up my Bloodlines installation by installing this useless clan mod that did nothing so I might try this if i reinstall it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You mean this one?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Yeah, a 33mb mod that just adds a bit of text and gives your character 5 discilines instead of the ususal 3.. <_<

[Darque]

I think the "histories" were a cool idea, shame they didn't add them officially, shame they didn't finish the game

[Calax]

Fixes some thongs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:) :stare:

 

Am I reading that right in that it fixes underwear?

 

 

Anyway perhaps they should add histories to Kotor stuff. At least then we know what the PC is thinking somewhat.

[LoneWolf16]

The game keeps crashing on me after a good few minutes of looking through the histories. Is it just me, or is anybody else having this problem?

[Child of Flame]

The game keeps crashing on me after a good few minutes of looking through the histories. Is it just me, or is anybody else having this problem?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

That was happening to me too, but I figured it was just my at times wonky setup (overclocked).

 

I found that if you cancel character creation and go back to menu when the music winds down, it doesn't do that.

[Archmonarch]

The game keeps crashing on me after a good few minutes of looking through the histories. Is it just me, or is anybody else having this problem?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Heh. Better than me. It crashes and/or freezes my system whenever I try to start a game. I believe it is because of the opening cinematic, but Im not sure. As of yet, I havent even gotten to character creation.

[EnderAndrew]

There is a new patch out.

 

http://www.ggmania.com/?smsid=19431

[Guest Fishboot]

There is a new patch out.

 

http://www.ggmania.com/?smsid=19431

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Note the fanmade nature of the above patch. In particular, the fan patch adds some questionable stuff (adds a few experience rewards, renames the guns to the real world guns they represent [ex. Utica shotgun becomes Ithaca shotgun], makes a few balance altering decisions and moves some "loot" around the game) in addition to some changes that verge on missing content restoration as well as genuine patch content (breaks infinite conversation loops, etc.) making it part mod and part patch. I don't know if all of the changes are really appropriate, but I think the fan patches are probably still a net improvement.

 

I write this so anyone who hasn't played the game can know what they're getting in the patch without having to read too much, since the patch notes are filled with spoilers.

[EnderAndrew]

Given that I haven't played the game, I'm happy to avoid spoilers.

[Noceur]

The reason they cut the History part of character creation was because they didn't have enough time to beta test it.

 

As I understand it's fairly common for the game to crash and/or freeze in the game creation screen if you've enabled histories. Especially if you spend too long time in the character generator.

 

So, there are probably some major bugs and glitches with the histories. There's a fanmade histories mod where many of the bugs have been fixed, though.

Check Paine's Site

 

One thing I can think of right now is that there is a section in the game where you NEED a firearm. I couldn't finish it without one, as it included a part where you had to shoot at a certain object. Hitting it with a sword didn't work, I believe. So the Ninja history may be flawed. Of course, you can probably godmode yourself out of that one... maybe.

 

Anyway, have fun with the game!

[Child of Flame]

The reason they cut the History part of character creation was because they didn't have enough time to beta test it.

 

As I understand it's fairly common for the game to crash and/or freeze in the game creation screen if you've enabled histories. Especially if you spend too long time in the character generator.

 

So, there are probably some major bugs and glitches with the histories. There's a fanmade histories mod where many of the bugs have been fixed, though.

Check Paine's Site

 

One thing I can think of right now is that there is a section in the game where you NEED a firearm. I couldn't finish it without one, as it included a part where you had to shoot at a certain object. Hitting it with a sword didn't work, I believe. So the Ninja history may be flawed. Of course, you can probably godmode yourself out of that one... maybe.

 

Anyway, have fun with the game!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Probably the bit in the 'Test Facility' you rescue Barrabus from. You not only have to shoot the electrical thingies if you dunna wanna get burnied, but you also gots to shoot the flamethrower tank from across the room lest you wanna get essplodied!

 

[Guest Fishboot]

Spoiler that up, goofus.

[Child of Flame]

I don't know what the heck you're talking about.