Vampire: Bloodlines Questions and Impressions

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Hello everybody.

I usually make a thread for each game that I'm playing at the time, and right now I'm playing Vampire: Bloodlines. It's a lot of fun so far but I had a few questions (and didn't want to Google search them due to possible spoilers). So, here they are.

#1 - How do I know what inventory items are safe to sell?

I've found a few rings (a gold one and a silver one), a couple car stereos, some pills that don't seem to do anything (estrogen for females, etc.). I'm not sure if I should be pawning this stuff or hanging on to it. Are these things important?

#2 - This one is a bit spoiler-ish, so beware.

I saw awhile back that Therese and Jeanette were actually split personalities in the same person. So, I listened to the whole argument between them, and then at the end, had the choice of who should grab the gun. I chose the "give me the gun" choice, but then Therese shot and killed Jeanette.

Does this outcome always happen? Is it based on who I let talk more in the conversation (in the conversation, I let Jeanette speak the most and she really pissed off Therese with some comments, so I thought maybe that had something to do with it.)?

At this point I'm probably too far ahead to go back and "fix things", so I'll just live with it.

By the way, the choices and consequences are awesome in this game! I actually failed a quest and did something horrible by making a stupid decision. Rather than re-loading, I just lived with the consequences. It felt good to actually know you can make interesting decisions that don't always work out the way you want them to.

#3 - Another spoiler-ish question.

I can't for the life of me figure out how to get in this place. It needs a special key and I'm not sure who has it. I'm not asking for exact instructions (please, spare the spoilers), but I'm asking if the quest has to be finished later or what? Maybe I will find the key downtown or something, or learn some new skill to be able to go back and find it later? Just wondering if I should continue searching that place now or just say the heck with it and come back later.

#4 - Once you've done everything in a hub (let's say, Santa Monica), and you move on, is there ever a reason to go back? Will some quests send you back to previous locations? (I'd like to know this because I spotted a few interesting places that I couldn't figure out how to get into yet, so I assume they are saved for later or something?)

#5 - Is it possible to play the game in a 100% humane way? I just picked up a quest that seems like it's the right thing to do, but completing it lowers my humanity. However, maybe there's an alternate path to take to complete it and I'm missing something? I'd like to keep my humanity high, if possible.

That's all the questions for now, but I'm sure I'll have more as I play.

Impressions Thus Far

This game is really something else. I didn't expect it to have such a mature theme. It kind of surprised me there (especially coming out in 2004. For some reason I felt like older games weren't as edgy as new ones are.). And, by the way, the game looks great for a game that came out in 2004. The attention to detail is outstanding and the graphics look great to me.

Also, the level design is worth mentioning here as well. Wonderful levels thus far. My favorite was
The Ocean Hotel. Holy crap! That place was awesome and actually spooked me quite a bit. The scene where you enter the kitchen and the whole room starts going ape shit was incredible. Freaked me out with my surround sound turned up loud :).

The warehouse was also done really well. I actually surprised myself here. I found an entrance by thoroughly exploring as was able to sneak my way to where I needed to go. It was very tense, though, and I had to re-load a saved game a few times. This was because I was trying to complete the mission without alerting anyone, which was challenging.

So yeah, the level design and atmosphere is wonderful. I'm really pleasantly surprised by this game. Honestly, the thought of a vampire RPG doesn't seem like it could be a deep and engaging RPG to me. I know it's all about how it's executed, but you expect it more to lean towards action rather than a meaty RPG experience. This one appeals to my inner RPG nerd quite heavily and has a lot of different elements working for it that makes it a lot of fun to play.

Well, back to LA I go. Cheers!
 
I hate the modern vampire crap, and this is still one of my favorite games. It's just that good. :)

#1 - How do I know what inventory items are safe to sell?

Unless you know it's something you need, like the Astrolite, it's generally safe to sell. Does it ping your journal when you pick it up? If not, you can sell it.


#2 - This one is a bit spoiler-ish, so beware.

The Sisters

You have to follow a very specific path, with specific skill minimums, to get through that one the "best" way. There's a walkthrough on GameFAQs just to cover this one. It's worth looking into for a replay, just because it feels more… complete that way.

#3 - Another spoiler-ish question.

The Morgue

I think that's one where you circle around another way and come back through that door from the other side with the key, but I can't remember the details. Just poke around the place and you should be fine. ;)

#4 - Once you've done everything in a hub (let's say, Santa Monica), and you move on, is there ever a reason to go back? Will some quests send you back to previous locations? (I'd like to know this because I spotted a few interesting places that I couldn't figure out how to get into yet, so I assume they are saved for later or something?)

There are a few quests that send you back to the earlier hubs, and it's sometimes worth going to see some of the merchants to get better stock as the game progresses. Sadly, most people stop responded to new events once you move on, though.

#5 - Is it possible to play the game in a 100% humane way? I just picked up a quest that seems like it's the right thing to do, but completing it lowers my humanity. However, maybe there's an alternate path to take to complete it and I'm missing something? I'd like to keep my humanity high, if possible.

You can end the game with maximum humanity quite easily. There are a few points where the "right" thing feels bad, but it generally makes some sense that you take the hit. Sometimes there's a way to get around the humanity loss, but it's more fun if you just go with what you feel is best.

On your first time through it won't mean much to you, but when you finish run through at least the first few bits as a Malkavian to see how different things are, then consider that the original plan was to have each Clan have different dialogue. As amazing as the game is, it could have been so much bigger if things had gone differently.
 
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Thanks for the responses, Menigal! Appreciate it.

Playing a game makes me wonder why no one makes games like this anymore. Or do they and I just don't know about them?

For this to be made in 2004 and be this good is unbelievable to me. I'd say this game has already made it's way to my favorites list and I haven't even played that long yet.

Edit - Quick question.

Is there some way to make guns my default selection when I press the left mouse button? I end up getting into dialog, the person attacks me and I have to awkwardly fumble around to pull out my gun while they'll killing me because the default action is a melee attack. Any way to change that?
 
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Thanks for the responses, Menigal! Appreciate it.
Edit - Quick question.

Is there some way to make guns my default selection when I press the left mouse button? I end up getting into dialog, the person attacks me and I have to awkwardly fumble around to pull out my gun while they'll killing me because the default action is a melee attack. Any way to change that?
There is a quick select menu, where you can bind guns or other items to the 1-8 keys. I think the default key for this menu is K or F1, but I could be remembering wrong. The correct short cut key can be found in the options for sure.

Other then that there is a key to hide your weapon. If you do that, you can run around with your gun selected, without scaring people.
 
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Thanks for the responses, Menigal! Appreciate it.

Playing a game makes me wonder why no one makes games like this anymore. Or do they and I just don't know about them?

For this to be made in 2004 and be this good is unbelievable to me. I'd say this game has already made it's way to my favorites list and I haven't even played that long yet.

They don't sell as well as Call of Duty and I guess it's too expensive for any typical publisher to try it just for our sake.

But we can always pray some large crowdfunding campaign for another Bloodlines gets started!

I also waited a loooong time to play it properly. I think my one and only playthrough was right around Mass Effect 2 (I remember playing it just before or just after). It was too buggy and clunky upon release for my tastes, and I just never got around to it after the first major patches.

But, boy, I'm glad I finally did. It truly is a masterpiece - even though I could go on and on about its flaws, which are both numerous and significant.

It's a good example of how the best games can easily have a massive amount of issues - and you just don't care :)
 
But, boy, I'm glad I finally did. It truly is a masterpiece - even though I could go on and on about its flaws, which are both numerous and significant.

It's a good example of how the best games can easily have a massive amount of issues - and you just don't care :)

That was Troika in a nutshell. They had so much ambition and an obvious passion for what they were doing. All of their games were buggy and flawed, but I enjoy them so much more than the polished but completely sterile things the big boys churn out. They made games, not interactive media experiences.
 
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Yet another game that I need to replay someday. So many games…so little time. This is definitely one of the classics though.

I played through it as a Ventrue the first time. I'll probably go Malkavian on the replay, and I'm going to use the "Plus" version of Wesp's patch next time.
 
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#5 - Is it possible to play the game in a 100% humane way? I just picked up a quest that seems like it's the right thing to do, but completing it lowers my humanity. However, maybe there's an alternate path to take to complete it and I'm missing something? I'd like to keep my humanity high, if possible.

To my knowledge yes. I don't remember there being a single quest where I had to lose Humanity in order to beat it. Some quests might be dependent on certain social skills though.
 
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There is a quick select menu, where you can bind guns or other items to the 1-8 keys. I think the default key for this menu is K or F1, but I could be remembering wrong. The correct short cut key can be found in the options for sure.

Other then that there is a key to hide your weapon. If you do that, you can run around with your gun selected, without scaring people.

I tried running around with my gun selected (but holstered), and when dialog happens and I go to use it, the left mouse button again defaults to a melee attack. A little frustrating as I've had to quickly run away from my enemy, press F2 and then select my shotgun. But binding it to a 1-8 key will be better. Thanks!

They don't sell as well as Call of Duty and I guess it's too expensive for any typical publisher to try it just for our sake.

But we can always pray some large crowdfunding campaign for another Bloodlines gets started!

I also waited a loooong time to play it properly. I think my one and only playthrough was right around Mass Effect 2 (I remember playing it just before or just after). It was too buggy and clunky upon release for my tastes, and I just never got around to it after the first major patches.

But, boy, I'm glad I finally did. It truly is a masterpiece - even though I could go on and on about its flaws, which are both numerous and significant.

It's a good example of how the best games can easily have a massive amount of issues - and you just don't care :)

Absolutely.

I think a crowdfunding for a new Bloodlines game would be great. I agree that games like this just aren't seen as profitable enough to entice the big players to make games like this, so our only real hope is crowdfunding.

To think that this game came out in 2004 still boggles my mind. Imagine what they could do 10 years later.

That was Troika in a nutshell. They had so much ambition and an obvious passion for what they were doing. All of their games were buggy and flawed, but I enjoy them so much more than the polished but completely sterile things the big boys churn out. They made games, not interactive media experiences.

The only other Troika game I've played is Arcanum, but I didn't get too far before becoming burned out from gaming as a whole. I have to go back and play through that game again sometime. It had some great ideas as well and was a very meaty RPG experience.

Yet another game that I need to replay someday. So many games…so little time. This is definitely one of the classics though.

I played through it as a Ventrue the first time. I'll probably go Malkavian on the replay, and I'm going to use the "Plus" version of Wesp's patch next time.

The PLUS version sounded interesting, with the new quests and stuff, but I wanted to play the game as close to the original as possible for the first play-through. I, too, will use the PLUS features in a future play-through, though.

To my knowledge yes. I don't remember there being a single quest where I had to lose Humanity in order to beat it. Some quests might be dependent on certain social skills though.

Ah, that's probably it, then. My social skills aren't high enough so the added dialog options aren't showing, thus leaving me with only the less humane way of handling the situation. I'll have to raise my social skills and come back later. Thanks!
 
Ah, that's probably it, then. My social skills aren't high enough so the added dialog options aren't showing, thus leaving me with only the less humane way of handling the situation. I'll have to raise my social skills and come back later. Thanks!

There is a rather silly way to gain back lost humanity, which won't cost you anything:
Dance in a club. After a while you get a point of humanity back

The way social skills interact with the game is a bit iffy. Either you get them early on, or you don't get them. You generally get more experience for solving thing the pacifist way (this is also true for hacking & lockpicking), which allows you to get those combat skills that you skimp out on early on to about the same level as they would have been if you got started making a combat monster. If you get the social skills towards the later part of the game, they will just be wasted experience.
 
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The PLUS version sounded interesting, with the new quests and stuff, but I wanted to play the game as close to the original as possible for the first play-through. I, too, will use the PLUS features in a future play-through, though.

I don't remember it adding much in the way of new quests, but it does swap around some of the rewards and make them a bit more useful in terms of when you get them. It could be he's added in some more since my last full playthrough, though.

Social skills are very useful early on, but like Fnord said, they're not as good later, which is a shame. The social spells are even more fun! Dementation in particular gives you some great scenes.

Dammit, you're making me want to play it again!
 
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There is a rather silly way to gain back lost humanity, which won't cost you anything:
Dance in a club. After a while you get a point of humanity back

The way social skills interact with the game is a bit iffy. Either you get them early on, or you don't get them. You generally get more experience for solving thing the pacifist way (this is also true for hacking & lockpicking), which allows you to get those combat skills that you skimp out on early on to about the same level as they would have been if you got started making a combat monster. If you get the social skills towards the later part of the game, they will just be wasted experience.

Hmm, interesting.

I prefer to do things the pacifist way if possible. I did find a solution to that quest that lowered my humanity. I invested another point in Persuasion and was able to solve it without the humanity loss. Pretty sweet :).

I don't remember it adding much in the way of new quests, but it does swap around some of the rewards and make them a bit more useful in terms of when you get them. It could be he's added in some more since my last full playthrough, though.

Social skills are very useful early on, but like Fnord said, they're not as good later, which is a shame. The social spells are even more fun! Dementation in particular gives you some great scenes.

Dammit, you're making me want to play it again!

So far I'm finding the character system very nice. Each point seems to make a good impact on the strength of the skill and open up new opportunities.

I actually just realized that each new point in spells unlocks a new spell! That is pretty awesome. There's some really interesting spells and it makes for some tough decisions to make when building my character. I love it :).

I could have sworn I saw the unofficial patch add some new quests somewhere. Maybe I am mistaken, though.

Here's a quote I found:
The Unofficial Patch is not really a mod, but while the default basic patch only fixes bugs, the optional plus enhancements restore a lot of hidden content, including new quests and new maps!

from http://www.moddb.com/mods/vtmb-unofficial-patch
 
Ah, looks like they've added a fair bit. I think the last version I played was 7.something.
 
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The patch only restores content that was already in the game but unfinished by the devs. It doesn't add "new" content.
 
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I tried running around with my gun selected….
Guns are weak at the beginning but they are very deadly once you maximise your skills and get better guns later in the game.

I absolutely loved the combination of Celerity (the power of moving fast) and Guns :).
The PLUS version sounded interesting, with the new quests and stuff, but I wanted to play the game as close to the original as possible for the first play-through. I, too, will use the PLUS features in a future play-through, though.
Since you are using the "normal" version of the patch, there is something you MUST do when you arrive in Downtown, the 2nd hub, otherwise you may not receive certain quests. (It is just a minor action but I put it as spoiler just in case)
You must buy the fire axe at the weapons merchant
 
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Guns are weak at the beginning but they are very deadly once you maximise your skills and get better guns later in the game.

I absolutely loved the combination of Celerity (the power of moving fast) and Guns :).

Nice! I'm having a lot of fun with guns thus far. I have been focusing on them as my primary attack and it's working out nicely. Just got a nice piece from
Mercurio. A combat shotgun.
Very deadly! :)

Since you are using the "normal" version of the patch, there is something you MUST do when you arrive in Downtown, the 2nd hub, otherwise you may not receive certain quests. (It is just a minor action but I put it as spoiler just in case)
You must buy the fire axe at the weapons merchant

Hmm, interesting. I debated doing that but decided to save my money. Is it too late to go back and do it now (I'm in Hollywood.)?
 
You can travel back to previous hubs (in fact some quests require you to) so it is not too late.

Got it, thanks!

Another quick question. Might be spoiler-ish.

Gargoyles. I have heard that only blunt force is effective against them. Would that fire axe be useful against it? I'm not sure because the fire axe might be considered more of a blade than a blunt weapon. I have other blunt weapons I can use but I'm just curious because the fire axe is the best one damage-wise.
 
You should be able to get a better blunt weapon by then. I don't remember the axe being that effective.
 
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Got it, thanks!

Another quick question. Might be spoiler-ish.

Gargoyles. I have heard that only blunt force is effective against them. Would that fire axe be useful against it? I'm not sure because the fire axe might be considered more of a blade than a blunt weapon. I have other blunt weapons I can use but I'm just curious because the fire axe is the best one damage-wise.
I rarely used the fire axe in my playthroughs so I don't remember its effectiveness in this particular case…but
you can also talk to the gargoyle and reach a non-violent solution.
 
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