>there is a bomb in the sarcophagus because,,, BECAUSE THERE JUST IS OKAY??wow... You were right. Old games really DID have better writing!
nobody played this game, people just pretend they did>b-butno, playing with mods doesnt count. you didnt beat the game
>>739971426Are you legally retarded?
>>739971426dude you dont understand. we got epically trolled by caine and jack
>>739971426>You were right. Old games really DID have better writing!Glad you agree.
>>739971426I really like that the game doesn't tell you what's inside if you get the Strauss or Xiao ending. Modern games would show what's inside no matter what. My friend loves this game but he still doesn't know what's inside to this day because he went for the Xiao ending.
>>739971426I don't remember much at this point but wasn't it implied the sarcophagus was tampered with before and during the ship mission? Someone killed the ship's crew, stole the corpse and planted explosives
>>739971426>Old games really DID have better writingIndeed. A modern game would have an unskippable 10 minute cinematic with Jack explaining how he switched the mummy with the explosives because Lacroix is a vampiric version of Trump and how you should respect women and minorities.
>>739971426its very silly by the standards of today but it was made to make fun of some of the ridiculous and borderline unplayable scenarios in the sourcebook of thetime with deus ex machina devices aplentythis contemporaneous cultural knowledge has been lost to time so now it comes off as dumb as fuck
>>739973261>but it was made to make fun of some of the ridiculous and borderline unplayable scenarios in the sourcebook of thetime with deus ex machina devices aplenty ? The plot of the game revolves entirely around one of those devices (Caine, the Cab Driver) stirring shit up
>>739973781yes its just that the explosive is not known to the player until the end, its a "surprise"i was trying to tell the op that sourcebooks had this sort of nonsense "surprise" everywhere in the age of vampire the reqiuem, 3rd edition , and so onso it was probably written this way on purpose by troika to make fun of thatsorry english is not my first language so maybe im not explaining it that well
>>739971426>sarcophagus went from one fraction to another a few times>they definitly didn't open it
>>739971426>in the sarcophagusmate, Jack is sitting there with the fucking skeleton from the Sarcophagus at the end. That's what was in the Sarcophagus. It's stated a few times in the game what was IN IT. It wasn't about the mystery of what it contained, but whether any of the superstitious, politically-driven kindred would ever step over the line and open it.
>>739973261Moreso than that, I've always felt like it was meant to be an anti-climax for thematic purposes. Like oh, you thought you'd reached the top of the social ladder, but in this world, the "winners" are bloody steaks in a pool of sharks.Compared to most RPGs where you're a chosen one, or becoming famous, or you're otherwise tasked to leave your mark on the world in some way, it's genius that VTMB shows the player WHY choosing to walk away from the throne makes you a legend, in a different way. Yes, you don't take over as Prince of Los Angeles, and you won't be named in the history books, but you destroy everything and vanish into the wind. And that's pretty fucking badass in a different sort of way, and it just makes you feel amazing by the end of it all. I've never finished a Bloodlines playthrough unsatisfied at wiping the smug grins off the faces of LaCroix and Xiao before disappearing from California forever.
>>739971426>BECAUSE THERE JUST IS OKAY??Jack put it there. He is the one who made a carnage on the boat to check what was inside and bobby trap it after stealing the corpse.>Old games really DID have better writing!Yeah, it was written for people who have more than 0.5sec of attention span and can link two events together without needing verbal yellow paint.
>>739971426Play all the clans, and you'll see how well its written.
>>739971484Ive played vanilla, up, up plus, clan quest, final nights, prelude 1 and 2, comp mod, p&p mod, war games, antitribu, and many moreMost of these ive played several timesIts still the greatest game of all time either vanilla or modded and fyi there are tons of excellent mods (as long as you accept they are made by hobbyists amd will never be on troikas level of quality)Youre a dumbass
>>739975089Only thing I didn't get is how Jack managed to open it without the key. Or did he do it before the key was separated from the sarcophagus?
>>739975361Regarding the mod situation, what gives Bloodlines a leg up is that despite having a horribly buggy core engine, it is still a Source game and by now most modders for Source games are VERY experienced with Hammer. Fun fact, do you guys remember the bomb plant in the warehouse level? That's actually a Counter-Strike bombsite. As in, the map entity used for it in Hammer is literally the CS bombsite entity that outlines a zone where you are allowed to plant, so for Bloodlines they just made the zone transform very small to fit the desk area. That's why it causes a countdown until explosion automatically as well. Hilarious but awesome reuse of an engine entity that would otherwise be obsolete!
>>739975993that is pretty cool
>>739971426>Old games really DID have better writing!
>>739975412The key was shipped along with the sarcophagus on the Elizabeth Dane.
>>739971426>They never explained why there was a bomb in thereDid you fall asleep?
>>739975993I just checked this, youre right that its the bombsite entity reused but the timer doesnt start automatically, i assume that half life 2 didnt include all of the functionality for this yet especially the 2003 build of the engine that troika were using by the end of developmentInstead troika added a logic_timer entity manually and started the timer after it detects a bomb plant, picrelIm an amateur map maker for vb and i lurk in these threads to see if anyone trash talks wesp because hes an annoying pain in the backside
>>739971426Zoomer moment
>>739971426>OP has no literacy and gets mad at ???? for not getting the point of a story he couldn't read
>>739976719I don't know who that is. Anyway, thank you for the clarification.
>>739977083My zoomer friend loves this game, it seems popular with the young generation through YouTube and Tiktok
>>739971814ayo hol upwhat if the original inhabitant of the sarcophagus got drank by his great granddaddy before the end sequence?
>>739971426It was an easter egg ending but they ran out of time and had to ship it like this. There was also supposed to be a JC Denton cameo announcing that there is a bomb, but again, they couldn't manage.
>>739977835Stop that, you're making me want to play Deus Ex and Vampire back to back again. I JUST played them like six months ago. Don't make me reinstall anon!
>>739977797It wouldn't really do Caine any good. You have to diablerise vampires further up the ladder than you. The only real question is whether or not it was Jack's idea or if the mummy Dominated him into it.
>>739977685>there are tiktoks of vtmbI feel so old and out of touch
>>739977956k
>>739977835
>>739971426Something I'll always remember about this game and Half-Life 2 is how pathetic they made Metroid Prime and Invisible War look by comparison. As glitchy and broken as it was, the design and interactivity was leagues ahead of anything on either GameCube or Xbox. My cousin was super jealous as he was a hardcore PC detractor. However I actually loved his Xbox and I also loved Invisible War so I didn't mind.
>>739971484Where can I get into the lore of this series? Do I just got to read the tabletop books?
>>739978579Not sure how your question relates to what you're replying to, but my honest advice is, don't. The World of Darkness is not an interesting setting unless you're workshopping for tabletop. I'd actually go a step further than that and say that even with suspension of disbelief, it's conceptually broken as a setting because of the hardline stance it takes on theology. It's hard to explain without going on a massive rant, but it's incredibly lazy.Troika had two of the best writers ever to grace gaming in Chad Moore and Brian Mitsoda so VTMB is fucking amazing in spite of this, they were able to craft a rough diamond out of a dungpile, but it often hits people like a truck when they try to branch out to extended material, because the actual setting itself is dogshit. Many hardcore WoD fans also dislike VTMB for the opposite reason, it's too different to their usual soapy trash for them to invest in fully. For better or worse VTMB is definitely a poor entry into the WoD.
>>739979392Not sure how your response relates to the question, but go fuck yourself. I want to read more about WoD bullshit. Simple as.
Test
>>739979560>Not sure how your response relates to the questionThen you're plainly illiterate. Why didn't you just own up to your mistake?Enjoy your shitty books though, I'm sure (You)'ll get a lot out of them! <3
>>739979560I cant find this in the archives or my screenshot folder but im 99% sure this guy >>739979392 is a spammer, ive seen him in /wodg/ and remember this postHe had huge meltdowns about Mage The Ascension because he is low IQ and wants to be Harry Potter lolololololAnyway start with the clan books from VTM V20, they have the most interesting lorePeople nowadays overlook Vampire The Requiem but its great tooI also recommend classic Wraith , Wraith anything, because Wraith is amazing and needs more love!!! Stay away from V5 !!!
>>739980197Holy schizo, I don't give a fuck about tabletop, I wouldn't go to a tabletop general. Those are some alright suggestions TBF.
>>739980197>Anyway start with the clan books from VTM V20, they have the most interesting lore>People nowadays overlook Vampire The Requiem but its great too>I also recommend classic Wraith , Wraith anything, because Wraith is amazing and needs more love>!!! Stay away from V5 !!!Noted! Gracias, kind anon.
>>739980278>i i i dont care bro, its not me honest!>hastily replies within two minutesYeah sure. Fuck you bitch boi
>>739980328Also one other thing, Mage is fun but read that later and only if you plan on doing tabletop or hardcore LARP online. i think Mage metaplot, story, its often shit. What this idiot >>739980367 says is false, WOD is great and works well as books, video games, tabletop etc, very versatile setting, but Mage is exceptional in that it goes against the WOD power dynamic format that all of their games have. Its supposed to be social but Mage is really horrible for social plot for complicated reasons. This means low quality books that are high in playable material but meh to read
>>739978579Yeah, all he lore is on the books of course but there are also a lot of youtubers that talk about it. I like Lazar of Stygia and The Count
>>739980605Meds, now.
>>739978579Like other anon says, there's 13 clan books that are like individual stories that focus on specific clans. I actually found a complete collection for cheap the other day, but they're overpriced as fuck on eBay so you might have to luck out at thrift stores or op shops.There's also a trilogy focused on the Tremere and a whole bunch of other novels/stories set in Masquerade or Requiem
>>739980605Cool. I dipped my toe into a MAGE game once. It was pretty interesting, but it took me a minute to even begin understanding stuff when it came to creating a character. >>739980672Nice I'll look them up. >>739980802Hell yeah that's the stuff. Didn't know they made that much.
>>739971426>>739972735Yes, Jack put it in there. I don't remember when because there were multiple points he could have done it, but I think it was implied he did it while it was in the museum
>>739971426It's hinted at from the very beginning.>opened from the inside>auspex doesn't reveal anything>not even wolfboy buys anything magical or supernatural about it>just something is wrong with the sarcophagus and everyone is freaking out because of higher tensions
>>739971426Did you just somehow miss the scene that comes directly after that shows Smiling Jack lounging next to the mummified corpse and laughing at the explosion?
>>739980935What was in it originally?
>>739981154Jack.
>>739981264
>>739980605>Mage is really horrible for social plot for complicated reasonsNah, with experienced players it's fine, the problem is that to run a M:TA table in 2026 you have to poach new players from more popular games, and there's always an awkward moment when it becomes clear that they're hopelessly lost, and probably not having fun. I've had Vampire players come in for a trial run and sometimes they try to play as if they're a Lasombra spamming Obtenebration. Makes you wonder how many storytellers let their tables be ruined by Discipline spam but I digress.If Vampire is a hot bath with red wine and a great book, Mage is a cosmically horrific ice bath.
>>739971426the game literally shows you who put it in there
>>739981424i meant that literally and figurativelywho do you think killed everyone on board?
>>739981460Also I forgot to say but it goes without saying but you absolutely have to run Mage with house rules, it's just impossible to play nowadays without shaving off a lot of it unfortunately.
>>739981087>auspex doesn't reveal anythingyep thats a great detail that i noticed in my last playthrough although i wonder if it was a happy accident, i have a hunch troika might have overlooked that if there really was an elder inside
>>739976719It's the same with many other modding communities, notoriously for example with Skyrim were some unofficial patch becomes the required mod for many other big ones and it has a lot of changes that aren't really vanilla requirements or fixes and much drama ensues. So yeah, I get you.
The final third of the game nosedives so hard that I'll probably never replay the game
>>739981805t. didn't level his combat skills
>>739974634Could Lacroix or whoever got the mummy get powers from eating it or was it just a normal skeleton?
>>739982009it was a normal guy
>>739976719How do I get this view? Console command?
Hey, so they're probably adding guns to Bloodlines 2 by the end of the month. And hopefully un-fucking the game because the last patch broke so much shit.
>>739982430Nothing can save this absolude dogturd.You'd have to scrap the whole thing and make an actual game with charatcer creation, attributes, skills, meaningful gameplay differences of clans, actual choices and consequences, interesting characters, interesting quests and sidequests, good writing etc.
>>739982550Yeah but maybe the could remake it so that it doesn't have a forced combat section like the original in case you wanted a click-to-win "social" vampire? Despite being some random diluted pawn who could never hope to match the wisdom and intellect of the older vampires?
>>739981805genuinelly, i dont think the later levels are as bad as everyone says, the sewers are terrible but every other level later in the game (while clearly rushed) still serves a purpose and tests the player in a fun waysabbat hotel: combat gauntlet, tests your equipment and combat skills. if you are a melee player your combo control is tested here since you have to deal with so many piercing rounds at close quarters with celerity 5 + shotgunxiaos temple: horrible repetitive layout with a terrible boss but cool puzzles and traps, feels a bit like a zelda dungeon so i still enjoy itventure tower: awesome level, never ever understood the hate for this level, apart from the office section being a little empty its a fantastic finale capped off with a great bossgriffith park: kino, if you dont like OBJECTIVE SURVIVE missions then youre not a true gamer, also you can kill him if you are smart enough so anyone who whines about this is dumbfu syndicate: linear but fun to terrify the staff, good environmental storytelling also with the dissection chamber being right after the fire trap as the other kindred have all failed there and nobody has escaped past that section so they havent constructed another trap yet, really clevergiovanni mansion: incredible social test plus an optional battle against a giovanni patriarch, all of this is optional so it goes unnoticed by the same people who complain about it being too linear when they rush through it. the mansion is definitely empty though and the basement of the mansion is linear for sure. it has some nice details like the corpse lift being an alternative to the stairs tbf, great boss against two npcs who can teleport and deal high aggravated damage which makes for a fun challenge no matter your build
for fuck's sake learn to shootuse the basic m1911 for the turdlingsand the spas-15 on auto for the big ones
>>739982550>meaningful gameplay differences of clansThe question is how you accomplish this while still sticking to the tabletop idea of "every clan can learn every ability".
>>739985078the wannabe vns already did this by having you need a drop of blood from another clan to learn those
>>739985214>the wannabe vns already did this by having you need a drop of blood from another clan to learn thoseThat's what VTMB2 already does.
>>739982313This is the hammer map editor.You can't view entities like this while playing the game
>>739985078Just because they 'can' as a game mechanic that a player can do doesn't mean Kindred/Cainites do it all the time. While Joe Storyteller is cool with handwaving the difficulty and moving on with the story, the actual act of forcing your Nosferatu to manifest Presence or Dominate is going to be far more difficult than learning the more instinctual/primal disciplines like Potence or Animalism. Sure you might learn a dot after years of effort and attempts, but don't expect to become a 5 dot master of, say, Vicissitude or Giovanni Nigrimancy.
>>739971426>playing morrowind>mages guild>get to a high enough level>"Ajirra wants to see you, wizard">okay>talk to ajirra>"ajirra knows the Staff of Magnus is in a cave on Mount Kand">okay, get the staff>"thanks, ajirra also knows the warlock's ring is in a cave in bumfuck nowhere">get the ring>"awesome thanks"such wonderful and immersive writing
>>739985931yeah, that part of it is really overrated
Any news on the Hunter game?
reminder that you suck if you havent picked Malkavian
>>739977982It was Jack's idea from the very beginning. He was playing the long con just to fuck with the Camarilla when they decided to move back into LA. Most players don't know this because they didn't bother investing in a high enough Investigation skill because they would just look up the locations of every relic online.
