TRUE VTMB PATCH ver. 5.04AT -- RELEASED

[Tessera]

It's a done deal, everybody. The latest and best patch for VTMB is now available on our Downloads page.

Version 5.04AT is finally here. The primary goals when we were creating this new version were to add RELIABILITY and STABILITY to Bloodlines...

(1) A few quests were debugged, so that they do not "break" when the player does certain things out-of-sequence. This is not to say that those quests were re-written in any way (they weren't). It's just that a few quests expected the player to do certain things at certain stages, and if you happened to go off on your own and then come back later, those quests might have become glitched. Those quests have been repaired and you should now be able to complete them without any further mishaps, so long as all of the prerequisites are done.

(2) A few maps and dialogs were likewise debugged, for the same reasons: to prevent (or at least minimize the chances of) any hangups from occurring (hopefully).

(3) Transitions from one area to another: same thing and related to the above... a couple were debugged, to add more stability to the game.

(4) Some graphics that have always been missing from the original game have had new, custom textures created for them. Most notably are the two movies that Gary asks you to obtain for him ("Tap Hotel" and the "Jock Shot Swimsuit video," featuring Imalia).

(5) LOTS of dialogs and subtitles have been cleaned up... much more than we did in version 4.04AT. Mainly, we fixed typographical errors and doubled responses. I'm sure that we've still missed a few... there are literally hundreds.

(6) A very sardonic and inside joke has been slipped into the game, in the form of a custom graphic that you will need to try to find on your own. I realize that this is a modification, so if it bugs you, then it can be very easily removed without disturbing the rest of the patch. Just ask me how, and I'll set you up. Otherwise, go ahead and enjoy it... it's hilarious, and it's also rather similar in tone to the "Senator Limperman" attack that Troika themselves slipped into the TV newscasts. We expect there to be some controversy over this, but as I say: it is very easily removed.

(7) Two malfunctions that were not fully repaired in version 4.04AT are now totally fixed in version 5.04AT. Specifically, a game-breaking bug in the Golden Temple, as well as a weird glitch during E's quest in Santa Monica have both been debugged and eliminated.

(8} The infamous Remington SWAT rifle has been further adjusted --- yet again. Hopefully, its performance now matches the behavior of its real world counterpart. If not, then please let us know.



Stay tuned for further details. For now, I will just tell you that this new version represents our finest work to date. The game now plays very smoothly and reliably throughout. Quite a bit of content has either been fixed-up, or restored. And as always, we did everything that we could to preserve the originally intended experience -- just as it was conceived by Troika Games.

There are also a few hidden "Easter eggs" in the game now, which can be fun to find. We hope everyone enjoys this patch and we sincerely thank you for your ongoing support.

Have a great game, fellow Kindred. Once you install this version of the True VTMB Patch and experience it, you'll wonder how you ever played Bloodlines with anything less.

VERSION 5.04AT will most likely be the last version of the True VTMB Patch that we will need to produce. Although it is not perfect, there are virtually no more important bugs left for us to fix in this game. Anything leftover will be extremely minor and most players will not even notice or care about the occasional physics glitch, or whatever. Also, a few bugs in the game simply can not be fixed, due to the fact that they are hard-coded into the engine itself.

ACCEPT NOTHING LESS..!!! The True VTMB Patch is the only patch that Bloodlines players will ever need. That's a promise, from Acrimonious and myself. 


All my best,

- Tessera -

[Tessera]

DIRECT LINK TO PATCH FILE:

http://www.tessmage.com/downloads/True_VTMB_504AT.zip

"This new patch is so delightful. I absolutely adore it. You simply must get this patch. If you don't, then I'll wither -- and die. And if that doesn't work, then I'll put my clothes back on and I'll never dance for you again."

Uh, oh. You heard her, folks...  

[AjuntaPall316]

This Patch is BEAUTIFUL.  So far I've only just arrived in Hollywood, but I haven't seen 1 single overlooked thing yet.  Great job EVERYONE.  This is the smoothest play through I've ever had yet.  (And I've played A LOT.)

[Tessera]

I just took a look over on GameSpot.

115 downloads of version 5.04AT from over there... and it hasn't even been available for
48 hours yet on that site. Not too shabby. Getting good comments (so far) over there, too.

[Red_Machine]

I think I downloaded the patch about half an hour before you shut the site down.  I'm glad I was able to get it, my game now runs a lot better, cheers!  I shall have to keep an eye out for those easter eggs and the "sardonic inside joke", but knowing me, I'll probably miss them...

[Tessera]

Woo hoo... up to 125 downloads over on GameSpot. Nice.

Only 37 D/L's of 5.04AT from here so far, but this site has only been back online for about 12 hours.

[Guper]

I downloaded it shortly before you took the site down and I have to say that I am VERY impressed.  My only other experience with the game is the 1.2 patch and I completed that so recently that I can really see all the fixes in this patch.  For about the 27th time, thanks Acrimonious and Tessera (and the beta testers) for devoting your time and money to fixing this great game.  Without you It'd be damn near unplayable  (yeah I know Wesp's mods are there as well but I read the readmes and conisder them unplayable as well).

[exx]

Fan frickin' tastic.  I've been psyched to dive back into this game after about a year's hiatus.  Ready for immersion.

Thanks, Tess.  Your work is appreciated more than you know.

[Tessera]

Thanks everyone. Let's ALL support the larger VTMB community, and keep spreading the good words about True Patch 5.04AT.

Planet Vampire is not going to fully support the VTMB community. They are steadfastly refusing to give our patch.. a superior patch in every way... the same treatment and consideration that they routinely give to Wesp's horribly bloated mods. If you enjoy our patch, then please tell those people at PV that what they are doing is WRONG and HURTFUL to the larger VTMB community. They are making money from you... from ALL of you who visit their site (just look at all of those banner ads). In return, they owe it to all of you to present a balanced selection of fan-made patches for this game. They WILL NOT DO THAT unless you SPEAK UP and GET IN THEIR FACE about it. I can not wage this battle by myself, nor should I be expected to. We have made this patch for ALL of you. We have done our part (and then some), and we did it BECAUSE WE CARE. Please show us that you care about this game, too. All it takes is a few minutes of your time. Is that really too much to ask..?

Don't allow these large and impersonal commercial websites manipulate your enjoyment of this game. Sit up, get angry and then... show them how much you care about Bloodlines, and its large community of fans.

[blackfirefox]

Good Morning All,

I have a potential bug maybe.  In the tutorial portion of the game when Jack gives you the .38 Special there is a box with ammo in it, if you jump up once you can reopen the box and get more ammo, you can do until you are completely Ammo Full.

Is this a glitch/exploit?

Just curious.

[Tessera]

Nope... it's supposed to be that way, so far as we can tell.

It just lets you practice using a gun for as long as you want to.
It would only be an exploit if you actually got to keep the ammo...
but you don't, because at the end of the tutorial, Jack takes his
pistol back from you (and the extra ammo, too).

It wouldn't give you any advantage, either. The two goons at the
top of the elevator are just normal mortals, and each of them dies
in only one or two shots. So even if you went up there packing
100 bullets, you would never get to use them.

[blackfirefox]

Nope... it's supposed to be that way, so far as we can tell.

It just lets you practice using a gun for as long as you want to.
It would only be an exploit if you actually got to keep the ammo...
but you don't, because at the end of the tutorial, Jack takes his
pistol back from you (and the extra ammo, too).

It wouldn't give you any advantage, either. The two goons at the
top of the elevator are just normal mortals, and each of them dies
in only one or two shots. So even if you went up there packing
100 bullets, you would never get to use them.

Hmmm..actually I left with all the ammo, when I picked up my first .38 from the guard in the clinic my Ammo was maxed out.

[Tessera]

Hmmm..actually I left with all the ammo, when I picked up my first .38 from the guard in the clinic my Ammo was maxed out.

Okaaaaay... then that *is* a problem. Thank you for the report.
Jack should take all the ammo when he takes back the gun.
That's the first (potential) 5.04AT bug report that we've received.

I'll check with Acrimonious about it. Right now, he seems to be taking
a well-deserved break. If this turns out to be a legitimate bug, then
we'll fix it and issue an immediate hotfix. Fortunately, it's nothing critical,
but I don't want ANY bugs to be in this version if we can help it.

[Red_Machine]

Yeah, don't want Wesp catching on to stupid little things like that...

[Tessera]

Yeah, don't want Wesp catching on to stupid little things like that...

LOL Red... this thread is open to the general public. We don't pretend to be perfect.
Well okay, sometimes I pretend to be perfect, but that's only because I'm totally full
of shit half the time...

Anyway, we're not sure what to call this yet. Acrimonious may have a different take on it.

I'm just surprised that we didn't catch it. Or maybe we did, and we just screwed up and
forgot to put the fixed file into the patch. We'll see what we can find out.

This is small potatoes, anyway. I'll tell you what I'm worried about: I'm dreading the feedback
that we may get on that blasted SWAT rifle. Every time we tweak it, people tell us that it's
either overpowered, or underpowered, or it sways to much, or... GRRRR.

[Acrimonious]

Hmmm..actually I left with all the ammo, when I picked up my first .38 from the guard in the clinic my Ammo was maxed out.

Okaaaaay... then that *is* a problem. Thank you for the report.
Jack should take all the ammo when he takes back the gun.
That's the first (potential) 5.04AT bug report that we've received.

I'll check with Acrimonious about it. Right now, he seems to be taking
a well-deserved break. If this turns out to be a legitimate bug, then
we'll fix it and issue an immediate hotfix. Fortunately, it's nothing critical,
but I don't want ANY bugs to be in this version if we can help it.

It's a bug in the engine.  Any time you drop, sell, or otherwise lose a ranged weapon, the next time you pick it up, all the ammo you collected for it is still in your inventory.  As far as I know, there's no function to remove just ammo from a player's inventory, either.

I'll take a look at that ammo chest in the tutorial later and see what's up.

[Cheemoney]

thanks for making another patch.  hopefully all the bugs i experienced before won't ever happen again.   

[Tessera]

Downloads of version 5.04AT so far:

GameSpot: 165 (in only 4 days)

Tessmage.com: 102 (site was down for the first half of this week)


We're catching up. I have no idea how many times we've been downloaded
from the other sites that have been picking up our patch. One of our forum
members (I won't name him unless he wants me to) has been going out of
his way to get a copy of 5.04AT onto as many sites as he can. His efforts
are admirable and very much appreciated.