True Patch Gold Edition -- OFFICIAL THREAD

[Tessera]

It happens to Milligan sometimes. He gets stuck on the furniture.

The only real option for the time being is to go back to a previous gamesave and try again.

This is an intermittent issue and it has been a problem ever since the game was released.

I am still working on a permanent fix for it. A part of the problem is that the furniture in question is hard-baked into the map and can not be moved. Which leaves us with moving Milligan himself, or moving his triggers and/or pathing nodes. Changing his respawn location might also help. All of those options will be explored and if I come up with anything which satisfies me, then I will issue a hotfix accordingly.

I will give this issue top priority, because I have occasionally run into it myself and it can be very frustrating for Malks who use the Dementation option with Milligan. But for now, going back and trying it again is the only available recourse, I'm afraid.

Strike out all of the above. I finally fixed it.  

I should start by mentioning that originally, Acrimonious had -thought- that this had been fixed with version 5.04AT of the True Patch. And since I personally never ran into this bug afterwards, I assumed that he had been correct.

However... I've learned a lot since those days, especially when it comes to Source map coding. I just took a long, detailed look at the "Milligan bug" and I tested it with my Malk.

Let me tell you what I found...

First, it was the small stack of books lying on the floor nearby, that Milligan was getting hung up on. That, combined with the fact that his teleport position (where he appears after you talk to him) was too close to those books. He was getting jammed up in that area, between the sofa, the bookcase and the stack of books. Too many baked props nearby... so the engine was getting confused and in some cases, he simply stands there like a dumbass and refuses to move at all.

The reason that this bug has been intermittent is because as a general rule, NPC spawn points are set a little distance -above- the actual floor. This is to ensure that they will fall down onto the floor, instead of potentially getting stuck -in- the floor. So when Milligan falls onto the floor after teleporting, he sometimes gets bopped this way or that way when he lands (its random). And if he happens to get bopped over to one side and hits that stack of books... guess what..? The engine treats it like a collision with another object and by default, that means the NPC stops moving until the other object gets out of the way. And bam... Milligan freezes in place, because there isn't anywhere else for him to go. What a pain, huh..?

A simple fix for this issue would be to move Milligan's teleport node a little closer to the door. I tried it that way a few times... and it worked... but then, I noticed another issue. The shorter the distance he runs, the less of his crazy speech that we get to hear ("Yes! The Moon... I must follow the moon.." etc.)

Well... it occurred to me that this entire sequence is rather buggy, from beginning to end. Therefore, I have fixed it -and- extended it a bit, whilst adding a tad more realism at the same time. Simply fixing the "Milligan gets stuck" bug would only be solving half of what is wrong with that sequence.

So here is what I have done:

(1) First, I've added about a half-dozen new pathing nodes to Milligan's apartment, including a triangulation pattern on the upper landing. These are necessary for the next item to function properly...
(2) I have moved Milligan's teleport point to a new place all the way upstairs... to just outside of his bedroom door. Which actually makes more sense, when you think about it. We talk to him inside of his bedroom... so it's rather freaky that he would suddenly be magically transported all the way down to his front door, within a split second. In my view, that represents a rather sloppy bit of work on Troika's part... so I'm going to call that entire sequence a bug and repair it accordingly.

With these new repairs in place, Milligan will now run all the way down the stairs and then exit out his front door, which is as it should be. And since it takes him an extra couple of seconds to traverse this longer distance, he will also be able to deliver a bit more of his crazy little speech, before he finally gets out of earshot. Previously, we only got to hear maybe three words and then out he went... when actually, he has quite a bit more to say. If anyone feels like digging around for that sound file and then listens to it, then you will hear what I am talking about.

I'm going to test these new repairs a few more times, just to make sure that it remains consistently working. Assuming that everything goes well, I will release a new hotfix for the TPG within an hour after the time of this post.

So watch for a follow-up post, in which I will deliver the new hotfix via a download link. NOTE: since this hotfix will consist of some fairly major map repairs, installing it will -potentially- pose a problem for anyone who was right in the middle of that quest when they installed the hotfix. Hopefully no one else will be affected. But as in all patches which contain map repairs, it is important to remember that any previous gamesaves for characters who have already entered the map in question (the Skyline building, in this case) will be affected to varying degrees. If your toon has already done the Milligan quest, then it doesn't matter. But if you have not yet done that quest... but you HAVE been inside the Skyline building... then you will need to return to a gamesave which was created prior to entering that map. And if that irritates anyone, well then don't yell at me... go yell at Valve. They're the ones who designed this goofy Source engine and the way that it saves map node data into its gamesave files -- not me.  

[Jason]

thank you i look forward to testing it out

[Tessera]

***  NOTICE:  TPG HOTFIX #3 RELEASED  ***

NO LONGER VALID -- PLEASE DOWNLOAD HOTFIX #4 INSTEAD (scroll down further within this thread)


A new hotfix has been released, as promised. This is hotfix #3 and it includes all previous hotfixes as a courtesy. NOTE: it is assumed that you are already a True Patch Gold Edition user. This is ONLY a hotfix and it is meant to be installed AFTER you have already installed the complete TPG. THIS IS A VITAL HOTFIX FOR ALL TRUE PATCH USERS.

A special note to those of you who elected to install the optional mods that were included with the original TPG package... the haven dance mod in particular: you will need to follow the alternate installation instructions printed at the bottom of this post. Everyone else can just follow the instructions within the included "ReadMe_NOW.txt" file that is included within this update package.

First of all, here is the download link for Hotfix #3:

***  LINK NO LONGER VALID -- PLEASE DOWNLOAD HOTFIX #4 INSTEAD ***

Unzip that file to a neutral location on your hard drive. And then just open up its "ReadMe_NOW.txt" file and follow the instructions within.


***********

FOR HAVEN DANCE MOD USERS ONLY -- ALTERNATE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:

(1) Install this hotfix according to the instructions found within its "ReadMe_NOW.txt" file. Then proceed to step 2.
(2) There is a separate sub-folder within this update package named "Haven_Dance." Please locate it before proceeding to step 3.
(3) Within the "Haven_Dance" sub-folder, there is another sub-folder named "maps."
(4) Copy that entire sub-folder (and all that it contains) and then paste it into your working VTMB\Vampire folder.
(5) If you do this correctly, then Windows will warn you that a folder named "maps" already exists and ask if you wish to overwrite. Say "Yes" to all in order to allow the modded and repaired Skyline "Haven Dance" map files to replace their older versions. This will ensure that you get the new repairs for the Milligan bug -and- get to keep your haven dance feature.

Happy vamping.  

[Jason]

it works great thank you for all your hard work

[Tessera]

You are very welcome.  


I will be releasing another TPG hotfix in a couple of days. It will address the minor problem of broken ambient NPC dialogues, in both the Santa Monica warehouse map and in several of the Society of Leopold maps. All of those dialogues have now been fully repaired and I'm just poking around in other parts of the game, to see if there are any more such incidents which need to be re-coded.

The symptom of this particular bug is that an "incidental dialogue" between two or more NPC's will be overheard by the player, as we move about in a particular area. But after only a few seconds, the dialogue will suddenly be cut off in mid-sentence. This has been an issue ever since the game was released, but it has only been during the past year or so that I've gotten good enough with Source map coding to finally track down its exact cause. So anyway -- it is now able to be permanently fixed by the True Patch.

Also, if anybody knows of any other places where this type of ambient dialogue bug occurs, then please inform me of the exact area where it happens... and I'll get right on it. TPG users who are not members of this board can send me bug reports via e-mail at: tessera@tessmage.com

[Jason]

looking forward to the new fix anything that makes a epic game better is all way's more than welcome.

[Tessera]

Hotfix #4 is all ready to go... I'm just holding off a bit, to see if anyone has any other such dialogue glitches to report.

If I don't hear of any other incidents of chopped-off dialogues, then I will release Hotfix #4 during this coming weekend.

As always, the next hotfix will incorporate all previous hotfixes. That way, the most recent hotfix is all that you will ever need.

[Tarbos]

Just a question - are there still collisions with MegaMod?

[Tessera]

There won't be after I release the upcoming Mega-Mod update. It should be released in a few days.
And the Mega-Mod update will include all of the new TPG hotfixes... so no worries, you'll be covered.

[Tessera]

*** CRITICAL -- HOTFIX #4 RELEASED ***

My, my.... that was quick.  

There is another new hotfix available for the True Patch Gold Edition. This latest hotfix is designated as "Hotfix #4" and it contains several important repairs to ambient NPC dialogues. Specifically, several "incidental conversations" spoken by NPC's at the Santa Monica Warehouse and the Society of Leopold stronghold have been repaired. Previously, they were misfiring on certain systems and as a result, they were getting prematurely cut off in mid-sentence. This hotfix will permanently repair those issues.


Here is the download link for Hotfix #4:

http://www.tessmage.com/special/TPG_Hotfix_4.zip


This hotfix contains all of the previous hotfixes, too. So this one update is all that you will require to bring your True Patch Gold Edition version of Bloodlines fully up-to-date.

Full installation instructions can be found within the included "ReadMe_NOW.txt" file. As always, it is a simple matter of copying the newly repaired folders and then pasting them into the appropriate locations within your working VTMB installation.

Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any questions and/or comments. Happy vamping.  


*** THIS HOTFIX IS NOW OUTDATED. PLEASE INSTALL HOTFIX #5 INSTEAD ***

[Tarbos]

Great! Companies which want 50 euros for a game don't have as good technical support as you have

[Tessera]

That's because they don't give a shit... but I do. All they care about is money.

Taking pride in a job well done is not even in the vocabulary of most professional
software designers these days. Once they get paid, they couldn't care less about it.

The publishers don't give a shit, either. They just want such-and-such number of units
in the stores by Christmas. Who cares whether it actually works properly or not..?

Slap a pretty box around it and then lather it up with a ton of hype and let the buyer beware, eh..?

And people wonder why I finally started to advocate software piracy. THIS is why.  

Anyway... I love VTMB. It's my favorite RPG of all time. That's the only reason I bother.

[Tessera]

In approximately one week, I will be releasing yet another hotfix for the True Patch Gold Edition.

This upcoming hotfix, which will be designated as "Hotfix #5," will contain several important repairs to Bloodlines:

(1) Some NPC behaviors and dialogue related issues within the Giovanni stronghold will be repaired. These are minor, but I want them fixed regardless. These issues have been reported more than once over the years, so I guess it's high time that I got off my ass and fixed them.  THESE REPAIRS HAVE BEEN POSTPONED, PENDING FURTHER TESTING.
 
(2) A minor bug which has been reported regarding Barabus inside the Fu Syndicate building (Chinatown) is likewise being investigated. I should have a fix for it soon. FIXED

(3) There will be a significant repair made to the Asp Hole map. This repair has to do with NPC congestion on the staircase leading up to the area where Ash Rivers is located. I am currently experimenting with the addition of a half-dozen AI Hint Nodes known as "pinch nodes" at the top and bottom of that staircase. Preliminary testing seems to confirm that my new map is indeed restricting NPC traffic flow on the stairs, so that only one NPC at a time will attempt to use that staircase. If this scheme turns out to be successful, then there will no longer be a problem of NPC's playing "bumper cars" with each other, on or near the staircase. Which in turn will make the player's life a lot easier, since we need to use those stairs in order to reach Ash Rivers. Up until now, we've all had to wait until the stupid NPC's stopped banging into each other and moved the hell out of our way. Once this fix has been implemented, that problem should no longer occur and there should never be more than one NPC on the stairs at a time.  FIXED

[Trinten]

Awesome!

Thanks for your continued work on perfecting and polishing this fantastic game!

[Tessera]

You are very welcome.  

Continued testing of my new repair to the Asp Hole map seems to be turning out great.
I've loaded and reloaded that map dozens of times now, and not once have I seen a single
"traffic jam" on the staircase. Prior to implementing this fix, the NPC's were getting hung up
in that staircase on a regular basis. So it would appear that this repair has indeed had a
significantly positive effect upon the situation. It will therefore be included in the next hotfix.

[Lothos]

Thanks for your work supporting this game.  It's amazing that it's still being updated and patched after all these years, but I'm really glad it is.  I missed it when it came out, and so I'm just not getting a chance to experience VTMB, and I'm glad that it will be a better experience thanks to the patch.

[Tessera]

Thanks for your work supporting this game.

You are very welcome.  

It's amazing that it's still being updated and patched after all these years

Which should tell you how far ahead of its time VTMB was, back in 2004 when it was released. It's a true gem of a game.

It's also my favorite RPG in the whole wide world. I've been playing it for nearly 7 years and I'm still not tired of it.

[Ratcatcher]

Darnit, ill have to download stuff i just got finished downloading. 

Thanks for the work seriously.