Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption

Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption

Developers
	Nihilistic Software
Mac OS (Classic)	Varcon Systems
Publishers
	Activision
Mac OS	MacSoft
Engines
	NOD
Release dates
Windows	June 7, 2000
Mac OS (Classic)	November 1, 2001
Reception
Metacritic	74
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Point and select
Genres	RPG
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Medieval, Supernatural
Series	Vampire: The Masquerade

Key points

Official Servers were Shut Down in 2008

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail
GOG.com
Steam

Demo

Demo can be downloaded here.

Essential improvements

Administrator elevation required to update saved games

With Windows Vista to 10, the game may fail to autosave, overwrite past saved games, and fail to save related world events, if it is not Run as Administrator. This can cause dialogues, items and cut-scenes to disappear or be buggy when you load a past saved game. The notes below mention this briefly, but it is essential to know before playing.

Run as Administrator is not required, nor is any compatibility setting, as long as the Windows Search service is running, you have read and write access for the Redemption SaveGames directory and the Redemption SaveGames directory has "Allow files in this folder to have content indexed..." enabled.

Neural Redemption HD Textures

Original game textures upscaled with neural networks. All game textures are upscaled. Download on Nexus or ModDB

Texture depth must be set to 16 bit when this mod is installed.

The Dark Path HD Texture Pack

An alternative hand-made full texture pack for a darker and moodier look.

Skip intro videos

Delete/rename logo.bik[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>\Video\. Delete or rename logo.bik. Alternately just hit ESC twice to skip the two videos to get to the main menu (the fix here was added when they were unskippable).

Game Manual

The game files include a game manual named manual.pdf. It is highly recommended to check the key and mouse commands described in this manual before playing, as there isn't a tutorial in-game.
It can be freely obtained from the Steam store.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\masquerade.ini
Mac OS (Classic)
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/559680/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\SaveGames
Mac OS (Classic)
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/559680/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Advanced Video settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See the WSGF entry or use this patch. WSGF has some UI errors with 4 chars but the patch does not.
Multi-monitor			See the WSGF entry.
Ultra-widescreen			See the WSGF entry.
4K Ultra HD			See the WSGF entry.
Field of view (FOV)		Can be zoomed in and out (default: + and - on the Numpad). For changing FOV in cutscenes, see the WSGF entry.
Windowed		Use the -window parameter.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Use the -window parameter.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		CSAA/QCSAA can be forced via Nvidia Profile Inspector. The game shares its profile with VtM Bloodlines due to the same executable name "Vampire.exe".
Vertical sync (Vsync)		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support

Map the pause key

On some keyboards, the pause key (which lets you tactically pause the game and issue commands) might not work in the game. You can remap the key with AutoHotkey. Download and install AutoHotkey. Create a script somewhere by right-click → New → AutoHotkey Script. The script should have the following content: V::SendInput, {Pause} You can replace V with any other key, V is a good choice because it is not used by any other function in the game. Run the script, preferably as admin, then launch the game. You can now use combat pause by pressing your selected key. Don't forget to terminate the script (in the Windows task bar) once you've closed the game. If you run the game as admin, then you also have to run the script as admin. If it still doesn't work, look for one of the solutions here. If pause and break are on the same button on your keyboard, then you might have to use the following script instead: V::SendInput, {break}

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound		5.1
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support		2.0 via Miles Sound System
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French				Retail version, download
German				Retail version, download
Hungarian				Fan translation.
Italian				Retail version, download
Brazilian Portuguese				Translation.
Russian				Unofficial translation by Fargus Multimedia.
Spanish				Retail version, download

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Notes
LAN play
Online play		The official WON service has been shut down.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Self-hosting

Issues fixed

Installation on 64-bit systems

On 64-bit systems, the autorun does not work because of an executable error. The game can still be installed by manually running [Drive]\setup\setup.exe.

Torches don't work / game is too dark

If the game seems overall too dark, and light sources like torches don't give off any real light, then you have a common bug. Choose on of the three following fixes.

Use dgVoodoo

This actually fixes the torches and other dynamic lights, and also fixes the general darkness issue. Download dgVoodoo 2. Ignore virus warnings that you might get, it is known to set off false positives. Unpack dgVoodoo. Copy dgVoodooCpl.exe and dgVoodoo.conf to your Redemption game folder (where the Vampire.exe is). Then do the same with D3D8.dll, D3Dlmm.dll and DDraw.dll under MS/x86. Execute dgVoodooCpl.exe in the game folder. This opens the dgVoodoo menu. Here, you can set your custom settings for the game. Click on the symbol on the top right (.\) to set this location as running instance. Under the tab DirectX, you can uncheck the watermark and check the option Force VSync if you like. Now all light sources like torches will work correctly in the game. If the game is TOO bright now, you can adjust with the in-game settings. If you want to customize dgVoodoo further, see here.

Use Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit

This doesn't actually fix the torches and other light sources, but it removes the problem of the game being overall too dark, so torches would no longer be necessary. The steps to get the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) depend on your system. The following is the guide for Windows 10: Download the Windows 10 Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) At installation, just choose the Compatibility Tools. Run the Compatibility Administrator (32-bit) In the side panel, click on the New Database(1) [Untitled_1], then on the top bar, choose Fix Fill in the following information then press next: Name of the program to be fixed: Vampire the Masquerade - Redemption Name of the vendor for this program: White Wolf Studio Program file location: Browse to your install directory and choose Vampire.exe Skip the next section (Compatibility Modes) Under Compatiblity Fixes, select and check DXPrimaryEmulation, highlight it with your mouse, and press the button Parameters. Enter -DisableMaxWindowedMode and confirm. If the test run is successful, then you can choose File → Install in the top bar to make the changes permanent.

Try running the game on Dedicated GPU

Will fix ambient lighting/gamma issues. May not work for all card models. If you're a laptop owner, and your system comes with two graphics cards (Nvidia Optimus) - make sure you are NOT running VtM Redemption on integrated (Intel) GPU. Switch to the dedicated GPU via Nvidia Control Panel. Right click on the executable/shortcut and select "Change default graphics processor..." option. Known to work with Nvidia 610M. Videos may start to flicker, removing the Video folder is advised.

Other information

Age Of Redemption Mod

Rebalances the game and adds additional features. It can be downloaded here.

The mod also changes a lot around the gameplay, for example it adds respawning enemies, changes level design, changes the way blood works and completely alters many Disciplines. Install at your own discretion.

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	7

Executable	PPC	16-bit	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
Mac OS (Classic)

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Multiplayer	WON (World Opponent Network)	Was shut down in 2008

System requirements

Windows

Mac OS (Classic)

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	95, 98
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium II 233 MHz	Intel Pentium III
System memory (RAM)	64 MB	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	720 MB
Video card (GPU)	DirectX 7 compatible

Mac OS
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	8.6
Processor (CPU)	PowerPC G3 300
System memory (RAM)	128 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	765 MB
Video card (GPU)	8 MB of VRAM