Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Developers
	Troika Games
Publishers
	Activision
Brazil	Electronic Arts
Engines
	Source
Release dates
Windows	November 16, 2004
Reception
Metacritic	80
IGDB	72
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	First-person, Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, Immersive sim, RPG
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Supernatural
Series	Vampire: The Masquerade

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines is a singleplayer first-person and third-person action, immersive sim and RPG game in the Vampire: The Masquerade series.

The game was released in an unfinished and buggy state. As such, installation of the Unofficial Patch or True Patch Gold is highly recommended.

General information

GOG.com Community Discussions for game series

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		SafeDisc v4 DRM
GOG.com		Includes Unofficial Patch.
Steam		Can be played without Steam after the Unofficial Patch or True Patch Gold is installed.
Humble Store (unavailable)
Amazon.com (unavailable)

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).

After the Unofficial Patch or True Patch Gold is installed, the game can be launched without Steam.

Version differences

The GOG.com Legacy version is an unpatched/initial release of the game. Alternatively, install UnPatch to fully remove Unofficial Patch from the GOG release.

Essential improvements

Patches

• Patch 1.2 - this patch is already included in the Unofficial Patch.

Unofficial Patch

Various bug fixes used to fix remaining errors left over from the latest version of the game and adds multiple features like widescreen support.

Mod is in active development.

Available in two flavors: Basic (bug fixes only) and Plus (restores cut content):

• Plus Patch adds new fan-made content such as new quests, characters, dialogue and others.
  • Plus contents are optional and can be selected only during installation.

Installation

Install the game from Steam or a disc and run the game once (it's fine if it crashes or shows memory error on a 64 bit OS). Download the latest unofficial patch and run downloaded executable as an administrator. Choose the installation folder when prompted and type of installation - Basic or Plus: Basic - consists of bugfixes that do not alter Troika's vision for the game and some minor changes made to streamline the experience. Plus - makes more changes including some fan-made content. Type in -game Unofficial_Patch in the Steam launch options (if using Steam version) or shortcut (if using disc version) and run the game. If a steam shortcut or batch file is preferred, use steam://rungameid/2600// -game Unofficial_Patch or start "" "steam://rungameid/2600// -game Unofficial_Patch".

True Patch Gold

Similar to the Basic version of the Unofficial Patch but without adding or changing any aspect of the game itself.

Apply on GOG install before using this patch

Installing True Patch Gold Edition

True Patch Gold Edition is designed to be used with either the Steam or CD release of the game. It's aims to only fix bugs and preserve an experience as close as possible to the original game. Install the game. If you are using the CD version it is not necessary to install the 1.2 Official Patch. Run the game once in order to initialize additional files. Download the patch. In the .rar file navigate to the folder named "TRUE_PATCH_MAIN" and copy its contents to <path-to-game>, overwriting everything when prompted. Modern Windows OS such as Windows 10 requires additional steps to run the game with the patch. Before starting the game navigate to start menu and run Command Prompt as an administrator. Enter the command sc config secdrv start= demand. Do not exit the Command Prompt, keep it running. Run the game. If it worked the game will be able to run with the patch without issue. When finished playing the game go back to the Command Prompt and enter the command sc config secdrv start= disabled, followed by sc stop secdrv.

Skip intro videos

Rename/delete intro videos[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>\Vampire\media\. Move/delete/rename activision.bik, nvidiabloodlogo.bik, troika.bik and whitewolf.bik.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Vampire\cfg HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Troika\Vampire
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2600/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	<path-to-game>\Vampire\save <path-to-game>\Unofficial_Patch\Vampire\save
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/2600/pfx/

Each quicksave creates a new save slot, they don't override each other.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
GOG Galaxy
Steam Cloud

Video

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			Use Unofficial Patch.
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen			See Ultra-widescreen.
4K Ultra HD			Use Unofficial Patch.
Field of view (FOV)		Default value is 75° (horizontal). See Field of view (FOV).
Windowed		Run with -sw commandline parameter.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		Run with -window -noborder commandline parameters, then use Borderless Gaming or similar software.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Can be forced through video driver. See Anisotropic filtering (AF).
Anti-aliasing (AA)		Nvidia users can force SGSSAA. See Anti-aliasing (AA).
High-fidelity upscaling		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Double buffered
60 FPS
120+ FPS		At high framerates, doors get stuck when opening them. For this reason, the Unofficial Patch introduces a 92 FPS cap. Can be removed with the fps_max command, but this will introduce the door glitch. The higher the framerate, the more likely it is that the player will get stuck on doors.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Ultra-widescreen

Change the aspect ratio via hex edit
Go to <path-to-game>\Bin\. Open engine.dll with a hex editor such as HxD. Press Ctrl+F and change Datatype to Hex-values. Search for the value 39 8E E3 3F and change it to B8 1E 15 40.

Field of view (FOV)

Changing the Field of View

Go to <path-to-game>\Vampire\cfg\, or <path-to-game>\Unofficial_Patch\cfg\ if using the Unofficial Patch. Open autoexec.cfg or create one if the file does not exist. Add default_fov # (replace # with the desired FOV) and save the file. If the game was started already and there is a save file, follow the steps below. Use the -console command line argument to enable the console. Start the game, close the console and load a save. Reopen the console using ~. Input fov 0. To get rid of the console, type showinventory to bring up the inventory, then close it with Esc. Save the game. The FOV is now altered for this save.

Anisotropic filtering (AF)

Anisotropic filtering on Linux/Wine with AMD/Mesa
Anisotropic filtering can be forced when using AMD GPU with Mesa by setting the environment variable for r600: R600_TEX_ANISO=16, or for radeonsi: AMD_TEX_ANISO=16.

Anisotropic filtering on Linux/Wine with DXVK
Go to <path-to-game>. Create an empty text file named dxvk.conf, if there isn't one. Open the file, add the line d3d9.samplerAnisotropy = 16 and save it. Notes If DXVK is installed in the wine prefix used to play the game, the anisotropic filtering level can be overridden using a configuration file. Values may range between 0 (disabled AF) to 16. -1 disables the override.

Anisotropic filtering with ENB Series for Half-Life 2
Download and install ENB Series for Half-Life 2. Open enbseries.ini with a text editor and under [ENGINE], change ForceAnisotropicFiltering to 1 and MaxAnisotropy to 2, 4, 8 or 16.

Anti-aliasing (AA)

Use SweetFX[citation needed]
Download SweetFX. Extract its contents to a folder. Follow the detailed instructions in the readme file to enable SMAA.

SGSSAA (Nvidia only)[citation needed]

Open Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines driver profile via Nvidia Profile Inspector. Change Antialiasing compatibility to 0x000000C0. Change Antialiasing - Mode to Override any application setting. Change Antialiasing - Setting to 4x [4x Multisampling] or 8xQ [8x Multisampling]. Change Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling to 4x Sparse Grid Supersampling or 8x Sparse Grid Supersampling. This should match the amount of Multisampling selected in the step above. Apply changes. Notes High quality anti-aliasing. Performance demanding.

Force MSAA on Linux/Wine with DXVK
Go to <path-to-game>. Create an empty text file named dxvk.conf, if there isn't one. Open the file, add the line d3d9.forceSwapchainMSAA = 8 and save it. Notes If DXVK is installed in the wine prefix used to play the game, the anisotropic filtering level can be overridden using a configuration file. Values may range between 0 (disabled MSAA) to 16. -1 disables the override.

Input

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping
Mouse acceleration		An option for Mouse Filtering. Mouse acceleration not present.
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support		It's possible to enable joystick support via console, but many of the actions (like feeding or crouching) can not be cancelled by pressing the same key, which makes the game unplayable on the controller.
Full controller support
Controller remapping
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers

PlayStation controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
Royalty free audio		Combination of original and licensed music.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Czech				Fan translation, download.
French
German				Fan translation, download.
Hungarian				Fan translation, download.
Italian				Fan translation, download.
Polish				Fan translation, download.
Brazilian Portuguese				Translation (Steam).
Russian				Fan translation by «Russian Bloodline». Tessera patch + russification on GOG-version. Fan audio localization by "GamesVoice and VTMB. Русский дубляж".
Spanish				Fan translation by Clan Dlan, download.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		Use Helix Mod: Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.
vorpX		G3D, Z3D Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Issues fixed

Game Launches in windowed mode

Game launches in windowed mode
Run with the -fullscreen commandline parameter in the Steam launch options (if using Steam version) or shortcut (if using disc version) and run the game.

Black screen during intros / movies

Black intro screen with sound - no logos
Right click on vampire.exe and go to Properties. Tick the boxes Disable visual themes and Disable desktop composition.

Missing Textures

Missing Textures[citation needed]
Make sure Bump Mapping is checked ON in the game settings. Restart the game.

vampire caused an Access Violation

vampire caused an Access Violation

View the crash logs in the main Bloodlines directory to see if this error occurred. If using something like Voicemeter Banana to split audio channels, change the default sound device in Windows to the speakers instead of Voicemeter VAIO/AUX, then change what audio device the game outputs to while it is running through Windows 'App volume and device preferences'. Installing the Unofficial Patch (even if it was never launched) will install some engine fixes that commonly fix these errors.

A.I. are disabled

A.I. are disabled

Try common Source game disabled A.I. fixes. If having the Unofficial Patch installed (even if not using it), the game normally uses .ain files in <path-to-game>/maps/graphs/ to determine A.I. pathing. The universal engine's changes from the Unofficial Patch (which run even if the patch isn't being used) will instead build these on the fly as .loc files, but the game will still try to read .ain files from this directory which will break all A.I. pathing. Remove all .ain files from <path-to-game>/maps/graphs/ to fix this.

Unable to run, less that 15mb memory available

Unable to run, less that 15mb memory available
Install the newest version of Unofficial Patch (either Basic or Plus). If this doesn't help, try Application Compatibility fixes.

Voices and Sound Effects have low quality surround/echo

Voices and Sound Effects have low quality surround/echo[citation needed]
To fix this issue permanently, open <path-to-game>\Vampire\cfg\autoexec.cfg and add the following to it: // [Sound Patch] snd_mixahead 0.35 snd_surround 1 snd_gain 2.2 snd_gain_max 1.58 dsp_on 1 dsp_spatial 73 dsp_stereo 1 dsp_dist_max 9999 hisound 1 footstep_pc_vol 0.31 // footstep_npc_use_templates 0 volume "0.930000" dsp_spatial (digital spatial profiler) can be configured via the console.

Input Lag

Input Lag[citation needed]
If the controls are hitching and unresponsive, particularly when moving and looking at the same time, change the compatibility of the main executable vampire.exe to Windows 98 mode. If this doesn't help, try running a game in Window or Borderless Fullscreen window mode to disable Vsync. Or simply force Vsync off in the graphics card's control panel.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9
Shader Model support	1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 2.0

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Audio	Miles Sound System	6.5e.
Cutscenes	Bink Video	1.6d.

Modifications

X20 Mod

Named after the 20th Anniversary Editions of the World of Darkness tabletop game lines.

Comes in 2 editions: Basic (textures only) and Plus (scripts, emails, dialogs and additional textures).

Both the Basic and Plus edition are compatible with the latest version of the Unofficial Patch with the Basic edition having no compatibility problems with other mods.

While both editions can be used separately, it is recommended to install both editions for optimal use.

Active development.

Improved textures at higher resolutions and with corrections.

UI Improvements such as better loading screens.

Lore-friendly additions based on other works in the World of Darkness.

Other minor fixes not found in the Unofficial Patch.

VTMB: Clan Quest Mod

An unofficial expansion pack with new contents.

Integrates both Unofficial Patch and X20 mod, as well as some contents from other mods.

Add new quests that are exclusive for each clan and for other special conditions.

Adds a new storyline, which includes new quests and three new endings.

Revised humanity system that's more in line with the pen and paper system.

An optional achievement system.

Development has been stopped.

Integrated mods are outdated (Unofficial Patch 9.2 and X20 Mod 1.0). While it is possible to upgrade X20 to the latest basic edition, updating the Unofficial Patch included in the mod will break it. It is recommended to install the latest unofficial patch in the base game folder and launch it separately from this mod.

Bloodlines Voices Remastered

An audio upsampling project, which aims to improve the quality of spoken dialogues in the game.

About 5500 voice files were manually remastered and enhanced.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	98, ME, 2000, XP
Processor (CPU)	AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz Intel Pentium III 1.2 GHz
System memory (RAM)	348 MB	512 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	4.7 GB
Video card (GPU)	64 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible