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Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Extended Gameplay Reveal" video


Commissar SFLUFAN

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Damn.

 

3 hours ago, BloodyHell said:

I do not get why people are so concerned about Blizzard. They made one bad remake. Every other game they've put out for two decades has been fantastic.

 

Sorry to hear about your hip! Hope you're doing ok and the drugs are good.

The fact that Blizzard won't fix WC3:R speaks volumes to what kind of company they are now. There isn't even profiles or a ladder post 1 year from release. I played Starcraft 2 multiplayer ladder while it was in beta!

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This is all sad. Obviously the worst is seeing people lose their jobs (though you have to wonder how badly they did their jobs to be removed from a project that was supposedly near release), but the original was one of my favorite PC games of its era. I also had an affinity for its table top D10 (the best table top system, btw) game, along with Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and Mage: Ascension. Some friends and I found them in a used bookstore back in the mid 90's, the three books for like 25$. We played them for years as a change of pace from D&D and board games. So, I really want this to be good.

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  • 2 months later...

From a pretty reliable poster on ResetERA:

 

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For what is worth, one source close to the publisher told me that Paradox itself confirmed that the game is being redone from scratches, nothing of the current writing is being salvaged and they don't expect the new Bloodlines before 2023 (best case scenario).

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2: Information Thread, update: ResetERA poster claims entire project is being restarted from scratch
  • 5 months later...
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WWW.PCGAMER.COM

Paradox recently confirmed that the Vampire RPG is still in development, but it was a close thing.

 

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"When we lifted the game from the original developer, we had a long review in case we should end the game [development] or run it further," Wester said. "We were actually prepared to close the production completely. But we got a pitch that we thought was convincing enough to run, played on, and we have very good hopes that it will be a good game that meets the players' expectations."

 

 

Mr. Wester, you should've just cancelled the bloody thing and put it out of its misery. That was a really easy call to make.

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2: Information Thread, update: Paradox CEO confirms that the game was really close to cancellation (and probably just should be)
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...
paradox-interactive.jpg
WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

 

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Dear Bloodlines fans,

 

It's been quite a while between updates while we've had our heads down working on the game. We remain just as dedicated to delivering a great Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines game as we were when we announced, and are looking forward to showing you more in September this year.

 

We acknowledge it was a long time ago that many of you pre-ordered Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. As development continues, we will be updating the game's editions and bonus content, and we want to provide the best value to those of you who supported us via digital pre-order after all this time. We are thus offering refunds to anyone who has pre-ordered any edition of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. As part of this process, we are proactively refunding all pre-orders of physical products, including the Collector's Edition. The digital versions of the First Blood Edition, Unsanctioned Edition and Blood Moon Edition remain, but can be refunded if you choose.

 

We're excited to show you more and hope to have all of you with us in September when we reveal more. We know you are eager to see how the game is coming along so we've put together a fresh batch of screenshots to share with you.

 

For more information about refunds and how to submit your request, please visit our FAQ.

 

Until then,
The Bloodlines Team

 

Stay tuned here and on the Bloodlines 2 Discord server for more news.

 

 

 

adam sandler speedo GIF by Saturday Night Live

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2: Information Thread, update: Paradox to share news about the game in September and releases new screenshots
  • 2 months later...
  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: The Chinese Room announced as developer along with Fall 2024 release

 

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I was initially surprised at the choice of developer⁠—The Chinese Room has thus far been known for narrative and atmosphere-heavy, gameplay-lite projects—but the more I chewed on it, the more exciting the prospect became. One of Bloodlines 1's main appeals is its dense, textured, turn-of-the-millennium LA noir⁠, and The Chinese Room has excelled at evoking a similar sense of place in its games.

 

Skidmore seemed to share my initial reaction: "This isn't what I was expecting the Chinese Room to be working on," he told me. "And really, it was a big reason why I joined, because these are the kinds of games I love working on." Skidmore brings some serious, crunchy RPG bona fides to the project⁠—before serving as lead designer on Gears Tactics, an XCOM-like spinoff that we loved, he spent many years at Lionhead Studios working on the Fable series.

 

The Chinese Room has kept Bloodlines 2's initial planned setting of Seattle, and while Greaney noted that they "have been able to reuse a significant amount of art and level design" from Hardsuit's project, Skidmore was quick to clarify that The Chinese Room is using "a new code base with different gameplay mechanics and RPG systems." Bloodlines 2 is also still set at yuletide, but is now in the grips of a historic snowstorm, and Bloodlines 2's new trailer and concept art remind me of the OG Max Payne's grimy, modern NYC Ragnarök.

 

 

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We're also getting a completely different sort of protagonist than Hardsuit Labs had planned. Bloodlines 2 was to originally star a recently-turned "thin blood" vampire. In World of Darkness rules, older is better, and the legendary bloodlines of Antediluvian vampire patriarchs have diluted over the millennia⁠—they just don't make new-gen vamps like they used to.

 

"We don't want it to be just a sort of poor homage or pastiche of Bloodlines 1. We want it to be its own thing," Skidmore explained. "We're not doing what Bloodlines 1 did, which is a traditional RPG game start: the very first day you're a vampire. The actual character you are has been a vampire for quite a while. And that was to create something different from Bloodlines to give a different experience."

 

Bloodlines 2 will now star an "Elder" vampire awoken from an indeterminate torpor (read: long-ass vampire nap), and going off old Vampire: The Masquerade rules, you get Elder status after 300 years of undeath. Since Bloodlines 1's days, a joint Vatican-global intelligence "Second Inquisition" has hit the vampire underground hard, culling its ranks. An ancient, supremely powerful big boy vampire waking up in Seattle is a bit of an event.

 

 

 

paradox-interactive.jpg
WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

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Clans
Between today and the end of 2023, we will reveal all playable clans in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2. In the opening months of 2024, we will reveal gameplay and go into depth on disciplines, playstyles and the experience of playing the game as each clan.

 

Gameplay
We will be back with a full-length gameplay video in January, 2024.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: The Chinese Room announced as developer along with Fall 2024 release, full-length gameplay video coming January 2024
  • 3 weeks later...
WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

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This is Studio Design Director Alex Skidmore from The Chinese Room; excited to finally be able to say this out loud. I'm writing today to introduce you to our studio, its history and, in the future, the people behind making Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2.

 

The Chinese Room is the award-winning studio focused on telling grounded, believable and rich stories - these are the traditions behind our ground-breaking games in our portfolio, like Dear Esther and the internationally acclaimed Everybody's Gone to the Rapture. Over 100 talented game developers were all drawn here by a passion for the kind of storytelling we do. We also have a strong history of supporting diversity in our development team and our games.

 

In early 2020, we moved to our studio in sunny Brighton and built our award-winning mobile game Little Orpheus… a warmup for the ambitious titles ahead. Later the same year, the company moved to two narrative-focused projects, Still Wakes the Deep and V:tM - Bloodlines 2. Still Wakes the Deep builds on The Chinese Room’s heritage, and Bloodlines 2 is about looking to the future for our games, taking a big leap forward into the action role-playing genre while bringing our narrative expertise to bear.

 

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Dev Diary #1 - Welcome to the Chinese Room"

Recent developer interviews:

 

WWW.THEGAMER.COM

The Chinese Room isn't known for big-budget action games like Bloodlines 2, but the studio has been working towards this moment for a long time.

 

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When Paradox Interactive announced that it had parted ways with developer Hardsuit Labs in February 2021, fans of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines were understandably worried about the fate of the upcoming sequel. However, according to Sean Greaney, vice president of World of Darkness at Paradox, the split from Hardsuit Labs allowed the company to partner with a studio that it believed could better fulfill its vision for the game.

 

“We got to a point in the project where we think that the initial developer did a lot of great foundational work, we just had a different vision. We couldn’t align on that,” Greaney tells me. “We always had the intention to complete the project, we had to go out, we had to find the right partner to do that with.” Greaney says Paradox approached a number of studios, looking for one with “great narrative chops,” and eventually decided on The Chinese Room. “They have this great narrative background, this great immersive background, and they were telling us about the ambition that they had to move into the action role playing adventure space as well,” Greaney says. The Chinese Room began working on Bloodlines 2 in January 2021.

 

Alex Skidmore, creative director for Bloodlines 2, says the studio’s ambition to create an action RPG had already led to major changes internally, even before the opportunity to work on Bloodlines 2 came along. “When The Chinese Room joined Sumo Digital in 2018, part of that was to enable TCR to take on larger scale projects and gain credibility, not just for narrative but for action gameplay,” Skidmore says. TCR is well known for its immersive, atmospheric, and narrative driven games like Dear Esther and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, but it wanted to stretch in new directions.

 

 

 

WWW.THEGAMER.COM

The Chinese Room's version of Bloodlines 2 sounds rather different from what Hardsuit Labs was cooking up.

 

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After being asked whether The Chinese Room thinks about the sequel in terms of its immersive sim qualities, Skidmore said, "I don't know if we would use the word immersive sim", before going into examples of how the game's combat can be approached in various ways and discussing how the roleplaying sections of Bloodlines 2 can result in different experiences for different players.

 

Although Skidmore's comments highlight that Bloodlines 2 will offer a variety of different ways to approach its combat and RPG mechanics, it makes it sound a lot more like an RPG than an immersive sim, something that's backed up by Skidmore saying Bloodlines 2 is a chance for The Chinese Room to "plant our flag in an RPG" during the same interview with TheGamer.

 

 

 

SCREENRANT.COM

Developers discuss Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2.

 

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Screen Rant sat down with Alex Skidmore, studio design director at The Chinese Room, and Sean Greaney, the vice president of World of Darkness at Paradox Interactive, to discuss the game's world, translating key elements of the TTRPG into a new medium, and the journey towards release.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

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Samson In Chains

 

The story of Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 is, at its cold, unbeating heart, about control: the amount and kind of control you have over others, the control they exert over you in turn, and the control you lose—and slowly regain—over yourself… and your fate.

 

You wake trapped in Seattle, the full extent of your power artificially suppressed—diminished to a mere pawn, to be used and exploited. After all, what are others if not our most disposable assets?

 

And what better asset than a leashed and muzzled Elder? 

 

Our main NPC characters like Lou, Ryong, and Tolly all have their own agenda that your involvement could greatly advance.

 

It might not be in your best interest to bite every hand that seeks to bring you to heel, but to pick and choose, to play along—to bide your time. Or not. That much, darling, is down to you.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Dev Diary #2 - Narrative Atmosphere & Themes"
  • 2 weeks later...
WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

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What is Neo-Noir?

 

Neo-Noir is a revival movement of Film Noir from the mid 20th century. Artists focus on modern day cities, painting them in bright neon lights and deep shadows. It’s very moody and evokes places that harbour sinister characters. Think Blade Runner or John Wick. Subversive, Dark, and Threatening, are all Neo-Noir conventions we’re focusing on for our game. VtM is all of these tones and so naturally it worked hand in hand when it came to creating the seedy underbelly of our Seattle. From Locations to Characters our vision is about showing a side of Seattle at night that goes deeper than what you see on the surface. Whether it’s dark-cornered alleyways to roam or interiors that host Machiavellian politics behind closed doors. Neo-Noir puts atmosphere and contrast at the centre of its palette and that’s something that works perfectly with our Vampire fantasy and ultimately Bloodlines 2.

 

 

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Haven_5.png?w=3840&q=75

 

Haven_6.png?w=3840&q=75

 

Haven_2.png?w=3840&q=75

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Dev Diary #3 - Neo-Noir Art Style" and new screenshots
  • 2 weeks later...
  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Narrative & RPG" Stream

 

 

WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

 

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Brujah

 

Who Are The Brujah?

 

The Learned Clan, Rabble, Punks, Hipsters, Prometheans, Rebels, Philosopher-Kings, Hellenes.

 

Brujah is the learned clan, the clan of radicals, the clan commonly misjudged as punks looking for trouble, the Brujah are guided by passion and dedication to an ideal. And if they have the supernatural strength to back that passion up, who are you to argue? Rebellion unites their blood, whether that rebellion is of the subtle lend me your ears kind or the fists out, fire in the streets sack of Rome kind is down to the individual.

 

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WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

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Hi, I’m Michele Nucera, Senior Concept Artist.

 

I’ve been looking forward to showing you the hard work that our art team has done to bring life into our game. We’re using a relatively new technique in concept art to help us.

 

Normally all the screenshots you see are fully finished levels with lighting and details in-game. But today I’ll be showing some of the earlier versions that we use to visualise what that final product will look like.

 

The first thing we keep in mind is the Bloodline 2 art direction. We want to create a foggy, dark, and neo-noir environment where the player can hide and attack from the shadows. The perfect setting for a vampire!

 

Our goal is to provide the 3D team with a few images to show them our idea for a location or a character. We try to keep our concepts grounded to the real world, but we try to push reality up to 11 (as our Art Director John McCormack always suggests) so the player can experience something unexpected and never seen before.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Brujah Clan" reveal and "Dev Diary #4: Creating Vampiric Concepts in Unreal"

 

WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

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Tremere

 

The Broken Clan, Usurpers, Warlocks, Haemetics, Thaumaturges, Transgressors, Blood Mages

 

Clan Tremere embraces scholars, academics, researchers, and other relentless pursuers of knowledge. These Kindred have an obsession with blood and vitae — vampire Blood — beyond even that of other Kindred, an obsession which extends to its control. Whether the blood coursing through their enemies veins, or a Tremere’s own vitae, a drop of red can turn into a deadly weapon in the hands of an experienced Warlock.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Tremere Clan" reveal
  • 3 weeks later...

 

WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

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Banu Haqim

 

The Clan of the Hunt, Assassins, Children of Haqim, Saracens, Mediators, Lawmen

 

Cursed with a thirst for the Blood of other vampires, the Banu Haqim stalk the night as judges and lawbringers. To this end, most Banu Haqim adhere to a strict code of conduct - derived from law, faith, or personal ethics - sating their Hunger on those that breach these convictions.

 

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Banu Haqim Clan" reveal and Dev Diary Recap #2
  • 3 weeks later...
WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

Quote

 

Ventrue

 

The Clan of Kings, Blue Bloods, Tyrants, Warlords, Patricians, Borgias

 

Ventrue vampires usually choose their progeny from mortals familiar with power, wealth and influence. Seeing themselves as the rightful leaders of vampire society, Kindred of clan Ventrue take up the mantle of leadership wherever possible, often in the form of high positions in Camarilla Courts.

 

 

 

WWW.PARADOXINTERACTIVE.COM

Paradox Interactive is a world leading PC games publisher known for games such as Cities: Skylines, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.

 

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My name is Andrea Sancio, and I am the Associate Technical Director working on Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 at The Chinese Room. Together with Nick Slaven, our Studio Technical Director, it has been my honour to lead our talented team on the technical side of the game.

 

I’m going to share with you now a behind-the-scenes look at what our team has been doing on the game, and when you play it, we hope that you will all love it as much as we do.

 

In the ever-evolving world of video game development, staying at the cutting edge is a continuous pursuit. With the release of Unreal Engine 5, the landscape has shifted dramatically, presenting game developers with an array of groundbreaking technologies and tools. I wanted to delve into our experiences and challenges with some of the experimental technologies that have come to define UE5: Nanite, Virtual Shadow Maps and Lumen. These technologies play a pivotal role in creating a realistic and dark world that aligns perfectly with the neo-noir art direction of our game.

 

 

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  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Ventru Clan" reveal and Dev Diary#5 -"A Dive into Next-Gen Game Development"
  • 1 month later...
  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 (Fall 2024) - Information Thread, update: "Extended Gameplay Reveal" video

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