There is NOTHING Wrong With The True Patch

[Tessera]

This post is for anyone who complains about problems that
they may have had after installing the True VTMB Patch:



THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.


From time to time, we get complaints from users who insist that they "did everything right" when they installed our patch. That tiny handful of users experienced problems after the installation, therefore they automatically assumed that we must have done something terribly wrong... and that we produced "a bad patch."

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.

It is unfortunate that when certain users run into a problem, their very first assumption is that there is some sort of "bug" or other problem with the True Patch itself. So naturally, their first response to whatever problem they are having is to accuse the makers of the True Patch (Acrimonious and me) of making some sort of horrible mistake. After all, the user never makes any mistakes, right..? So undoubtedly, it must be a "bad patch" that is responsible for their troubles. Yeah... that's what it is... a "bad patch."

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT.


The True VTMB Patch version 5.04AT is being used by over 18,000 users worldwide (that is the total number of downloads). Almost all of those users are having no problems of any kind. If there was an actual problem with the patch itself, then ALL of those users would be reporting bugs and glitches to us. We'd get buried under a massive pile of angry e-mails from unhappy users.

But we don't, and we haven't... and we won't, either. Wanna know why..?

BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING AT ALL.

If you experience any strange problems or weird in-game behavior after installing
the True VTMB Patch, then here are the ONLY legitimate reasons for your troubles:

(1) You never read the instructions, thus you installed the True Patch incorrectly.
(2) You tried to use a pre-existing gamesave that was created before you installed the True Patch.
(3) Your computer is fucked-up.
(4) Your operating system is fucked-up.
(5) Your entire game installation was fucked-up to begin with.
(6) Your copy of Bloodlines is either damaged or illegitimate (pirated).
(7) You did something after the installation that caused the installation to become corrupted.

That's it, folks... that list represents the only possible reasons for why you may be having problems with the True VTMB Patch. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the patch itself, so do not send me any more e-mails claiming that we made some sort of mysterious and magical mistakes when we produced the True VTMB Patch version 5.04AT. No, we did not. No, we are not listening to any more of your whining. No, you can not get me to walk you through everything step-by-step, because I have already done so multiple times on this board. No, we are not being assholes... we are simply tired of hearing from people who -- for some inexplicable reason -- are unable to follow a set of very specific installation instructions. If you can not install a simple patch, then that is your problem. Install the patch again... and READ THE INSTRUCTIONS THIS TIME.

Oh, yeah... I should also mention that you need to FOLLOW THOSE INSTRUCTIONS, too. If you think you know "a better way" to install a patch that WE wrote, then you deserve whatever happens to you. So like, you can kiss my ass if you have any troubles, okay..? 


With all of the love in my heart,

- Tessera -
Co-creator (with Acrimonious) of the True VTMB Patch series

[Acrimonious]

This is not to say we don't want bug reports.  If you think you've found a bug, by all means let us know. My only request is that you do so politely, respectfully, and here on this website.  Also, if I tell you that I cannot duplicate a bug, then there's a very strong possibility that it's not a bug at all.

[Red_Machine]

I concur.  Never had any problems with it.

[Tessera]

This is not to say we don't want bug reports.  If you think you've found a bug, by all means let us know.

We want LEGITIMATE bug reports... yes. 

The current version of the True Patch has been around for nearly six months. In all of that time, we have received perhaps fifty supposed "bug reports" from users. Out of those reports, I would estimate that nine out of ten of them were not bugs at all... they were user errors that no one else was able to duplicate.

And then there are the bug reports that have nothing whatosever to do with the True Patch. I'm talking about intrinsic Source engine bugs that our patch does not even deal with, and which can not be fixed by us. Things such as the pay phones jumping back into their cradles when you're still talking, or flaky physics whenever your character steps on top of a movable object, or "stuttering" audio on computers with less than optimal audio hardware. All of those are real bugs, but they are Source engine bugs that can only be fixed by the authors of the game engine itself (Valve).


Here's an example of a LEGITIMATE bug report:

"Hi guys, I installed the True Patch and everything works great. I did find a couple of small things, though. First, the dialogue for Strauss doesn't match the subtitles. I have included a screenshot. Also, when I went to VV's club the first time, all of the strippers had tassels coming out of their asses. I have included a screenshot of that bug, too."

Here's an example of a big fat load of bullshit report:

"Yo, Tess. I installed your patch and I did everything right. Well you guys screwed something up because none of the NPC's in SM are moving. Also, my character is missing her head and also, I can't get Jeanette to screw me anymore like she did in Wesp's patch. I wanted to know why you guys released a broken patch?"

Hopefully, my rather extreme examples will give everyone a good idea of what we're talking about here. 

[swoop2004]

I would also like to throw out there the unfixable bugs that are there also...


I brought one up the other day and I knew it wasn't the patch, but as tess informed me there wasn't anything they could do about that because of where the error was located

( I am refering to the flying on a gate in the warrens)

[Tessera]

The only thing that might prevent that kind of weird glitch would be to alter that game map,
and move the boundary to a new location in order to prevent the player from even reaching
that section of the map. Acrimonious would know better than I do about something like that.

[StarWrecker]

Agreed. Sure, I have asked some questions about things, but I don't blame the true patch. Well, there was the time I found that trivial bug, but it was exactly that: trivial. The vast majority of remaining game-breakers are from corrupted saves or installations.

[Arandie]

The vast majority of remaining game-breakers are from corrupted saves or installations.

Or novice modders fucking things up...
<----------------------------------------------

[Tessera]

Or novice modders fucking things up...
<----------------------------------------------

Awwwww....  :laugh:

I don't think I would refer to yourself as a "novice," Arandie.
Most of your mods are quite good.

[Soulsemmer]

I was lucky enough to have the latest True Patch on my first install for Bloodlines.

Ale and whores for everyone! Huzzah!

[Tessera]

Ale and whores

//signed   

[FronTeeR]

Am new here and I don`t know is it appropriate to post this here but I have a pirated version of VTMB ( coz where I live that is the only way to get these kind of games)
and I use True Patch!!!
It works just fine set aside a little sound glitch ( dialog sounds are late for one or two seconds) but thats prolly because the pirated version.
I first started the game without the True Patch played it for a while, then I found the True Patch on tessmage and installed it and played again till the end without any problem.

[Tessera]

Well, I never said that it won't work with pirated copies of the game...
I just said that pirated copies are not supported by us (and they aren't).

[Acrimonious]

I have a pirated version of VTMB

Keel haul the dirty scalawag!  Arrrr!!

[Polvere]

I hope this is the right thread to report a bug. I guess I did no mistakes while installing the patch. I've copied the "Vampire" folder into the main folder of the game (called Vampire - Bloodlines) overwriting all the files ("Yes to all") contained in the original "Vampire" folder inside the "Vampire - Bloodlines" main folder. Obviously, after installing the original patch from Activision.

Well, here we go:

Sometimes  - which means that doesn't happen with all the quests - when I finish a quest, on the screen appears the normal message of the amount of experience points earned, but when i press C to pop-up the character sheet.. dang! 0 experience points to add. That forced me to use cheats. Expecially because I wanted to save both of the Voerman sisters and I was unable to get the points before (at least persuasion 4 is required to save both of them).
Well, neither the cheats are working (and to be sure I've pumped up my skills to the maximum), though I don't know if this is a bug too or it is well-known that pumping up persuasion by the cheats won't work in that part of the game in any case. By any means, I'm not assuming that it is a true patch bug, but I am inclined to believe so, since the last time I played bloodlines I used another unofficial patch and I did not have such problems . Also, the game version it is the same I used before, so It can't even be a corrupted game.

Sorry if this bug was already reported.

And sorry if I've been inexhaustive, I'm not really into modding. 


Edit: I just checked something, to be sure. I loaded an older savegame, right before entering the museum in order to kill the blood guardian of the paintings. Once I enter I get 1 exp point (and by checking the character sheet, this time I'm able to get the point), then, after the battle the log says that I get 3 exp point but in the character sheet ive got 0 exp point to spend. So I came to this conclusion: it doesnt only fails to add exp points, it also delete all the points earned before. Furthermore, using the cheats to add exp points, I've noticed that:
1 it wont add exp points
2 it will add a wrong number of exp points
3 or it will even automatically add exp points to disciplines and feats.
I just hope the problem won't be tougher than I thought: what if I'm unable to persuade Jeanette/Theresa even if I get to persuasion 4 without using the cheats? All of this should sustain my bug theory: arent cheats meant to work properly in any case?

[Tessera]

There is nothing wrong with the True Patch. Hence the title of this thread. 

Please read the official thread for the True VTMB Patch version 5.04AT,
and you will most likely discover that your answers will be found therein...

http://www.tessmage.com/forum/index.php/topic,1112.msg11667.html#msg11667

[steeal]

I just hope the problem won't be tougher than I thought: what if I'm unable to persuade Jeanette/Theresa even if I get to persuasion 4 without using the cheats? All of this should sustain my bug theory: arent cheats meant to work properly in any case?

VTMB -- How To Reconcile "TOURETTE"
by Tessera

http://www.tessmage.com/forum/index.php/topic,240.0.html

[Polvere]

Aww that explains a lot of things, in my last game I've been  pretty gentle with the Voerman sisters... this time I've been a jerk. Well, guess I'll restart the game if I cant find an older savegame.

For the answers I seek.. I've checked the True patch thread until I found this:

It is impossible to ever know for sure what Troika did or did not intend.  There is an entry in the experience table for sending Danielle to the blood bank.  This suggests that we are indeed supposed to get some xp for doing so.  On the other hand, one could argue that Troika decided pacifying Vandal and gaining access to his services was reward enough and intentionally removed the xp reward before releasing the game.

There are two other instances in the game where I restored xp rewards simply because there was an entry for them in the table.  For the reason stated above, I've come to believe that that reasoning is flawed.  Restoring unused dialogue lines is one thing, but I am hesitant to restore any more xp rewards at this point.  In cases such as this, you'll need to provide a very convincing argument that the non-xp rewards are insufficient for the effort involved.
FROM TESSERA: Agreed.

Does that means that on certain quests you guys removed exp rewards?