True Patch Gold Edition -- DIRECT DOWNLOAD LINK

[Prisoner416]

Nice to see that work is still being done, amazed with the graphics dx progress.

Well, I have some bad news. I have decided NOT to release the DX9 graphics upgrade, mainly because it would go against the tradition of the True Patch series. It isn't a bug fix... it's a mod and with only a few small exceptions, I've always tried to avoid adding any mods into the True Patch.

I may release it separately as a VTMB graphics mod --  we'll see. It isn't actually mine, anyway... all I've done is take the SweetFX mod and re-tune it for VTMB. And while it's true that I also made a couple of code changes to the VTMB engine, in order to make it work better with SweetFX, it's still a mod -- not a bug fix. SO... I won't be including it within the True Patch. Sorry, folks.

It seems that the solution should be simple if he can address it with his. It seems like there's a fix with the vampire.dll file that bypasses the problem.

Yes... it's a line of code that tells the engine to search for the SafeDisk driver, prior to loading the main menu. But as I have said, I have no interest in supporting Windows 10 -- therefore, I won't be bothering with it. If someone in the VTMB community wants to submit their own "TPG on Windows 10" fix for this issue, then by all means... go ahead and do so, with my blessing. 

Truth be told, folks... for the past 11 years, I've done my bit to support VTMB. More than my bit, frankly. The TPG is still the best patch on the web for VTMB, and it doesn't need any further enhancements.

Of course, the rest of you are free to make your own alternative patches -- if you feel that the TPG is somehow flawed or inadequate.

Way back on December 14, 2011, I stumbled into this forum having found out about the patch, asking some stupid questions in retrospect about the two patches. I thank you, deeply, for doing this much for this long.

I hope someone does or you consider your own release. At the moment I'm running the true patch but with the dll file from the other thing.

Seems to work so far... only error I noticed was that after the intro execution, it showed a blank hall instead of the characters leaving. I think that happened to me before in pure runs anyway though. Also the beheading scene is missing.

Honestly, I'd do the work myself if I could just to make sure the file was untainted by wesp. I can only pray that someone with better knowledge takes a stab.

I'd love to work on the scripts for the game, fix the subtitles to match the spoken dialog in most cases (There are a lot of cases where the subtitles are lacking), and do the basic grammar tweaks. Not sure if it'd be worth starting it up as a project though if development for the patch is done.

[Tessera]

I'm seriously considering creating a mod that will completely remove Wesp's patch from VTMB and replace it with the True Patch Gold Edition.
That way, people who have been ripped off, and forced to buy a copy of VTMB with the UP pre-installed, will have a way to fix that situation.

[StarWrecker]

It's incredibly sleazy that he got his mod pre-installed with the game.

I never got why he insists on calling it an unofficial patch.

There are many excellent partial conversion mods available for Bloodlines for those who want a different experience (I love the removal of passive healing entirely in Camarilla Edition, it makes the game a lot tenser). It's obvious that he wants to make one, so why doesn't he just call a spade a spade?

[Tessera]

Dude, I gave up on trying to figure out Wesp and his ego problems years ago. 

But with a bit of work, it shouldn't be too hard for me to put together an "Anti-Wesp" patch, that completely removes every single file from his UP and then replaces those files with either TPG files (where applicable), or the default files (in those cases where no patching was necessary).

A simple batch file would do the trick. Unlike Wesp, I don't believe in using *.exe files for fan-made patches. They make some people nervous, because it is very easy to hide viruses and other malicious code within an *.exe. This is why the True Patch has NEVER employed an *.exe installer. It isn't because I don't know how (I do)... it's because I want people to have confidence in my work. All versions of the True Patch have always relied upon simple copy/paste operations, in order to install them. Note: I am not suggesting that Wesp deliberately inserts viruses into his installer... but it would be a very easy matter for third parties to take advantage of Wesp's installer, add malicious code to it, and then bundle it into one of their own mods, or simply redistribute Wesp's UP with a virus attached.

Anyway, I'll think seriously about creating an easy way for people to remove Wesp's garbage from VTMB completely and then re-patch it with the TPG. I don't wish to ignite another patch war, but I don't think it's right for people to be forced to use a faulty fan-made patch that they may not want.

[StarWrecker]

The problem is he's still releasing new versions of his mod every few months, so you'd have to make a deinstaller every time Wesp feels like stroking his ego.

It's strange, he's been working on it a decade, you think he would have finalized it by now. I presume GoG will be incorporating new versions as they become available.

The makers of CQM get bothered by Wesp's adoring fans whenever he releases a new version, because CQM is built on top of "only" version 9.something and he's almost up to v11. The fact that CQM isn't getting updated all the time suggests to me that Wesp's actually important code base is stable, and he just keeps making changes to keep himself feeling important.

What I have noticed now is that Wesp's mod installs in a different subfolder so it is entirely detached from the main game - it is launched as if it were a conversion mod. This, at least, provides some isolation.

[Tessera]

The problem is he's still releasing new versions of his mod every few months, so you'd have to make a deinstaller every time Wesp feels like stroking his ego.

I thought about that, about three hours after I made that post. And you're quite right, of course.

[Maxim Blackwell]

Hello Tessera and everyone, cheers from Ukraine. I'm new to this website and although I don't do much of social networking, and to be perfectly honest I was aware of your True Patch Gold Edition for some time ever since I started to play Bloodlines, even though I don't play games anymore due to my declining interested in them, nevertheless  I do watch some videos about them from time to time and also I haven't been aware of Patch Wars till yesterday and seeing what I read makes kinda of stupid for people to be narrow minded and as for your patch, I haven't played Bloodlines with your patch sadly in my days, and seeing some changes which I saw in UP it kinda baffles me sometimes since I always stick with Basic not with Plus although I played it with Plus once and I really didn't like some changes since they were kinda controversial for me. Anyway sorry for bringing the old history again, just wanted to say thanks for your all hard work and I hope you have good future ahead of you.

P.S. Sorry for my English, it can be rusty sometimes.

[Tessera]

Your English is fine... and thank you for the kind words. 

For me, the "patch war" is a thing of the past. It began all the way back in 2007, which was 12 years ago. Basically, when we produced
a "bug fixes only" patch as an alternative to what Wesp had been doing, the people in Wesp's camp totally lost their fucking minds
and began flinging their poo at us. Being a rather rough and tough son of a bitch, I responded in kind and it just sort of escalated
from there. Well, that was then and this is now. I have long since moved on. I've been told that Wesp continues to compete with
me and with the True Patch from time to time, which I consider to be childish.

I have always said that people should play Bloodlines however they want to. If they want to play the original game created by Troika,
then they should play with the True Patch Gold Edition. If they prefer to play a game that is heavily altered in various ways, and they
don't mind someone else making those decisions for them, then by all means... play Wesp's version.

[Maxim Blackwell]

Hey thanks for replay, I have couple of questions if you don't mind answers to them.

1.Is your patch compatibly with mods for example with Clan Quest Mod ? and also what's your opinion about this mod ? even I don't play games with any mods aside from couple of games, and in Bloodlines I play only with patch mainly UP Basic but nevertheless I say that author made a great work of making a new quest line for Sabbat unlike in UP Plus and his Sabbat ending....

2.I read on pcgamingwiki.com that Bloodlines has issues with low quality of voice and sound effect surround/echo retrospectively, so I assume that True Patch Gold Edition fixes this issue or is it left unfixed due to problem with old Source engine itself ? 

3.Does your patch remove Gary's quest "Poster Session" where you need to collect items for Gary in return for posters he sends to your heaven ?

4.Do you get a lot of Russian or Ukrainian users for that matter and what do they usually ask about your patch ? 

5.And lastly What's your thoughts about upcoming sequel Bloodlines 2 and Do you think that it will share the same fate as it was with first Bloodlines ?

I know that you busy person and all, but if you have time to answer to my questions, I'd appreciated a lot.
Well that's all have nice day or night and keep up a good work.

P.S. Ahh yes I forgot one more thing Does your patch modify visibility for Peds in order for them to see of Nosferatu player because as far as I know if you keep your distance from them, they won't you see close enough for Nosferatu not to receive Masqueraded Violation ?

[Tessera]

1.Is your patch compatibly with mods for example with Clan Quest Mod ? and also what's your opinion about this mod ? even I don't play games with any mods aside from couple of games, and in Bloodlines I play only with patch mainly UP Basic but nevertheless I say that author made a great work of making a new quest line for Sabbat unlike in UP Plus and his Sabbat ending....

2.I read on pcgamingwiki.com that Bloodlines has issues with low quality of voice and sound effect surround/echo retrospectively, so I assume that True Patch Gold Edition fixes this issue or is it left unfixed due to problem with old Source engine itself ? 

3.Does your patch remove Gary's quest "Poster Session" where you need to collect items for Gary in return for posters he sends to your heaven ?

4.Do you get a lot of Russian or Ukrainian users for that matter and what do they usually ask about your patch ? 

5.And lastly What's your thoughts about upcoming sequel Bloodlines 2 and Do you think that it will share the same fate as it was with first Bloodlines ?

P.S. Ahh yes I forgot one more thing Does your patch modify visibility for Peds in order for them to see of Nosferatu player because as far as I know if you keep your distance from them, they won't you see close enough for Nosferatu not to receive Masqueraded Violation ?

(1) I have no idea which third-party mods are compatible with the True Patch. I suppose some of them will be, and others will not. You need to contact the authors of each mod and ask them that question directly. They would know better than I would. I never play VTMB with their mods, so I have never bothered to test any of them for compatibility. So the individual authors are the only people who can answer this question.

(2) The True Patch makes no changes to the audio engine in Bloodlines. Troika employed the Miles Audio 3-D Sound engine for this game and it does indeed have some problems. But no, I have not altered it.

(3) The True Patch does not remove any quests of any kind. It does make a repair to a certain Nosferatu quest, which was intended to be for Nossies only. In the vanilla game, any clan could do the quest, due to a bugged script. Once the script was repaired, the quest stopped being available to other clans and was restored to being Nosferatu-only, as was the original intention by Troika.

(4) I haven't kept track of the nationalities of different True Patch users over the years, so I have no idea. I do know that our patch is used worldwide... but beyond that, I can't say.

(5) We do have a thread devoted to Bloodlines 2, up in the forum devoted to Bloodlines. I have shared a few thoughts about it, but since none of us have actually seen the game yet, my impressions about it are limited.

(6) The True Patch makes no alterations to the game mechanics, other than to fix legitimate bugs wherever they have been found. The trick to playing a Nossie, while out in public, is to hide as much as possible. Use the sewers, whenever you can, to travel around town... that's what they're for. The biggest challenge when playing a Nossie is NOT to be seen, so if Wesp's "patch" has made some sort of change to that mechanic, then he is undermining the special challenge that Nossie players were intended to face.

[Drazgar]

4.Do you get a lot of Russian or Ukrainian users for that matter and what do they usually ask about your patch ? 

There is at least one Russian around here on this board.
( :

[Cylnar]

Let me jump in with a couple of things:

The Clan Quest mod is built upon the UP (though I don't think they necessarily change it every time Wesp reiterates the UP - each version is built upon a certain base. Same with virtually all the other mods out there like Camarilla edition etc.

As for the Nossies: I seem to remember even playing with the TPG (accept no substitutes!) that Nossies could avoid Masquerade violations fairly easily, simply by keeping to the middle of the streets rather than the sidewalks, and avoiding getting too close to any civilians. The default "detect/react" range of most NPCs is rather short.

[Tessera]

The default "detect/react" range of most NPCs is rather short.

This is true... about two to three meters for most NPC's. Makes it easier to follow them around and put the bite on them when you want to.

There are some exceptions. Certain specific quest NPC's have been programmed to react to the player at extreme distance... such as Bach, for example.

Also, if you do something really extreme... kill a cop out on the street, say... pretty much every garden variety NPC on the entire map will immediately react to it, even if they're six blocks away from you. It's a sort of "all points bulletin" that goes out immediately, and nearly all of the NPC's will try to run away from you in unison. Except the other cops, of course... they'll all come running at you, from wherever they are.

[Maxim Blackwell]

Also I've watched a video recently where one plays with True Patch Gold Edition and noticed that the execution scene of your sire is different, where game force the camera to cut from sheriff decapitated the sire, but as I heard it depends mostly on versions of the game that you have and also screen goes black at moment where the prince talks to the player when he says "but you see there is a strict code...." but then it returns back to normal, it just for couple of seconds
Does True Patch Gold Edition alters any of these scene or is it just left unchanged ?

P.S. I don't if True Patch Gold Edition enables dialogue for peds but I don't that is the case due to the view of developers ? Also I don't suppose True Patch Gold Edition adds any subtitles for radio ?

[Tessera]

Let me answer all of your questions with a simple statement:

The True Patch Gold Edition does NOT make any arbitrary or unnecessary changes to the quests, items, or gameplay mechanics of Bloodlines. Our patch is exclusively concerned with fixing legitimate bugs discovered in the default, "plain-vanilla" version of the game. The entire purpose of the True Patch series was to provide players with a viable, high-quality and working alternative to another well-known series of fan-made patches -- which unlike our patch, makes literally hundreds of completely arbitrary and unnecessary (and occasionally foolish) changes to the original game.

[Maxim Blackwell]

I see thanks for the answers, you know you said that Wesp5 usually leaves a lot of his game codes in the game, out of curiosity what kind of gaming codes are talking about and does it dramaticly affects the game itself?

[Tessera]

I see thanks for the answers, you know you said that Wesp5 usually leaves a lot of his game codes in the game, out of curiosity what kind of gaming codes are talking about and does it dramaticly affects the game itself?

I think it would be better if you asked Wesp that question.   

[Drazgar]

I see thanks for the answers, you know you said that Wesp5 usually leaves a lot of his game codes in the game, out of curiosity what kind of gaming codes are talking about and does it dramaticly affects the game itself?

It's been ages since I actually burrowed myself into any of this game's files in general, but I do remember DLGs being filled by the trigger scripts which track whether you actually use Plus or just Basic edition.