CRITICAL INFO: VTMB Is NOT Compatible With Steam..!!!

[xrobzix]

I have no idea i am not that well versed in  modding
ALso when i start the game up the company names  i hear the sounds but do not see the video's (not a big thing just letting you know)

MAybe i am just daft or have a pc that is not wanting to play nice with me .

[Tessera]

MAybe i am just daft or have a pc that is not wanting to play nice with me .

Well... since I know for certain that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the TPG,
my suggestion would be to look elsewhere for the source of your problem.

It could be a hardware issue, it could be an improperly configured or incompatible operating system,
it could be some third-party VTMB mod that is not compatible with the TPG, it could be user error
on your part, it could be a corrupted copy of the game itself... it could be any number of things.

I'm not sitting in front of your computer, obviously, so I have no idea what's wrong with it.

[piraxisbit]

I have no idea i am not that well versed in  modding
ALso when i start the game up the company names  i hear the sounds but do not see the video's (not a big thing just letting you know)

MAybe i am just daft or have a pc that is not wanting to play nice with me .

Just make a new thread in the problems with specific games board and post all the relevant information.

[perez007usa]

They are already here in some from or another, you just have to look for it.

[datdude]

Hey all,

Just got Vampire Bloodlines on Steam, but got the 'no memory' error. After some searching, I found my way here. I tried to follow the instructions as best I could.

1. I created a new copy of all the files away from my steam folder.
2. I DL'd and installed the "...True_Patch_Gold_FINAL_with_Hotfix7.rar" (http://tessmage.com/download.htm) into my new folder.
3. I ran 'Vampire.exe' from the new folder (and deleted the Steam version). I didn't make a shortcut.
4. I got the error, "Failed to find Steam."

Can anyone tell me where I went wrong?

Thanks a bunch,
Datdude

This post is intended for all players who own the Steam version of Vampire -- The Masquerade: Bloodlines...


VTMB IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH STEAM. NO WAY -- NO HOW

If you own the Steam version of Bloodlines, then you must MOVE the entire game as far away from your Steam folders as possible. You must do this BEFORE you install any third-party patches or mods... including the True Patch Gold Edition, and any of the "unofficial patches" produced by Werner "Wesp5" Spahl.

You must do this BEFORE you start the game up and attempt to play it for the first time.


This is not an optional procedure, people. I will NOT support the tech problems of ANYONE who fails to perform this very simple task...


(1) Locate your VTMB installation within your Steam folders.

(2) MOVE that entire VTMB folder (and everything that it contains, including all sub-folders) to a new location on your hard drive. I suggest placing it in its own unique directory called "VTMB" or something similar.

(3) Install the True Patch Gold Edition -after- you have moved the entire game away from Steam.

(4) Install any TPG-compatible mods that you might wish to use.

(5) Create a new desktop shortcut to the vampire.exe file within your main VTMB folder. Simply locate the vampire.exe file, highlight and copy it (press Ctrl-C) and then, right-click anywhere on an empty area of your Windows desktop and select "Paste shortcut" from the pop-up menu (or whatever the equivalent command is for Windows 7).

(6) Add any necessary command line switches to the "Target" box of your new VTMB shortcut. Instructions on which switches to use, and how to set them up, may be found all over this board in the various TPG and Mega-Mod related topics. Or just ask, if you are having trouble locating those instructions and we'll point you in the right direction.


Every single VTMB player who owns the Steam version of Bloodlines MUST perform the above tasks BEFORE patching/modding this game. This is one area where both Wesp and myself are in complete agreement. You can not play VTMB from the Steam launcher without encountering all sorts of problems... not the least of which will be corruption of the game's critical files, and serious and severe incompatibility with third-party patches and mods.

[Yoonoko]

Thanks for the news on this, since I just got it from the Steam sale. Was always interested in it from seeing a Let's Play of it from someone on YT. Game works great with your mod BTW.

[Tessera]

Game works great with your mod BTW.

Patch. Not mod. Patch. 

There's a difference between a patch and a mod. Mods are deliberate efforts to make significant changes to some aspect of a game... whether it be the gameplay, the look and feel of the game, or whatever. Patches, on the other hand, simply make repairs to things which were actually missing and/or broken in the original game.

The TPG is a genuine third-party patch. In fact, it is the only genuine third-party patch available for VTMB, from any source (Wesp's so-called "unofficial patch" makes far too many arbitrary changes to VTMB for it to be referred to as a "patch"). The TPG simply fixes bugs -- without making any significant changes to the default gameplay.

My mods, on the other hand, are something else altogether... and they have nothing whatsoever to do with the True Patch.

[Yoonoko]

Ah. Didn't know that. Always new things to learn.

[Thefallman]

Well I just downloaded this game, and I was browsing the internet for the best possible mods so I could enjoy it. Lucky for me I found this site and I have thoroughly read your instructions. And it works perfectly. This is my first playthoough, thanks for creating  the mod and the excellent instructions.

[Valewing]

thanks for the help i ll need to redownload it but now i know what to do . any chance you could tell me what mods would work with your patch ? so i won't mess up the game after i finnaly get it to work that is ...

[Tessera]

Well, naturally my own mods work beautifully with the True Patch, since all of them were designed around it.

As for mods made by other people, I have no idea. I don't keep tabs on other modders. You would need to ask the authors of those mods whether or not their mods are 100% TPG compatible. But if you are unable to find out whether or not a given mod is TPG compatible, then your safest course of action is to simply avoid it.

If the mod in question is a simple texture ("re-skin") mod... meaning that the ONLY thing it modifies is the outward appearance of a character or an object... then it should work just fine with the TPG.

[Valewing]

Do you think the real disc would work better ? iam thinking of buying the actual disk at this point from amazon to just make it a hell of a lot easier if so could you give me your best guess if it would play on my pc i am running windows 7 64 bit .

[Tessera]

Do you think the real disc would work better ?

Once the game has been patched with the True Patch, it really won't matter whether you installed
the original 3-CD version of Bloodlines, or a downloaded version (such as the Steam release).

Just be sure to follow the procedure described in this thread and MOVE the entire game into its own
dedicated folder on your hard drive. That is the way Bloodlines was designed to run, so that's the
way everyone should install it -- as a stand-alone game. Download it and then move it, as instructed.

The original 3-CD version is definitely worth owning, though. That's the version that I have and it's
bound to become a collector's item some day. So if you find a good deal on it, then grab it for sure.

[Syra]

Poking repeatedly while praying very hard appears to have worked for me.

I installed the patch downloaded from this site over it, ran it as administrator and also has it running on Compatibility Mode Windows XP (Service Pack 3). It seems to be working fine so far, though I might just be extraordinarily lucky and I'd end up with corrupted save files in a week. >___>

[Tessera]

I think you have misunderstood.

Yes, you can leave VTMB where it is and install the TPG and everything will work just fine...

...until the day when Steam tries to update or re-patch the game, because the game files won't match whatever Steam thinks they should be.

And then, your entire VTMB installation will be corrupted beyond repair. You'll be forced to delete it entirely and then re-install it all over again.

So do yourself a big favor and just trust my advice. Move the entire game out and away from Steam. It isn't hard to do. Just follow my instructions and you'll do fine.

Bloodlines is not compatible with Steam. Period. That's just the way it is.

[Syra]

...until the day when Steam tries to update or re-patch the game, because the game files won't match whatever Steam thinks they should be.

Aaaaaah...

...yes, I shall do that.

[krazymalk78]

The answers to your questions are already contained within my original post.

Bloodlines is not compatible with the Steam service. This is doubly true if you install any third-party patches and/or mods into the game. In order to ensure that your Bloodlines installation functions properly, you must follow the instructions stated within my OP to the letter. Failure to do so will not only screw up your game, but it will also screw you out of receiving any technical support for the True Patch, should the need ever arise. I can not offer support for an unauthorized (by me) version of the game.

As for your game saves, that is immaterial... since you will always need to start over again with a fresh character after installing the True Patch. This is true for every single third-party patch on the web, because all of the patches available for VTMB contain repaired versions of various game maps. And whenever the game maps are updated, the data contained within any prior game save files is effectively obsolete and it WILL malfunction, if you try to keep playing the game with that character. Not if... not maybe... it WILL malfunction FOR CERTAIN. So the rule of thumb is a simple one: whenever the game maps for Bloodlines have been updated or altered in any ways whatsoever, then any prior game save files must be scrapped.

I tried an experiment with my Steam VTMB - I left it installed there and lo and behold -- My nude Malk disappeared, along with all my saves.
Hey, if Steam wants to be my nanny then they should send me a nanny dominatrix to punish me for being naughty  lol
Seriously though, who the fuck are they to wipe out ANY mods I installed to a game that I FUCKING PAID FOR?
Is this something new Steam is doing or did I just discover it?

[Tessera]

Steam did it. Not because they're trying to get rid of nude mods, though. It's because as I have repeatedly said, the Steam service tries to automatically update all of your Steam games. Even when you tell Steam NOT to update Bloodlines, it still does it anyway from time to time. And since it doesn't recognize any third-party patches or mods, it simply overwrites them with whatever Steam considers to be the "correct" files. The inevitable result is a completely corrupted and virtually un-playable Bloodlines installation.

So once again:

BLOODLINES IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH STEAM. This is especially true if you use any third-party patches or mods with Bloodlines. This doesn't just happen with the True Patch, but it happens with Wesp's patch, too. Which is why both Wesp and I keep telling people to MOVE THE ENTIRE GAME OUT AND AWAY FROM STEAM.

Trust me on this, folks. I really do know what I'm talking about here. I am the guy who wrote 95% of the True Patch Gold Edition all by himself (the other 5% of the TPG consists of carry-overs from the old True Patch 5.04AT version, which was primarily written by Acrimonious). I am also the author of the VTMB Mega-Mod. I know the guts of this game better than I know my own guts. So if I'm telling you that Bloodlines is not compatible with Steam, then you can trust me. It's not my opinion -- it's a fucking FACT.

So if you want to enjoy the best possible playing experience, then you absolutely MUST move this game away from Steam. Failure to do so will result in nothing but headaches for you.

And I personally will not provide any technical support to anyone who is playing the Steam version, but refuses to move the game away from Steam. I think I have already said why: it's because Steam will keep corrupting the game, which makes any tech support from my end impossible.