Vampire - Bloodlines

[jeru]

One of the most anticipated crpg-games has arrived (ok, at least i was waiting for it, don't know about you).

Unfortunately my spare time is very limited and i'm not at leisure to play different characters.
My plan was to create a character with a focus on social skills.
The first few missions were relatively simple, but one of the main quests forced me to take a combat approach, which my character barely survived. So my question to anyone in the later parts is: is it possible to complete the game as a social predator or should i invest my exp in physical/weapon-skills?

[Xahool]

Originally Posted by jeru

One of the most anticipated crpg-games has arrived (ok, at least i was waiting for it, don't know about you).

Unfortunately my spare time is very limited and i'm not at leisure to play different characters.
My plan was to create a character with a focus on social skills.
The first few missions were relatively simple, but one of the main quests forced me to take a combat approach, which my character barely survived. So my question to anyone in the later parts is: is it possible to complete the game as a social predator or should i invest my exp in physical/weapon-skills?

Indeed you can.
I beat the game yesterday and i played a Toreador geared toward social playing.
However i recommend you get alot of firearms skills and some melee and dodge and a bit of brawl. Raise lockpicking with security to to the max and try to get around 8 in hacking if possible. Never put anything in Physical attributes since you have bloodbuff and will get a fetish that doubles its duration later on, as well as another fetish that adds 25% to the timer.
You will get short on cash in the end, that is why you need melee by the time you can get a katana.
Another tip is to check the salesmen for new items as you progress. and allways buy heavy armor, the dex penalty is worth it.
When you come to the society of lepold area you might want to exploit a bug there if you have problems. Apparently the enemies there won't be able to see you at all if you crouch, not even if you snack on someone in front of them. using silent kill might sometimes break the effect though.

Also when you save the professor and the game crashes you should check the activision homepage for how to complete that part anyways.

Oh and Lacroix dies when the sarcophagus is blown up by smiling jack...

[awillan86]

There is a bug that's so bad that activision had to tell you how to beat it rather then releasing a bug? Ouch.

And is that a major story spoil?

[MAXXxxx]

I grown to hate the game.

maybe I have little RAM , but for me it was like this:

5 minutes load time, 2 minutes of comicbook play, repeat
(and all in the minimum setting)

I suffered through the tutorial, then I gave up --> to the trash with this monster.

[jeru]

Xahool, excellent...
Let's see... Despite the loud complaining of my family i neglected my house duties and played 6hrs straight. At the moment I'm in the second hub, the game is simply great. One thing i noticed is that the experience rewards are pretty low. Do they increase in the later half of the game? Because if they don't, I'm not sure how to raise security and computer skill to the suggested levels.

MaX^5: Yup, the loading time between the areas is huge. I'm forced to play it on the family laptop. My desktop pc only has 256mb-Ram, it was unplayable.
Curiously the graphic settings don't really seem to have a impact on the frame rate. I'm playing it at 1024*768 max details, just as slow as 800*600 with minimum details. Have you tried to disable enviromental sound effects and high-quality sound? Some people swear that it will be a considerable boost.


EDIT: Xahool, what about the disciplines? Personally i find them a little weak. Any suggestions?

[Xahool]

Originally Posted by jeru

Xahool, excellent...
Let's see... Despite the loud complaining of my family i neglected my house duties and played 6hrs straight. At the moment I'm in the second hub, the game is simply great. One thing i noticed is that the experience rewards are pretty low. Do they increase in the later half of the game? Because if they don't, I'm not sure how to raise security and computer skill to the suggested levels.

MaX^5: Yup, the loading time between the areas is huge. I'm forced to play it on the family laptop. My desktop pc only has 256mb-Ram, it was unplayable.
Curiously the graphic settings don't really seem to have a impact on the frame rate. I'm playing it at 1024*768 max details, just as slow as 800*600 with minimum details. Have you tried to disable enviromental sound effects and high-quality sound? Some people swear that it will be a considerable boost.


EDIT: Xahool, what about the disciplines? Personally i find them a little weak. Any suggestions?

I have no trouble running the game smoothly most of the time, but i recomend you get 1gig of 400mhz DDR at least for really smooth playing. The mapping in the game is really bad.
Oh what disciplines are you using? If you have celerity then max it, it is like the only discipline you will ever need :]

Oh yeah and later on in the game you will simply get more quests and a slight increase in exp in some quests. but the major importance is that you try to solve all quests as smooth as possible for a larger exp reward. For an example in hub one saving both of the primogen's personas gives more exp then saving just one.

[jeru]

Ah, thanks for the answers, Xahool...

Played a few more hours, still a great game.

[MAXXxxx]

Originally Posted by Xahool

I have no trouble running the game smoothly most of the time, but i recomend you get 1gig of 400mhz DDR at least for really smooth playing. The mapping in the game is really bad.

yep I heard that 1Gig of mem helps, but I don't have the resources to have them just to TRY this game. (not an FPS, not even a Vampire fan)

[Xahool]

well games requires more and more juice, soon you will have to uppgrade if you want to be able to play the newer games without too much lag

[MAXXxxx]

Originally Posted by Xahool

well games requires more and more juice, soon you will have to uppgrade if you want to be able to play the newer games without too much lag

still I say ouch to this one :|

but as an fprpg it can be good