What's new

Welcome!

By registering with us, you'll be able to discuss, share and private message with other members of our community.

SignUp Now!

Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines 2

Adhan

Horror addict
Staff member
Joined
Nov 27, 2012
Messages
14,706
Δεν ξέρω ποια είναι η Μπρέηβσταρπωςτηλεν αλλά αν είναι η κάτω αριστερά στο πάνελ του πρώτου βίντεο του Ρόμπο, ΕΜΠ1.
Μετά από αυτή την σημαντική τοποθέτηση, μπορείτε να συνεχίσετε.
 

Hellion

Αρχιμανδρίτης
Staff member
DDD PCMaster Veteran Order of Alucard Klika Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
16,567
Συνέντευξη για το γκεημ στο Escapist.


How did you [the Chinese Room] end up in the conversation for Bloodlines 2?

Sean Greaney:
I think that’s more on the publisher’s side. We got to a certain point in the project where we had a diversion of visions, and at that point, it was time to find a studio that shared that vision.

[TCR has] the portfolio. They’re very awarded in the space of narrative design, but also, the important factor is immersion. Audio, voice-over, etcetera. Everything that’s quite important to Bloodlines.


There’s also the action element, and the role-playing element. I think it’s fair to say that at the time we began speaking, TCR didn’t have a huge portfolio there, but they were able to show an ambition level and a plan for upscaling into that space. Alex was part of that plan. Also, the studio was on a fairly rapid growth arc.

This does seem like a increase in complexity and action over what TCR is known for. Have you been hiring more people who are experienced with that sort of thing?

Alex Skidmore:
You said it exactly. When The Chinese Room became partnered with Sumo Group [in 2018], which is one of the UK’s largest developers, the goal of that was to branch out to create larger games. Games that had more complexity, as you say, but more action games, larger-scale games.

We ourselves were developing concepts around that when we were approached by Paradox. For us, that was perfect timing. Already, there were a lot of people in the studio who were into Vampire, and felt it resonates with our values and the kinds of stories we like to tell. It was too good an opportunity to pass up.

As for the scaling, TCR before Sumo was about 11 people. During [development on] Little Orpheus, it was a small team of 20 people. Now we’re over 100 working on Still Wakes the Deep, but we’re also supported by the other studios at Sumo Digital. On my design team, we’ve got several designers from [Sumo’s] Nottingham and Sheffield studios, who are working on other action-RPG titles.

I myself joined TCR about a year ago, and my career is mostly action games. I worked on the Fable series, and on Gears of War at The Coalition. I came to TCR and played Still Wakes the Deep, which we see as our legacy title, the next logical step in our games as you see them. We see Bloodlines 2 as us taking a big step forward, trying to map out our future.

vtmbl2-conceptart7.jpg

Concept art by The Chinese Room
Usually when a studio does narrative games, they only do that sort of game. You don’t often see studios evolve to that level.

Greaney:
Part of that is the Sumo Group, and your being able to call in studios from that group.

Skidmore: There are 1,600 developers overall at Sumo Digital, and we’re 100 of those. But that was the mood. That was the appeal of becoming a Sumo Digital studio. There was a desire to break out into more areas.

For us, we’re first and foremost storytellers. This allows us to tell stories in a more live, tactile way, in a way where you’re more immersed and active, as opposed to that sort of exploration we’ve done previously, which are almost like radio plays. You’re there among them, but the events already happened. You’re hearing them after the fact. You can be there live, in the moment, in an action-RPG.

Another cool thing about RPGs is that RPG storytelling is a bit different. For me, it’s well-established in my background, and we also have other narrative designers who come from BioWare. What we really love about creating an RPG story is that it’s a story where the player is fully a part of it, pivotal to it. It won’t just play out the same regardless of who plays it.

vtmbl2-stalking.jpg

Screenshot by Paradox Interactive/The Chinese Room
The Werewolf game Earthblood, another franchise in the World of Darkness setting, was set in the Pacific Northwest, and Bloodlines 2 was going to be set in Seattle. Is that still a thing?

Skidmore:
It is.

I’m curious why the Pacific Northwest has been such a focal point for World of Darkness video games.

Greaney:
There’s a lot of interesting regions of the world, and it’s an interesting city, Seattle. The foundations of any story set in Seattle are going to be informed by the real-world events here. Here you have a city where the new has come along and eaten the old, multiple times, in fairly short shrift. If you’re going to play a game about creatures who potentially live forever, that’s a great thing to be playing with.

The Werewolf connection, I would say, is it’s an interesting region for werewolves. It’s a medium-age city here. You have the changing industries, you have Big Tech coming in, but you also have the great wilderness, which can’t be over-exploited because of the mountain ranges. It makes sense that this is a place where werewolves are active.

Are you completely starting over with Bloodlines 2?

Skidmore:
When we started the project in 2021, our pitch was to put forward our own story, our own vision, our world, with different game mechanics, even. But the thing that we did keep was Seattle.

If you’ve seen the trailer, there’s a shot at the end of a lady with a veil. This sort of ties in with the opportunities that you get from Seattle, a fresh place that hasn’t really been tapped by multimedia yet. The lady in the veil is Lou Graham [below], who was an actual historical figure in Seattle. She ran a brothel in Pioneer Square. When she died in 1901, she was incredibly powerful and rich. There were arguments over her estate. So what if she actually was a vampire, and stepped back?

vtmbl2-lougraham.jpg

Screenshot by Paradox Interactive/The Chinese Room
A cool thing in this one is that Seattle is a completely dominated Camarilla city, whereas in Bloodlines, California was technically an anarch state. Here you have this whole political system where everything’s under [Camarilla] control, and at the start of our game, that’s all in jeopardy, and that’s what our story explores.

In Vampire second/third edition, wasn’t Washington an Anarch Free State?

Greaney:
Back in the day it was, yeah.

But now it’s Camarilla?

Greaney:
Yeah. There might even be a way to look at the local events of the city, and say that would be tracking against the development of the city.

All the tech money coming in let the Camarilla take over?

Skidmore:
It’s almost there as a metaphor. We were walking around last night, and you’ve got the area that’s almost the old city, Pioneer Square and all that. Then you’ve got all these new-built skyscrapers. So you’ve got the old and the new up against each other, and I’d say in our city, the Camarilla were more aligned with the new coming in.

With our vision, we focused on the player fantasy, the world, and the story, and very importantly, the vampire side of Seattle. We wanted to create that for our players to explore, as well as a very faithful adaptation of the fifth edition of the tabletop game.

As for the story, it’s set in Seattle in 2024. You’ve got this Camarilla city, and before the player starts the game, an event has happened that has shaken up the balance of power. At this time, it’s the worst snowstorm that Seattle’s seen in a hundred years. That gives us a great mood, and obviously, blood is a great contrast to snow.

There’s a line in the trailer that says, “An elder has awakened.” That elder is you.
 

Hellion

Αρχιμανδρίτης
Staff member
DDD PCMaster Veteran Order of Alucard Klika Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
16,567

Good evening Kindred,

Today we shared some very exciting news on our Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 news stream! We were joined by Sean Greaney (EVP of Darkness) and Ian Thomas (Narrative Director at TCR), who discussed some of the game’s features relating to both narrative and roleplaying. In case you missed it, you can find it below.

In the stream, we were introduced to the protagonist of Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2; Phyre, an Elder vampire at odds with the voice in her head, who confronts Seattle’s powerful elites at war over the City’s fate.

Players choose Phyre’s clan and gender and begin exploring a reimagined Seattle filled with compelling characters while maneuvering through complex relationships. Choices and conversations (even outfits!) shape how the environment and characters react to Phyre, changing how the story unfolds.

bloodlines2-phyre-portrait

Render of Phyre as a female character.

We are happy to share that over the coming weeks we will reveal the four clans playable at launch. The first will be revealed next week. In addition to these four clans, an additional clan will be made available via DLC. A sixth clan will appear in a unique, standalone DLC. Details on the DLCs will be shared during 2024. Some of the clans will be familiar to Bloodlines players, but some will surprise!

If you still want more, we can recommend checking out our live-play chronicle Seattle By Night season 2, as Jason Carl leads our Coterie on a journey through Seattle, encountering challenges linked to the events that will unfold in Bloodlines 2.

Watch the RPG & Narrative Stream below.




tldr είσαι elder και έχεις έναν thnblood στο μυαλό σου (V - Silverhand vibes από το Cyberpunk), διαλέγεις gender, διαλεγεις clan (θα τις αποκαλύψουν από βδομάδα), ο κόσμος αντιδράει στις επιλογές σου ποικιλοτρόπως.
 

Tony Corvus

Ancient Red Dragon
Φασαίος Larianός Τσοβόλα δώστα όλα Sign me up! Approval of the Admiral
Joined
Dec 1, 2012
Messages
11,167
Κάτι μου λέει πως το τελικό προϊόν, θα είναι εφάμιλλης πχιότητας, με το "ποστ αλφα" τηζερ που έδειξαν...
 

Hellion

Αρχιμανδρίτης
Staff member
DDD PCMaster Veteran Order of Alucard Klika Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
16,567
Κι άλλο dev diary.


Τέτοια ομοβροντία με νέα για το παιχνίδι έχουμε να δούμε από την ημερομηνία ανακοίνωσής του πριν 15 χρόνια.
 

Getta Robo

Gelatinous Cube
Approval of the Admiral
Joined
Nov 21, 2022
Messages
164
Κι άλλο dev diary.


Τέτοια ομοβροντία με νέα για το παιχνίδι έχουμε να δούμε από την ημερομηνία ανακοίνωσής του πριν 15 χρόνια.
και αντιστοιχως τετοια αγνοηση απο μεσα και -πρωην- οπαδους, δεν ξαναυπηρξε ποτε. Η Paradox πληρωνει, αλλα και θα πληρωνει τις βλακωδεις επιλογες της.
As above, so below.
 
Last edited:

maladroid

Mind-flayer
Joined
Nov 27, 2012
Messages
1,947
Προμηνύεται σκληρή μετριότητα, το 6/10 δείχνει να είναι το ταβάνι.
Επίσης δεν θα εκπλαγώ αν ο χαρακτήρας που έδειξαν στο βίντεο (φωνή κι εμφάνιση) μένει σταθερ@ ανεξάρτητα από τις επιλογές του παίκτη σε φύλο ή κλάση και απλά αλλάζουν τα pronouns στο κείμενο.
 

Hellion

Αρχιμανδρίτης
Staff member
DDD PCMaster Veteran Order of Alucard Klika Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
16,567
Πρώτο playable clan, οι Brujah.


YΓ.

Nicknames​

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

Geia su Hellada.
 

Hellion

Αρχιμανδρίτης
Staff member
DDD PCMaster Veteran Order of Alucard Klika Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
16,567
Νέο dev diary, συζητούν αναμεταξύ τους, δίνουν πληροφορίες για τον πορταγωνιστή, και απαντάνε κάποιες ερωτήσεις του κοινού.



Αύριο ανακοινώνεται και η 3η playable clan εν τω μεταξύ.
 

maladroid

Mind-flayer
Joined
Nov 27, 2012
Messages
1,947
Έσκασαν και οι δύο τελευταίες -free- playable clans: Banu Haqim και Ventrue.

Στυλιστικά είναι όλοι αρκετά ξενέρωτοι για να εμπνεύσουν οποιαδήποτε αισιοδοξία, ενώ φυσικά λείπουν οι κοσμοαγάπητοι (αλλά απαιτητικοί από πλευράς γραψίματος-gameplay) Malkavian και Nosferatu. To hype παραμένει σε επίπεδα αναμονής του επόμενου βιβλίου Χρύσας Δημουλίδου.
 

Epitaph

Death Knight
Joined
Nov 30, 2012
Messages
4,488
Οι τοποθεσίες έχουν καλή ατμόσφαιρα, και θα φτιαχναν έναν καλό διάδοχο του πρώτου.
Όμως, τα γελοία μοντέλα των χαρακτήρων (τον Νοσφεράτου τον λυπήθηκα λίγο) και το εντελώς άθλιο (για μένα) και τσόπυ κόμπατ που είδα με κάνει να ξερνάω. Φαντάζομαι τον Στήβεν Σιγκάλ (hapkido mode) σε λεσβιακό βαμπίρ να φαπαδιάζει τσεκουράτα πρεζο-npcs.

Σε κάνα Humble Bundle μαζί με 7-8 άλλα παιχνίδια θα είναι εξαιρετικό.
 

maladroid

Mind-flayer
Joined
Nov 27, 2012
Messages
1,947
Τα μοντέλα και -κυρίως- το ξύλινο animation των χαρακτήρων είναι όντως μεγάλη ξενέρα (ψιλοφαινόταν κι απ'τα προηγούμενα trailer, είναι η αλήθεια) και βρωμάνε low budgetίλα.

Επίσης, ποιος σκέφτηκε ότι αυτός ο ΑΝΥΠΟΦΟΡΟΣ σχολιασμός των πάντων από τον Fabian είναι καλή ιδεά;;; Ήδη ελπίζω να υπάρχει στο μενού επιλογή για mute, όπως συνέβαινε π.χ. με την αφηγήτρια του Gabriel Knight 1. Γενικά το γράψιμο δείχνει κάτω του μετρίου και οι προσδοκίες επίσης.
 
Last edited:

Hellion

Αρχιμανδρίτης
Staff member
DDD PCMaster Veteran Order of Alucard Klika Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
16,567
NDfUTTO.jpeg


Η φάση πάει για Forspoken καταστάσεις. Νομίζω πως με βάση αυτά που έδειξαν, το γκεημ στην παρούσα φάση δεν αρέσει κυριολεκτικά σε καμία κατηγορία του αγοραστικού κοινού.
 
Top Bottom