Store Page
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
All Discussions Screenshots Broadcasts Videos News Guides Reviews

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Store Page
hedy Dec 24, 2019 @ 11:50pm
Engine Update
So I found out recently that this game runs on the source engine, the same one that Half-Life 2 runs on. However, unlike HL2 it did not recieve the engine update from the orange box. Was just wondering if anyone has ever tried to get this game to run on the newer version, or if it was even possible.
< >
Showing 1-15 of 15 comments
Wesp5 Dec 25, 2019 @ 1:52am 
I don't think this is possible...
#1
4d69636861656c Dec 25, 2019 @ 1:59am 
Yes, in a way. Before Project Vaulderie (the remake in Unity that got a C&D from CCP), there was something called Bloodlines Resurgence, an attempt to update the game to Alien Swarm's version of the Source Engine. The project was ultimately cancelled due to limitations of the engine and the amount of time it would've taken to update it (as far as I know). By comparison, it would've been more efficient to port the entire game in another modern engine. Here is the link to its ModDB page (in case you want more info): https://www.moddb.com/mods/bloodlines-resurgence
Last edited by 4d69636861656c; Dec 25, 2019 @ 2:04am
#2
yomegonightcore Apr 11, 2024 @ 3:58am 
Originally posted by Wesp5:
I don't think this is possible...
why do you think that is? just curious
#3
Wesp5 Apr 11, 2024 @ 4:47am 
Originally posted by yomegonightcore:
Originally posted by Wesp5:
I don't think this is possible...
why do you think that is? just curious

Because right now Bloodlines maps use a format that is even older than original HL2.
#4
yomegonightcore Apr 11, 2024 @ 5:46am 
Originally posted by Wesp5:
Originally posted by yomegonightcore:
why do you think that is? just curious

Because right now Bloodlines maps use a format that is even older than original HL2.
i see... what do you mean by "right now" though? is this subject to change somehow? or is there possibly a way in the future to work around this?
Last edited by yomegonightcore; Apr 11, 2024 @ 5:47am
#5
Wesp5 Apr 11, 2024 @ 6:23am 
I believe the modder who was trying to do a remaster with the Alien Swarm engine managed to convert the maps to a newer version. The ones inside the game right now are very old...
#6
yomegonightcore Apr 11, 2024 @ 6:34am 
Originally posted by Wesp5:
I believe the modder who was trying to do a remaster with the Alien Swarm engine managed to convert the maps to a newer version. The ones inside the game right now are very old...
what happened to them? seems like they were making good progress. why is this something you never attempted, being the legendary modder you are lol? feel like this is an extremely worthwhile endeavor but maybe im wrong/people dont see it as necessary. as someone that has worked with hammer/source sdk before being able to interact with bloodlines in this way would be mindblowingly awesome and i could definitely make a map or something for the game.
Last edited by yomegonightcore; Apr 11, 2024 @ 6:35am
#7
Wesp5 Apr 11, 2024 @ 11:02am 
I'm not a legendary modder, I only do the patch on the side :). I am not a programmer or a developer at all, I am just persistent ;)! To remaster Bloodlines you would need to have the source code and Bloodlines isn't old enough to warrant a remake or remaster anyway. Most of what I have seen are just cheap cash grabs! Give me new content, not rehashed old one.
Last edited by Wesp5; Apr 11, 2024 @ 11:03am
#8
cubabori Jul 28, 2024 @ 6:18pm 
VTMB runs on a Source engine branch from the Half-Life 2 Beta, or Source 2003. It would take alot of work to port it to a more modern version as many features were added to the engine since then. Requiring map recompiles for every single one of them, etc.
Last edited by cubabori; Jul 28, 2024 @ 6:19pm
#9
yomegonightcore Jul 28, 2024 @ 6:43pm 
Originally posted by cubabori:
VTMB runs on a Source engine branch from the Half-Life 2 Beta, or Source 2003. It would take alot of work to port it to a more modern version as many features were added to the engine since then. Requiring map recompiles for every single one of them, etc.
i think it's worth it but maybe that's just me, if i had the skillset i'd pick up where the alien swarm guy left off
#10
Rastrelly Jul 29, 2024 @ 1:50am 
Think of it this way. The game not just runs on some kind of source.exe interpreter a-la Python or Java, it's an API which has a set of functions to hook to and then link everything into an executable. The devs of the original VTMB used an ancient branch of Source, which was incomplete and incompatible even with Source that went out with HL2 release. By the Orange Box the engine was revamped once more. So, the API calls of the Source 2003 are waaaay different from Source API calls of any version of modern Source or Source 2. Plus the game itself needs to interpret map data in a certain way, which, again, has changed on the data storage level.

So, to make VTMB work on modern Source or Source 2 codebase, you'd need to:
1) Somehow solve the incompatibility between map data (good luck) OR manually recompile maps and provide them with the port (good luck with Activision lawyers)
2) Write an intermediate API that would properly convert API calls for Bloodlines spaghetti code side of things, that might be actually intermingled with the Source source code from 2003 instead of being realised as a separate set of DLLs as it should be.
3) Somehow playtest this all to even remotely work

Overall, the amount of work to do is so insane it would indeed be several times easier to remake this game from scratch.
#11
SunfireKnight86 Jul 29, 2024 @ 11:48am 
Originally posted by Wesp5:
I'm not a legendary modder, I only do the patch on the side :). I am not a programmer or a developer at all, I am just persistent ;)! To remaster Bloodlines you would need to have the source code and Bloodlines isn't old enough to warrant a remake or remaster anyway. Most of what I have seen are just cheap cash grabs! Give me new content, not rehashed old one.
Wesp. Friend. It's 20 years old. They remaster games much younger than that. We're just old.
#12
Wesp5 Jul 29, 2024 @ 12:21pm 
Originally posted by SunfireKnight86:
It's 20 years old. They remaster games much younger than that. We're just old.

True, but I have seen Ghostbusters The Video Game and it's remaster and there is hardly a difference! And until now almost no other engine can beat the Source facial animations...
Last edited by Wesp5; Jul 29, 2024 @ 1:21pm
#13
cubabori Jul 29, 2024 @ 2:01pm 
Source's facial animations were really ahead of it's time huh...man I feel old
#14
churroloca Apr 23 @ 5:40pm 
Ahhh, Wesp5 you're my hero! I'm sorry to comment so late but I was feeling nostalgic, thinking of this game. That's when I came across this older post.

I played this as a pre-teen, when it first was released and then teenager - when it was polished/patched and playable.

The time and dedication you've put into it, reminds me so much of the fans of DOOM - who learned the RAW program and created levels for other fans to play too. I remember my brother would spend our summers playing new levels.

I just wanted to thank you. 🥹
#15
< >
Showing 1-15 of 15 comments
Per page: 1530 50

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines > General Discussions > Topic Details
Date Posted: Dec 24, 2019 @ 11:50pm
Posts: 15

Discussions Rules and Guidelines