Downloadable version Compatibility

Hello folks,


Well I have had an absolute horrible year so far lol. I was playing Camarilla Mod back in November / December of 2011 just happy as all hell. Like a Vamp in an "all you can drink blood bank" lol


However, I must have treated someone badly in a previous life cause the Karma ass whoopin began shortly there afterwards lol


1. Right before xmas my mobo dies, so I think it is an omen telling me this is a great time to build a new rig etc lol

2. My nephew who drooled over vampire bloodlines with Camarilla mod asks if he can "borrow it" while I rebuild. I say sure cause he is my blood and USUALLY he blows through games quickly and doesn't even take time to enjoy it. I figure he would have it a week maybe two. ( I realized later that he prolly drugged me and thats why I said yes)

3. He loves it and plays it longer than most games so I let him keep it a lil longer. I finally had to demand it back in MAY 2012 lol ( I have never seen him play a game this long before, heck he blew through Deus Ex in like a week lol GTA games maybe two weeks, but he absolutely loves it and can't wait to "borrow" it again for Final Nights)

The dolt leaves it in his truck to give it to me next time he visits and someone snags it I hope the person who stole it is suffering heavy heavy Karma ass whoopins themselves.

4. So I am depressed and starting to think Karma might be involved, but I am not sweating it because years ago I got a downloaded copy from Direct2Drive / IGN with my hitpoints and I have it saved on a backup so I am SAVED!!

5. Install goes fine, however activation through trymedia does not, keeps tellin me I have no internet. I go onto their website (internet check!) and read their faqs to no avail. SO I try to get in touch with Direct 2 Drive and find out they went out of business and Gamefly owns em.

6. At this point I question whether I want to pursue this further, but dammit I thoroughly enjoy the mod and what it has done for the game I love so I soldier on. I contact Gamefly and spend a very long time going back and forth with tech support only to find out that all games bought from hitpoints are not transferred over and I would have to contact Trymedia

7. Trymedia basically responds with nothing but canned responses and horrible Customer Service.

8. Well by God I am gonna finish this mod so I turn to trusty Amazon where you can almost always find older games for decent prices (picked up a copy of max payne for 7 bucks last week so I could replay it lol) and holy gehenna they want $90 lol I felt like a ventrue who had bled a drunk or a rat *eeewww*.



Now I love vampire bloodlines, it is in my top 20 fav games. But I would have given up by now if it were not for Camarilla edition. So all the crap I posted above is just to reinforce the compliment I pay to you on this mod. It truly rocks and breathes life into the original game!!



So now to my actual questions lol


1. Unless I shell out 90 bucks or have the patience to win a bid on an auction getting another retail disc version is out. Maybe my google skills are lacking, but does anyone know a retailer selling them cheaper than that?


2. Most likely I will have to buy a download version. My question is if there is any vendor better than the others as far as compatibility? Will steam version work just as easily as gamefly version etc?

3. Will saved games etc from one version be compatible with the new?




Thanks for the awesome mod and the assistance!

Talon

1: I got my copy for like 6 euro in germany from amazon.de (used, new = 65 euro Oo)

2: Steam works fine, too. You only have to deactivate auto update as it will redownload changed files.

3: My advice: ALWAYS start a new save game after a new install IF it is not the EXACT same install of the previous version.

Talon e-mail me at ...

Edit by Malkav: Never post your email-address on a public forum. Talon, contact her via pm to get the email-address!

Basically what Shabu says...
Plus GOG.com

Ah, as your life seems to suck now, Talon. Don't worry, it will pass. Tomorrow will be better.
*brings a tennis ball and starts to wag*

OOPS! Sorry about that! Thanks Malkav for not chaining me to a wall and leaving me for the sunrise :0)

aneumann01 wrote:

OOPS! Sorry about that! Thanks Malkav for not chaining me to a wall and leaving me for the sunrise :0)

Aww, I overlooked you put actual email adress on the forum... Sorry. Dumb dog of me.
And don't worry about Malkav. It is the spammers who may make you want to brave the sunrise...
I have a bit of experience with that.

Thanks all,


I ought to send my nephew to Malkav to be chained for sunrise lol I am building a nas server this weekend to store videos and photos, I think I might dedicate a couple terabytes for old games I love dearly. Discs don't get lost often but when they do it sucks hardcore lol


I tell you what tho, this has changed my stance on DRM though. I have never been too put off by DRM, thankfully I have never had issues with them. But the fact that I have a perfectly pristine legal copy of Vampire bloodlines and can't use it solely because the DRM company is behaving like Mr. Lacroix.. it makes my blood boil lol


Feral, (looks at tennsi ball with mild hostility). I did check out GOG as I read they don't have DRM on their stuff but I only saw redemption, not bloodlines for sale


Shabutaro, does amazon protect you if games are damaged etc? I have only bought used games once, about 100 bucks worth lol Several had keys that reported being "already in use" lots had horrible scratches and stuff. Tried to get refund and no go. Not even my bank would reverse the charges because the terms and conditions said "no refunds on open software" loll I tried explaining that they were used and already "open" lol But still couldn't get m,oney back.

I am hoping aneumann01 has some cool slick way to get Activemark to stop being idiotic.


The truly sad thing is I have a backup of my PC before the old reformat so I have the entire bloodlines folder with Camarilla, the saved games all that good stuff. Heck I even have the registry hives and have the license file from Activemark as well. But since it is a different hardware hash from my old PC with the dead mobo swapping em don't work


I guess if I end up buying a downloadable version I will prolly go with steam, solely for the fact that I don't see them going under anytime soon. If Direct2Drive was still in business I would already be back up and running, blissfully draining meat suits and pissing off Lacroix as Caine would want me too



Thanks all

Feral wrote:

aneumann01 wrote:

OOPS! Sorry about that! Thanks Malkav for not chaining me to a wall and leaving me for the sunrise :0)

Aww, I overlooked you put actual email adress on the forum... Sorry. Dumb dog of me.
And don't worry about Malkav. It is the spammers who may make you want to brave the sunrise...
I have a bit of experience with that.

Well that was just one of 5 email addresses I have. That's kind of a loose end email address but just as well, I can definitely respect the "no email" rule :0)

aneumann01 wrote:

Feral wrote:

aneumann01 wrote:

OOPS! Sorry about that! Thanks Malkav for not chaining me to a wall and leaving me for the sunrise :0)

Aww, I overlooked you put actual email adress on the forum... Sorry. Dumb dog of me.
And don't worry about Malkav. It is the spammers who may make you want to brave the sunrise...
I have a bit of experience with that.

Well that was just one of 5 email addresses I have. That's kind of a loose end email address but just as well, I can definitely respect the "no email" rule :0)

So for you it was just a spare address, where spammers are no real problem. But sometimes people just forget, and put an important (or their only) email on the forum. So I edit that stuff out to protect the users. Don't worry about the sunrise, removing email and telling people to use pms instead is just a precaution to make sure that only the intended receiver will get your address.

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Talon wrote:

Shabutaro, does amazon protect you if games are damaged etc? I have only bought used games once, about 100 bucks worth lol Several had keys that reported being "already in use" lots had horrible scratches and stuff. Tried to get refund and no go. Not even my bank would reverse the charges because the terms and conditions said "no refunds on open software" loll I tried explaining that they were used and already "open" lol But still couldn't get m,oney back.

Hmm i don't know, VtmB is the only thing i ever bought used and as long as the discs work i was fine with it as it doesn't have a multiplayer or something where a key is needed. I would check what the amazon faq or rules or whatever says about buying used things.

Afaik, they don't sell used things themselves. They just handle the order and the money transfer. So the contract is between the buyer and the actual seller. The only warranty they grant is reunding if the seller doesn't deliver, or doesn't care if the package gets lost in the mail.

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Hola folks,


Well I have found a used vendor on Amazon that has the discs for like 25 USD. On the other hand I found a place I have never heard of called Dotemu. http://www.dotemu.com/en/download-game/601/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines They seem kind of like GOG because it is all supposed to be DRM Free. $19.95 and I would have it like NOW lol.

I have researched Dotemu and found a few complaints, but also found quite a few forums that mention them in good light. They are a french company, anyone here ever use them before??


I ruled out Steam from Shabutaro's comments, I don't want to have to worry about nothing at all, plus Steam isn't exactly my favorite app on the block anyway lol



Malkav could you EVER see a reason why a DRM free downloaded version wouldn't work with Camarilla Edition or Final Nights or even Wesp5's unofficial patch or should I go with discs that I will have to wait a week for in the mail? lol



I can pay DotEmu with PayPal which is usually pretty good to me regarding refunds for faulty stuff or undelivered goods etc. Or should I go with good old fashioned discs..used but still tangible hold in my hands, have my nephew lose em discs lol


Thanks as always kindred!

Talon

Talon wrote:

Hola folks,


Well I have found a used vendor on Amazon that has the discs for like 25 USD. On the other hand I found a place I have never heard of called Dotemu. http://www.dotemu.com/en/download-game/601/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines They seem kind of like GOG because it is all supposed to be DRM Free. $19.95 and I would have it like NOW lol.

I have researched Dotemu and found a few complaints, but also found quite a few forums that mention them in good light. They are a french company, anyone here ever use them before??


I ruled out Steam from Shabutaro's comments, I don't want to have to worry about nothing at all, plus Steam isn't exactly my favorite app on the block anyway lol



Malkav could you EVER see a reason why a DRM free downloaded version wouldn't work with Camarilla Edition or Final Nights or even Wesp5's unofficial patch or should I go with discs that I will have to wait a week for in the mail? lol



I can pay DotEmu with PayPal which is usually pretty good to me regarding refunds for faulty stuff or undelivered goods etc. Or should I go with good old fashioned discs..used but still tangible hold in my hands, have my nephew lose em discs lol


Thanks as always kindred!

Talon

You aught to try downloading the game file again from your gamefly account. It has to be there in your account history cause game fly still recognizes your previous downloads. Down loading a fresh copy from the site was all I needed when I changed laptops as I said in the message I sent ya friend.

Sorry Talon, can't tell you anything about downloadable games.

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Childe of Malkav wrote:

Sorry Talon, can't tell you anything about downloadable games.

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I think the downloaded game file plays a lot smoother than the disk version. I was pleasantly surprised when I re-bought the game and downloaded it. I originally bought the game back in 2005 from a walmart store. It was pretty unstable on that laptop I had but it was worth it. :0)

Well all the saga is over,


I got confirmation from dotemu that their downloads are 100 % DRM free, and even if they were to go out of business I could still install it 10 years from now even without any activation at all.


I figure in 10 years Malkav and Zer0Morph will have some new wicked mod out so I think the DRM free is the way to go. Plus I can download it in a handful of hours and start playing again



On the plus side too, just heard back from ActiveMark and though they don't nsupport Direct2Drive downloaded games anymore and can't help me with my problem, they DID give me a coupon code for a free game! They ended up having better customer service than Gamefly lol


So life goes on with a happy ending...but remember the warning of the story.....never...and I mean NEVER let your family borrow Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, it will only end in tears lol




So Malkav, can I use my old save games from CE 1.5 and retail disc of VTMB , with the new downloaded version and CE 1.5? Or should I start anew?



Thanks as always for the help folks!!

Talon

Actually never mind Malkav,


It's been almost 8 months since my nephew borrowed it, I think I would rather play through again from scratch. It is a terribly fun mod.


Thanks,

Talon

Talon wrote:

Actually never mind Malkav,


It's been almost 8 months since my nephew borrowed it, I think I would rather play through again from scratch. It is a terribly fun mod.


Thanks,

Talon

Then wait anouter few days. I'm intending to upload CE 1.6 very soon. Probably in the night from tomorrow to monday.

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Malkav,

Here in the US we have the eighth amendment to the US constitution prohibiting CRUEL and UNUSUAL punishment. I been craving CE and VTMB for eight months, have had problem after problem, and I finally can download it and you tell me to WAIT???


That would be like a Vamp needing to feed, and some chick cuts her finger and the Vamp just has to hold off lol Are you trying to make me Frenzy??


I will be filing a complaint with German authorities shortly lol



Talon

P.S. I will cease the above mentioned complaint if I can read a roadmap or a changelog or something so I can drool and salivate over what I will be playing in two days time

You'll have to start a new game when CE1.6 will be out.

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Talon wrote:

Actually never mind Malkav,


It's been almost 8 months since my nephew borrowed it, I think I would rather play through again from scratch. It is a terribly fun mod.


Thanks,

Talon

Then wait anouter few days. I'm intending to upload CE 1.6 very soon. Probably in the night from tomorrow to monday.

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Woohoo. That just made my weekend!

aneumann01 wrote:

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Talon wrote:

Actually never mind Malkav,


It's been almost 8 months since my nephew borrowed it, I think I would rather play through again from scratch. It is a terribly fun mod.


Thanks,

Talon

Then wait anouter few days. I'm intending to upload CE 1.6 very soon. Probably in the night from tomorrow to monday.

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Woohoo. That just made my weekend!

Not only yours

Feral wrote:

aneumann01 wrote:

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Talon wrote:

Actually never mind Malkav,


It's been almost 8 months since my nephew borrowed it, I think I would rather play through again from scratch. It is a terribly fun mod.


Thanks,

Talon

Then wait anouter few days. I'm intending to upload CE 1.6 very soon. Probably in the night from tomorrow to monday.

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Woohoo. That just made my weekend!

Not only yours

Me too!!! Just in time for my new HD monitor which is arriving on monday too!!! Joy!

Hello All,

Not trying to rehash this forum post or *Raise the dead* or anything. (lol get it, I made a funny! cause vampires are raised from the..nevermind) But I just wanted to give folks a quick update about dotemu.com

I got bloodlines from them and then a few more games. They are indeed just like GOG in that they are entirely DRM free. As fate would have it I installed it on Win 7, then mobo took a dump, so installed it on Linux under wine, didn't play too hot but installed fine. Got replacement mobo installed it, and then 1 week later that mobo went to hell (Found out my PSU was behaving like a damn malkavian in full blown dementia mode lol yeah..Im lucky like that lol) And finally got newest mobo installed it and running fine now for 2 weeks (knocks on wooden stake lol)


Anyway point is throughout all these damn reinstalls on different mobos not a single activation required cause it is DRM FREE and it rocks.


I am finally getting to sit down and hammer on some CE 1.6!!!


Also Dotemu.com is having a sale on Activision titles (Including VTMB for only 8 bucks!!) So I am actually buying my retarded nephew (See first post lol) a digital copy since he lost my original disk, I know I should be staking the goob instead, but cmon it's VTMB with CE 1.6....to deny him would be heartless.

So if you know anyone who is wanting to get the game, screw steam and its DRM and 20 dollar cost, send em to dotemu, Ive bought enought titles from them now to say they are a great company.


Thanks as always Malkav and Zero for CE Mod!!

Talon

Talon,
You practise Necromancy on this topic, so I conclude you are a Giovanni. Then don't stake your nephew, send him down to the crypt and make him boss of the zombies. Losing bloodlines disks, that indicates about the same amount of brain as the average zombie. They should have a great time together.

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