Interview with Zer0Morph about the upcoming TFN 1.4 patch

Zer0Morph wrote:

I really appreciate you saying that MxM, I was afraid it was because of my new Presence system because this has never happened to me before. If it has happened to you often, then I know it's not because of anything I did.

Thanks man!

It happened with unmodded Bloodlines to me... Oh, our beloved buggy game...

Zer0Morph wrote:

See now, this is why I hang out here, I love you guys!!      

And we love you back.

No homo.

Except for Feral.

Dragatus wrote:

Zer0Morph wrote:

See now, this is why I hang out here, I love you guys!!      

And we love you back.

No homo.

Except for Feral.

Poor moon moon!

Zer0Morph wrote:

Dragatus wrote:

And you expected what exactly from immortal hemovorous predators?

But it's cool how your playthrough is going well.

See now, this is why I hang out here, I love you guys!!    

MxM wrote:

The Tourette bug happened to me with all the mods I played with, I just learned to save before talking to my favourite Malkavian
Other than that I'm happy to know your playthrough is going well

I really appreciate you saying that MxM, I was afraid it was because of my new Presence system because this has never happened to me before. If it has happened to you often, then I know it's not because of anything I did.

Thanks man!

You are welcome

Zer0Morph wrote:

Dragatus wrote:

Zer0Morph wrote:

See now, this is why I hang out here, I love you guys!!      

And we love you back.

No homo.

Except for Feral.

Poor moon moon!

I was going to bark at Dragatus, but you brightened my day

Feel free to bark as much as you want, so long as you don't bite.

Feral wrote:

I was going to bark at Dragatus, but you brightened my day

Brighten your day? And that's supposed to be good to a vampire?

Dragatus wrote:

Feel free to bark as much as you want, so long as you don't bite.

Nah, he won't bite. He'll just use you as a tree...

Zer0, have you played for long nonstop before the Tourette bug happened? Sounds like a typical cache overflow problem.

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Feral wrote:

I was going to bark at Dragatus, but you brightened my day  

Brighten your day? And that's supposed to be good to a vampire?

That was a figure of speech, my good Sir...

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Dragatus wrote:

Feel free to bark as much as you want, so long as you don't bite.

Nah, he won't bite. He'll just use you as a tree...

You say I should climb him...?

Feral wrote:

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Feral wrote:

I was going to bark at Dragatus, but you brightened my day  

Brighten your day? And that's supposed to be good to a vampire?

That was a figure of speech, my good Sir...

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Dragatus wrote:

Feel free to bark as much as you want, so long as you don't bite.

Nah, he won't bite. He'll just use you as a tree...

You say I should climb him...?

Or maybe piss him

MxM wrote:

Feral wrote:

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Feral wrote:

I was going to bark at Dragatus, but you brightened my day  

Brighten your day? And that's supposed to be good to a vampire?

That was a figure of speech, my good Sir...

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Dragatus wrote:

Feel free to bark as much as you want, so long as you don't bite.

Nah, he won't bite. He'll just use you as a tree...

You say I should climb him...?

Or maybe piss him

Dunno. Pissed off Tremere sounds like a problem...

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Zer0, have you played for long nonstop before the Tourette bug happened? Sounds like a typical cache overflow problem.

Yeah, I had been playing for 3 solid hours right before the sequence froze. Reloading fixed it and so did getting out the game and coming back in. I'm just glad to know it wasn't because of how I designed Presence in dialogue.

Feral wrote:

MxM wrote:

Feral wrote:

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Feral wrote:

I was going to bark at Dragatus, but you brightened my day  

Brighten your day? And that's supposed to be good to a vampire?

That was a figure of speech, my good Sir...

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Dragatus wrote:

Feel free to bark as much as you want, so long as you don't bite.

Nah, he won't bite. He'll just use you as a tree...

You say I should climb him...?

Or maybe piss him

Dunno. Pissed off Tremere sounds like a problem...

Invite some Assamites and you can turn it into a party
(Or invite a Salubri to turn it into a party for the Tremere )

Day #3 of my Alpha Test of TFN 1.4.

It was time to talk with Bertram to see how he could get me into the Sabbat warehouse. Before I spoke with him I decided I would try to steal the werewolf blood from the upstairs blood bank. I took the back way in, walked upstairs, and was approached by a friendly gentleman in a police uniform. He kindly asked me to leave, but with my control over his emotions with Presence 3, I figured I could seduce my way in. Unfortunately he's male and so am I, and clearly he's not gay, so seduction didn't work.



I opened up my character sheet and I had a seduction of 5, and with Presence 3 I had a seduction of 6, but it wasn't enough. I next looked at my Intimidation which also gets a +1 bonus in dialogue with Presence 3. I only had an Intimidation of 1 for a total of 2, so I couldn't intimidate him. How about Persuasion? Well my Persuasion was 3, and I knew I didn't get the Presence bonus until Presence 4, so that was a no go too. ACK!

So, my only other option was pay the nice officer $50 to let me hang out in there, and since money is so scarce in 1.4, I decided to walk out. I'm going to have to find another way to get in there without him seeing me. And this is exactly why I love the changes to 1.4, you really have to think on how to tackle problems now, this is exactly what I was going for!



After I left the blood bank frustrated, I spoke with Bertram and told him I was ready to go. I showed up in the train yard armed with a baseball bat (for humans) and a knife (for kindred). You see, in 1.4 the bashing weapons do more damage than the lethal ones, but kindred get a 50% damage reduction to bashing weapons, so bashing weapons are better against humans while lethal are better again kindred, so it's wise to carry one of each.

I silently took out the first couple humans, then did a full engage with Presence 3 active getting me to the train. I climbed up the ladder and used the rafters to sneak around. I dropped down near the office undetected, then full engaged the humans inside. I planted the bomb and left. Suddenly a Toreador Antitribu busted through the back door armed with Presence and a shot gun. It was great having a Presence war but it seemed bringing a knife to a gun fight worked in my favor because every time I'd knock him down, he would try to stand and I'd knock him down again because my knife attacks were so fast. He never got a single shotgun blast on me (thank goodness).



I proceeded to leave and was met by a Gangrel Antitribu. Once again, Presence 3 saved the day because it slowed his attack rate. I was able to get 1 knife swing in, then back up, and he'd miss me. He connected a few attacks but only got me to half health by the time I dusted him.

After that, I met up with Beckett and sure enough, my Presence didn't affect him in dialogue, he's just too strong for that. I went back and spoke with Bertram and my Presence didn't affect him either. It seems the Presence in dialogue is working perfectly so far, I'm so happy!



Notes: After reviewing the clinic guard file, turns out males cannot seduce him, only females can, nor can he be persuaded AT ALL, by anyone. He can be bribed and he can be intimidated but you need a level 4 in intimidation.

MxM wrote:

Invite some Assamites and you can turn it into a party
(Or invite a Salubri to turn it into a party for the Tremere )

Good thing that I'm a huge introvert and don't go anywhere.

SaulottheGentle wrote:

MxM wrote:

Invite some Assamites and you can turn it into a party
(Or invite a Salubri to turn it into a party for the Tremere )

Good thing that I'm a huge introvert and don't go anywhere.

Sometimes you don't have to go to the party because the party comes to you.

SaulottheGentle wrote:

MxM wrote:

Invite some Assamites and you can turn it into a party
(Or invite a Salubri to turn it into a party for the Tremere )

Good thing that I'm a huge introvert and don't go anywhere.

Don't worry. You could go with a guard dog. And an Middle Eastern gentelmen with a fanatical spark in his eyes...

@Zer0: I am happy to hear that Persuasion works. But why is the guard unpersuadable? Is he an American? Sorry...
But seriously, what you have done looks great so far.

Feral wrote:

@Zer0: I am happy to hear that Persuasion works. But why is the guard unpersuadable? Is he an American? Sorry...
But seriously, what you have done looks great so far.

HAHA! I think this officer is part of a rare breed of police that actually takes his job serious. Wait! Nevermind, he still accepts bribes.

Thanks for the kudos, I'm really excited about 1.4, the most excited I've been since the initial release of TFN. As I play the game, ideas keep cropping up on small things that I could do to improve the game further, and it's so tempting to stop the Alpha testing to start modding again, but I have to remain focused and finish the play through.

Specifically I'm having ideas of quests tailored to specific clans, much in the way I did for the Baali and "A Pyramids Deception". I'm thinking of ways that a Setite could earn extra experience by recruiting NPCs into the circle of Set, or Strauss locking the doors on the Salubri only to send assassins through out the game eventually confronting the Salubri for a final show down. Things of that nature. I have so many ideas.

Zer0Morph wrote:

Feral wrote:

@Zer0: I am happy to hear that Persuasion works. But why is the guard unpersuadable? Is he an American? Sorry...
But seriously, what you have done looks great so far.

HAHA! I think this officer is part of a rare breed of police that actually takes his job serious. Wait! Nevermind, he still accepts bribes.

Thanks for the kudos, I'm really excited about 1.4, the most excited I've been since the initial release of TFN. As I play the game, ideas keep cropping up on small things that I could do to improve the game further, and it's so tempting to stop the Alpha testing to start modding again, but I have to remain focused and finish the play through.

Specifically I'm having ideas of quests tailored to specific clans, much in the way I did for the Baali and "A Pyramids Deception". I'm thinking of ways that a Setite could earn extra experience by recruiting NPCs into the circle of Set, or Strauss locking the doors on the Salubri only to send assassins through out the game eventually confronting the Salubri for a final show down. Things of that nature. I have so many ideas. !:

If you persuade the nurse downstair you are there for the network you can persuade him to open the door to the controlled substance room... (4 or 5 persuasion iirc)

MxM wrote:

If you persuade the nurse downstair you are there for the network you can persuade him to open the door to the controlled substance room... (4 or 5 persuasion iirc)

I had to check the game files and you're right, you CAN persuade the nurse downstairs. Thing is, when you talk to the guard, you have a 50% chance of getting him to open the door, it's based on random chance.

Zer0Morph wrote:

MxM wrote:

If you persuade the nurse downstair you are there for the network you can persuade him to open the door to the controlled substance room... (4 or 5 persuasion iirc)

I had to check the game files and you're right, you CAN persuade the nurse downstairs. Thing is, when you talk to the guard, you have a 50% chance of getting him to open the door, it's based on random chance.

Strange it always worked for me , iirc it worked only after hacking (or trying to) the computer that controls the safe and door of the controlled substance room

Hm, why can't the guard be persuaded? He probably doesn't understand the concept because he is the person who, when he dropss off a cliff, has to stop halfway down and ask for directions.

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Hm, why can't the guard be persuaded? He probably doesn't understand the concept because he is the person who, when he dropss off a cliff, has to stop halfway down and ask for directions.

LOL

Quote :

Strange it always worked for me scratch , iirc it worked only after hacking (or trying to) the computer that controls the safe and door of the controlled substance room

When you persuade the nurse, you can go upstairs. The guard will tell you that you can't be up there, then you tell him the nurse sent you to fix the computer stuff... He'll let you stay up there, but if you ask him to open the doors for you and have a high enough Inspection, there's a 50% chance it will take you to the set of dialogue that will allow you in, and a 50% chance it will take you to a dialogue set that he won't, and you'll have to pay or lockpick your way in.

Zer0Morph wrote:

Childe of Malkav wrote:

Hm, why can't the guard be persuaded? He probably doesn't understand the concept because he is the person who, when he dropss off a cliff, has to stop halfway down and ask for directions.

LOL

Quote :

Strange it always worked for me scratch , iirc it worked only after hacking (or trying to) the computer that controls the safe and door of the controlled substance room

When you persuade the nurse, you can go upstairs. The guard will tell you that you can't be up there, then you tell him the nurse sent you to fix the computer stuff... He'll let you stay up there, but if you ask him to open the doors for you and have a high enough Inspection, there's a 50% chance it will take you to the set of dialogue that will allow you in, and a 50% chance it will take you to a dialogue set that he won't, and you'll have to pay or lockpick your way in.

Tried again today (6 times) in vanilla, with persuasion 5, only after hacking the computer and opening the safe he would let me in the room.

MxM wrote:

Tried again today (6 times) in vanilla, with persuasion 5, only after hacking the computer and opening the safe he would let me in the room.

Interesting, time to take a closer look then!

Well folks, I have good news and bad news! My Ishtarri made it to downtown so the first stop I made was Confession to seduce a blood doll. The first time I spoke with her, she said she was starting to think I ditched her, and I was able to feed from her. I was like... Ummm, we've never met before, what's going on? I reloaded and the same thing happened... did I encounter a bug?



I went back to the Asylum in Santa Monica and the blood doll there also allowed me to feed from her, which is what she should've done because I left her in that state. After I fed from her, I went back to Confession and the blood doll worked normally again. This is weird. After testing for awhile I figured out that something was broken.

2 hours of troubleshooting later, I figured out that I had made a mistake in the map files for all 4 clubs in that feeding from the SM blood doll would allow you to feed a 2nd time from each of the others, they were all tied to the same python script. How long had this been broken? Well, I created this system back in 2010 so it's been broken for 5 years and was never reported. WOW!

Unfortunately I had to start a new game because I had edited 3 map files, 1 of which I had already been to before. So, I'm trying to decide who to play with during this next Alpha test. I'm leaning heavily on the Baali clan but I'm not sure.