X20 Mod

[krispy]

now you have me doing deep dives in the lore for bands.

I want to do a Svein Fortinbras and Ynglinga poster since my younger brother is super into black metal and the like. Are these counted as decals? asking for scale reasons.

[IanW]

now you have me doing deep dives in the lore for bands.

I want to do a Svein Fortinbras and Ynglinga poster since my younger brother is super into black metal and the like. Are these counted as decals? asking for scale reasons.

Nothing I've done so far is a decal, although there are a ton of band posters of the plastered-to-a-wall variety throughout all the hubs.

[krispy]

the posters of a plastered on walls variety are decals pretty sure.  I tried redoing the Lacuna coil one and it was if memory serves. still would prefer to replace them with in universe themed stuff if possible even at the native scale

these are awesome! there is a bottle shaped like your bourbon bottle at the last shot and/or confession.  I saw it on the counter earlier, could be done to match the one on the sign but shouldn't it have a black wax seal like a color shifted version of the wax on a makers mark bottle or something?

on a bloodlines poster related note Ghoultown is vampire themed cowpunk band from the same giant chunk of city I'm from. they played Dallas clubs all the time when I was a teenager. Saw them at the Gathering of the Juggalos oddly enough.

[IanW]

the posters of a plastered on walls variety are decals pretty sure.  I tried redoing the Lacuna coil one and it was if memory serves. still would prefer to replace them with in universe themed stuff if possible even at the native scale

I'm trying to go with a mixture of real-world stuff, Bloodlines-specific, and stuff from WoD lore. The first two are already present, so I don't want things to feel too jarring by overloading on the third. :)

on a bloodlines poster related note Ghoultown is vampire themed cowpunk band from the same giant chunk of city I'm from. they played Dallas clubs all the time when I was a teenager. Saw them at the Gathering of the Juggalos oddly enough.

Yep, a lot of the posters and signs are for real bands. I mean, there's obvious stuff like Lacuna Coil and Ministry, but a lot of the less well-known bands are real too. Which is something I always appreciated. It helps ground the world. My job is to try to keep things grounded but also feel like they're part of the WoD setting. :)

[IanW]

A friend and Onyx Path freelancer, Jacob Burgess, has been playing Bloodlines for the first time on the tiltyhouse Twitch channel. He's playing every Tuesday this month at 5pm Pacific Time.

It's not directly part of the X20 mod, but I figured I'd put in a surprise for him while I was doing some of the other designs (which can also be seen in the stream).

https://clips.twitch.tv/CrunchyBadSpindleMrDestructoid

[IanW]

Probably what I'll be working on next.

From Mage's Dragons of the East:



Related, from Mage's Technomancer's Toybox:



Better than 13 stimulants in every bottle.

[argikt]

LOL...

We can retexture several cans...

[Zer0Morph]

Hey Ian!

Long time no see. How you been buddy? I ran across your project and I wanted to say "Great job!". I love the new billboards as not only does it expand on the WoD but it also brings some new eye candy to an otherwise static 14 year old game.

Kudos bro. After your done with this project, and with your permission, perhaps TCI could incorporate your work into the latest version of TFN so others can admire your efforts. (Giving proper credit of course). 

[IanW]

Realized in-game, based on the design in the illustration above:


With Erg Cola, with its "familiar bright yellow and green label":



(might have to tweak that a bit; there's no indication in the source files where the edges of the button are, so some of the Erg logo skews over to the top and bottom of the button)

Hey Ian!

Long time no see. How you been buddy? I ran across your project and I wanted to say "Great job!". I love the new billboards as not only does it expand on the WoD but it also brings some new eye candy to an otherwise static 14 year old game.

Thanks! That's the hope. :)

Kudos bro. After your done with this project, and with your permission, perhaps TCI could incorporate your work into the latest version of TFN so others can admire your efforts. (Giving proper credit of course). 

Certainly, feel free! I don't know that I'll ever be done, per se; this is mostly a side project, an excuse to scratch an occasional itch I have to tweak Bloodlines. I'll post my progress periodically, though (see attached), so feel free to use whatever bits you like best for TFN.

[Wesp5]

With Erg Cola, with its "familiar bright yellow and green label":

Looks cool! But what is the background of Ice-Chi?

[IanW]

Looks cool! But what is the background of Ice-Chi?

"Ice-Chi" was just used for that particular illustration, and doesn't appear in-text. It's supposed to be paired with the non-blurry text at the bottom right.

The Five Elemental Dragons are sort of the Asian counterpart to the western Technocratic Union. Among them, the Zi Guang have created special vending machines located on ley lines which collect and store Chi (aka Quintessence, the fuel mages use for their powers).

For the most part, these vending machines are exactly what they seem to be. But in an emergency, an Agent of the Elemental Dragons can press an implant in their wrist against the side of the machine, and it will recharge them with up to 10 points of Chi.

Most such vending machines also dispense high-energy fruit drinks (although they're usually the mundane kind). When recharging an Agent, the drink dispensed uses special herbal concoctions to make the Agent more alert, and acts as a meal replacement.

The vending machines are varied and widespread -- while 60% dispense beverages, they could really be for any product. Ice-Chi was convenient because there's an illustration showing what the machine looks like.

Erg Cola is a similar concoction invented by the Technocratic Union. Except instead of the vending machine doing all the heavy lifting, it's the drink itself. It's like the ultimate energy drink. Caffeine, nutrients, sugar, and a point of Quintessence. Boosts an agent's body for up to six hours. Although it was only available to Agents of the Technocracy in 1998, they were considering a mundane version for the mass market.

Given their close association, I figured the Elemental Dragons and the Technocracy might have collaborated to get both their vending machines and their cola a wider distribution net by 2004.

[Wesp5]

"Ice-Chi" was just used for that particular illustration, and doesn't appear in-text.

So did you just make that up yourself because it's a cool play of words ;)? Also the Erg Cola button doesn't really fit with all the Chi drinks there. Don't you want to go full way and turn the other dispenser into a pure Erg Cola and co machine?

[IanW]

So did you just make that up yourself because it's a cool play of words ;)?

As mentioned, it appears in the

in the above post. Leif Jones, the artist, is probably the one who made it up.

Also the Erg Cola button doesn't really fit with all the Chi drinks there. Don't you want to go full way and turn the other dispenser into a pure Erg Cola and co machine?

Some Coke machines will, for example, have Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero Sugar, Vanilla Coke, and Sprite. Even though Sprite isn't a Coke product, it's owned by the Coca-Cola company. So I don't see anything particularly wrong with having one non-Chi flavour if it's all under the same corporate control.

Besides, many vending machines are privately-owned, and even if it's got branding for one variety, owners can customize the buttons and fill it up with whatever they want, like here. The aesthetic of Bloodlines is already intentionally messy, so this doesn't particularly bother me.

I'm still considering what, if anything, I want to do with the DemonSeed vending machine. I did think about putting Erg over there, but it works conceptually for it to be with Ice-Chi for the moment. That might change if I get a better idea.

[Wesp5]

As mentioned, it appears in the

in the above post.

Ah, I overlooked that.

So I don't see anything particularly wrong with having one non-Chi flavour if it's all under the same corporate control.

I understand, still bright yellow doesn't really fit with Coke in my opinion. The DemonSeed machine would be better IMHO...

[IanW]

One thing that always bugged me about Bloodlines was how a lot of the UI elements just straight up use the Giovanni clan symbol and hope no one notices. Not a big deal to Bloodlines fans who aren't familiar with the tabletop, since the Giovanni symbol never appears in-game otherwise, but since I'm explicitly trying to make Bloodlines fit in better with the wider WoD, it stands out.

Example from upthread:



Note the circles at the bottom right and left used to display the weapons and Disciplines.

The Giovanni symbol:



It appears pretty much as-is behind the Disciplines on the right, but mirrored behind the weapons on the left.

So I've replaced it with the V20 symbol, as seen throughout Vampire's 20th Anniversary Edition. So far just on the main HUD UI, but I'll be tweaking other appearances, like the loading screens, as well.



I know it's closer to silver than the previous brass, that's intentional. Preparing for later changes. Still toying around with relative brightness and such.