VTMR Crimson Edition file - Vampire: The Masquerade – Redemption

Also intended as a multifunctional plug and play ModPack to improve the QOL when it comes to Mod and play VTMR.

Requirements:
1. Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption v1.1 (SP/MP) - Main.
2. Age of Redemption (SP/MP) - Secondary.
3. White Rabbit Playable NPC Pack (MP) - Optional.

Compatibility:
1. Age of Redemption - Compatible. Crimson Edition and its Derivatives to be installed after AoR.
2. Chest And Lvl Up UI - Not compatible already included with few changes over the original.
3. Widescreen Support Mods - Not compatible features included via Vampire.exe and Vampire_AoR.exe.
4. Neural Redemption - Not compatible already included.
5. Character Textures Improved - Not compatible already included.
6. White Rabbit Playable NPC Pack - Compatible. Can only be used in Multiplayer though but its a nice addition.
7. DgVoodoo - Not compatible already included with Optimal Settings.
8. ReShade - Not compatible already included with Optimal Settings.
9. Please take your time and check the Features Section for detailed info.

Installation:
1. Before proceeding it is recommended to uninstall/delete any other Mods you may have previously installed (Including old Crimson Edition and excluding Age of Redemption).
2. For an easy installation and management ive included JSGME (JoneSoft Generic Mod Enabler) so you cant possible mess up anything and be forced to reinstall the Game etc.
3. Extract all files from VTMR Crimson Edition archive in to the Game directory usually located at:
D:\Games\Vampire The Masquerade Redemption and from here you dont have to worry about anything else as JSGME will take care of everything by backing up any conflicting files and completely restore them afterwards.
4. Go to where you just extracted the files look for and run JSGME.exe (Send to Start, Taskbar or Desktop for easy access). At first start a small Settings Window will pop-up providing some Options but do not change anything and just click OK which will lead you to next step the Main Window where you will be presented with five files (Default alphabetical order please follow the instructions):
a) VTMR Crimson Edition - Select and enable over a Vanilla Game installation. Adds and changes numerous aspects of the Game. It may take few seconds for the process to finish as Main File has 1.75Gb in size,
b) Modern Age Vault Fix - Select and enable over Crimson Edition and only when reaching Modern Age (Ignore the warning message and accept the change) then select and disable when starting a new Single Player Game or Multiplayer Session and so on. When certain conditions are met temporary resolves a conflict between Chest And Lvl Up UI & Vanilla Game,
c) Age of Redemption Patch - Select and enable over a Age of Redemption installation. Translates the changes from Crimson Edition to Age of Redemption plus permanently resolves a conflict between Chest And Lvl Up UI & Age of Redemption,
d) Multiplayer Vault Fix - Select and enable over Age of Redemption and only when playing Multiplayer (Ignore the warning message and accept the change) then select and disable when switching to Single Player and so on. When certain conditions are met temporary resolves a conflict between Age of Redemption & Vanilla Game. Note: Keep in mind that Modern Age Vault Fix and Multiplayer Vault Fix need to be enabled one at a time as they conflict with each other causing the wrong Textures to load on some parts of the UI! I know this is a bit clanky but the addition of Chest And Lvl Up UI proved to be more than i can chew as i am unable to completely fix the Texture swap between Game Modes so i had to do few workarounds,
e) Complete Documentation - Select and enable only if you are a true Son/Daughter of Darkness! Installs a +VTMR.CE.Doc+ folder in to the Game directory containing a Readme.rtf file for Documentation purpose,
f) After the above steps are done you may close JSGME and restart at any time you wish to enable or disable stuff.
5. Assuming that you also have Age of Redemption installed look for and set both Vampire.exe and Vampire_AoR.exe with Admin rights and in Windows XP (Service Pack 3) compatibility Mode and then run the Game as follow:
a) Vanilla - Through Vampire.exe also if you wish to use the console add: "-console" argument to Shortcut properties with a space at the end of the command line,
b) Age of Redemption - Through Age of Redemption Config.exe or Vampire_AoR.exe by adding: "-user aor -chron aor_sp -console" argument to Shortcut properties with a space at the end of the command line. Note: You still need to run Age of Redemption Config.exe to choose or change Mod Settings,
c) Starting a new Game and creating new Characters in both Single Player and Multiplayer recommended,
d) Do not change the file structure within the ModPack on a existing Save doing so will corrupt your Save Files causing the Game to crash when accessing different Menus as it contains not only Textures but Scripts as well!
6. To uninstall simply run JSGME.exe again then select and disable VTMR Crimson Edition and its Derivatives (Counter-Clockwise). All installed files will be removed from the Game directory and returned to MODS folder and the overwritten files will be fully restored. Note: JSGME is not a installer but a installation tool and therefore it cannot uninstall it self if you wish to do a complete wipe you need to manually remove the following files from the Game directory:
a) MODS,
b) JSGME.exe,
c) JSGME.ini,
d) JSGMEUG.pdf,
e) Any extra ReShade.log files. ReShade may create more than one .log delete those to,
f) Do not change anything in the MODS folder and JSGME.ini files after installation doing so will mess up the entire process leaving JSGME unable to uninstall or restore files!
7. If you do not use Age of Redemption just skip the steps mentioned above regarding it.
8. And... this is pretty mutch it with the installation!

Features:
1. Inlcuded Masquerade.ini file with Optimal Settings for convenience so you dont have to go and reset the Game Settings all over again as the ModPack requires. Note: Due to the addition of modified UI elements and upscaled Textures in order for the Game to function correctly the Texture Bith Depth is set by default at 32Bit. The Game will still work at 16Bit but may not be fully supported which means that its most likely to get UI or Texture glitches by using this Option. You can still tweak any other Settings at will such as Resolution, Gamma, Sound, Etc but make sure to leave "Advanced Display Options" untouched!
2. Modification of the original Vampire.exe to include Widescreen support for Cutscenes and increased FOV up to 80 + LAA (Large Adress Awareness) patched which increases its memory up to 4Gb to help with performance and avoid possible CTDs when using demanding Mods or graphical plugins. Note: While ive tried to identify all Cutscenes i may have miss few and therefore it is possible that some of them wont scale properly here and there.
3. Modification of the original Vampire_AoR.exe to include Widescreen support for Cutscenes and increased FOV up to 80 + LAA (Large Adress Awareness) patched which increases its memory up to 4Gb to help with performance and avoid possible CDTs when using it along with other demanding Mods or graphical plugins. Note: Though the modified parameters are exactly the same as in Vampire.exe some Cutscenes that do scale in Vanilla Game wont scale properly in AoR because it changes a lot of Scenery behind its .nob archives which is an impediment to the edits done in Vampire_AoR.exe.
4. The famous and infamous Chest And Lvl Up UI finally included in Crimson Edition now .exe independent and patched for compatibility with Age of Redemption. Here is a list of Quirks and Quilts ive made for a more or less proper integration:
a) The actual StatusBarSP_01MD.tga have been properly edited and introduced as in the first place the Mod was using the same StatusBarSP_01.tga as StatusBarSP_01MD.tga which causes a visual glitch when the Overlay changes in late Vanilla Game and furthermore the same glitch occurs when playing Age of Redemption that happens to be using a different Texture Unit,
b) A 1st modified VaultPane.nui file have been added in to a Modern Age Vault Fix/UI directory to temporary resolve a conflict between Chest And Lvl Up UI & Vanilla Game (When reaching Modern Age) where Base Vault Grid loads over Chron Vault Grid. While this fixes the issue for Single Player it creates the same issue for Multiplayer but with reverse effect. Needs to be disabled when starting a new Single Player Game or Multiplayer Session and re-enabled when reaching Modern Age and so on,
c) A 2nd modified VaultPane.nui file have been added in to a Age of Redemption Patch/AoR/UI directory to permanently resolve a conflict between Chest And Lvl Up UI & Age of Redemption (When playing Single Player) where Base Vault Grid loads over Chron Vault Grid. Point b) does not apply here as AoR uses the same Texture Unit from start to finish. While this fixes the issue for Single Player it creates the same issue for Multiplayer but with reverse effect,
d) A 3rd modified VaultPane.nui file have been added in to a Multiplayer Vault Fix/AoR/UI directory to temporary resolve a conflict stated at point c) between Age of Redemption & Vanilla Game (When playing Multiplayer) where Chron Vault Grid loads over Base Vault Grid. Needs to be disabled when switching to Single Player and re-enabled when playing Multiplayer and so on,
e) The Map Button have been removed from HUD and its place traded in favor of Lvl Up & Vault Buttons. Personally i find the Map Button a waste of space since you can easily access the World Map through its dedicated hotkey "M" so this was a good enough reason to get rid of it,
f) The new Lvl Up Button position and form have been changed to resemble the actual Advancement Button from Multiplayer plus its Modded Tooltip modified from: "Advance Scene" to Advancement,
g) The new Vault Button have been slightly reworked and repositioned on the right side of the Grid for accessibility and aesthetic purpose plust its Modded Tooltip modified from: "Toogle Inventory Pane" to Open Vault,
h) The Skeleton Heads at the base of the Menu Buttons have been removed and the area leveled with iregular pixel paterns and colors to make the spot look as natural as possible,
i) This feature is a Single Player Mode exclusive as the Multiplayer Mode has its own portable Advancement function and implementing the portable Vault to Multiplayer is a entirely different story and beyond my knowledge.
5. Fixed a probably unintentional behaviour in Age of Redemption with the Old Man that instead of sitting in one place and wait for the Player at the East Gate exit to the Silver Mines he roams around and when engaged in conversation he somehow turns his back to Player giving a very weird camera angle. Normally he still leaves the spot but intended only after the conversation its over and then he is flagged as a non essential Npc. The behaviour have been reverted back to Vanilla values by simply adding a Game.nls file in to VTMR/Strings directory which takes priority over whatever AoR modifies in this sector.
6. Modification of the original Game.nls and System.nls to include or change Tooltips for a few In-Game Menu Buttons and also to adress the In-Game Currency messaging which is a bit messed up as the Devs introduced multiple Currency types that are not correctly supported with Info and Tooltips. So ive work around the issue at the level of my logic and the changes are as follow:
Menu:
a) Inventory Pane/Drop Cash Button/Tooltip - Drop Cash,
b) Discipline Pane/Disc Scroll Buttons/Tooltip 1 - Previous/Next Talent, Tooltip 2 - Previous/Next Discipline,
c) Read Text Box/OK Button/Tooltip - Finish Reading,
d) Vault Pane/OK Button/Tooltip - Close Vault,
e) Buy Sell Pane/Buy Sell Buttons/OK Button/Tooltip 1 - Buy item instead of "Click here to buy item", Tooltip 2 - Sell item instead of "Click here to sell item", Tooltip 3 - Leave Shop.
Currency:
a) Silver/UI - Pile of Silver/Tooltip - Cash/Pickup - Cash,
b) Gold/UI - Pile of Gold/Tooltip - Cash/Pickup - Cash,
c) Bag of Gold/UI - Bag of Gold/Tooltip - Cash/Pickup - Cash,
d) Money/UI - Pile of Money/Tooltip - Cash/Pickup - Cash,
e) Drop Currency/UI - How much Cash would you like to drop?/Tooltip - Drop Cash/Pickup - Cash,
f) Disease Vaccine also renamed to Disease Elixir because i think its a better name for both timelines,
g) Changes intended for Vanilla users but it will overwrite AoR as well which address the Currency issue but with different naming i think.
7. Empty Logo, Trailer .bik files which forces the Game to Main Menu to avoid smashing the Esc key everytime you start the Game. Rest of the .bik files responsible with other Cinematics are left untouched.
8. A few UI tweaks to remove some pixels that were sticking out of the HUD to correct uneven lines and also to rearrange and recolor multiple pixels across the board in order to make the User Interface look a bit better. At first i was looking for about 10 key HUD files for this project but i eventually ended up adding more as it would seem the Devs didnt put mutch attention in to designing the User Interface. A total of 170 .tga files that were jumping in to my eyes have been edited.
9. Conversion of the original Neural Redemption from 16 to 32Bit so the Game will no longer crash when Texture Bith Depth: 32Bit is checked in the Game Options. This will automatically solve the compatibility issue with Widescreen support Mods or other Mods designed to work on the 32Bit Option. A total of 3139 .tga files have been edited.
10. Conversion of the original Character Textures Improved from 16 to 32Bit so the Game will no longer crash when Texture Bith Depth: 32Bit is checked in the Game Options. This will automatically solve the compatibility issue with Widescreen support Mods or other Mods designed to work on the 32Bit Option. Note: Ecaterinas original Outfit have been restored as the upscaled version is kinda Whiteish and out of context during Cutscenes. The upscaled Hands and Face are left untouched. A total of 395 .tga files have been edited.
11. DgVoodoo: Anisotropic Filtering, Antialiasing, vSync, Fixes Brightness Option, Etc. Basic preset recommended but you can go ahead and try different Settings via DgVoodooCpl.exe located in to the Game directory. Note: MSAA Antialiasing Setting from DgVoodoo leaves some artifacts on the left and top side of the Screen so its better off forcing vSync and Antialiasing in your GPU Control Panel but if you can live with that then do not change anything as DgVoodoo provides a higher visual quality.
12. ReShade (DxGi-Dx10,11,12 Plugin): Image Clarity, Various Visual Effects, Etc. Basic preset recommended but you can go ahead and try different Settings via In-Game/Home key. Note: DgVoodoo is a base requirement otherwise ReShade wont work! If your system runs on Dx9 you need to download and reinstall ReShade then choose a Dx9 installation which will overwrite DgVoodoo but i think these two are compatible and it should still work. Doing so wont mess up JSGME as ReShade wont create extra files than the ones ive already included and JSGME will recognize and remove them when uninstalling the ModPack.

Additional Notes:
This setup is intended for a 16:9 Aspect Ratio and 1920x1080 Resolution! Higher Aspect Ratio and Resolution is supported but not recommended as the User Interface is kinda stretched and because of the incresed Field Of View you may see a void for a moment in open field or when making sudden turns. Ive messed around with few Settings in Masquerade.ini trying to mediate the issue but nothig seems to do the trick. Most probably this can be dealt with but it needs more research. Ive also looked in to upscale the Cinematics but its harder than it looks either the Game crashes or a particular Cinematic has no sound. Im doing it wrong for sure but Modding takes more time that i currently have at my diposal so for the time being it is what it is.¯\(°_o)/¯

Disclaimer:
I do not own any assets used in this ModPack all rights goes to their respective owners! Permission have been granted by Telda the author of Chest And Lvl Up UI, Ridiculous Death the author of Neural Redemption and Tharil the author of Character Textures Improved. Rest of the features are own ideas or open source and need no further actions.

Permissions:
As ive already stated above i do not own anything and therefore i am not entitled to grant any permission. You should seek permission from the mentioned authors if you wish to use any of their assets or further distribute this ModPack.

Changelog (17.04.2024):
Included Chest And Lvl Up UI now .exe independent and patched for compatibility with Age of Redemption, Few other additions, tweaks and fixes i omited in previous release, Save Files are most likely affected as this version contains not only Textures but Scripts as well so starting a new Game and creating new Characters in both Single Player and Multiplayer recommended, Showcase Video have been remade to depict the changes, Updated Documentation, DgVoodoo and ReShade are being updated from time to time you can go ahead and update at will but to keep the balance between graphics and performance dont go overboard with the graphical Settings, I will not release individual update files as i wish to keep it in JSGME as a whole, If you encounter any issues please give feedback ill do my best to fix ASAP.

Showcase Video (Vanilla vs Modded):

Credits:
Nihilistic Software, Inc - Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption.
Javokis - Age of Redemption.
Telda - Chest And Lvl Up UI.
Ridiculous Death - Neural Redemption.
Tahril - Character Textures Improved.
Dege - DgVoodoo.
Crosire - ReShade.
JoneSoft - Generic Mod Enabler.
Rick Brewster - Paint.NET.
Akihisa Ikeda - Rosario + Vampire.

My Other Mods:
For Titan Quest - Enchanting for Epic and Legendary Items - Mod DB.
For Torchlight 1 - Torchlight 1 Reborn - Mod DB.

Ps:
Sorry for the eventual spelling mistakes English is not my native language.