Updates from 2016 news - VTMB: Clan Quest Mod for Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines

There hasn't been much news on the project lately, so I thought I'd finally give a some update. Last time I posted, I predicted a March release date. Clearly, I blew that big time! I actually went on another hiatus and didn't work on the mod for months, but I've been back at it again for about 5 weeks with gusto. I don't want to try and behold myself to a particular date again, because I noted that the more time I spend talking about the mod publicly, the less enthusiasm I have to work on it. It's an odd psychological effect, and it's the reason why my updates come so infrequently, so I hope my followers are sympathetic.

That said, I thought now would be a good time to give some more information regarding the story of the new content. As you know, the next addition to CQM will focus on adding content to expand the player's interaction with the Sabbat, including the ability to join the Sabbat. In short, when the player meets Andrei for the first time, if they say the right things, Andrei will extend an invitation to the player to join the Sabbat's ranks after completing a crucible of sorts. If they carry out his wishes, then they are invited to join a Sabbat pack and resolving the rest of the story in liege with the Sword of Caine. The new chapter focuses on the player's choice in joining a pack, having to resolve a feud between two such packs in a new hub area.
Because I've often heard that player's resent having to make particular choices (like a clan) to see ALL of the clan quest mod's content, this chapter of the game is still available to Camarilla players. Instead of confronting the Sabbat in the Hallowbrook hotel, they can choose to undermine the Sabbat incognito.

I won't commit to a date, but here's how I'm doing in terms of progress on the project:

New Maps / Environment: 60%
I've made almost all the new maps, and although most of the maps I'm making are small they still need polish and the main hub is yet to be done.

Writing / Dialog: 60%
A lot of the bit characters are written, and a few of the main characters are at 100%, so this is good progress.

Programming / Cut Scenes: 35%
Still have a lot of work to do here because it's so much dependent on the other bits being in place. This is also different this time around, because access to the SDK allows a lot more to be done in the maps / Source engine much more easily.

Voice: 0%
Haven't even started. I'm seriously considering just doing establishing lines and cut scene dialog first and releasing the rest in subsequent versions because it's such a tedious job.

Models: 0%
Need help here. Making new character models is the one skill I don't have, and I don't have a ready solution just yet.


With all that said, one other announcement is that to keep some momentum going forward, I'm going to start producing a weekly "Let's Play" video following me through a complete play-through of Bloodlines using CQM. There's already a lot of those out there, but the added advantage is that I can annotate my thoughts as I go, as a person that's worked on the game extensively (and also has played it way too many times). You can checkout my Youtube channel here.

Hope this updates sates the curiosity of those few still following this old mod! =)