Elsewhere, the growth of digital distribution networks like Steam and GamersGate mean the title is still available to purchase and download (often at a bargain price), where people would previously have needed to search in second hand bins or, the online equivalent, eBay.Īnd what of the bugs? They have mostly been eradicated.

Modern PC gaming rigs have the power to run the prototype Source engine without many of the problems encountered by players in 2004. A convergence of factors means that today, almost five years on from release, Bloodlines can emerge from the tomb more powerful than ever.

Yet this unfortunate story has something approaching a happy ending. Three months later, Troika Games closed their doors. It was directly competing with the sequel to one of the most critically acclaimed PC first-person shooters of all time. It was a technologically demanding title, based on a near-impenetrable role-playing game about vampire politics, full of niggling and even game-breaking bugs. I am not kidding.' After three gruelling years, Bloodlines was eventually released on exactly the same day as Half-Life 2, Nov.

Arcanum had about a year of non-crunch time and Vampire about one or two months. In an interview with The Escapist, Troika founder Jason Anderson gave an idea of the horrendous hours being worked during much of the games production: 'It might be better to think of development in terms of non-crunch time.

This early version of the engine was poorly optimised (resulting in slow, chuggy sections on even the most powerful PCs of the day) and required Troika to write their own Artificial Intelligence routines, protracting the development time still further. Having to run plot details past White Wolf simply added to the delays which blighted the development, but it was the use of the Source engine that would prove the more significant issue. To say this action-RPG release was 'troubled' would be akin to suggesting said vampires 'have been known to enjoy the odd mouthful of blood.' Troika had acquired two licenses-White Wolf's World of Darkness role playing universe and an early version of Valve's Source 3D graphics engine (most famously used for Half-Life 2.) Both would cause problems. Given that the final months at Troika Games involved lengthy spells of work in the dark hours, the continual need for (financial) sustenance and a whiff of tragedy, it's appropriate that their last release was Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines.

Vampire role playing games pc