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Clan Quest Mod - Installation Guide

This is a brief guide with the latest, up-to-date instructions on how to install Clan Quest Mod, version 2.1 and later. For earlier versions of the mod, please refer to the documentation that was packaged with the mod. It's important that you follow this guide, step-by-step, or else there is no telling how the mod will affect the game. A few other notes:

• There is no way to get old saved games to work with the new mod instillation. You will have to start a new game, after installing the mod.
• As some people know, the Unofficial Patch, which is closely integrated with Clan Quest Mod, includes the Official Patch as of version 7.0. However, I do NOT recommend that retail users skip step 5b. My experience has been that people that choose to skip this step, have experienced more problems with the game later than those who do not.
• >You should only install other mods for Vampire through the Clan Quest Mod installer. Mods for Vampire are generally not cross-compatible so installing one mod ontop of the other, will most likely result in problems while playing the game. The install program resolves these differences so there is no risk in installing mods using the program.

1. [Optional] Backup your current VTMB installation


Saved games will not recognize the changes to the game maps, hence the Clan Quest Mod will not be compatible with any existing save games.Hence, backing up your old saved games is only useful if you ever intend on going back to your original version of Bloodlines.

It is possible to have two versions of the game installed on one computer. You can play either version so long as there is at least one legitimate copy of the game installed.

This allows you to play VTMB with or without the Clan Quest Mod. However, backing up the original installation requires that you have enough hard disk space for two copies of the game (Generally 10 Gig minimum is recommended).



Rename the "Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines" portion of the original installation directory to "VTBM - Original":

Default Windows XP\Vista 32 bit installation directory:



Default Vista 64 bit installation directory:



Default Steam installation directory:




2) Backup Achievement Porgress [Optional]


If you've used the Clan Quest Mod achievement module in previous installations, you may want to save your progress. You can do this by backing up the achievement save file, and reinstalling it at a later point. You can find the file at these default locations:

Default Windows XP\Vista 32 bit installation directory:



Default Vista 64 bit installation directory:



Default Steam installation directory:



Copy this file to your desktop. When you have completed the instllation process, copy it back to this same location.


3) Uninstall any existing copy of VTMB


Follow these instructions even if you renamed the directory in the step 1. If you made a backup, it will be perserved for reuse later, but this will clean up the game files for the mod to be properly installed.


Retail:





Steam:





4) Clean up Previous Mod Artifacts


VTMB's uninstaller only removes files that were installed by VTMB. If you have installed other mods or patches, those files are not cleaned up and may present issues.


Using Explorer, browse to the directory where VTMB was installed:



Default Windows XP\Vista 32 bit installation directory:



Default Vista 64 bit installation directory:



Default Steam installation directory:




If a directory exists named "Vampire the Masquerade - Bloodlines", right
click it and delete it completely from the computer.


Do not delete the directory "VTMB - Original" if you backed it up in optional step 1.



5) Install a fresh Copy of VTMB

Retail:


Digitial Distribution:


Steam:





If you run into problems re-installing: "Your Steam Ticket has expired" delete the file "ClientRegistry.blob" from C:\Program Files\Steam. This will force steam to update when it next starts which should fix the problem.

Don't install any other mods outisde of the Clan Quest Mod installer. The CQM installer is designed specfiically to allow any mods included in the package to be installed without overwriting or conflicting with each other. Installing any mods outside of this installer will likely conflict with your installation and break the game.



6a) Start\Exit VTMB [Steam Users Only]

This step is mostly for Steam versions of the game. Sometimes Steam does not fully extract the contents of your game until you actually launch the game. To be certain steam does not clobber any of the mod changes, you should launch a newly installed Steam version of the game at least once before extracting the mod.





6b) Install the Official Patch [Retail Users Only]

If you are using the retail version of the game, you must install the official 1.2 patch
first to have the game work properly. This file is available at the following location, among other places:




Simply unzip the included file and run the executable; follow the on-screen instructions.




7) Execute the "VtMB - Clan Quest Mod Installer" file.

This self-executing extractor will ask you a few basic questions. During the installation process, you'll have to make several choices. The rest of the installation process should be self-explanatory.

This is the step people mess up more than any other! It's very important you point the installer at the correct directory, or the mod WILL NOT install properly. It's also important to note that previous versions of the mod required you to direct the installer to the 'Vampire' directory; this was different from every other mod or patch for the game. Please note the more common path used in all other versions henceforth, as examples are given below. Also note that your specific installation may be slightly different; use the examples below as a guide to where to look for the correct directory.
a. Choose the installation directory: You must point out where VTMB is installed on your computer. Clan Quest Mod, takes a slightly different approach to installation, in that you must in fact, specify the "Vampire" folder inside of your installation folder, which contains all of your game files. Typically this directory will be one of the following:

Retail:



Steam:



Vista 64 bit:




If you have Vista 64 and you experience problems with this mod, you may have to run "INSTALL64" under the "tools" directory. However, do not run this unless you actually experience problems.


b. Choose Which components to include: Clan Quest Mod packages several other mods which are all optional. You can pick and choose which other mods you'd like to play alongside Clan Quest Mod. The complete list of mods and options, and details about them, can be read about on the Mixing Other Mods page.




8) Launch VtMB and Verify Your Installation

You should be done now! Just launch the game as you normally would and check that things are installed correctly. The best way to verify this is just looking at the game's main meun screen. The main header should be replaced with a graphic that read 'Clan Quest Mod', and includes a graphic of all the clan symbols. If you see that, then you have successfully installed Clan Quest Mod! Enjoy!



A Note Regarding "Nightmare Mode"

While the P&P Combat Mod and Pop's Difficult Mod can be installed together, doing so should only be done by the player looking for a real situation. You get the worst of both worlds, by making these installation choices. Not only are the NPCs harder to kill, wielding deadlier weapons, but they are also stronger, sharper, and more resilient, in most cases.

Basically, most combat situation will become rather difficult. Likewise, installing Arsenal mod, can create situations where a single hit will kill the player instantly. In other words, use discretion when installing mods together!


Unlike a vanilla VTMB game where you can get away with waiting for skill boosts and books to raise your combat stats for you, doing just that is not a good idea in nightmare mode. Every weapon's feat requirement is a ten, so anything less and you won't be able to use them properly. Add to that every enemy has a ten in their select weapon feat. So catch up as soon as possible.

To balance the extreme nature of Nightmare Mode's difficulty, disciplines have been super-powered. As such, strategy is a necessary consideration in Nightmare Mode, and choosing what disciplines to put points in and when to use them is important. Its a good idea to make sure you're covered for different situations, namely both crowd control and singular combat. And remember, the name of the game is survival, so don't neglect disciplines that can be used defensively like celerity and fortitude.
I also highly recommend playing with histories revised as a part of your game. It immensely improves histories in the player's favor, yet its drawbacks can be equally severe, allowing for more focused characters, and often a head start into the feats and disciplines you need.



Lets take a clan known to be one of the least suited for combat, and I'll show you how to turn her into a killing machine, even in Nightmare Mode. A Toreador. The only decent discipline she's got is both offensive and defensively suited, and it is one of the best in the game at high levels: Celerity; so we already know we want to max it out quick. The best background from histories revised for boosting this discipline is decidedly 'Faelike', as it gives us a bonus point in celerity, enabling us to max it out twenty xp quicker.  Plus, those huge bonuses to persuasion and seduction mean, when putting two points in charisma and subterfuge, we're never going to have to raise a social feat for the rest of the game. It comes at a price however. Faelike makes hth & melee combat a very bad idea. So we're stuck with firearms. Not a bad option if your playing with the Arsenal mod as well. Fortunately, the skill book for guns can be found before any real combat begins (as she can talk her way out of every would be combat situation for a good chunk of Santa Monica, or the game for that matter), so security is your best bet here. One point of intelligence and two in scholarship means research and hacking won't be a problem in Santa Monica (once you get the computer skill book).

Your first three xp should go towards security to take care of noncombat situations in Santa Monica right off the bat, and from there on out your sole focus should be combat, with four xp to perception, followed by ten xp to get a fourth dot in celerity. From the point that the firearms book is read, put all your points in firearms, max it out, then work on maxing out perception. This will enable you to dodge blows and bullets as you rain them down on your enemies, and for crowd control just a total of three points in presence should be all you need. Of course if you feel the need to deviate from combat briefly for hacking and lockpicking feats, go right ahead, but this is a tested, working outline of a character capable of conquering Nightmare Mode.




Advanced Install Instructions
This curtailed version of the above installation instructions provides some shortcuts for advanced users that have some computer know-how, to save time, uninstalling, reinstalling, etc. Please note that you shouldn't use these instructions unless you are pretty good with computers, and that there's a risk you might make things worse than if you use the above recommended installation steps. That said, the short cut goes something like this:
Instead of wiping everything out, just make a fresh installation of Vampire to a new directory. With the retail version, you do this just pointing it to a different path. You do this in steam, by simply renaming the directory Vampire is installed to (and then installing through Steam a second time). Once you've done that, and have the game installed a second time, to a new path, just run the CQM installer, pointing it to your new installation directory.