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Fourth Playable Clan​

Good evening Kindred,

Last month, we announced three of four playable clans in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2: Brujah, Tremere and Banu Haqim. Today, we’d like to share the fourth clan with you: Ventrue. The clan assets for Ventrue are in the process of being finalized, and we will share assets and gameplay showing off the playstyle of Ventrue during next year. Ahead of that deep dive we’re showing off an in-game render of Phyre in one of the Ventrue-themed outfits (all clans can earn all outfits).

Following launch, two additional clans will be made available in DLC: one giving you a new way to experience the main game and another offering a completely unique Seattle story.

Nicknames​

The Clan of Kings, Blue Bloods, Tyrants, Warlords, Patricians, Borgias

Who are the Ventrue?​

Ventrue vampires usually choose their progeny from mortals familiar with power, wealth and influence. Seeing themselves as the rightful leaders of vampire society, Kindred of clan Ventrue take up the mantle of leadership wherever possible, often in the form of high positions in Camarilla Courts.

What can you expect from playing a Ventrue?​

Ventrue are blue blooded tyrants who incite obedience in both their allies and their foes. Using the Disciplines of Presence and Dominate, they can mesmerize as well as awe their prey. Feeding builds up Fortitude, allowing the Ventrue to soak up more damage in case any enemy is powerful enough to resist their force of will.

Marketing_Ventrue_03.png

Render of female Phyre with one of the Ventrue-styled outfits. All clans can earn all outfits.

Concept Art
POLISHED_Wrestler_FX_VentrueAbielities_TerminalDecreeCasting_v03a_IH.jpg

POLISHED_Wrestler_FX_VentrueAbielities_TerminalDecreeCasting_v03d_IH.jpg

POLISHED_Wrestler_FX_VentrueAbielities_TerminalDecreeCasting_v03e_IH.jpg

Ventrue powers focus on domination, forcing foes to obey your commands.

What’s Next?
Following the holiday break, we’ll be back with an extended gameplay reveal in January 2024 before going into depth on each playable clan during the opening months of 2024.
 
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Vahouth said:
The fact that this reveal only shows artwork is telling of the progress IMHO.
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It certainly feels that way ...
Wouldnt it be hilarious (and yet sad), if Paradox would find out that another company screwed them over and had to cancel it again?
 
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Vahouth said:
Every Clan reveal so far showed footage that already exists in the trailers.
There is no more.
The fact that this reveal only shows artwork is telling of the progress IMHO.
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A lot of things have felt a bit rushed. Some of the concept art was clearly AI generated.
 
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Feeona said:
No, it's not.
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vtmNYSeattle.jpg

Then I am very confused about this image then, which features a super giant space needle in the smack dab middle of downtown, surrounded by skyscrappers that aren't in Seattle, and the fact that Radio City Music Hall migrated across the entire country to visit the PNW. It feels like an AI created image.
 
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Atossa said:
View attachment 1061846

Then I am very confused about this image then, which features a super giant space needle in the smack dab middle of downtown, surrounded by skyscrappers that aren't in Seattle, and the fact that Radio City Music Hall migrated across the entire country to visit the PNW. It feels like an AI created image.
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It seems human. AI aren't good with text in images, it is very incoherent in general. So it is maybe an image from an AI at least reworked, but so what? It is a tool, it can help. Furthermore, the accusation to AI art without any proof is a little too easy, you can accuse everybody of it and it is nearly impossible to give a proof of the contrary.
 
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Dunaedine said:
It seems human.
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Is that a good thing tho?
I mean ... AI things are rarely praised as some masterpieces ... quite the oposite in fact. :-/
And if this feels like AI to someone, even tho it in fact isnt ... :-/

I dunno, tell me im not the only one who have mixed feelings about it. :-/
 
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Dunaedine said:
It seems human. AI aren't good with text in images, it is very incoherent in general. So it is maybe an image from an AI at least reworked, but so what? It is a tool, it can help. Furthermore, the accusation to AI art without any proof is a little too easy, you can accuse everybody of it and it is nearly impossible to give a proof of the contrary.
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Concept artists cheat. They're merely trying to get the feel down and communicated to the team in an efficient manner. They can't afford to spend months on an image as it will delay the whole production. Two weeks ago I was attending a college open house for an art program for my daughter, and we sat in on a computer graphics/animation presentation by a guy that was a concept artist in the industry and he walked us through how he created one of his pieces, and it involved cheats to recreate this impressive painted roman scene.

He used a 3d modeller to place "people" as both statues and people, arches and architecture, etc. This means he doesn't need to spend as much effort dealing with perspective, angles, shadows, etc. Then he painted over them, could make changes that seemed helpful. He mentioned the sky which was in a small segment overhead. He said his mentor told him never to paint clouds. You could spend days trying, and at the end of the day are going to look like crap. Just composite in a photo.


So for this scene, would not be at all surprised that the concept artist found 3d models of different buildings, arranged them to look city-like, rendered and painted over it.
 
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Feeona said:

Fourth Playable Clan​

Good evening Kindred,

Last month, we announced three of four playable clans in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2: Brujah, Tremere and Banu Haqim. Today, we’d like to share the fourth clan with you: Ventrue. The clan assets for Ventrue are in the process of being finalized, and we will share assets and gameplay showing off the playstyle of Ventrue during next year. Ahead of that deep dive we’re showing off an in-game render of Phyre in one of the Ventrue-themed outfits (all clans can earn all outfits).

Following launch, two additional clans will be made available in DLC: one giving you a new way to experience the main game and another offering a completely unique Seattle story.

Nicknames​

The Clan of Kings, Blue Bloods, Tyrants, Warlords, Patricians, Borgias

Who are the Ventrue?​

Ventrue vampires usually choose their progeny from mortals familiar with power, wealth and influence. Seeing themselves as the rightful leaders of vampire society, Kindred of clan Ventrue take up the mantle of leadership wherever possible, often in the form of high positions in Camarilla Courts.

What can you expect from playing a Ventrue?​

Ventrue are blue blooded tyrants who incite obedience in both their allies and their foes. Using the Disciplines of Presence and Dominate, they can mesmerize as well as awe their prey. Feeding builds up Fortitude, allowing the Ventrue to soak up more damage in case any enemy is powerful enough to resist their force of will.

View attachment 1059947
Render of female Phyre with one of the Ventrue-styled outfits. All clans can earn all outfits.

Concept Art
View attachment 1059948
View attachment 1059949
View attachment 1059950
Ventrue powers focus on domination, forcing foes to obey your commands.

What’s Next?
Following the holiday break, we’ll be back with an extended gameplay reveal in January 2024 before going into depth on each playable clan during the opening months of 2024.
Click to expand...
I love the look, feel and promise of these Works of Bloodlines 2 Art. : )

I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Have a great night, and ever more rewarding tomorrows! :bow:
 
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RagnarokCzD said:
Is that a good thing tho?
I mean ... AI things are rarely praised as some masterpieces ... quite the oposite in fact. :-/
And if this feels like AI to someone, even tho it in fact isnt ... :-/

I dunno, tell me im not the only one who have mixed feelings about it. :-/
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Not good, not bad. Tools are tools. If correctly used, I don't see the problem, and as @kcru said, they need to find a way to create quickly art for the dev. So between an art produced by an AI or a real photo reworked with some filters, I don't see a difference, just maybe the AI can be more efficient. When artists use photoshop to produce art, with many digital tools, they don't have to explain all their processus. In the past, as the AI, there was a push againt the use of theses tools. Now, it is common.

AI things gained some prices, when people believe them to be from human, even in photography competition. They were curated by an artist, but I would be curious to see the result of an experiment where all creation would be anonymous and rated by many people. The only problem seems to me than the AI progress is probably so quick that the result would be obsolete in only a year.

I think the AI argument is only due to the current disapproval of Bloodlines 2. I can't say I'm happy with the current direction, I have some reservations (and previous agreement with some of your arguments). But I don't think the accusation of using AI is useful (false or true, if AI can help for the betterment of the game, go for it).
 
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Dunaedine said:
Tools are tools.
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Duh ...
Not what i mean tho.

If i would spend any time creating that picture ... and someone later said it looks AI generated, i simply wouldnt feel like i did very good job. :-/
Thats all im saying ... but maybe its just me.
 
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Atossa said:
View attachment 1061846

Then I am very confused about this image then, which features a super giant space needle in the smack dab middle of downtown, surrounded by skyscrappers that aren't in Seattle, and the fact that Radio City Music Hall migrated across the entire country to visit the PNW. It feels like an AI created image.
Click to expand...

Other folks have chimed in with good responses, but I wanted to reply myself.

Concept art doesn't need to be technically correct, like in this shot of the cityscape of Seattle. I would argue that concept art is there to get the point across, whether sketches/designs of characters or, in this case, the feel of a city.

As the kids would say, sometimes it's just about the vibe. They want to get across; this is the look and feel we want to convey; here's some concept art to help showcase the design for the team to use when building the world in their game.
 
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Feeona said:
Other folks have chimed in with good responses, but I wanted to reply myself.

Concept art doesn't need to be technically correct, like in this shot of the cityscape of Seattle. I would argue that concept art is there to get the point across, whether sketches/designs of characters or, in this case, the feel of a city.

As the kids would say, sometimes it's just about the vibe. They want to get across; this is the look and feel we want to convey; here's some concept art to help showcase the design for the team to use when building the world in their game.
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Ageeed.

The business of game development places many demands on the time, talent and funds of a studio… making the smart call, the right call, and effectively communicating it / setting expectations within one’s customer base, separates the also-rans from successful studios like TCR. :bow:
 
Feeona said:
Other folks have chimed in with good responses, but I wanted to reply myself.

Concept art doesn't need to be technically correct, like in this shot of the cityscape of Seattle. I would argue that concept art is there to get the point across, whether sketches/designs of characters or, in this case, the feel of a city.

As the kids would say, sometimes it's just about the vibe. They want to get across; this is the look and feel we want to convey; here's some concept art to help showcase the design for the team to use when building the world in their game.
Click to expand...
So you're right, it's just supposed to catch vibes, and the cranes do a good job of that with the changes between old and new while also representing one of the biggest features of Seattle.

But Radio City music hall is a landmark. It's like setting the game in Berlin, and randomly having the Moulin Rouge in the concept art. It's weird and creates dissonance, especially if you have any familiarity with the city. The rooftop water towers are also something that doesn't really exist in Seattle, because the city is too new. Thats a feature of NYC, and Chicago.

Based on these responses and assuming you didnt use ai, I'm wondering if this game was originally pitched in NYC, and they decided to move it to Seattle after the fact to tie it to the first Bloodlines 2 attempt? Like that would also make the blizzard make more sense.
 
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I thought that most models (especialy the city itself) were just processed (or recycled if you want) from what HSL did ...

So ... that kinda makes me wonder about what even is a point of concept art "catching the vibe of the city" ...
I mean, concept is first stepp isnt it? Then based on that concept you create some model. And in the end you just keep adding stuff to make it feel real.
I asume it still can help to make an idea, still it feels a little counter intuitive, if you start on step 2 to start by returning on step 1. o_O

Also ... and that may seem a bit nitpicky ...
Since so many people were complaining online that snow is very rare in Seattle ... can we really claim they managed to catch it? :-/
 
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RagnarokCzD said:
Also ... and that may seem a bit nitpicky ...
Since so many people were complaining online that snow is very rare in Seattle ... can we really claim they managed to catch it? :-/
Click to expand...

I can't speak more about the concept art; I had no hand in it.
However, if you're asking about the snow, it has been confirmed that a freak once-in-a-100-year snowstorm is happening in Seattle during Bloodlines 2. Things are just a little ominous...
 
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Feeona said:
I can't speak more about the concept art; I had no hand in it.
However, if you're asking about the snow, it has been confirmed that a freak once-in-a-100-year snowstorm is happening in Seattle during Bloodlines 2. Things are just a little ominous...
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Severe impact to routine weather patterns…

I’ve always found the dead-stillness and indistinctiveness of the surroundings during a snowfall where #theNORM is Light, Laughter and LIFE.. to be scary as HELL!

IMG_0254.jpeg
 
Feeona said:
However, if you're asking about the snow, it has been confirmed that a freak once-in-a-100-year snowstorm is happening in Seattle during Bloodlines 2. Things are just a little ominous...
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Well "one-in-a-100-year" ... there is snow even in Egypt. :)
I believe it was like three or five years ago? :D

Still its not exactly how people imagine that place. :)

I dont say its wrong per se ... it just feel like an odd choice, to create town you dont really know in the way that is unusual to people who do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 
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RagnarokCzD said:
I dont say its wrong per se ... it just feel like an odd choice, to create town you dont really know in the way that is unusual to people who do. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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You want that juxtaposition between the normal and the unusual. That's why every movie is set in New York, Tokyo, Los Angels, Paris, London. Those sorts of recognizable places that allow you to spot how the extraordinary transformed the familiar.

There'd be no point of a big snowy event in Novosibirsk; everyone would just go "well, it's your normal Tuesday". You got to do it somewhere where it's not entirely normal. On the other hand, if you want an ominous heat wave ...

Probably safe to assume that there'll be ingame characters/radio/news whatever that'll inform players that aren't familiar with Seattle that something off the scales is going on. We'll see how it works out exactly.
 
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