Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 News

Hello Kindred,

Last time in Dev Diary 18 (“Building Our Seattle”), we walked through the streets of our Seattle, exploring its foundations and the world you’ll navigate. Tonight, we’re diving deeper into the city, its inhabitants, and the rules that keep everything in check. These rules—the Masquerade—aren’t just a suggestion; they’re the law. Break them, and you might find yourself on the wrong end of a court assassin’s stake.

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Description: In-game video of when you break the Masquerade, the Scourge will stake you.

[h3]The First Tradition: The Masquerade[/h3]
“Thou shall not reveal thy true nature to those not of the Blood. Doing such shall renounce thy claims of Blood.”

The first tradition is the only one universally respected, but also the one that is broken most often. A sloppy feeding with witnesses, a vulgar display of undead might, a confession to a beloved mortal. These things happen, but Kindred are expected to clean up after themselves, or there will be hell to pay. The crime-world code “snitches get stitches” doesn’t even begin to describe how seriously both the Camarilla and the Anarchs take the Masquerade. In the age of YouTube dares, clickbait, and fake news, a Masquerade breach is easily overlooked by the masses, but any transgression can end with a black ops team kicking in a haven door. Only the craziest of Cainite superiority fanatics dream of an age where they can rule openly; the rest have faced reality – the undead fare better as parasitic powers behind the throne than as great predators or infernal lords of human dominions.
-Vampire: The Masquerade - Core Rulebook (5th Edition)

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Description: In-game video of as a Tremere, you get the passive perk of bodies dissolving.

[h3]Masquerade Mechanics[/h3]
In the World of Darkness, the Masquerade refers to the efforts made by Kindred to conceal their existence from humanity to ensure their survival. This secrecy is vital, as widespread knowledge of their existence would likely lead to a catastrophic response from humans, ultimately resulting in the destruction of Kindred society.

The Masquerade is enforced by the Camarilla, particularly in Seattle, under the authority of the Sheriff. Violations of the Masquerade, such as using supernatural abilities in public, are met with severe punishment, including exile or final death.

In Bloodlines 2, you must maintain the Masquerade. Failure to do so will result in a swift stake through your heart. To help monitor your actions, there is a Masquerade meter at the top of the screen, consisting of two key parts:

• The Eye Symbol: If the eye is open it indicates that someone is currently watching you. It is best to perform vampiric activities out of sight of human witnesses.
  
• The Bars Around the Eye: These bars fill up when you are caught committing acts that breach the Masquerade. The progression of the bars occurs in three stages:
  
• Upheld (Green): Minor infractions, such as being seen jumping abnormally high or running too fast. Avoid repeated minor breaches, or the meter will advance to the next stage.
  
• Caution (Orange): Triggered by excessive actions, such as feeding, using violent abilities, or accumulating too many minor infractions. At this point, humans become suspicious. If someone witnesses your crime, they may report it to the police. You can deal with the witness directly or avoid the police. Using an ability to make witnesses forget what they saw can be an effective strategy.
  
• Engaged/Broken (Red): At this stage, the police are actively pursuing you. You must break their line of sight immediately. If the meter fills completely, the Camarilla will take decisive action to end your activities swiftly and mercilessly.
  

Maintaining the Masquerade is critical for survival in Bloodlines 2. Stay vigilant and avoid unnecessary risks to ensure you remain under the radar.
-Project Design Director Jey Hicks

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Description: In-game video showcasing the Masquerade meter through red, orange, and green phases.

[h3]Phyre’s job as Sheriff[/h3]
As Sheriff, the Nomad has a duty to keep the peace, that includes stamping down on any outside attempt to breach the Masquerade.

With the Court's control of the city in jeopardy, other factions are starting to let the chaos bleed out from the alleyways and into the streets. The Police, under the thumb of the Camarilla, are a reactive force, not a preventative one, when it comes to kindred affairs.
From a gang causing trouble in a graveyard to an outright assault on one of the city's most public places, groups like the Anarch's can sense the rift among those in power and leap to action.

Throughout the journey of the Nomad, the risk of exposure grows and grows. We wanted quests that take place in the city to feature bursts of violence and disorder that require the Sheriff's undivided attention. Quick thinking will be required as much as discreet tactics. The Nomad must restore order, outright crush the enemies of the Court, and perhaps, find new allies.
-Junior Level Designer Jack Goddard

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Description: In-game video of Phyre watching thin-blood NPCs fight police NPCs.

[h3]Districts of Seattle[/h3]
Hey, Bloodlines fans! Let’s talk about our Seattle. We’ve split it into five districts: Uptown, Downtown, Chinatown, Financial, and Industrial. Each one has its own vibe, quirks, and dangers. This city doesn’t sleep - and you’ll be hunting at its heart.

All districts connect into one seamless space. No unnecessary barriers in between them to break your immersion. You’re free to roam, stalk, and keep the Masquerade intact. From alleyways to rooftops, it’s your playground - or hunting ground. Just don’t let the locals catch you doing something “unsightly” unless you want to be hunted by the authorities.

Each district is distinct. Uptown and Financial have skyscrapers to trunk around while Downtown is packed tight and alive. Chinatown glows with lanterns and secrets. Industrial is raw, with warehouses and factories. These layouts shape your experience and strategy.

Description: An in-game screenshot of the map in Bloodlines 2 (without the game interface).

Key locations fit each district’s theme, from a shadowy pawn shop in Downtown to a bustling nightclub in Uptown. The deeper you get into the story, the more locations are revealed and open for you to explore, drawing you further into the city’s secrets. And yes, there are familiar Seattle landmarks too. But this isn’t your postcard city. It’s darker, tailored for vampires. Sorry, no Space Needle views - unless you’re looking for a long way down.

Seattle’s districts are more than a backdrop - they’re alive. Hunt recklessly, and you’ll feel the heat. Play it too safe, and you’ll miss what’s lurking. Balance is key in this city of shadows. See you out there.
-Lead Environment Artist Michael Genesis Asis

[h3]Social feeding[/h3]
We’ve touched on feeding in the city before, but what does that actually mean? As Phyre, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to feed, but within the city, feeding expands into a broader set of options. Let’s explore them.

One of these options is social feeding. This differs significantly from feeding in the heat of combat - where the act is often aggressive, violent, and purely a means to an end. Social feeding, on the other hand, is more intimate. It’s an embrace rather than an attack. For me, it was important that social feeding felt distinct - not only because it’s generally more rewarding for Phyre, but because it requires the player to consider who they target, where they strike, and how they go about it. These feeds take longer, are more deliberate, and demand a careful approach.

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Description: In-game video of an NPC being lured into an alley for a feed that breaks the Masquerade.

Since social feeding is both an embrace and a higher-reward action, we always kept in mind the need for strategy - stalking prey, setting up the right situations, and, most importantly, avoiding discovery. If a civilian catches you in the act, they will run to report you to the nearest police which will lead to conflict and combat, often resulting in a breach of the Masquerade which can quickly escalate into all out violence. I really like this risk and reward system that social feeding offers which you just don’t get from combat feeds.

Whilst there are many ways to manipulate the civilians of Seattle, conversation or raw intimidation to name a few I personally like to lean into my vampiric abilities to put civilians into a relaxed state where I can freely feed on them in a secluded alleyway - it's one of the perks of playing as a Ventrue.

Speaking of alleyways, the Seattle of Bloodlines 2 isn’t just a hunting ground - it’s a city rich with personality, distinct districts, and a diverse population. As you explore, you’ll come across different districts, each with its own unique feel, look, and feeding opportunities. Chinatown is bathed in neon light, bustling with nightlife, while the Financial District is a prime spot to find business professionals among the high-rises. The homeless can be found in most districts, but Downtown is home to entire encampments. Understanding where to find certain civilians can be key to mastering social feeding - after all, the tactics you use on bikers outside a bar will be very different from those you employ on shoppers in Uptown.
-Lead Game Designer Gavin Hood

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Description: A community show by TCR that talks to the environment artists.

Description: Up-coming Dev Diary Image.

To see the Dev Diary complete with videos, please check out our website.

Hello Kindred,

It’s been about a year since we last talked about combat in Dev Diary 7, so the team have put this article together to give you a deeper dive into the things you can do as you go bump in the night.

[h2]Brawling[/h2]
When blades come out in BL2, unless you've taken extra care to isolate your prey, you're going to be outnumbered. While several discipline abilities can help you escape or swiftly resolve a fight, you'll need to do a bit of brawling when those options aren't available. Spacing is key - your basic attacks can make short work of individuals but are risky when you're getting sliced apart from all sides.

The basic attacks get used a lot, so during their development, I was keen to make time to give each clan their own set. Banu is sharp and fast, Ventrue firm and precise, Tremere has a bit more reach to let you maintain distance, and Brujah, well, punches stuff. It’s a small thing, but I found it really helped people get into the attitude and poise of their current clan.

Dashing is an ability Phyre can use regardless of clan and is critical for maintaining distance. It can even be used aggressively - dashing forwards into a strike right as it hits will break your opponent's guard and leave them open for a counterattack, though this is best suited for one-on-one situations.
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Kicks are another useful tool and are great for handling groups - done by attacking straight after a dash, you can pick which type you use with your movement direction. A big swinging roundhouse can stumble a large group but won't create much space - whereas a backkick can send a single enemy soaring away. Both you and your opponents will be able to resist attacks used repeatedly, so you'll want to mix things up a bit to stay on top.
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While kicks are great for getting opponents away from you, telekinesis is perfect for bringing them close. You can use it to yank a chosen target in for a follow-up or a feed, though consider that Kindred and their ghouls may be expecting this.

Telekinesis can also earn a quick kill when used to pull an unsuspecting enemy near the edge of a rooftop, causing them to fall to their death on the street below.
[hr][/hr]
Breakable objects, like bottles and ashtrays, can be grabbed using telekinesis and then thrown to create a noise, distracting enemies. If you really want to create a bang, pick up and throw an explosive, such as a gas tank – a good way to hurt several enemies at once.

Telekinesis can also be used to pick up weapons from the dead, from knives to sniper rifles. A goal of Phyre’s combat design was to be fast and fluid, so we incorporated the use of Telekinesis with weapon use to maintain speed and flow – you can kill one opponent, dump their gun’s magazine into a second, and toss it at a third to open them up for your next attack.
[hr][/hr]
This can be even more useful when used in tandem with discipline abilities. For example, Tremere's explosive blood curse can be triggered from a distance with a well-placed shot, and Brujah's taunt (when used with mass manipulation) can encourage a whole team of opponents to drop their weapons, allowing you to turn them on their owners.
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And, of course, the bigger they come, the harder they fall- When fighting enemies equipped with explosives, telekinesis can lead to an even more devastating turnabout.
- Senior Game Designer Max Bottomley

[h2]Elixirs[/h2]
Our setting of Seattle features a large population of Thin-bloods: weaker vampires who use alchemy to create powerful “elixirs” that give access to the vampiric powers they otherwise could not. As you explore, you can find and collect these elixirs to give you an edge in combat or help level the playing field in a difficult boss encounter.

The four elixirs Phyre can use are:

• Mending Elixir – Instantly restores health, allowing you to avoid final death.
  
• Blood Elixir – Instantly restores blood pips for your abilities, great for continuing ability combo chains.
  
• Potence Elixir – Temporarily boosts your strength, increasing the damage caused by your attacks.
  
• Fortitude Elixir – Temporarily turns your skin to marble, reducing the damage you take from attacks.
  

[h2]Ability Combos[/h2]
Having recently started a playthrough to test out my favourite Clan Tremere, I’ve enjoyed the sense of space control a well-planned fight can give you. Starting out by placing Recall up high so that I can teleport away if it gets out of hand.

Later in the game, mixing Disciplines from different Clans can make fighting more powerful Kindred much easier. There are a lot of useful combinations that Ventrue’s Mass Manipulation can provide to manage many combatants at once. The effect of Banu Haqim’s Mute on a group can make sure the battle will go unnoticed by nearby enemies. And it’s not just your own powers but the environment that you’ll have to observe, helping you find tools that are left lying around.

Not all enemies will go down that easily, and I’m really excited for you all to learn how much trouble you’ll be in when you face off against your first Kindred foe. Their powers can quickly make well-planned fights go wrong if you’re knocked over and surrounded.

Using Cauldron of Blood to draw everyone to the screaming victim and then picking one of them to explode with Blood Curse can blast a lot of the crowd away before I even get close to the fighting. And when it does go wrong, as it always will eventually, a quick Blood Curse on the ghoul chasing you can serve as a very handy projectile if you kick them into the people behind them!
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Nobody’s invulnerable to an exploding gas bottle telekinetically thrown at their head, and they’re easier to aim at when you’ve locked them in place with Mass Manipulation. If everything else fails then you can just use Possession on a ghoul and make them jump somewhere nobody will notice them…
- Josh Mathews, TCR Community Manager

[h2]Difficulty Settings[/h2]
While difficulty settings are a standard feature for action RPGs, we thought we’d mention that they are included because we recognise our audience's varied preferences for challenges and strive to accommodate them with carefully designed difficulty settings.

For players primarily interested in narrative and exploration, Easy mode ensures a smooth experience by making combat encounters more manageable.

Normal mode represents the intended balance of the game, challenging players to adapt and use a mix of stealth, combat, abilities, and elixirs to succeed.

For those seeking a more formidable challenge, Hard mode delivers an Elder Vampire experience, demanding mastery of all your skills and strategies.

- Project Design Director Jey Hicks

Happy New Year, and welcome to a fresh and tasty Dev Diary from the team at The Chinese Room. We are starting the year by talking about the player character, Phyre, and how you can shape their legend and add to it as you play. As you’ll see below your story will start wearing rags, but will it end in riches? Seattle’s fate is in your hands.
- Project Creative Director Alex Skidmore

Description: Masculine and feminine side-by-side renders in the robes you start the game wearing.

[h3]An Elder of your choosing[/h3]
As our game starts, an Elder that some call the Nomad wakes up in an abandoned building in Seattle. They don't know where they are or how they got there, but they are quick to adapt - the Nomad is old, and they have survived for a long time.

It is clear that they have experienced the deathlike sleep of torpor. The last they remember was a smile and a piercing pain in the chest, delivered in their Haven in Tunis at the start of the 20th century.

Now they are awake. What happened to them in their long slumber, and who woke them? Why does their Blood lack the strength and power they are used to? And why is their body carved with arcane sigils?

The Nomad is a legend amongst Kindred. Their name has been whispered for four hundred years - of their presence in revolutions, on battlefields, at slaughters, and at the fall of Princes. Are they escaping these situations, causing them, or taking joy in red wrath and ruin? Whatever the truth, they are a catalyst - when they appear, the world of the Kindred will be irrevocably changed.

Description: In-game screenshot of Safia recognising the Nomad.

The concept of the Nomad came when we were expanding early ideas of Phyre to make the most of an Elder's history in the world. There is a reason a vampire survives - and in the game our vampire is always on the front foot, leaving an indelible mark on Kindred society. That must have been true for the rest of Phyre's existence. So what might people in Seattle have heard?

In our story, different characters have different beliefs about the Nomad and their history. While these events may not have an immediate effect on the game world, they will affect how our protagonist is treated. We have deliberately left it up to the player to decide how Phyre treats these stories and their legend, and how much they tell other characters about their past - and indeed, which stories they tell.

How would a Prince behave if asked for a favor by the legendary and powerful Nomad, who is not yet caught up in local politics?
- Ian Thomas, Narrative Director

Description: In-game screenshot of Phyre’s mark glowing.

[h3]The themes behind the Nomad[/h3]
In Bloodlines 2, the matter of history takes a front seat. Our protagonist is centuries old, and while they may change things up to survive, adapt and keep pace with the march of time, they’ve nonetheless garnered something of a reputation. If a time-immune forensic detective were to inspect and compare the various crime scenes that are human history, they would no doubt find one set of fingerprints consistent. May you live in interesting times, etcetera etcetera. Playing an Elder was a bold choice; to move forward without leaning into the unique opportunities that provides for roleplay would be a missed opportunity.

In Narrative Design, we often find ourselves pulled between two ideals: providing agency and choice for players to make the story their own vs keeping the story feeling intentional, strong and tightly wound. The solution, then, is to establish what is immutable and, within that, carve out a more flexible play space. Ultimately, a good story is driven by characters being true to their psychology and either following that thread down towards tragedy, making the same mistakes over and over, or seizing upon the chance to challenge and change themselves.

That’s what makes a happy ending triumphant: a character’s ability to sacrifice what they have desired and strained towards for so long, to defy the never-ending hunger of old, painful wounds for a chance at long-lasting healing. It’s what makes a tragic ending tug at our hearts: we see clearly what the character needs, and we see them turn away from it one too many times, too consumed by their pain to do the hard thing, give up their coping mechanisms and save themselves. What I’m getting at is that history, for us, is not merely superficial or textural. Sure, the Nomad’s been around a while, and sure we want to give you folks the chance to say what they did with that time. But as far as storytelling tools go, that doesn’t give us much and, as Narrative Designers, we need tools that will allow us to chisel out those big, emotional moments. So more important than the ‘what’ is the ‘why’. The play space.

Description: In-game screenshot of Lou meeting the Nomad for the first time.

In this case, we know the Nomad has moved around. We know they are notorious. But the questions that fuel and texture those facts are still up for grabs: You say this Nomad has moved around, so what drove their movement? Were they fleeing something, chasing something, or merely making the most of a long eternity? Where did they go, what did they do there? And what can we surmise about the Nomad’s psyche as a result of these decisions? Are they paranoid, curious, ambitious? What kind of arc does that suggest which might allow us to play with the framing of what they will encounter, to give the impression of those personal trials?

You will have the option to tailor the Nomad’s legacy at various points peppered throughout the game. Importantly, we have chosen not to do this up-front in the style of Bloodlines 1, because this history is a choice as much as any other in the game, and a choice is most effective once you know the stakes. It should make you umm and ahh, maybe even agonise a little: What will happen to X if I choose Y? As such, it was important to us to have these choices occur once play has already begun, once you have started to feel your way around Seattle and its various dangers. These will come in waves — some ‘golden path’, others optional (for instance, if you choose to spend more time with and open up to certain characters) — each tackling a different aspect of your legacy which, tapestried together, suggest a more bespoke story.

The first thing we establish is the theme. Who does the Nomad say they are? A legendary warrior? A curious traveler? Or a desperate survivor, fleeing disaster to disaster to avoid their foes? Once this is chosen, we branch out into further options — each unique to that choice — which both refine roleplay and drill further into that initial theme with your motivation. These sub-choices layer in more texture, allowing your mind to play it all out like a movie and start filling in the details. Later, you’ll have other opportunities to further fill out this narrative, even (if you wish) touching on details that preceded or even caused your embrace. As a personal note, the research that went into fleshing out these options and bedding them into interesting (but no less real) history was a veritable warren of rabbit holes — too many, even. Many, many darlings suffered their final death in the making of this game (may they rest in peace). Even so, nerding out with this stuff was a complete joy.

Description: In-game screenshot of Phyre and Fabian discussing the Legend of the Nomad.

These choices, once made, are not lost to forgotten metadata. Many will have direct nods or follow-ups, sometimes much further down the line. For instance, here’s a line from Lou that directly references a choice made during an earlier conversation with Fabien, showing how talk of the Nomad’s deeds have spread:

LOU: You'll have to tell me some time how you escaped Madame Guillotine and her... cutting tongue.

Others feed more subtly into the narrative, affecting the framing of why you might choose something to make it fall in line with your chosen psychology and resulting arc…

PHYRE: Katsumi is being pushed into a corner and must fight merely to exist. I know the feeling well.

VS

PHYRE: Merely holding where you stand is not enough. You need to gain ground.

VS

PHYRE: Were I in her shoes, I would leave this place. The world has more to offer than a dingy bar in a city that hates you.

…or else affecting how others perceive your motives based on what they can surmise from your legacy, branching their reactions to your choices:

MYSTERY CHARACTER: The Black Hand locked you behind iron doors under Paris, and you only escaped the blade by crawling through sewage. You are no mere survivor. You are the plague rat, the harbinger of wretched misery.

Others still will crop up more concretely in the game world. But now I run the risk of getting ahead of myself, so I’ll wrap things up here. After all, it’s always better to leave a few things unsaid, a little to the imagination…
- Senior Narrative Designer and Writer Sarah Longthorne

Description: In-game screenshot of Safia discussing the Legend of the Nomad.

[h3]Process and style of the ending cinematics[/h3]
Description: Test storyboard for the art style by Senior Concept Artist, Jordan Grimmer

Because they begin and end your experience, our intro and ending sequences needed a unique and recognizable look. The True Detective opening titles were a big inspiration and so we blended atmospheric images of Seattle with unique and recognisable shapes from the game.

Our narrative team led by Ian Thomas ideated all the possible Bloodlines 2 endings. There are almost 40 images for all the different ending options in the game. To help, they made a map of all the endings so we could see how they connected, and the concept team used it to create a series of storyboards and select the right images for each ending shot. We had to pick where the endings overlapped in location, event or character to make the parts efficiently.

Some of our shots needed to be flexible enough so we could, for example, swap characters but keep the same environment if different endings were happening in the same place. The cutscenes you’ll see are built from combinations of a few images from those created.

Description: Concept Art of the transitional scenes by Senior Concept Artist, Jordan Grimmer

To visualize how to transition between two images and how a static image could be animated, we made some tests and used them as a proof of concept to scope the work that needed to be done for the ending cinematics.

Ben Matthews, Associate Art Director, directed our concept team to create transitions that were like blood undulating and curling through water. All the images are wreathed in soft lighting, so they melt together beautifully with these animations.

[h3]Art Direction[/h3]
As we’ve mentioned, the art direction set its roots in Neo-Noir and the intro and outros are also designed with this light and dark contrast in mind. To give Bloodlines 2 a unique look, we wanted to use red and black combined with blood animations overlaid to add secondary movement and drench the city in blood. Each individual image should be evocative, and this is why our shots aren’t too literal.

We wanted to leave something to the player’s imagination and together with the voiceover it results in an ending cinematic personal to each player, based on their choices in game.

[h3]Assets Creation[/h3]
Creating the ending shots towards the end of production gave us the chance to have access to a vast library of assets from the game. We took advantage of this assembling the ending scenes using the character models and props.

Once the shot was approved our concept artists had to separate each layer in a way that the animators could easily create a parallax effect to bring the shot to life. For example, in the images with a main character plus an environment, the scene happens inside the main character shape, like illustrated in the scheme below.

Description Cinematics making methods

To draw your attention to the focal points we leant on balancing lights and darks which was important to make the message of each image stand out. Then to give it more life we added secondary motion with snow, blinking lights, or smoke.

[h3]Final animation[/h3]
Motion graphic animation has been done by our studio partner Atomhawk Design Ltd. who worked closely with our Art Department. The concept team provided them with layered images and Atomhawk have animated and timed each shot in sync with voice-over.

[previewyoutube][LINK][/previewyoutube]
Description: In-game video from the intro scene.

To avoid any spoilers, we are not showing too much from the ending cinematics but safe to say you’ll see the faces and places you’ll come to know well. Now it’s up to you to complete Bloodlines 2 and unlock them!
- Michele Nucera, Lead Concept Artist

[h3]Customising the Nomad[/h3]
As we know that you are all hungry for more information regarding the customisation options that will be available in the game, we want to leave you with a confirmation of what will be available to you. You will be able to change Phyre’s gender, hair style, hair colour and outfit. We’ll share more in-depth information about this when we are ready, but to tide you over until then here is a sneak peek!

Description: In-game UI of hair selection.

Hello everybody, today we return with another audio-focused Dev Diary. We’ll be talking about sound design and implementation, with a specific view on the less obvious aspects that go into this. Our hearing is sometimes described as our ‘shadow sense’ – sound and listening by and large affect and work at the subconscious level. Our ears are never turned off; even when we are asleep, our ears and brains continue processing sounds. For sound design, this means that a lot of our work is designed to be subtle and go unnoticed.

So in this Dev Diary, us at The Chinese Room’s audio team want to explain the processes and thinking that go into designing sounds and audio systems that one might take for granted: environmental audio, UI sound design, player traversal, combat and the mix process. These all contribute to making the world of Bloodlines 2 feel alive and believable. There is a lot of craft and passion that goes into getting even the smallest of details just right, so I’m proud to let some of the audio team members have the opportunity to show and discuss their work in progress.
-Audio Director Daan Hendriks

[h2]Combat Audio Systems[/h2]
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Here's a short video demo to show off some of the techniques and processes we used when designing the combat sounds and how we used some of the V:tM lore to inform our creative sound design work.
-Sound Designer Marcus Bagshawe

[h2]Environmental Audio Systems [/h2]
[h3]Audio of The City  [/h3]
Numerous systems have been developed for the game’s urban area, set in Seattle, that enable audio to create an adaptive yet cohesive soundscape. Many of these are designed to go unnoticed, yet there’s a lot to show underneath the bonnet, so let’s discuss some of these systems here.

[h3]Environment Sensor  [/h3]
Because the game is set in Seattle with its many streets, buildings, alleyways and rooftops, the soundscape needs to be appropriate in every location. To assist with this, we detect the size of the environment around the player at any given time. This is done by firing out traces from the player position and detecting the surrounding geometry, as seen in the below image (Green lines are the traces and the large green blocks are the geometry).

Description: One of our system set-ups in Unreal Engine.

We combine this information along with other variables to help us control what audio is heard in any given location. Gusts change from blustery rooftops to whistling alleyways. Street activity such as pedestrians and distant vehicles change to trash rattling through the backstreets. Reverb changes from close early reflections to a wider slap-back in bigger streets.  

All of this is complemented by positional emitters such as trees creaking, buzzing electrical units, city aircon and human activity bleeding from building windows. Using Unreal's Mass framework we are able to efficiently process thousands of potential sonic sources allowing us to create a rich ambience.  

Here’s a video I captured exploring a small section of the city, demonstrating some of what was discussed above. Please be aware that this is still a work in progress. 
 
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]Reaction System  [/h3]
We want the city to not only be dynamic, but also reactive. As you move around the urban environments, the objects around you react to the cold winds of the Seattle winter. Fences, trees and even small things like trash bags and bicycles will react to gusts and bring that extra touch of reality to the world.

This means the ambient audio should respond convincingly to stimuli either driven by the player or from the environment. We achieved this by building a system of drivers and reactions. Sorry, this will now get a bit technical, but such is the job! We perform an overlap check to find what static meshes are around the listener at any given time. Audio components are then moved to these locations and if they are tagged to react to a driver, their audio will play based on how loud the driver is.  

For this to work optimally, we limit the amount of audio component available and prioritise where these components will be based on proximity to the player. As an example, below you can see the sphere around the player that is checking for meshes. The green and blue spheres represent the meshes found - green have audio components and blue do not. 

Description: Here’s how the debug tools for this system look like in Unreal Engine.

[h3]Player Traversal  [/h3]
Traversing the city should be a satisfying experience whether on the streets or rooftops. A big part of this is ensuring that the environmental materials always sound appropriate in whatever way you choose to move around. 
 
This was achieved in multiple ways: 

• Material Switching - Whether it’s the player’s feet or hands, we detect what material it hits and change the sound accordingly.   
  
• Snow Build-Up – This is applied to objects in the world such as cars and bus shelters that have been covered in snow. We introduce appropriate snow sounds on top of the underlying material. 
  
• Runtime Virtual Texture (RVT) - Covering the entire map, this texture allows footstep sounds to adjust depending on the level of snow, ice, and slush in the roads and alleyways. Our audio programmer intelligently compressed the resolution of this texture for optimal performance.  
  
• Decals – Sometimes you’ll find puddles of blood and other ground cover like leaves and trash. We do an addition check for these and layer sounds on top of the base material, so you get, for instance, a nice blend of a concrete floor and ‘walking on leaves’ footstep sounds. 
  
• Water and Wetness – Detected in a similar way to decals, except the play will remain wet for a set amount of time after leaving water for some nice soggy shoe sounds. 
  
• Slopes – To support variation in elevation we cache the player’s height and check whether they are moving up or down. This then adjusts the pitch and footstep sound type. 
  

There is even more to the player traversal audio than mentioned above, such as the different sounds for Phyre’s outfits, or the audio design for vampiric traversal abilities - but we’ll leave that for another time.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h3]City Sense  [/h3]
Being hundreds of years old, Phyre has seen cities change as people live and die, and knows that rooftops are a great place to avoid breaking the masquerade (and sometimes take in a vista). Having acute vampiric senses, we wanted the player to be able to tune into the city’s past and present, in a hyperreal way.  To do so we detect whether the player has been sat still over a certain time and above a certain height. We then subtly attenuate the diegetic audio and gently introduce more designed ethereal sounds. 

Description: In-game image of the city that will provide a rich auditory experience

Our Seattle is comprised of many other elements that complete its full soundscape, but hopefully this will give you something to listen out for that you otherwise might not have. Thanks for your interest!
-Sound Designer Mike Lane, Senior Audio Programmer Joe White and Lead Sound Designer Tessa Verplancke.

[h3]Audio dev processes, player foley and/or UI Design [/h3]
In Bloodlines 2, the UI audio serves as an extension of each player character, reflecting not only their distinct personalities, but the essence of their eras and supernatural depths. For our protagonist Phyre, the UI sounds evoke her origins, weaving in period-specific instruments and relics. This is a representation of their specific mind and thoughts, it also keeps that more fantastical energy of the vampire in mind.
-Lead Sound Designer Tessa Verplancke

[h3]Pre-mixing and Mixing Audio in VtMB2 [/h3]
In the final stages of game development, one of the most challenging aspects for the audio team is bringing the mix together. The diversity of narrative and gameplay contexts means we need to go through the game meticulously, room by room, encounter by encounter, ensuring each moment elevates the player experience. The precision is key - we have to zoom in and work with exacting detail.

At times, this means bending the rules to amplify the moment. The game’s acoustic model might suggest, for instance, that you shouldn’t be able to hear an NPC through two doors and a window - but if it feels right to hear them, we’ll definitely make that exception for the sake of immersion.

One of our core pillars for the audio experience is contrast, and it plays a vital role in mixing. For gameplay, this means highlighting the difference in feel between the raw intensity of combat and the fluidity of vampiric traversal. Audio helps ground you when it counts, or lets you feel light, stealthy, and almost ethereal when you’re on the move. For instance, we cut low-end frequencies from player foley sounds during agile movements, adding a low, ominous ‘whoosh’ as you close in on a target - reinforcing the sensation of a predator honing in for the kill.

Combat mixing is especially tricky; we aim for impact without overwhelming players with repetitive, sharp sounds. To balance this, we use priority mixing within combat audio. High-priority sounds like player punches or hits lower the presence of background sounds like footsteps or foley, while firearms are mixed at an even higher tier for clarity - essential information for survival.

We always mix with surround and LFE content in mind as we never want players to be disappointed when they plug our game into their swanky 7.1 home cinema setup. We even use deliberate surround mixing to accentuate some of the core narrative components in our title. For example, we position Phyre's first-person speaking voice very differently to where Fabien's voice plays from in your head, which certainly adds to the immersion. So yeah, there’s a lot that goes into all of it, we hope you enjoy all the layers!
- Lead Sound Designer Dom Parker

[h2]Ambient & Narrative Audio Design[/h2]
For me, Ambient and Narrative Audio Design is a way to breathe a haunting, layered life into the world - a craft I’ve especially relished in Bloodlines 2. Through audio, we can lend depth to the environments that other departments have painstakingly crafted, imbuing each location with that sense of story, history, and character that oozes through the game.

Our approach allows us to amplify the narrative tone through soundscapes that subtly guide the player’s emotions. When we want the player to feel truly alone, we pull back elements from the soundscape, creating an eerie sense of emptiness that heightens their isolation. Or does the player need to feel more tense and on edge, we can then add in more obscure elements that contrast with what would normally be an ordinary ambience.

Through narrative audio design, we can also shape how players perceive their own presence within the environment. Do they feel like unseen observers, or do they sense they could be spotted at any moment? Do we want them to feel more secure in the area they are in and that they are able to blend in?

One way I’ve been looking at creating this are ways in which we push and pull the players focus of the ambient sounds, pulling sounds closer and playing back audio that sounds close up, draws attention to the player immediate position and actions, whereas playing more distant sounds bring focus onto the wider area, could allow the player to feel like they can blend in more.

I’m truly looking forward to seeing how players respond to our audio design, and how these crafted sounds shape their experience in the world of Bloodlines.
-Senior Sound Designer Lewis Bean

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Description: An illustration of the complexity of filling an environment with sonic detail.

[h2]Holiday Break[/h2]
And with that, the Dev Diaries will take a holiday break and return on the 15th of January next year. We look forward to the new year, and can’t wait to show you everything we have planned for 2025. This includes showing off how you can customise Phyre, more information about the weapons system, the planned DLCs and most importantly: the release! From us at Paradox and TCR we wish you all a pleasant holiday season, full of food and fangs!