Okay i see
Then i take my words back
Still kinda sad that i almost finished this game two times thinking it uses full patch, when in turned out only bug fixes, its still cool, but kinda a bit deceiving

So, when I try to run the game - doesn't matter if I use the mod launcher exe, or gog galaxy - the game just automatically minimizes to the taskbar. My first instinct is to go mess about with my screen resolution and see if that helps, but just to be thorough, anyone know the solution to this?

This is already supported in the GOG release. You get access to the "vanilla" version as they call it which has nothing patched except for the DRM and memory issues that prevent the game to run on modern systems in the first place!

Besides, almost all Bloodlines mods I know of use the mod-loader and can therefore coexist in any bloodlines-installatioon, no matter if the patch is present or not.
The only exceptions I know of are Tess' "True" patch and his porn mod. And you can still install and play them without problems on the GoG version. Apart of course from the fact that they will forbid you to use any other mod on the same installation.

So did you just ignore the rest of my post or is there a vanilla download option I'm missing? On The GoG website itself you only get 1(one) version of the game to download which is currently UP 10.2. With GoG's Client you can go as far back as UP 9.6 but there is no vanilla option.

Again it doesn't matter that 'you have access to the vanilla version' because I don't even wanna play vanilla in the first place. Obviously I want them to do the bare minimum like fixing the DRM and memory issues but I'd like to play the Clan Quest mod which installs UP 9.2. A major problem is that GoG already installs 9.6 O have to just hope that when Clan Quest mods Installs 8.2 over 9.6 it won't break anything or cause any weirdness.

No, if you download the GOG release you get two versions in one, similar to the basic and plus patch you get when downloading the Unofficial Patch. After it installs you have two shortcuts on your desktop, one for the patched game and one for the vanilla game, it's as easy as that! And of course the vanilla game uses only the DRM and memory fixes. This is due to the fact that the Unofficial Patch runs from its own subfolder, but maybe GOG should be more clear about that on their website...

But when you download a different version of the Unofficial Patch or download a overhaul that installs a different version of the Unofficial Patch, won't it install into the same subfolder?

No, the patch itself always installs into an "Unofficial_Patch" subfolder, but the GOG version like the retail release and the Steam version also includes the original "Vampire" subfolder with the unaltered files.

To make this clear:
When you download the GoG version of the game it will have,
>The "Vampire" subfolder
&
>The "Unofficial_Patch" Subfolder.

But as I've said, I don't care that I "can still play vanilla", I don't want to play vanilla, but I may want to play an overhaul that uses a different version of the Unofficial patch.

So when I downloaded a different version of the UP, or a mod that also installs a different version of the UP, will it...

A)
Install it inside the 'Vampire' subfolder

B) Creates its own separate subfolder

or

C) Try to overwrite the "Unofficial_patch' folder that is already there?

If it is C then that is unacceptable.

This has just become of interest to me. I did a fresh install, but I do not see what you are describing. I only received one desktop shortcut. It points to a 'vampire.exe' in the directory of blahblah\goggames\VTMB. There is only one other exe file and it is called 'Vampire_4GB_fixed.exe' (not counting the uninstall exe). I do see an Unofficial_Patch subdirectory and a Vampire subdirectory. I note that in the properties of the shortcut, it uses the parameter " -game Unofficial_Patch". Does this imply that I can get vanilla if I remove that parameter? Or must I replace that parameter with " -game Vampire" or with some other parameter?

Now, I would like to use an old mod that I would like to try to apply to the vanilla version. It is to be applied by copying over a file structure on top of the VTMB structure. How do I accomplish that in this environment?

Basically to start a vanilla game you create a shortcut to vampire.exe without any -game parameter.
These days most mods use the mod-loader. That means they install into their own subdirectory and create their own desktop shortcut.
If you use a really old mod, it will install directly into the /vampire subdirectory. That means you can play this mod using a shortcut without parameters.
So for example, when you install the gog version you get a /vampire subdirectory and a /Unofficial_Patch subdirectory with its own shortcut. (I believe for the vanilla version in gog you have to create your own shortcut or start the game from the START menu)
Now if you install a mod like Clan Quest it will create its own shortcut and a /cqm subdirectory.
Another version of the patch however will overwrite the /Unofficial_Patch folder, but if you want to keep the base patch from gog and install the plus patch as a second option you can rename the /Unofficial_Patch folder to /basepatch and create a new shortcut with -game basepatch before installing the new plus patch.
The only problem are really old mods or stuff from authors who don't care about the modding community, like the "true" patch. Those mods install into /vampire and that means, if this mod in /vampire changes a file that is not changed in one of the mods in their own directory, the changed file in /vampire will be used in this mod as well and may cause trouble.

I have an idea...

wesp5, Thank you for creating the unofficial patch and making this flawed game better. If you still have energy and motivation, maybe you could team up with some other talented modders in the community and create a fan remake of Bloodlines? I mod a lot of old games and the #1 limitation is that they are on 32bit engines. They can't use more than 4gb of memory and so have problems with memory errors. It would be very nice if we could get some of these games on modern engines like Source 2 or Unity.

You could probably even finish it before Bloodlines 2 comes out at this rate! :D

This is not something I could or would do, but atrblizzard from the cancelled Project Vaulderie project is already on it: https://twitter.com/atrblizzard

Issue: Got this game on STEAMy and got this game on GOGy. Been awhile since I started from the beginning and I remember in the older days I had to patch the living (or dead) crap out of this game do make it reasonably playable due to reasons most of you know why. So since I have both, which version: GOG or STEAM is the most "patch-able" version of this game and runs the most stable (as possible) in 2021? I want to start over but I don't know which version would be the most (unofficially) up-to-date version. Forgive me if if this is a repeat question but times change. In any case, LOVE.....LOVE LOVE this game.