BLSE0.6

Version 0.6

Bloodlines Script Extender (BLSE)

Install BLSE Write your first mod
On this page 8 sections

On its own BLSE changes nothing in the game. It gives other mods (Python scripts and native plugins) events to react to, functions to call, and a safer way to change the game's behaviour. If you only want to play mods that need it, installing BLSE is all you have to do.

What it gives modders#

  • Python mods that don't replace any game files.
  • Native C++ plugins, with checked hooks and crash isolation.
  • Mod folders: one folder per mod. Several mods can change the same data file, map or conversation, and deleting the folder removes the mod.
  • Over 70 game events: combat, quests, dialogue, Disciplines, items, level changes, saves, input, character creation.
  • Rule changes: damage, Disciplines, dialogue, items, NPC AI.
  • New content: items and weapons, conversations, quests, animations, companions, player outfits.
  • Your own UI: HUD overlay, mod windows, changes to the game's screens.
  • Data kept in saves, and crash reports that name the mod.

The full list is in Features.

Requirements#

  • Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines with the Unofficial Patch (Basic or Plus). BLSE loads through the mod loader that the patch provides.

BLSE recognizes the game build the Unofficial Patch produces. On a build it does not recognize, the Python API, plugins and the events that do not depend on the game's code still work, and the rest switches itself off (see blse.log).

Installing#

  1. Download the release zip and extract it anywhere.
  2. Copy the Bin folder from the zip into your game folder (the one that contains Vampire.exe), merging it with the existing Bin folder. This adds Bin/loader/blse.vtm and the folder Bin/loader/blse/mods, where mods go.
  3. Start the game. Open the console and type blse: it shows BLSE's status, the loaded plugins and mods, and the console commands that mods added.
  4. Install mods that need BLSE the way their authors describe: usually each mod is one folder in Bin/loader/blse/mods, with its scripts and plugins inside.

A Companion mod and a Sprint mod are available as separate optional downloads, each one mod folder (Bin/loader/blse/mods/companion and Bin/loader/blse/mods/sprint). A log is written to Bin/loader/blse/blse.log (the previous run's is blse.log.old); include it when you report a problem.

Uninstalling: delete Bin/loader/blse.vtm and the Bin/loader/blse folder.

Making mods#

Documentation for modders is on the website and in docs/. New to modding? Start here: a step-by-step first mod with no programming. References: Python mods, native plugins, mod folders and the installing and troubleshooting guide. The release zip has an SDK folder with the plugin header and examples, including a Sprint mod as a Python script and as a plugin; the same files are in include/ and examples/ here.

Building#

Requirements: Visual Studio with the C++ x86 tools.

batch
build.cmd          :: build everything and run all offline tests
build.cmd notest   :: build only

build.cmd finds the Visual Studio environment itself and works from any shell. Output goes to build/. tools\Make-Release.ps1 builds, runs the tests and packages build\release\BLSE-<version>.zip.

AI disclosure#

The majority of BLSE’s code was written with the help of AI. A project this size, involving this much reverse engineering of the game, was not something I could have done on my own, so the code and documentation were written together with an AI assistant. I directed development, made edits and adjustments, tested the mod in-game, and reported issues for correction.

Credits#

  • The SKSE team, for the Skyrim Script Extender, which showed what a script extender should offer modders and which BLSE takes as its model.
  • JContainers, PapyrusUtil and PapyrusExtender, Skyrim mods that inspired BLSE's shared database, entity values, JSON files and settings files, and its extra entity functions.
  • Crash Logger, which inspired the detail in BLSE's crash reports.
  • The Unofficial Patch team, whose loader makes BLSE possible.
  • Troika Games, for the game. BLSE is a fan project and is not affiliated with Troika, Activision or Paradox Interactive.

License#

BLSE is released under the MIT License.