I posted this in the game forum, but figured it would get seen better here.
I have added the -console flag to the shortcut, but the game will not open the console with the tilde(~) key. I cannot access the console. Is there any thing I am doing wrong?

How is the command in the shortcut? Maybe it's entered wrong?

I'd assume it should be akin to "C:\Gog Games\VTM red\game.exe" -console

Exactly. That's how everything said to enter it, which makes sense. but nothing happens in game.

So I found this:
https://www.e-mods.net/forum/index.php?topic=881.0
But it does not help me. I only have a USB keyboard (as I imagine most people do these days, my PC doesn't even have a PS/2 port). I cannot uninstall all my USB devices, and Windows is oh so helpful by labeling every USB device "HID-compliant Consumer control device" So I don't know what any of them are.

That's what I thought too. Tilde key might not actually be tilde. But it's usually the Europeans that have to contend with this. Seeing as the OP is from the US, I doubt that's the issue.

That would be annoying...

Though my tilde you have to hold shift for, giving a left quote. So not sure.

But might be able to work around. If you're willing to try AHK we can try to send a tilde after it receives a character. Tested this and works for me (text editor anyways).

`::Send ~

Have you already tried just pressing tilde during the game, rather than setting a shortcut?

installed bloodlines and tilde brings up console OK.

any more info you can throw out? keyboard etc?

I just did the thing and it worked for me. *shrug*

Did you try this "C:\GOG Games\Vampire The Masquerade - Redemption\Vampire.exe" -console in the target location?

I would've uploaded a pic, but GOG keeps telling me it's the wrong file format even though it's like a 69.1kb .jpg.

EDIT: Maybe you can't see it because it's a black bar at the top of the screen. Just start typing and you may notice it if you did everything correctly.

I did. It did not work. This is Redemption, not Bloodlines. I'm using a ReDragon K580 VATA RGB mechanical keyboard. Tried this, and nothing happened. Specifically used AHK to intercept the right shift key as tilde, and it worked on a text editor, but it did not work in game. But good thinking. It is definitely not doing that. I tried, thinking maybe the bar just isn't displaying, but typing does nothing. I tried typing god 1, [enter] (no commas), and nothing occurred. So it is that the tilde key, when pressed with shift, or ctrl, or by itself, is not activating the console,

So here is what I did.

Right-click shortcut -> Properties -> in the Target: add a space and type -console after the quotation marks and then Apply -> Boot up the game, load a game file -> Press ~ and a black bar appears.

That's all I had to do, at least for my very own special GOG copy of the game (I doubt it's special). Now, maybe it's a display bug, but I'm running it at 1080p just fine, I didn't even need to change anything after that. It's also running on Windows 10 with an AMD Radeon card, and I didn't need a voodoo wrapper or nothing, it's just whatever files came out of the box, err, GOG install. If none of this works, I can't really troubleshoot beyond that, sorry.

Thank you for your help. I did the same steps (install, right click shortcut, add -console after Vampire.exe" ("E:\Games\Vampire the Masquerade - Redemption\Vampire.exe" -console) then booted game, loaded a save and pressed the ' ~ key, and nothing happened. I am also on win 10, with a nVidia RTX 3070 video card at 1080p 32 bit, no voodoo wrapper. So thanks for trying and showing me a few things it's not.

Went further into it, and I think the game isn't recognizing my "`~" key as the `~ key. Every other button works fine, but the console still doesn't load. I don't know what to do since I don't know what Input the game is looking for so I can't map the function to a button on my keyboard. I suppose I could try all keyboard buttons, even those not listed in the keyboard list, but there are thousands, and honestly, that seems a little time consuming to replay this game with a few engine cheats active.

Using Keyboard hook returns 029 as my key identity, but that is the Straight up identity of the key, and remapping that key function to another key just inputs `. Which is apparently not what the game is looking for. I hate old games sometimes and the janky way they were programmed just to get by instead of being useable.

Maybe. Sometimes you have to set key delay too, which increases how long the key is pressed, otherwise it may do it 'As fast as possible' which the game may not recognize in time. 50ms should be more than long enough.

So you might add:
SetKeyDelay 100,100

and change Send to SendInput (I'd found Input did better for games/programs, but i haven't done a lot of this for a few years)

Hmmm.... I don't know. :( Can only hope a solution is found.

~ and ` are usually what's sharing the relevant key though.

Try adding a different US keyboard in Windows settings and see what happens.

Even today, I have to have a US keyboard on SHIFT+ALT swap because many games still only properly recognize US keyboard mappings and if I use the default CS layout, many inputs are not recognized. Most often, it's exactly the row of keys with tilde and numbers. Czech layout has ; on tilde key, ° on SHIFT + tilde and diacritical letters on the number keys, which can sometimes confuse some games.

This is what my keyboard types on that row in czech layout:
; + ě š č ř ž ý á í é =

And this is what it types on the US layout:
` 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - =
With SHIFT, the first key becomes tilde:
~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ +

If you are attempting to open console with SHIFT + key with tilde, SHIFT combo presses have a high chance of not getting recognized in games. So the goal would be to either somehow rebind which key opens the console or find a layout that has tilde available on single keypress and not in a SHIFT combo.
The likely problem is that they game treats that key as ` key and not the ~ key.

Some games check for the mapping of the key, some games check the "internal code" of the key (in layman's terms).

I have encountered both. Games can say in controls that weapons are bound to numbers. Some work even if I have the czech layout on as the game is looking for the internal code of the key pressed and not the actual mapping. Some games look for the exact mapping, so changing the keyboard language makes it so the game doesn't register them. Because when I press 5, the game thinks I pressed "ř", so it does nothing.