Any information and images are Work In Progress (WIP) and may change drastically before releasing
Stepping into 2024 means new beginnings and a new roadmap for the game!
You may notice some changes on the new roadmap, one of which is we've removed any predicted dates for upcoming releases.
Secondly, there's a new section at the bottom of the roadmap. These new features, maps and smaller updates will be pushed live as soon as they are ready, without the need to wait for a major update.
Lastly, you can see that Horror 2.0 will be the last major milestone for the game and the one that takes us out of Early Access. This doesn't mean development for the game will cease, as we'd still like to add more equipment, ghosts and locations after 1.0 finally arrives!
As many of you know, Console was delayed from last year's predicted release date due to several reasons. We're still hard at work trying to get this ready for you eager console players, and it'll arrive as soon as it's ready.
On the other hand, with the delay comes extra changes for console players on day one; the new and improved upcoming Shop experience, the upcoming adjustments to the leveling and equipment tiers, as well as minor balance changes. This will all result in Console players getting the best experience as soon as they receive the game, instead of large portions of gameplay and progression changing just after it releases.
Additionally, when it is released, console players will receive a game that looks and runs better. We plan to implement a large amount of optimizations across the board, which will allow us to keep the game's graphical quality as close to PC as possible.
The next, long-awaited location for Phasmophobia will soon be upon us: Point Hope Lighthouse.
As many of you avid ghost hunters deciphered our clues last year, we thought it was time to give you a sneak peek into how the new location looks.
We originally planned for the lighthouse to come out sooner, but since hiring our first Concept Artist 'Zec', we thought it was best to spend a little extra time making this unique location look extra special. Since then, CJ and Skinner have been hard at work to bring the newly created concepts to life.
Not only does Point Hope feature a new visual theme, but it also offers a widely different gameplay experience, similar to the Campsites. As it's a lighthouse, the rooms are circular and encompass a whole floor. This allows us to create several looping spots and plan hiding spots near or far from staircases forcing players to make a quick decision whilst running from a paranormal attacker.
Below, you can see the maintenance room, as it's near the top of the lighthouse it's quite cramped compared to the living room down at the bottom. The confined space makes for an intensely personal ghost room, not leaving much room for a breather without traversing a staircase.
Next is the main bathroom, it's been refurbished by the newest owners of the lighthouse, but some of the work was not quite finished. A central bathtub with a wooden divider makes for a great looping spot, and the ghost has plenty of toilet roll to throw around while you hunt for evidence.
Looking a little further ahead, Zec has been hard at work with the next two reworks, Bleasdale and Grafton.
We found that while the farmhouses make for good locations, they're incredibly similar visually and in layout. We want to push them further apart by giving each farmhouse its own identity and theme.
Both farmhouses will receive a reasonably sized layout adjustment, with a focus on making the buildings feel more authentic. This means fewer bedrooms/bathrooms and more rooms with purpose for the family that may have lived there.
Grafton, the smaller farmhouse, has seen better days in the new design; floors, ceilings and windows collapsing, furniture broken or covered in sheets ready to be packed and dust and cobwebs covering every nook and cranny.
The twin bedroom has been converted into a large seamstress workshop, full of old mannequins, rolls of cloth and fabric, and drawings scattered amongst the floor. The many clothes rails scattered amongst the floor make great hiding spots and areas to loop ghosts, just don't look the mannequins in the eye...
Bleasdale will receive the opposite treatment; as it is such a large building, we wanted to nudge it closer to the grand mansion-style house it had once been. Rooms will be ornate and cluttered with statues and expensive belongings.
Some rooms have been repurposed, with one bedroom now becoming the owner's collectable room; filled with rare objects from his travels, guns, cultural trinkets and memorabilia filling glass cases. Another bedroom has been converted into the wife's tea room, adorned with doilies, plates painted with cute animals and lots of pink.
Lastly, the attic has had quite the overhaul. The staircase has been moved and the room itself has been split into two parts. The first half is the attic storage, crammed to the brim with barely stable boxes, old furniture and dusty memories. The second half has been inhabited by the couple's granddaughter; a girl that loves the unknown. Her self-converted bedroom is covered with witchy belongings, suspiciously haunting books and dreamcatchers.
The first update from the Roadmap will be next week when we remove the Holiday Event and will include the Lighting changes, new Eye Adaption and Screen Space Global Illumination settings.
That's it for Development Preview #16. We'll catch you with some more teasers soon!
If you experience any issues or want to give feedback, please join the official Phasmophobia Discord: https://discord.gg/phasmophobia
Added the first wave of Steam Achievements! Check out the Achievements section on Steam to see how to earn them. More achievements will be added in future updates.
Added an option to enable Screen Space Ambient Occlusion for VR
Removed Halloween Event
Adjusted the sky effects when you are dead
Reduced translucency on medium tents slightly to stop them from glowing so much when a DOTS is placed inside
Both campfires in Maple Lodge will now have a max hearing range of 5m and are the same volume
The Maple Campsite Chem toilet will now behave similarly to house closets and lockers when hiding
Brightness will now default to 1 for new players instead of 0
Significant improvements to loading times and performance across the whole game
Max-level players will no longer get stuck on the reward screen
You can now get past the splash screen if you are failing to connect to Steam
You can no longer hide from the ghost’s view behind a lit campfire
The totem pole in Maple Lodge Campsite will now block the ghost's view during hunts
Moved the twigs easter egg in Maple back to where it should be
Removed the invisible walls on top of the small tents
Incense III will now swing again while held
Maple’s Green and White tents now have the correct room names
Moved some camping chairs by Campfire B in Maple to remove a safe spot
Moved the small green tent in Maple’s Campsite B to remove a safe spot
Moved the Maple Campsite’s Ouija Board spawn to the right slightly to stop it from clipping
Moved the Maple music box spawn up slightly to stop it clipping inside of the log
Moved the orange bottle up one shelf to stop it clipping with the Maple Ouija Board spawn
Moved the fingerprint up on the Maple light pole near the Toilet block
Ambient Occlusion will no longer be turned on in VR
Fixed fog several leaks:
Ridgeview bathroom
Willow garage, laundry, bathroom and bedroom
Sunny Meadows entry, courtyard hallway
Woodwind toilet block
If you experience any issues or want to give feedback, please join the official Phasmophobia Discord : https://discord.gg/phasmophobia Thanks,
Welcome back ghost hunters, we've got some news for you.
Halloween Event 2023 has been added, instructions can be found in-game on how to receive this year's spooky ID-card badge and trophy! The event will last around 2 weeks!
Maple and Prison are temporarily unlocked at level 1 to allow new players to complete the event
Maple Lodge Campsite has had a complete layout revamp, featuring a new reception building, two separate campsite areas, new assets and areas, more hiding spots and greatly improved performance
Added new rain sounds in both campsites when inside tents, inside the toilet block or under draped tarp
Added Temporal Anti-Aliasing option in the journal (Provides a higher quality AA method than FXAA and SMAA, but lower quality than MSAA)
The EULA has been updated (2.2, 7.1, 7.2 and 10.4)
Several icons have been replaced across the main menu and contract selection screens
You can no longer light objects using 'Interact' (default: Mouse 1)
To help with performance in the truck, the CCTV monitor will now only turn on when you are standing nearby, and it will now display a screensaver when disabled
The Monkey Paw now has the correct textures again
You can now take a photo of the haunted mirror on Ridgeview, whilst it is on the wall
In Training, you can now open/close the truck doors in VR
Several fingerprints are no longer visible when you don’t have UV evidence
Crucifix T2 should now consistently give both “interaction” and “burned crucifix” photos
The haunted mirror will no longer get detected on the parabolic microphone or sound sensors if not being held or used
The Camp Woodwind entrance gate will no longer say “Maple Lodge campsite”
Video cam no longer breaks if swapped into inventory when CCTV is on the last camera
Lighters can no longer light some candles, firelights and the campfire when not lit
Summoning circle photos will no longer take priority over other photos as often
If you die in foggy weather, future games in foggy weather now show the fog correctly
Many performance improvements, especially in multiplayer and in the truck
Placing equipment on the wall in some areas of Sunny Meadows will no longer teleport the equipment back to the truck
Bone photos will now work more reliably
Firelight T2 now correctly lasts 5 minutes instead of 3 minutes
Known Issues
The in-game version number will show as 0.9.0.11
Terrain is currently showing inside Sunny Meadows
Ghost footstep sounds are currently sometimes incorrect in Maple Campsite
The bear trap interaction photo does not work
If you experience any issues or want to give feedback, please join the official Phasmophobia Discord: https://discord.gg/phasmophobia Thanks,
Any information and images are Work In Progress (WIP) and may change drastically before releasing
Dear Phasmophobia Community,
We'd like to express our deepest gratitude for your support and excitement for our console release.
As we still try to adapt to our new remote working life after the fire incident and to establish a new office, we've encountered unforeseen challenges in adapting the game for consoles. These combined factors have affected our development timeline more than we initially anticipated.
Additionally, in preparation for the PlayStation VR2 launch, we have been diligently reviewing the game's performance and optimizing it across all maps to ensure a seamless experience for all of our console players. In this regard, we had to rework Maple Lodge Campsite with a completely new layout (more information below). This decision, though time-consuming for our art team, is essential to provide the best possible gameplay experience.
While we had hoped to present you with a special launch alongside the Halloween event, the complexity of our current challenges means we need more time. We will keep you updated on our progress and provide a revised release date as soon as we have more information to share. We are working diligently to minimize the impact of this delay, and we want to express our sincere gratitude for your continued support.
We promise, when Phasmophobia arrives on consoles, it will be worth the wait.
Maple Lodge Campsite was the first new location added when the team was first expanded. It was made reasonably quickly, and therefore had some issues regarding performance due to long sight lines, forcing the player to render many objects at once.
With this in mind, CJ and our new Artist Zec have worked together to create a brand-new layout! It features a new reception building, more hiding spots, new decorative assets and better performance across the board.
The newly added reception building
Inside the storage area
This year for Halloween we'll be encouraging our ghost hunters to create a potion in their very own cauldron, found in the reworked Maple Lodge Campsite location. Completing the event will reward players with a new ID card badge and a new trophy for their collection!
Players will need to hunt down the recipe cards found in several other locations, then head back to the campsite and create their ghostly concoction. Additionally, both the campsite and lobby have been decorated with newly created spooky decorations for the seasonal period.
The Halloween event will launch on or around the 26th of October, shortly after we return from TwitchCon Las Vegas, to ensure we are available to quickly hotfix any bugs that may arise during the first few days of play.
That's it for Development Preview #15. We'll catch you with some more teasers soon!
If you experience any issues or want to give feedback, please join the official Phasmophobia Discord: https://discord.gg/phasmophobia