Sep 27, 2022

Phasmophobia - cjdxn

Welcome back, we’ve got an update for you.

The long-awaited asylum overhaul is finally here, along with much much more...

With Custom Difficulty we’d like to invite you to participate in the Apocalypse Challenge v2 (thanks to our extra testers yesterday).

The event will start in the coming days, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement on discord.

Earn yourself 3 unique trophies for your collectible cabinet, just by playing the game!

To earn the trophies, simply do the following:

In Single-player, complete all 4 objectives and get a ghost photo in Sunny Meadows Mental Institution with the following Custom difficulty multipliers
15x or more: bronze
20x or more: silver
24x or more: gold
Show off your trophies in your display cabinet!

A new difficulty where you can create your own games!

Modify existing difficulties or create your own, come up with crazy challenges or just have fun.

Each option is tied to a reward multiplier, so you can still earn money and XP from your Custom games.

Player

Sanity Pill restoration amount
Starting sanity
Sanity drain speed multiplier
Sprinting use allowance
Sprint recharge time
Sprint duration
Flashlights being broken
Losing Items on death toggle
Player speed multiplier

Ghost

Number of evidence given
Chance of changing favorite Room
Interaction amount
Event frequency
Hunt duration
Grace period duration
Fingerprint chance
Fingerprint duration
Disable hunts
Kills extending hunts
Roaming frequency
Ghost speed multiplier

Contract

Setup time
Weather
Number of doors starting open
Amount of hiding places
Sanity monitor state
Activity monitor state
Fuse box map visibility
Fuse box starting state
Cursed Possessions quantity
Cursed Possession choice(s)

You can save up to 3 Custom Difficulty presets in the main menu

Sunny Meadows Mental Institution

The Asylum has been completely recreated from the ground up, featuring more distinctive room designs, a morgue, hospital wing, courtyard, and experimental area. Be warned, the ghost will lock each wing's main door when it hunts, so prepare an escape route while you're safe.

Sunny Meadows Mental Institution - RESTRICTED

Sunny Meadows is not only a large location but five small locations in one! The new location selection board allows you to vote to play a smaller, more restricted version of the asylum. Each time you enter, you will be given a random section to investigate, with the other sections blocked off or locked. This should help those who prefer playing smaller maps, and offer some variety each time you play!
Unlocked at level 22

Camp Woodwind

A small version of Maple Lodge Campsite, featuring a brand new layout and much fewer rooms. Perfect for those looking for a quick outdoor retreat!
Unlocked at level 19

With the current system, often when a ghost interacts or throws an object, it barely moves. To remedy this, we've reworked how a ghost's throw works to make sure it's impactful, noticeable, and more exciting each time. Some ghosts have had their abilities and traits tweaked too.

All ghosts

All hunting and event sound effects volume will now drop to 0% when at least 20m away, instead of just being quiet.
Note: This should also make the Myling strength more noticeable
The singing sound caused by the music box playing will now drop to 0% volume when over 20m away
Throws now have a minimum ‘Throw Power’, to avoid small throws
- 1 - 3 Power (previously 0.1 - 2.5 Power)
Objects are now thrown higher, resulting in much more consistent throws
During hunts, objects are thrown more often
- 50% chance to throw an object in range, every 0.5 seconds
- Poltergeist - 100% chance to throw an object in range, every 0.5 seconds

Poltergeist

The Oni super throw has been moved to Poltergeist, as it is more thematical
- 2 - 6 power (previously 0 - 5 power)

Oni

Oni has received additional traits:
- Oni will now drain double the sanity of a normal ghost during ghost events
- Oni can now be seen for longer periods when flickering during hunts

Demon

Demon's rare ability to hunt above 70% will now happen more reliably

Jinn

Jinn’s sanity drain ability has received adjustments

The ability will now trigger if you're in the same room, or within 3m of the ghost
The ability will now create EMF at the fuse box if any player is drained, not just the host

Through the in-game journal, players can now report others who they believe are breaking our terms of service.

Player reports will be reviewed by our team and punished accordingly, depending on the offense
Bans are progressive and increase in duration for multiple offenses, some offenses may start further in the chain than others
- 2 days
- 7 days
- 30 days
- Permanent
You may also be banned from abusing the reporting system, e.g. spam reporting players
To report a player, open the new ‘Recent players’ tab in the journal, and click the report icon next to that player’s name
If banned, you will still be able to play single-player games

Due to paranormal entities appearing in our base of operations, Ghost Huntin' Distribution has moved everyone into a new office! A warehouse has been converted with a shop, new investigation boards, access to the truck, and a staff room (coming soon)
Player ID cards have been added
A ‘Detailed Statistics’ page has been added to the post-game screen
A long-term stat tracking page has been added to the journal for various player and ghost stats
You will now connect to the last region you were in instead of connecting to your best ping region
The journal is now usable in the Main Menu room
Steam users can now view and add friends through the new ‘Recent players’ journal tab
Weekly challenges have been added
More will be added with the Progression Update
Shortcut buttons have been added to jump between the Location Selection, Main Menu, and Shop screens, additionally you can use the keyboard arrow keys for navigation
The whiteboard in the Truck has been replaced with a progressively updating Investigation Board
New collectible cabinets have been added to the lobby, try to fill them both!
- The first time you use a Cursed Possession, it will be added to your collection
- Collecting each type of bone will add it to your collection, some need to be collected twice!
  More collectibles will be added, closer to the full release of the game
The shop has been moved to a separate computer in the lobby
Players can now create loadouts for their equipment
Additional loadouts will be added with the Progression Update
You can now view Daily and Weekly challenges in the Truck
Equipment items are now placeable back onto the truck’s equipment wall
You can now take photos of new interactions to gain extra rewards
- D.O.T.S. ghost
- Used Crucifix (1 or 2 uses)
- The salt pile (when a ghost steps in it)
- Ghost Writing will now display as ‘Ghost Writing’ instead of ‘Interaction’
When the ghost attempts to hunt but is blocked by a crucifix, it will now create an EMF 2 reading
Added a house candle to Grafton
Arabic now has text and voice recognition support
VR players will now see a loading screen to help with loading jitters
Save files will now create a backup and automatically restore if they corrupt

Controls for equipment have changed to become consistent
- If an object is placeable, it will always use the secondary button (default: F)
- If an object is usable, it will always use the primary button (default: Right Mouse)
Note: This means that smudge sticks are now used with Right Mouse! Don't forget it!
Collecting the bone will now grant more rewards when playing on larger maps
- Large - $30
- Medium - $20
- Small - $10
The photo ‘point’ system has been removed, instead, players will receive a set amount of money and XP per photo they take. This also allowed us to even out the rewards for photos, so that getting a certain ghost type won't become a "feels bad" moment for what photos you can take
- $5 - 3 star / $2 - 2 star / $1 - 1 star
  - Dead body
  - Interaction
  - Fingerprints
  - Footsteps
  - Cursed possessions
  - Salt pile stepped in
  - DOTS ghost
  - Ghost writing
- $10 - 3 star / $5 - 2 star / $2 - 1 star
  - Used crucifix
  - Dirty water
  - Bone
- $20 - 3 star / $10 - 2 star / $5 - 1 star
  - Ghost
Note: Photos are no longer affected by the difficulty multiplier, but with these changes, you'll be getting more money than before!
The photo priority system has been improved
- Items are "scored" by distance and how close they are to the middle of the photo. The top "scoring" item will give rewards
- Ghosts will always take priority over other items
- The reliability of the system has been improved
Note: This also means that you will always get interaction photos before fingerprint photos, get those UV lights back out!
The placement highlight mechanic has been reworked
- You will only see the highlight when holding down your designated placement key (PC: default ‘F’ / VR: Trigger) and release to place
- Moving the mouse left/right whilst the F key is held, will rotate the highlight object
- You can now place and rotate the tripod
- Various equipment's placeable areas have been adjusted
The fuse box has received a new design, when in house and farmhouse locations
Sanity drain for “Hide and seek” is now 0%
The key in the truck has been moved to hang next to the door keypad, instead of on the desk
Increased rewards for all Daily Challenges
Rewards for playing on medium and large maps have been increased
You can now view 10 photos in the lobby room (increased from 6), from your previous game
To improve performance, objects will no longer render when behind closed doors
Adjusted the visuals for skyboxes, for each weather, so that they are more realistic
Improved the heavy rain and snow effects and performance
The main menu options screen has been removed, and is now accessible only in the Journal
Some locations have been renamed
When dead, players can now see doors, but walk through them
The volume of the guitar being played and camping stove toggle, has been lowered
Ghosts will no longer see you through the trees by the cabin in Maple Lodge Campsite
Ghosts can no longer set these rooms as its favorite in Maple Lodge Campsite:
- Entrance
- Central path
- North path
- North East path
- Picnic area
Rebaked occlusion in Maple Lodge Campsite which may improve performance
The Journal default button on a gamepad is now “select” instead of D-Pad up
Room names for the Sound Sensors will now be in the room they are placed in, instead of the room you were standing in when you placed it
Candles will now extinguish when placed into your inventory
Ghosts now use the sprinting footstep sound when hunting on dirt floors
Reduced RAM usage for fonts, this is significant in languages with many characters
Adjusted several lights bloom values
Adjusted campfire particles and bloom

Fixed long-distance roams, chance is now:
- High - 30% when wandering
- Medium - 20% when wandering
- Low - 10% when wandering
Fixed ghost changing favorite room’s chance, for example:
- If a ghost long roams and ends up in a new room, do a chance check
- Low - 33%
- Medium - 66%
- High - 100%
- Then do a check based on insanity (e.g., 30% sanity = 70%)
- If successful for both chances, change favorite room
Goryo will now have half the chance of other ghosts to long-roam instead of double
Myling will now decrease the audible range of its hunt audio, instead of only footsteps.
If you have less than 16% sanity when lighting the last Summoning Circle, the ghost will now hunt instantly after being summoned
When the summoning circle is lit, the ghost’s position will now sync faster for non-hosts
Fingerprints on camping lamps will now be the correct size
You can no longer place objects on the truck ceiling
Fixed a rare issue where the voice recognition would not work due to an empty voice models file
Picking up a tripod with a camcorder attached by someone else, will no longer break the camcorder
You are no longer unkillable when hiding under stairs or similar objects in some locations
The hiding spot next to the cabin will no longer get you killed
Grafton’s upstairs locker can now be blocked
Bleasdale’s workshop locker can now be blocked
Having ALT as your push-to-talk button will no longer keep your voice active after alt-tabbing
The toilets upstairs in Edgefield now flush
Ghosts will no longer affect the living room collider when standing on the basement stairs in Tanglewood
You can no longer glitch behind the small tents to access safe spots
The Mare will no longer stop attempting to do its light switch ability after you use the light switch several times
Doors will no longer spin when closing for a hunt

If you experience any issues or want to give feedback, please join the official Phasmophobia Discord: https://discord.gg/phasmophobia
Thanks,

The Kinetic Games Team

Sep 27, 2022

Guidelines: Bans & Reporting

Phasmophobia - cjdxn

Players can report each person they play with once a day, using the in-game journal. This system will prevent people from spam reporting against someone they may not like or have an issue with.

Every report is viewable by the development team and filtered in a way so that we can ban people accordingly to their offenses and the number of reports received. We can also see who reported them, at what time, and much more.

You won't be banned because one party decided to “troll report” you for being bad at the game.

When banned, you will be notified in-game with an error message alongside the remaining duration of your ban. Bans will stop players from entering the multiplayer part of the menu, but they may continue to play singleplayer games.

Bans are progressive, and the duration will increase with each offense, ultimately ending with a permanent ban. Being banned for something more extreme (eg hacking or racism) will fast-track you to a more extreme ban.

Nothing in our ban system is automatic, meaning we have full control over bans and can cancel them at any time.

Below, we’ve provided some examples of things you can look out for when reporting a player, and things to avoid doing so you’re not banned from the game.

Different players may have different preferences, (for example swearing) so it would be wise to check with players before disrupting everyone's experience.

Intentionally causing a bad game experience for other players will result in a ban. For example, this could be using exploits such as safe spots when you have been asked not to, trying to get other players killed, not letting players leave the game, purposely wasting equipment etc.

Below are only examples and are not a complete or exhaustive list of bannable offenses.

Hacking / cheating

Third-party tools
- Speed hacks
- Adjusting the ghost’s behaviour
- Killing other players instantly
Game files
- Modifying your game files
- Texture or model replacements (Excluding post processing such as Reshade)

Hate Speech / verbal abuse

Racism
- Racial slurs
- Discrimination
Sexism
- Kicking players because of their gender
- Insults based on gender
Harassment
- Following a player between lobbies
- Kicking the same player over and over
Offensive language
- Swearing profusely
- Insulting other players
- Homophobia

Griefing

Ruining games
- Holding games hostage by not entering the truck
- Hiding useful items from other players
- Joining a game then going AFK for long periods
- Purposely wasting all camera photos
- Breaking Cursed Possessions straight away
Abusing the report system
- Reporting people for no reason
- Spam reporting the same person each day

Username

Offensive in-game name
Inappropriate in-game name
Circumventing the in-game banned names

If you feel your ban is unjust, you may join the Phasmophobia Offical Discord (discord.gg/phasmophobia) and submit a ticket to our Modmail service. Provide as much evidence as you can, and we can review your reports and ban as necessary.

We're looking to make public Phasmophobia lobbies a more fun, safer space for everyone, not to ban people for the sake of it. We hope these changes will put many players at ease, and make Phasmophobia multiplayer lobbies a more enjoyable experience.

Thanks,

The Kinetic Games Team

Sep 27, 2022

Let's go on a journey!

Flooded - Kajtii

Gamers!

Flooded has evolved a lot over the months. It started as a tiny project, developed into the demo that’s still available on Steam, and moved to the form in which it is now. And I have to admit it's not over yet. There is still a long way to go before I get to the place where I wanted to be.

One of the things I had in mind from the very beginning are biomes.. I knew from the start that I would like to provide you with a variety of levels on which you will be able to face the challenges that Flooded holds. Right now let's focus on the Calm Ocean, the Rocky Ocean, and the Toxic Ocean.

Calm Ocean

The "basic" stage in Flooded is the Calm Ocean. However, it also has some characteristic elements. It’s definitely interesting that here you will be able to see a lot of buildings known from the real world (treat them as easter eggs to capture ;)).

The island is characterized by a large number of obstacles and relatively many trees. It also features an exclusive mechanic of "Sea Silence", which means that every once in a while the wind may stop blowing, rendering the windmills useless for that period, as they can't produce energy.

Rocky Ocean

You will definitely not run out of mobile service here, and Wi-Fi should also work well. This is due to the numerous radio and cellular network antennas that surround Rocky Island. You never know when you’ll want to play Candy Crush during a break from saving the world, so it’s cool…

There are no trees on the island, but you can notice various ores and a lot of stones. Moreover, occasional earthquakes can occur - they won’t only damage buildings, but can also create cracks in the ground. Dangerous and somehow exciting!

Toxic Ocean

I have recently mentioned the Toxic Ocean on my social media (links below - feel free to follow). Here you can definitely find more trees than stones and many industrial buildings around the island.

As if that was not enough, you can spot oil stains around the island. Be aware of them, because they will impair the productivity of filters. Still not scared? Sometimes you can encounter acid rain that damages trees, buildings, and units. It's not easy to work in such conditions!

First things first…

As I mentioned, this is just a chunk of what awaits you in the full version of Flooded. However, you can already see that depending on the biome, you’ll have to take a different approach. It may turn out that what gives juicy fruits in one place, will be a path to quick failure in another.

A good hero will always adapt, though, so good luck!

See ya!

Follow Flooded:
📍 Facebook
📍 Twitter
📍 IndieDB

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1795470/Flooded/