Phasmophobia | 2024 Roadmap and Beyond...

[Moonface]

They could also change the Raiju so that it can also turn the breaker on, and then change its power so that it gets its speed increase from the lights being on in the house as well. This would drastically increase the threat the Raiju provides. I always find it odd that only player items being on give the Raiju its speed increase, while having electronic devices on around the house doesn't seem to (unless it's something they changed in this latest update).

Yeah, and even have it where just having the power turned on can give it a boost, with the more lights and stuff being powered in the house also adding to it (since eventually the breaker turns off for having too much on so there'd be a forced limit to this). It would also be cool if it turned on the computers and other non-light items like fans and stuff to increase its power too and the overlap of computers would make it tougher to know it's a Raiju.

[Dragon Lord]

I think it getting its power just from the breaker being on would make it too much like a Jinn. I'd rather see it stay unique in that it only gets its power from electronic devices being turned on. They just need to make it so that all electronic devices power it up, and not just the players.

It would make for some hilarious troll situations, like the Raiju turning on the lights/TV/alarm clock/etc. and then immediately hunting.

[Moonface]

Ah. Yeah then remove the power gain from the breaker itself. Maybe it can turn off lights instead so that it can turn on more devices so that the breaker isn't overloaded.

I also think it'd be cool if ghosts could outright break lights too. Make it a ghost event if a light keeps getting turned on to punish players who keep relying on a light. It'd work well with the Raiju pitch we're discussing since it could break lights when it gets annoyed by them being turned back on after it turned one off to power a device.

[Dragon Lord]

Electronic devices around the house don't effect the breaker as far as I know. I actually think you can even turn on things like TVs without the power being on. I'll have to test it out next time I play, but I want to say it's only the lights that get effected by the breaker.

Ghosts actually can break lights. There's a ghost event you can get where the ghost will shatter the light bulb(s) in a light and render that light worthless for the rest of the round. I believe Mares have a higher chance of doing it too, and will do it more frequently than other ghosts (breaking lights in multiple rooms). Not to be confused with the "red light" ghost event.

[Moonface]

Oh they don't? I always thought they did because they don't turn on when the power is out so I thought they were attached to it like the lights are and can affect it.

I looked up what ghost events can happen in the game since I was curious if there were any I didn't see yet and there's not as many as I expected. I've had the lights and the manifestation events, but not the smoke ball one at all. I guess it might look like a smaller list though because I thought stuff like turning on the sinks was an event too but I guess they're something else.

[Dragon Lord]

The mist event is the one where you'll hear the ghost "hiss" at you. It can be kind of heard to see, but if you look around and happen to see a what appears to be a cloud of fog heading your way, that's what that event is.

Turning on the sinks, TV, ringing phones, buzzing cellphones, opening doors, knocking on windows, etc. etc. ect. are all interactions. Events are much more limited, which is why it can actually be a pain to get the optional objective for Ghost Event at times, because sometimes you'll get a ghost that just will not do one.

[Moonface]

So I don't remember if it was mentioned in this thread before, but that future update where levels and money are being reset is introducing new items apparently. A screenshot of some of the new item designs came out yesterday, presumably from the developers: New Items Teaser
The upgraded Spirit Box was officially confirmed by the developers a little bit ago, which adds credibility to wherever this image is from.

I also found a roadmap from a Q&A made by the head developer a month ago, which has a lot of cool stuff in it:

Developer Roadmap

What are some of the craziest difficulty options we can expect with Custom games?

• There are some mental combinations if you want some really hard games;
  
• Imagine moving at 50% speed, while the ghost moves at 150%, with zero hiding places and a broken fuse box! 
  
• How about a ghost only giving one evidence with super low interaction or event rates (it’d be like a demon, rev and shade had a baby!)
  
• Or throw balance out of the window and make yourself super speedy, the ghost go crazy with activity, and play with every Cursed Possession at once! 
  

Any plans to add more detailed stats in the future?

• Yes! We have plans for a brand-new stats screen tied to your account, as well as a more detailed post game stats screen for debriefing after each contract!
  

How many upgrade tiers can we expect for each piece of equipment?

• We’re aiming for three tiers for equipment, but at this stage not every piece of equipment has upgrades planned (like the poor old salt shaker)
  

Could you give us any insight into how upgradable equipment will be implemented?

• Of course! 
  
• Upgrades will become purchasable once you reach the required level for that equipment’s next unlock
  
• Once you have purchased the upgrade, you can choose to bring whichever tier of that equipment with you for that contract
  
• You only pay to bring the equipment itself, only unlocking the tier will cost extra! For example, if you have three flashlights, you could choose to bring one of each tier for the same cost
  

Will the new daily / weekly challenges be more incentive driven?

• We’ve got loads planned for new challenges and objectives. Some of them will be more complicated than others, but they will all help give players a large incentive to play more often, with worthwhile rewards
  

Any ideas for what the hallucinations might be if they get added?

• Hallucinations will definitely be added with Horror 2.0! We’re looking to add things such as:
  
• Paintings melt as your sanity decreases
  
• Writing and symbols on the walls
  
• And many more....
  

Can we expect the option to have more than one ghost or friendly ghosts in the custom update?

• One ghost is currently our limit for technical and performance reasons.
  
• You will be able to disable ghosts' ability to hunt (this will stop you earning rewards)
  

What kinds of new animations should we expect to see in the Progression Update?

• Loads! We can pretty much add animations to anything, such as:
  
• Toggle animations like turning on and off a flashlight
  
• Placing and pickup animations for candles or motion sensors
  
• Walking / running animations for the first-person view
  
• Switching between items like grabbing the spirit box and pulling out its aerial
  
• Idle animations like fiddling with items!
  
• Much better multiplayer animations (no more bendy backs ?)
  
• Death animations and new ghost animations will come straight after the Progression patch with the Horror 2.0 main update
  

What should we expect to see when character customization options are added in the Progression update?

• Nothing is set in stone as of yet, but we’re planning for several player options:
  
• Hair styles and colours
  
• Skin tones and face presets
  
• Clothing options
  

What will the Unity Engine Update and new Render Pipeline bring to the game?

• Performance should increase greatly across the board
  
• We’ll have access to VFX graph, allowing us to create insanely detailed particle systems with a very low GPU performance cost
  
• New options for lighting and materials such as parallax mapping
  

What are some of the potential new things you will be able to do once you switch to those new/improved systems?

• VFX graph will allow us to have thousands of particles for the performance cost of just a few, this allows us to do things like:
  
• Much more realistic rain
  
• Smokey ghost shaders and effects
  
• Better fire, embers and smoke for the campsite and smudge sticks
  
• Crows or other birds perching on rooftops and flying away
  

How do DK and Lavender spread out their duties while working on (for example) the VR update?

• Everything we do is separated into small tasks and then assigned to someone, such as an individual bug that needs fixing or a feature that needs adding. 
  
• The VR update’s programming tasks have almost entirely been done by Lavender
  

Any updates on a console port?

• Sadly, we have no timeline for when this will happen, but we will update you as soon as we do
  

Any plans on leaving Early Access on Steam?

• Once we’ve finished this year's roadmap of updates, Horror 2.0 and maybe add a map or two, we think we’d be nearing the release of Phasmophobia v1.0

I wonder why we would want to bring in lower tier versions of items when they all cost the same to bring in? Is there going to be an incentive attached or is it just being enabled for the choice? (not that I see why anyone would use it)

Custom game modes sounds stupid fun. I'd love to do something like constant hunts but increased player speed so it's just a constant chase and you get caught if you fuck it up. If nothing else I'd bump up all speeds in the large maps because at least then traversing them won't be a pain.

[ShiraNoMai]

The Hallucinations thing seems really cool. I can't wait to witness that. I also enjoy it cuz it's a good indicator of your sanity level without having to be near the truck (good for big maps where the runback is annoying).

[Moonface]

Yeah, an indicator for sanity outside the truck will be nice. I wonder if different ghosts will cause different types of hallucinations, similar to how they give different evidence. It'd be neat if it got added as an evidence type maybe but I don't like the idea of being forced into hunting stages every game.

Faster speed does pose one neat option though, and that is if you bumped up the speed for everything equally it would mean large maps won't be such a hassle to navigate anymore. An alternate option is to let players choose to make larger maps smaller, by having things like stairs and corridors blocked off so only a portion of the map gets used instead. I'd love to play on Asylum but checking the same 100+ looking rooms is tedious as watching paint dry.

[Mr EliteL]

Don't know why but customising for faster speed sounds super fun along with having the ghost also be as quick too just so they're not piss easy. I'm just imagining rushing around large spaces with obstacles, weaving about, feigning the ghost and it feigning you too and hunts just turn into almost a constant chase. Unless you trap yourself, then yeah good luck, which is what I'd end up doing reaching a dead end.

Paintings will melt as sanity decreases? That will be cool, perhaps that will be a the main indicator of sanity depending on how much the painting has deformed. Perhaps they begin to at 70% or 60% slightly, then other hallucinations start happening. Minor at first then worse at 40% or 30%, then just crazy 10% below.

[Moonface]

I'd love for hallucinations to be like in Dead Space 3's co-op mode, where each player saw different things that don't actually exist as well as stuff just deforming. It'd be neat if the ghost would interact with those on low sanity in ways that those with high sanity are completely unaware of but would make low sanity players question if it's real or not.

Maybe they can hear voices on the Spirit Box that aren't really there or they just hear voices in general. I don't want to just see stuff that's clearly an hallucination like a melting painting, I want to question what's real or not. XD

[Mr EliteL]

Update 0.6.2 Is On The Way

Development Preview #1

Two new ghosts, Sunny Meadows Mental Institution which will be the reworked current Asylum map, plus ID Cards are part of what's going to be in store for this upcoming update. There'll also be another preview coming soon looking at the new Main Menu and more of Sunny Meadow, so get your cheeks ready for more ghost huntin' in the future!

---

Super glad Asylum's getting changed quite significantly as before everywhere looked too much the same, and easy to get lost in either side of the foyer. There being more specific rooms should help navigate yourself around the map better than the current Asylum. I did at first think it was a brand new map, as it if they were both in, what Sunny Meadows is starting to look like I can imagine just saying "nahh let's go to Sunny Meadows instead" if being asked if you want to do Aslyum.  ID Cards are cool, I don't intend to play in other rooms other than ours at the moment so seeing any of the three special ID's I won't get to see unless watching a stream, but neat to know they're about.

Can make out what the first ghost's info says but apart from the name of it, but obviously begins with a "Mo" or "Ma", the second begins with "De" but not sure what they could be.

[Moonface]

Yeah I can't make out the ghost names fully either. I did see that antidote is mentioned for the M one, which is an entirely new item. I wonder if other ghosts will get something for that item though because otherwise that alone negates the need for any evidence to figure out the ghost if you end up needing antidote.

I'm happy Asylum is being reworked, although it being a large map still does concern me that it'll still feel too big to be enjoyable. Although if it's just large but less rooms then it might not be too bad since at least then finding the ghost won't be too much of a slog. I wonder if the boiler room will have less sanity drain because of the light from the fires or if it'll just be visual only and serve no actual gameplay function. Thinking of functions I wonder actually if the heat from that would mess with cold temperatures in that room or not.

[Mr EliteL]

The antidote could be Sanity Pills, but then if you don't have it on you already and it's in the van, that just fulfils the alternate method of moving far away to be cured of the curse. If it is indeed a new item, and acts like Sanity Pills where to just take them when you need 'em in the van, that in turn will mean you're moving away too so what will be the point of it? There has to be something else for you to require to take an antidote rather than just heading to the van. As well as what you mentioned, some other ghosts should have the antidote too to not make the new ghost simple to work out.

The boiler room is a good point, didn't consider that at first. Although if the ghost is in there, will it also effect temperature, meaning Freezing and finding that it's that room for low temps will make it impossible unless using the Ouija Board or Mirror? Hm.

[Moonface]

Given the wording I feel like antidotes have to be separate. Other ghosts already tank sanity and moving far away from the M ghost wouldn't change your sanity but just how quick it falls, which is already a mechanic for most ghosts anyway.