Phasmophobia | 2024 Roadmap and Beyond...

[Dragon Lord]

I'm glad to see they are adding new evidences that have been present in other ghost hunting games for a while now. I always found it weird that they never had sound evidence, since that's a very common thing you see in both real life ghost hunting and, as I said, other ghost hunting games. It had to happen as well, because I believe it's already to the point where each combination of evidence is already taken up by a ghost, so in order to add any new ghosts, they had to start adding new evidence types. Especially since they're starting to get some pretty heated competition, especially with the recently released Demonologist.

I have to wonder if the [REDACDTED] part in the v0.9 section is a new map. I know a lot of people are speculating about a new map coming up because of what message you get when you solve all of those riddles around with the runes in the lobby.

Evidence Overhaul again, huh? It'll be interesting to see what they switch around this time.

Looking forward to seeing what the overhauled player models will look like. They've been working on making the rest of the game look better and better as time goes on, but those player models remain to be an eyesore on the game. Hopefully they make some really nice quality ones, and it's nice to see that their will be player animations as well. Hopefully they'll make the player's hand look better when holding items.

Can't wait to see what they come up with for new ghost models. Watching other ghost hunting games like Demonologist, Ghost Watchers, Ghost Exorcism INC., and such others that have varied ghost models, it was always something I wanted to see brought over to Phas.

Anyways, a lot to look forward to coming from this game over the next year. Definitely going to have to get myself to start playing it much more so I'll be ready to experience it all solo if need be.

[Moonface]

@Mr EliteL: Yeah, seeing you mentioning the Parabolic Microphone makes me wonder why we really need a new item for sound evidence. We already have two sound related items in that and the Sound Sensor, and I feel like the Sound Sensor is going to become redundant (although I feel like it kinda is already) because why carry that into a room to put down when you could just use a Sound Recorder instead. If the recorder doesn't get anything, then you know there's no sound evidence so why bother with a sensor? At least the Parabolic Mic detects sound in a wide area to let you figure out what direction the ghost is in if it makes noise in another room you've not reached yet.

@Dragon Lord: A new map is a good speculation, since I doubt the devs will wait until a year from now to give us any new maps, plus v0.10 says multiple new locations. I can see a new ghost coming with v0.91 because we don't have a ghost that uses sound/video evidence, and even though some of the existing ones might get that evidence added to them there should absolutely be a new ghost that's built around those two mechanics.

Evidence Overhaul is likely to tailor existing ghosts to using the new evidences. If one new ghost is added, having just one using sound/video evidence would be stupid. So it makes sense to change all of the ghosts across the board with the new evidence types factored in.

I wonder if player customization is going to be unlockable stuff or not. I hope it is, because it would be a good thing to use excess money on unless the new tier system is going to be priced in a way to always give money a use.

[Dragon Lord]

Yeah, the evidence overhaul will be to change some of the existing ghosts to the new evidence. I'm interested to see if they change more than that though. If you remember a ways back, they did an overhaul to the evidences before, where they completely changed what each ghost had and everyone had to re-learn the new evidence combinations. It'd be cool if they did that again in addition to adding in the new evidence types just to throw even experienced players for a bit of a loop for a while. It'd be fun if they did it a way that also hid the evidence until you "learned" what they were from hunting ghosts, just so that players would have an even harder time figuring out what they were dealing with until they got more experience (would make Revenants absolutely brutal).

I believe CJ has mentioned that customization items will be purchasable in the in-game shop, because they have talked about how they want to make it so there's much more use for money in the game in addition to the new item upgrades.

[Moonface]

Imagine if they put Sound/Video evidence on that one ghost type that gets more active with electronic devices turned on. Or better yet, if a ghost had the ability to knock over/disable a video/sound recorder and a player needs to go back to it and reset it, similar to dealing with the breaker. Although, it might not work because a) you'd know the ghost is there if you didn't already and b) something would probably be recorded by the ghost messing with the item.

I think more map interaction from the ghost would be good too. Right now the most we get is the odd door opening or a light switch being messed with, but I'd like something such as all the cabinets in the kitchen opening wildly as an event, or maybe a door/closet gets destroyed to remove a sight breaker. TV's for example can be turned on but have no good reason to do so because the noise is annoying, and I'm not aware of it being something the ghost messes with. I find it gets obnoxious when the ghost is constantly dicking with the car or a radio over and over again and wish it had more things to go mess with so there's more variety and more rooms in the map have something that can happen.

Also for a Tier 3 photo camera, it should let you control it remotely like DSLR camera's can be with the right tools. Would be cool to be allowed to take photos remotely (maybe have a range on it so you can't just sit in the truck and do it) to get things you might not get otherwise, and it could have less photo slots compared to the current photo camera so it isn't overpowered. Basically you take safety in exchange for less photos.

[Moonface]

Progression 2.0 Development Previews #10 & #11
There have been two new development previews since the last time any were shared here, so here's all the details for both of them, starting with Preview #10: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/...2026990103

Equipment Upgrades

• Upon reaching Level 20 you'll have the option to upgrade from Tier I to Tier II.
  
• Assuming this image is not subject to change, Tier III upgrades will unlock at Level 58: Equipment Choice Preview Image
  
• While upgrading an item is not cheap, each tier of equipment costs the same amount to bring into the contract. For example, EMF Readers always cost $45, regardless of Tier.
  
• Once an upgrade is paid for, it's permanently unlocked unless you Prestige.
  
• Failing to manage your money and dying often is likely to result in failure to unlock Tier III for all items before ending each Prestige.
  

EMF Readers

• Tier I [Preview] is an old-analog Meter that has a small range, isn't very accurate, and the sounds it makes are reasonably quiet. The needle will go into overdrive when hitting EMF 5 though.
  
• Tier II [Preview] is the trusted, ol' reliable, K2 Meter. When moving within a medium range of EMF spots, it will display an accurate value from two to five, and make a clear, audible sound.
  
• Tier III [Preview] is a high-tech ParaReader. This device can track up to three EMF spots at once, as well as telling you the direction, range, and value of each one, all at once! Additionally, it plays sounds for each EMF spot that's being tracked, so you can hear from a distance how many and how strong the reading is! This makes tracking which objects a ghost has been in contact with super easy! It even has a higher range than the previous two tiers!
  

And now here's everything from Preview #11, which covers the UV Light item:  https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/...0689594069

Ultraviolet

• 'Fingerprints' have been renamed to 'Ultraviolet', to remedy the issue of a ghost not touching anything to leave a fingerprint or being in an open area that doesn't present something for the ghost to touch.
  
• As a result, if a ghost steps into a Salt Pile it will now only show Footprints if it has Ultraviolet Evidence! Non 'Ultraviolet' ghosts will still step in the pile and give you the initial photo, and Wraiths will still never step in the pile.
  
• On the subject of Salt, it will be getting some new features that will be detailed at a later time.
  
• Ultraviolet Evidence will not disappear immediately when putting away a UV Light item to take a photo, preventing photos showing in the Journal that appear to be of nothing.
  
• Tier I [Preview] is the Glowstick. After snapping it to turn it on, it projects a short-range area light that lasts around one minute before dimming; however, you can give it another shake to give it some extra life.
  
• Tier II [Preview] is a UV Flashlight with a brighter, longer range, narrow spotlight, boasting a much faster UV charge time!
  
• Tier III [Preview] is the UV Light Pro, a chunky flashlight that has a much brighter and wider cone of light, as well as an even quicker charge time! Perfect for locating Ultraviolet Evidence quickly on a larger scale!
  

[Dragon Lord]

I'm very interested in what exactly the Tier I EMF being inaccurate means for finding evidence with that. Will that mean at Tier I you'll have to make a general guess as to what EMF level it really is? Definitely could be one of the most annoying Tier I items.

Changes to the fingerprints seem to be mostly good. Making the footprints left from the salt piles into evidence now is a very good change, because there's some areas that have almost nothing for the ghost to leave fingerprints on and it could get extremely annoying. Now there's a guaranteed way to check for that evidence no matter what map or what area your ghost is in.

Charge times on the UV Flashlights sounds like it could potentially be annoying, but I suppose we'll have to wait to try them out for ourselves to see just how good or bad that mechanic is.

It's crazy to think that this game is not going to be anything like it has been for the last several years. Especially next year when they do all of the model and animation changes.

[Moonface]

I'm very interested in what exactly the Tier I EMF being inaccurate means for finding evidence with that. Will that mean at Tier I you'll have to make a general guess as to what EMF level it really is? Definitely could be one of the most annoying Tier I items.

Would this be a big deal though? I thought only EMF 5 is what matters with the readers?

Charge times on the UV Flashlights sounds like it could potentially be annoying, but I suppose we'll have to wait to try them out for ourselves to see just how good or bad that mechanic is.

I didn't notice that change when making my post, but I guess it was done to keep the glowstick from being too different to the UV lights. I guess a good approach would be to turn the UV light on as soon as you get it from the truck so by the time you get inside to wherever you're going it's ready to go, unless the charge time is so short that won't be necessary.

It's crazy to think that this game is not going to be anything like it has been for the last several years. Especially next year when they do all of the model and animation changes.

Yeah, it makes me wonder really if this game will ever get a huge update like this ever again because I can't see what could be done that comes on par to the equipment overhauls for how the game plays. Besides the odd new equipment piece, ghost, or map there's not really anything else that I can think of that could be added/changed in the future.

[Moonface]

Phasmophobia | Coming to Consoles in August
I know that all of us who play the game here already have it on PC (this feels redundant now that I typed it because the game is only on PC in the first place but screw it, we're doing it live and I'm keeping it!) and probably won't care to pursue this, but I just thought it was interesting to see that Phasmophobia is coming to consoles in August:



Just as it is on PC, the game will be an Early Access title due to still being in that state, and will be available on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation VR2. No specific release date was given, but the developers did specify the game will start with the Progression 2.0 update, as well as being regularly updated alongside the PC version. Crossplay will also be added on all platforms, however this feature is optional and can be opted out of. Players who do choose to have crossplay enabled will see the platform someone is playing on in their ID card:



Nothing from the developers makes mention of this, but the inclusion of a mouse icon on the ID card for the Steam player would imply that PC players will have their control method displayed to others, although it doesn't seem that is the case for PlayStation players who may be using a controller via their PS5 or instead accessing the game via a VR headset, as the player card for that platform has no control input indicator on it nor a distinction as to whether that player is on PS5 or PSVR2.

Going back to the fact that the console version of the game will launch with Progression 2.0 and is scheduled for an August release, this means that the release window for Progression 2.0 itself has now been narrowed down to August. The roadmap given back in May only had Q3 2023 as that updates release window, and no other development previews since then have made any mention of a more precise date.

[Dragon Lord]

I saw this news right before I went to bed today, thanks to a video that Insym uploaded about it. Although I likely won't make use of the PS5 version of the game (unless I want to get trophies), this is AMAZING news for Elite. With all the issues his laptop has running the game and the constant crashes, this is going to give him a way to play the game without having to worry about any of that. Very happy for him in that regard, because I know the issues he experiences are very frustrating.

[Mr EliteL]

Ah this is nice to know, I'll consider the PS5 version when it drops, might give my laptop a try still though before then if I care to, but yeah if the issues keep happening still I'll move over to PS5.

Also the mouse icon is probably to indicate the host of the room as there's no icon on any of the others if it were to show control style.

[Moonface]

I actually hadn't considered that the console version could potentially resolve the issues EL is having with the game on PC. That said, I just hope it doesn't mean he would need PS+ to be able to play online because it would suck having to pay for another copy of the game and then pay to use a feature that doesn't cost money on PC.

Also, good point on the controller icon possibly indicating the host EL. I didn't notice yesterday that the card on the bottom left is also on PC. That said, the host is also indicated already by the crown icon next to their card and possibly the color of their card too, so adding a third indicator for the host seems unnecessary to me.

[ShiraNoMai]

Mouse icon could also mean the active player (meaning the one looking at the current screen) tbf

[Dragon Lord]

The reason why one Steam user has a mouse icon and the other doesn't is that it might be to tell the difference between a M/kb player and a VR player. I'm assuming they'll probably have icons for VR and Controller as well, and that this was just a quick sample to show what it would potentially look like. The final product will (hopefully) be polished up to look a lot better than that screenshot.

[Moonface]

I hope it's like you say DL and the image is a W.I.P. of how each player will have their control method shown. Although, it would only have uses in some cases since for most console users it's already a given they're using a controller because that's the only choice those players have. Unless maybe anyone using a controller won't be indicated and just mouse/keyboard players are pointed out, as that will be the only different control option that isn't shared across every platform. Not much point showing everyone on controllers when 2/3 of the platforms are always going to be on controller anyway.

[Mr EliteL]

Darn, I forgot about Phasmo potentially needing PS+, that'll bother me a bit having to pay again then for PS+ too. At the moment I am intending to get Tekken 8 and I may need it if I get into the Network Test but will only pay for a month then, release is like next year so I don't particularly want to have a single game for that. I'll have to see what they allow. Oh why can't we be back in PS3 era when online play was free.