Phasmophobia | 2024 Roadmap and Beyond...

[Moonface]

Is testing open to anyone or is it closed to certain people? I'm curious if we could just get into it early by opting in to testing.

[Dragon Lord]

They used to have a public beta server, but I don't think they do that any more. None of the Phasmo streamers I watch have played on the PBT server in a long time. So I don't think it exists any more. I think the devs just do the testing themselves, and maybe get a few people to help them behind closed doors, but that's it.

[Moonface]

Ah. Well I suppose on the bright side it means we don't get any details about the map shared before everyone gets to experience it.

[ShiraNoMai]

It'd be neat if it was a random roll out thing, like how when certain apps and websites roll out features to select users to test them out. Love to see it pop up one day

[Moonface]

It'd be neat if it was a random roll out thing, like how when certain apps and websites roll out features to select users to test them out. Love to see it pop up one day

Any paid for product that ever pulls this stunt would deserve all the backlash it would bring. That's the sort of thing that should be reserved to free things like social media and the like.

[Moonface]

Roadmap V2 Revealed
The developers have revealed a new roadmap for Phasmophobia, after the original roadmap plan failed to pan out. For those curious, this is the original roadmap.

This is the new one:



The goal of this new roadmap is to allow extra room and time in the event things go wrong. Custom Difficulty and Sunny Meadows will be dropping this month, with a trailer coming soon to reveal the full scope of that update. Progression has been mostly pushed into 2023, but some features have been moved into their own, larger update, the URP upgrade, which includes a huge weather effects overhaul, new lighting, and more. Finally, once the progression update has been rolled out, the developers will be focusing on Horror 2.0, replacing all of the ghost models and adding a plethora of new effects, events, sounds, and interactions to scare you out of your skin. New locations and location reworks will be created alongside all of these other updates, and rolled out as soon as they are finished, whether that be as part of one of these other updates or as a standalone addition.

[Mr EliteL]

Seen the trailer thanks to them giving a streamer I sort of watch a first look at it, and he uploaded the video of his breakdown of it. One of the REDACTED things are in the September update, it's a smaller campsite map called Camp Woodwind. Not fully sure what the other is but there's going to be a Sunny Meadows Restricted 5-in-1 small maps, so I take it it's that. Also the release date is going to be Tuesday 27th September at noon BST. The trailer should release very soon as I don't see it on Steam yet.

The other REDACTED could be another map as the other two are likely the ones I just mentioned, which is based on maps. Looking forward to the new character models, new equipment and Horror 2.0 in 2023.

[Moonface]

I was tempted to ask who it was so I could check if they have a VOD of the trailer (if they showed it on stream), but decided I'd rather wait for the public release of the trailer instead.

Nice to see the campsite get a smaller map, although I wonder if it'll fix the problem the regular map has in that it gets very hard to figure out where the ghost is when there isn't really any defined rooms. Sunny Meadows having options for smaller sections of the larger map is really good, and reminds me of how Resistance: Fall of Man would reduce the available play area of the larger multiplayer maps depending on the player count, rather than just locking those maps to only large options. It'd be nice to see that on the school map with it divided into downstairs/upstairs/west/east segments so smaller groups can play the map without having to try and navigate the entire thing (which I feel is too big even for a 4-man team).

New ghost models is whatever to me because the only time I see them is during events, which only create tension when you're not sure if it's an event or a hunt but once you know it's an event, anything that happens is whatever to me. I'm hoping there are just better events that can catch you off guard better, and don't just take place in the ghost room so they're less expected. The rest of a map is lifeless once you find the ghost room because nothing will happen outside that until a hunt starts, and a hunt is just running and hiding somewhere in the map rather than anything actually happening in the rooms themselves.

Edit: Didn't know the trailer was already out as of three hours ago or so:

[Mr EliteL]

Yeah I'd like things to happen away from the ghost room, especially when we get the same freakin' ghost room almost every time we play a particular map. Imagine an event where the player's character is dragged away from the ghost room only for the ghost to start a hunt very close to that player to start their killing spree, and if it does take that player out in that hunt it continues to find the others.

For the ghost models I'm wondering if they'll make different death scenes with them as all we have had at the moment is the grab from behind, then the sound of a neck snapping. This is so there'll be more to a particular model but not necessarily what ghost type they are, obviously.

[Moonface]

Yeah I'd like things to happen away from the ghost room, especially when we get the same freakin' ghost room almost every time we play a particular map. Imagine an event where the player's character is dragged away from the ghost room only for the ghost to start a hunt very close to that player to start their killing spree, and if it does take that player out in that hunt it continues to find the others.

I was going to say it would be neat for ghosts to have exclusive events, but doing so would just make it easier to determine a ghost beyond the already given strengths/weaknesses/abilities that they already exhibit. To build on your idea though, perhaps on higher difficulties there's a chance for a player to get locked inside a room (either when entering it themselves or a ghost event could drag a player into an empty room if they're close to the door), and while locked in the room sanity drains faster until someone opens the door from outside the room, or waiting out a timer until the door unlocks itself. Maybe a new item like a lockpick could be added for players to bring in that can let you open a locked door from inside instantly, in the event the map is large, you lack voice comms (not that this game should be played without them), or you're the last person alive. It wouldn't even break the mechanic to have that item because limiting it to say, only two or three wouldn't be enough to have one placed in every room as a safeguard.
I think it'd be a good way to add more use to the rest of a map once a ghost room has been found outside of hunts, and could encourage people to be in teams since a room won't lock with multiple people inside and if one person gets dragged away they have a teammate right there to help out.

For the ghost models I'm wondering if they'll make different death scenes with them as all we have had at the moment is the grab from behind, then the sound of a neck snapping. This is so there'll be more to a particular model but not necessarily what ghost type they are, obviously.

I think they might, since I didn't know the current models are just publicly available Unity models and weren't created by the developers, and depending on how many models the game had at the very start a single simple animation was probably the easiest approach to have something work with every model without a lot of work. I'd even like it if different ghost models get different rooms you briefly get put into upon dying, since I feel like they're all just the same dark foggy room with some bodies hanging off the ceiling. The axe killer should have a really bloody room full of dismembered limbs, and the ring girl should have a flooded room to reference the well from The Ring. I can't really decide what other rooms particular models could have since looking at them all, most seem to carry a sharp weapon and appearance wise they aren't really distinct from each other very much. I hope the new models have better diversity than what currently exists, especially on the female side. Three of them are just "peach coloured model of woman in a dress with messed up face".

[Moonface]

Phasmophobia Apocalypse Update Released
I expect everyone who follows this game already knows this update has gone live, but here are the patch notes for anyone who hasn't read the full list of changes.

I haven't read every little thing in here yet, mostly because I got stopped in my tracks by the single player challenge that's starting soon. I'm gonna go for it if I get time and remember, how about everyone else?

[Moonface]

Ugh, so I tried to see if I could finish the last few small maps I had to do that Halloween challenge on by myself in single player, and fuck playing this game alone. I thought I was desensitized to a lot of the spooks of this game but being by myself and having the ghost do multiple events shit me up enough that I finished the map I was on (somehow) and then closed the game. I'd rather miss out on the trophy than get it through single player instead of multiplayer.

[Mr EliteL]

Yeah I haven't been brave enough to attempt a run by myself yet, not even Amateur. I think I'd easily be able to do that difficulty and possibly Intermediate too but, I dunno, just don't want to try yet.

[Dragon Lord]

Phas is like a whole different game when you're by yourself. The silence is unsettling and that ambient noise in the house sounds a lot louder. You also know that you have no help, you're completely alone and you are the only booty in the house that the ghost will be coming for.

I think just the silence alone is enough to really unnerve you and make you feel very vulnerable to the game. Having people talking constantly really gets rid of any unsteadiness you might have about going into the house and wandering around in the dark.

[Moonface]

Yeah I haven't been brave enough to attempt a run by myself yet, not even Amateur. I think I'd easily be able to do that difficulty and possibly Intermediate too but, I dunno, just don't want to try yet.

I think the only thing that would make it feel a little better on less than Nightmare difficulty is being able to see my sanity, because I would at least know if I'm currently in hunting range or not (excluding Phantoms) so I wouldn't need to be worried about telling if the ghost is hunting or just trolling with an event. Like DL mentions in their post below yours though, I expect the atmosphere would still get to me though and make me chicken out.

Phas is like a whole different game when you're by yourself. The silence is unsettling and that ambient noise in the house sounds a lot louder. You also know that you have no help, you're completely alone and you are the only booty in the house that the ghost will be coming for.

I think just the silence alone is enough to really unnerve you and make you feel very vulnerable to the game. Having people talking constantly really gets rid of any unsteadiness you might have about going into the house and wandering around in the dark.

Yeah, the silence is definitely a big thing that got me. I had all the lights on in the map I played (which I remember now was Tanglewood) for the hallway, living room, kitchen, and garage, and would turn on the main light to any room I was checking and then turn it off when I knew there was nothing in the room to find or the ghost wasn't detected in there, so I was barely in the dark but just the pure silence is awful. At least that map has at least some ambient noise going on; I don't want to imagine how terrifying the pure 100% silence is on Sunny Meadows when you're by yourself. Fuck that!

I also remembered the ghost I had was The Mimic, but I get the feeling it was trying to mimic the Twins because I first detected it in the front bedrooms and hallway, but then my EMP reader went off again as soon as I moved from there to the garage. I was getting readings and events either around that front hallway area or by the kitchen and garage, but without a lot of time passing by so I don't think the ghost was changing rooms, especially as it was back and forth between those spots. Thinking I had the Twins made it worse for me because it made it harder for me to keep tabs on the ghost and what it was up to, especially if it did anything that made me paranoid a hunt was starting like when it kept touching and opening/closing doors around the house and in the kitchen. I swear I've never had such an eventful ghost in the game in forever and it took me being alone to decide now was the time to give me another super active ghost.