Welcome back, we've got some news for you!
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
Thanks, The Kinetic Games Team
