developer-q-n-a

[glad fulcrum]

About the Devs!
What was your main inspiration for creating Phasmophobia?
Dknighter: I was always on the lookout for a co-op VR game, but realised there weren’t many available. I was already planning to make a horror game, so I took the opportunity to combine the two genres! I especially wanted to make something that was new to the horror genre, and had the idea to make something where the player is forced to interact with the “monster”, instead of just running away from it.

What got each of the devs into game development?
Almost every gamer has had a dream to create a game of their own, so when we had the opportunity to do so, we took it!

Has DK worked with cany of you before?
cjdxn: Around 5 years ago I started working at a new company. When I got there they showed me around and introduced me to the VR development team. Two of thosemembers of that team was Dknighter and Skinner! Dknighter left a couple of years later (to make his own game), Skinner swapped jobs in the same company, and Eblavender joined the team shortly after!

What's each dev's favorite scary movie or TV show?
Dknighter: The Conjuring 2
cjdxn: The Silent Hill movie!
Eblavender: Also The Conjuring 2!
Skinner: Stranger Things
We’re all also huge fans of The Haunting of Hill House Netflix show.

What projects/games have you all worked on before?
Dknighter: cjdxn, Skinner and I created Mass Exodus shortly after starting work together.
Eblavender: After Dknighter left the company I actually ended up working on Mass Exodus too (re-releasing it as ME: Redux).
Cjdxn: Eblavender and I then went on to make Revenant Runner (Mobile, Android) and Starcaller (VR, Steam).

What else do you enjoy outside of gaming?
Dknighter: I’m currently really interested in what SpaceX has been doing.
Cjdxn: Drumming, Warhammer, and watering my stupid amount of plants.
Eblavender: Home Cooking!
Skinner: Cycling, coffee and web development!

Have you ever taken part in any real life paranormal investigations?
No, but we’d really like to. Work trip?

Have you ever experienced any paranormal activity or paranormal events that you would be comfortable sharing?
Dknighter: Multiple times I’ve had lights turn on or off by themselves when I’m home alone.
Cjdxn: When I was little I swear I saw some kids playing with a ball outside my room at 3am. I turned around then they were gone!
Eblavender: I’ve seen doors close and things I can’t explain for sure. Saved by hiding under the duvet though!
Skinner: I dont think I have, sorry.

What are your favorite games: All time / currently playing?
Dknighter: Halo 3 / Hell Let Loose
Cjdxn: Majora’s Mask / Final Fantasy XIV
Eblavender: Civilization 6 / Maneater
Skinner: Empire Total War / Fortnite

Future Development
What would you say is the general priority now that we have additional developers?
Our main two goals are to improve the overall gameplay of Phasmophobia and add new content.

Will you start developing any new games now that you have a larger team?
Our top priority is to work on Phasmophobia until it can come out of Early Access as the best game it can possibly be.

People want to mod the game to be able to get more enjoyment out of it, will there be any mod support in the future?
There are no plans to add modding support, the reason being is we have a vision for Phasmophobia, and want to keep the game true to its core values.

Are there any plans to include more accessibility options?
Yes, we’re going to add UI elements for people without microphones to interact with the ghost, Ouija board and the spirit box. We’re also looking into adding colorblind options for the graphs and other UI elements.

Will you be releasing on consoles / other platforms?
We’ll be looking into porting the game onto consoles and other platforms as soon as possible now that we have a larger team!

Now that the team is larger, will there be more frequent updates?
Larger content drops will probably be released in a similar schedule to what they are now, however the quality and scale of these updates will be larger.
Smaller patches and bug fixes will now be more frequent as we have more people to find and fix them.

Will the Beta version of the game remain the same for future updates?
We are going to be restructuring how the Beta is used for the game. We want to make sure that future updates are received by everyone at the same time for the best experience.

New Gameplay Features
Will you be adding any new game modes?
Phasmophobia is and always will be: a co-op ghost hunting game. We don’t want to change this too much and would rather add as much as possible to the core gameplay.

What are you going to add to the core gameplay to keep it fresh?
We’ve got lots of plans to add new evidence, main / optional objectives and new ghost types! Keep an eye on Trello for future updates!

Experienced players have mastered the game, do you have plans for any new challenging content for the veteran ghost hunters?
We’re planning to do a large overhaul and re-balance of the 3 difficulty modes in the near future. We want to make sure the game gets harder in fun ways, instead of the ghost just being able to hunt more.

Art and Animation
Now that Kinetic Games has an artist, what assets, animations and effects can we expect to be updated?
A lot of the assets that are repeated among the different levels will be replaced, as well as updating anything that isn’t up to par with the quality of the current or new assets. We’ll also be doing full overhauls for certain visual aspects of the game.

Will you add more personality to the ghosts?
Yes! We want to make each ghost scarier in their own way, we have plans to add “themed horror” to make each encounter different from the last. Each ghost could have it’s own set of “scares” and have it’s own kill animation / death room to match.
(this only refers to the visuals, not the ghost type you're searching for)

Are we going to see more "Classic horror trope" ghost interactions like rocking chairs rocking, doors slamming, cabinet doors flapping, sounds of scampering and dolls moving when backs are turned?
For sure! We love old school horror, and want to make sure that the scares in Phasmophobia are tense and interesting. We also don’t want to resort to cheap jump scares for the majority of the horror.

VR
What are you going to do to improve the VR version of Phasmophobia?
One of our first tasks will be to upgrade the entire VR framework to work with the newer headsets. We will always be looking at ways to make the VR version the best it can be.

Will there be Seated VR mode?
Yes, it will be added alongside the VR framework update!

[glad fulcrum]

Hey <@&893160550480117821>
We recently asked our <@&796898870176514058> for some questions about this years plans for Phasmophobia, here are our answers!

***VR Update ***

Will VR users with older headsets (e.g., Oculus 1) notice a big difference with the new system compared to the previous?

Every VR user, regardless of headset will see a significant difference in both playability and performance with the VR Rework

Will we be able to throw objects more accurately in VR after the update?

Yes! There will be no need to pick up an object twice before you can throw it! Not to mention much more realistic throwing physics

**Has there been any VR capabilities from previous games you all have worked on that you are bringing in Phasmophobia? **

We’re adding hand poses to almost every player interaction in the game, e.g., your hand grabbing door handles, or flicking light switches

**Are there any plans to release Phasmophobia for the ‘Quest 2’ to play without a PC connected? **

Sadly not, Phasmophobia is a very complicated game and we will not be able to port this over without limiting a lot of the graphical settings and features

What content will be available to PC players in the VR update?

Sadly, there isn't a lot of new ‘content’ for PC players, however, we’ll be doing a small patch afterwards with some things to tide you over until the ‘Custom Difficulty’ update is finished

However, there is still some stuff!

• Sound sensor
• New truck screen UI
• Crossing off ghosts in the journal
• Several balance changes to hiding places and blockers, as well as small tents on Maple Lodge Campsite working properly

***Future Content ***

**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

**Any plans to further expand the team? **

We’re not currently looking to expand the team further as we’ve got a nice balance between art creation and code creation with our workflow