[2021] Update: Difficulty changes, quality of life improvements and more.

: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page [url=https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/739630/announcements/detail/5427378936403126537]here[/url].

Hey everyone,

This update brings a lot of important difficulty changes with the ghosts hunting phase that helps move the gameplay towards what it needs to be.

Some changes may seem significant however they have been tested over the past few months on the beta version to make sure they are all well balanced.

While there are still a lot more needed features that will be added, future updates will include new maps, ghost types and new equipment.

You can find out what is currently being worked on from our Trello: https://trello.com/b/9QrnqQ1j/phasmophobia

New

• Added player volume controls to the main menu server screen which will carry over between games.
  
• Added several new hiding places to Grafton and Bleasdale.

Ghost Changes

• The ghost will no longer move at the start of the hunt in the starting phase which is now 5 seconds instead of 8. This is to prevent confusion as to when the hunt has actually started.
  
• All ghosts except Revenants will now move increasingly faster over time if they see you during a hunt. The speed will only drop if they can't see you after they have checked your last known location.
  
• The ghost now has a chance to slightly open both closet doors at the same time during a hunt.
  
• The ghost now has a 50% chance to remember where it last saw you during the last hunt and will search that area in the next hunt.
  
• If you keep talking inside a locker or closet and the ghost knows you are in there it will now fully open both of the closet or locker doors on it's second attempt even if you are grabbing them.
  
• Furniture will now block the line of sight between you and the ghost. This means that there are now a lot more places you can hide in all maps rather than just closets and lockers.

Changes

• Asylum: Increased the size of player icons on the truck map.
  
• Prison and School: Optimisations to significantly improve load times and fps.
  
• You can no longer click any multiplayer related UI buttons (join, create etc.) on the main menu when you are still connecting to the server or a new region.
  
• Crucifixes will now cause a 5 second delay in between each hunt attempt after it gets used by the ghost.
  
• Removed the Garage and Basement keys as they currently have no purpose.
  
• Bleasdale: Some minor lighting changes to help with performance.
  
• The Non-VR area light will now light up the equipment in your hand which will allow you to see what you are holding in the dark.
  
• bHaptics: Removed the footstep haptic effect. More haptics will be added in the future.
  
• Tanglewood: The Garage room has been slightly changed to prevent some exploits.

Fixes

• Fixed a bug where an Oni wouldn't throw objects faster than other ghosts including Poltergeists.
  
• Fixed an issue where the amount of hunts stat would reset if the host disconnected.
  
• Fixed an issue where you could hear the ghost footsteps from far away.
  
• Fixed a bug where some rooms wouldn't start cold on Professional.
  
• Fixed an issue where you could complete the EMF objective during a hunt.
  
• Fixed a bug where the farm house outside foliage/ vegetation were being fully lit when any part of them were lit.
  
• Improved how the equipment, keys and bone get spawned in to help prevent disconnects and crashes at the start of the game.
  
• Fixed a bug where the equipment wouldn't spawn in if the host disconnected when loading.
  
• LIV VR: Fixed a bug where the LIV spectator view could not see other players.
  
• Fixed a bug where the game wouldn't end if all players glitched out of the truck when it was closing.
  
• Fixed a bug where the ghost would keep chasing you after you used a smudge stick during a hunt if you broke line of sight.
  
• Fixed a bug where the CCTV monitor would freeze if you placed a head mounted camera back on the holder while it was shown on the monitor.
  
• Fixed a bug where the selected contract would get desynced if the host left and re-joined the lobby.
  
• Fixed an issue where VR players doors would desync when the ghost or other players would grab the door they were grabbing.
  
• Fixed a bug where you would sometimes not die when wearing a head mounted camera.
  
• Fixed a bug where the ghost could see you through some closed lockers and closets.
  
• Fixed a bug where Banshees wouldn't set a new target player after they killed their target.
  
• Fixed several safe spots across all maps.
  
• Fixed a bug where the ghost would think non hosts were in a different room if they stood against a wall while holding something.
  
• Fixed a bug where door positions would sometimes desync in multiplayer if they got opened or closed too quickly.
  
• Fixed a bug where VR players couldn't grab and take control of doors held by other players.

If you experience any issues or want to give feedback please join our discord: https://discord.gg/phasmophobia