40 thoughts on “The Player Movement Speed in Phasmophobia”
The way I see it, they set up a false expectation by including a run function at all. It causes people to think that they'll be able to sprint around a corner to get away, only to find them moving marginally faster.
Hey Nuzzgard! I agree with you completely on the player speed and your points about the uniqueness of Phasmophobia, the slower build up to the eventual ghost manifestations and also the helplessness during hunts. I normally don't like horror themed things cuz of the common jump scare theme but THIS GAME is awesome. The slower buildup of the game really creates an amazing atmosphere for me and my 2 fellow investigators, especially on Asylum (our games take way longer there rn haha cuz we still trying to sus out the layout and plot better routes thru it). And that fateful flashlight flicker you see during a hunt…oooo boy does it really send tensions SOARING for my group, especially about who the ghost's target is but we all know we have to stay quiet or we could draw the ghost's attention XD
The "feeling of dread" and "atmospheric spookyness" get old really fast though. Those are things that are easy to get over. Whereas a couple jumpscares wouldnt get old as fast. (Not saying throw jumpscares everywhere, but there is a reason they are more prominent in gaming.)
If they stick with atmosphere people that are over lvl100 don't really get scared anymore and it's just not as fun.
I don’t mind the movement speed other then I wish the run was just the tiniest bit faster. I don’t want it to be a mad dash but I feel the running is just a touch to slow.
Small maps I agree its fine as it is. For bigger maps I disagree. Slow movement speed limit potential on them. Imo faster movement speed, less obvious ghost activity, less accurate locating gose with portable devices (that should give you estimated area). Thermometer should only show you low temperature and also aply it in "splash" to other rooms nearby. For freezing temperatures you would ahve to walkin very close to ghost location (imagine ghost roaming between rooms). Quite same for emf. For precise location you should have to use move sensors, sound sensors, or even cameras (to look for moving objects in the area), wall mounted emf readers/thermometers (that will read signal from whole room).
My dream playstyle is 1st going in with flashlight, thermometer/emf, something to cofactor estimated location eg asylum left wing etc. Then going back to car. 2nd+ setting up sensor to get precise ghost location (route) and also first clues. When I get location I can go with box, UV, book to get last clues.
Imo that has much more flavor and immersion than slow crawling on maps. Also with faster movement there could be ghost than cans low you down, drain your stamina (used for running).
I love bigger maps but its annoying I spend most of time like 80% to slooooooowly walking to find ghost. It completely wasted time, add to it far later ghost location, to get with will all tools it feels like its taking 5 min to go one way. Its more tiring than thrilling.
Tltr: faster movement (player and ghost), some ghost with ability to slow down players during hunt etc, harder to locate ghosts (need to use more tools), that should make seesion time quite same but offer much more.
I understand the points being made here, but I feel that over a longer development time the slower paced parts of Phasmo can be maintained while having the option to move a lot faster. There are so many things that can be tied to movement speed increase. Missing those audio cues and such can be a downside of moving too fast through an area. Moving too much and too fast can make it much more likely for a ghost to find you and hunt you. Being hunted by a ghost and trying to sprint away will make the ghost much more likely to find you and chase you down. Moving fast can be a calculated risk that a player can take: to switch between that slow moving dread and to take a chance running as fast as you can because you need to make a break for it. I do think that large maps are absolutely unbearable right now with the current movement speed even with four players and that is not going to change while we are slowly crawling around the map; furthermore, that will continue to limit how large the Devs can make the maps if the larger maps continue to be less fun.
Maybe add a "stamina" meter of sorts? Treat it as another resource going into hunts. Sprinting and doing certain actions drains your stamina, sort of like sanity, and once it's out there is no way to recover it?
Now Dead Space has jumps scares but gosh damn they are not cheap! Literally people won't play the game cuz they think it's that terrifying, which I think is a little ridiculous cuz I play it. I mean yes its terrifying but I love that about these horror games. I say this cuz I think Nuzz should try the dead space trilogy. I think it'd be right up his alley.
I totally agree, but I think that something needs to be done with the movement speed, since at the moment there’s no reason to ever not sprint. I suggested this in the Phasmophobia discord earlier:
The sprint speed should be made the default speed and the sprint key should be replaced with a sneak key. Walking normally should be noisy, which should attract the ghost during hunts (similar to the current talking mechanic). Sneaking should mitigate this noise at the cost of reduced speed. At the moment, there's no reason to not be constantly holding sprint, which is inconvenient and a bit silly. This change would add some depth and give players a reason to move slowly sometimes.
I agree Nuzzgard. I have used all these talking points in defending the speed of the walk/run speed. And I'm really glad to hear you echo the same thoughts.
I will also add that I like some of the suggestions people have added, such as a toggle button for running, or increasing the movement outside of the school and prison up a bit. I have heard that might really affect VR players though, so for that point, I can agree with keeping it the same.
I just imagine that they took a page from Japanese folklore that ghosts have a harder time tracking you if you hold your breathe so if the characters hold their breath and over exert they can pass out so they move just at faster walk to focus on minimal breathing.
Maybe have items that can force the hunt to stop or really slow the ghost down? Let say banshees stop if you use salt right in front of them. This makes it like control your fear factor.
Honestly I never took those points into consideration, and after that thought, I feel like the movement speed is good, thank you for bringing those up!
In my experience of watching different streams, generally speaking the more people there are does not speed up the mission. Yes many hands make light work of getting equipment to the ghost room on the bigger maps like asylum, but beyond that the disadvantage of groups is how hard it can be to get everyone on the same page. If you have a group of equal skill which has played together enough to be a well oiled machine it might go quickly. But most groups are a mixed bag of people who do and don't know how to play, people who want to play seriously vs people who want to joke around, and so on. This compared to a solo player like yourself who can stay on mission, get the evidence, and leave with few if any distractions (other than your adorable kitten 😀 )
So the item organization may be better in a group but the people organization is not. Which really just goes back to your point that the current programmed length of missions is perfect as is.
know what would be a cool buff for the Yurei? if you look at it while it manifests it slows you just ever so slightly for a minute or so, would make Yurei hunts scarier
I don't like the fact that there's a sprint button you pretty much have to hold down at all times and, if you do, it only makes you slightly faster. It's annoying and it should be removed.
I think it'd be nice to have a sprint or something you can do for a few seconds that you can only use during a hunt like a 3 second boost to get you away.
Also would be nice to be able to toggle walking and the fast walk so my finger doesn't get tired holding shift down during a hunt
I'll say I agree that on the smaller maps I think the movement speed is perfect as it is. Its only on the larger maps where I start to feel like it's a bit too slow, especially on school and prison where the truck is so far from the entrances. It would be nice to see a way for a faster "sprint" speed to be worked in on those maps without breaking the game, but I dont mind the movement speed that much. If anything should be changed on larger maps I think it should be ghost behavior/mechanics to make use of more area in the map, as opposed to just the one ghost room
People seem to forget that games with jumping and fast running always have a significant portion of the community that bunnyhop everywhere and it would absolutely ruin the atmosphere.
I do feel frustrated with the running speed at times, especially on a medium or large map when you've already found the ghost room and have to walk all the way back to the truck (I play solo as well as co-op with my husband). Otherwise, the player speed doesn't bother me that much… but I have to say, the longest walk is actually the walk from the truck to the dang prison door! I mean, could our driver have parked further away?! 🙂
I think I have a good idea for balancing this out. Here is what I say: add a sprint button. However this sprint will have some caveats. If you sprint around in the house, when not in a hunt, it will severely anger the ghost and let it know exactly where you are and trigger a hunt where it will sprint after you. Therefore you will be forced to take it slow and only run as a last resort in a hunt. Outside you could run with no issue to get supplies to the doorstep faster. It would be very intense to run from the ghost in a hunt to break line of sight.
I wouldn't mess with the speed at all. If anything, they should change the pattern for hunts. Maybe add the low chance for the ghost to teleport in front of or beside the targeted player when it blinks. They could add a 2 or 3 second grace period in case it spawns inside the player. I would prefer this over the ghost gradually speeding up. I play in the open lobbies and it is awful trying to find a decent group. Making the game incredibly difficult would hurt the average player. That being said, they do need to fix the locker/closets. It shouldn't be impossibly difficult, nor should it be a cakewalk either.
In my opinion they should change the Banshee, having the Banshee be the only ghost being able to hunt at any time makes it pretty obvious the ghost is a Banshee
I feel like movement speed would feel better if it was a bit more obvious when a player was sprinting/running. This could be a slight increase in speed over the current amount, or perhaps making non-sprinting players slower.
still think dk should test out giving a full sprint run for the first 8 seconds of the hunt to compensate for changes not like rev speed but faster than shift+w
The way I see it, they set up a false expectation by including a run function at all. It causes people to think that they'll be able to sprint around a corner to get away, only to find them moving marginally faster.
The movement speed is fine.
Hey Nuzzgard! I agree with you completely on the player speed and your points about the uniqueness of Phasmophobia, the slower build up to the eventual ghost manifestations and also the helplessness during hunts. I normally don't like horror themed things cuz of the common jump scare theme but THIS GAME is awesome. The slower buildup of the game really creates an amazing atmosphere for me and my 2 fellow investigators, especially on Asylum (our games take way longer there rn haha cuz we still trying to sus out the layout and plot better routes thru it). And that fateful flashlight flicker you see during a hunt…oooo boy does it really send tensions SOARING for my group, especially about who the ghost's target is but we all know we have to stay quiet or we could draw the ghost's attention XD
The movement speed is perfect as it is, now only waiting for the speed to be increased of the ghosts and that would be perfect as well.
The "feeling of dread" and "atmospheric spookyness" get old really fast though. Those are things that are easy to get over. Whereas a couple jumpscares wouldnt get old as fast. (Not saying throw jumpscares everywhere, but there is a reason they are more prominent in gaming.)
If they stick with atmosphere people that are over lvl100 don't really get scared anymore and it's just not as fun.
I don’t mind the movement speed other then I wish the run was just the tiniest bit faster. I don’t want it to be a mad dash but I feel the running is just a touch to slow.
Small maps I agree its fine as it is.
For bigger maps I disagree. Slow movement speed limit potential on them. Imo faster movement speed, less obvious ghost activity, less accurate locating gose with portable devices (that should give you estimated area). Thermometer should only show you low temperature and also aply it in "splash" to other rooms nearby. For freezing temperatures you would ahve to walkin very close to ghost location (imagine ghost roaming between rooms). Quite same for emf. For precise location you should have to use move sensors, sound sensors, or even cameras (to look for moving objects in the area), wall mounted emf readers/thermometers (that will read signal from whole room).
My dream playstyle is
1st going in with flashlight, thermometer/emf, something to cofactor estimated location eg asylum left wing etc. Then going back to car.
2nd+ setting up sensor to get precise ghost location (route) and also first clues.
When I get location I can go with box, UV, book to get last clues.
Imo that has much more flavor and immersion than slow crawling on maps.
Also with faster movement there could be ghost than cans low you down, drain your stamina (used for running).
I love bigger maps but its annoying I spend most of time like 80% to slooooooowly walking to find ghost. It completely wasted time, add to it far later ghost location, to get with will all tools it feels like its taking 5 min to go one way. Its more tiring than thrilling.
Tltr: faster movement (player and ghost), some ghost with ability to slow down players during hunt etc, harder to locate ghosts (need to use more tools), that should make seesion time quite same but offer much more.
I understand the points being made here, but I feel that over a longer development time the slower paced parts of Phasmo can be maintained while having the option to move a lot faster. There are so many things that can be tied to movement speed increase. Missing those audio cues and such can be a downside of moving too fast through an area. Moving too much and too fast can make it much more likely for a ghost to find you and hunt you. Being hunted by a ghost and trying to sprint away will make the ghost much more likely to find you and chase you down. Moving fast can be a calculated risk that a player can take: to switch between that slow moving dread and to take a chance running as fast as you can because you need to make a break for it. I do think that large maps are absolutely unbearable right now with the current movement speed even with four players and that is not going to change while we are slowly crawling around the map; furthermore, that will continue to limit how large the Devs can make the maps if the larger maps continue to be less fun.
Give me a auto walk so I don’t gotta hold sprint for like 10 mins in big maps
Maybe add a "stamina" meter of sorts? Treat it as another resource going into hunts. Sprinting and doing certain actions drains your stamina, sort of like sanity, and once it's out there is no way to recover it?
Now Dead Space has jumps scares but gosh damn they are not cheap! Literally people won't play the game cuz they think it's that terrifying, which I think is a little ridiculous cuz I play it. I mean yes its terrifying but I love that about these horror games. I say this cuz I think Nuzz should try the dead space trilogy. I think it'd be right up his alley.
I totally agree, but I think that something needs to be done with the movement speed, since at the moment there’s no reason to ever not sprint. I suggested this in the Phasmophobia discord earlier:
The sprint speed should be made the default speed and the sprint key should be replaced with a sneak key. Walking normally should be noisy, which should attract the ghost during hunts (similar to the current talking mechanic). Sneaking should mitigate this noise at the cost of reduced speed. At the moment, there's no reason to not be constantly holding sprint, which is inconvenient and a bit silly. This change would add some depth and give players a reason to move slowly sometimes.
Phas is almost like a classic horror movie. Slowly leading up to the scary part.
I agree Nuzzgard. I have used all these talking points in defending the speed of the walk/run speed. And I'm really glad to hear you echo the same thoughts.
I will also add that I like some of the suggestions people have added, such as a toggle button for running, or increasing the movement outside of the school and prison up a bit. I have heard that might really affect VR players though, so for that point, I can agree with keeping it the same.
I just imagine that they took a page from Japanese folklore that ghosts have a harder time tracking you if you hold your breathe so if the characters hold their breath and over exert they can pass out so they move just at faster walk to focus on minimal breathing.
not surprising my comment got deleted lmfao
Maybe have items that can force the hunt to stop or really slow the ghost down? Let say banshees stop if you use salt right in front of them. This makes it like control your fear factor.
I agree
I also have to imagine that the movement speed is on the lower side to keep things from being disorienting in VR
I think players should be slowed down a little bit the lower sanity gets, at like 20% and lower
Honestly I never took those points into consideration, and after that thought, I feel like the movement speed is good, thank you for bringing those up!
I would prefer you be able to move faster when out side the house/building but when inside go to normal speed
In my experience of watching different streams, generally speaking the more people there are does not speed up the mission. Yes many hands make light work of getting equipment to the ghost room on the bigger maps like asylum, but beyond that the disadvantage of groups is how hard it can be to get everyone on the same page. If you have a group of equal skill which has played together enough to be a well oiled machine it might go quickly. But most groups are a mixed bag of people who do and don't know how to play, people who want to play seriously vs people who want to joke around, and so on. This compared to a solo player like yourself who can stay on mission, get the evidence, and leave with few if any distractions (other than your adorable kitten 😀 )
So the item organization may be better in a group but the people organization is not. Which really just goes back to your point that the current programmed length of missions is perfect as is.
know what would be a cool buff for the Yurei? if you look at it while it manifests it slows you just ever so slightly for a minute or so, would make Yurei hunts scarier
This video told me everything i need to know about what you know about game design/balance 😬😬😬 big yikes hard pass
I don't like the fact that there's a sprint button you pretty much have to hold down at all times and, if you do, it only makes you slightly faster. It's annoying and it should be removed.
I think it'd be nice to have a sprint or something you can do for a few seconds that you can only use during a hunt like a 3 second boost to get you away.
Also would be nice to be able to toggle walking and the fast walk so my finger doesn't get tired holding shift down during a hunt
I'll say I agree that on the smaller maps I think the movement speed is perfect as it is. Its only on the larger maps where I start to feel like it's a bit too slow, especially on school and prison where the truck is so far from the entrances. It would be nice to see a way for a faster "sprint" speed to be worked in on those maps without breaking the game, but I dont mind the movement speed that much. If anything should be changed on larger maps I think it should be ghost behavior/mechanics to make use of more area in the map, as opposed to just the one ghost room
People seem to forget that games with jumping and fast running always have a significant portion of the community that bunnyhop everywhere and it would absolutely ruin the atmosphere.
i think the movement speed is PERFECT
Me: watching the vid
Also me: Looks at top left corner to see ATTACK in spirit box
I do feel frustrated with the running speed at times, especially on a medium or large map when you've already found the ghost room and have to walk all the way back to the truck (I play solo as well as co-op with my husband). Otherwise, the player speed doesn't bother me that much… but I have to say, the longest walk is actually the walk from the truck to the dang prison door! I mean, could our driver have parked further away?! 🙂
Ive been playing this game for about half a year and its super scary 😅
I think I have a good idea for balancing this out. Here is what I say: add a sprint button. However this sprint will have some caveats. If you sprint around in the house, when not in a hunt, it will severely anger the ghost and let it know exactly where you are and trigger a hunt where it will sprint after you. Therefore you will be forced to take it slow and only run as a last resort in a hunt. Outside you could run with no issue to get supplies to the doorstep faster. It would be very intense to run from the ghost in a hunt to break line of sight.
I wouldn't mess with the speed at all. If anything, they should change the pattern for hunts. Maybe add the low chance for the ghost to teleport in front of or beside the targeted player when it blinks. They could add a 2 or 3 second grace period in case it spawns inside the player. I would prefer this over the ghost gradually speeding up. I play in the open lobbies and it is awful trying to find a decent group. Making the game incredibly difficult would hurt the average player. That being said, they do need to fix the locker/closets. It shouldn't be impossibly difficult, nor should it be a cakewalk either.
How about this. You can sprint while you are outside.
In my opinion they should change the Banshee, having the Banshee be the only ghost being able to hunt at any time makes it pretty obvious the ghost is a Banshee
I feel like movement speed would feel better if it was a bit more obvious when a player was sprinting/running. This could be a slight increase in speed over the current amount, or perhaps making non-sprinting players slower.
still think dk should test out giving a full sprint run for the first 8 seconds of the hunt to compensate for changes not like rev speed but faster than shift+w
Thanks bro