Hey there, Ghost Hunters!
Welcome back to our weekly update!
We’re just a few short weeks away from the new year. Time flies!
Last week we took questions from our community across Discord, Reddit and Twitter!
Suit up in your hazmat suit, grab your Spectral Cannon and Radar, and help us track down the answers to your questions.
Are you planning on making more game modes in the future? - DJ
Yes! With this kind of game, there’s lots of opportunity for this kind of thing. For example, a 7 v 1 game mode could be fun. One Super Ghost versus 7 Hunters. If a Hunter dies, then they become a Ghost too. We could also do a vanilla prop hunt mode. If you have any ideas for a cool game mode, definitely let us know on Discord!
As we are pre-anticheat will the use of reshade be considered cheating? - METALSHARK
Unsure about this right now. This is often a tricky matter for multiplayer games. Purely cosmetic mods/programs could be OK as long as they give you absolutely no advantage. There’s also the risk that the engine may consider any tampering by a process to be cheating.
I’m a fan of letting the players adjust their visual experience to their personal preference - it’s just a matter of implementation. I will look into possible solutions here and keep everyone posted.
Have you thought about implementing weather into the game such as fog, rain, and or lightning? - Straydevilfox
Our Asylum map rains and thunders a bit - but adding some of this randomly to each map could add a lot of flavor. It can really set the mood of a haunted place. This will likely be something we consider adding when we get into that final polish phase.
How much Do you Plan On the game costing?
- Mets11rap
Not determined yet - we are currently focusing on making the best game that we can. I can say that we will not be full-priced, and will probably end up costing what you’d expect a game like this to cost. We want to make sure the barrier to entry is low so we can count on a solid playerbase.
Sorry this is not a solid answer yet, we are still early on in the full development process and this will likely be one of the last things we finalize. We just want to make a good game, first and foremost.
Would you consider adding larger maps or do you feel the gameplay shines best with tight spaces forcing constant engagement? - Noony
Great question! I tend to agree with you - the maps currently are too small. You’ll be happy to hear that we’re expanding all three existing maps with more rooms, pathways, and props to possess. I think having more hiding spots is always a good thing. And given how accurate and effective the Hunter’s gadgets are, it will help the Ghosts significantly to have more places to hide.
We are also working on some prop layout randomization. Each room might have a slightly different layout of props each time you play - giving the Ghosts a better shot at hiding in plain sight.
With a static map, experienced Hunters know exactly when something has been moved or something does not belong. This means that the most effective way to play a Ghost is to merely become a tiny object and wedge yourself in a corner. But with the prop layout randomization, it should help Ghosts take more risks and add some more variety to their options when hiding.
We are also experimenting with ‘wildcard’ props - essentially, these special props could be one of many different props of similar size. Sometimes it will be a lamp, or sometimes it will be a potted plant. This will result in even more variety each time you play the map.
Let us know what you think of these changes on Discord. The bigger maps are currently in development, and I hope one or two of them will be ready for the next test.
Will MGH have achievements? - TMGR13
Yes! You may have noticed we have two already, just a victory for each team. But we plan on many, many more. Win with a headshot with a lamp? Achievement for that. Beat all Ghosts with the Ghostsmasher in a 1v4? Achievement for that too. I’m all about achievements.
Is there a piece or achievement that the team is especially proud of? A feature that stands out and made you say "I’m glad that made it in game!" ? - Thelosttexan
There’s so many like this - to be honest, when you make anything work properly in-game, it feels like a momentous achievement. As it turns out, multiplayer games are hard to make. Surprising, I know.
The biggest ones that come to mind are the way props shatter into pieces. Once I got that working, and I went around smashing things, it felt very satisfying. Our killcam system also took a lot of time to get working, and required a lot of experimentation and research to get working. That was a great moment when we finally saw replay happening.
What would you do in the far future for the lore? (comics, black boxes that give info about the map etc.) - Spook
Lore is great - we’ve definitely got some ideas there. Admittedly, we are mostly focused on gameplay right now. But lore creates context for the game which is really important. Why are there Ghosts? Who are the Ghost Hunters really? Who’s calling the shots? Who hired those Hunters? Lots of fun questions to answer and explore to make the world of MGH feel alive and believable.
You may have noticed the radio announcer in the van ride to the haunted location - there’s some lore to extract there. We plan on doing more of that kind of thing. Comics would be amazing - if we are successful enough to have tie-in comics, we’ve done something right.
I think some sort of information bank of lore to collect while playing could be cool too. I always liked reading all that stuff when playing games as a kid. Doesn’t really get in the way of gameplay, but there if you want it.
How's life been? Always good to have a break from answering questions about the game
- Mythra Main
Thanks for asking! Life’s been good, just quite busy working on this here game. Looking forward to the holidays so I can spend some time with my family - I don’t get to see them often. It’s going to be lovely. I hope everyone else gets to do the same.
Will the game have more forbidden gestures?
- Chillax
Yes, absolutely. Prepare yourselves. Use of forbidden gestures will result in a ban from most servers, so use this power wisely.
But seriously - the more emotes, the better. We’re on it!
What is the best way for new players to get into the game? - Jason
We do have a tutorial for both Ghosts and Ghost Hunters. However, it is not complete - and only serves to give you a brief introduction to the world of the game and the mechanics. We plan on shipping with a much better and more fully developed tutorial system. But as we are still tweaking and adjusting core mechanics, we’re not so heavily focused on a perfect tutorial right now - as some of it may change.
We’re also trying to make the game intuitive enough that if you go in and play without a tutorial, you can still stand a chance. As long as you go in with “Okay, this is hide and seek, and I am the hider. Got it.”, then we’re in good shape at least for a first match. A lot of this comes from effective user interface design.
We do have the F1 Menu that will show you your team and class’s ability with a little video. I think this will help a lot of new players out.
Will the game be out for Xbox, and Playstation, or only PC? - Mort
Currently focusing on our PC release, but ideally we’ll be on all platforms. With cross-platform multiplayer as a goal. We’d like as many people to be able to play the game as possible, and be able to play together.
Console ports are rather costly and take a lot of time, and we are a tiny new indie studio. But it’s certainly something I’d like to. Stay tuned for more on that!
Any plans for modular maps that change slightly or have different corridors open each time a round starts ? - DJ
Randomization is totally something we’re experimenting with right now. Currently we are focusing on just room arrangement randomization without affecting the actual map layout. The rooms will always be in the same spot, but the props inside them may change or will vary in placement. I think this is important because it allows the Hunters to learn the general map flow, which is important for callouts when communicating for your team. If the map layout itself changes, Hunters may not be able to coordinate as well.
However, I think the concept should be explored with perhaps a certain subsection of maps with this feature. Designed from the ground up to be modular and fully randomized. I think it could create a unique challenge to the Hunters. I think it could be a lot of fun.
What's the main programming language behind this project? - nebotec
We’re using Unreal Engine 4 - so that means a combination of C++ and Blueprint. There’s probably too much Blueprint going on, as it is so easy to write and iterate on. But there’s some performance cost associated with it - so as we get closer to release, some/most of it will be refactored into C++ to get some performance gains.
We are doing some fancy custom C++ stuff on top of what the engine is already doing - like our Killcam, some multiplayer features, and so on.
Will audio captions be available for those with hearing issues/general accessibility?
- metalshark
Uncertain about this. Obviously accessibility is an important thing to consider, and I’d like everyone to have a chance to enjoy the game. But it also comes at the cost of balance, as anyone with these captions enabled would have a tactical advantage of some description. Thank you for bringing this up, and I will consider possible solutions for the final release.
That’s it for this Q&A! Thanks so much for the questions, it was great fun to answer them. Can’t wait to play with you all again! I appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to make the game better. Stay tuned for more alpha information soon!
Cheers,
-Kite
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