Hey, MGH Squad! đ
If youâve been keeping an eye out, you might have seen our hint about another test this month! Well, today we have more information to share.
Our next closed beta test will start on Friday, January 28th, and will run through the weekend! The test is currently planned to conclude at 3 AM EST Monday, January 31st.
This is our second closed beta, and our NDA/no streaming rules will still stand. This is still in effect due to some experimental new features that need stress testing before we go loud on streaming.
Weâve been hard at work improving the balance, polish, and overall quality of the game since our last test. Before allowing content creation at a larger scale, we want to make sure everything runs smoothly and the game feels fun and fair for all participants! Thank you for understanding, weâll make sure to keep you updated on all the news about content creation soonâ˘.
Now, letâs take a closer look at whatâs new in this closed beta!
đĽď¸ NEW FEATURES đĽď¸
Map Polishing/REWORK
Our most iconic map, Mansion, has gone through quite a visual transformation! Weâve made it feel closer to the haunted Victorian mansion concept that inspired it. Take a peek at the above video to get an idea of how it looks now.
Museum has also seen a visual polishing pass, cleaning up meshes and improving the lighting.
Factory has seen some layout tweaks in an effort to make the map more balanced - internally these changes have made a big difference, we are looking forward to seeing how it turns out!
A few other maps have had some polishing as well, we canât wait to hear what you think!
Progression (v2)
Last test, we introduced progression to unlock gear and abilities based on player level. We received great feedback on this topic and weâve decided to try a different approach.
Now, you can unlock gear and abilities with your Ghost Shards, just like the cosmetics. This game is all about counters and switching your loadout to best suit the situation - so it makes sense to let players pick what they want to unlock first instead of an arbitrary level requirement.
The costs to unlock gear are relatively low, so you can quickly gear up without overwhelming new players immediately with all of the choices available. Simply earning XP and completing matches will give you Ghost Shards.
Bots
Our AI-controlled bots are now ready for testing! By default, they will fill empty player slots until players join and replace them. This ensures a 4v4 match at all times. The host of the match can disable this if needed in the Server Tools interface.
Keep in mind they are very much a work in progress, but definitely give us feedback! The easiest way to do this is by joining us on Discord.
Anti-cheat
Weâve implemented a new anti-cheat system to ensure all MGH matches are as fair as possible! Please note this is also an experimental new feature that needs testing on a large scale.
Matchmaking IMPROVEMENTS
We introduced matchmaking in our previous beta and received great feedback on how it worked out. Weâve taken that into consideration and made various tweaks and bug fixes that should ideally make more balanced matches going forward if the players queue through the quick play system.
As always, this is a work in progress, so let us know what you think after playing some rounds.
Server browser improvements
Server browsing is better than ever! Weâve included some new filters in the server browser, including regions, friends only, and by map! If any of your Steam friends are playing on a server, that server will appear at the top of your server list and be denoted with an icon to make playing with them even easier.
Vaulting
Vaulting is here! Now Hunters can climb up and over any obstacles in the way. From what we have seen internally, this has helped the Hunters feel much more nimble and mobile, but be sure to let us know what you think!
VAN RIDE IMPROVEMENTS
The iconic van ride (or the boat ride if youâre heading to the Ghost Ship) has been fine-tuned, making the ride feel better with realistic bumps, camera tweaks, and new sitting animations.
TRAP REWORK
In an effort to make Anti-Ghost Traps more consistent, they now pull you out of your prop into Ghost form when you are caught in it. You simply need to punch the trap a few times to break loose, but you are vulnerable in this state.
Thereâs also new visual polish and animation tweaks for the trap - including a range indicator that gives you a sense of how close you can get to it.
The Untrappable perk for Ghosts makes it so you are not pulled out or slowed very much.
Cosmetics
Ghost skins are finally here! We have 9 new ghost skins for you to choose from. We also have a few new hunter skins, and they are now visible in first-person! Pretty nifty.
NVIDIA DLSS Support
If you happen to be one of the lucky ducks who have an RTX 20 or 30 series graphics card, feel free to test out NVIDIAâs DLSS functionality. You can read more about it in our previous blog post.
đď¸KEYSđď¸
If you have a key from any previous test, you can join the MGH beta by simply reinstalling Midnight Ghost Hunt - Beta Test on Steam to participate.
If you donât have a key, things have changed a bit this time around. We are now using the Steam playtest feature to manage access!
All that you have to do is go to our Steam store page and click âRequest Accessâ under the Playtest section. If you are chosen you will get notified on email and on Steam directly, and the game will automatically show up in your Steam library! If you want to click that âAdd to Wishlistâ button while you are there, we sure wouldnât mind. đ
Thereâs many more changes, including many balance tweaks based on feedback (Yes, the Flamethrower got tweaked) - stay tuned closer to the test for a full changelog.
JOIN US ON DISCORD!
To give us feedback on the test, we will still be using our Discord, so make sure to join us! We might throw a few keys in #general still, just for old times sake đ
Weâre beyond excited to play Midnight Ghost Hunt with all of you again! Weâd also love to hear what you are most looking forward to. Let's chat on Discord & Twitter, and weâll see you on the hunt on the 28th of January!
Tinny đť
Community Manager