A camera hack reveals that in horror classic P.T., Lisa is always right behind you
Ava Bailey If you ever got the feeling that Lisa was right behind you in P.T., that's because she was - literally at all times.
P.T., the Silent Hills demo that many consider to be one of the best horror games of all time, was downloaded over a million times on PS4 before the game was cancelled and the demo was pulled. Fans have mourned for it, and uncovered new, weird shit inside it, ever since.
Now, after cancelled remakes, and what's starting to feel like a curse that leads to P.T. inspired games disappearing, we've got some new information about some of P.T.'s tricks - and somehow it's even scarier when you pull the curtain back.
Lance McDonald, best known for his work on YouTube hacking into From Software's games (and who you can support on Patreon), has been working on gaining control of the camera in P.T., and as of a few days ago, he's managed it - and now he's privy to some of the game's secrets.
"I’ve been slowly working on looking for useful bits of code in PT for months, usually just messing around for a few hours a week and having no luck at all," Lance told VG247. "I finally found all the code that handles the 'zoom in' when the player clicks the R3 button."
"I removed all the code that adjusts the camera and replaced it with my own, and then patched the game so that it thinks you’re always holding R3, so it constantly injects my custom camera axis."
By doing this, Lance made a terrifying discovery: when you can hear Lisa right behind you, and see her shadows flickering against the walls, that's because she's actually there.
In P.T., it's common to hear noises as if Lisa is right behind you, or see weird shadows moving around in front of you, but when you turn around, there's nothing there. I hacked the game to allow the player to see behind them without actually turning around and...
— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) September 9, 2019
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Creepier still is this fixed-camera footage, which shows Lisa hovering just behind the player, her head shaking and convulsing.
She actually attaches to the player's back as soon as you get the flashlight, here, I demonstrate how you can see some strange shadows. I then lock the camera in place and walk forward, showing how she's always there... following you...
— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) September 9, 2019
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Lance said that he's found "heaps" by messing around with PT's code. "I only tweeted what I did because I’m confident I have enough other awesome stuff to save for a full video." Now that he has manual control of the camera, he's been able to access plenty of weird content.
For context: after months of trying, I’ve finally patched P.T. to get manual control of the camera and get a look at some of the weird stuff that happens just outside of the players’ view. I’m excited to show you weird, new things from a lost game.
— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) September 8, 2019
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Expect more weird P.T. content from Lance McDonald soon. P.T. is, unfortunately, gone from the PlayStation Store forever, but it doesn't seem like fans are done with it just yet.
