This hatch I found baffles me. As I witnessed the last survivor being, yet again, the victim of the dreaded hook I stumbled upon it as I slowly backed away. I finally found my keyhole. With my last strength I opened it, entered its tunnels and somehow found my way to the campfire. Now I sit here contemplating its purpose. Is hope more important for the Entity than I thought? Is this hatch just a treat you give a dog to as encouragement? For now I take what I can get. | |||
~ Benedict Baker's Journal |
On one rare occasion, I encountered an alternative way to escape. It suddenly dawned on me that I was the only remaining Survivor | ||
~ A Note signed 'V.' (potentially Vigo) |
The Hatch, also known and commonly referred to as the "Hatch", is one of the two potential ways for Survivors to escape a trial in Template:IconLink.
Accessibility
The Black Lock will automatically open when there's only one living Survivor left on the map (all the other Survivors have to have escaped, be dead, sacrificed or disconnected) and a certain amount of Generators have been fully repaired (see below).
Opening
It can be manually opened with a Template:IconLink once visible (and interact-able). It will then remain open for 30 seconds and can be used by any remaining Survivor in that time-frame to escape the trial.
Key
The Template:IconLink and the Template:IconLink both have the ability to open the Hatch when there are multiple Survivors still in the trial, given that it already spawned. The Hatch will remain open for a set amount of time (30 seconds) and any Survivor jumping in will automatically escape, with up to all four escaping at the same time.
Unless the Key is equipped with the Template:IconLink Add-on, it will be consumed upon opening the Hatch.
The Key is also required to unlock the Where Did They Go?!? Achievement.
Closing
As of the Public Test Build 2.0.0, the Hatch could be closed by the Killer should they reach it before the Survivor. This mechanic received two iterations on the PTB, the first required that a Generator be done in order to re-open the Hatch, the second iteration powered all remaining Generators upon closing the Hatch, requiring the Survivor to open an Exit Gate. The Hatch-closing mechanic was not implemented in Patch 2.0.0.
Spawn Location
The Hatch will spawn in a randomly selected location on the Map at the very start of the trial and remain invisible to the Survivors and the Killer until certain requirements are met, which will make it visible to everyone and thus interact-able.
This allows for it to be tracked with a Template:IconLink or a regular Template:IconLink equipped with the Template:IconLink Add-on, even though it is still invisible to the Players.
The Hatch will reveal its location once open by emitting a peculiar sound:
Visibility
The Hatch will become visible ("spawn") whenever the number of fully repaired Template:IconLink exceeds the number of living Survivors by 1. This is true for the following scenarios:
- Four Survivors: 5 fully repaired Generators / Template:IconLink are powered
- Three Survivors: 4 fully repaired Generators / 1 Generator left
- Two Survivors: 3 fully repaired Generators / 2 Generators left
- One Survivor: 2 fully repaired Generators / 3 Generators left
Achievements
There are currently three Achievements related to the Hatch.
Template:Achievement TableTemplate:Achievement TableTemplate:Achievement TableIcon | Name | Description |
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Trivia
- The name Hatch stems from an earlier concept version back when the Hatch mechanic wasn't conceived yet and instead there would have been several Black Locks distributed across the Maps.
- Much like with Windows, the Killer can interrupt a Survivor in the process of jumping into the Hatch. If timed correctly, the Survivor will be grabbed out of the hatch and hoisted onto the Killer's shoulder.
- Unlike with Windows though, the Survivor does not have to be injured in order to be grabbed from the Hatch.
- During one of their weekly Streams, Dave and Ash revealed the Black Lock having a deep connection with a particular character. Aforementioned character has been (at least) mentioned at some point in the game.
- Vigo is a potential candidate, given his ability to create things and "bend the fog's irrefragable rules."
Audio Sequence
The following audio file shows the entire sequence of the Hatch's behaviour in-game:
Gallery