A new Boneworks patch, Update 1.4, has been released with a handful of additions and tweaks.
Update (April 10th, 2020): The Boneworks update 1.4 is available now. Developer Stress Level Zero has detailed the new update in an official post.
Those who struggled with the game’s physics-based climbing and melee will be happy to hear that the studio says it has “greatly improved hand physics.”
Significant improvements have been made to the hand’s physical forces solve. By more efficiently using the allocated forces for accelerating and breaking we’ve improved stability (good) without simply making the player stronger (cheating). Stopping distance is now solved in 2D instead of one, one parallel to gravity and the other perpendicular. Also, the systems sensors have been improved to better know if you’re lifting your body weight improving climbing greatly. Attention was given to wrist torque implementing a system that simulates stabilizing muscle groups providing tighter handling of items and more satisfying punching/melee.
That’s in addition to three new scenes for the game’s Sandbox mode:
NEW SANDBOX – [REDACTED] Chamber – Originally Test Chamber 04, this was an early experimental physics testing environment for BONEWORKS prototyping. You may be familiar with this environment from videos early on in development.
NEW SANDBOX – HandgunBox – This new environment was built to showcase the new handgun balance features. You can find a CQB time trial course hidden in the depths of this dank MythOS chemical basement.
NEW SANDBOX – Tuscany – Return to Tuscany Italy! A nostalgia trip for early VR enthusiasts, this environment pays tribute to the very first Oculus DK1 VR environment. Relax and enjoy the air, or spawn in sandbox objects and create chaos.
The HandgunBox scene offers a time-trial shooting range where the studio hopes players will get creative as they aim to complete the course as fast as possible. The studio published a new video giving an inside look at the time-trial course.
Stress Level Zero notes that to access the new content, players should look for the [Redacted] level module in the Museum at the Reclamation Bin, though players who have already opened unlocked the Sandbox mode will already have that module plugged in at the game’s lobby.
Update (April 3rd, 2020 – 4:47PM ET): Boneworks creator Brandon Laatsch published a video today showing off and explaining the story behind one of the new Sandbox maps that’s coming in Update 1.4 next week. We’ve added the video below.
Original Article (April 3rd, 2020): Launching next week on April 9th, Boneworks update 1.4 will bring three new maps to the game’s Sandbox mode, a new weapon (the P350 handgun), and changes to the game’s hand physics. This is according to Boneworks creator Brandon Laatsch who teased the update this week.
Launched in late 2019, Boneworks is a VR shooter with campaign, sandbox, and challenge modes. Even after the launch of the stunning Half-Life: Alyx last week, Boneworks is still praised for its ambitious effort to make nearly everything in the game physically simulated. That concept proved alluring to many VR players and the game impressively outpaced Beat Saber to 100K units sold.
While the studio behind the game, Stress Level Zero, has already confirmed it’s working on its next project, it plans to simultaneously continue to improve Boneworks over time. Creator Brandon Laatsch has teased a modding system for the game, something which felt missing at launch.
Though mods aren’t here just yet, in February Update 1.3 to Boneworks added a much requested mid-level checkpoint system, a new Arena mode, more Sandbox mode content, and made improvements to the game’s core physics systems including making climbing less springy.