Travelers PHYSICS Update

## TRAVELERS PLAYTEST

### Patch Notes — April 24 to May 17, 2026

This update focuses heavily on physical gameplay, interaction, zombie feedback and multiplayer stability. A large part of the work went into making the world feel more reactive, especially with crates, ragdolls, hit reactions and physics-based chaos.

---

## New Feature: Crate System

A completely new crate system has been built from the ground up.

Players can now pick up crates, carry them around, drop them, throw them and kick them.

Thrown crates can damage enemies and trigger ragdolls depending on their speed. A slowly rolling crate will do almost nothing, while a fast thrown crate can knock zombies down.

Crates can also be kicked away with proper physics behavior.

Many crates hidden in bushes and vegetation can now be harvested and turned into real physical crates.

Around 325 static objects in the world, including crates, barrels, vases and bottles, can now be grabbed or kicked without manually rebuilding the level.

The physics have also been improved. Crates are now more stable, can be stacked, climbed on and no longer constantly slide or shake around.

The system is also multiplayer-ready: crate movement, throwing, dropping, foliage interaction and impact sounds now replicate properly for other players.

Carrying a crate also blocks certain movement actions such as sliding, wall climbing, rope grabbing and vaulting to prevent exploits and clipping issues.

---

## New Feature: Fence Knockdown System

Fences and railings can now be knocked down when hit by players, kicked zombies, thrown crates, melee impacts or dying NPCs.

Only the specific fence section that gets hit is destroyed, while nearby sections stay in place.

A cleanup system was also added so destroyed fences do not pile up forever.

This feature is currently marked as beta while final multiplayer testing continues.

---

## Improved Zombie Hit Reactions

Zombies now react more clearly to hits.

New directional stagger animations were added for front, back, left and right impacts. This makes enemies feel more physical and responsive during combat.

Older physics-based hit reactions were removed after testing because they were too unstable. The new animation-based system is cleaner, more predictable and works better in gameplay.

---

## Improved Ragdolls in Multiplayer

Ragdolls have received major multiplayer improvements.

Dead enemies now replicate much more smoothly, with less stuttering, flickering or client-side glitches.

Zombies lying on the ground can also be kicked again.

A bug where dead zombies could sometimes stand back up has been fixed.

Several network and timing issues related to bone replication were also improved.

---

## Improved Slide System

Aiming while sliding is now prevented, so players can no longer aim bows while sliding.

A bug where the bow arm could get stuck during or after a slide has also been fixed.

---

## Physics Fix: Moon Gravity

A major physics issue has been fixed.

Crates and ragdolls previously felt too floaty and fell too slowly, almost like they were affected by moon gravity.

The cause was related to the Chaos async physics timestep after the engine upgrade.

Physics now run with a better timestep, making falling objects and ragdolls feel heavier, faster and more natural again.

---

## Improved Lobby

Social links have been added to the lobby menu.

Players can now open the related community and social pages directly from the lobby.

---

## Final Notes

This update is a big step toward making the world of Travelers feel more physical, reactive and chaotic.

You can now throw crates, kick objects, knock down enemies, break parts of the environment and experience smoother multiplayer ragdolls.

More improvements, fixes and gameplay features are already in progress.

Thank you for playing and following the development of Travelers.