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Auroch Digital's upcoming first-person shooter Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2 is scheduled to launch in 2026. Principal designer Matt Bone discussed the game's creative environments and novel mechanics with Rock Paper Shotgun ahead of the release.
Among the diverse new biomes is a level informally known as "Puzzle Box" or "Vicious Circles." The map features a series of connected, rotating ring sections and a slowly spinning cog for the finale, requiring the player to move rings at different points to unlock areas for progression and exploration.
According to Bone, the moving sections are covered in enemies and pickups, creating significant technical hurdles for coders regarding enemy navigation on moving platforms and performance challenges with spinning meshes. The level is set inside a spaceship belonging to primary antagonist Vashtorr and heavily utilizes a disturbing "fleshmetal" aesthetic, which presented artistic difficulties because intricate level art and wriggling tendrils must avoid clipping through walls across multiple configurations.
