Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
A series of glitches allows you to regain control of Sam while inside a seam, which is the watery place you end up in after a game over. This changes how the game world looks and works on a fundamental level, and it might also have a use in speedruns. Research is still ongoing!
As far as I know, these techniques are new. Feel free to inform me if this tech or other cool stuff was already discovered in Director's Cut. I haven't really found any resources for this online.
0:00 - First step is doing something called swap break-out. In this technique you interrupt swapping cargo between hands by resting or some other prompts (such as a vehicle, zip-wire, etc.) This makes Sam's arms act in strange ways. The normal logistical pathway from floor to his hands to his back (or vice-versa) stops working, in practice often making packages get stuck to his hands. There's much more to this trick, of course, but it really deserves its own video for an in-depth look.
0:29 - While a package is stuck to your hand, you can buffer certain things like drinking from your flask, dropping items or changing boots to remain in the background until your hand(s) become free again.
It's the last one - the Boots buffer - we are most interested in. For some reason this unassuming small animation of switching your boots has a super high priority in the game's cancel system, and it can interrupt practically anything.
So, we activate a Boots buffer, then jump off a cliff. (Almost any game over method that sends you to the seam will do, aside from drowning in tar.)
0:53 - The game forcibly empties Sam's hands when he enters the seam, thus releasing the Boots buffer.
Sam's final thoughts before perishing are "Must... change... boots." And as for what happens next? I like to think that the smell of his own boot sweat acts like a freakishly potent smelling salt, reviving him before his soul has a chance to return to his body, or his body return to reality.
1:08 - So, what to say about Seamwalking? (I think it's an appropriate name for this glitch because you are literally able to start walking... in Seam... ah, never mind.)
You'll find that the game world is covered in underwater effects, and this remains true indefinitely. This glitch stays on until you switch maps one way or the other, f.e. by visiting firing range or fast traveling between continents.
All saving is disabled until you manage to end the glitch.
Most sound effects and music are disabled, giving the game a somewhat eerie underwater exploration vibe. (It occasionally makes me think of Soma.)
Stamina behaves a bit weirdly at the moment: it doesn't regenerate or get expended like normal. This is a bit annoying since if you get stuck on low stamina (by f.e. jumping too much), your speed slows down significantly and it's tough to regain your normal speed back during this glitch. (There might be some trick to it, though?)
As far as I can tell, it's not possible to die again while Seamwalking. Projectiles and explosions don't work, Sam is immune to fall damage (and lacks some fall reactions altogether) and enemies can't harm Sam either. You can't even sink in tar in this state. Anyway, I demonstrate this by jumping off the same cliff that proved fatal to Sam just a moment ago.
1:54 - For an unknown reason, sometimes porters and towns are impossible to access. Perhaps some trigger which says to the game "Sam is approaching, unlock the front door" does not activate in this state.
Whatever the case, this is quite thematic, considering that these barriers are meant to keep all manner of ghostly and chiral phenomena outside and Sam almost certainly counts as one right now.
2:17 - BB is completely dark and inactive for the time being.
2:58 - Watchtowers and other structures can be used just fine. As you may notice, stray pieces of cargo and materials are suspiciously absent. They don't seem to exist in the game world in this state.
3:38 - It seems BTs cannot spawn in the game world right now. (Mules can spawn in some circumstances, but as mentioned, they can't harm Sam. This will be shown in another video.)
Although no enemies are around, this doesn't stop BB from becoming autotoxemic since it's a scripted event in Chapter 2.
5:04 - As another example of some proximity-based triggers potentially not activating for Sam in this state, the tunnel leading to the Distribution Center terminal remains completely dark while passing through.
5:31 - Cargo can be delivered like normal during the glitch, allowing you to make progress in the story.
6:06 - The prompt for entering private room (and also "resting") doesn't work at the moment for some reason. However, private room can still be entered via the terminal.
6:31 - The rest of the video consists of some Episode 2 cutscenes while inside the Seam. Besides the camera's depth of field being all wonky, NPC characters also look pasty and untextured...? Honestly, the spookiness of this glitch even makes me think of P.T. sometimes.
A series of glitches allows you to regain control of Sam while inside a seam, which is the watery place you end up in after a game over. This changes how the game world looks and works on a fundamental level, and it might also have a use in speedruns. Research is still ongoing!
As far as I know, these techniques are new. Feel free to inform me if this tech or other cool stuff was already discovered in Director's Cut. I haven't really found any resources for this online.
0:00 - First step is doing something called swap break-out. In this technique you interrupt swapping cargo between hands by resting or some other prompts (such as a vehicle, zip-wire, etc.) This makes Sam's arms act in strange ways. The normal logistical pathway from floor to his hands to his back (or vice-versa) stops working, in practice often making packages get stuck to his hands. There's much more to this trick, of course, but it really deserves its own video for an in-depth look.
0:29 - While a package is stuck to your hand, you can buffer certain things like drinking from your flask, dropping items or changing boots to remain in the background until your hand(s) become free again.
It's the last one - the Boots buffer - we are most interested in. For some reason this unassuming small animation of switching your boots has a super high priority in the game's cancel system, and it can interrupt practically anything.
So, we activate a Boots buffer, then jump off a cliff. (Almost any game over method that sends you to the seam will do, aside from drowning in tar.)
0:53 - The game forcibly empties Sam's hands when he enters the seam, thus releasing the Boots buffer.
Sam's final thoughts before perishing are "Must... change... boots." And as for what happens next? I like to think that the smell of his own boot sweat acts like a freakishly potent smelling salt, reviving him before his soul has a chance to return to his body, or his body return to reality.
1:08 - So, what to say about Seamwalking? (I think it's an appropriate name for this glitch because you are literally able to start walking... in Seam... ah, never mind.)
You'll find that the game world is covered in underwater effects, and this remains true indefinitely. This glitch stays on until you switch maps one way or the other, f.e. by visiting firing range or fast traveling between continents.
All saving is disabled until you manage to end the glitch.
Most sound effects and music are disabled, giving the game a somewhat eerie underwater exploration vibe. (It occasionally makes me think of Soma.)
Stamina behaves a bit weirdly at the moment: it doesn't regenerate or get expended like normal. This is a bit annoying since if you get stuck on low stamina (by f.e. jumping too much), your speed slows down significantly and it's tough to regain your normal speed back during this glitch. (There might be some trick to it, though?)
As far as I can tell, it's not possible to die again while Seamwalking. Projectiles and explosions don't work, Sam is immune to fall damage (and lacks some fall reactions altogether) and enemies can't harm Sam either. You can't even sink in tar in this state. Anyway, I demonstrate this by jumping off the same cliff that proved fatal to Sam just a moment ago.
1:54 - For an unknown reason, sometimes porters and towns are impossible to access. Perhaps some trigger which says to the game "Sam is approaching, unlock the front door" does not activate in this state.
Whatever the case, this is quite thematic, considering that these barriers are meant to keep all manner of ghostly and chiral phenomena outside and Sam almost certainly counts as one right now.
2:17 - BB is completely dark and inactive for the time being.
2:58 - Watchtowers and other structures can be used just fine. As you may notice, stray pieces of cargo and materials are suspiciously absent. They don't seem to exist in the game world in this state.
3:38 - It seems BTs cannot spawn in the game world right now. (Mules can spawn in some circumstances, but as mentioned, they can't harm Sam. This will be shown in another video.)
Although no enemies are around, this doesn't stop BB from becoming autotoxemic since it's a scripted event in Chapter 2.
5:04 - As another example of some proximity-based triggers potentially not activating for Sam in this state, the tunnel leading to the Distribution Center terminal remains completely dark while passing through.
5:31 - Cargo can be delivered like normal during the glitch, allowing you to make progress in the story.
6:06 - The prompt for entering private room (and also "resting") doesn't work at the moment for some reason. However, private room can still be entered via the terminal.
6:31 - The rest of the video consists of some Episode 2 cutscenes while inside the Seam. Besides the camera's depth of field being all wonky, NPC characters also look pasty and untextured...? Honestly, the spookiness of this glitch even makes me think of P.T. sometimes.
