Better With Hands

Did you know that you have a second hand? Look down. It's right there. You've had it this whole time.

For years, Steve has been living with a mysterious condition — completely ignoring his left arm. He'd hold a single pickaxe while his other hand just... hung there. Doing nothing. Watching. It's frankly a miracle he survived this long.

I cured him.

Better With Hands is a reimagining of the offhand system for BTA (Better Than Adventure). This isn't a lazy port — it's what dual-wielding should have been from the start. Every interaction, every small detail has been crafted to feel like it was always part of the game.

Steve can finally use both hands. You're welcome.

What does this mod do?

Hold a torch while mining. Keep blocks ready while exploring. Swap between sword and pickaxe on the fly. Your offhand isn't just a slot — it's a fully functional second hand with proper animations, rendering, and interactions.

Features

Offhand Slot

A dedicated slot in your inventory for a second item. Access it from your inventory screen — look for the hand icon to the left of your armor slots.

Full Rendering

Your offhand item appears in both first-person and third-person views. The item is properly mirrored and positioned to look natural.

Proper Swing Animation

When you use your offhand, you'll see a full swing animation — your arm moves, your torso rotates, just like the main hand. No shortcuts, no static arms.

HUD Display

A hotbar slot appears next to your main hotbar showing your offhand item. It smoothly slides in when you equip something and slides out when empty.

Multiplayer Support

Everything syncs properly in multiplayer. Your settings, your offhand contents, your animations — other players see it all.

Controls

Both keys can be rebound in Options.

Settings

Find all settings in Options > Better With Hands.

Behavior

Use Offhand When Main Empty (default: ON) When your main hand is empty, the game automatically uses your offhand item like pickaxe.

Swap Hand Priority (default: OFF)
Flips which hand the game considers "primary." When ON, actions default to your offhand instead of main hand. Toggle this with the X key during gameplay.

Dynamic Hand Priority (Experimental) (default: OFF)
The smart option. The game automatically picks the right hand based on what you're doing:

• Mining a block? Uses whichever hand has the better tool for that block
• Attacking? Prefers swords over other items
• Placing blocks? Uses the hand holding blocks

Example: Pickaxe in main hand, sword in offhand. Mine normally, but when a creeper appears, your attacks automatically use the sword.

Display

Left Hand Mode (default: OFF)
For left-handed players. Swaps the hand positions — your main hand appears on the left side of the screen, offhand on the right. The HUD slot also moves to match.

Indicator Type
A visual marker showing which hand is currently active:

• Border — Highlight around the active slot
• Dot — Small dot above the active slot
• Arrow — Arrow pointing to the active slot
• None — No indicator

Show Indicator Only With Offhand (default: ON)
The indicator only appears when you have something in your offhand. Keeps the screen clean when you're not using dual-wield.

How Priority Works

The mod needs to know which hand to use when you click. Here's the logic:

1. Default behavior: Main hand is primary. Offhand is backup.

2. "Use When Empty" ON: If main hand is empty, offhand takes over automatically.

3. "Swap Priority" ON: Offhand becomes primary. Main hand becomes backup.

4. "Dynamic Priority" ON: The game decides based on context. Mining? Best tool wins. Combat? Sword wins. Placing? Blocks win.

The indicator on your HUD always shows which hand will be used.

Practical Examples

Mining Setup
Main hand: Pickaxe | Offhand: Torches
Mine normally. When you need light, empty your hand (or press X) and place torches.

Combat Ready
Main hand: Sword | Offhand: Shield or Food
Fight with your sword, have healing ready.

Building
Main hand: Blocks | Offhand: Different blocks
Switch between materials with X instead of scrolling through your hotbar.

Dynamic Mining (with Dynamic Priority ON)
Main hand: Pickaxe | Offhand: Axe
Mine stone with pickaxe, approach a tree and it automatically switches to axe.

Additional Details

• Item Pickup: When your inventory is full, stackable items can go directly into your offhand if there's a matching stack
• Q to Drop: When offhand has priority, pressing Q drops from your offhand
• Tool Stats: Mining speed and harvest level are checked correctly for offhand tools

Installation

1. Install BTA and Babric (the mod loader)
2. Place the mod .jar file in your mods folder
3. Launch the game

Multiplayer Notes

The mod works in multiplayer with some considerations:

• Both client and server should have the mod installed
• Your settings sync to the server when you join
• Other players see your offhand items and animations

Credits

• Better Than Adventure - The BTA mod team