The Attack Helicopter is now available to purchase from the Air Wolf store at Bandit Camp for 2250 scrap.
Gunner
The main special feature of this helicopter is the gunner seat. On the front is a turret similar to the deployable autoturret, where you can equip a gun and ammo. At the side pods, rockets can be loaded in - HV and incendiary type only.
The gunner can then aim and shoot both of these while a pilot flies the heli. Simply interact with the gunner monitor and start blasting! Fire1 [left mouse button] will shoot the turret and Fire2 [right mouse button] launches rockets.
If the gunner has flares ready in his or her inventory belt, those can also be held and manually thrown to deflect any oncoming homing rockets from the new homing rocket launcher - this is a new feature for passengers in all Rust helicopter types, not just the attack helicopter.
Pilot
The pilot is the driver, but can also fire rockets (left mouse button by default), albeit without the handy exact-point-of-impact guide that the gunner gets.
Standard flares can also be loaded into the rocket storage area along with rockets, and the pilot can fire them out (right mouse button).
The attack helicopter is fast and powerful when armed, but it was still be taken down with a well-aimed rocket.
HOMING MISSILE LAUNCHER
The Homing Missile Launcher is a new craftable addition to your armoury that allows you to more efficiently fight flying targets while out and about. To get started simply load a Homing Missile into the Launcher and start aiming at a flying target. You’ll notice a lock-on bar will start filling in. Once locked on you can fire, but be sure to keep aiming at the target or the missile will fly off course. Changing weapon or reloading will also disrupt the targeting.
From a pilot's perspective, there are a few tools at your disposal to evade these new threats. You will hear a warning lock audio indicator in every helicopter when a missile is fired at you. The simplest tactic is just taking evasive manoeuvres - the missile lock requires a direct line of sight so getting something solid between you and the launcher should keep you safe. If that’s not possible, flares are your next best bet. Any passenger can throw Flares to disrupt any incoming missiles. The Attack Helicopter also has a dedicated Flare button that can launch flares via the secondary attack button (RMB by default).
The NPC piloted Patrol Helicopter has also been upgraded with Flare functionality, it will automatically fire Flares when a missile is launched at it.
The Homing Missile Launcher requires a Workbench Level 2 and can be crafted for 20 HQM, 3 Metal Pipes, 1 Tech Trash and 1 CCTV Camera.
Homing Missiles require a Workbench Level 2, and two missiles can be crafted for 3 Metal Pipes, 200 Gun Powder and 1 Tech Trash.
PARACHUTES
The parachute is a new craftable item that allows you to slow your fall from great heights, as well as travel silently over long distances. Once you’ve acquired one, you will need to equip it in the new dedicated backpack slot on your character’s clothing bar. Once equipped you’ll be able to press Space while falling through the air to deploy the parachute, slowing your descent and allowing you to manoeuvre your way through the sky. Your movement keys can help you manoeuvre while in mid-air, allowing you to tilt forwards to fly faster, back to slow down and left and right to turn.
You can use weapons while flying, but doing so will prevent you from steering. Simply holster your weapon again to regain steering controls.
Your flight can end either via you hitting something solid or cutting your lines with the Dismount key. After your flight an unpacked version of the parachute will drop in front of you, to use the parachute again you’ll need to hold the pickup key for 8 seconds to pick it up again. Each use will lower the condition of your parachute by 20% and a parachute will become harder to control as it loses condition. A damaged parachute will fall faster and fly forwards slower. At extreme damage levels you could still take fall damage when landing the parachute.
If you hit something solid you can take damage based on your speed, up to 80HP at top speeds.
The additional slot in your inventory has been added to the locker interface so you can store parachutes with loadout kits. Parachutes are a special new type of clothing that can be equipped alongside full-body clothing like Hazmats.
Parachutes can be targeted by SAM sites, Auto Turrets and players on the ground while in mid-air.
You can craft Parachutes at a Tier 2 Workbench for 2 Tarps, 2 Sewing Kits and 50 Cloth.
ARMORED HOT HAIR BALLOON
The hot air balloon can now be upgraded with a new armor upgrade.
Equipping the armor will boost the overall health of the balloon whilst also providing additional cover and protection.
The new armor upgrade can be purchased at the Bandit Camp vehicle parts vendor.
GLOBAL NETWORKED BASES
You normally only see bases ~300m away. Get ready: this feature cranks up the view distance of player structures up to 1500m away!
In the past, SAM sites could appear out of nowhere, only becoming visible after the missiles are headed your way. You should now be able to spot SAM sites & enemy bases long before you come in range!
This doesn't just benefit you in the air. While on the ground you can scout roof camping towers & big bases before you are in danger. You will notice the world feels much alive with evidence of player activity all around you.
I know you're thinking "Won't this cause performance issues?". Well, turns out the new rendering system is significantly more efficient than unity's normal one. The majority of computation is on the GPU which allows us to keep performance parity while rendering 25x the amount of bases. This also sets the stage for additional performance improvements in the future.
This feature is currently disabled by default as it required a lot of changes. Look for "Global Rendering" in the option menu to enable it.
WEAPON RACKS
The Weapons Rack Pack is now available from the Rust item store. Weapon racks introduce a quick, versatile and functional weapon and tool storage solution. With a Weapon Rack, you can efficiently organize, store and display your tools and weapons like a true survivor.
The weapons rack pack lets the player craft three different sized wall-mounted weapon racks and a single floor storage solution.
Furance glow was broken, it's now fixed and improved
Fluid Switch & Pump
The Fluid switch and Pump now stack in the inventory
Non-learnable blueprints
Improved UI to clearly feedback certain blueprints that cannot be learnt
Hot Air Balloon Decay
When hot air balloons become stuck, they'll decay much faster
END OF THE WORLD
When players drove vehicles to the edges of the world and went out of bounds, we killed the player and vehicles, This wasn't great as we gave no feedback for when this was about to happen. Now vehicles are unable to leave the map bounds - we now apply a force on the boat/aircraft, making it impossible to escape.
Additionally, boats, if left unattended/idle for 2 hours, will begin to be forced back to shore gradually.
WINDOWS 8.1 SUPPORT DISCONTINUED
From October 28th, Rust will no longer support Windows 8.1. As technology continually evolves, so do our system requirements. In January 2024, Microsoft will officially discontinue Windows 8.1 support, no further security updates and software updates will be made available.
We highly recommend that users currently running Windows 8.1 consider upgrading their operating system to a more recent version, such as Windows 10 or newer, to ensure optimal performance, security, and compatibility with future updates.
TWITCH DROPS
From September 7th-14th we will be having a Twitch Drops event featuring some of your favorite creators.
Get your watch time in!
Be sure to get synced at twitch.facepunch.com so you can successfully claim your drops.
RUST INSIGHTS
Recently we implemented a dashboard that gathers data constantly on how Rust is played. We have information on all kinds of things ranging from how much wood is harvested to what the most used gun is. Something we want to get better at is showcasing some of that data. So going forward we're going to try and have a retrospective of interesting data from the last wipe.
The data shown below is only from official servers, we have eliminated data from community-run servers to ensure accuracy within the data we share.
We'll try and vary the content as much as possible, so next month you might see other different types of information featured.
Let us know what type of data you'd like us to share.
u/renan0803 has had a Rust Insights project going on for a while. They collected player insight data from a slew of r/playrust Reddit users and compiled it into a bunch of readable statistics!
We did tweak the original a bit to make it more blog-friendly but you can still see it here.
Very cool to see in this format. Keep an eye out for the next rendition if you'd like to partake in future surveys!
If you made something cool or saw something cool, reach out! Tag me on the Twitterverse or u/ErrnieGerrn Reddit.
WOUNDED
WOUNDED INFORMATION
I've changed the wounded UI so that it now displays additional information relating to your wounded status. It will now tell you the probability of recovery as well as how many seconds are left until recovery/death.
Remember: Maintaining full water and food will grant you a higher probability of recovery, and a large medkit in your belt will grant 100% chance of recovery.
CHAT EMOJI
Chat Emoji is a new feature this month that allows you to express yourself in some new ways. You can access the new list of emoji’s via the emoji button on the right of the chat. From there you can search for a specific emoji as well as change the current selected skin tone for all of your emoji’s. You can also type a : into the regular chat box and start typing to get an autocomplete that you can navigate with the arrow keys and Enter.
In addition to the animated emoji’s you can also use the internal item name to create an emoji using the item icon (eg. :wood:).
Server owners can also create their own emoji's for use on their servers, placing 256px png or jpg images in the "serveremoji" folder in their root directory will automatically expose those emoji for use by players on the server.
Emoji's are not currently compatible with chat in Rust+ although we’re planning on exploring this in the future.
BRICK BUILDING SKIN
Available now from the Rust store is the new brick-building skin which allows you to change the visuals of your stone base.
This skin is for sale at the Steam store. To use, simply equip your hammer tool, display the wheel, enable building skins, this should reveal the skin's wheel on which you may choose brick style upgrade.
IMPROVEMENTS & FIXES HIGHLIGHTS
Server Crash Loot
Crafting queue items are no longer lost if a server unexpectedly shuts down
World Models Stack Size
Some world models now reflect the amount dropped.
57 Art Bug Fixes
57 Art Bug Fixes, see the change log for full details
BURST MODULE IMPROVEMENTS
Burst modules have been buffed. While using a weapon with a burst module, The time between each shot in the burst has been reduced, and the overall recoil felt by the user has been decreased. In addition, aim cone has been reduced, resulting in a much more accurate and viable fire mode.
COMMUNITY UPDATE 254
RUSTOPIA INVITATIONAL
July 29th-30th
Rustopia Invitational Tournament is this weekend and they boosting up the Project Hope charity! Project Hope is expanding access to mental health care for health workers, refugees, new mothers, and communities around the world.
Catch all your favorite content creators battling it out this Saturday & Sunday!
The Rustopia Invitational is a point-based event that rewards players and teams for individual kills on other players and team-based events.
The event will be split up into three separate stages to allow for the best gameplay and pacing.
The first day will be gathering resources and PvP-styled events.
The second and final day will be primarily raiding other teams for their points
Here is a brief overview of the Rustopia Invitational server:
Team Limit of 12 – No allies or cross-teaming (this includes merge raids)
3x Boosted Gather and Resource Rate
There is a 75-minute – 2-minute day and night cycle
Advanced Team Sharing (Auto auth to TCs, Codelocks, Turrets etc.)
Boosted loot tables (better barrels and boxes)
RayC will be casting the event and most of the team captains will be streaming it as well!
If you'd like to be a part of this event you can help by donating to Project Hope!
In this event, the map is the world with every continent, country and island. This event acts as a normal rust server where you can build anywhere you want. But with the map being the world, territories will be fought for, and wars will breakout between civilizations.
This is an open event to content creators and viewers! Join the Global Warfare discord to be more involved.
There will be in-game items and packs you can buy as well. Proceeds go to charity!
Destructoid published an article a few days ago discussing the most toxic online gaming communities.
We're happy to announce Rust did not make the list! While this list itself is a bit of a uncalculated grab-bag from subreddits, I'm glad you all figured out to to keep your caps lock keys in check.
More stats on their site as to how they got to these super duper accurate numbers. Keep up the good work!
This month we’ve decided to limit the maximum number of respawn options to 15 per player. This is a big change and not one we make lightly, so we thought it would be a good idea to explain our thinking.
While this is an inconvenience to certain playstyles, we believe adapting to this change will lead to a healthier and more interesting game. Back in October 2020 we revised the death screen, unintentionally making it trivial to manage a large number of bags. This led to situations where players could respawn rapidly and rejoin fights in ways that work against the goal of death being meaningful in Rust. Ultimately we want placing new respawn points to be an interesting decision rather than something done as often as possible.
We explored alternatives such as adjusting the respawn radius on bags or grid based approaches. Unfortunately this was simple to bypass and too complicated to communicate to players. Increasing the cost of bags/beds wouldn’t have solved the issue as large groups could easily overcome any additional resource requirements.
To help manage respawn options we have made them visible on the map while alive. We also added the ability to unclaim bags you aren't using anymore. There is a new toggle on the right side of the map (below the layer controls) to hide bags while alive.
There are multiple ways to see how many bags/beds you have placed: a count on the icon as well as a notification after you place a bag/bed.
To prevent malicious behavior (such as "gifting" bags to other players and filling up their quota) you will find a new “Bag Gifting” option in the options menu. This will allow you to limit who can assign a bag to you. The choices are:
Anyone (default option)
Team (teammates + friendly in contact system)
Disabled (nobody allowed)
Server owners can change the maximum bags per server with the convar "max_sleeping_bags". If you would like to disable it for your server, set it to "-1".
We will keep an eye on this change over the coming months and make changes as required.
To say that our building upgrade effect was dated would be an understatement. I don't think it has been adjusted since its inception. I've taken some time to improve the effect, and bring it in to this decade. When you upgrade a building block, you will see it constructed piece by piece over the course of one second.
Keep in mind that this is a client-only effect and the upgrade still happens immediately on the server. You can also disable this effect in the options menu. In the future, we may expand this build-over-time effect into a feature, so that very large deployables, such as watchtowers don't just appear in one frame but rather will need to be built over time.
If you ever wanted to know what it's like to build a home out of refurbished containers, wait no more! Coming to you this month is a new building block skin with the appearance of shipping containers and some new and unique features alongside it.
When you first build using the skin, the initial color of the container blocks are randomized. They come in 16 different colors - here is a lookup chart of the available colors:
If you wish to change the look of your crib, you can now use the spray can alternate function (RMB) to display a selection wheel of the available colors and repaint your walls.
It's worth noting that the last color you spray-painted with will now be the new building blocks color used when you build additional shipping container blocks.
We look forward to see how creative you get with this new skin!
We’ve made some improvements to the map marker system based on your feedback from their improvements in the April update.
You’ll now notice a new list of the current markers on the top left of the map screen. Clicking on these will move the map to that marker and you can delete the marker from that UI without having to move your camera, this should be helpful if you need to clear a marker quickly to place a new marker.
The marker labels can now show an extra character on the compass, the visibility of the marker labels has been improved when placed over snow, you can now hide your team leaders markers on the map and compass via the top left menu as well as several bug fixes.
Pings have also seen a set of improvements based on community feedback.
One area that was flagged was being notified when a teammate has placed a ping out of your view. To help this, each ping type now has a unique sound effect and the compass will flash briefly to indicate where the new ping has been placed.
General usability has been improved; pings can now be placed immediately when the binoculars are equipped (don’t need to zoom in) and binoculars now have a crosshair for more precise placement. Pings can also now be deleted regardless of what you are holding in your hands.
Finally, the ping UI itself has been scaled up slightly and pings now fade out once they time out instead of being deleted immediately.
We've improved the way our internal memory pool handles thread safety. This should not result in any immediate changes, but it allows us to ensure we won't introduce resource contention performance issues as our multithreading scales up, particularly around networking and serialization. If you're a server owner and you notice a performance decrease from this change, please let us know.
Players can now connect to a server using both the game port and the query port. This also fixes steam://connect link issues that were introduced back when we started enforcing separate query ports on servers. If you're a server owner and you want to use steam://connect links on your website, please make sure to use the query port in those links, not the game port.
For a while now we've just had one long idle. It's pretty repetitive & also if you're sitting on top of a horse, you end up just getting shook around every 4 seconds. I wanted to see more variation.
There is now a short base breathe anim, and lots of small idles that play randomly after a few seconds or so. There are larger actions ( like a shake of the body or head toss) as well as smaller ones ( like a tail swish or ear flick). The result hopefully looking more natural in game.
For server owners - I updated the logic for the server wipe timer to support timezones properly. The default configuration aligns with force wipes so it shouldn't need any changing for most people. Make sure the time is set correctly on your servers!
Monthly: First Thursday every month at 19:00 (London time)
Weekly: Every Thursday at 19:00 (London time)
Biweekly: First and third Thursday of each month at 19:00 (London time), but splits 3 week gaps into 2+1 weeks for months with 5 weeks
Internally it is now using cron expressions using the Cronos library. If you'd like, you can use a custom cron expression for your wipe timer by setting the wipeCronOverride convar.
You can also use a different timezone for wipes by setting the wipeTimezone convar to an IANA timezone name (see TZ identifiers on this page).
There is now a printWipe console command which shows debug info about upcoming wipes which can help you set up your configurations correctly.
From June 11th to June 17th, Twitch drops will be enabled to support the Bellum, a Hispanic community event featuring Auronplay, Grefg, Ricoy, Agustabell, Illojuan, Rubius, and many more.
This month we bring you an all-new monument that we have been quietly working on for the past few months, the Nuclear Missile Silo.
While exploring the map you will run across a small military base that will be marked from the distance by a tall radio tower. While unremarkable from the outside, the base hides a secret. In its center you will find a large hatch that will allow you to access a large underground network of tunnels.
Jump in while the hatch is open and you will find yourself inside a deep underground missile silo that hosts a massive ICMB. Remember that while you're in you can't go back easily, so be prepared before you enter.
As you explore, you will find various rooms filled with loot and a new dangerous type of Scientists who will shoot anyone trying to interfere with their experiments. Fight your way through and take the elevators to the bottom of the structure and you will find a nuclear warhead connected to a laptop displaying an ominous countdown.
To exit the monument you will need to find a security room that contains a button that will temporarily let you out. The room also contains a computer station that will allow you to access several security cameras and spy on any potential campers.
As the countdown to the cycle reset approaches zero on the laptop in the missile silo, the amount of NPC activity around the island will increase. Vehicle patrols will begin on roads and fighter jets will patrol the skies. Future wipe events will include infantry patrols and bombing runs.
The Thompson and MP5 have received a buff to their accuracy. Both weapons will now have a higher probability to land center hits during extended fully automatic fire. In addition, the Thompson recoil will favor one side for slightly easier control. While SMGs are not intended to be used for long range engagements, we are aware that their usefulness at range should not be 0%. We will continue to monitor and make adjustments over the following few months.
Available now from the Rust store is the new Adobe building skin which allows you to change the visuals of your base. This skin is for sale on the Steam store. To use, simply equip your hammer tool, display the wheel, enable building skins, this should reveal the skin's wheel on which you may choose Adobe style upgrade.
This skin is equivalent to the stone building tier for stats.
We'll be releasing more building skins in the near future.
To complement the new shotgun ammo world models released in the last patch. I have been busy making the metal counterparts for the pistol and rifle ammo world models. Alongside the new world models, I have also made different versions for the different ammo types. So now you will be able to tell the difference between normal and explosive ammo.
So now no more losing the raid because you picked up pistol ammo instead of rifle ammo!
The camera view in Rust+ got some rendering improvements. Players no longer look completely out of place and everything is now lit according to the time of day. However, other lights (campfires, torches, etc.) will not show up yet.
I've adjusted the ranges for players to show up in the Rust+ CCTV feeds so players need to be closer to cameras to be seen in Rust+ (now 30m vs. 100m theoretically). I also added a new range for the player's name to be sent to Rust+ so you can't see names of players far away (now 10m or closer). These are controlled by the following server convars:
camerarenderer.entityMaxDistance (for general entities, which is just trees for now)
camerarenderer.playerMaxDistance (default 30, can set to 0 to never show players)
camerarenderer.playerNameMaxDistance (default 10, can set to 0 to never show player names)
Rust+ bots have been getting out of control so we've decided to implement a few changes to make them less effective.
Disallowed Rust+ from viewing all static CCTV cameras (eg. oil rigs)
Crate and explosion map markers are no longer sent to Rust+
Cameras are only usable from Rust+ when you aren't connected to the server
Entity/player data is now randomized by the server to make it harder for bots to understand
Player names are only sent to Rust+ when close enough to the cameras
We'll be monitoring further Rust+ Bot development. Automation of game input actions must be kept to a minimum using Rust+. Extensive automation of game actions such as CCTV cameras and Drones to gain an unfair advantage is not ok.
On May 16th at 8:00 pm GMT a team of 160 well-known Twitch creators from around the world will compete in this massive global Rust competition, taking place over 5 days with a prize pool worth $100k.
During the Twitch Rivals event, Rust Twitch drops will be enabled for 5 days from selected participating channels, and well-known streamers such as hJune, Welyn, Willjum, Panpots, Buddha, DisguisedToast, Mendo and many more.
We'd like to thank Rustoria for working with us and Twitch to make this event possible.
This thing deserved its own section. Ok_Marsupial6435 has created a life size airsoft autoturret!
Seems it's a work in progress.
"It will feature 2-axis AI motion tracking using CV, 2 T-motor pancake actuators, a servo for the trigger, and a STM32H7A3 microcontroller. It will mirror the game mechanics exactly. Most of the parts are CNC aluminum, weighing about 60 lbs."
Dust recently embarked on a somewhat self-taught adventure of re-creating 3D rust scenes using Blender. I've always been a big of fan of this type of art style. We see a lot Youtube creators adopting these for thumbnails. Happy to see it getting more love!
Here's a handful of scenes he's made. Enjoy! :)
He asked we give a special shoutout to the 3D artist community! He said they helped him out a lot with learning and were very welcoming!
