6/15 @ 3:50pm EST - The client update and devblog are live!

6/15 @ 2:00pm EST - Our update stream is live! twitch.tv/rustafied

6/15 @ 1:30pm EST - Just got word from Helk that the new functionality he's been working on won't make it in this week. Expect to find out what it is in the devblog. Also, our update stream goes live in 30 minutes!

6/15 @ 10:14am EST - Helk is working on some awesome new functionality (which I'm still sworn to secrecy on). He's shooting to get it in for the update today, although that is up in the air. If it does get in, I'll do a quick write up in a new post. In the meantime, I've added more on other development to the post below.

6/13 @ 3:48pm EST - It’s a fresh week for Rust development and we’re seeing progress on a new testing tool, improvements to foliage and shaders, and continued work on Hapis improvements. Let’s get into it...

Humanoid NPC’s

After adding simple human bots last week to help with his recoil and gunplay changes, Helk is improving on the functionality of these humanoid NPC’s. He’s set them up to navigate the terrain (via navmesh) and also gave them the ability to use weapons. Although they are currently just tools for development, it is possible these NPC’s could be added into gameplay in some capacity in the future. 

Better skin loading

Andre has added a new convar, skinwarmup (on by default), which waits for skins to be fully downloaded prior to joining a server. This hopefully reduces hitches in game due to the on the fly load of workshop skins. Along with this, he's added a console command to show details of loaded skins: workshop.print_skins.

Foliage improvements

Andre is working on some updates to the foliage system. Although some of this is still disabled, it looks like we’ll be seeing some changes to the vegetation of the Rust landscape in the near future. So far he has randomized scale and tinting along with adding a smooth distance fadeout to this new foliage.

Shader stuff

Diogo is continuing his work on shaders, including the exciting new hair shader mentioned in the devblog last week. So far he’s implemented a couple fixes, along with improving the shader source cache handling for better performance.

Hapis improvements

Petur is still trucking along on the next round of enhancements to Hapis. He’s completed more tweaks to the new desert area and added a fresh oasis area to the map. No visuals on this yet as it’s still on a separate branch - expect more info in the coming weeks.

Other stuff

• Consumable items try to go straight to belt when picked up
• Stackable items prefer item containers that already contain other items of their type when picked up
• New dropbox submit sound
• Barefoot footstep polish
• More work on new music
• maxrpcpersecond default value changed to 200
• Contact shadows added to options menu (looks sexy on grass)

Rust: Prime launches next week!

I'm happy to announce our new phone verified Rust servers, Rust: Prime, are going live next week! Here's a trailer video by Puddy. Get on the white list before they go live at playrustprime.com!