1:00pm EST - Our update preview stream is live! twitch.tv/rustafied

11:00am EST - Submarines, underwater labs, and fishing have all been merged in! We’ll be showing it all off on our update preview stream!

12:00am EST - With one week to go before the big update, the team is cranking on getting a ton of exciting new functionality ready for prime time. 

Our update preview stream goes live at 1pm EST. Follow @Rustafied for news throughout the day.

Submarines, Underwater Labs, Torpedoes, and more!

Contrary to previous belief, the submarines and underwater labs are likely going live with the August 5th update! As of writing this, the entire body of work is still on the separate ‘save215’ branch and is not available for testing on staging. This is likely to shift as early as today as the testing period appears imminent.

So what exactly is going to be included in all of this? So far it looks like there will be two submarines (a solo and a duo), the multi-level procedurally generated sub-aquatic monuments known as underwater labs, torpedoes (a surface and a direct), proper fishing (see more on that below), and maybe even spear guns. 

Keep in mind, none of this is confirmed yet and if anything not ready might be pulled from the patch. We’ll have a full write-up prior to the update which will explain everything you as a player will need to know about these new features. Keep an eye on our Twitter for more news throughout the week.

Edit: This has all been merged in! I’m adding some preliminary details below and we’ll have a full write-up next week.

• There are 13 labs on a 4.5k map (they are labeled on the map)

• Labs are procedurally generated and mostly all unique from what we can see

• They have a bunch of loot including green, blue, and red puzzle rooms (and new looks to loot boxes)

• There are several tunnel dweller NPC’s in each lab

• Most labs have a vending machine with various clothing items

• You can dive to a lab with scuba gear (no sub required, but it’s much easier)

• Submarines are purchased at Fishing Villages (solo = 200 scrap, duo = 300 scrap)

• There are two types of torpedoes (direct and surface)

• Speargun is also in. Crafting: 200 wood, 75 metal, and 2 rope

• Sharks are technically in but still appear like a ‘work in progress’

How fishing works

At long last, proper fishing is about to make it into the game. Going live August 5th, the newly functioning fishing rod will allow players to catch various types of fish (and other things).

Fishing is pretty straight forward. To get started, grab a trusty fishing rod and some bait (fish, meat, or the like) then head to the water. Cast off by holding right mouse, aiming, the clicking left mouse button. From there just watch the bobber for a nibble.

Once you’ve got something on the line you’ll have to put up a delicate fight to reel the sucker in. This is done with three keys: A and D for left and right, S to reel it in. Do so gently, however, as your line can snap and you’re out a fish and a piece of bait.

If you do manage to reel it in just right, you’ll be treated with one of any type of the new catchable fish including herring, salmon, sardine, anchovies, yellow perch, and brown trout. There are also apparently rare fish planned which will likely require a higher quality bait - more info on this as it becomes available. You can catch non-fish also as certain junk will sometimes show up on your line. So far these items include tarp, fins, and a bucket.

As mentioned above, the fishing functionality is included with the ‘save215’ branch expected to be merged in shortly. 

Edit: Fishing has been merged in. Here are some preliminary details:

• Fishing Rods are not a default blueprint

• They cost 10 rope and 100 wood to craft

• There are a ton of new types of fish. You can gut them for resources like raw fish and animal fat

• Small Sharks can be caught and have random things (like flares) in their belly along with the resources

Twitch drops 

In case you missed it, Facepunch announced a change to their Twitch drop procedure. Going forward, all drops will become ‘general drops’ for the last 24 hours of the campaign. This means it no longer matters if the streamer whose drop you want isn’t playing Rust for most of the week. Simply wait till the last 24 hours and turn on whatever Rust stream you want to receive it.

Gravis Island: New map!

A new official map is coming with the update next week! Winner of the map making contest, Gravis Island is a 3500 size static map which features 3 tiers of progression, a bunch of custom elements, and a really nice polished feel overall. 

We will be hosting this map on our Zenlabs servers starting with the update next week.

Edit: Never mind on the above - looks like Gravis will only be hosted by Facepunch and maybe some other selected servers for the initial release. We’ll host it on Zenlabs when it is made available.

Other stuff

• A bunch of tweaks to water including color tweaks and depth visibility variation

• Added player.cinematic_gesture to allow actors to use the legacy gestures on cinematic servers (eg."player.cinematic_gesture pickup_item PLAYERNAME" or "player.cinematic_gesture pickup_item") Will only work if server.cinematic is true