2:40pm EST - Yesterday was bittersweet. The building update we were so longing for launched, however, a series of bugs were introduced which negatively impacted gameplay. The real bitch is: things appeared to run well after the initial update and then gradually went to shit. Thankfully, there was a small server / client update today which fixed some issues. Here’s a summary of what to expect if you're playing this weekend.

Crafting stuck

Items are getting stuck at the end of crafting and not entering your inventory for a while (or never at all). This is one of the issues which appears to get worse over time. After a fresh wipe, items enter your inventory immediately. However, after a server running for several hours, items start taking longer and longer to enter your inventory. They just stay stuck at the 100% crafting for minutes.

Doors not showing actual state

This is another issue which appears to get worse over time. Opening / closing doors sometimes lags out resulting in the door actually opening but clients don't see the update till they relog.

FPS hitching

Another bittersweet part of the new update: FPS has drastically improved overall, however, everyone appears to getting hiccups / stutters / hitches (whatever you want to call them) a couple times a minute. This really interferes with a smooth gameplay experience and appears to be affecting everyone, regardless of your computer specs.

PvP lag

Interactions between players is really shitty at the moment (seemingly shittier than normal). This is a game wide issue, not server specific.

Tree's disappearing

Many people are running around for a while and not seeing any trees. Then, if they relog, they wake up in a forest. It seems trees are disappearing on the client side and then not appearing again till the client relogs. Garry committed a fix earlier for this, and, so far it appears to be fixed on servers which have run todays latest patch.

Day / night cycle off

Something is wonky with the timing of day and night on this build. Basically, the moon or sun will bounce around sporadically, causing a noticeable shift in the lighting. On top of that, it seems servers are getting stuck in very long night cycles after a period of time. Garry did tweak dedicated server timings today so this may be fixed.

Wood burning slower

Another one which may be related to dedicated server timings and appears to be fixed on servers which have run todays update: Wood in your fire or furnace burns significantly slower than before. This would be fine if food cooked or ore smelted faster, however, it doesn't appear to have any effect on how much wood is required.

Wood storage "occupied"

This has been fixed on the latest server update, however, if you're playing on an out of date server, you'll still have a problem. Basically, you can look in a wood storage box once just fine (oh sweet, double the space now). Then, you go to look in it a second time and it says "Occupied." If you are still on an outdated server, I recommend storing your stuff in a campfire or furnace.

Building upgrades not working sometimes

Certain building parts are unable to be upgraded to level 2. I have not nailed down a specific case where this happens yet, it just appears to be random. Relogging doesn't appear to resolve the issue. If you have more info on this, please comment below.

Note: Hammering the item reportedly fixes the inability to upgrade.

Global chat. Global silence.

Shit got eerily quiet after the last update. That is because the server chat went local by default. Basically, you can only text chat with people who are very close to you. I'm torn on this one. On one hand, it only takes a couple asshats to completely fuck up the server chat. On the other hand, its nice for everyone to be able to communicate with each other. Looking at the server console last night, I saw a whole lot of people talking to themselves. Given this (and the state of the game) I turned global chat back on in our server for the time being.

Chickens... chickens everywhere

Chickens have been added. At first you're like, “Awesome, some motherfucking poultry in play!” Then you get in game and slowly start going insane because all you hear, from every direction, is “buck buck buck buck bucckaaa!” I’m eager for this to be toned down like 5 fold.

Stuck in chat

Another frustrating issue is sometimes the chat comes right back up after you press enter. This results in people pressing enter 20 times in a row. Here's a tip: Hit escape twice and that shit will go away.

Server note

What does all this mean for the server? Well, unfortunately, it means more wipes. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I hate people to lose their shit, however, more than that, I fucking despise the server not running optimally. The current state of the game is: We run smooth as a baby’s ass immediately after a wipe and then it goes downhill from there. Given this, I wouldn't be surprised if we have to wipe every day till this is fixed. Sucks, I know, but that is simply where we are at until some more fixes / optimizations happen.

I know this shit is frustrating as fuck, I'm right there with you. That being said, I believe in this game and the team behind it. This too will pass and, in time, this stands to be one of the top games out there. In the mean time, try not to get attached to your shit.