11/5 2:00am EST - The server crashed a little while ago (same crash as before, everyone gets kicked, can't join again). Restarted the server and loaded the save to see if locks were fixed (we were on the most recent development branch) and locks were still broken. Given this, I decided to wipe the map to clear out resources and have people not stuck in their houses.

5:06pm EST - After letting people sit locked in their house for a couple, it became abundantly clear a wipe is the best solution here. I updated to the newest version of the dev branch, wiped and restarted with a new seed. Maybe this time locks will work on server restart, we'll see. For more info on this, please see my post from Saturday.

4:52pm EST - Server started kicking people out randomly about an hour ago. Of course, this is the time I'm at the fucking dentist. I just got back and restarted. I loaded the map to test the lock bug, looks like it is still in play.

1:00pm EST - It’s a new day in Rust development and the team is cranking away. Garry’s focus this week is on the new building system, Andre is working on grass, Alex is implementing some new animations and Goose has gone fishin. There was a small client update earlier this morning which did not force a server update. Unclear exactly what was in this update, however, it is clear something fucked up with the visuals of certain SpeedTrees. Lets get into it…

New building system

Garry is heads down in this new build system (construction2 branch). He posted a preview picture on reddit yesterday which shows what appears to be entirely new components back to the developer textures. Already it looks like there are some big changes coming with this refactor. Here are some notable details on his progress:

Level transitions
- The first go at level transitions is in.
Raised floors / foundation 5cm
- Floors and foundations are now 5 cm higher. I wonder how this will impact stairs and other components...
Rotatable sockets
- In Legacy you could rotate building components with your mouse wheel. Up till now in experimental you could not. It appears rotation is making a comeback with the new build system.
Support socket
- Not sure exactly what this is, however, it's new. Garry has mentioned the need for supports in the building process to help prevent against buildings which defy gravity / physics.
Pillars are back
- He just committed the pillar prefab to the branch. Pillars were a key part of Legacy building and have thus far been absent from experimental. This marks a key change in how building is going to work.
New building items
- You can see some other new items like window bars, fireplaces and foundation spikes have appeared on the admin inventory site.

All this work is still on a separate branch and won’t be launched until it is deemed ready for production. Will that be this week? It appears Garry is pushing for that, however, this is a huge undertaking so we may not see it in place for some time.

Server stability

Since Friday, all servers have been experiencing random crashes which kick everyone and require a server restart. The real bitch (in conjunction with these crashes) has been the lock bug on server restart. Due to this, I have made the call to wipe most of the times we crash (resulting in us wiping on average once a day since Friday). I know people fucking hate losing their progress and I've heard many earfuls of complaints.

On Sunday, Garry pushed a fix for the lock bugs. This fix has yet to reach the main branch for the server code, however, it is apparently live on the development branch. After several crashes of our server last night, I decided to switch our server version from the main branch to the dev branch. We have been running smooth since then. If we do crash again, I will try to load the map and we can test if the lock bug is fixed.

I've said it before and I'll reiterate again: The game is not in a solid state at this time and wipes will happen often as needed. If losing your shit is going to make you lose your shit, I highly recommend you take several days / weeks off from the game and check back later.

Note: There have been reports of locks staying intact but unlocking or opening doors on restart.

Fish model done

I mentioned yesterday that Goose was working on the fish model. He pushed a commit last night saying the fish model is done. I have yet to be able to find any visual of this fish model on trello or anywhere else but I am eager to see it (please comment if you've found one).

Note: this is not in the game yet and probably won't be for several updates. Creating a model and actually implementing said model in game are two very different bodies of work. That being said, I fucking cannot wait to head out first thing in the morning, paddle my boat out on the water, cast my line and sip my beer while I wait for a nibble. I know, I know, this scenario is months away at this point, but I can still dream, can't I?

New idle animations

Alex has been working on idle animations for many of the tools / weapons. Today he pushed new idle animations for the rock, pickaxe, bow, rifle, pistol and spear. Nice, I’m excited to see them in game!

Grass refactoring

Andre is refactoring grass. I have no idea what the net result of this will be, however, I’m being intentional it will increase performance (even though grass is not nearly as detrimental to performance as it was in Legacy). And no, you cannot turn grass off in experimental.

Tip of the day: Unstack your meat!

Eating a stack of meat provides the same hunger and thirst relief as eating one piece. Do not waste your precious meat by eating the whole stack at once! Also, wolf meat is the best meat, providing 80+ hunger and 20+ thirst (human meat is half that).

That's all for now, stay tuned for updates as the day progresses.