10/19 @ 1:23pm EST - Slow day for commits thus far so no update post today. Expect more tomorrow...

10/18 @ 7:00pm EST - A small client update just hit a little while ago which should fix the linux crashing issue.

3:24pm EST - There are some bugs being reported with this update, mainly:

Linux is crashing on Self Check
C4 not colliding with recently placed doors
Jack-o-lanterns require no resources to craft
Holosight dot disappears when aimed at water
A glitch which allows someone to get inside an upgraded foundation

Also, now that the F2 menu is gone, the best way to check FPS is typing “perf 1” in console.

2:00pm EST- This weeks update, which was delayed yesterday due to some bugs, was released a couple hours ago. So far - I’m happy to report - things appear to be running smooth. You can see a full changelog posted by the team here. The focus of this update was performance, but before we get into that, I’d like to share some thoughts on release schedules...

Sweet release

When experimental (now just normal Rust) was in its infancy, the team was releasing updates to the main branch almost daily. Earlier this year, they switched to a weekly update schedule which coincided with each devblog. Now, for the past few weeks, they’ve been trying a two week release schedule. Throughout this entire time, regardless of the schedule, one constant has remained: some updates work well, and others break a bunch of shit.

I loved the thrill of daily updates back in the day. It maintained ever evolving excitement and kept the dev team on their toes. Unfortunately, the game seemed to be unstable more often than not and it was stressful for server owners to keep up.

The one week schedule was my favorite -- each Thursday we had new things to look forward to, and the team had a day before the weekend to fix bugs. Strikes me the longer between updates, the less tangible team's progress is, and excitement wanes.

That said, I think the team should stick to whatever works best for them. When it comes down to it, a static cycle is difficult with such a dynamic project. Some things are ongoing (i.e. performance), some take weeks (i.e. dungeons), and some are quick commits (i.e. bug fixes). Maybe being tied into any release schedule is a hindrance in itself.

I’m not sure what the ideal schedule is, but when a breakdown occurs like the auto turret is almost ready to go but Helks SSD fried, I’m not thrilled at another two week wait.

What do you all think?

Post update performance

Given the focus as of late has been performance, I’m curious how it is after today’s update.

Let us poll:

Performance poll results

Looking to get clarity on the current state of performance, Garry polled the audience in yesterday's devblog. After over 16,000 votes, the results are in:

Woah, that’s a lot to take in. Let’s summarize a bit:

Almost ⅓ of people have shitty performance all the time. This tells us the game is not optimized enough to run well on minimum (or more) system requirements.
At 20%, buildings appear to be the biggest source of poor performance.
In second, 13% experience their poor performance in gun fights.
8% notice it most when entering a new area (related to the render of buildings).
8% of people never experience shitty performance (a.k.a. 8% of people are running some fucking insanely sick gaming rigs).

Server wipe schedule

I have received a bunch of requests for consistency around the wipe schedule of our servers. Therefore, I’ve decided to provide some. Keep in mind, given the rapid development of the game, we may not always be able to stick with this schedule -- just know, I’m doing my best.

Main (now 300 slots!) - Every week on Thursday at 5pm EST (or with the update if there is one)
Low pop (now “Low wipe”) - Once a month, with the forced game wipe
Dev branch - Every two weeks (or when a new procgen forces it)
Hapis / Savas - Every two weeks.

New trivia!

Some of you may have noticed the trivia applet on the right column, although, most of you have adblock so you’ve probably never seen it. Either way, I just added some new trivia questions. If you want to play, just disable adblock for this site (it also helps support our operation).

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