8:22pm EST - If you're ore is still fucked up, try throwing another stack of 100 or more on there.

7:00pm EST - Multiple reports of servers starting but players being unable to join. The issue appears to be related to server.ip. If people can't join your server, try removing the +server.ip definition from your command line. Also, try updated to the development branch (steamcmd -> app_update 258550 -beta development).

5:40pm EST - There were some things fucked up with thirst, furnaces and cooking meat. A small server only patch was release a little while ago which appears to have fixed these issues.

4:50pm EST - Animal hide clothing snuck its way in and it looks awesome! Although, as Garry mentioned in the devblog, not so much if you wear the vest and poncho together.

4:38pm EST - Update and devblog just hit. Updating our server now, not wiping.

2:55pm EST - Still seeing some commits from Garry to main: shotgun damage increased and ore cook times have been reduced. Jenkins is doing his thing so we should see the update soon!

5:00am EST - Updated to new C4 numbers. Long and short: it's much more devastating now!

3:21am EST - An update will drop today, marking the start of a new release schedule: updates and devblogs will be posted on Thursday’s; leaving room for Friday bug fixes while still offering fresh content for the weekend. One of the biggest changes to gameplay in this update is with regards to raiding. Before we get into that, here’s a summary of what’s new...

Update summary

Metal building tier
Bullet velocity / ricochet
New footstep sounds
Faster arrows which do less damage to buildings
Admin speed / free cam is actually in

RakNet (new networking system)
Location based damage
Fixes to animal movement
Repair bench (maybe?)
Map wipe not required!
Admin chat names are a different color

The state of raiding

There are some huge changes to how raiding works with this update. Not only do we now have the metal tier, the amount of damage done by tools and C4 has shifted largely in favor of the home owner. Here’s the lowdown:

Metal blocks only take damage from C4.
It’s not very feasible to get through stone with a tool. Pickaxe is the only thing that makes a dent (at a measly 1 hp per swing).
Salvaged axe looks like the best tool to take down wood building blocks.
You can upgrade to metal (or stone) straight from the twig tier (no need to go up the tier hierarchy).
C4 damage is much higher than previously.

C4 required per wall

Wood

1

Damage
1000+*

Stone

1

Damage
5000+

Metal

2

Damage
7000

* 1 C4 can knock out multiple wood pieces

RakNet

Another exciting aspect of this update is the advent of the new networking system, RakNet. Replacing lidgren as the underlying handler for all server-client communications, RakNet stands to fix a bunch of issues we’ve seen with desync, mass drops, and players jerking all the fuck over tarnation. Will it solve all our problems? That remains to be seen. The real test will be later today when we have 200 players tromping around the server at once.

Location based damage

Since early December, any hit to the body, be it hand or head, has dealt the same damage. The only factor was the weapon used. That is no longer the case as of today’s update, damage is now based on location again. I will be testing to get some specific numbers for tomorrow’s update (and our armor guide) but in the mean time know this: helmets, facemasks and chest plates are infinitely more valuable now.

Animal fixes

It is no secret, animal movement has been pretty comical as of late. The team is working to fix that. Minh has tweaked the animations to match the speed and also fixed it so animations don’t flicker as much. I know the animals movements and AI will smooth out eventually, in the mean time, I’d love some vicious rad animals which drop some high value loot!

Top tier building skin

Vincent posted another shot of the top tier metal building skin he is working on. This is not in the game yet, but when it is, it'll be a level above the new metal tier being added today.

Rivers

Andre has started work on the river system. It'll work similar to the procedural road system and should spice up the landscape even more. Here's some shots:

Question? Comments? Join the conversation at Rustaforum.com