4/11 @ 12:55pm - In other news, Reign of Kings released Alpha 11. Check out all the details here, if you're into that type of thing.

6:20pm EST - Another small client update just came out. This includes the changes listed in the update below and these couple of things:

• Improved water-ledge-jump logic.
• Less gravity when first entering water.
• You can now attack when your head is above water.
• Increased chance of recovering from being wounded.
• Fixed freezes when pulling out some deployable objects.
• Some text layout fixes on signs.

4:58pm EST - Some afternoon commits from Garry and Helk. These aren't live at the moment but Garry told me he'll probably push them out at some point prior to next week's update. Here's a summary:

• Player rendering distance is now fixed (thank god!)
• The days of easy mining crystals are coming to an end. They will now behave more like normal nodes.
• Ammo crafting time is now between 10-15 seconds across the board.
• 3rd person animations for bandage use.
• Grenade throw animation.
• Additional protection against peeking heads through rocks in order to place sleeping bags.

2:48pm EST - Yesterday we saw one of the largest Rust updates in recent history. Although there were some hiccups with server performance, a couple hotfixes appear to have fixed the issues. The primary focus today is on bug fixes and small tweaks, maximizing gameplay for the weekend. If you are playing this weekend, here's some things you'll probably notice...

New rad towns

As one of the final commits to the terrain improvements branch, Andre replaced the hanger and metal shack monuments with new rad towns which give loot. Increasing the number of rad towns per map to five, this change gives more players access to valuable loot drops. Here's a look at the two new rad towns.

Alt tab woes

This update has been a kick in the nuts for many multitaskers out there. This is due in large part to an exploit fix Garry added which kicks players for inactivity. Although intended to punish players who intentionally throttle their connection, this fix is primarily just fucking with people who alt tab. Note: this appears to only be an issue if you're in full-screen mode, windowed users don't seem to be kicked.

Jump out of water

Up till this point if you accidentally fall into water, you’re wet until you find the shoreline. Helk has changed this so that you can now jump onto small ledges (or foundations) from the water. To achieve this, simply go to the edge of the foundation look straight up and jump while pressing forward.

Return of the Thompson

A couple changes in this update have made the assault rifle a much less convenient battle companion. Not only has the rate of fire been lessened and recoil increased, a bug fix has drastically increased how long it takes to make ammo. Previously instant, 556 ammo now takes 30 seconds to craft three rounds. All this makes the Thompson a much more viable Newman killer.

Update: Helk has shifted the ammo craft times to 10-15 seconds across the board (just went live).

Barricade bitchiness

The newest craze in base protection, barricades are out in force. Unfortunately, due to being such an early iteration, there are some issues with our new spiky friends. As we saw in legacy, if you place a barricade too close to wall, you can get snared by it while on the other side of said wall. Making matters worse, the only way to remove barricades at the moment is via C4 (melee attacks and weapons do no damage currently).

Motion blur no more

A small shift which has likely gone unnoticed by most, motion blur is no longer an option. It is unclear whether this is permanent or not, however, I doubt many people are mourning the loss.

Crystals

Due to a bug, crystals are a gatherers new best friend. These nodes break in one hit and provide several hundred ore or stones in the blink of an eye. Better yet, clusters of these crystals spawn in at one time. 

Barricades, camera, and guitar icons

Helk has implemented the icons for barricades, cameras, and the guitar. Note: this is currently only on the development branch.

Pink terrain on mac

Mac players are due to have some trippy times when in firefights this weekend. This is caused by an impact texture bug in the current Mac build which turns surfaces bright pink for a while after they’ve been shot. Although there was a fix for this committed yesterday, it doesn't appear to have worked.

More barricades

Vincent has start work on the next generation of barricades: Sandbags and concrete. Although not in game yet, I'd expect to see them in the coming weeks. Here’s two screens he posted on trello:

Question? Comments? Join the conversation at Rustaforum.com