7:00pm EST - Scratch that previous update, dev branch is functional now :)

6:30pm EST - After several builds this afternoon, the dev branch is still not functional. Jenkins continues chugging away, ideally producing a playable build soon. Given this, expect to see the horse and deployable gibs in my update summary post coming early in the morning. 

2:34pm EST - We are one day from this weeks big update and the focus appears to be on optimization and stability. Although the update will not force one, expect a wipe on our main server once the update goes live (read more below). Some cool new things have hit the development branch today, unfortunately at this moment, everyone joining a dev branch server is getting kicked due to being, “Unresponsive.” Garry is aware of the issue and working on it. Once a working build comes out, I’ll add more pictures and video below...

Horses are in

Before you jump for joy thinking this means something it doesn't: No, you cannot ride horses yet. The animal model and animations are in, basically giving you another source of food / cloth. You equestrians out there shouldn't fret; horse riding is planned in the future and getting the actual horses in the game is a huge step towards that goal. Expect some pictures and videos once the dev branch gets its head out of its own ass.

Sign fixes

Ever since signs were introduced the other week, client crashes have been plaguing players. Although a definitive fix has been elusive thus far, Garry has some potential fixes which he is testing out. Along with lowering sign resolution, he’s also made it so sign text can only be on a single line. Not ideal, but Unity hates dynamic content.

Speedtree performance

Garry is also tackling some performance issues with speedtrees. If you recall from the most recent devblog, speedtrees are the source of some big performance slowdowns, especially in forests. And, given Unity 5 no longer supports “Max Mesh Trees,” Garry is forced to make his own optimizations through modifying LOD transitions and various other things. On a side note, wind in trees has been added back, further improving immersion.

Deployable gibs

Gibs have been added to several deployable objects. If you’re not familiar with gibbing, it’s basically the effect which has items break into pieces when destroyed (as opposed to just disappearing). So far gibs have been added to the furnace, large wood storage, small wood storage, and repair bench (which was already in).

Dropped item models

Minh has added a bunch more world models for dropped items. At the moment, it looks like all the tools, weapons and most of the resources now appear as the actual objects when dropped on the ground (instead of the classic burlap sack). Here’s a couple shots:

Entity / collider update

As you may recall, we’re using our main server this week to test the limits of entities and colliders in game. For a full explanation entities and colliders, please refer to the wall of text in yesterday’s post. As of today, we’re at 186k entities and 196k colliders. Although I have received a couple reports of the building physics being wonky, everything hasn't totally gone to shit yet. I’m going to keep letting this ride out till the update tomorrow and see how it goes. Do expect a map wipe on our main server when the update hits (low pop will not be wiping).

Jammin' with Argyle

I joined our favorite Rust investigative journalist last night as he interviewed people on our main server about guitars. Interview turned into jam sesh and, as with any good Rust event, it ended with a bunch of naked dudes getting mowed down. Check it out here:

Question? Comments? Join the conversation at Rustaforum.com