11:59pm EST - We're wiping our dev server and updating to the new terrain. No map available yet.

9:50pm EST - Some screens from around the new legacy level...

9:35pm EST - A fix for the pink is live on the dev-debug branch... looks like it'll be on the normal dev branch shortly.

9:15pm EST - A bunch of textures are still fucked up, but the overall layout of the new legacy level is becoming more clear. Below are some aerial photos from around the road. To see it for yourself, opt your client into the dev branch and look for our server on the official list.

8:10pm EST - The client build finished. Unfortunately, everything fuchsia. 

7:10pm EST - Well, it is happening... slowly. Waiting on a build to push to the development branch. Andre and Petur are still pushing out commits so hopefully we'll see it soon.

5:30pm EST - The terrain-improvements branch was just merged into main! It's happening!!

4:20pm EST - Day 2 of Rust development for the week and excitement continues to build. Not only are we close to seeing the legacy level, there is some new functionality in the pipeline for in game maps and notes. The update is still planned for Thursday and it will force a map wipe across the board (although no signs of a forced BP wipe in sight). Let’s get into it...

Terrain improvements

Andre and Petur continue to bang out commits left and right on the terrain-improvements branch. As you may recall, this not only includes improvements to the procedural map generation system, it also features a new level inspired by the legacy map. Although it has not merged into main yet, this branch should go live on development soon if it’s going to reach its targeted launch on Thursday. Remember, the release of the last terrain improvements branch (procgen7) was delayed by a week due to lack of testing. Try not to be too upset if that happens again this month, although I want to see this shit already god damnit!

Maps / Notes

Garry is working on an exciting thing which has, thus far, skated under the radar. Two new items have been added to inventories on the development branch: maps and notes. It looks like any functionality is sitting on a ‘map’ branch at the moment, so information is limited. Here’s what we know so far:

• Both maps and notes appear to be default blueprints
• A map costs 10 paper and a note costs 5
• We can infer a note will be a written message able to be dropped in a box for someone, or left in your inventory for whoever kills/loots you.
• I asked Garry about how the map would work. The answer I got was, “it isn’t made yet.”
• Asking him if it would make it into this weeks update, he replied, “I wouldn't be too optimistic, I’m just exploring atm.”

Rockets are more accurate

Helk has tweaked the rocket aimcone, reducing it to make rockets a bit more accurate. I imagine people will bitch about this, complaining the rocket is already too OP. Thing is, we won’t really know how balanced the rocket launcher is till it stops being crafted with one rocket (also included in the update Thursday). Let’s keep our pitchforks holstered and panties un-bunched till we really see how this plays out.

New lock

Vincent has implemented the new code lock model. This shouldn’t change anything about the cost or functionality, just provide a different look. Currently, that look is a bit miniscule, as the model is not scaled properly for its surroundings:

Sweet relief from music

Helk has hooked the loading music into the music volume slider. This means that if you set your music volume to 0, you won’t hear it while loading. Unfortunately, this still doesn't impact music volume while you are in the menu system. I don’t know about you, but if they just got rid of that menu music all together I’d be a happy camper. It is unpleasant, too loud, and only makes me want to mute my sound everytime I get in game.

Signs no longer disappearing

Since the new hand drawn signs went live last week, players have complained that their works of art (aka penis paintings) have been disappearing randomly. Although relogging tends to fix the issue, it is still a pain in the ass. Garry has tracked this down and implemented a fix so they should no longer disappear.

Sign damage changes

Helk has disabled bullet and explosion damage on signs. I asked him the reasoning behind this and he told me it’s to stop people from shooting signs down from far away. Makes sense I suppose, but strikes me that if someone shoots a sign with a rocket launcher, that mother fucker should be obliterated.

Admin god mod

Admins now have another way to abuse their powers! I kid, I kid… but seriously, god mode has been added for players with moderatorid set. Although you’ll still bleed when hit, your health stays untouched. I’m actually really happy to see this feature, it really sucks when you’re trying to administer a situation and some asshat comes up and shoots you in the face.

Admins, set god mode by typing, "god 1" in console.

Admins can change their characters

Another step towards literally being God, admins can now change their appearance through a series of commands. Here they are:

• skincol - Color of your skin
• skintex - Texture of your skin (hard to notice changes on this one)
• skinmesh - Changes your head / face model
• Default values appear to be -1. Change by setting to other negative or positive integers.

The idea behind this was to allow people recording videos to have some control over their characters appearance. Pretty cool, now we just need a toggle to turn off peoples name tags… that shit’s a bitch when trying to record footage or take screens.

Edit: Well fuck me sideways, it has just been brought to my attention you can already turn off nametags with nametags.enabled false.

Question? Comments? Join the conversation at Rustaforum.com