9:46pm EST - Update on the ladders, you can no longer use tools while on them. C4 can be thrown still, but pickaxing through a wall while on a ladder is now out of the question.

2:53pm EST - We are just one day away from the big update this week and, hold on to your britches, gameplay is due to shift in a big way. It doesn't look like quarry's are going to make it in, however, the new raiding tool introduced yesterday will forever shift the way we look at base security...

More on ladders

Ladders were added into the dev branch yesterday. I streamed some tests from our dev branch server, going around to bases and seeing the capabilities and limitations of these new raiding tools. Long and short: Ladders provide the biggest shift in raiding dynamics since the introduction of the tool cupboard. Here’s some details:

• They are a default blueprint, cost 300 wood and take 200 seconds to craft
• They can be placed where building is blocked and on large rocks
• You can use them to climb through windows
• You can place them on pillars (although it’s a bit tricky)
• You can get around a 90 degree angle on buildings with them
• They can be placed on buildings while you’re in the water
• You can use tools / C4 while on them (EDIT: You can no longer use tools while on them, C4 still can be tossed though)
• They can be placed on icebergs and monuments (not rad towns though)
• You can destroy a ladder with 4 hits from a hatchet
• You cannot get past an overhang (floor piece) with them
• You cannot climb a ladder on a wall if there is a barricade (spiked) blocking it

As with any new functionality, balance will need to be tweaked. Right now, ladders strike me as too easy to craft given how efficient they are. Garry has made some changes already today, lessening their power slightly.

• You can’t place ladders inside other ladders anymore
• You can no longer shoot weapons while on ladders

Whether you love them or hate them, these things will drastically change how people build and protect their bases. I’m compiling some base protection tips, expect to see them in tomorrow's weekly update summary.

Ammo fixes

Helk has fixed a glitch which has allowed people to convert the ammo in their clip to high velocity ammo. Along with this fix, you’ll now be able to pull up the ammo selection (by holding “R”) if the ammo in your clip differs from the ammo in your inventory.

PvP collision

It looks like Newmans will be bumping into each other more after this update; Garry has done an initial test for PvP collision. This’ll not only shift PvP interactions, it stands to make it a bit harder to get around tight spaces when there’s a lot of people in your base.

Shorter commands

Garry has made it easier to run certain commands in console. He’s done this by adding many commands to the global namespace, allowing you to call just ‘fov 75’ instead of ‘graphics.fov 75.’ This should work on most commands provided there isn’t a conflict.

Animals animate further away

You may have noticed deer ice skating in the distance. They should look a bit more natural as of the update tomorrow as Garry initiated the animations for animals which are far away.

FPS.graph is back

Andre has re-enabled the on-screen FPS graph. You may recall, it was disabled the other month because it was actually reducing FPS when it was on. Let’s hope that’s not the case anymore.

To turn it on, type "graph 200" in console (it takes the number of pixels to track, so you can do graph 100 for a smaller version)

Tracer changes

Since the update to Unity 5.1, tracers on the development branch have been black. Helk has fixed this, adjusting the tracer material to look like it normally does. In addition to this, he’s scaled tracer effects based on velocity.

Are we wiping?

The question on everyone’s mind the day before an update: Is the server wiping? Although a wipe will not be forced on this update, I will be wiping all of our servers (due to high entity counts) when the update goes live. We will not be wiping blueprints.

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