1:00pm EST - Our update preview stream is live! twitch.tv/rustafied

12:00am EST - As we pass the halfway point for Rust development for the month, hackweek continues along with various other fixes and forward progress.

Our update preview stream goes live at 1pm EST. Follow @Rustafied for news throughout the week. 

Hackweek continues

Hackweek is still in full swing! Having kicked off last week, several projects are rolling over into this week. For a quick refresher, Hackweek is a special time where the developers get the freedom to work on any project they choose for about a week. While not every idea from Hackweek makes it into Rust, this burst of creativity has historically led to some innovative and beloved features in the game. Here is a summary of what's going on this week:

• Easel - an art easel for painting on

• Deployable targets - more work on two new types of deployable targets

• Horse rewrite - various improvements to horse riding / handling, especially related to the upcoming towing of siege weapons

• Meat models - various world models for different types of meat from the looks of it

• Car radio - From an old hackweek, work has picked up on car radios again

Siege weapons

The team is making steady progress on the siege weapons this week, focusing on refining several key components. They're currently addressing issues with various meshes, LODs, and the orientation aspects of the battering ram. In addition, they're setting up colliders on what appears to be a formidable four-story siege tower. Work is also underway on basic flammable ammo for the catapult, adding a fiery twist to its capabilities. While it’s still uncertain when these siege weapons will officially be introduced into the game, the best estimate points to early next year. We'll continue to keep you updated as more information becomes available.

Edit: The siege weapons are now available for public testing on the AUX2 branch. It is confirmed these will not be coming for the December update. We’ll have a summary of these weapons on next weeks article.

Mini Crossbow

There is a new weapon that's been in the pipeline for a few weeks—a Mini Crossbow. This fresh take on the classic crossbow design features a magazine capable of holding 4 shots, offering a quicker fire option to the traditional single-shot setup. Currently, all work including models, textures, animations, and other details are being developed on a separate branch, so there are no visuals available yet. While there's no confirmed release date for this new weapon, more information will be shared as it becomes available.

Hazmat plushy

Rust is collaborating with Youtooz for the launch of a new Hazmat plushie. People who buy the plushie will get access to the in-game item (which provides 100% comfort atm. It’ll be available on Nov. 25th for $30.

Misc quality of life

The team is also doing some miscellaneous quality of life changes. Here is a summary:

• Added 18 slot storage box to workcarts

• Added homing rockets to high end ordinance and rocket ammo collection - APC, Attack helicopter

• Fridge inventory slots increased from 30 to 48

• Propane stack size updated from 5 to 20

• Legacy shelter now takes 1.5 seconds to place

• You can now place a second legacy shelter and the first one will be automatically destroyed

• First pass on vending machine prices changing scrap received when selling items (eg. fish exchange) using the dynamic pricing mechanic

• Server will start with fish prices 50% lower, can increase to 100% extra scrap if no fish are being sold

• Added passthrough output to the storage monitor 'Power Out' now sends 1 power instead of passthrough - 1

Other stuff

• More work on the 4 shot mini crossbow (new weapon coming soon)

• More work on shields

• More work on the blowpipe (new weapon)

• More work on jungle ruins monument

• Improvements to RCON security (logging and banning for failed login attempts)

• Fix for landmine disarming (Landmines now have a 15% chance to explode on being disarmed as was always intended)

• More work on Ice sculptures (likely an Xmas item)

• Some fixes to painting / art

• Work on the 11th birthday cake for Rust’s birthday

• More work on the new explosions

• Added player.cold_breath convar to toggle cold breath visual effect

• Fix leather gloves having invisible fingers by ensuring all child renderers are spawned in the viewmodel

• Fixes to the rocket launcher reloading

• Don't load the keys_default.cfg file if a keys.cfg file already exists