Raytracing? Backpacks? Slingshots? Hackweek! | Rust update 10th February 2023
This RUST update video is brought to you by Shadowfrax!
We are now a week into February’s wipe, and the dust has begun settling around the industrial update. Conveyors continue to see improvements in a separate branch–a previously running conveyor will now automatically continue operating once power is restored if it had lost power while running. And active industrial conveyors are getting the volume turned down on their conveying noises as well.
Hackweek progress
Some interesting ideas are taking shape during the hackweek sprint. One branch, the skin viewer, looks like a great way to preview skins in the in-game store before purchase or simply enjoy the skins you’ve already collected. The viewer should include all skinnable items and allow the player to rotate the object to get a full view of the skin.
Another exciting idea brought over from the previous hackweek is the caldera biome. Not only does it carry the potential to be a next-tier biome with a greater set of survival challenges and rewards, but death by lava is undeniably something RUST has been missing as a survival game. Having a volcanic biome makes a lot of sense for an island, too. A new feature to explore, a new method for “accidentally” offing a teammate, and a new biome to survive in sounds like the perfect package. And you can probably still die to a polar bear, too!
The slingshot is another project that seems to hold promise. A primitive item that can be scrapped together with a handful of stuff sounds like a recipe for success in RUST. It’s possible to see this slingshot firing rocks like you’ve done in The Forest, or who knows, perhaps even metal frags or bone frags could fit the bill.
Other changes in this week’s RUST Update
- Industrial conveyor operating sounds will have their volume reduced
- Industrial conveyors will continue operation if they lost power while operating and receive power once again
- Hackweek projects introduce some interesting potential features
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Thanks for reading, and see you in the next rust update!
Video Transcript
Greetings, survivors and friends, Shadowfrax here and in the world of Rust; this week is Hack week. Now you may say that every week is hack week in Rust, and that’s exactly why we need a better anti-cheat. But this is slightly different.
You may remember the last hack week at Facepunch was in November last year and the idea behind it is that for one week, the TEAM stopped all regular work and started plugging away at something they’ve wanted to try for ages. This can be anything from an entirely new game, an idea on an existing project, a tool, or anything they want, and they can work alone or with other members.
It’s good because this is where we get to see what they are actually interested in working on.
And if you were hoping that they were all just dying to work on performance-related projects, well, sucks to be you! But it’s not all bad news. I, for one, am rather stoked for a couple of these projects and hope they make it because, from the look of it, most of the chaps seem to be fans of CONCEPT LIMBO…
What came out of the last such venture were weapon racks, chat emojis, and revamped weapon modules, all of which we are still waiting for, but they are confirmed. Airships were being worked on, but those were deflated and mothballed. So basically, the boring stuff got through.
But anyway, here’s what’s being played around with this time. Just remember that none of this is guaranteed to ever make it. Until it gets the Helk smash of approval, a hackweek idea only exists in some shadowy concept nether realm. But do let me know which one or ones you’d happily welcome into the game.
First of all, Jarryd is working on a Mannequin, more specifically, Manny the mannequin, a player-deployed clothing dummy Currently planned to be a 7-slot inventory item that a player can deposit clothing into; it can then be placed down to spawn a default player model displaying said clothing, etc. It would also support showing skins on items and could be animated, including, of course, the T-pose.
Now that might sound creepy enough on its own, besides being a perfectly fun item but knowing you lot all intimately as I do. I know exactly what situations you’ll be putting poor manny into if he ever does make it, and I doubt many of them will involve fashion.
However you dress this one up, it does pose a few questions as to what you’ll be allowed to do with it, mainly revolving around how convincing he would be as a model citizen. For instance, hypothetically, if it was to be a store item, would you proclaim it to be pay-to-win? Let me know below.
Adam is working on Backpacks – the idea is that only one can be worn or carried at a time, and it would add a new separate row of storage slots. They could be interacted with from the ground or inventory, would slightly reduce movement speed, and can be stolen from if you get close enough, so presumably, this means they would be visible on players’ backs.
This one does have a history, and in fact, there is an unused model out there that I’ve shown several times and which is already in the game files, so this would be quite a neat way of crimping that one off. But what do you think? Would you trade speed for baggage? Does your inner loot goblin approve of this one? Let me know.
Now here’s one that I’m foaming at the wire tool for. Jake is working on Breadboards, no, not that kind. I’m talking about this sort of circuit board item for building condensed logic circuits with inputs and outputs, available in large and small versions. They could also be cloned and copied. The idea with these would be very much like in some other games, and my mind is always drawn to Little Big Planet 2 when I think about this, and they would be especially useful for creative projects as my circuitry tends to get very large and sprawling. Not only would these condense everything, but they would allow for circuits to be built just once and then saved. Out of all of the projects on the go, this is my number one nerdy and completely selfish pick.
Whether it would be a purely creative addition or something that players could use themselves in some way, I can also see it helping with performance as there would be a lot less in the way of physical and electrical components on display to render.
Talking of which, Bill is working on a Skin viewer, the basic idea being to click an item’s icon in the in-game item store or via the crafting screen to open up a 3D model view of that item with its skin applied. This would work for deployables, weapons, and clothing and let you rotate said item to see what it looks like before buying/crafting.
Diogo has started work on Ray tracing, and I’ll just let that thought sit there for a moment whilst you think about it. I’m sure all of you 624 Windows 8 Rust players out there are gagging to see this one in action. But seriously, imagine how that might look regardless of performance and wear and tear, etc., and let me know if it’s something you’d actually like to see. There aren’t many other details regarding this one, really.
So onto the next, and Tom is working on a Slingshot. I have no idea whether it’ll end up looking anything like this community model I featured ages ago and which I still think looks really nice. But if I know Tom, whatever form it takes, it’ll be a professional job. There’s mention of it firing rocks, presumably small ones, but I would love to see it fire a variety of projectiles just for the laughs, and perhaps, as mentioned before, it could stun someone briefly if used, right? Probably not, though, as anything that bonks you on the coconut would have to apply the same effect, so na. Whatever the case, I think I can see this one making it.
And lastly, Vince and Andre are both working on a Caldera (and this is the only one here that has carried over from the last hackweek). Basically, a volcano-type terrain feature with mention of lava, which, if you ask me, we definitely need, and by the looks of the commits relating to this, it would be quite a large feature; perhaps when the nexus system comes into play, we could have a volcano island or two to visit?
As mentioned, these are all just possibilities at the moment and not decided upon, like only some, or perhaps even none, will achieve escape velocity, but please do tell me your thoughts on what you’d like to see, and you never know who might read them.
In other news, the Industrial noises coming from the new conveyors, etc., are being softened somewhat, although you’ll still have to put up with the din until the next patch, and as usual, there are ongoing projects that you should know about by now but which I’ll list again. Such as the nexus system and Ferry Terminal, Nuclear Missile Silo Monument, a rework to the compound, weapon racks, remote control drones and turrets, pets, building skins, a new player-driven Attack Helicopter, and also internal work on a new mission editor that should allow for a revamp of the current mission system.
There’s probably more that we don’t know about, too; I mean, there are always secret commits. But I’ll let you know whenever I get more info, as always.
Until then, those are the headlines. Please like and sub, and follow me on my socials for notifications and Twitch for streams, etc., etc., etc. all links are below. I shall, of course, catch you very soon; in the meantime, keep calm and stay Rusty, cheerio.
