Community Update #5

One of the things I'm keen to encourage is Rust players telling their stories. That's where the main image is from: The Story Of Garrick. It's a short work of fiction dropped onto Reddit, and writer Dave Robson writes about meeting a trustworthy, dependable partner in the game, which isn't the usual route that Rust stories take. They mostly talk about bludgeonings.

I don't know who Garrick was before he came here (Hell, I didn't know who I'd been myself). All I know is he took to the island like a duck takes to water. We would crest a hill and he would scan the landscape with narrowed eyes. He'd either give me the smallest of nods and we would carry on or he would mutter under his breath, "No good..." and we would turn back. Who knows what he had seen. If he was afraid or tired he never showed it.

It's worth reading. I want your stories. I don't care if they're in-game snippets of action, or works of fiction inspired by the world of Rust. If you have a story to tell, feel free to write it and link me to it. If there's enough, I'll compile the best.

Here's an interesting little fact: there are only 37 aircraft carriers in the world. It seems like there should be more, but if you think about it the low number makes sense: the largest aircraft carriers are nuclear powered, and they can carry up to 90 military aeroplanes. Why am I talking about this? Well, thanks to Rust there was a brief period where that number was 38. Forum user NexusOne showed off the fruits of his labour, displaying a water-based build of a small ship he built with the help of God Mode. But that didn't last, and the USS Skankville was refitted, as he put it turned "her into a Submarine, complete with Galley, Missile Bays, Conning Tower (which are still a work in progress) plus she's going to be lengthened a bit to be on more of a proper scale with real wooden submarines the world over." And if you're worried about the submarine moving too close to the land (don't be - it can't move), then forum user Lameklamek has the perfect solution: an atmospheric lighthouse jutting out into the water. The builder writes: "Nothing too special. It's built on a peninsula of land and contains the lighthouse tower, as well as a boarding station for the operators. With the fires lit on the top, it made for a pleasant piece of scenery come sunset." It's very simple, but it's lovely and evocative, which makes a nice change from the utilitarian murder-blocks that tend to dominate the Rust landscapes. Also: check out that aspect ratio!

That's actually something I've been thinking about: in my head, Rust is a dark place and full of foreboding buildings and twisted forests. But it's not. It's actually quite sunny and nice. The tone comes from the situation and, possibly, the fact that I spend most of my Rust time in a 3 by 3 shack and only leave under the cover of darkness. Redditor BodyWeightEnergy's Notorious Newmans sketch reminded me that the game is colourful and bright. And that we're missing binoculars. Pro-tip: if the game looks like this all the time, quit fiddling with your gamma you filthy cheater.

This video of a pipe shotgun takedown is impressive. At least it is to me, a guy who hears a gun blast and starts looking for a hole to crawl into. I've become quite knowledgeable about the little gaps in Rust's landscape. This guy's reaction is completely different, even if it is gaming the system. Of course, we don't know what happened around that. Maybe the man with the pipe shotgun sent out a general message to the server, suggesting sexual inhibition on the part the server inhabitants' mothers? I refuse to believe that someone in the open fields of Rust would choose to shoot at another person without some sort of provocation. What sort of game would that be?

Ah, this sort of game. Once again, Rust fan movies involve brave, nekkid men in fields with guns. I'll give andrewmfilms props for using a live pig, and having real shacks mingled with the imported models from the game.

Some recent building updates in Experimental has started to give a sense of shape to the servers. The new pieces and building capabilities means the procedural maps are covered in builds, creating abstract shapes that alter the horizon. The community has taken the tools and crafted angled houses that poke up on the horizon like lost Tetris blocks. I'm not the only one who noticed the similarity: Youtubers Zero Fox FK spotted it as well, and used their Windows Media Maker skills to speedily knock together this little tribute. The Rust team are still in the process of refining the building tools, so those buildings came together remarkably quickly. We were noticing them 30 minutes after the update went out, and within a day people were building stairways to heaven.

As always, this stuff comes from you. I'm never short of stuff to cover, but I want more. More! Stories in particular, as I'd like to see what can be done with your writing. How do you let us know? We have a dedicated forum post, and there's a Reddit thread created for every community post. I also lurk at the the Steam Community, but it's better if you link me to something you've seen on there. You can follow and respond to Rust on Twitter, and I'm on there as well.