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Airborne

Attack Helicopter, Homing Missiles, Parachutes, Armored Hot Air Balloons, Weapon Rack Item Pack, Twitch Drops, & more!

07 September 2023
DEVBLOG

The Attack Helicopter is now available to purchase from the Air Wolf store at Bandit Camp for 2250 scrap.

Gunner

The main special feature of this helicopter is the gunner seat. On the front is a turret similar to the deployable autoturret, where you can equip a gun and ammo. At the side pods, rockets can be loaded in - HV and incendiary type only.

The gunner can then aim and shoot both of these while a pilot flies the heli. Simply interact with the gunner monitor and start blasting! Fire1 [left mouse button] will shoot the turret and Fire2 [right mouse button] launches rockets.


That rocket targeting diamond isn't just a static crosshair - it marks the exact point the rocket will hit if fired at that moment.

If the gunner has flares ready in his or her inventory belt, those can also be held and manually thrown to deflect any oncoming homing rockets from the new homing rocket launcher - this is a new feature for passengers in all Rust helicopter types, not just the attack helicopter.

Pilot

The pilot is the driver, but can also fire rockets (left mouse button by default), albeit without the handy exact-point-of-impact guide that the gunner gets.


Standard flares can also be loaded into the rocket storage area along with rockets, and the pilot can fire them out (right mouse button).

The attack helicopter is fast and powerful when armed, but it can still be taken down with a couple of well-aimed rockets.
The Homing Missile Launcher is a new craftable addition to your armoury that allows you to more efficiently fight flying targets while out and about. To get started simply load a Homing Missile into the Launcher and start aiming at a flying target. You’ll notice a lock-on bar will start filling in. Once locked on you can fire, but be sure to keep aiming at the target or the missile will fly off course. Changing weapon or reloading will also disrupt the targeting.


From a pilot's perspective, there are a few tools at your disposal to evade these new threats. You will hear a warning lock audio indicator in every helicopter when a missile is fired at you. The simplest tactic is just taking evasive manoeuvres - the missile lock requires a direct line of sight so getting something solid between you and the launcher should keep you safe. If that’s not possible, flares are your next best bet. Any passenger can throw Flares to disrupt any incoming missiles. The Attack Helicopter also has a dedicated Flare button that can launch flares via the secondary attack button (RMB by default).

The NPC piloted Patrol Helicopter has also been upgraded with Flare functionality, it will automatically fire Flares when a missile is launched at it. 

The Homing Missile Launcher requires a Workbench Level 2 and can be crafted for 20 HQM, 3 Metal Pipes, 1 Tech Trash and 1 CCTV Camera.

Homing Missiles require a Workbench Level 2, and two missiles can be crafted for 3 Metal Pipes, 200 Gun Powder and 1 Tech Trash.


The parachute is a new craftable item that allows you to slow your fall from great heights, as well as travel silently over long distances. Once you’ve acquired one, you will need to equip it in the new dedicated backpack slot on your character’s clothing bar. Once equipped you’ll be able to press Space while falling through the air to deploy the parachute, slowing your descent and allowing you to manoeuvre your way through the sky. Your movement keys can help you manoeuvre while in mid-air, allowing you to tilt forwards to fly faster, back to slow down and left and right to turn.

You can use weapons while flying, but doing so will prevent you from steering. Simply holster your weapon again to regain steering controls.

Your flight can end either via you hitting something solid or cutting your lines with the Dismount key. After your flight an unpacked version of the parachute will drop in front of you, to use the parachute again you’ll need to hold the pickup key for 8 seconds to pick it up again. Each use will lower the condition of your parachute by 20% and a parachute will become harder to control as it loses condition. A damaged parachute will fall faster and fly forwards slower. At extreme damage levels you could still take fall damage when landing the parachute.

If you hit something solid you can take damage based on your speed, up to 80HP at top speeds.

The additional slot in your inventory has been added to the locker interface so you can store parachutes with loadout kits. Parachutes are a special new type of clothing that can be equipped alongside full-body clothing like Hazmats.

Parachutes can be targeted by SAM sites and Auto Turrets while in mid-air.

You can craft Parachutes at a Tier 2 Workbench for 2 Tarps, 2 Sewing Kits and 50 Cloth.

The hot air balloon can now be upgraded with a new armor upgrade.

Equipping the armor will boost the overall health of the balloon whilst also providing additional cover and protection.

The new armor upgrade can be purchased at the Bandit Camp vehicle parts vendor.

The Hot Air Balloon can now be purchased at the bandit camp for 150 scrap.
You normally only see bases ~300m away. Get ready: this feature cranks up the view distance of player structures up to 1500m away!

In the past SAM sites could appear out of nowhere, only becoming visible after the missiles are headed your way. You should now be able to spot SAM sites & enemy bases long before you come in range!

This doesn't just benefit you in the air. While on the ground you can scout roof camping towers & big bases before you are in danger. You will notice the world feels much alive with evidence of player activity all around you.

I know you're thinking "Won't this cause performance issues?". Well, turns out the new rendering system is significantly more efficient than unity's normal one. The majority of computation is on the GPU which allows us to keep performance parity while rendering 25x the amount of bases. This also sets the stage for additional performance improvements in the future.

Note: This feature still experimental & disabled by default as it required a lot of changes. Look for "Global Rendering" in the option menu to enable it. If you run into any performance issues try lowering shadow quality settings.


The Weapons Rack Pack is now available from the Rust item store. Weapon racks introduce a quick, versatile and functional weapon and tool storage solution. With a Weapon Rack, you can efficiently organize, store and display your tools and weapons like a true survivor.

Wall-mounted weapon racks require a workbench level 1, the weapon stand doesn't require a workbench to be crafted.

The weapons rack pack lets the player craft three different sized wall-mounted weapon racks and a single floor storage solution.
If you missed last month's community blog, check out the real-life Rust weapons rack.
Pumpjack & Quarry
Pumpjack & Quarry model have received a refresh
Hot Air Balloon Fuel
The Hot Air Balloon now uses slightly less fuel
Furnace Skin Glow
Furnaces glow was broken, it's now fixed and improved
Fluid Switch & Pump
The Fluid switch and Pump now stack in the inventory
Non-learnable blueprints
Improved UI to clearly feedback certain blueprints that cannot be learnt
Hot Air Balloon Decay
When hot air balloons become stuck, they'll decay much faster
When players drove vehicles to the edges of the world and went out of bounds, we killed the player and vehicles, This wasn't great as we gave no feedback for when this was about to happen. Now vehicles are unable to leave the map bounds - we now apply a force on the boat/aircraft, making it impossible to escape.

Additionally, boats, if left unattended/idle for 2 hours, will begin to be forced back to shore gradually.
From October 28th, Rust will no longer support Windows 8.1. As technology continually evolves, so do our system requirements. In January 2024, Microsoft will officially discontinue Windows 8.1 support, no further security updates and software updates will be made available.

We highly recommend that users currently running Windows 8.1 consider upgrading their operating system to a more recent version, such as Windows 10 or newer, to ensure optimal performance, security, and compatibility with future updates.
From September 7th-14th we will be having a Twitch Drops event featuring some of your favorite creators.
Get your watch time in!

Be sure to get synced at twitch.facepunch.com so you can successfully claim your drops.
Recently we implemented a dashboard that gathers data constantly on how Rust is played. We have information on all kinds of things ranging from how much wood is harvested to what the most used gun is. Something we want to get better at is showcasing some of that data. So going forward we're going to try and have a retrospective of interesting data from the last wipe.

The data shown below is only from Facepunch official servers, we have eliminated data from community-run servers to ensure accuracy within the data we share.

We'll try and vary the content as much as possible, so next month you might see other different types of information featured.

Let us know what type of data you'd like us to share.
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Features

  • Added Parachutes
  • Added Attack Helicopter
  • Added Hot Air Balloon armor upgrade
  • Added Homing Missile Launcher
  • Added Global Networked Bases
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Improvements

  • Improved jumping behaviour when attempting to climb onto solid objects in the ocean
  • HAB’s will now eventually decay over time if they get stuck on a solid object and are no longer moving
  • HAB’s will now get a slight physics push occasionally when they are stuck on an object to try and dislodge them
  • A blueprint will now display if it’s learned or if it is a default blueprint when selected in the inventory
  • Sleeping bags will now render underneath team markers on the map while alive
  • Airdrops will now become lootable if they land on a tugboat
  • Improved first person spectating behaviour when a player is piloting a vehicle
  • Boats abandoned for more than two hours (secondsUntilShoreDrift convar) now slowly drift towards the shore
  • Improved the F-15E end of wipe flyby by adding a new 3D skybox model
  • Hot Air Balloon cheaper to repair
  • Hot Air Balloon uses slightly less fuel
  • Smokestack VFX improvements
  • Updated quarry model
  • Updated pumpjack
  • Improved snow when using low shader levels
  • Fluid switch now stacks in the player's inventory
  • Fluid pump now stacks in the player's inventory
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Fixed

  • Fixed being able to break Patrol Helicopter’s attack behaviour by diving into deep water
  • Patrol Helicopter will now fly higher above the water
  • Fixed chinook ground particle effects not rendering on the terrain surface
  • Fixed being able to deploy elevators on a floor foundation from underneath the floor
  • Fixed Twitch Rivals trophy name list not rendering properly
  • Elevator item now lists correct power consumption when inspecting the item
  • Fixed spinner wheel not rotating properly when mounted on a tugboat
  • Fixed campfire visual not rendering properly when placed on a tugboat
  • Fixed jackhammer not playing attack animation in 3rd person
  • Fixed Rust PVE mode (convar) not allowing players to shoot NPCs
  • Fixed a null volume which may have caused audio to crash when mounting a boat
  • Fixed Industrial light missing texture on cargo ship
  • Fixed Code lock world model missing back face
  • Fixed Brick 2x2 Roof tips clipping through eachother
  • Fixed RHIB using incorrect LODs
  • Fixed Missile Silo computer station killing the player when mounted
  • Fixed water disappearing when exiting the sewer branch monument
  • Fixed building tier disappearing from radial menu when valid building skin is set
  • Fixed naked player censorship when inside smoke grenade smoke
  • Fixed Server side demos being unable to be played back
  • Fixed furnace skins not getting their correct emission colours

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