Community Update #17

Every part of Rust is scrutinised, including the rock. That lump of stone we give you for free at the start of every life has to be more than a tool and weapon. Sure, it's slow, and after a few minutes it's basically just taking up a space in your inventory, but it's also iconic. It's the thing every player has in common. There's been some chat on the reddits about how to make it more useful. Could it be throwable? Could every rock be unique? Why not give everybody googly eyes, as suggested here? Could it look like wrestler and action movie star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, as suggested by Barbequer? As Concept Artist Megan put it: "So now you can chase a man around a rock, with a rock that looks like The Rock." Funnily enough, Megan and I have both suggested the inclusion of googly eyes in Rust, because we are both fake adults with too much time on our hands. The programmers have yet to bite. We would be thrilled if you had any more suggestions.

We all know Rust is a dangerous place, but there's more than just a rock to the skull to worry about: ever since we added in voice chat, people are free to say what they want to anyone they see. What's it like being a naked man walking around a dangerous post-historic procedurally generated world? That's what MineDatFunky wanted to find out. It's based on this, for the uninitiated. Wait, was that Argyle Alligator near the end of walk? What's he up to, nowadays?

I went with a literal title for this. Yes, there's an Instagram feed and a Twitter account dedicated to 'Newman's' selfie game. If there's anything that we at Facepunch are known for, it's riding the zeitgeist for all its worth. This is a fun little exercise, and the results are deadpan and glorious. Observe. The account takes submissions, so you can have a moment's fame if you want to get involved. If you do this, don't forget that talking into your microphone will move your mouth.

When you make a game with systems, people start doing things with it just for the fun of it. The current build of Rust has airdrops, and if you're a player with admin panel access then you can make those airdrops come in whenever you choose, contrails scarring the sky as your god-like powers summon the sky beasts over and over and over. And if you choose to record a video, I will watch it. This is from Youtuber ORYG1N, trying to build a platform for loot to fall into. As you can imagine, it's a lot of trial and error. Mostly error. Of course, nothing that they capture is worth the amount of effort they put into building the platform into the sky, but it's the journey and not the destination that matters. Deep, huh?

Speaking of platforms, I was merrily skipping along the desert--enjoying that moment between the day and night when the sky burns pink and everything seems calm and welcoming--when I spotted this on the horizon. It was 65 floors tall and built on a 17 by 17 base. It's probably the single biggest build I've ever personally encountered in NuRust: so big that the inside held a separate base for the builder to hide in. The outside took four hours to build, and the inside was a three-day build. It was huge, but surprisingly lag-free. The view inside. You can see how the draw distance struggled to keep up with the building's height: that blue was actually filled in. Of course, the view from the top was pretty special. The server has since been wiped, but I've made Wessink promise to let me know before he starts on another massive build, so I can arrange to document it from beginning to end.

Ah, Argyle. This week the best rovin' reporter on the plains of Rust has been hunting for proof of the elusive 'Hackpire', the mythical creatures with strange powers, reported to be able to morph through walls, see through buildings, fly, and suffer no injury to their person. Argyle was brave, here. He walked into the dark without fear, hunting down supernatural beings on the edge of reality. He took a sacrifice to the sun to get the scoop.

Just another build, this time from jamonterrell on Reddit. The reason I'm covering it is not because of the little star-shaped tower--though it's nicely made--but the little monument they made beside the base. Rust's building tools are focussed on giving people the tools to make a house, but I love seeing things that have no practical purpose being made with them. Have you made anything that wasn't a house? As long as it wasn't a giant swear word, you're welcome to share it below.

Got a song, a suggestion, or anything you want to say about Rust? I really want to see if you've been making monuments. There's a dedicated forum post, or you can post in inky depths of Reddit. I also shuffle around the the Steam Community, so feel free to show me to things from there. You can follow and respond to Rust on Twitter, and I'm on there as well. We also have a dedicated site for suggestions and bug reporting. I can't respond to everything, but I read every comment and take it all in. Just be nice.