I asked GrymThor--who has appeared in a few of these posts--if he had any building tips to pass on. Grym's builds are often focussed on staircases, which means they're a nice mix of practical (stairs go up!) and pretty (they're all swirly). Stairs are tricky things: I often overlook their placement when building my protective hovel, and have at least once created a building with two floors but with no way of passing between them. Leaving them to the last minute means I usually build cramped boxes with random stairs and corridors, and that's not something I want to invite someone over to see. Grym's take is that stairs are the most vital part, often defining what he builds and where he builds it. He uses the following techniques to wrap around trees, but you can also use these tips to make towers, turrets, and more. Grym sez: "Once a foundation plan has been, set it's best to ALWAYS place pillars FIRST, and get into the habit of using them. Especially when doing the type of stairs I do. After I have placed a floor, I always check to see if I need to place pillars first before I place the block and ramps. The following are good for placement at a single tree for a single tree house."

Single Circle Staircase

Single Square Staircase

The following are good for placement between two trees for dual tree houses

Double Circle Staircase

Double Square Staircase

You can build other things with these tips. The rollercoaster in the main image was made using these techniques, so there's plenty of scope in building more interesting things. Or, like me, you can stick to the creepy two room shack that smells of chicken feathers and sadness. If you do build something using Grym's tutorials, be sure to let me know what you made.

The biggest shift in tone from Legacy Rust to the current build is probably exemplified in the missing towns, and it's something people wonder about. Given we have a procedural map now, there's the question of how we'd fit them into the world. That question has a number of points that need to be considered, one of which is where we place them. Should they exist fully on the map? Or, as BioClone argues, could they be sunken into the ground? His scenario suggests that the world has changed to such an extent that the towns and cities are hidden by the surrounding land. The world has essentially sunk. It suggests a huge amount of time has passed since these urban areas were of any use to anyone, and it means we can still keep player builds the focus on the land. Neat idea, and if we go even further we could re-enact the second best episode of Futurama (the best being Roswell That Ends Well).

As the old building system and the new one merges, the Rust landscape has grown increasingly surreal. The inbetween state has created other building 'techniques', though they're not wholly legitimate ones. They're also ridiculously cumbersome and awkward, so this isn't really a cheat. Not really. The wonderfully named Vikingvirus discovered that it was possible to build a house using just the cupboards. They're (currently) indestructible, so if you were to make every part of your house from the closets then you'd technically have an unraidable base.

Just another idea for an unraidable. A little expensive on wood :) but only 300,000 wood...ish. Five doors to go through before getting into main building and then there is separate "bays" individually locked (to stop ppl shooting you as there are gaps you might be able to shoot through.

Which looks like this: It's hideous and I love it. Like a badly stacked warehouse. A temporary aberration in the Rust development cycle. Years from now, only a few people will remember that there were once powerful cupboard houses dotting the landscape. Your children won't believe you--who would?--but we'll know, won't we? *touches nose*

By now, you'll know I love a bit of performance art in Rust. It's partly that it just exists in an open world, so even if you're not part of the little team of people who initiate members in this fashion, you could stumble upon it. Imagine: it's darker than an octopus baby's nappy, and you're scrambling from rock to rock, flinching at every crunchy step floating towards you in the night. You are alone, deliberately avoiding contact with anyone and anything, when the noise drifts in. A bellowing voice starts commanding his minions, and you find yourself unable to remain hidden. The voice beckons you, possesses you, even moves your feet for you. You just got inducted. This is old school Legacy action, hence the beanies. We really should add altars to the game.

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.