Community Update 44

I had planned to use a different image for the header this week, but the Steam Community is currently down and I can't access it. Never mind, the spare is from Slinky, one of the people behind the awesome Gonna Build A Base music video. It's the most excessive use of barricades we've ever seen, but at least the base is safe from ground attacks. I hope he doesn't make enemies who have rocket launchers. It turns out they also released a short video of bloopers from the music video. If you thought normal Rust was tense, imagine trying to make a music video on a live server?

Battle Royale is one of the more popular game-modes in other survival games (both Arma III and H1Z1 have it), and it's unofficially been supported in Rust by the people at Intoxicated. The rules are pretty simple: you spawn naked and unarmed (except for a rock), and as the game progresses you collect the usual loot and supplies. The twist is you only have one life, and the longer you stay in the game, the more the map area constricts. Also, there are bombs. As a player, you're forced to move around the map to avoid environmental death, and it's up to you how you survive. Remember: any alliances you do form can only last until the final few remain. There can only be one winner. There's not a lot else on it at the moment, as it's in early development and there's limited servers, but that's where you and lots and lots of friends come in. Why not try it out? Just cut and paste one of the following commands into your F1 menu to join. client.connect seattle.intoxicated.co.za:27101 client.connect rust.intoxicated.co.za:27121 The game only begins with 11 people readying-up, so it's probably best to head there as a group for now.

The world's greatest horse Let's Player Shadowfrax has been hanging around in Rust this week, engaging in his inner Sith. We're almost certainly not allowed to put Darth Vader in the game--our lawyers are diving and shouting 'nooooooo' as I suggest this in our Slack chat--but there's nothing stopping Darth from stopping by. All are welcome in Rust, even Dark Lords of the Sith. And it turns out when Darth comes to Rust, all he wants to do is make friends and tell bad jokes. He also made a video about a very well-realised Wild West town, his love for Penelope Cruz, and two rival clans coming together for a shoot-out on the mean streets of RustWood. It's a very fun idea, but the server lag is the real winner in this fight, and I can't face embedding it in this post. You can see it here. He is also responsible for this. Just click it and appreciate the greatness of it.

'The Night Sky is really real!' says PlutonFouger on the Facepunch forums, recognising that the constellations are real. It's fun to see someone notice, even though we mentioned it a while back. But it's even more fun when they can use it for more than just navigation. 'When I equip a bolt rifle to use the zoom, I see more stars,' He adds. 'I zoomed in on the Pleiades and the tiny stars in the cluster popped right out, as if I had raised a real spotting scope. 'My server's Rust island appears to be positioned at about 30 degrees south latitude. Orion rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest, preceded by the Pleiades and Taurus. The north star is not visible, it's below the north horizon.' So, yes: you can sort of work out the position of the island from where the stars are. In a game with only one line of lore, what could it all mean?

A short video, so I won't say too much about it. Just that this is exactly the sort of thing I hoped we'd see from the Beancan grenade. Via tehrealDOA on Reddit.

A few interesting ideas popped up on Reddit this week. Let's take a look.

Playing Dead

This is from FilthyBandits, who wrote: 'Thought it could be cool to have a hotkey or a console command for your character to ragdoll as if dead until you press another key to get up again. I've been in countless situations where this could come in handy. Could even have a slight breathing animation so you can tell upon closer inspection.' I like any idea that introduces uncertainty into the game, especially if it involves self-ragdolling. That is the best thing games can do. As you can see from the thread, some people liked the idea, whereas others could see a flaw: 'No need playing dead once I ram my spear through your cranium,' added Kiffi.

Fun with Corpses!

The other dead body post came from rstallard91, who suggested: 'Let's say you come across a dead body of a Newman. You can loot him, but also have the choice to "examine body". You could determine how he died.' CSI Rust. It's probably tough to pull off cleanly, though knowing what sort of immediate danger you could be in by examining a body does sound like important knowledge in a game with as many corpses as Rust. rstallard91 thought it could be done with text, but ConstantPanic suggested: 'It would also be cool if you cool see it visually on the ragdoll, like if the ragdoll literally had a wound or blisters. Or like if it burned to death (which will soon be a thing) it would be black from scorch marks.'

Megathread

The subreddit also hosts Megathreads, where the posters will discuss one thing about Rust in great detail, sharing tips and suggestions. This week's was Base Design.

Think you're working on something awesome? Tell me all about it. Now's the time to share your base designs, or get into the growing Raid Cam business. There's a dedicated forum post, or you can fish for upvotes in the Subreddit. 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. I can't respond to everything, but I read every comment and take it all in.