[2023] AIRBORNE

A lil somethin somethin: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page here.

ATTACK HELICOPTER


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 will shoot the turret and Fire2 launches rockets.



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 was still be taken down with a well-aimed rocket.


HOMING MISSILE LAUNCHER
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.




PARACHUTES


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, Auto Turrets and players on the ground while in mid-air.

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


ARMORED HOT HAIR BALLOON


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.





GLOBAL NETWORKED BASES
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.

This feature is currently disabled by default as it required a lot of changes. Look for "Global Rendering" in the option menu to enable it.




WEAPON RACKS


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.




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[rust.facepunch.com].


IMPROVEMENTS & FIXES HIGHLIGHTS
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 Furance 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


END OF THE WORLD
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.


WINDOWS 8.1 SUPPORT DISCONTINUED
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[support.microsoft.com], 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.


TWITCH DROPS
From September 7th-14th we will be having a Twitch Drops event featuring some of your favorite creators.

[twitch.facepunch.com]

Get your watch time in!

Be sure to get synced at https://twitch.facepunch.com/ so you can successfully claim your drops.


RUST INSIGHTS
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 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.