Tuesday, April 1, 2014

The Rusted Development - Episode 2

Title: Where'd he hide that gun?


To hire the artist for your productions, find his gigs on Fiverr at - Artist: Adzakael.

It never fails. You stop yourself from killing a newb naked, and even feel generous enough to toss them some chicken. But while distracted with your inventory screen, the naked pulls the gun he's been hiding in his ass and mows you down. There's no wonder why nakeds are KOS. I'd much rather face a guy with a gun he isn't shooting at me with than a naked unknown.

Monday, March 31, 2014

The Rusted Development - episode 2 -April Fools!

So, in the end I decided to be my own artist. This is my first comic episode!  It's awesome!
By now, I hope you guessed that this was an April Fools joke. The real Episode 2 of The Rusted Development is at the link below.





Saturday, March 29, 2014

PlayRust Guide - Game Crashes and Fixes

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Game Crashes and Fixes

Unfortunately, in it’s current state Rust is far from perfect. It has a few issues, and occasionally some conflicts will cause the game to crash or freeze. At this point in time there isn’t that much available information on why certain crashes may happen, and because of this it’s down to you to figure out what exactly is causing your crashes.

My Game Didn’t Use to Have Issues, But Now it Does

If your Rust has suddenly started playing up, it’s likely a change to your system or your hardware that has caused the problems. To identify what has caused your game to crash, you’ll need to think about what changes you have made to your PC since the crashes have started happening.

It could be something as simple as a new issue with the latest patch, or it could be something to do with something on your end. If you’ve recently downloaded a new patch for Rust, check the FacePunch forums and other websites to see if other people have had similar problems.

If nobody else has had problems, or there hasn’t been a patch, it’s most likely to be due to some kind of hardware or software change. If you updated your hardware, make sure that you’ve downloaded all the latest drivers, and check online to see if there’s any conflicts between Rust and the new hardware.

If you haven’t changed hardware, it’s likely to be down to software changes. Make sure your firewall or antivirus isn’t having any problems with Rust, and also make sure that you are online on Steam and you have proper access to other online games.

My Game Has Always Had Issues

If your game has had issues ever since you bought it, it’s probably down to a lack of capable software or hardware. Rust uses Unity, which is a pretty robust 3D game engine. Because of this, it’s rare that your hardware will have problems with it, unless it’s faulty or extremely old. As long as you’re running Windows XP or higher, and have a GPU better than integrated graphics you should be fine.



Dual Video Card Laptops

Some laptops, such as the Lenovo Y580 have dual drivers for the integrated graphics card. In the case of the Y580, the graphics drivers are GTX 660M and Intel HD graphics 4000.  Sometimes the laptop will not use the GTX drivers properly, and instead revert to the Intel Graphics drivers.  There are a a few causes for this. 


1. In your NVIDIA Control Panel, under Manage 3D settings, the game rust or the default may be set to the Intel Graphics drivers.  Changing this setting and restarting your computer should fix the problem.

2. The Graphics card requires more power than your laptop battery can provide on it's own, and will revert to the Intel Graphics Drivers when battery power is the only power available.  It will not automatically revert back after plugging into the wall. In order to fix this, you have to plug in the power and restart your laptop. Removing the power cable at any time during gaming will instantly cause the computer to downgrade the drivers to the Intel drivers until plugged in and restarted again.


FPS Boosts

If you’re simply having issues with frame rate in Rust, there are a few tweaks that can be applied. To do these tweaks, you’ll need to enter the game and then press F1 once in-game. Pressing F1 will open up the debug console, and with this you’ll be able to turn off things that you can’t from the main menu. First, if you’d like to monitor your FPS, enter ‘global.fpslog 5’ - this will make your FPS appear on screen every 5 seconds. The rate that the FPS is shown can be adjusted by changing the number 5 to whatever number you’d like.

Here are a few useful commands that players have reported to improve Frame rate on older builds-

‘render.level 0’ - this reduces the render level.
‘render.distance 0.1’ - this reduces render distance by half. (default is 0.2)
‘gfx.ssaa false’ - this disables super sampling anti aliasing.
‘gfx.shafts false’ - this gets rid of sun rays.
‘grass.on false’ - this gets rid of grass, this is probably the biggest FPS booster.


Can your computer run Rust?

For an answer to this question, you can either post your specs here in a comment, or visit the Rust forum topic on this question at "Will it run?"

Over time Rust will improve, so if you are still having problems, unfortunately the best thing you can do is sit tight and wait for a fix to be patched to the game. You can read more about making the most out of Rust in our guide here.










Thursday, March 27, 2014

PlayRust Guide - Exploits

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Exploits: How to  Patch or Avoid Being the Victim of Exploits

Every game has it’s issues, and many players attempt to find small bugs and problems with games and use them to get an advantage over other players. This can prove to be a big problem, especially for games that are still deep in development. Rust is an example of this, and even though it runs fairly smooth at it’s current state, as development progresses, the game will come prone to exploits and game breaking bugs.

There are a few exploits and issues you’ll want to be aware of to avoid getting caught off guard.

Base Raiding Exploits

No base is unraidable, and if you do happen to make a base that manages to stop any legitimate attack, players may end up looking for other means to get into your loot room. There are always going to be exploits that help players get around certain building designs, and as more building equipment is added, more chances for exploits will appear.

It’s always best to keep on guard, because you can never know when a new exploit may be discovered. As it stands at the time of writing, there aren’t that many known base raiding exploits, but there are a few that stand out.

One involves barricades and pillars. This particular exploit will allow players to climb up to the top of a building regardless of what building materials are blocking the way. Because of this, it’s always best to assume that players will be able to reach your top floor.

Cheaters and Hackers

I can’t express my frustration with cheaters and hackers in multiplayer games enough. In games like Rust or DayZ, where players can steal everything another player owns, cheaters have all the more reason to cheat, and innocent players have so much more to lose because of it. Rust does have a problem with cheating, and even with VAC working in the background, there are still problems with cheaters and hackers.

Players who use hacks have tools to help them fire their weapons at ridiculous speeds, fly across the map, and run at intense speeds. Although not impossible, it’s incredibly difficult to kill hackers in a firefight, so if anybody states in chat that there are hackers in a particular area, stay clear until a server admin can deal with him.


Duplication Glitches

Another very frustrating exploit involves the duplication of items. Duplication, or duping methods usually allow players to essentially create an unlimited supply of items by tricking the server into believing the item should be in two places at once. Duplication glitches are always going to be patched, but players will strive to find new methods.

So far, I haven’t personally come across anybody that is clearly using duplication exploits to get an advantage, but I have heard stories about how players seem to have endless supplies of weapons, armor, and most scary of all, C4.

Luckily, duplication exploits aren’t easy to come by, so it’s usually not something you’ll have to deal with.

Other Bugs

Rust is in alpha, and this should be taken into consideration before even buying the game. We are going to have to deal with bugs, exploits and cheaters because the game is still in development. The good thing about this though is that any really big bugs will be worked on, and with the player’s help, the guys working on Rust can iron out any kinks and turn it into a game fueled by the players’ interests.

Learn more about Rust in the rest of our guide here.




Monday, March 24, 2014

PlayRust Guide: Known Bugs

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Known Bugs: Bugs That are Known and Being Fixed or in the Works

Rust is still in alpha stage, so it’s not uncommon to come across various bugs and glitches within the game. At the time of writing, the game actually runs surprisingly smoothly, but there are still various issues that players are aware of in Rust. Whilst some of them are inevitable, a lot of them can be avoided until they have been fixed.

Issues with Animals

Animals play an important role in Rust, and without them the game’s world would certainly feel a lot more empty. However, they aren’t exactly perfectly coded at this point in time, and you may come across a few issues with them whilst playing.

It’s quite common to see animals clipping into the ground, but besides from being an annoying graphical bug, this glitch can end up causing problems whilst playing later on. It’s completely possible that animals can clip so far into the ground that their models can no longer be seen, and despite being two foot underground, the animals can still attack you.

If you hear a bear or a wolf but can’t actually see it, the best thing to do is to keep running until it loses track of you. Climbing over rocks and across hard to access places usually gets the animals off of your tail pretty quickly.

Occasionally, animals will also float high into the sky - if you kill them, their bodies will remain floating in the air, so if you see a floating animal and you’re low on ammo, you’d be better killing animals you can actually reach after killing.

Just like with the underground animals, floating animals can still attack you, despite being so far away from the ground.

Third Person Weapon Models

In Rust, all guns will appear to be an M4 from a third person perspective, and all melee tools will look like the hatchet, apart from the rock.

This isn’t as much a glitch as it is simply the fact that there are a lack of 3D models in the game, so most equipment simply holds placeholder values. It’s important to understand that even though a player may appear to be holding an M4, he could be holding a pistol, a shotgun, or even a bolt action rifle.
The bow does have it’s own 3D model, but all other projectile weapons appear as M4s. To make sure you don’t enter combat unprepared, you should try to learn the sounds each gun makes when shot. This way, you can get a better idea about what gear any players in the area are using.

Glitches with Doors and Other Building Items

Currently, there are quite a lot of glitches with building items in the game. It is possible that some building items such as the furnace or the workbench can fling you into the air if you walk into these objects - this can kill you if you don’t have a roof over your head to prevent you from being flinged into the sky.

Another frustrating bug that I’ve personally noticed is that doors have the potential to kick you from the game if the door gets pushed shut at the same time you try to enter it. If you have a building with a lot of doors inside, this can get incredibly annoying. It’s best to be patient when dealing with doors to avoid being kicked from the server constantly.

Exploits and Hacks

Unfortunately, there are various exploits and hacks that are used by some bad eggs in the Rust community - we have covered these in the exploits section in our Rust guide. You can check the full guide here.


PlayRust - Raiding

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Raiding: What you Should Know About Raiding Player Homes

Sometimes, the best things in life are stolen from others. This is certainly the case in Rust, at least. However, before you go running out and embarrassing yourself, there are a few things you should take into consideration before raiding another player’s home. Planning a raid takes time, and it’s important to plan things out properly, because making a wrong move and getting caught in the act can have catastrophic results.

Gathering Explosives

If you really want to raid a player’s base, you are going to need explosives. These take a lot of materials, and you’ll also need to know how to actually make one. You’ll have two routes to go down - you can either use grenades, which bounce around and can get a bit messy, or you can go for C4, the clean, easy way to break down doors and walls.

C4 explosives are definitely the way to go, however, unlike grenades, they are pretty hard to come by. You’ll need to use a recipe on both the explosive charge, and explosives, and this can be quite difficult because of their rarity. Grenades on the other hand have recipes which can be found from mutated animals and in radiation zones. If you can get your hands on C4, definitely go down that route, but if not, you could always go for grenades. Below is a breakdown of the materials you’ll need to make each item.

To blow down a metal door, you will need 12 grenades. Each grenade takes 40 metal fragments, and 80 gunpowder. However, grenades can be hard to use, so you may end up using more than planned. Grenades bounce and roll around, and for this reason they can miss completely, and they may not do damage to the thing you’re aiming for.

To properly use a grenade, crouch right up next to the door or wall and throw the grenade at your feet. It will wedge in between the door and your body, which will stop it from bouncing away. As soon as you’ve done this, peg it for cover.

For each metal door, you will need 480 metal fragments and 960 gunpowder if you choose to use grenades.

C4 on the other hand is so much easier to use. You can plant them on walls or doors, and they stay there quietly until they explode. Metal doors only take two C4 to use. For each C4 you need 15 explosives, 1 flare and 5 leather. Explosives require 20 gunpowder, 2 low grade fuel, 5 sulfur and 10 metal fragments to craft.

For each metal door, you will need 600 gunpowder, 300 metal fragments, 60 low grade fuel, 150 sulfur, 2 flares, and 10 leather if you choose to use C4.

Choosing the Time to Strike

As you can tell, it’s not going to be easy to gather the supplies you’ll need to successfully raid a base. Because of this, it’s very important that you learn how to choose the right time to strike.

If you’ve found a target, you’ll want to go scout out their base, and work out a plan of action first. Try and peek through their wood walls to learn where the most amount of wooden boxes are, and use this as a good first point to break into. Make sure to check to see if there are any easy ways in, too. If they only have one metal door at the front entrance, you could break through right at the top, and save a lot of explosives.

If there are any open windows, you could build stairs up alongside the base walls and then jump through the window to once again save on explosives. Once you’ve worked out a good plan of action, you then want to figure out the best time to strike. Learn the hours the owners of this base are online, and then strike in their sleep. Or, if you’re up for the challenge, try breaking into their base whilst they are online and they are all out on a looting trip.

Tactical Renovation


Sometimes, raiding isn’t just about the explosives. At times, you’ll have the opportunity to use stairs, pillars, and foundations to get yourself into their base without using brute force. It’s always best to come loaded with a decent supply of wood to create any items you may need. If you planned ahead, you should already know all of the supplies you’ll need.

If you really want to be sneaky, every time you blow out a metal door, replace it with one of your own. This way, you can come back at a later time and continue raiding. You’ll essentially be kicking players out of their own home, and without access to their gear, they won’t even be able to get their own explosives to get back in.

Don’t be too tight, though, if they plead for you to remove the doors, you should probably listen - take their gear, and then let them have their base back later. At the end of the day, Rust is a game and is meant to be enjoyed, and besides, you won’t want to have any problems with angry admins at any point.

Learn to Quit Whilst You're Still Ahead

If you’ve done a good raid and you’ve got a lot of gear, you should head back and store it all - don’t stick around too long because you may end up getting caught by the base owners. As soon as the owners see you, not only do you have a chance to lose all of the gear you just stole, but they will have your name, and their new mission will be to hunt you down and kill you in your sleep.

For this reason, make sure to not get too greedy, and learn to quit whilst you’re still ahead.

If you want to learn more about Rust, Check out the rest of our guide here.




Monday, March 17, 2014

The Rusted Development - Demo Comic VOTE!

And so it begins! I've had three artists concoct a demo of the comic series.  Here they are! Which one do you think is the best?  Please vote in the comments, and add why you like it or dislike the others.

Click the image for a larger view.
Voting ends March 31st.