Rust's new boats just got a lot more customizable, with longer days to build them

The Rust Shipshape update is here, and as you might expect, developer Facepunch Studios is focused on further upgrading its new boats this month, although there are some other welcome changes to dig through in the full patch notes. In case you missed the announcement, daytime in Rust has now been extended by around 20 minutes, which should bring the survival game’s sunlight stretch above the hour-long mark, while the dark of night remains at its roughly ten-minute duration.

After last month’s Naval update, Facepunch Studios has been working on “a ton of small fixes and improvements to player boats and boat building” in Rust. For starters, boat building blocks can now be rotated and demolished at any time while in edit mode, with no five-minute timer. The developer has corrected a common placement issue causing sails to randomly be destroyed, and the tiny dive-site buoys that could stop your ship in their tracks will no longer do so.

“Almost all” electrical, industrial, and water input/output items can now be used on boats. A small handful, including auto turrets, SAM sites, windmills, CCTV cameras, and door controllers have been blocked “purely for gameplay balance concerns.” Boats also now support deployable snapping for more precise placement, which works the same way it does on land, and you can slap wallpaper on them much as you would in your base.

A stacking movement penalty will now be applied to boats as they’re struck by cannon fire, gradually slowing them down as far as to 30% of their maximum speed. “We’ll keep an eye on how this plays out,” Facepunch explains, “but our hope is that this leads to more interesting ship-to-ship combat as well, as some more boarding action.” The developer has also introduced “a moderate amount of ADS aim sway” while on a boat, which scales with the speed it’s currently moving. “Ideally this encourages the use of cannons over traditional weapons, but doesn’t entirely rule out some poorly aimed rockets and AK spray.”

Player boats that have been sunk can now be damaged block by block, making them easier to explore and reclaim loot from. Boat decay delay has been doubled to 24 hours, but the decay duration has been reduced from 18 hours to 12. In practice, this means you’re able to stay offline for longer with no negative repercussions, but they’ll begin to break down faster once the penalty kicks in. Facepunch offers a reminder that you must give your ship direct steering wheel input to checkmark it as being in use.

The starting loot in the Deep Sea has been decreased to around 70% of its previous value, but it will now respawn slowly over time. The side of the map it appears has been randomized, and there will be a period of time after a server wipe before the region becomes available, at which point a notification sound will play. The network range there has been boosted from 300 meters to 620, making it possible to spot ships from much further away. Before you ask, Facepunch notes that it “can’t afford to do that on the mainland because of player and enemy density.”

Static boat building stations have been added to every island in the Deep Sea, offering a spot to shore up and perform repairs and modifications. These have “a slight magnet force that pulls your ship in as long as it’s powered down and nearby,” which should make docking smoother.

Naval scientists have been nerfed, and can no longer see through smoke. They’ll now be more accurate when shooting but deal less damage, giving you more time to realise you’re under fire and get into cover. They’ll also use flashlights and laser sights at night, making them easier to spot. Facepunch also discovered a bug that was causing the hazmat to offer no protection against either scientists or turrets – it’s been updated just for naval scientists for now, “as rebalancing turret damage is a gigantic can of worms.”

You can expect the usual raft of backend performance and server upgrades as well. In particular, Rust server owners looking to ramp up their anti-cheat defenses can now opt in to requiring that TPM and Secure Boot are enabled before players connect. This will put the ‘Secure’ tag on your world in the browser. Facepunch cautions that “over 80% of players have TPM hardware already, but just under 60% of players have Secure Boot enabled right now,” so you’ll want to check with everyone you play with before turning this on.

Rounding out the changes for this month is the introduction of a line tool that can be used while painting by holding shift and click-dragging. “While there’s nothing more beautiful to us than the freehand drawing that took seconds to make, we think this tool could benefit the people who really go all out in making masterpieces,” Facepunch concludes.

The Rust Shipshape update is live now. Whether you’re already holding court over the Deep Sea, or have yet to get your feet wet, there are now plenty more reasons to start working on your new home among the waves.