Uberust

[icycalm]

Power Trip Official Page: https://rust.facepunch.com/news/power-trip

Power Trip Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynUzYLpvmXs

PLAYER-MAINTAINED MONUMENTS

This month we're releasing a set of features we call Player-Maintained Monuments—tying together our existing monuments in new and interesting ways while pushing players to interact with each other in the process.

The headline feature of this month's update was that the Power Plant can now be turned on, thereby powering up features in several other monuments. One of these is the freezer in the Supermarket, which I actually experienced a couple of times in the weekly wipe that I just completed. I visited the Supermarket 4-5 times, and the first 2-3 of these, the freezer was on, and I got a bunch of solid food items from it. Then later in the wipe the power went out for whatever reason, and the freezer no longer worked. It wasn't a huge change either way, but it was a welcome surprise while it lasted, especially useful before you get farming going.

So my take on this update, strategically, is as follows. Turning on the Power Plant and keeping it on isn't something that we can do, as a small clan, in the hyperpopular servers we're playing. This is a job for the big clans. However, it's a good idea to maintain awareness of whether power is on or off at any given time, so we can benefit from it. There's probably several ways to know what's going on, but I think the most accessible one is to pass near power lines, which are all over the place, and see if you hear the buzzing sound they make, which I think signifies that power is on. And if it's on, you look at the map to see which affected monument(s) are near you, and you act accordingly. As aforesaid I have experienced the Supermarket so far, and I look forward to familiarizing myself with all of them.

All that as regards the play experience. From a game criticism perspective let me just say that this update is nothing short of genius, and takes immersion in the game's world to another level. It ties together several of the monuments, it makes the island feel like a real functional (or used-to-be-functional) place, it gives large clans a new and very challenging goal to compete over (or cooperate on), with downstream ramifications all the way to solos who can benefit from it if they keep their eyes open and their plans flexible. Above all it reassures me that whoever's steering this boat has a deep sense for how realism and mechanics and aesthetics intersect and interact, and I look forward to more in this vein in the future.

POWERING UP THE POWER PLANT

Using new Heavy Fuses, the Power Plant can be fired back up to unlock several new gameplay features for everyone around the island.



Heavy Fuses can be found as loot and must be inserted into the new special fuse boxes located at the Power Plant. Not everything will be unlocked all at once—some things connected to the Power Plant require more fuses than others to become functional.



Once the Power Plant has started providing power, the powerline poles with transformers (the white cylinder-looking things) which appear alongside roads can now provide power for electrical circuits. These powerlines can also now be climbed—no need for a ladder, just approach the powerline and jump.



Green recyclers (the ones outside of safe zones) have received a 10% nerf to their baseline efficiency of 50%, being restored to 60% with sufficient power from the Power Plant and additionally receiving a duration buff from 5s to 4.5s once the Power Plant is at maximum power. Yellow recyclers (inside safe zones) remain unchanged from their previous behaviour. We have also added a single special new red recycler with 75% efficiency to the Power Plant, only usable at maximum power.

[icycalm]

Here is the detailed description of every maintenance procedure that must be followed to power up the relevant monuments after the Power Plant is turned on (all info taken from the official page linked earlier). As aforesaid, I've only experienced the Supermarket, and it was very straightforward: you just go to the freezer and grab the food, no other action needed. All the rest sound way more involved, so I look forward to tackling them one by one and figuring them out.

SATELLITE CRASH

A new in-game event!

Power up the new Satellite Control Computer at the Launch Site with an aiming module and then take control of a satellite of your choosing.



Use the thruster buttons to target the crash location before locking it in. It doesn't come with a manual though, so you'll have to figure out which thruster button does what, first!

Once locked in, the satellite will start its descent, visible to all players on the server. After a short while it will impact and spill its new satellite loot crates.

Once they've cooled down, they're ready to loot—but the whole server knows about them too!

DOME PUMPING

Once the Power Plant is running, a new switch on the Large Oil Rig will become usable. This controls the flow of crude oil to Dome. Once activated, this will pump Crude for 20 minutes.



However, you can't retrieve it by yourself—you'll need to use the Tanker vehicle module to drain the oil and then transport it to a car lift to extract it.

There is also a switch on Small Oil Rig that pumps at half the rate. You can enable both switches at once to get 1.5x the Crude.

SUPERMARKET FREEZER

There is a new freezer located inside the Supermarket that provides a steady stream of chilled food so long as it is receiving power from the Power Plant.



Every so often, it will provide a larger food cache than usual. Happy shopping!

WATER TREATMENT PLANT PRODUCTION

Water pipes will now spawn around the roadsides of the map. To start, the pipes will be empty and won't produce any water. To get them to start pumping, the Water Treatment Plant will have to be maintained.



Two gearboxes have been added inside the monument, and turning them pressurises the new intact water tank at its centre. To get a gearbox moving, the Power Plant's grid needs to be live, then you'll need to place a gear into the gearbox and interact with it to start the valve wheel spinning. Gears are consumed as the wheel turns and can't be pulled back out once inserted.



When the tank reaches full pressure, the blades will start spinning and clearing up the blockages, restoring water flow across the map. After that, coming back every once in a while to keep the pressure up and the blockages clear will be much easier than a cold start.

GAS STATION CAR GARAGE

In Oxum's, the car garage has received a tune-up. When the power grid is active, or when the backup generator around the side is turned on, the garage will power up with some new features.



The garage door can be opened or closed with a switch on the outer wall, so long as that switch has power.

Inside the garage, the car lift will be operable and ready for business. Lower it down using the controls and drive a car on to start using it just like any other car lift. When you're done, raise the lift back up and head down into the cave for a chance at higher quality car part spawns!

AIRFIELD TERMINAL TOWER

A newly refreshed control tower has hit the Airfield. On the second floor, you'll find two new terminals that charge up from fuse boxes connected to the power grid.



The smaller terminal will increase the rate at which air drops fall across the map when charged.

When the larger terminal is charged, a Chinook resupply crate can be called in to drop a crate near the airfield tarmac.

The terminals will slowly lose charge after they are activated. Once they've drained the residual charge completely, they will be available for use again.