Rust's April Update Is Adding Ziplines, Rail Networks

As part of Rust's promised monthly updates throughout 2022, the survival game will be adding a new rail network and a series of ziplines on April 7. While the initial update is only adding the railway tracks, with the actual trains to come later, the ziplines will be fully functional, added alongside the powerlines that already span the map.

The rail update is just the first part of Rust's plans for a fully procedural rail network, adding railway tracks to any map size 4250 or larger. The tracks should appear in a singular loop that traverses the island, but developer Facepunch has asked players to look out for and report "any weird looking areas you might encounter." In a press release, the developer has said that players can expect "drivable above-ground trains" to arrive in game "in the near future."

The other big addition coming with the April update are ziplines, which will be added as a new feature on the game's existing powerlines and electrical towers. New platforms have been added to the towers, which players can climb to access the ziplines and travel to other platforms, or to nearby monuments.

The ziplining mechanics will allow players to speed up their travel by holding forward, or bail at any time with the jump key. Players using a zipline will have to be careful of obstacles like trees, other players, and vehicles, which will cause them to be knocked off the line. Facepunch has said there are future improvements planned for the zipline networks, with plans to connect them to more monuments, and to potentially allow players to place their own ziplines in future.

As well as these big additions, the new update will include a number of quality of life additions and fixes, including new achievements, improved lighting on monuments, and other minor tweaks. The full list of updates will be available on the Rust blog once the update drops on April 7 at 12 PM ET.