Rust is adding a 'softcore' mode to make its opening hours less brutal

Dropped naked in the woods surrounded by murderous players, Rust is a bit of a hard game to get into. That won't change anytime soon, but to make the approach a little easier, Facepunch is introducing a "softcore" mode to make those early hours a bit more forgiving.

Arriving later this month, Softcore is aimed at Rust's "more casual players" who want their experience to be a little less brutal. The idea isn't so much that players won't be able to roll over you as hard (Rust's violent playerbase is very much working as intended), but your early deaths shouldn't feel so much like hard progress resets. 

There'll be 10 new servers running the mode at launch, with the following changes applied:

• When you're killed, half of your inventory can be reclaimed by you at either the spot of your death, or at a reclaim terminal (found at Bandit Town and the Outpost)—items in the reclaim terminal will de-spawn after 2 hours
• All players may now spawn at either the Bandit Town or Outpost safezones at any time (provided they are not flagged as hostile)
• You may only view the contents of a wounded player
• Maximum team size is 4 (this includes the number of people who can authorize at a Tool Cupboard or on an Autoturret)

Facepunch reckon these should make a good starting point, but will continue to fiddle with the mode until they find an ideal entry point into Rust. Still, it won't hurt to brush up on our guide to surviving your first day in Rust.

The update post also elaborated on those delivery drones Facepunch teased last week. The Bandit Town and Outpost will soon be furnished with new Marketplaces, letting you place orders for a nippy wee drone to fly off and collect. Importantly, it seems drones can't be shot down or interfered with—if you order something, it'll arrive, which is more than I can say for half the real-world delivery firms I've used.

Rust is having a pretty good start to the year. The arrival of some big name streamers saw it top a million peak viewers on Twitch, though that popularity didn't come without some serious streamer drama.