Transmission from RustForge 🎙️
v5.5.0.0 marks a definitive shift in the painting engine’s evolution. This update is centered on two pillars: raw stability and the introduction of Contour Tracing, a brand-new way to define your art on the canvas. I have completely gutted and rebuilt the underlying timing logic to ensure the engine is faster and more reliable than ever, effectively eliminating "Input Lag" and ensuring your art is pixel-perfect.
This is the precision update the community has been waiting for.
Patch Highlights
Contour Tracing: A specialized algorithm that prioritizes edges and outlines, defining the shape of your subject before filling in the details.
Engine Optimization Overhaul: Re-engineered the core simulation loop for faster pathing analysis and improved thread stability.
High-Precision Timing: Integrated ThreadMod high-frequency timing more deeply into the paint cycle to prevent stuttering on all rigs.
Revamped Estimation Logic: The "Time Estimation" algorithm has been rewritten from the ground up to provide instant, accurate feedback regardless of image complexity. This was inaccurate with the new methods, it is now fixed.
Enhanced Safe Mode: Refined the SafetyFloor logic to provide better protection against input drops without sacrificing painting speed.
Balancing & Logic
Contour Tracing
The Challenge: Traditional scanline or pathing methods treat all pixels with the same priority, which can sometimes leave subjects feeling "flat" until the very end of the paint.
The Fix: Contour Tracing changes the game. It performs a dual-pass analysis for every color, identifying "Edge Pixels" and drawing them first. By tracing the silhouette and internal borders of a color cluster before filling the interior, your painting takes shape immediately. This is perfect for cel-shaded art, logos, and high-contrast images.
Engine Stability & Precision
The Challenge: As painting speeds increased, the UI thread and the painting logic would occasionally desync, leading to unpainted specks or minor timing drifts during long sessions.
The Fix: I’ve implemented a more robust "High Precision" mode that locks in the painting frequency. The painting engine now performs a full-path simulation before the brush even touches the canvas, ensuring that little to no pixels go unpainted. Precision at its finest!
Fixes & UI Polishes
Simulation & Estimation Accuracy
The Bug: Fixed a logic error where the painting estimator would occasionally report 0 minutes because it was attempting to sort colors before the image had been fully analyzed.
The Fix: The analysis loop now populates all color data before the simulation begins, ensuring the "Time Estimation" display is accurate from the moment you hit Start.
UI Polish: Updated the Progress Report system to give more detailed feedback during the "Analyzing Pathing" phase, so you know exactly what the engine is calculating in real-time.
📈 Known Issues
HD Canvas Scaling (The Moiré Effect) If you zoom in/out heavily on most canvases like the Large Banner on Pole or the XL Picture Frame, the Rust 1.00 brush will physically be too small to cover the bot's 1-pixel movement steps, leaving microscopic gaps.
Fix: Do not zoom in while mapping/painting. If you must zoom in, increase your Rust brush size to 1.20 - 2.00 to bridge the gaps!