u/Educational-Water-58

Hey Facepunch devs and fellow Rust players,
I’ve been playing Rust since the early days, and like many veterans, I’m asking you to seriously consider bringing back (or at least adding as an option) the old gun sounds. The current ones are clean and modern, but they lost something special that the originals had.
Why the old sounds were better:
• They had soul and character. The sharp, punchy AK cracks, the meaty Thompson bursts, the distinct LR-300 rattle — they felt powerful and satisfying. You could tell exactly what gun was being fired from across the map, which added to the tension and awareness that makes Rust combat so intense.
• Nostalgia + player retention. A huge chunk of the playerbase has been here for years. Hearing those classic sounds instantly transports people back to the best wipes and memories. Games thrive when they respect their history (see: CS2 keeping classic sounds as options, or older games re-adding legacy audio packs).
• Immersion and feedback. The old sounds had more “weight” and directional punch. They made gunfights feel raw and dangerous. The new ones are quieter and more muffled in comparison — they just don’t hit the same in a game built around high-stakes PVP.
• Low development cost, high community reward. This isn’t asking for a full gameplay rework. It’s audio assets that already exist. Adding them back as a toggle (like many other legacy options in Rust) would make thousands of players happy without affecting balance or new player experience.
• Community has been asking for years. Search the subreddit, Twitter, Discord — this is a consistent request. Listening to the playerbase on small but meaningful things like this builds massive goodwill.
Rust’s sound design used to be one of its standout features. The game felt alive and brutal. We’re not asking to remove the new sounds — just let us have the old ones too. Give the OGs that dopamine hit when the AK starts barking again.
What do you think, Rust community? Upvote if you want the classic gun sounds back. Devs, we love the game — this would be a great win for player happiness.
Let’s make Rust feel like home again.

I used to play rust since it came out but mainly played around 2016-2020. Back then farming for guns was fairly easy and balanced since you didn’t need bp frags, scrap or workbenches just components and you could craft meds on the go. the game felt very intense back then when you killed an ak guy, back then you knew that they farmed for it but now it’s like oh an ak they just waited for a locked crate for 15 mins or opened an elite crate. Back then I remember people would actually roam aks on ground everywhere but now you go out to cargo and oil and you’ll most likely die in the water which then no one gets the loot unless you really want to go back and try to find it but you won’t because the body turns into a bag and it just floats away. Also now if you want guns you can just wait for people to make vending machines and just farm sulfur and buy it at outpost which completely ruins the feel of rust it just feels like a trading game to get guns or resources. Then they added small walls which is probably the worst thing so far that they added to pvp everyone can craft one at anytime and most fights are just “place wall. wait for someone to push or peak first. get peakers advantage and boom dead/kill” this ruins the game for me because who ever has the better gun most likely will win. Back then you would catch a lot of people off guard out in the open or by rocks and people would play for cover but now every second someone places a small wall. Back then the only time people would really place high walls would be if they had ak. I just don’t like the meta now if feels like a shit show tbh it’s very annoying and frustrating. If old rust was a thing and lots of people played it still I would rather play that then what we have now. Is there anything facepunch can do yes but do I care if they change anything no probably because people have been saying this stuff for years but facepunch doesn’t listen to players just whatever they think will get more sales it’s whatever ig.

I liked the old gun sounds better very nostalgic now they were more satisfying