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BETARimWorld transitions to the in-house Waylith Engine in Update 1.7, delivering 2-4x performance gains alongside major bug fixes for space-faring and wealth management.
Key Changes
- 1Transition to the proprietary Waylith Engine for 2-4x performance gains
- 2Massive reduction in loading times for modded games (e.g., 14 mins to 6 mins)
- 3Heavy bridges are now immune to explosion damage
- 4Added Ancient Bridges with 0 market value to prevent early-game wealth spikes
- 5Fixed critical bug where babies born during shuttle flights were deleted
- 6Resolved issue with pawns incorrectly removing vacsuits in space
- 7Enabled latest C# language features for the modding community
- 8Fixed Ancient Danger enemies activating before being unfogged
- 9Savegames remain fully compatible between version 1.6 and 1.7
- 10New 'Ancient Heavy Bridges' added to map generation ruins
All Changes
⚙️Engine & Performance(5)
- newWaylith Engine: Transitioned RimWorld from Unity to the in-house Waylith Engine.
- fixPerformance: Improved general performance by 2-4x across startup, loading, and map generation.
- fixMod Loading: Reduced loading time for a 1500-mod list from 14 minutes to 6 minutes.
- newModding Tools: Enabled support for the latest C# language features for modders.
- fixPerformance: Optimized JobGiver_BoardOrLeaveGravship and late-game bed selection performance.
📦Gameplay & Items(5)
- buffHeavy Bridges: Heavy bridges are now immune to explosion damage.
- newAncient Bridges: Added Ancient Bridges and Ancient Heavy Bridges with 0 market value to prevent wealth spikes.
- changeEmbryos: Embryos are now forbiddable.
- fixEMP Rounds: EMP rounds on unique weapons now correctly break low-shields.
- fixUnnatural Corpse: Unnatural corpses can no longer be permanently destroyed by turning them into nutrient paste.
👥Pawns & Factions(5)
- fixBabies: Fixed an issue where babies born during shuttle flight were deleted.
- fixGhouls: Ghouls now exit shuttles drafted like other colonists.
- fixPawns: Fixed a loop where pawns infinitely desired a look-change if ideoligion and genes clashed.
- fixLodgers: Lodgers that are arrested and released are no longer recruited for free.
- fixGhouls: Ghouls can no longer go on caravans alone.
🚀Space & Exploration(4)
- fixVacsuits: Fixed pawns attempting to remove vacsuits while in space.
- fixGravship: Gravship jumps no longer interrupt deathrest.
- fixShuttles: Shuttles arriving for pawns on pocket maps will now land on the parent map instead.
- fixPower Nets: Fixed an issue where buildings remained connected to power nets on previous maps after launch.
🔧Technical Fixes(3)
- fixGeneral Bug Fixes: Resolved over 40 additional bugs including pathing inconsistencies, UI glitches, and quest generation errors.
- fixmacOS: Fixed macOS installations on non-Apple filesystems trying to load ._ prefixed XML files.
- fixWastepack Atomizer: Corrected flipped sprites for the Wastepack Atomizer (West and East).
🛍️Meta & Community(3)
- changeMerchandise: Announced the RimWorld Summer and Winter merch collections including Muffalo beanies and Thrumbo plushes.
- newBundles: Released the RimWorld x Abiotic Factor bundle with a 20% discount.
- newRimWorld World: Announced 'RimWorld World' theme park (April Fools).
Summary
The Waylith Engine (Update 1.7)
Ludeon Studios has announced Update 1.7, moving RimWorld from Unity to their proprietary Waylith Engine. This transition provides massive performance optimizations, with internal tests showing 2.2x better performance in late-game colonies and significantly faster loading times for large mod lists (reducing a 1500-mod load from 14 minutes to 6). While the game remains visually and mechanically identical, the engine modernization allows modders to use the latest C# features and more complex visual effects.
Gameplay & Bug Fixes (v1.6.4850 & v1.6.4630)
Recent stable updates have introduced critical balance changes, such as making Heavy Bridges immune to explosion damage and adding Ancient Bridges with zero market value to prevent wealth spikes on new maps. Extensive fixes address issues with space-faring mechanics, including vacsuit behavior in space, gravship jump interruptions, and baby deletion during shuttle flights. Performance has also been tuned for late-game bed selection and blueprint management.