No, we’re not talking about good looking people; we’re talking about ROBLOX models. A model can be virtually anything–from a Pokeball, to a Sword Pack, to a building, to a certain styling of hair–there are millions of models in the catalog that you can use in the places and games that you’re building. And each and every one is totally free!
Why Use Models?
One of the most significant benefits of models is they can expedite the world-creation process. You can use models of trees, for instance, to spruce up a wooded environment. Models are not just eye candy though–they’re often scripted with actual game play functions and have the ability to change what happens in your game or place. They’re not just objects, they’re tools.
Models are also great placeholders for builders. Many users pride themselves on creating every detail of their games from scratch, which we totally encourage. But if you’ve got a compelling idea for a game, you can use models as temporary placeholders to simulate the general scope of your ultimate vision. You can make a template before you build.
Watching Models Evolve
On the other end of the spectrum, we encourage builders to submit models for others to use. Some users, in fact, are more interested in building models than they are games. We want players to build, but one of the biggest ways builders draw inspiration is through sharing. And just because a model looks a certain way, doesn’t mean that you can’t use it as the foundation of something entirely new and different.
Let’s take airplanes for example. A very long time ago, user Stealth Pilot scripted the first high-quality controllable airplane on ROBLOX. If you search for “airplane” in the models section of the catalog now, you will find a ton of different models, all of which look and possibly even control radically different from one another. Many of those planes are a descendant of that original model, in that the basic functionality of actually flying in ROBLOX was coded into that original plane.
Sets
Once you’ve created several models you can group them into sets, and categorize each set to reflect a certain theme. So you can create and share a “weapons” set or maybe a “wooded environment” set that features multiple types of tree models. Categorizing the models you create can become important, especially if you start creating lots of them.
Also, we think creating sets promotes creativity. If you’re able to take the time to create, say, a “Samurai” set of weapons, doing so would probably get you thinking about how to create a “Samurai” type of game, to use the weapons you created. Or, who knows? Maybe another user out there has a great idea for a Samurai game, and the weapon set you created is just what he/she needs get the ball rolling. The bottom line is that building models promotes creativity for both the people who create them and the people who use them. Creating models is also a great way to earn some recognition in the ROBLOX community–there are many users in our community that focus primarily on building models instead of games.
The Future
As it stands now, models cannot be bought or sold, and are free to all. That being said, we realize that it can be pretty easy for people to copy or re-purpose models (i.e. download them, make a slight alteration, then re-submit them with their user name tacked on), and we’re working on a solution. We hope to create a “Reputation” system of sorts, where users can earn solid reputation points for submitting original content. If a user is caught copying, he/she will take a heavy blow to their reputation and will no longer be able to sell models. That would filter out copiers, and filter in all the enthusiasts that genuinely want to contribute.