Every week, we’re busy telling the stories behind our platform, our technology and our place in the gaming and technology industries. For those of you who catch up with ROBLOX over the weekend, the Weekly ROBLOX Roundup collects the best stuff to hit our various avenues of publication in the last week. This time: a font engine update, our Spotlight on Oysi, it’s the end of the Virtual BLOXcon game contest, ROBLOX devs talk free-time gaming, voting on the final Hall of Fame 2013 categories, Cloud Movement, video corner, and other bits and pieces. Enjoy.

Seven-day blog recap

Updated font engine makes text clear and crisp

We recently launched an update to the engine that renders text in ROBLOX, making characters and words easier to read, and more efficient to draw. We’ve also given you additional font selections, which some developers have found useful for refreshing their interfaces and establishing a more professional look:

A sample from TheAmazeman‘s ROBLOX Titanic
And one from TheGamer101‘s Sword Fighting Tournament

You can learn more about the update and all the changes — obvious and subtle — it entails by reading last week’s blog post.

Oysi’s experimental game development projects

We originally caught wind of Oysi’s work when Seranok, interning for the summer at ROBLOX, called it an inspiration to keep working on his own ambitious projects. We started with Galaxy Wars, a game that defies the traditional ROBLOXian rules of gravity, then proceeded to check out his other experimental works. After chatting with him about his development process and innovative mindset, we knew he’d be a great subject for one of our Spotlight articles. You can learn more about his creations and what fuels them by reading our interview.

Final day to submit to the Virtual BLOXcon game contest

For the last couple weeks, the Virtual BLOXcon Game Contest has been running and giving builders and developers a chance to have their game or place featured at the Virtual BLOXcon on September 21st. Today is the last day to submit an entry in the contest; read yesterday’s blog post to make sure you get your creation submitted in time.

Please note that we are moderating submissions before they appear on the vote page, so there may be a delay before your entry is visible. All entries will be moderated no later than the end of the day on Monday, September 9th. Don’t worry — voting continues through September 12th.

ROBLOX devs share their gaming ventures

We’re a gaming company, so it only makes sense that many of us are passionate about the entire gaming market. In this article, we explore what a few members of the ROBLOX team have been playing lately — both for entertainment and inspiration. Want to know a little bit more about what kinds of games we like? Check it out.

Final Hall of Fame 2013 vote

One of the things we’ll be doing at the Virtual BLOXcon is giving away the final round of Hall of Fame 2013 awards, including the prestigious Developer of the Year award. If you haven’t already had your say by voting on all six categories, head over to this survey and make your voice heard! Don’t forget to check out the first 16 award winners on the ROBLOX Hall of Fame 2013 page.

You should play this ROBLOX game

At more than 20,000 parts, Cloud Movement by MedievalChivalry is more of a building showcase than a game, but that doesn’t make it any less worth your time. Visit the place to see it for yourself — one screenshot hardly does it justice.

War of the Worlds is an old-ish game by Wingman8 (creator of such well-regarded games as Checkpoint Racing, Galleons, and Armored Patrol) that was recently re-activated. I tried it out and had a good time — basically, it’s up to the human players to fight off alien ships, which hover over the city and try to destroy everything. What makes this game particularly fun is the way the environment crumbles to pieces. All the blocks in each building are physically simulated, so after a few minutes of play it’s a shell of its former self. Oh, and it’s based on this.

Bits

A perspective of Behind the BLOX (our Friday focus-group sessions) from Inside Mobile Apps.
Ever checked out Ozzypig’s repository of ROBLOX Studio plugins? There’s some neat stuff out there that might make your building life easier.
TheAmazeman is rolling out video tutorials for specific game features. You can check out the first three right now!
True words.

Pro-tip for getting into the “Bits” section: tweet interesting pictures and links with the #ROBLOX hashtag!