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: our custom-built binary file format, the BLOXcon poster contest, level design expertise from MahPizzaIsHere, an inspiring story (and video) from our “mini-BLOXcon” at Maker Faire, the Memorial Day Sale, a roundup of recent ROBLOX press, Ye Olde’ Village by ClonedFett35, and other bits and pieces. Enjoy.

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Seven-day Blog Recap

Our custom-built binary file format

As our developers release new features that expand the limits of the ROBLOX engine, new problems occasionally surface. For instance, we’ve made it much easier for builders to create huge ROBLOX places with tens of thousands of parts, but the amount of data in such worlds tends to result in unwieldy file sizes. We tackled that problem head-first by not just improving the way we store ROBLOX place data, but completely rewriting our file format for efficient storage. Arseny devised brilliant methods to make our custom file format super efficient, and the benefits stand to make the entire ROBLOX experience better — in an intentionally subtle way. It’s a dense article, but, if nothing else, a good insight into the problems our developers encounter and solve every day.

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We’re already running a contest to collect submissions for the ROBLOX International Film Festival, but we thought it only fair to give the graphic designers of ROBLOXia an equal opportunity to make their mark on our upcoming BLOXcon events. To that end, we’ve launched a poster contest, where you have a chance to design a BLOXcon poster and win fantastic prizes!

Here’s how it works: starting immediately, you can design and submit a BLOXcon poster for BLOXcon Chicago, BLOXcon London or BLOXcon New York City. We’ll be collecting submissions through June 2nd at 11:59 p.m. PT, and will select winners during the following week. Winners will have their poster printed and distributed at BLOXcon, receive a framed print of their poster signed by ROBLOX admins, and get an exclusive virtual prize for their ROBLOX character! Click here to view the contest, get started on your submission and see other entries. Simply complete the submission form and upload your poster design to enter.

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Looking back, there are a lot of Maker Faire stories to tell. I talked with independent game developers about the potential of distributing a game on ROBLOX. I talked with parents who were looking to guide the play habits of their children down productive paths. I talked with former ROBLOX builders who, after witnessing dynamic lighting and other modern features, headed home to revive their dormant accounts. I saw a maker wearing a 3D-printer backpack buy a ROBLOX fedora before striking a pose for me (I was photographing the booth). But probably the most memorable story was that of aperson1890, a longtime ROBLOX builder, 2012 RGC 2012 Hackathon winner, and up-and-coming programmer who was in the booth all weekend.

It was hard not to be intrigued by aperson1890. On Saturday morning, he set up shop at a laptop on the build table. He pulled out a file folder of sketches and notes, thoughts and ideas. He turned on some K-pop via YouTube. He started building, his ultra-patient parents spectating from the booth’s fringe.

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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: how to make your dynamic lighting and shadows look amazing, renting plots of land in KlamKnights City, our weekend at Maker Faire Bay Area, tips for submitting to the ROBLOX Film Fest, Team Zombie Defence Tycoon, and other bits and pieces. Enjoy.

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Seven-day Blog Recap

How to make your dynamic lighting look amazing

While there is a considerable benefit to simply enabling dynamic lighting in your place — that is, your parts immediately cast realistic shadows — ROBLOX builders have found many ways to manipulate the feature for much more impressive and immersive effects. In this article, we had four proven dynamic lighting aficionados provide tips, techniques and resources for creating amazing atmosphere. From beginner to advanced, there’s something for everyone who’s looking to make their mark with dynamic lighting.

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Update, 10 p.m.: Hello from Maker Faire 2013! This is Alan with updates straight from ROBLOX’s booth. Andrew did a great job capturing our booth and the interactions between our staff and builders earlier in the day, so I decided, as the sun began to set on day one of Maker Faire, to take a step outside and shoot some of the amazing creations and props scattered throughout the grounds. Check out what I saw below!

The submission phase of the ROBLOX International Film Festival is in full swing! During the first two weeks, ROBLOX builders have submitted more than 200 films, and many of them are undoubtedly capable of earning a coveted BLOXY Award. But don’t let that dissuade you; there are still two more weeks to submit and the weekend is imminent. It’s a perfect time to get started on your own film.

Those of you who didn’t swoop in and enter right away actually have an advantage: you can see what categories are stacked with competition and what categories remain thin. For instance, we’ve received a lot of ROBLOX machinima and commercials, but a relatively small number of city-specific films and physics/building showcases. If you want to improve your odds of getting noticed, produce a film that falls under a category with fewer entries. Create a city-specific film that shows the essence of Chicago, London or New York City within ROBLOX. Capture footage of yourself building something cool and intricate, then speed up the footage so we can see the whole process.

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Dynamic lighting has been available on ROBLOX for almost one week, meaning intrepid builders have had time to explore the depth of the feature and devise tips, tricks and techniques for harnessing its beauty. In this article, a pair of winners of our dynamic lighting video contest and a pair of builders who have demonstrated an understanding of dynamic lighting describe what they’ve learned in week one. If you’re an up-and-coming dynamic lighting aficionado, you shouldn’t miss these 100% builder-provided techniques.

We recommend you read our introduction to dynamic lighting to learn how to manipulate basic dynamic lighting variables before going deeper into this article. Here, we’ll gradually move from beginner techniques to more advanced practices. Ravenshield, one of the winners of our dynamic lighting video contest, kicks things off with a foundational consideration: the overall level of brightness in your place.

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