Weekly ROBLOX Roundup: October 21, 2012

By Andrew Haak - October 21, 2012

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: the first iPad development progress report, group items and funds, what happens in the ROBLOX cloud when you change your character appearance, the deep end of the ROBLOX Currency Exchange, Add Gear to Game statistics and more.

The news you’ve been waiting for: ROBLOX for iPad is under way

It’s not much of a secret that we’re working on ROBLOX for the iPad, but this article represents the first time we’re explaining just what’s happening. In this “progress report,” we uncover some initial engineering challenges we’ve encountered and tasks we’ve completed. Need I say more? Check it out, and get excited.

Adding Gear to Games: Some Tips & Success Stories

By Alan Fackler - October 20, 2012

We released the Add Gear to Game feature last week, and have been monitoring how our users have been using it to further enrich their games. We’re proud to report that some of our most entrepreneurial users have been quick to leverage this new feature to further enhance their popular games. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, last week we released a feature that gave uers fine-grain control over which gear items can enter their games, while at the same time, allowing place creators to earn some extra Robux.

Engineering ROBLOX for the iPad

By Andrew Haak - October 19, 2012

ROBLOX isn’t your typical video game company. We’re unique in a lot of ways, one of which is our openness about what we’re working on and our plans for the future. Today, we’re happy to stop teasing and start going in-depth on our progress toward releasing ROBLOX for iPad.

ROBLOX for iPad will launch in a couple phases. First, we’ll update the existing ROBLOX Mobile app, which has been available in the App Store since 2011. The update will improve the visual style of the app and is optimized for use on iPad. It will allow us to test all non-game components of the ROBLOX app.

ROBLOX Currency Exchange: The Deep End

By Alan Fackler - October 17, 2012

The fundamentals of our currency exchange system are modeled after real-world trade systems–much like in real life, the earlier you act on information, the better off you’ll be. But we understand that joining the ever-shifting currency can be daunting–it’s a power-user feature with a pretty steep learning curve–but the rewards can be huge. In this article, we’re going to take an in-depth look at our currency exchange system, teach you how it works, and offer up some tips on how to leverage it. Let’s dive in.

The Basics

Here. We. Go.

Group Clothing and Treasury: The Beginning of Groups as Companies

By aleverns - October 16, 2012

Currently, Builders Club members are able to create and sell their own clothing, including custom shirts and pants, on ROBLOX. Today, we’re giving groups the ability to do the same. That may sound simple, but with it come the possibilities of shared group money.

Group Clothing

Before we explore the details of group clothing, let’s go over some of the interface changes it entails. Group clothing is available on two pages. First, the Groups page now features a “Store” tab, which shows you the top three most recently updated group items by default.

What Happens When You Change Your Appearance on ROBLOX

By Alan Fackler - October 15, 2012

Every part of your ROBLOX character is fully customizable–you can change your hat, shirt, appendages, and even the look on your face. Like with every facet of ROBLOX, we want to give you as much creative freedom as possible. But what happens behind the scenes when you change the appearance of your ROBLOXian? We turned to Creative Director John Shedletsky to tell us. John?

Every item of clothing is a ROBLOX asset–a ROBLOX asset can include a wide range of things, like shirts, pants, decals, and models. Each and every asset has a unique number attached to it–the famous Domino Crown, for example, has an asset ID of 31174270, while the Shiny Teeth face has an ID of 20722130. On a fundamental level, the look of your character is determined by a list of combined numbers–IDs of all the assets you are wearing.

Weekly ROBLOX Roundup: October 14, 2012

By Andrew Haak - October 14, 2012

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: Add Gear to Game feature, connecting with ROBLOX, Spotlight on NXTBoy, developers’ picks, GDC Online and more.

Add gear to your game, make money off sales

Last week, we launched a feature that’s beneficial to all ROBLOX game developers who want to allow gear in their games. Here’s how it works: you decide what gear you’d like to allow in your game — even if it’s just one weapon. That gear is then available for sale on your game’s page and anyone who purchases it can use it in your game. If they use the “Buy” button on your page, you get 10% of the sale. Not only do you have more control over what gear is allowed in your game, you stand to turn a profit. Read this post for more information on adding gear to your game.