Surviving ROBLOX Survivor 2.0

By Alan Fackler - December 21, 2013

ROBLOX Survivor is a staple of the survival genre that many consider to be a classic. The game features a robust and deep wilderness survival engine, encouraging exploration, scavenging, hunting–basically all the things you would need to do in real life to stay alive in the wild. With nearly two million plays, and a wide range of updates since its release, Jojomen56 recently decided it was time to start developing the official sequel. I got the chance to spend some time inside ROBLOX Survivor 2.0, which is in Paid Access beta for 40 ROBUX. Though the level itself is extremely small, the amount of innovative gameplay mechanics it comes packed with is staggering. Jojomen56 has implemented numerous advanced features, and created a dynamic environment that is reactive in nature. First, have a look at this:

Presenting the Siege of Quebec by Team Rudimentality

By Alan Fackler - December 17, 2013

The official Communications Team ROBLOX Pulp Fiction shot.

‘Tis the holiday season, and one of our favorite ways to celebrate is with a custom-made game. Alas, our Games team has been fully occupied with other projects and getting a game done in time wasn’t in the cards. Luckily for us, our developer community is full of self-organizers–individual developers came together, brainstormed concepts, and eventually formed teams that competed to submit the best holiday-themed games by the relatively short deadline. We agreed that our Games and Marketing teams would take a look at each of these submissions, choose the most solid entry, put it up on our official ROBLOX Games page, and add brand new hats for earning badges in-game! We’re pleased to announce we’ve made our official selection: ROBLOX presents the Siege of Quebec by Team Rudimentality!

Inside Look at Crystal Raider, An Awesome New ROBLOX Title

By Alan Fackler - December 14, 2013

As you may recall, part of the reason the Games Team created Space Knights was to experience firsthand the process of developing a top-quality game and illustrate the possibilities of ROBLOX game development. With that in mind, we took note when Unclear–known primarily for building environments with enough scale to stress even high-end hardware–launched Crystal Raider, a game that felt curiously similar to Space Knights. Turns out, it wasn’t just a coincidence.

Crossfire: We Catch Fire with SmoothBlockModel and Ozzypig

By Alan Fackler - November 27, 2013

Creativity and sharing are two qualities that fuel ROBLOX, and it’s in that spirit we created Crossfire, a series where we chat with ROBLOX game developers about their game design choices. For this outing, we interviewed SmoothBlockModel and Ozzypig, creators of Catching Fire: The Hunger Games Sequel and The Hunger Games by Ozzypig, respectively. Fueled by the release of the new movie last week, both of these games are absolutely booming in popularity. We thought we’d chat with the both of them about level design, monetizing and maintaining popular ROBLOX titles, and a whole lot more!

ROBLOX: Thanks for agreeing to interview guys! I usually do this with John, but I’m afraid he’s sick and losing his voice.

Space Knights: The Development of a Front-Page Game

By Dan Healy - November 19, 2013

A couple of weeks ago, Sorcus unveiled that Space Knights was developed by the Games Team in an experiment to better understand the trials and tribulations of an everyday ROBLOX game developer. We learned a lot from this experiment, and want to continue to share our findings with you. For this follow-up article we tapped ROBLOX Games Team member Dan Healy, an integral member of the small team that developed Space Knights, to talk about its development. Take it away, Dan.

Looking Down the Scope: Preview the New Call of ROBLOXia

By Alan Fackler - November 16, 2013

Call of ROBLOXia 5: ROBLOX At War is one of ROBLOX’s most popular games of all time. Prolific scripter litozinnamon is constantly adding to the title, and ROBLOX gamers just can’t seem to get enough. That’s why we were thrilled to hear that litozinnamon has been spending the last six months completely overhauling the game, and will be releasing it soon. What’s changing? A one-word answer would be: everything.

Developer’s Journal: Using Lights and Sounds to Create Tension

By Dapale - November 8, 2013

Hello everyone! Dapale here. Ever since I began my ROBLOX journey two years ago, I have always wanted to create a game where players could experience fear in a chilling atmosphere. With the recent advents of dynamic lighting and user-uploaded sounds, I was able to realize my vision with Sanatorium. In my Developer’s Journal, I’ll be explaining the level design of Sanatorium, with an emphasis on using lighting and audio to create tension and fear.

Lighting

It was a huge coincidence that dynamic lighting released shortly after I finished building Sanatorium’s level. Once I got the hang of how SpotLights and PointLights worked, I started placing bricks around my map where I thought lighting would be appropriate. I used PointLights instead of SpotLights because they give me more creative control, and light rooms in a broader, more subtle way. Experimenting revealed to me that lighting a level revolves around understanding sources of light, and where they belong relative to the map. I found that being subtle is the best way to create an eerie atmosphere.