Tech Demo: Dynamic Lighting Exploration

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Dynamic LightingMy hack week project was to explore rendering styles and visual effects that would take ROBLOX to the next level. The ROBLOX rendering engine works in a difficult environment compared to traditional games –

  • ROBLOX places are made by our users
    (rather than by hired-on level designers)
    Usually game companies can control their content. They can impose a strict set of rules about how many polygons are used, how to place particular items, and how much of a level is static. ROBLOX is different – builders can come up with anything, with no restrictions and no budgets. Continue reading →

iPad Tech Demo

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This is a first look at the ROBLOX code stack running on an iPad. Product specs are in development and there is no announced ship date. The tap-to-move interface shown in the demo is a place holder for future thumb controls. Textures and skyboxes are disabled.
Continue reading →

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and ROBLOX: Our Stance

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SOPA is a bill that was introduced by the House Judicial Committee on October 26, 2011. Its purpose, as stated in the text of the bill found in H.R. 3261, is to “promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation” within the multimedia complex. Passage of the bill would broaden the ability of and embolden law enforcement agencies and copyright holders to combat and reduce copyright infringement on the Internet. It is currently pending in the House of Representatives.

The purpose of this post is to explain why the stance of ROBLOX is in firm opposition to the passage of SOPA. Here are three reasons:
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The Evolution of Voxels in Video Games

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How do you represent objects and terrain in a 3D video game?  A partial list includes triangle-meshes (very common), geometric primitives (ROBLOX), and height maps (terrain).  Today I’m going to talk about another way of modeling objects and terrain – the voxel. Continue reading →

A Brief History of Physics in Video Games

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Objects in the real world operate under the laws of physics – so it seems quite intuitive that everything in video games (console, PC, online, mobile, arcade) should as well. The graphics world has evolved towards hardware acceleration on dedicated chips with better and better realism. The physics world is a long ways behind. There aren’t many video games today (in fact there aren’t any!) where you can take out a hack saw, cut off a piece of metal from a scrap heap, weld it to your car, and then have the metal bend when your car wrecks! Today I will review some of the phases in video game physics here and talk a bit about the future. Continue reading →