Roblox Weekly: Apr. 30-May 6, 2023
New anti-cheat software + 64-bit client, support for gLTF files, and the inevitable retirement of Player Points (finally).
Welcome to Roblox Weekly, a newsletter series covering the latest and greatest news, announcements, and events that happen on the Roblox platform. Let’s recap everything that happened for the week of April 30–May 6, 2023…
64-Bit Client with Hyperion Anti-Cheat
Last year, Roblox acquired Byfron Technologies to help build their new anti-cheat software. On Wednesday, Roblox pushed their weekly client update (v574), and with it came the brand new “Hyperion” anti-cheat software. This software scans your PC and blocks you from launching Roblox if you have any third-party programs that can be used to modify or hack the client. With this release also came an upgraded 64-bit client on desktop (Windows). The upgraded 64-bit client (up from 32-bit) will help improve performance and quality.
PointsService (Player Points) Retirement
As the PointsService has been deprecated for years, Roblox will be retiring it on June 30th, 2023. If you still want to keep the corresponding features in your experience, please update to use Data Stores instead.
Security Email Notifications
A few weeks ago, Roblox soft launched their new session management tool, which shows when and where your Roblox account last logged in.
This week, Roblox also announced Security Email Notifications. If you have a verified email, you will receive security email notifications for account logins that occur from a new device or a new IP address.
Introducing Shapecasts in Studio
This week, Roblox released two new APIs for the Roblox Engine:
You may know these as swept volume queries, thick raycasts, continuous collision detection, or various other names across the industry. Roblox calls them Shapecasts. Shapecasts are closely related to raycasts — Raycasts push a point along a line, while shapecasts push a 3D shape and find the first hit point.
Limited Purchasing Update
With the newly released UGC Limiteds feature, Roblox pushed an update to the way purchasing and selling a Limited item works. Previously, the entire stock of an item had to sell out in order to sell it. Now, there is a holding period of 30 days from the time you purchase an item before you are able to sell it. This may be a problem if an item has a large stock and doesn’t sell out before the 30-day holding period is up. That’s why Roblox has added a new distinction between the original price and the best price. The Original Price allows you to buy the item.. well… at the original price. The Best Price allows you to buy the item at the cheapest price it is currently being sold for (see example below).
Added Support for gLTF Files
Throughout Roblox’s history, there were two mesh import options: OBJ or FBX. Today, Roblox has added support for gLTF files. This is a simple but powerful 3D scene format that’s been gaining popularity in web applications and 3D marketplaces. In this beta release, 3D mesh models and PBR textures will be supported. Support for rigged models, skinning, and animations will come in a future update. To enable this beta, open Studio, go to File > Beta Features and select 3D Import gLTF Support. You will have to restart Studio to enable these changes.
And that’s a wrap! Thanks for tuning in to this week’s Roblox Weekly. Come back here next week to see what Roblox will be up to next. To keep up to date with the latest and greatest Roblox news, follow Bloxy News on social media.
