Thanksgiving Poll Results

Hi guys,
zinc707 here again. So I went ahead and finished up the poll that I requested you ROBLOXians vote on - and I have the results:

Scavenger hunt: 28
Humans Vs. Turkeys (Minigames): 24
Humans Vs. Turkeys (Paintball): 15
Humans Vs. Turkeys (All-out-brawl): 11

This year - we will be hosting a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt, and will keep you ROBLOXians updated on the status of it.

Thanks to everyone that participated in the Thanksgiving Poll - your feedback is valued and gives us insight as to what the users want.

Hat Review: Knock Out Cap!

Hey guys sorry it’s been so long! I have been very busy, with school plotting more ideas for this blog, etc. Today I am going to review Knock Out Cap!

Mesh: 10/10

This mesh is very unique. It has the look of an old brown leather top hat, with an opening on top with a huge boxing glove coming out, behind the glove there is a little flap that covers over the hat and glove when not in use. I guess that is where “Knock Out Cap” comes from. This actually cap mesh could have been recolored/ retextures, with added mesh to the top to make a fist on a spring coming out. My only complaint with this mesh is the fact it comes down over the avatar’s eyes which I am not a fan of. Overall 10/10, for this hat’s nice and beautiful mesh.

Texture: 8.5/10

This texture is very simple for the hat part but once it gets to the spring and glove, it gets sort of complicated. I like how the spring is like flat, but looks very bendy. This hat’s texture is both very complicated and very easy; it is also very funny and enjoyable. Therefore I give it 8.5/ 10.

Money Value: 10/10

This is hat is a lot cheaper than you would think. This hat only costs 250 robux. It’s very a good price for a very awesome hat. Right now I would totally buy this hat but I am very low on robux at the moment. I suggest for anyone with lots of money to buy this awesome hat. I give the value on this hat 10/10

Enjoyment: 10/10

The hat looks very nice on your avatar, my only complaint like I said before the front of the hat goes down over the eyes of the avatar. It’s a beautiful and funny hat, it should have honestly been limited.

Overall: 10/10

Overall this hat is great, epic Texture, epic mesh awesome looks. I strongly suggest this awesome hat to everybody. Overall I give it 10/10!

P.S: Black Friday is coming up in 2 weeks so keep an eye on the blog from now till then, expect a little surprise post from me soon, and lots of hat/gear reviews during black Friday weekend!

Thanks for reading!

Hat: http://www.roblox.com/Knock-Out-Cap-item?id=97101617

Follow me on twitter, @darkfish900!

Mango's Tutorials: Beginning Scripting

Hey guys! I've asked some people and it appears that scripting is something that a lot of users are wanting to understand.

Beginning scripting is very easy to learn, if you have the urge and willpower to overcome the twist and turns that it's rocky road brings fourth. Once you've got the basics down, you'll be able to understand more complicated tutorials.

But before we get started, you'll need to have Roblox Studio set up properly. To do that, open Roblox Studio and start a new project.

Move your mouse over the "View" tab that's located on the top of your screen. your going to want to select "Explorer" and "Properties".

This is what the explorer should look like:

This is what the properties tab should look like:

Once you've got those tabs opened, we can continue on with the tutorial.

Notice when you click something on the explorer, you can change it in the properties tab. And everything that appears in the explorer, is in the game. Also take notice that everything is under "Workspace" in the explorer.

Alright, now I want you to insert a brick, and I want you to name it 'test'. The brick should appear as a "Part" in the explorer tab. Now insert a script. Do this by rolling your mouse over the "Insert" tab on the top of your screen, then click "Insert Object".

A window should come up, select "Script". A "Script" should be added to your explorer.

Double click the script. A window should come up with the text "Hello world" in it. Since we don't really need that there, your going to want to erase that.

What we're going to do, is change some of the properties of our 'test' brick using a script. In order to do that, we first have to tell the script what we want to edit. But, how do we do that? Simple.

First, we tell the script to look under 'game', since everything is in the game, obviously the brick is going to be in there. Then, if you look at the explorer, your going to want to identify it under 'Workspace' as well.

It should look something like this:

game.Workspace.test

First it looks in game, then Workspace and then it's directed to our brick, 'test'.

Now we want to change our brick.

Click the 'test' brick on the explorer and look at the properties tab. Let's change the transparency, to do that, we're going to show the script what we want to change. So add 'transparency' to the script, like so:

game.Workspace.test.Transparency

Now we can go ahead and change it. We want to add an '=' sign and put in the decimal you prefer, just like this:

game.Workspace.test.Transparency = 0.3

Congratulations! You've created your first script. Push the play button, if you've done everything correctly,  the 'test' brick should become transparent.

Send me a message HERE to ask me any questions!

Don't forget to comment!

Poll: Thanksgiving event this year

Hi guys,
Zinc707 here - first time posting on RN. Just to clarify, my name isn't Nina - it's Joshua
(I let my sister use my Blogger account to manage her blog.)

So, I had a quick question for you ROBLOXians. I'm going to be making a Thanksgiving Event this year, but I'm torn between a few ideas. So, I figured that I'd let the readers decide what they want the event to be.

This poll is closed - thank you to everyone that participated in the poll - your feedback is valuable!

Place Review - Simon Says by RobredEyes2

Hello, and welcome to another Place Review by PlusJon! Let's get started!

Today, I went and visited RobredEyes2's suddenly popular game, Simon Says. This game is a great idea, but some things aren't so great. Let's start off with the CON LIST!

For those of you who are new, my CON LIST is a list of the top three things that make it annoying to play.

     1. The UIs are horrible. I can't stand them. Look at the image below and you will see what I mean.

     






     2. This game isn't clear. I hate when people make a game, then don't even explain how to play. Some people don't know how to play Simon Says. The only thing he does to help this is add a place thumbnail. Check below to see it.

        3. This place is a WIPEOUT TRAP!!! I hate the fact that this game doesn't teleport players back, nor teleport them when they lose. You can easily amass 100s of KOs in this place in as little as one hour.


The GOOD!

The Lobby is REALLY nice. I love the use of materials.

Lobby

This game has many different "themes". Each theme has a unique set of "Commands" for Simon to use.

The Cards Theme

There are two kinds of commands.

There are "Simon Says" commands, and then simply "Commands".

The image below is an example of "Commands". 

The image below is an example of a "Simon Says" command.

When players win, there is a nice message announcing all the winners.

Gameplay: I would rate the gameplay a 6/10. If it were not for the WOs, I would make this maybe an 8/10.

Design: I'd give the design a 7/10. Make the UIs better for a higher score.

Scripting: I'm going to give this a 3/10. It's great scripting, but the creator was a little lazy.
Rather than make it teleport players back to the lobby, he added teams and just switched their team and killed them.

OVERALL: 6/10

Nice game!

Roblox News Halloween Paintball Now Open!

Greetings all! The first thing that will spring to mind when reading the title of this post is 'Halloween Paintball?! What is this madness?' and I don't blame you. I realise that this game has been released slightly late and that while we started it at least a week before the 31st of October, it did not reach it's deadline due to bug fixes.

Thumbnail by IBarrageI 

The game was scripted by Zinc707 and the map was built by myself (arbirator).  The map features one main route through the centre of the map and two flank routes across a graveyard and a mandrake garden. Both of these flank routes boast plenty of cover opposed to the centre path. There are also two even wider routes you can take around the edges of the map, but beware, on both sides there are elevated positions that players can easily take advantage of and rain death down upon any foolish player to venture too wide.

Controls:

Press '1' to select your paintball gun and simply aim and click with the mouse to shoot. Use the 'Q' key to load or save any data - note you can only perform this action in-between rounds. Use the 'U' key to upgrade your weapon - every 25 kills you gain 1 upgrade point to spend on proficiencies such as paint ball velocity, accuracy, and damage.

The Modes:

Team Deathmatch 

The classic game of team warfare. Players are split up into two teams: Skeletons and Pumpkins. The objective of this game is for your team to get as many kills as possible in the 10 minute round period. The team with the most kills wins. 

Team Elimination

Similar to Team Deatmatch, you have to kill the other team members. However, when a player is killed, they are eliminated from the round, thus they will not respawn. The last standing player's team wins the round. 

Slaughterfest

Otherwise known as Free For All; players spawn at random points on the map and are tasked with killing every player in sight. There are no teams - everyone is your enemy. The player with the most points at the end of the 10 minute round period, wins.

Darkseed's Gauntlet

A devilish mode from the scheming minds of arbirator and Zinc707. At the beginning of the round, a crystal infused with the power of Darkseed is hidden somewhere in the map. Players must search for the crystal and pick it up - by touching it. The crystal will then appear on your back where you must transport it to the centre of the map: The Resting Place of Darkseed the Fallen. When the crystal is within the proximity of Darskeed, he will slowly begin to rise from the grave, coming for revenge. If the crystal carrier is killed, Darkseed will gradually lose power and descend back into his grave. If a team manages to capture Darkseed, the enemy players will be consumed by the power bestowed by Darkeed himself. The victors shall bathe in glory and valour as they watch their enemies being consumed by the flames of Darkseed. 

So, we hope you enjoy the game and it's four modes! Remember to send us any screenshots of you playing the game at robloxnewshelp@live.co.uk. Play it here.

-Arbirator 

Forbidden Box - Gear Review!

Hey it's your catalog reviewer, alexkylerock, here again with another gear review, the forbidden box! Before I start this review, I'd just like to say that if I don't post as frequently, it's because I can't find the free time to write posts because of school, my social life, or my extracurricular life. But without further ado, on with the review!

Abilities/Powers: 9/10

This gear is insanely powerful and a must-buy if you are in it for the abilities. When you activate this gear, your character puts the box in front of his body as if he were going to crush it, but he cranks an imaginary handle, somewhat like a grenade, and then throws the box on the ground. The box then emits a yellow ring that explodes around the box with about a 10 pixel radius and then the box emits a huge yellow beam from the top of the box to the sky. When this happens, four "ghosts" appear and attack your enemies. This is an overpowered gear and if you like making your enemies run, this is a must-buy. I only have a few concerns for this. 1) It takes too long to crank the box and throw it on the ground and if you are being chased with someone with a sword, you probably won't survive. The GOOD thing though, is that even if you die and the box is already on the ground, the ghosts will still come out and avenge you. 2) Once you use the box once, you can't pick it up again. I don't know if this is just a catalog heaven glitch or a glitch with the gear entirely but it is still a must-buy for those who want to send your enemies running.

Appearance: 10/10

The box's colors fit exactly with the color of the beam that the box emits, yellow. Yellow is also one of those colors that your enemies aren't scared of but when they see a bright yellow glowing beam in the middle of the sky at dark, they'll be wondering what the heck is up. I also love the intricate designs on the box. The front seems to be a spider web of some sort and it is somewhat scary. One of the sides has one big circle on it with three smaller circles and one of those circles looks like it has a "gear" shaped thing inside of it. The top is harder to make out from the icon that is given by ROBLOX but it seems to be some circle with very intricate designs on it. It makes this a threatening but lovely box. 

Pricing: 9/10

This item was priced at a flat 1.5k R$ when it was first sold. Now this item didn't sell very quickly, not like the Amethyst Periastron or anything like that. Obviously because people didn't know what the heck this was and they didn't know if this would win/fail in price. This is now priced at 2.1k R$, a 500R$ increase but actually it isn't that much if you think about how much this SHOULD be worth. If I made a gear this insanely powerful, I'd price it around 10k AT LEAST. I won't be buying this because I won't make much profit, personally. It has made a 500R$ increase over a 2 week period, and the graph shows that it is kinda iffy, but  it's up to you. With a gear this powerful, I don't think it honestly matters.

Recommendations: 

1. Make the box bigger.

2. Fix everything I wrote in the "Abilities/Power" section.

3. Change 1 with 2.

4. Delete 3.

6. Did you notice there wasn't a 5?

7. Make more minions come out of this.

8. Make bigger minions come out of this.

10. Make the minions faster and more powerful.

11. I bet you didn't notice the missing #9.

As always, this is alexkylerock wrapping up another gear review. I probably won't be writing as much because of all of the things as written above, but please stay in contact with me via twitter, @ledubstepmixr.

"Authority" Early BETA Review

Authority

Version Reviewed: v0.19

Genre: FPS

Link: http://bit.ly/RtQNcn

DISCLAIMER: This is a review for a game currently in BETA, meaning everything in the game is subject to change, including, but not limited to, balance, content, thumbnail, concept, graphics, and availability. This review may no longer be valid later on and is accurate as of October 21, 2012.

I am probably the only person right now writing content for something other than Halloween Catalog content (I still love you guys Catalog team... maybe). Anyways, let me get started on talking about a game I took a look at before in Rapid Fire Reviews, "Authority," by Spookyfox and Logitech101, currently under a very early stage of open BETA.

Improvements, Polish, and Change

As we all know, constant positive change for the better is the name of the game. The shooter genre on Roblox hasn't had a successful new game in a while, and "Authority" could be the next big one.

If you've developed a game, written a novel, or created any "original content," you know that there needs to be an inspiration and not everything is truly original. And this goes for this game too, it doesn't provide much original ideas or innovative scripts because it bases most of its concepts on Call of Duty games. It doesn't mean its bad though, because it combines the awesome things from already popular games to make an even better game.

It's All About The Guns

It's a shooting game, it has guns, and they need to feel and fire nicely. If it doesn't, the whole game could fall apart quickly, like in Call of Robloxia 5 - Roblox At War. And let me tell you, the guns here feel pretty nice. 


The bullet holes left behind by the bullet impacts grants the user the feeling of excitement, whether shooting or being shot at. The sheer amount of firepower behind the guns are also expressed in the sound the gun makes. The thumps, bangs, and pews all please the ears and allows you to feel immersed and excited to fire the gun.

When fired, the guns have a good amount of kick but can feel floaty at times, like they are made of plastic. The random recoil pattern of the weapons means that when you know one gun, you know them all. I can see this as a real problem in gun variety, since the only thing you can mess with is some stats.

There is another complaint here however, even though it is most likely just unimplemented due to being in a development stage, the muzzle flare and tracer rounds from the guns simply do not exist. This presents some gameplay problems for the players. The muzzle flares serve as a feedback to pulling the trigger (for the shooter and the target), and the absence of them means that players with muted sound are not able to determine when the gun fires and will not be able to adjust their aim accordingly. Tracer rounds allow your opponent to identify the direction of fire as well as for you to see your aim, without them, it's the "whoever shoots first wins" game.


It's in beta so I'm not going to comment too much on balance right now, but I can say the maps allow many different types of weapons to be utilized; they achieve this by containing long, open, coverless areas alongside close quarter areas with blind corners. Although, I would have liked for the maps to be bigger, small maps result in spawn camping pretty quickly, killing the fun completely for one team.

Attention to Detail

The makers have obviously spent much time to make the game as cool as possible. From grenade pins flying off, to masks of dead bodies dropping off to create an unique aesthetic, the game is just really visually pleasing. You can tell the asset qualities in the game are really high, the GUIs, thumbnails, and gun models are all of high detail and also contribute to the beauty of the game.

One thing most creators and players overlook in a game is the sound effects, even though it is arguably the most important thing besides graphics and gameplay. The good thing is, this game has a plethora of quality sounds placed in proper places, which add up to give the game it's atmosphere and immersion. What I would like to see though is ambient sounds, such as car engine noise or plane engine sounds from overhead jets' passing by.

Combinations of Awesomeness

The game also features a metric ton of customization and progression. Guns can be outfitted with attachments and camos, players can be equipped with 3 different perks and 3 other perks to be unlocked as killstreak awards.

Attachments and camos are unlocked on a gun-by-gun basis, meaning it requires you to start over on every gun, something I'm not sure I like. There is a pretty good variety on weapons, attachments, camos, and perks to ensure you are always able to find a combination you enjoy playing with.

The progression system also seems to contain a level based system, possibly used for unlocking different grenades and weapons. This concept is well accepted in the Modern Military Shooter genre and is fine as long as weapons are unlocked fairly quickly (since they each also contain a progression curve).

 Verdict: 
7.5/10 Overall
A MUST TRY!
Just needs some polish and it has potential to be a great game.

New staff member!

Hey guys! I'm MagoStudio. I've just joined the Roblox news staff. I hope to contribute tutorials and other helpful post's to this wonderful blog.

I've been doing tutorials for some time now. Whether it's scripting, building or even getting your game on the front page, I make sure my tutorials are fun and easy to follow.

If you have any suggestions on what I should write about, please PM me! I read all my messages and reply to most of them.

-Mango

Edge-less Bricks Tutorial

Have you ever wanted to build something that looked really nice? Have you thought the bricks that were put together had an edge that showed the individual parts and ruined the atmosphere? Well, I'm here to teach you how to get rid of that.

First, let's take a look at the common methods of building a simple wall with windows.

1.

Using regular bricks and concrete material.

The first method we will take a look at is the most common way, using regular blocks and a material to build a window. As you can easily see, there are ugly white lines caused by "bevels" where the bricks end and start. They make the structure really unpleasing to look at  and is just undesirable.

2.

Using blocks with "BlockMesh"

The second method is what more advanced builders choose to use. They smooth out the obtrusive lines by using a thing called the "BlockMesh." However, there is a huge problem when using this approach, bricks with "BlockMesh" cannot use the Roblox materials. This downfall makes them bland when up close, which is undesirable for really detailed building.

The Solution

This is what I will teach you to do in this tutorial

As you can see from the example above, this method allows material textures to be used but conceals the "bevel" edges well enough so that they are unnoticeable.

Tools needed:

• CmdUtl v5.0.0 (Get it HERE, completely virus free.)
• Roblox Studio
• Basics of Roblox Studio
• This article

Installation

First off, you will need to download CmdUtl from the link above (don't worry, there is no virus). Next, you will need to open Roblox Studios. Now, you need to open the plugins folder by clicking the Tools dropdown menu at the top and then selecting "Open Plugins Folder." Now, extract the file you just downloaded into the folder and restart Roblox Studios. If you did this correctly, you should see the tool bar below on your studio.

The Set Up

You will need to click the first button from the toolbar above to open the CmdUtl GUI. Locate the blue menu which is circled for you in the image to the right. You will then need to change the number in the blue menu to 0.13 (number pad is not supported) and select the "Resize Object" tool.

Performing The Trick

Once you have everything set up, this part is the easy part. Find the parts that the ugly edge is touching and click on one of them:

A thing similar to the regular resizing tool will show up. Simply click and drag the dot like you are going to resize the brick into the other brick. Make sure to watch the "Resize" counter in the upper left corner to make sure it only resizes 0.13 studs.

If you followed the guide, you should get results like the wall at the beginning or like this:

If you still have any questions or didn't get results you wanted, message me on Roblox at yomamadude6, on Reddit at Sheep_Goes_Baa, or on Twitter @FatCakeCows. Have fun with this and build some awesome buildings!