Ability to update various assets (images, audio, video, meshes) in Studio

Feature Requests Studio Features
#1

Problem

As a Roblox developer, it is currently impossible to update certain types of assets such as images, audio, video, and meshes. You can update animations and models however. Sometimes an asset such as an image or a sound needs to be updated.

Use Case 1

A developer records an audio phrase using their own voice and uses it in the game. Later on, they hire a voice actor to record the same audio phrase which is higher quality and sounds more professional than the original one. The developer uploads the new audio but they have to get a new asset Id assigned and they have to change every place that the audio is being used to the new asset Id. By allowing audio asset updates, the same asset Id is used and the developer doesn’t need to make code/asset changes within their games to use it.

Use Case 2

A developer using an external drawing program such as Gimp, Corel Draw, or Adobe Photoshop draws an image and uploads it to Roblox. The image is assigned an asset Id and is made public so it can be used by other developers via the toolbox in Studio. The image quality isn’t that great, so the developer eventually hires an artist to improve the image. As in Use Case #1, the new image is assigned a new asset Id and the develop must make changes to their game to utilize it. Additionally, the other developers who are using that image may or may not know about the new asset. Their games will not benefit from using the new asset because they also have to update their games as well.

Use Case 3

Game Studio XZY publishes a game on Roblox and produces a low quality cutscene video for the game. Over time, the studio produces a higher quality video and uploads it to Roblox for use in their game. In order to use the video, the game developers have to change asset Ids to the new video in order to use it.

Additional Benefits

Roblox itself would also benefit from implementing this feature because newer assets overwrite older assets and retain the same asset Id. Not only does this reduce the number of assigned asset Ids saving index space in the databases, it also reduces the amount of storage space that is required to store these assets. Furthermore, it reduces duplication of assets as well.

Many times, an asset is uploaded that requires a small change later on. Instead of uploading the asset with the small change and getting a new asset Id and leaving the old asset orphaned, the existing asset is replaced and the new asset retains the old version’s asset Id.

Conclusion

If Roblox is able to address this issue, it would improve my development experience because when I upload a new asset to replace an old one, I won’t have to change the asset IDs in the experiences that use them, in addition to the benefits to Roblox itself.

13 Likes
#2

If Roblox were to implement this change, then it is important that they apply a version control system (similar to place saving) to assets. The problem I have with this feature request is that asset creators who upload public assets can decide to suddenly change their assets, which may not be wanted by developers who were using those assets. This could even be done maliciously to turn once friendly assets into bypassed ones.

I like the idea of having an updated version of an asset, but previous versions should be stored in case a revert is required and for developers who want to keep using the old versions.

Also, don’t worry about Roblox running out of storage. They’re a multi-billion dollar corporation with servers across the world, I’m sure there’s no way they would need to ration their storage.

4 Likes
#4

Unfortunately, this would be insecure. I’ve made a few images that are being used in games I do not own, and have no control over. If I could update the image, it could change the meaning of other games! That’s probably not what they want.

But, on the other hand, I hate having to keep reuploading different versions of an image because it doesn’t quite look right. I don’t know how they’d make this feature possible without conflicting with a potential issue.

2 Likes
#5

@DanTDM_Rocks999 @bluebxrrybot Hmm… You both make good points. The new asset would have to go through moderation anyways, so that’s not an issue. The concerns seems to revolve around what other games do with those assets. A compromise would be once the asset is published and available in the toolbox, then it cannot be changed. Until then, you can change it however many times you want. If it’s never published, then you can update it whenever you want to. Lots of assets are not public, but are privately used in the game that the developer uploaded them for. Since it’s your game, you have control. People should not be using private assets that they do not own. If they do, then that’s the risk that they take. This was part of the reason why Roblox implemented the sound permissions system.

What do you think?

3 Likes
#6

You can’t make images private, so are you preposing this when the asset privacy update comes out for images? If so, then that’s a good idea.

#7

Like I said, if it’s not available in the toolbox, and you didn’t upload them yourself, then they are considered private. So if anyone uses them and the asset changes, that’s the risk that they take.

I haven’t heard of this update that you speak of. Can you elaborate?

#8

Where ever Roblox talks about audio privacy, they also wanted to expand it to all asset types. This is a good idea if they do it right, and actually allow us to make things public.

#9

I agree. It’s maddening that I have to go in on the website and add to each asset the universe id of the game that I want to use it. They need a way to allow this to be done in bulk. Like click a checkbox next to the item and then do them all at the same time. I don’t like the fact that currently, if I want to share a sound asset on the market place I’m not allowed to do that. It’s been I think a year and a half and we are still waiting to be able to share audio assets.

The other issue is that there’s only 9 items per page on the website. Most other places allow huge amounts per page…like 48, 72, 96, etc… There’s also continuous scrolling as well where the server just adds to the bottom of the page as you scroll down. But that’s a different feature.