Anything that locks the cursor doesn't work when accessing Roblox/Studio over Parsec (remote desktop software)

[Mauio64 (Mauio)]

Description

When accessing Roblox or Roblox Studio through Parsec, mouse locking does not work whatsoever in any context. This breaks the following:

• Camera control when holding right-click
• Shift lock
• Any games that lock the mouse for a similar reason

This is frustrating when playing games, but it’s workflow-breaking for remote work. I cannot properly use Studio when away from my workstation because of this.

I have reported this behavior to Parsec staff (along with many other people), and they’ve stated it’s an issue with Roblox.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Connect to a remote desktop using Parsec
2. Launch Roblox or Roblox Studio on the remote desktop
3. Enter a game OR open a game in Studio
4. Attempt to control the camera using mouse movement/Shiftlock
5. Observe that your mouse slides away instead of locking in place

Expected Behavior

I expect the mouse to work the exact same as it normally does when I’m physically at the PC.

Video of Behavior

This is a video of a computer connected to my workstation via Parsec. Note that I right click and try to move the camera. It doesn’t lock properly, making it go wild.

Extra Info

• Parsec staff have stated in the past that Roblox handles mouse input “weirdly”, causing this behavior.
• I don’t know if this happens with other remote desktop software.
• The impact of this being fixed is high. Fixing this would let me do everything I do on my workstation while away from it. Currently, the most I can do is edit scripts.
• The workstation is running Windows 10 (latest update).

[Dogekidd2012]

We’ve tested this and it appears to work fine over traditional RDP, which many engineers use internally every day. We suspect this is some oddity with Parsec specifically.

@Mauio64

• Parsec staff have stated in the past that Roblox handles mouse input “weirdly”, causing this behavior.

Any chance they can give more specific details on this?

[Mauio64 (Mauio)]

Hello, yes, I just got some more details. Thank you for your quick response and interest in the issue.

Transcript:

In the first half of 2022 (probably), Roblox changed the way it locks the cursor in the window (shift-lock thing?) to work in a way that Parsec can’t detect as being ‘relative’-mode mouse movement. Only a very small subset of games have similar issues, 99% are fine.

Because the mouse stays in ‘absolute’ mode, and Parsec doesn’t replicate ClipCursor regions from the host on the client, or respect cursor warps while in absolute mode (they’re non-trivial to detect), this means the cursor is allowed to move freely and you get your issue.

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Here’s a video of what it looks like on the host machine. It’s hard to see, but on my host, the mouse stays locked in a position, and the Parsec-connected PC tries to move it farther and farther away. This video also showcases an oddity; enabling pointer trails seems to fix it?