Heightmaps: waiting for moderation makes zero sense [FIXED]

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#21

Yeah it is pretty dumb considering you don’t have to wait on textures for meshparts to be moderated to see them.
Sorry about all these people explaining the moderation system. :confused:

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#22

This could be moved to another category on the DevForum but here is my opinion:

I understand why Roblox does this. You could easily get away with creating explicit images through a height map without a moderation system in place. Instead of waiting to be approved for the height map image, I think we should be able to upload it to our game and continue to develop but the game just won’t be publishable until the asset is approved on Roblox. There is a lot of trial and error that goes with height maps and seeing the painstaking process of having to wait an hour for an image that might go to waste is just annoying and turns me into other forms of terrain creation.

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#23

The moderation is not the best, and always is going to be improved, it’s not an excuse for making roblox better, i’m just saying that as any other moderation system, is not the best, not something fake. And i want to mention that this thread is going to no where.

#24

Exactly, that’s basically what I’m saying. I’m not suggesting to not moderate them though, I’m suggesting to either:

  1. Allow heightmap generation before they are moderated

  2. Don’t have them uploaded to the website in the first place, and instead exist only locally to the developer, eliminating the need for moderation altogether.

#25

I am pretty sure that Roblox has to moderate everything to be in guidlines with COPPA, which is how they are able to let users under 13 play

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#26

I had this dilemma before, I guess roblox stores the heightmap image on their servers which is why it gets moderated. I would complain to roblox about this rather than to us.

#27

The reason why you don’t have to wait for textures/meshes is because they are loaded from your local files rather than a server. If you upload a mesh and insert it right away into a multiplayer server you will be the only one able to see it till it gets approved on the website.

#28

Yeah, the wait time for height map asset moderation is ridiculous. When you upload a decal onto Roblox, it only takes a few minutes, but when you attempt to upload and use a heightmap, it takes anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours. Currently waiting on a revision of an already uploaded heightmap… an hour and 30 in so far.

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#29

Without moderation, you could easily create explicit images. I understand why they need moderation. Just allow us to import height maps and use them before moderation and just not let us upload the game to the public until the asset is moderated. It is simple. The point you make would allow for easy workarounds to create explicit images on Roblox. If we upload locally, it still creates the risk of inappropriate imagery.

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#30

No, no it would not allow for easy workarounds. I think you don’t realize what upload locally means. It means the image would be ONLY visible to the client. There is no risk whatsoever. Unless of course you are concerned with somebody seeing an inappropriate image that they themselves uploaded on their own client?

#31

That’s how heightmaps should be.

#32

You don’t understand. Eventually the height map is going to have to be published publicly for your game. If you let the local side draw the height map, there are going to be inappropriate pictures. No moderation means any user will be able to create terrain in their game without guidelines. If you only locally render the terrain drawn, what is the point of the system then? You want this to be in your game, then why would you only have this terrain appear locally. Eventually your terrain is going to be seen by the public (when you choose the publicize your game) and at that point the asset will need to go through moderation.

I am not totally against your idea but we need to change some things up. Allowing a developer to upload height maps normally without moderation is fine but we then need to find some way for the asset TO be moderated at some point in this process before it gets to the public.

So here is a proposal to fix these shenanigans:
Use height maps locally; allow us to draw the terrain for the height map right away, the asset will be put through moderation, Roblox won’t allow you to publish your game until the asset is moderated (therefore only allowing for the option to save to Roblox or save locally), and once your asset is finished being moderated and approved you can finally allow the public to see your beautiful work!

#33

Incorrect – there is no need whatsoever for an online image of the heightmap for Roblox Studio to generate terrain based on it.

#34

Exactly but the height map you create reflects exactly what is going to show on your terrain. If you post an explicit height map, the terrain will show an explicit image therefore allowing for local rendering won’t benefit anyone here.

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#35

That’s what I’m referencing when I say it would just be easier to make something inappropriate out of parts. The moderation is 100% bypassable and would stop nobody. It’s just an annoyance to developers. If the terrain truly needs to be moderated then just make it only visible to the owner until it is moderated. But again, there is no excusable reason for preventing a user from generating terrain in their local studio. A terrain heightmap would be the most difficult and least probable attack vector for something inappropriate.

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#36

It would benefit every single person that uses a heightmap to include local heightmap usage. I’m trying to be polite, but it’s getting tiring explaining the obvious flaws in the moderation system here. Roblox is run by people who are not infallible. There is room for improvement.

#37

I literally have to wait over 15 minutes to use an image for height or color … it’s really a long time. Has anyone found a way to speed this up?

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#38

There are some plugins you can download that achieve the same effect, but you need to use a .obj file. If you google Blender heightmap tutorial you can do this relatively easily, although it’s still annoying a workout such as this is required…

#39

So this ultimately uses an obj → mesh for the terrain versus the voxel terrain of the engine?

#40

It converts it into triangle terrain, since meshes have poly limits