With the introduction of PBR, I would like to incorporate some seamless PBR textures into my builds. I cannot create assets in any 3D modeling software, so being able to build with blocks that use PBR is favorable. As you can see in the image below, scaling a part with a decal also stretches the image. Scaling a part with a texture repeats the pattern across the part. Scaling a MeshPart with a SurfaceAppearance behaves like a decal and stretches the image.
Tiling like this is an issue as it relies on unnecessarily reusing an asset. Furthermore, sizing a wall or floor that is tiled like this is restricted to the size of each individual cell (MeshPart). Even if a build was created that accommodates to the size restrictions, changes to the overall object becomes difficult due to the individual parts that comprise it. Keep in mind that you cannot just resize one row or column of parts, as that would distort the image.
So what exactly is it that I am looking for? I am looking for a result similar to how new materials work in the current Studio beta build (linked below for reference). The new materials use PBR and can be scaled without image distortion. This is what I would like to achieve, but with custom PBR SurfaceAppearances. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
I know itâs not a great solution, but the new materials coming soon do tile nicely and have a much higher resolution than they do currently and will have full PBR.
There is no workaround unfortunately, your best bet is to just keep on tiling the parts.
Roblox staff are just incredibly lazy at this point how long have surfaceappearances been in studio beta and havenât had a single update or improvement
@Bobytoeburrito unfortunately none at this time. One thing I know Iâll likely be doing once the new materials update comes out is create maps and assets with a mix of my own asset textures and new material textures. Small, modular assets are likely going to be a solution.
@Slappy_326 you shouldnât call the Studio team staff lazy. They work really hard and these problems are not simple. Good things take time. At least theyâve given us beta access to try it out first!
Dude come on normal maps are 7th gen technology and we got to try it for the first time in roblox in 2019, 2 years later itâs still not fully available and we canât even tile the textures.
As much as I donât like this fact I canât help but consider the staff lazy (or possibly underpaid, I donât know lol) because time and time again theyâve proven themselves to be incompetent.
I won't get into the full history of it but here are a few examples
no Z index layering on decals/textures (the most basic feature you could think of for decals/textures)
no decal-projections (incredibly basic/essential feature)
the first time we get to try non-skybox reflections is indoor env maps, and look what tragedy that was/is
clouds quality/delay (still not released)
FIB took 5 years. So basically 5 years to bring roblox to ps3/x360 standards (except still no reflections)
Model automatic meshes, another tragedy that no one even brings up anymore
Only automatic LOD optimization for meshes/unions that we cant control that looks pathetic honestly
Canât even change terrain textures
And besides that I happen to know that some of the staff complain (in private) when users donât like a new feature (such as the first rollout of the clouds) and call us âungratefulâ⌠Thatâs kind of childish behavior
and so on, so yeah, theyâre lazy. (or underpaid)
Hereâs a snip from the Beta Features section
Without it checked I can add surface appearance instances but I canât see or edit any properties of it, only parent and name
Iâm actually kind of confused now, since I put in the roblox forest pack (from toolbox) into studio and all the surfaceappearances do actually have normal maps and etc even with the beta check box unchecked
While I do agree the staff take forever to get things done, and we are now 2 generations behind, roblox has to also take into account the online part literally no part of a game is stored on a device. You also have to remember when roblox first started it was roughly 3 generations behind.
While I dislike robloxes staff (mainly moderation) I donât think they are lazy or incompetent (other than moderation) the technical teams get stuff done slowly but they have alot more technical problems than unreal for example. Not to mention itâs a 100% in house engine that has to work cross Gen and on many platforms while ALSO being online.
Its actually really stupid to reallase a project in half, when they add PBR i think it become nesesary to add a tiling feature because you are going to need it when you are making a realistic project.
Somethimes i dont understand how roblox is organized
There is a workaround for tiling pbr textures. If you add a âhumanoidâ to the mesh, the pbr texture will tile vs stretch. You can even adjust the texture scale by changing materials. I donât know why it works, but it works (for now).
When was the last time you tested this? I just tried it with a SurfaceAppearance and Humanoid both parented to the same MeshPart. I did not see any differences when scaling the MeshPart. Could you explain what I may be doing wrong?
Whew you scared me there for a minute, i thought they had âfixedâ it. It will be a bad day when they do though and break all the builds ppl made using this tweak.
That works, thanks! Do you happen to know of any way to change the size of a SurfaceAppearance similar to a textureâs StudsPerTile? Apparently the original size of some of the SurfaceAppearances are really small, and are rendered unusable. Also, I accidentally found out that you can use this trick on all SurfaceAppearances by parenting a single humanoid to workspace. Makes it easy to view how multiple SurfaceAppearances will turn out!
