This is in response to the recent addition of the archiving feature, which can be found in this post here. In the update, there are a few responses in relation to this, but there’re a couple other posts in agreement (elaborate post found here). I’m bringing this issue to light as I find it to be rather problematic.
As a Roblox developer, it is currently impossible to archive multiple unneeded assets efficiently. The process of archiving one is pretty straight forward, albeit time-consuming. However, archiving more than one is simply more than just tedious; it’s a waste of time, in comparison to just developing.
I decided to time myself on archiving just one asset three times (starting on Develop > Games and ending when the ‘save’ button was pressed), with my average time being approximately 13.30 seconds (time included loading speed; note that everyone has different internet speeds, but this was my own), which is absolutely ridiculous in my eyes.
My trial times:
First trial = 15.77 seconds
Second trial = 14.55 seconds
Third trial = 9.59 seconds
I understand the archiving feature is very new, and the addition itself is a step in the right direction. So I’ve devised a rough idea of how to tackle archiving multiple items.
To start off, most of the asset creation starts from Roblox Studio (images, meshes, etc.), so this inclusion would look as if it’s part of the Toolbox tab.
This is a mock-up of my asset archiving process. In the regular toolbox sections (My/Group Models, Images, Meshes, Audio), the ‘Asset is Archived’ checkbox is left unchecked. If it were to be checked from there, it’d be moved to the archive alternatives of those categories (in this case Archived Images/Models/Audio/Meshes; these would be changed to Archived Group… if they were archived and made by a group).
The archive categories would show the names of the items that are archived and nothing more. In addition, the ‘Asset is Archived’ checkbox would be checked, and if the user were to uncheck the checkbox, the asset would be restored and moved back to its designated category.
Note the drop-down options above the ‘Asset is Archived’ checkbox. These should not be there in the archived categories, as you would not be able to use them anyways. However, if one were to somehow have the ID of the archived asset (maybe prior to the asset being archived), it would simply not show up in-game or in-studio.
As Roblox continues to grow, there is an ever-expanding desire for quality games, and thus a need for maintaining and cleaning user libraries when there is too much unused or undesired content. I personally would find this change extremely useful because I’ve been working on a game that requires many models, meshes and images, and seeing some that are either moderated or not working as I intended stay in my libraries is frustrating. Having the ability to hide some assets is pretty nice, but being able to hide more than just one at a time, especially in studio, is a change I want to see happen.