This is going to be awesome! I am a scripter, but I still build a bit! Love seeing these new materials and terrain!
While this is a good update, I do not think you guys should be changing the old materials to the new ones. Instead add these materials as new materials so they can be used and mixed together with the old ones.
Another thing I would like to see is to let us the Developers add custom terrain materials ourselves, this would boost our creativity a lot and would let us to be able to create more immersive and unique experiences in unique looking games that use terrain in their maps.
4 Likes
After seeing this, I decided to check this out on one of my most recent projects. Here are the results:
Before:
After:
You can probably guess why I’m not entirely sure about this update in its current state. It butchers colors and doesn’t do much to enhance the feel of builds.
Currently, I feel that these new materials should be added as additional materials rather than materials that will replace the original materials entirely. However, this doesn’t mean I don’t see potential in these new textures; they could definitely be used nicely but I and quite a few people agree that aspects such as their brightness and their base colors should be tweaked in the future.
27 Likes
This is a great update on Roblox, I simply can’t wait for it to actually happen.
I made a small old-fashioned road with these (Cobblestone for the road, mud, leafy grass and ground were used on the sides) materials, changed the lighting a bit and this looks beautiful. The only problem is that ground spreads too wide.
One big change I saw is pebble. Before, I didn’t use pebble at all. Now, pebble seems far better and can be used for some building and I would love to see it as a terrain part, as then you would be able to add far more details into rivers and lakes.
Before:
After:
I also tested out my old bridge, and it turned out in the start to look bad, because of the textures that it contained. The main problem with this update will be that it will cause problems. I hope that doesn’t happen, but it happened to me when I joined the game I am developing on for a long time with my friends.
In conclusion, I say that this update will be good, however, in the first weeks, there will be problems.
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ROBLOX, I love you!!! ITS so cool!
1 Like
Simply put, for a platform with the motto “powering imagination,” these materials have some pretty specific use cases. Don’t get me wrong, I do like most of the new materials, but the baked colors need to go entirely. Perhaps even go as far as making a secondary color for some materials, like corroded metal and cracked lava. Metal is now even darker than it was before. In the screenshot below, there is a car I made. To the left, it is medium stone gray with smooth plastic. The car in the middle is institutional white metal, and the car to the right is institutional white smooth plastic.
Edit: heres that car with institutional white with the old material
The scratches on metal are hideous.
Grass quite literally looks like someone threw lawn fat lawn clippings down and called it a day. Thats medium stone gray, btw. Imagine any alien planet with grass thats not green, the entire place will be ruined.
The original announcement mentioned new materials as well. In the betas current state, new materials will be desperately needed.
DEAR GOD, PLEASE GIVE ME MORE COLOR FREEDOM. LOOK AT THIS. LOOK HOW DARK IT IS. DO NOT TELL ME THERE IS NOT A PROBLEM.
edit: pre-updated terrain:
As for the feedback asked for here:
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Neither. This post imo is the best solution:
New Terrain, and Parts, and Built-In Materials, Oh my! - #1509 by ademyst
It would not only keep from destroying games with the old materials, but still keep the new materials.
for a platform with the motto powering imagination, it wouldn’t be giving you the ability to express your imagination to the fullest if you had entirely replaced the old materials rather than let them exist side by side. -
it is acceptable, as long as theres a way to see it with more detail.
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It is possible, but there are definitely less options now, especially since all these materials have colors baked in.
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relatively well, yes.
try and point out all the specific lines.
clear tiling on bricks
corosion on metal changes as you move away.
brick materials.
6. Its very much decreased. My starship thats supposed to have a light vibe is now very dark.
23 Likes
I don’t like this update. This update makes my terrain look absolutely terrible to look at. Here’s an example:
Before:
After:
The stone path looks so blurry and the leaves look awful as well. Please make this a toggled feature instead of a forced feature. Because stuff like this makes terrain look awful to look at.
13 Likes
I’m glad you’ve added PBR shaders and you’re adding new materials but it seems like everything’s being pushed towards realism at the moment instead of it being an addition. There are clearly a lot of creators on here that prefer more stylized/cartoony aesthetics and PBR might not work for them, shouldn’t this be an addition rather than a rework or are there some technical limitations at play?
On that note, unlit shaders are sorely needed so we can produce quality stylized art 
4 Likes
After testing some materials with it, I was quite impressed with the new material and I actually liked them a lot!
- The materials are high quality with an amazing PBR effect and much more realistic textures.
- What I like the most is the terrain transitions, they are so well made and much more realistic than the old ones even if I’ll miss them.
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I think the only thing that bothered me is that the textures are too dark and very hard to color, and it also changes WAY too much from the previous ones…
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Another thing that was concerned is that material is too realistic, meaning that they’ll not suit with some models (eg. using slate material for rocks, or using grass for bushes which don’t make it too good in my opinion…)
But overall, it looks very promising and I would love to see it releases, but I would also like if you let some materials optional and available to choose separately like grass V1 and V2 as 2 different materials.
4 Likes
This is the true definition of those “expectations versus reality” memes. This was hyped up back in December, only for these new materials to turn out gloopy, and oddly smooth. The terrain is almost neon green, and it hurts to look at it. It makes you think that maybe we were better off with the current textures and terrain.
Terrain is often used in more realistic circumstances so why make it cartoony and sloppy? This update directly affects terrain artists and all developers in general, Roblox needs to realize that this can affect creators in a negative light.
13 Likes
Just as others have stated, the new materials are great BUT…
There is a massive inconsistency in lightness of darkness of materials that affect how different colors appear. Additionally, there are far too many forced material colors. The base color maps should all be monochrome/black and white to ensure people not only have the freedom to do what they want with the new materials…but to also ensure that current visuals aren’t completely ruined (Ex: In one of my games, a white and bright red Japanese bridge now looks light brown and dark red with the new materials. In the same place, the different rock textures no longer blend correctly and slate no longer matches the terrain rock. While the latter could be solved with the new Rock Material for parts, said new material is very, VERY dark and cannot be blended).
2 Likes
Can someone send the github link for the place? I can’t seem to find anything to download it.
I agree… its awful 
1 Like
This is…terrible.
Before
After
I will admit that I like how the wood normals looks (but why does it have colour data?), but the cobblestone is embarassingly non realistic. It completely ruined the aesthetic of my game’s map.
I’m confused. It feels like Roblox is trying to walk away from realism and I am very unhappy about that. I sincerely hope that this is just an early build and this will be fixed.
31 Likes
I dont like how my island looks after the update
Before the update:
After the update:
I don’t really like that the slate looks less like a rock and that the grass, wood and the path (pebble) textures are so dark.
I would like to see the new materials added as additional materials rather than that the new materials replace the original materials entirely.
5 Likes
As from what I can tell.
These new materials looks nice but they can ruin the look of old projects/games/builds
I don’t like the fact we have limited colors with these materials (look at brick material, the color is forced dark and red on white)
If ya do plan to make these optional. Please do so. I don’t want to start an argument with the old games having bad texture uses that hasn’t been updated for a year)
But what could I say. This is the v1 of the beta build. Everything is subject to change so I’m bringing my hopes up if it becomes optional. (Adding a legacy materials tab and the new/currently materials on the same selection tab would definitely be something I’m looking forward to)
4 Likes
I just saw this conversation. It helped me because I wasn’t sure how to open it.
Can you make it an option to insert the textures?
For example, when you open places you made 3+ years ago it asks you if you’d like to import the new textures.
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Before, old materials used to be similar in contrast. Some would fit with eachother, some won’t.
Now, no material works with another. Some of my builds have been completely butchered. At the very least… make it an option. Don’t force these new materials on us.
5 Likes