Should I be using tools anymore?

[Sentross]

Hello Dev forum members,

So my question right now is should I even really be using tools anymore? I’ve been using tools for years now. To make lightsabers, swords, guns, etc. And I have always been decently happy with the results…

But I was reading this awesome tutoral:

How to animate a tool/object with a Dummy in the Animation Editor

Hey everyone, I’ve answered the question about how to animate a tool, such as a weapon alongside a rig/dummy a few times now and I thought it would be useful for the some members in the community if I made a tutorial about it. First things first, you’ll need to pick out the object you’re animating along with your Dummy. For this example I’ll be using a very simple ‘Gun’, and an R15 rig, however you can follow similar steps for R6 which I will add below. Before you begin: You should download t…

And it just got me thinking… Is it a better option right now and in the long run to make guns, swords, and all that stuff all using models and animations (with moter6Ds) and custom code the equip and unequip process for my own “tools” rather then using the old ROBLOX tools?

tl;dr
should I make a custom framework to make weapons with models and animate them myself rather then using old roblox tools?

[ScottyMcPiper]

It’s 100% up to personal preference. The only direct benefit is perhaps a little bit more control in regards to welding the tool to the players hand, tool animations etc. However, it can easily be observed that many of the top games still use ordinary Roblox tools. In essence, it depends on your application and preference.

[Sentross]

Ah, thanks. Also quick follow up question, is the most efficient way to make say guns really to animate a gun and character for each one? Is this just how its done?

[ScottyMcPiper]

Yeah, in most instances whether a tool is being used or not, the gun model is welded to the character, generally the hand, and the character is animated, you might have some moving parts on the gun but that can be done through a script.

[colbert2677 (ImagineerColbert)]

Using tools is absolutely preferential. In fact, you can still follow that tutorial while using Tool instances. Simply uncheck RequiresHandle, change the name to avoid backend behaviour and create the RightGrip yourself.

Custom tool frameworks are usually a bit of a pain but they feel rewarding in terms of your ability to make systems. Really though, I’ve seen non-Tool-instance-tools mostly being used to avoid backspacing tools… that’s it really, lol.

I had a thread up about this some time ago that you can look at:

Tool Instances vs Pseudo Tools: Aiming to find a reasonable preference

I am currently refactoring an old game of mine from ground up and a design question regarding tools popped up in my mind. I understand that this is purely preferential, but there may also be some merit in one system over another which is why I’ve taken to the DevForums to inquire. The game I am working on is an RPG, which means that a lot of its activities are heavily dependent on the tool system first before anything else. That means that crafting the tool system is of utmost importance in ord…

[Sentross]

Thanks! I am not worried about following the tutorial with out tools, im aware how too. But I was just thinking about performance.

[colbert2677 (ImagineerColbert)]

Performance? A custom tool system would definitely be more performant then. You have less processes running around the clock, less instances and higher control.