The Script Editor

[UnlimitedKeeping (Avenzey)]

I feel like, an external script editor should be added, or just make it easy and quick to integrate your game with, Visual Studio Code, and any other code editing software for that part.

[FableRBX]

Will the Luau tools you described be publicly accessible or open-sourced to be utilized outside of Studio? It would be amazing if devs who preferred using external editors - relying on tools such as lua linters and language servers - could also leverage this new technology as well.

[BULK_BROGAN]

@joritochip

Although implementing native support for external editors would be great, having everything you need to create a game in one place (Roblox Studio) is good for beginner and intermediate developers simply because it does not require you to download extra software and do extra work to get started.

This already exists. You can launch a game using the tools Roblox has inbuilt - its not as easy as using external tools, but its very possible. Roblox striving to match those tools is impossible, they’re created by much bigger companies (Namely Microsoft), with a much bigger staff, and many more users.

[BULK_BROGAN]

The tools Roblox have currently are very good for new users, and are good for hobbyists too. For people who are professionals on this platform (the group Roblox should really care most about), the tool support is very poor.

@MrLonely1221

You could just as easily go and create games with Unity or Unreal Engine if you want to get good usage as a power user.

There are so many benefits to developing on Roblox such as the in-built fan base, so much easier to get exposure etc. This point is really a non-starter

[Sublivion]

@evaera

I don’t want Roblox to provide better tools

Most developers like myself prefer the convenience and integration of the built-in editor over the long process of using external editors. While I understand this process can be made easier, there is still a lack of support for integration and maintaining systems for lots of external editors would be a lot more complicated than just 1 internal editor. You say that you would like more support for external tools as you are a “power user” yet you have not once made a suggestion topic detailing this support, so how can you be disappointed? Some updates just aren’t for everyone and you have to accept that. That doesn’t mean they are waste of resources. For example, I don’t use terrain grass but I still think it’s quite useful for many people. While your logic is true for some tools like modelling, it is vitally important that the built-in editor remains fit for purpose.

[zeuxcg]

Open source - unsure. Accessible - yes! We plan to release a tool that can be used as a full fledged luacheck replacement that will support linting and type checking. Unsure about full on LSP server though, this is unlikely to happen this year at least.

[sanjay2003 (Sanjay)]

I typically don’t reply to people but, this warranted a response.

@evaera

As a power user, I wish Roblox would focus its efforts more on embracing the world of software that already exists rather than making Roblox Brand Everything. I am a Systems Engineer working a the studio behind Adopt Me, and we use Rojo for building our game which allows us to use tools that are standard in the industry like VSCode and Git with GitHub.

This comes off as incredibly snarky. I don’t quite understand what makes you a “power user” above everyone else. Git, GitHub and a decent IDE (Visual Studio Code in your case) are all industry standards meaning that they’re widely used by people other than you. That’s why they’re popular and maintained.

The majority of users on this platform (even more as of the pandemic) do not need these robust tools to create a game. In fact, these tools are overkill for almost every purpose but, if you’re working on a large team with minimal communication, these tools can be useful for code review, etc.

@evaera

I wholeheartedly disagree with Roblox’s recent track record of trying to reinvent the wheel on every front. You don’t have the engineering capacity to do this, and this ends up making the experience for people who actually need these tools worse.

While Roblox heads in the wrong direction most of the time (they’re getting better over the years; credit where it’s due), Roblox is aiming for their software (Studio) to provide all of the tools needed to create a game without downloading what I’d consider being bloat in their eyes.

If Roblox’s toolchain was better, we’d be using their tools instead of opting for industry standards we don’t really need. Since they’re making the rare effort to improve, I don’t see any reason to complain or rant about it.

@evaera

Here’s the thing though: I don’t want Roblox to provide better tools. Roblox is a company with finite resources. You simply cannot compete with the existing tools that hundreds of thousands of developers use every day.

The irony in this statement is that every single company on this planet regardless of social status or otherwise “elite” is not infinite. Money is paper. Money runs out. Another irony is that most of the tools you see today are products of making a concept better. All of those companies competed with mainstream tools to produce their own. Part of being a software developer is to find better (more efficient) solutions to problems that already exist. To discount this concept entirely seems almost criminal.

Roblox has to improve somehow as do all things. To completely reject new features is nothing short but, shooting yourself (at the cost of your reputation) in the foot. The Script Editor is dire for an overhaul and this is long overdue.

@evaera

I wholeheartedly disagree with Roblox’s recent track record of trying to reinvent the wheel on every front. You don’t have the engineering capacity to do this, and this ends up making the experience for people who actually need these tools worse.

This is entirely true but, you’re off by a couple of years or so. Roblox has made the effort to develop certain tools in a manner that allows developers to provide feedback before being pushed past beta. “Worse” is a relative term. Worse for you can mean better for other users or vice-versa. Certainly, there could be a better approach but, this is far better than we used to get and personally, I don’t mind.

@evaera

There’s a lot you can do right now to allow supporting these external tools that you aren’t doing. Unfortunately, the plugin API just simply does not exist to make the bridges to these third party tools happen.

This is entirely true. Plugin API lacks. No disagreement here.

@evaera

Roblox Studio works best when it’s the final tool on the toolbelt that pulls all of the game’s resources together. When you try to make Roblox Studio the ONLY tool on the toolbelt, the experience for power users is severely crippled. Please reconsider your course of action.

If you’re using Rojo, Git, and GitHub, one would assume that this pertains to you. For most people, development is only on the application of which Roblox provides. Most people aren’t creating the next most popular, record-breaking game but instead learning about the aspects of game development or implementing a concept they learned from school (the web).

Roblox is a company aiming to create a platform that unifies all these tools together. In their eyes, creating their own toolchain (without the use of external applications) allows them to diversify across the competition which in my eyes, makes sense.

Diversification =/= conformity

Also, a quick side note. Working at Adopt Me as a System Engineer does not make you a “power user” and if you want other developers to take your post seriously, you should drop that term and its entirety.

[Hacreey]

Seems like i’ve been running into new issues with auto-indent and else statments:

The else is automatically unindented twice and the insertion point moves down (which is correct) but indents once (which is wrong).

[cheapsk9]

I think what “code folding” means is when you click the arrows on the left side of the script editor, it will expand/hide the corresponding multi-line code blocks, which I do use sometimes.

I wrote out an example in studio:

[Sayfside (Peter)]

ohh ok thank you legit I was confused

[buildthomas]

@sanjay2003

Also, a quick side note. Working at Adopt Me as a System Engineer does not make you a “power user” and if you want other developers to take your post seriously, you should drop that term and its entirety.

I disagree, it gives important context to the post to mention it. Roblox wants to promote large development teams like the one Adopt Me is growing (Roblox CEO even said at an RDC that they predicted to have a 100 person team creating games on Roblox in some years from now), and as clear by evaera’s post, software engineers in this team prefer using Rojo for managing their code base over keeping things contained within Studio. That’s why it is relevant to mention it because it clearly indicates the tooling is lacking for these larger teams.

[sanjay2003 (Sanjay)]

@sanjay2003

Also, a quick side note. Working at Adopt Me as a System Engineer does not make you a “power user” and if you want other developers to take your post seriously, you should drop that term and its entirety.

The point of this statement is not to neglect the fact that large teams aren’t suffering. It’s universally known that they do. No matter which way it’s seen, the way it’s used (intentional or not) is unethical as it disregards the majority of users for one singular team or individual claiming to be “above” or furthermore apart of a group of elitists.

In Roblox’s past, members with more recognition than others (those with popular games) have received more privileges than most people (multiple past events prove as such) and while I do understand and respect the fact that developers are the ones that bring Roblox revenue, the majority of users on this platform are not top developers. They’re people (more-so children) trying to discover some sort of passion not software engineers for a top game.

@buildthomas

Roblox wants to promote large development teams like the one Adopt Me is growing (Roblox CEO even said at an RDC that they predicted to have a 100 person team creating games on Roblox in some years from now), and as clear by evaera’s post, software engineers in this team prefer using Rojo for managing their code base over keeping things contained within Studio.

Companies promise things all the time. However, they often leave out the steps or time it takes to reach that point where what they promise becomes a reality. While support for large groups is fantastic, changes like these are the ones that will pave the way for this dream to happen. You have to learn how to walk before you run head straight into the abyss.

A community, platform, etc cannot and will not move forward if they don’t address the basic needs of most users.

Something to think about.

[Dekkonot]

What you want doesn’t coincide with what the majority of developers want. The vast majority of developers do not in fact use Rojo for various reasons (whether it be because they don’t know about it, don’t want to, or can’t). Asking Roblox to focus on supporting external tooling just because the largest game on the platform uses it is the definition of selfishness, and I implore you to rethink that mindset.

It’s important to note that part of what makes Roblox a viable platform is its ability to turn players into developers. Third party developers are often unprepared for the community, so it falls to people who already use the platform to develop for it. You’re asking for Roblox to raise the bar for new developers, intentionally or not. The current script editor that the vast majority of people use is inadequate. It will be inadequate forever unless Roblox improves it. You should be celebrating them catering to the majority of people, not throwing around titles and buzzwords in the hope of swaying Roblox to boost your own team.

I agree that it is frustrating how little attention Roblox puts on power users, and I wish the plugin API was more powerful. Neither of those things should come at the cost of the core functionality of Studio though.

[buildthomas]

@sanjay2003

No matter which way it’s seen, the way it’s used (intentional or not) is unethical as it disregards the majority of users for one singular team or individual claiming to be “above” or furthermore apart of a group of elitists.

I don’t think anyone implied this – the post is just a statement from the viewpoint of larger teams. It doesn’t mean they think their team is above the rest in any way or that individual developers should be placed underneath teams when prioritizing features, they are just describing how they feel about this feature as someone working in such a situation. Feels to me like drawing the post in a direction that was not at all intended by the author.

[sanjay2003 (Sanjay)]

@buildthomas

It doesn’t mean they think their team is above the rest in any way or that individual developers should be placed underneath teams when prioritizing features, they are just describing how they feel about this feature as someone working in such a situation.

If you’re claiming to be a “power user” and asking Roblox to rethink a pathway that helps the majority of users who aren’t in large teams, this is seen as selfish and translates to an elitist mindset. There are different ways to go about describing how you feel and by all means, this is the place to do it but, to do it in a selfish manner to where only your group applies (or a small number of groups) and not the majority of users is and should be morally wrong.

Core functionality should always be more of a priority than features that provide for a select few.

[Sublivion]

I completely agree, and here is not the place for her to rant about the lack of third party support. She should make a feature request instead.

[ConnectedGamer5]

Excited for these changes!

Hope this gets fixed

[Wizertex]

I’m happy for those improvements, but since then, when I script functions, it doesn’t add end / end) at the end and it annoys me.

[alphawolvess]

This may be related to my compile time error where the game kept stating I required a ‘)’ after my end in an if statement. The proper location would be the end After, which did actually contain a ‘)’ for closure.

I fixed the issue after closing the script>saving the place>closing the place>then reopen and publish place. With no changes to code, it began working again.

[yohooyohoo]

Hey Hacreey, thanks for reporting issue!

This could be caused by auto-indent tries to indent “else” absolutely but indent cursor relatively. We are going to indent all of them absolutely - which means auto-indent will only be affected by block level, user’s indentation doesn’t affect it.