Using symlinks and junctions for studio content folder

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#1

I’m not exactly sure where this should go, so I’ll put it here.

I’m trying to streamline my decal creation process. To that end, I want to eliminate the step of having to copy the files from the content directory into the asset folder of Roblox Studio. I have 2 hard drives: an OS drive and a storage drive. Roblox installs itself onto the OS drive, and the asset directory is on the storage drive.

The goal is to create a link that allows me to use an rbxasset:// link to grab a file out of the asset directory, and have the file auto-update in studio when the file updates. ReloadAssets is set to true.

There are 3 types of links that mklink can create: symlinks, hard links, and junctions. Because the install and content directory are on different drives, hard links cannot be created.

Attempt 1: symlinks

Roblox Studio does not recognize symlinks and will not display content found in symlinks

Attempt 2: junctions

Roblox Studio recognizes junctions and will display decals found inside, but will not automatically update the file in the game when the file is updated

So that leaves me with the question: what can I do? I don’t need a maintenance-free solution (one that works with roblox updating), but I would like to cut out the hassle of copying files from the asset directory to the content folder while I’m working.

1 Like
#2

This is a problem I have experienced and there’s not an easy solution… You can try without a junction (a regular folder) and periodically sync the files (e.g. robocopy command every second in a batch script) or you can try hosting an http server using something like node js to request files (you can put localhost or 127.0.0.1 as a hostname for your assets and specify the port you’re hosting from) This is also an easyish option but the other method is quicker and possibly more reliable… It depends on how quickly you need assets to update.