When you play a video game from a AAA developer or even a rather skilled indie developer, there are certain basic things you can find within those titles that you wouldn’t expect to find in the creator-driven worlds of Roblox. Part of the reason for that is the tools that both sides have in making their games. While the former have people with great experience and likely know how to do various tricks to make their games flow better and be more responsive, the latter has to use the tools that are available in the game itself, which means that certain “standard features” won’t be available in their game worlds at first.
However, as we’ve covered on this site, the Roblox team has been upgrading its tools so that creators can give more detailed experiences to players. In today’s example from their blog, the dev team has added a new beta for haptic feedback in controllers:
“We’re excited to give you new haptics capabilities via a Studio beta! Haptic effects refer to tactile feedback – such as a buzz or a rumble – used to enhance immersion in a game. During the Studio beta, you can opt into usage of the API via the Beta features tab. We are hoping to use this beta to gather developer feedback.”
While a “rumble feature” may seem basic, it’s something that can be used to help enhance a game experience while also making the games themselves feel like more “grand titles” than others in the universe. Plus, as the team also noted, there will be different versions of haptic feedback available for creators to use:
“We are introducing five out-of-the-box haptic effects for developers to add to their experiences. They will work across all haptic-supported input devices. The five effects we’ll introduce are: Explosion, Collision, UIClick, UIHover, and UINotification.”
The team is clearly putting plenty of effort into this particular addition so that creators can make the most of their options and enhance what gamers feel as they play their games. A simple rumble can add tension, elation, fun, or even dread as they play, depending on how well it’s used:
“We plan to have a client beta soon to allow you to publish experiences. Once we release haptics to client, they will be available on haptic-enabled input devices across mobile phones, Gamepads, and VR controllers.”
So, if you’re someone who would love to put this in their creator titles, have at it! See just how far you can use this feature to make your game shine.
