Experimental Mode
Experimental Mode
There are many legacy places and models that were created when “Experimental Mode” was available, but the setting has since been disabled. This article outlines some common design practices that will not work in the current Roblox architecture, along with ways to fix them.
Creating Parts
Sometimes a player action means new parts should be inserted into the game world. In Experimental Mode, a single LocalScript could create a new part, tell the server about it, and the server would update the other clients.
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local playerGui = player:WaitForChild("PlayerGui")
local screenGui = playerGui:WaitForChild("ScreenGui")
local spawnCarButton = screenGui:WaitForChild("SpawnCarButton")
local carTemplate = ReplicatedStorage:WaitForChild("Car")
local function onClick()
local car = carTemplate:Clone()
local character = player.Character
local humanoidRootPart = character:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if humanoidRootPart then
local spawnPosition = humanoidRootPart.CFrame + Vector3.new(0, 10, 0)
car:SetPrimaryPartCFrame(spawnPosition)
car.Parent = game.Workspace
end
end
spawnCarButton.MouseButton1Click:Connect(onClick)
Again, this code worked fine in Experimental Mode, but now it will only spawn the car for the player locally — no other player be able to see or interact with it!
A LocalScript should fire a RemoteEvent and a server Script should manage the actual spawning of the car.
-- LocalScript (client)
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local playerGui = player:WaitForChild(“PlayerGui”)
local screenGui = playerGui:WaitForChild(“ScreenGui”)
local spawnCarButton = screenGui:WaitForChild(“SpawnCarButton”)
local spawnCarEvent = ReplicatedStorage:WaitForChild(“SpawnCarEvent”)
local function onClick()
spawnCarEvent:FireServer()
end
spawnCarButton.MouseButton1Click:Connect(onClick)
-- Script (server)
local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local ServerStorage = game:GetService("ServerStorage")
local spawnCarEvent = ReplicatedStorage.SpawnCarEvent
local carTemplate = ServerStorage.Car
local function onSpawnCarFired(player)
local car = carTemplate:Clone()
local character = player.Character
local humanoidRootPart = character:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if humanoidRootPart then
local spawnPosition = humanoidRootPart.CFrame + Vector3.new(0, 10, 0)
car:SetPrimaryPartCFrame(spawnPosition)
car.Parent = game.Workspace
end
end
spawnCarEvent.OnServerEvent:Connect(onSpawnCarFired)
Moving Parts
Many player actions can cause parts to move. In most cases, such as a player’s character pushing or moving a part around, this automatically replicates to the server due to Articles/Network Ownership|network ownership. However, this doesn’t apply to anchored parts which are always owned by the server.
In the following example, buildings are moved around a grid map by clicking and dragging on them. In Experimental Mode, the player’s client could move a building and the server would automatically update to show all players the new placement.
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local RunService = game:GetService("RunService")
local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local mouse = player:GetMouse()
local map = game.Workspace:WaitForChild("Map")
local buildings = game.Workspace:WaitForChild("Buildings")
local currentBuilding = nil
mouse.TargetFilter = map
local function onRenderStep()
local cell = mouse.Target
if cell and cell:IsDescendantOf(map) then
local newPosition = cell.Position
local base = currentBuilding.PrimaryPart
local x, y, z, R00, R01, R02, R10, R11, R12, R20, R21, R22 = base.CFrame:components()
local newCFrame = CFrame.new(newPosition.X, newPosition.Y, newPosition.Z, R00, R01, R02, R10, R11, R12, R20, R21, R22)
currentBuilding:SetPrimaryPartCFrame(newCFrame)
end
end
local function onMouseDown()
local part = mouse.Target
if part and part:IsDescendantOf(buildings) then
currentBuilding = part.Parent
mouse.TargetFilter = buildings
RunService:BindToRenderStep("DragBuilding", Enum.RenderPriority.Input.Value, onRenderStep)
end
end
local function onMouseUp()
if currentBuilding then
RunService:UnbindFromRenderStep("DragBuilding")
mouse.TargetFilter = map
currentBuilding = nil
end
end
mouse.Button1Down:Connect(onMouseDown)
mouse.Button1Up:Connect(onMouseUp)
With Experimental Mode disabled, only the player who’s dragging the building will see it move.
This example must fire a RemoteEvent when the player is done dragging the building. When the event fires, the client tells the server which building was moved along with its new DataType/CFrame|CFrame.
-- LocalScript (client)
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local RunService = game:GetService("RunService")
local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local mouse = player:GetMouse()
local map = game.Workspace:WaitForChild(“Map”)
local buildings = game.Workspace:WaitForChild(“Buildings”)
local currentBuilding = nil
local moveBuildingEvent = ReplicatedStorage:WaitForChild(“MoveBuildingEvent”)
mouse.TargetFilter = map
local function onRenderStep()
local cell = mouse.Target
if cell and cell:IsDescendantOf(map) then
local newPosition = cell.Position
local base = currentBuilding.PrimaryPart
local x, y, z, R00, R01, R02, R10, R11, R12, R20, R21, R22 = base.CFrame:components()
local newCFrame = CFrame.new(newPosition.X, newPosition.Y, newPosition.Z, R00, R01, R02, R10, R11, R12, R20, R21, R22)
currentBuilding:SetPrimaryPartCFrame(newCFrame)
end
end
local function onMouseDown()
local part = mouse.Target
if part and part:IsDescendantOf(buildings) then
currentBuilding = part.Parent
mouse.TargetFilter = buildings
RunService:BindToRenderStep(“DragBuilding”, Enum.RenderPriority.Input.Value, onRenderStep)
end
end
local function onMouseUp()
if currentBuilding then
RunService:UnbindFromRenderStep(“DragBuilding”)
mouse.TargetFilter = map
moveBuildingEvent:FireServer(currentBuilding, currentBuilding.PrimaryPart.CFrame)
currentBuilding = nil
end
end
mouse.Button1Down:Connect(onMouseDown)
mouse.Button1Up:Connect(onMouseUp)
-- Script (server)
local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local moveBuildingEvent = Instance.new("RemoteEvent")
moveBuildingEvent.Name = "MoveBuildingEvent"
moveBuildingEvent.Parent = ReplicatedStorage
local function onMoveBuildingFired(player, building, newCFrame)
building:SetPrimaryPartCFrame(newCFrame)
end
moveBuildingEvent.OnServerEvent:Connect(onMoveBuildingFired)
Server Manipulating Player’s Interface
Sometimes the server needs to update a player’s interface, like showing a popup menu. In Experimental Mode, the server could access the contents of the player’s PlayerGui and make changes. Consider the following example which displays a message to any player joining the game:
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local function onPlayerAdded(player)
local playerGui = player:WaitForChild("PlayerGui")
local welcomeScreen = playerGui:WaitForChild("WelcomeScreen")
local welcomeMessage = welcomeScreen:WaitForChild("WelcomeMessage")
welcomeMessage.Visible = true
wait(5)
welcomeMessage.Visible = false
end
Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(onPlayerAdded)
Without Experimental Mode, the player’s GUI is not visible to the server. Also, changing what’s shown in a player interface should generally be managed by the client itself.
A RemoteEvent should be used. The client can then use a LocalScript to change the interface.
-- Script (server)
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local welcomeMessageEvent = Instance.new(“RemoteEvent”)
welcomeMessageEvent.Name = “WelcomeMessageEvent”
welcomeMessageEvent.Parent = ReplicatedStorage
local function onPlayerAdded(player)
welcomeMessageEvent:FireClient(player)
end
Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(onPlayerAdded)
-- LocalScript (client)
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ReplicatedStorage = game:GetService("ReplicatedStorage")
local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local playerGui = player:WaitForChild("PlayerGui")
local welcomeScreen = playerGui:WaitForChild("WelcomeScreen")
local welcomeMessage = welcomeScreen:WaitForChild("WelcomeMessage")
local welcomeMessageEvent = ReplicatedStorage:WaitForChild("WelcomeMessageEvent")
local function onWelcomeMessageFired()
welcomeMessage.Visible = true
wait(5)
welcomeMessage.Visible = false
end
welcomeMessageEvent.OnClientEvent:Connect(onWelcomeMessageFired)
Tools
Tool events fire on both the client and the server, so it’s important to remember the role of each when adapting an Experimental Mode game. Any LocalScript associated with a tool should be responsible for interface elements or local effects, along with player input. The server should be responsible for making changes to the game world, such as creating parts or changing game values.
The following example allows the tool user to create a sparkle effect on any other character that they click on. In Experimental Mode, this could be accomplished with just a LocalScript:
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local tool = script.Parent
local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local mouse = player:GetMouse()
local function onActivated()
local target = mouse.Target
local character = target.Parent
local humanoidRootPart = character:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if humanoidRootPart and not humanoidRootPart:FindFirstChild("Sparkles") then
local sparkles = Instance.new("Sparkles", humanoidRootPart)
end
end
tool.Activated:Connect(onActivated)
Without Experimental Mode, this effect will not be replicated to the server (or other clients) because it’s created locally.
This example should fire a RemoteEvent, telling the server to create the effect and which part it should create the effect on (the server has no idea where the player’s mouse is).
-- LocalScript (client)
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local tool = script.Parent
local player = Players.LocalPlayer
local mouse = player:GetMouse()
local createSparklesEvent = tool.CreateSparkles
local function onActivated()
local target = mouse.Target
local character = target.Parent
local humanoidRootPart = character:FindFirstChild(“HumanoidRootPart”)
if humanoidRootPart and not humanoidRootPart:FindFirstChild(“Sparkles”) then
createSparklesEvent:FireServer(humanoidRootPart)
end
end
tool.Activated:Connect(onActivated)
-- Script (server)
local tool = script.Parent
local createsSparklesEvent = tool.CreateSparkles
local function onCreateSparklesFired(player, humanoidRootPart)
if humanoidRootPart and humanoidRootPart.Name == "HumanoidRootPart" and not humanoidRootPart:FindFirstChild("Sparkles") then
Instance.new("Sparkles", humanoidRootPart)
end
end
createsSparklesEvent.OnServerEvent:Connect(onCreateSparklesFired)