Developing a roblox custom changelog system script is one of those small touches that makes your game feel way more professional than the average hobby project. Let's be honest, the "Updated" date on the Roblox game page is pretty much useless for telling players what actually changed. It just tells them you touched the file. If you want your community to actually get excited about your new balance tweaks, bug fixes, or that shiny new map you spent three weeks building, you need a way to communicate that directly inside the game.
The beauty of building your own system is that you aren't stuck with a boring text box. You can match the aesthetic of your game, add scrolling features, and even include images or "New!" badges that disappear once the player has seen them. It's all about keeping your players informed without being annoying.
Why You Shouldn't Just Use a Plain Text Label
A lot of developers start out by just throwing a TextLabel into their HUD and calling it a day. While that works for a tiny update, it's not exactly scalable. As your game grows, your updates are going to get longer. You'll have categories like "Additions," "Fixes," and "Balancing." If you just cram all that into a single label, it becomes a wall of text that nobody is going to bother reading.
By using a proper roblox custom changelog system script, you can utilize things like ScrollingFrames and UIListLayouts. This lets you organize your updates into neat rows that players can flick through at their own pace. It also gives you the flexibility to store your update history. Instead of just showing the most recent patch, you could even have a "History" tab so returning players who haven't logged in for a month can catch up on everything they missed.
Setting Up the User Interface
Before you even touch a line of code, you've got to get your UI layout sorted. It doesn't have to be fancy, but it should be clean. I usually recommend starting with a ScreenGui in StarterGui, and inside that, a Frame that serves as your main window.
Within that main frame, the most important component is the ScrollingFrame. This is where all your update notes are going to live. You'll want to slap a UIListLayout inside that ScrollingFrame so that every time your script adds a new update entry, Roblox automatically stacks them neatly on top of each other. It saves you from having to manually calculate the Y-position of every single text box, which is a massive headache you don't need.
Don't forget the close button! It sounds obvious, but I've played plenty of games where the changelog pops up and there's no way to get rid of it. Make sure that button is easy to find. A nice "X" in the top right corner or a big "Awesome!" button at the bottom usually does the trick.
Designing the Logic for the Script
The logic behind a roblox custom changelog system script can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. At its core, you're looking at a data structure—usually a table—that holds your update information.
You could hardcode this table directly into a ModuleScript. This is probably the easiest way for most people. Every time you update the game, you just open that ModuleScript, add a new entry to the table with the version number, date, and a list of changes, and the main script takes it from there.
When a player joins, your client-side script reads that table and starts "cloning" a template entry for each update found. It fills in the version title, the date, and the list of changes, then parents it to that ScrollingFrame we talked about earlier. Because you're using a UIListLayout, everything just falls into place.
Using RemoteEvents for Dynamic Updates
If you're feeling a bit more advanced, you might want to use a RemoteEvent. Why? Because maybe you don't want the changelog to show up for everyone every time they spawn. You might only want it to pop up when there's actually something new that they haven't seen yet.
By using a RemoteEvent, the server can keep track of the current version of the game. When a player joins, the server can fire a message to the client saying, "Hey, here's the latest update data." The client then takes that data and builds the UI. This is also a great way to handle "Live" updates. If you update the game while people are playing, you could theoretically fire that event to all active players and show them the changelog in real-time.
Tracking "Seen" Versions with DataStores
One of the biggest complaints players have is seeing the same popup every time they join a game. To solve this, your roblox custom changelog system script needs to be a bit smarter. You can use a DataStore to save the version number that the player last viewed.
Here's how that looks in practice: When the player joins, the script checks their saved "LastSeenVersion" in the DataStore. If the current game version is higher than their saved version, the changelog pops up automatically. Once they click the "Close" button, the script updates their DataStore to the current version. If they join again and the version hasn't changed, the changelog stays hidden. This keeps the experience smooth and ensures you're only bothering them when you actually have something new to say.
Making It Look Good with TweenService
Nobody likes a UI that just "snaps" into existence. It feels cheap. To make your custom changelog feel high-end, you'll want to use TweenService. Instead of just toggling the Visible property, you can animate the frame sliding in from the side of the screen or fading in with some transparency.
It's a tiny detail, but it really makes a difference in the overall "vibe" of your game. A smooth 0.5-second fade-out when they close the window makes the whole process feel much more polished. You can also use tweens on the individual update entries as they load in, giving them a slight "pop" effect.
Handling Mobile and Different Screen Sizes
Don't forget that half your players are probably on phones or tablets. A changelog that looks great on a 27-inch monitor might be completely unreadable on an iPhone. When setting up your UI, make sure you're using Scale instead of Offset for your sizes and positions.
Use UIAspectRatioConstraints to make sure your buttons don't turn into weird, stretched-out rectangles on wider screens. Since you're using a ScrollingFrame, mobile users will find it very natural to flick through the notes with their thumb. Just make sure the text isn't too small; if they have to squint to read your patch notes, they're just going to close the menu.
Categorizing Your Updates
If you're doing a lot of frequent updates, your changelog is going to get messy fast. A good roblox custom changelog system script should handle different types of notes. You can use different colors for different categories. For example, you could use green for "New Features," red for "Bug Fixes," and orange for "Balance Changes."
You can set this up in your data table by adding a "Type" field to each entry. When the script builds the UI, it checks that "Type" and changes the color of the text or the background of that specific row. This makes it super easy for players to skim the list and find exactly what they care about. Most players don't care about "Fixed minor shadow glitch on tree #432," but they do care about "New Dragon Boss Added."
Wrapping It All Up
Building a roblox custom changelog system script isn't just about showing off your work; it's about building trust with your players. It shows them that the game is active, that you're listening to feedback, and that there's always something new to look forward to.
Whether you go for a simple hardcoded table or a complex DataStore-linked system with animations and categories, the effort is worth it. It's these kinds of features that separate the "test" games from the actual "experiences" on Roblox. So, get into Studio, start playing around with those ScrollingFrames, and give your players the update info they deserve! It's a fun weekend project that'll pay off every time you hit that publish button.