Defining a New Genre with ROBLOX “Build and Battle”

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Build and Battle LogoGame creation and game play are two cornerstones of the ROBLOX platform. While they’re usually exclusive activities in separate environments, the ROBLOX Content Team’s newest project, Build and Battle, blends the two to create a team-based game where victory demands strategy and a fierce, competitive spirit.

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How Build and Battle works

Build and Battle is a mash-up of our multiplayer first-person shooter, Base Wars FPS, Stamper-tool building and real-time strategy mechanics. Here’s how it works: Two teams of up to 15 players spawn on an expanse of procedurally generated terrain. Each team has an energy core, which you protect by building and fortifying a base using ROBLOX’s Stamper tool.

Thing is, you have to earn your base. There are gold deposits scattered around the terrain, marked on your handy mini-map. You compete with the other team to own the deposits – which, in turn, lets you build on the surrounding territory – mine as much gold as possible and use your resources to build and fortify your base.

Winning requires a team-wide balance of offense and defense; your friends will have to risk their lives on the frontlines gathering gold and assaulting the enemy base, while others work on constructing the base and defending the energy core.

First team to destroy the other’s core wins.

Build and Battle Screenshot - Turret

Depth of Gameplay

Build and Battle uses the FPS framework we built for ROBLOX Base Wars FPS, ensuring a fast and responsive shooting.

Since you build a base using the Stamper tool, you’re building using terrain. While standard terrain is enough to block enemies from entering, we wanted to give depth to the base-building process. You can not only build using materials of varying fortitude (and expense), but fire from specific weapons also degrades each block over time. Eventually, even a strong aluminum block will degrade to iron, then cinderblock, then stone, then dissipate entirely. There’s no surefire way to win the defensive game; you have to keep a constant eye on the health of your base.

We also let you use the Stamper tool to place and wire up defenses, including turrets, tesla coils and spikes, in and around your base. You can place gold mines and armories at your deposits, as well.

We’ll also be able to continue injecting new content – weapons, defenses and more – after the game officially releases.

Build and Battle Screenshot - MineTry Build and Battle Today

For now, we invite you to give our prototype version of Build and Battle a try. After you test it, head over to our Game Design forum to share your thoughts and converse with ROBLOX developers about your experience. We want to understand how you play the game — what works and what doesn’t — so we know how we can tweak and improve it.

While we’ve got work left to do, we’re progressing toward defining a genre of game you won’t find anywhere else. No other platform or game engine makes it quite as easy to place such a wide variety of terrain and models, and wire up so many contraptions, all while battling it out in a live, multiplayer FPS.

Video music: Covered In Oil (Broke For Free) / CC BY 3.0

132 thoughts on “Defining a New Genre with ROBLOX “Build and Battle””

  1. Person299 did this like 5 years ago. Get with the times, guys. Your never original and your games are usually boring. Let the users get this stuff done.

    • If registered as a 12 or below aged ROBLOXian, you must get a valid email address to validate your account, and and select the option to let you free chat.

  4. Tarabyte told me it’s going to be uncopylocked. Dont believe me? Ask her.

    Add me I’m ryan123777

  5. Very, very well built. Can’t wait until everything has been worked out. (Afterall, this is only the prototype)

  7. Me and some other guy does this place for me I was just going to edit on base wars build an and battle so from there so from there I just copied it to at&t base

  8. If I Had To Sum It Up In One Word It Would Be Epic -
    Trust Me, I Have Played It!

  10. This looks pretty cool. Ima have to try it out eventually. Right now ya mind fixing ROBLOX Studio? It stopped running with Build Mode a few days ago for me and I believe others may have encountered the same problem.

    • yeah happened to me to its probably a bug sue to them releasing roblox syudio 2.0 which isnt all that great yet as it shows you your profile from an earlier point in time

  11. This is like a hotdog smotherd with epic sauce!!!! so going to play this!!!

  13. I’m waiting for seeing your body and hand when you are in first person.I want roblox more like this.

  15. I wish you would make that “steel” wall part of the High Scalibility in the normal stamper tool.

  17. Looks great ROBLOX! I love how there is strategy involved. The idea of a couple of people building and mining is great! I am sure to post my thoughts of the game as soon as I try it out on the forums.

  19. This has guns, and this will take out so many kids cause it has GUNS! O:< Well, when the kids' parents see them.

  20. Looks great! Haven’t tried out the prototype yet, but after I play it, I will post my thoughts in Game Design. I love strategy games. Giving us Gold Deposits will also add a great twist to the gameplay! Great job, ROBLOX!

  25. i like this game,but terrain makes it badder.

    i miss the old baseplates :(

  26. ZOMG TEAM FORTRE– Nvm. Honestly, try being more original with the designs (I like the game mechanics, but the RED and BLUE design looks more like TF2)

    ~~Substitute541 from RBX, and MC.

  27. Good, something coming that actually looks like something I like. Compared to the ODing ROBLOXIAN 3.0 packages coming soon. God, the bodies are going to screw up ROBLOX.

  28. YES!! This game looks great! Cant wait to try it, and i hope they can make it even better in the future.

  29. Well yeah it’s “cool” but with the new ground texture and mining for gold and resources doesn’t anyone feel any relationship with minecraft to this new “roblox”.. I miss old roblox what happen to it DX!

    • Yes ROBLOX is trying to relate to minecraft because they are competitors, but they aren’t changing roblox to do it. They made one game similar to minecraft, not the entire website.