A Primer for the New ROBLOX Game Developer

By -

ROBLOX Player in ThoughtA couple weeks ago, I expounded on the similarities between ROBLOX users and independent game developers. I hope, if nothing else, it empowered some readers. In the article, I cited Base Wars: The Land, Apocalypse Rising and Natural Disaster Survival as examples of indie development happening in ROBLOX. Of course, those games fall into the upper echelon of popularity and quality, and represent a standard that few ROBLOX games reach.

It might seem like a lofty goal to create the next Base Wars: The Land or Apocalypse Rising, but you can get there. It probably just won’t happen on your first try.

Get comfortable

Just as Microsoft Excel becomes second nature to those driven by data and graphic designers can navigate Photoshop with their eyes closed, ROBLOX developers should be able to carry out basic building tasks without having to stop and think about the process.

You can start by customizing a layout that suits your building style by dragging and dropping interface elements. Learn keyboard shortcuts that let you carry out tasks with simple key combinations. Build some basic structures to get accustomed to manipulating objects in a 3D space.

ROBLOX Studio Interface
This layout has some plugins added, the Explorer panel to the left, and Basic Objects to the right.

Write your first script

We’re often asked, “how do I learn to script in ROBLOX?” Unfortunately, there’s no simple, whiz-bang solution to this question; it takes time, effort and patience to learn to write in another language. Your best bet is to start by replicating existing scripts because you know what they’re supposed to do and under what conditions. You can easily evaluate whether yours works.

Here’s one you can try on your own. It should cause your character to be killed upon touching the part to which it’s attached.

local brick = script.Parent
brick.Touched:connect(function (object)
   if object.Parent:FindFirstChild('Humanoid') then
      object.Parent.Humanoid:TakeDamage(100)
   end
end)

This script detects a touch between the brick and any part and checks whether the part belongs to a character. If it does, 100 damage is dealt to the character.

You can download this starter level and attach the script to any of the few parts. We recommend you select the red platforms, then click Insert > Object > Script. The new script will appear in the Explorer panel; double-click it to edit. Type in the script and these red parts then become “lava” platforms that you should avoid.

What can you do next? Start playing with it. Alter some variables. Try some other beginner scripts (we’ll get to that shortly). Don’t worry about how pretty or efficient the code is right now; just write it yourself.

Start simple

If you’ve made it this far, there’s a good chance you want to make successful games on ROBLOX. That’s good. Your mind is in the right place. Just don’t let your ambition to create the most epic, large-scale, best-looking game set you up for a bout of frustration. Instead, approach your first game – or first version of a brand-new game – with a manageable scope.

For example, you may really want to create the ROBLOX rendition of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It’s an honorable thought, but very difficult to execute without a team of experts and previous experience creating large-scale ROBLOX games. Rather than dive headfirst into creating a sprawling map with fire-breathing dragons, try to replicate a small segment of the game, such as a dungeon with a simple goal (like finding some gold).

Or, come up with your own basic game. For example, you could use the level available above as the foundation of an obstacle course — a good way to start thinking about level design and incorporating a variety of scripts.

Harness your resources

ROBLOX WikiNot too long ago, game development was inaccessible. Today, with the availability of platforms like ROBLOX, everyone can develop games. With that being the case, there’s a tremendous wealth of resources available to you; in fact, many of them are created by and for the ROBLOX community.

Keep practicing

I’ve been writing for years and still treat many of my new projects as opportunities to write better. You may never reach a point where you can stop and confidently proclaim yourself a Master of All Things Game Development, but you can view each and every new game as a means to that end, an opportunity to practice and ultimately improve your skills.

“Keep practicing,” for our purposes, translates to “don’t give up.” Your first works of game development will probably be, for lack of a more accurate and less harsh word, bad. On the bright side, there’s nowhere to go from there but up.

PongI asked several ROBLOX developers about their early game-creation experiences.

Ben Tkacheff’s first game was a single-player blackjack clone. He said it wasn’t a great game, but it had a graphic user interface and let you play against the computer – minus some of the rules and betting. Ben said he took away lessons about GUI programming and the importance of informing the player of what’s going on in the game world.

Some of Kip Turner’s firsts were a clone of Hunt the Wumpus and an original game called Velocisaurus. The latter taught him “a lot about how simple but unique game mechanics could make games interesting,” an idea he holds dear today.

Luke Weber’s first game was actually built using ROBLOX; he re-purposed fantasy assets from another level and inserted spawn points to create a team-based game that would become the most popular game at the time.

The takeaway here is you your first idea doesn’t have to break new ground; it should be an opportunity for you to practice and experiment with building and scripting. Along the way, you’ll pick up important “dos” and “don’ts” that will make your experience and results better every time.

Everyone plays ROBLOX. Strive to be the one who’s creating what they play.

193 thoughts on “A Primer for the New ROBLOX Game Developer”

  1. Well why not? Script a peice of cake, or oven producing cakes, and bam! It just shows how many possibilities are opened with scripting. (I just learned some med/advanced scripting myself!)

  3. I already know how to write C++ so I’m hoping that this wont be to much harder then that :)

    • It’s easy peasy, but to all, I suggest starting at 12-13.Thats when I started, befor that I wasnt able to grasp it very well and just gave up.

  4. Remove these stupid new generation building tools, I can only build masterpieces with the classic building movies.

  5. I tried going on the wiki and the “Scripts” page but I just don’t understand it. Is their another website that can be useful?

  7. hassan its computer scripting, its not going to be simple… he said that, and again, he said it is just like learning to right in a hole new language.
    if you want to learn scripting check out the wiki or find some info on youtube, or…. just use free models lol.

  8. scripting can’t be easyer because the computer need to know what the script need to do (i’m a good scripter)

  9. I started on Scripting a couple months I started playing ROBLOX. My first script failed and broke my game as I had NO CLUE WHATSOEVER what I was doing. I looked at a few existing scripts, asked a few of my friends for some and used Free Models for a while after that. Then I started Editing them and making them work faster with more efficiency and less processing power used (Ex. I made a game.Workspace.ModelName.ModelName2.ModelName3 into script.Parent.ModelName3). After that I got a Day/Night script from the blog and added it to my game then looked at it and saw how it worked. Since then I’ve gotten better at Editing and I’m going to try for a No-Kill Friends Only door eventually. (Obviously I’ll make the No-Kill part optional with a simple tweak to the script ;3). I went from FailNoob at scripting to Beginning Editor. Try following my path if you want to learn. I will warn you that I’ve only BEGUN to actually write working scripts myself tho.

  10. I’m trying to script, but it’s too
    difficult, I hope roblox makes it easier to script. By hussan1234

  11. When I was 11, I decided to try out Lua.I gave up after about the 5th tutorial on the wiki. Two years later, I got my hands on a 570 page monstrosity of a book on C#. Read 120 pages, made a calculator, and then went back to Lua, and it was insanely easy. There are things like that all over the web too.

  13. This really is true. As a good builder and a learning scripter, all these points hit home. Do what this article tells you, and you’re on the road to success.

  15. I can’t script I just build..it will be helpful if someone can teach me how to script.

    • Go to the ROBLOX wiki and type “Scripting” or “Script” in the wiki search. And there you go! Simple scripts and LUA.

  16. so for the script when it says you can type in your script thats the only part i dont now of what do i write …..can i type in anything like peanuts.. or how do u make what what does it mean :( pm me the answer im JAKETORREZ4

  17. Cool i love these games hopefully on my backup acc ill get a BC and stop being so lazy

  18. i can see it for xbox 360 i pad and maybe ps3 and psvita or a wii u (new portable wii tht comes out in late fall or 2013

  19. I dont see how ROBLOX couldnt make a 360 version of the game… but you download it free but have added XBOX only extras…

  21. It would be very difficult to make roblox on the Xbox, PSP or Ds, because of how different peoplenake different games and such… they would haave to make it so the device/consle can handle it.

    • I reccomend that before you start melting your brains with c++ you start with c# maybe, or JavaScript. People have made really cool web games with JS btw.

  25. maybe you can create underground starting things, like the happy home in robloxia and other stuf you can chose to use as starting things

  29. I can’t create scripts I can only configure them to how I like :/ plus I can’t be bothered to figure out how to xD

  30. im learning to script, and im getting there i like edit exissting scripts to learn and make them work on script builders aswell, for example i took ipitythefoo’s antiban and anti kill and made it work without the parts or anything, so it could be used in a script builder or in games that dont have a script builder but didit have a certian anti exploit script

    • The CAPTCHA is to stop spam bots and idiots from posting on here… without it, the comments would be filled with chaos

  36. I think that Roblox should make a simpler version on how to script, like what to do when something comes up, when to do it, and how to do it.

    • It’s actually more simpler than, say, C++ or Java. I learned how to use Lua on ROBLOX when I was 12, so there’s really no reason for you find it challenging. Just keep trying, note the connections between similar functions and drill it into your mind. You’ll be ‘scripting’ in no time.

  38. Some people just have a gift for scripting. After 2 weeks I could do things the most advanced players already could. Now I can even connect players from even another country to a “Start Server”-server on my pc, if it wasn’t protected -.-

  39. Dear,Roblox I wated to ask you that are you trying to push toward Mojang’s type of games(such as Minecraft),or are you thinking of things that turn out to be like it? Also,is roblox going to turn out to be more and more realistic? Ive noticed people dont like that and want roblox to be its own thing.

    Sincerly,
    NDboy

    • roblox is its own thing its the first of it kind befor blockand and minecraft so acose thy want better stuff the ben around to long not to be advanced ike other that ben around less andheknw moreeal the game more ideas poee will comeup with and make

    • Let me correct that for you :L
      Dear ROBLOX,
      I wanted to ask you if you are trying to improve ROBLOX to Mojang’s type of games (Such as MineCraft), or do you think up ideas similar to Mojang’s? Also, will ROBLOX turn out to be even more realistic? I’ve noticed that people don’t like similarity to other games and want an independent website not similar to others.

      Yours Sincerely,
      gamestation403

      Now that is how you type a letter :3

  40. Guys it’s not that hard. You just have to practice by making things in the game you like :]. I practiced by making an obstacle course Completely out of my own products. Use NO free models.

    • I also made a racing game using my own products, and I think it must be incredible, because a lot of people who play it say it’s all free models.

    • There’s no shame in using free models. Give credit when it is due, and learn from what you are using.

      • Im poplop185 on roblox,and i have a game zombie shelter with a TM sign,i get how you feel supersamio,people just guess its free models because my game is so good,they also think its free models when i dont make some things like GUIs or others things models

  41. I’m learning to script… I was able to combine two scripts and script a little bit of my own to recreate something that was in 2007-2010 ROBLOX that is no longer here…

    -ekogame1720

      • My brother (ZDude2461) made a sword that creates a shadow you control, and when it dies, you turn back into your character. If your character dies while you are a shadow, the shadow dies as well.

      • Actually, as long as the game console supports both Direct3D and OpenGL, which most modern game consoles do, ROBLOX will work, with the exception of screens running resolutions below 640×480. For example, the Nintendo 3DS, the Sony PSP, and other portable game consoles.

      • Minecraft-Xbox 360 is much more “user friendly” than ROBLOX to build… its like personal servers with more advanced bricks, dont make roblox like that, focus on helping others make scripts like publishing a set of basic scripts that include lava, walk-throughable bricks, click door, V.I.P door, etcetera… so we can trust them

  44. TheRoblox studio 2 is Exactly like Robloxstudio on macbook…What i don’t like about it is that you can’t select multiple bricksusing explorer

  46. I can’t script at all. I’m tryig to replicate the game Devil May Cry, but I have no Idea what to do. Most of the game will consist more of building and having players create their own demon hunting story, but there are things that could make it better like Ebony and Ivory (guns from DMC) that’s scripted to not do damage. Is there a simple script like the lava brick one posted in the article I could use to make sure the guns dont do damage?

    • Ok here is what you do. Make sure the explorer window is open. Select your tool (in this case its the gun) In explorer you will see the tool highlighted. Expand the tool then delete all the scripts. This should work on all tools.

    • What i do is simple, to make a detaild gun (but in this case it does not fire)i get a brick name it handle and go to its properties scroll to bottom make front surface weld and thats the front of gun build on from handle then make sure nothing else is in your map but the gun model, next go to free models and type minimap and then it makes a small model of gun, make sure that the inside of the minimap u delete the baseplate(if u had one)and make sure the “handle” brick doesint have somthing like “workspace-brick handle” or somthing like that and once your done copy all bricks from gun (make sure there not archord) and paste them in a tool and thats how to make the modle i dont know for sure how to make it non killing just try to find a scrip in a gun that has the damage and reduce it to 0.

  47. Wow. All theset tips you gave were all the tips I gave myself to keep myself motivated and to not quit on learning to script. Now, I’m at an intermediate level of scripting in just a month. :)

      • I could see it on a ds but putting it on Xbox would prove and Mojang coulds sue Roblox becuase of them copying there moves first MC for pc Roblox for pc then MC for Ipod/Ipad Roblox for ipod/ipad Crafting in Minecraft crafting in roblox MC for Xbox360 Roblox for Xbox360

      • err ROBLOX probably cant be handled on a DS. I can see it on xbox, ps3, and possibly the ipad and pspvita..