Use Module Scripts for Cleaner, More Efficient Scripting

January

15, 2014

by Lord Rugdumph


Archive

StudioWe’re constantly working to make ROBLOX Studio the most feature-rich yet user-friendly game-development environment possible. This week, we’ve launched Module Scripts, which essentially allow you to create and save libraries of code, and share them between scripts. The benefits are myriad: your code can be broken into smaller pieces and shared (rather than replicated), your code is better organized, and you save time hunting and fixing bugs, to name a few. We’re hoping the use of Module Scripts becomes a common practice among our scripters — writing organized code is one of the best ways to get a game off the ground and keep it running smoothly.

Be more organized than ever

The chief benefit of Module Scripts is efficiency. If you’re a game developer, you might find yourself replicating functions that apply to multiple parts of your game. If there’s a bug in that code, you end up spreading it, which can turn into a major problem quickly. Module Scripts are similar to the current “BindableFunctions”, though they’re easier and more efficient to use.

Let’s say your game has three types of NPCs (non-player characters), but they all behave the same. A Module Script would allow you to apply a single piece of code to all three types of NPCs. There’s no replication.

Here’s a sample Module Script:

-- Workspace.ModuleScript (a ModuleScript)
local MyModule = {}
function MyModule.WalkToPlayer()
      print("Walking to player")
-- ...
end
function MyModule.AttackPlayer()
      print("Attacking player!")
-- ...
end
return MyModule

Now, here’s an example of a script utilizing the Module Script:

-- Workspace.PetScript (a Script)
local fluffinessRating = 34
local helperModule = require(Workspace.ModuleScript)
helperModule.WalkToPlayer()

And another example of a script utilizing the Module Script:

-- Workspace.OgreScript (a Script)
local smashAndBash = true
local helperModule = require(Workspace.ModuleScript)
helperModule.WalkToPlayer()
helperModule.AttackPlayer()

Here are some general rules about Module Scripts:

  • ModuleScripts do not execute on their own, unlike other kinds of scripts
  • ModuleScripts source can be executed by using the new global function “require()”
  • “Require()” takes one argument — a reference to a ModuleScript Instance
  • ModuleScripts are like large functions — each ModuleScript should have a return statement as a Lua value returning from the call to Require()
  • ModuleScripts can be require()ed regardless of where it is in the instance tree. They can also be require()ed even if they’ve never been in the DataModel
  • ModuleScripts will run at most one time — if two scripts require() the same ModuleScript Instance, that script will run once, and produce the same exact return value to both require()ers
  • ModuleScripts are allowed to yield, and when they do, any script currently require()ing will yield as well

We hope this features makes developing games a faster and easier experience. Keep an eye on the blog in the coming weeks — there are more exciting ROBLOX Studio features coming soon. To discuss this new feature with other developers, the Scripting Helpers forum is a good place to start.

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