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Basics of Roblox Studio

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Basics of Roblox Studio

Prerequisites Students should have completed Intro to Studio - Part 1
Lesson Time 10 minutes - 20 minutes
Optional Handouts Roblox Studio Cheat Sheet
Learning Objectives
  • Learn how to use the Explorer Window to identify in-game objects
  • Understand how to play-test their game

Using the Explorer Window

If you start building your obby above the grey baseplate, your player will just fall harmlessly onto the baseplate rather than dying when they miss their jump. That doesn’t exactly give your player the challenge you want them to have. To remove the baseplate, you’ll need to use the Explorer Window.

The Explorer window is typically to the right of your workspace and lists all the objects within your game. You can use the Explorer to select and work with parts in your game even if you can’t find them in the 3D view.

Deleting the Baseplate

To delete the baseplate:

  1. Click the arrow next to Workspace in the Explorer window.
  2. Select Baseplate.
  3. Press Delete on the keyboard.

By deleting the baseplate and starting with a blank space, students are able to better focus on core skills like manipulating the camera and blocks. Once they learn tools such as terrain creation, it’s difficult to get students to go back to the basics of blocks.

Creating a Player Start

The first thing to do when creating a game is determine where players start. The SpawnLocation is where a player appears in the world at the start of the game or after falling off a platform. Without a SpawnLocation, the player might appear somewhere randomly and fall to their doom.

Create a SpawnLocation

  1. In the Explorer window, hover over Workspace and click the circle + button.
  1. Scroll down the drop-down list until you find SpawnLocation and click on it.

The SpawnLocation will be created at the exact center of your camera view.

Creating the default spawnLocation first prevents students from getting lost in 3D space as they build and playtest in the next few lessons. The spawnLocation acts as a landmark for students as they learn to control the camera and place blocks.

Focus on the SpawnLocation

If parts are too far away from the camera, they can be difficult to work with. Use the camera controls and hotkeys to get a better view of parts you are working with.

To focus the camera on the SpawnLocation:

  1. Select SpawnLocation in the Explorer.
  2. Press F to focus the camera on the selected part.

Strongly encourage your students to use the F hotkey to focus on part. Students may get into the habit of always using the WASD keys to move to an part when they could easily press F.

Moving the Camera

Now that you have an object in your game, click in the 3D view and move the camera around to get a better view.

Camera Controls

Control Action
W A S D Move the camera
E Raise camera up
Q Lower camera down
Shift Move camera slower
Right Mouse Button (hold and drag mouse) Turn camera
Mouse Scroll Wheel Zoom camera in or out
F Focus on selected object

Camera Not Moving?

If the camera doesn't move, first click inside the game editor. For example, if you click on the Explorer window, you won't be able to use the WASD keys to move in the game editor.

Testing Your Game

Playtesting is the process of you or a peer playing a game to make sure everything works and figuring out how to make it even better. The bigger the game, the more likely it has gone through many, many hours of playtesting. Playtest your game whenever you make changes.

When you playtest:

  • Make sure your game works, particularly changes you just made.
  • Look for areas that can be improved.

Playtest Your Game

  1. Save your game. Remember to change the file name.
  2. Click the Play button.

In-game Camera Controls

Camera controls in the game are similar to when you are in the editor.
Control Action
W A S D  or the arrow keys Move your character around
Spacebar Jump
Right Mouse Button (hold and drag mouse) Look around

Stop Playtesting

To stop playtesting:

  1. Click the red-square.

Don't Make Changes in Test Mode

Any changes you make while in Play mode won’t be saved. You’ll have to do them all over again when you go back to editing.

These documents are licensed by Roblox Corporation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Roblox, Powering Imagination, and Robux are trademarks of Roblox Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries.