Easy Roblox Studio Tutorial: Movement Guide

Level Up Your Roblox Games: A Fun Roblox Studio Tutorial on Movement

Alright, so you're diving into the world of Roblox game development, huh? Awesome! One of the first things you'll want to nail down is, well, movement. Nobody wants a game where their character is glued to the spot. So, let's jump into a Roblox Studio tutorial on movement that's easy to follow and actually fun! We're gonna cover the basics and even touch on some slightly fancier stuff.

Getting Started: The Default Character

First things first, open up Roblox Studio. You should see a blank slate ready to be turned into your gaming masterpiece. If you don’t already have a baseplate, create one!

Now, when you hit that "Play" button (the one that looks like a play button, duh!), you'll notice your character pops into existence and… you can already move! That's because Roblox gives you a pre-built character controller. Pretty neat, right?

That default movement is controlled by Roblox's internal scripts. It's already functional, but let's be honest, it's pretty basic. We want more. We want to customize things. That's where scripting comes in.

Scripting Simple Movement: The Basics

Okay, so we're going to write our own script to control character movement. This might sound intimidating, but trust me, it's totally doable!

First, we need to create a script. Head over to the Explorer window (usually on the right side of your screen, if you can’t see it, go to View > Explorer in the top menu bar). Click that little plus sign next to "ServerScriptService" and add a "Script". Rename it something descriptive, like "MovementScript".

Inside the script, let's start with the basics. Here's the code:

local player = game.Players.LocalPlayer

if player then
    local character = player.Character or player.CharacterAdded:Wait()
    local humanoid = character:WaitForChild("Humanoid")

    local speed = 16 -- Adjust this value to change the character's speed

    game:GetService("UserInputService").InputBegan:Connect(function(input, gameProcessedEvent)
        if gameProcessedEvent then return end -- Prevents interference with things like chat

        if input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.W then
            humanoid:Move(Vector3.new(0, 0, -speed)) -- Forward
        elseif input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.S then
            humanoid:Move(Vector3.new(0, 0, speed)) -- Backward
        elseif input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.A then
            humanoid:Move(Vector3.new(-speed, 0, 0)) -- Left
        elseif input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.D then
            humanoid:Move(Vector3.new(speed, 0, 0)) -- Right
        end
    end)
end

Okay, let's break this down a bit:

  • local player = game.Players.LocalPlayer: This line gets the player who's currently playing the game. It's crucial because the script needs to know who it's controlling.
  • local character = player.Character or player.CharacterAdded:Wait(): This finds the player's character. If the character isn't immediately available (sometimes it takes a second to load), it waits until the character is added. This is important for preventing errors.
  • local humanoid = character:WaitForChild("Humanoid"): The Humanoid is a built-in Roblox object that handles things like walking, jumping, and health. We need it to control our character's movement.
  • local speed = 16: This sets the speed of our character. You can change this value to make the character faster or slower.
  • game:GetService("UserInputService").InputBegan:Connect(function(input, gameProcessedEvent): This is the magic. It listens for when the player presses a key. The gameProcessedEvent is important to ignore inputs that are already being used by the Roblox engine (like chat).
  • The if and elseif statements check which key was pressed (W, A, S, or D) and then tell the Humanoid to move in the corresponding direction. Vector3.new is used to create a 3D direction vector.

Try it out! Hit "Play" and see if your character moves when you press the W, A, S, and D keys. You might notice that the default Roblox movement is still happening at the same time! We'll get to fixing that.

Overriding Default Movement (Important!)

The problem we're facing is that Roblox's default character controller and our script are both trying to control movement at the same time. It’s a recipe for janky movement!

To disable the default movement, we need to insert a script into StarterPlayer > StarterCharacterScripts. Add a new LocalScript named "DisableDefaultMovement" or something similar. Add this code:

local StarterPlayer = game:GetService("StarterPlayer")
StarterPlayer.EnableMouseLockOption = false --Optional, but good for camera control

local function onCharacterAdded(character)
    local humanoid = character:FindFirstChild("Humanoid")
    if humanoid then
        humanoid.WalkSpeed = 0
        humanoid.JumpPower = 0
    end
end

game.Players.LocalPlayer.CharacterAdded:Connect(onCharacterAdded)

if game.Players.LocalPlayer.Character then
    onCharacterAdded(game.Players.LocalPlayer.Character)
end

This script basically sets the default walking speed and jump power to zero. Now, only our script is controlling movement. Much smoother, right? The EnableMouseLockOption = false line just allows the camera to rotate freely without needing to hold down the Shift key. A nice usability touch.

Adding More Features: Jumping

Movement isn't just about walking around. Let's add jumping!

Modify your "MovementScript" in ServerScriptService to include a jumping function.

local player = game.Players.LocalPlayer

if player then
    local character = player.Character or player.CharacterAdded:Wait()
    local humanoid = character:WaitForChild("Humanoid")

    local speed = 16 -- Adjust this value to change the character's speed
    local jumpHeight = 50 -- Adjust for jump height

    game:GetService("UserInputService").InputBegan:Connect(function(input, gameProcessedEvent)
        if gameProcessedEvent then return end -- Prevents interference with things like chat

        if input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.W then
            humanoid:Move(Vector3.new(0, 0, -speed)) -- Forward
        elseif input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.S then
            humanoid:Move(Vector3.new(0, 0, speed)) -- Backward
        elseif input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.A then
            humanoid:Move(Vector3.new(-speed, 0, 0)) -- Left
        elseif input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.D then
            humanoid:Move(Vector3.new(speed, 0, 0)) -- Right
        elseif input.KeyCode == Enum.KeyCode.Space and humanoid.FloorMaterial ~= Enum.Material.Air then -- Jumping
            humanoid.Jump = true
        end
    end)
end

We added:

  • local jumpHeight = 50: A variable to control jump height.
  • An elseif statement that checks if the player pressed the Spacebar (Enum.KeyCode.Space) and the player is on the ground (to prevent mid-air jumping). If both are true, it sets humanoid.Jump to true, causing the character to jump. The humanoid.FloorMaterial ~= Enum.Material.Air is a safety check to ensure the player is standing on something before jumping.

Now you can jump!

Moving Onward: Advanced Techniques

This Roblox Studio tutorial movement guide just scratches the surface. There are tons of more advanced techniques you can explore:

  • Camera Control: You can customize how the camera moves and follows the player.
  • Animations: Add animations for walking, jumping, and other actions to make the character feel more alive.
  • Different Movement Styles: Experiment with different movement styles, like first-person or third-person over-the-shoulder.
  • Stamina Systems: Limit how much the player can run or jump by introducing a stamina system.
  • Platform-Specific Movement: Fine-tune movement based on the platform the player is using (e.g., mobile vs. PC).

The sky's the limit! The key is to keep experimenting, keep learning, and most importantly, keep having fun. Game development is a journey, and mastering movement is a big step in the right direction. Good luck, and happy coding!