Introduction to Roblox Studio

This tutorial explains the basics of Roblox Studio by building, playtesting, and publishing a simple platformer experience. Follow each section and learn how to:

  • Create the foundation of your platformer using one of Studio's bundled templates.
  • Navigate around the 3D viewport to see the environment from every angle.
  • Create platforms for players to traverse using Studio's primary building blocks.
  • Playtest and troubleshoot your experience.
  • Make your experience available for everyone on Roblox to play.

Creating a New Experience

Roblox Studio, a free application available on Windows and macOS, is the essential building tool for Roblox experiences.

With Studio open, create a new place by pressing CtrlN on Windows or N on macOS. Alternatively, click the Baseplate template under the All Templates tab.

Baseplate template button in Roblox Studio

The Baseplate template consists of a spawn location where player characters appear in the world when they enter the experience, as well as a wide open baseplate floor.

New Baseplate template open in Studio, showing the default spawn location

Moving the Camera

With the new place open in Studio, click inside the 3D viewport and use the following keyboard/mouse controls to look around.

Key/ShortcutAction
W A S DMoves the camera forward, left, back, or right
Q EMoves the camera down or up
ShiftIn combination with any movement key, changes the camera speed
FFocuses the camera on a selected part
Right Mouse ButtonWhen pressed, dragging the mouse moves the camera view around
Mouse Scroll WheelZooms the camera in or out
Middle Mouse ButtonWhen pressed, dragging the mouse pans the camera

Building Your Experience

When you're comfortable navigating the viewport with the camera, you can begin building your experience by adding platforms of different shapes and colors for players to jump between.

Inserting Parts

A Part is Roblox's primary building block. You can move, resize, and rotate parts, as well as customize their appearance, such as their color and material. There are five different part types that you can insert through the Parts section of the Home or Model tabs:

Block
Sphere
Cylinder
Wedge
Corner Wedge
Block partSphere partCylinder partWedge partCorner Wedge part

To insert a part:

  1. In the menu bar, select the Model tab.

    Model tab indicated in Studio toolbar
  2. Under the Part button, click the dropdown arrow to reveal the part type picker and choose a part type.

    Part type picker indicated in Model tab
  3. Click the button to insert a part of the chosen type into the world.

    Insert part button indicated in Model tab First block part inserted into place

Selecting Parts

Inserted parts are automatically selected, and you can select parts at any time with the Select tool. Hovering over and clicking a part selects it, and you can select multiple parts by holding Shift, Ctrl, or as you hover over and click them.

Select tool indicated in Model tab

Moving Parts

The new part is the first "platform" that players will jump to from the spawn location, so you should move it further away. By default, parts move incrementally by studs, the basic measurement unit in Roblox.

  1. With the newly inserted part selected in the 3D viewport, toggle on the Move tool.

    Move tool indicated in Model tab
  2. Click and drag the arrow that's pointing in the direction you want to move the part. Remember that this is the first platform players will jump to, so you should move it just slightly away for an easy first jump.

    First block part moved away from spawn location
  3. If you want to adjust the default snapping increment, change the Move field value in the Snap to Grid section. Alternatively, you can disable move snapping by toggling off the checkbox next to Move.

    Transform snapping options indicated in Model tab

Scaling Parts

Similar to moving, parts scale along the X, Y, and Z axes. You can make a part larger or smaller by using the Scale tool.

  1. With the platform part still selected in the 3D viewport, toggle on the Scale tool.

    Scale tool indicated in Model tab
  2. Click and drag the handles to scale the part up in size, making the platform easier for players to land on from the first jump.

    First block part scaled up in size

Rotating Parts

Similar to moving and scaling, parts rotate around the X, Y, and Z axes. By default, parts rotate incrementally by degrees.

  1. With the platform part still selected in the 3D viewport, toggle on the Rotate tool.

    Rotate tool indicated in Model tab
  2. Click and drag a circle to rotate the part in that direction.

    First block rotated
  3. If you want to adjust the default rotation increment, change the Rotate field value in the Snap to Grid section. Alternatively, you can disable rotation snapping by toggling off the checkbox next to Rotate.

    Transform snapping options indicated in Model tab

Customizing Colors and Materials

The fastest way to recolor a part is through the hexagonal color picker accessible through the small dropdown arrow under the Color button. By default, picking a color applies it to all selected parts. Alternatively, you can apply a chosen color as a painting tool by toggling on Color Action as Tool and clicking specific parts in the 3D viewport.

Color button indicated in Model tab

You can also customize a part's material to simulate real-world materials such as wood, glass, or fabric. A part's material affects both its visual appearance and its physical traits; for example, the Concrete material is heavier than the Plastic material, so a concrete brick will have higher density than a plastic brick and sink faster in water.

To apply different materials to parts:

  1. Open the Material Manager.

    Material Manager button indicated in Model tab
  2. In the 3D viewport, select one or more parts.

  3. In the Material Manager palette, hover your mouse over the desired material (you don't need to select it) and click the Apply to Selected Parts button.

    Apply to Selected Parts button indicated in Material Manager First block recolored and with Slate material applied

Completing the Course

Using the skills and tools you've learned so far, build out the course with several more platforms of varying shapes, sizes, rotations, and colors/materials.

Initial course completed with multiple platforms of varying shapes, sizes, colors, and materials

Anchoring Parts

If you playtest the platformer now, you'll notice that gravity pulls each new part down to the baseplate.

Since platforms should remain fixed in space, you'll need to anchor each part that you insert into the world.

  1. In the 3D viewport, select each of the platform parts you've inserted into the world.

  2. Toggle on the Anchor option in the Parts section.

    Anchored toggle indicated in Model tab

Deleting the Baseplate

If you playtest your experience right now and miss a jump, your character will land safely on the baseplate. To provide a consequence when players miss a jump, you can delete the baseplate, forcing them to restart from the spawn location each time.

  1. Access the Explorer window. If it's not currently open, click Explorer from the View tab.

    Explorer toggle button in Studio
  2. Expand the top-level Workspace tree, locate the Baseplate object, and select it.

    Baseplate selected in Explorer hierarchy
  3. Press Delete. The course now floats in an empty sky.

    Baseplate deleted from platformer course

Playtesting the Course

Playtesting is a vital step before publishing any experience because you need to verify that players can reach the final platform. When you playtest your platformer, consider its difficulty and how that might affect the typical player's experience.

To playtest your experience, click the Play button (F5) in the menu bar.

Play button indicated in Quick Access Toolbar

While playtesting, you can use the same controls as a default Roblox experience:

ControlAction
W A S DRun forward, left, back, or right
SpacebarJump
Right Mouse ButtonWhen pressed, dragging the mouse moves the camera view around
Mouse Scroll WheelZooms the camera in or out

To stop playtesting, click the Stop button (ShiftF5) in the menu bar.

Stop button indicated in Quick Access Toolbar

Publishing an Experience

When you're ready to showcase your experience, you can publish it to allow other players on Roblox to test it. To publish your experience:

  1. In the menu bar, select FilePublish to Roblox.

  2. In the popup window that opens, fill in the following fields:

    • Name — A name for the new experience.
    • Description — A summary of what a player should expect from the experience.
  3. Leave the other fields as their defaults, then click the blue Create button near the bottom of the window.

  4. Navigate to the Creator Dashboard.

  5. Hover over the experience's tile, click the button, and select Make Public.

    Make Public option from Creator Dashboard
  6. Hover over the tile again, click the button, and select Copy URL.

    Copy URL option from Creator Dashboard
  7. Share the copied URL with others via social media or similar, as a direct link to your experience's landing page featuring a play button.