We’ve heard from many of you this week that your schools and STEM programs are participating in the global Hour of Code event, which is intended to introduce people of all ages to valuable computer science concepts and runs through this Sunday, December 14th. Even so, thousands of aspiring ROBLOX game developers participated in ROBLOX’s own Hour of Code event by following along with our series of four tutorial videos that teach everything from the very basics of Lua scripting to writing while loops and if/then statements to make a fireball-launching cannon. Now that all the videos in the series are available on our YouTube channel, we’re publishing them here as well to make sure nobody misses this great learning opportunity.

All of the lessons in our Hour of Code series are directed by Laker “UristMcSparks” Sparks, one of our engineers who works on the development of ROBLOX Studio. They walk you through creating a few elements of a fast-paced platform game, and give you a foundation of knowledge that you can then use to create your own obstacles and gameplay.

Part 1: Lua Scripting Introduction

Learn the very basics of Lua scripting, including syntax, variables, and functions.

Part 2: Code a Moving Platform

Take your basic understanding of Lua scripting and use it to create a moving platform that functions using a while loop.

Part 3: Code a Character Speed Boost

Using a Lua script, create a part that, when touched by a player, increases the character walk speed to a number of your choice.

Part 4: Code a Fireball Cannon

Putting everything you’ve learned together, create a cannon that shoots fireballs that, upon contact with a player, explode and cause damage!

We hope you find these lessons useful in your pursuit of ROBLOX game development — or any other interest in the computer science field. If you have questions, we recommend you ask them in the YouTube comments for the appropriate video — there are many people from the community who are able and willing to help you troubleshoot your scripts!