I’ve dabbled in Rojo for a nightwhile, and it seems to have a long way to go in seamlessly integrating VSCode and ROBLOX. I’d love to see an official local-server example from ROBLOX.
Imagine VSCode having features such as Instance.new("Part"). This would be my biggest improvement, and I’d utilize it more often. Until then, regular ROBLOX Studio might be more applicable, especially if you’re not a professional game designer. Learning Rojo can be more of a hindrance than a help if you’re only starting, as VSCode lacks the built-in suggestions that the ROBLOX Script editor provides.
Rojo is an amazing idea for developers, offering:
- Access to GitHub for exporting and importing work
- Backing up hard work
- Benefits for open-source projects
An important rule of the 48 laws of power: “Have others do all the work, take all the credit”.
However, Roblox allows developers to do the hard work of creating “Experiences” (Games) and leverages it brilliantly… Many young children who play ROBLOX believe every “Experience” was created by ROBLOX themselves, so why would they allow us to export our code?
Rojo’s lack of access to the ROBLOX API makes it difficult to use, though it’s still a brilliant idea. Here are some pros and cons:
Pros:
- Integration with GitHub for version control
- Ability to back up and share work
- Useful for open-source projects
- Flexibility for professional developers
- Exporting and importing code from live servers or GitHub, freeing machine space
Cons:
- Lack of seamless integration with ROBLOX Studio
- No access to ROBLOX API (Lacks the built-in suggestions of the ROBLOX Script editor)
- Clunky and difficult to use (It’s easier to just use
Instance.new("Script") than to configure a server.server.luau or a client-script.client.luau. The different declarations and file management structure can be challenging.)
- More beneficial for experienced developers than beginners
In conclusion, while Rojo has its positives, it also has significant drawbacks. For beginners, regular ROBLOX Studio might still be the better option. However, with further development and better integration, Rojo could become an invaluable tool for all ROBLOX developers.
It’s something that seems invaluable to learn, but once you have learned it you realize you didn’t need it half as much as you may have thought. Unless you’re genuinely spending hours without saving your work, it’s probably best to skip it. One thing I do personally agree with is that it will save your life if you do intensive CPU-heavy or GPU-heavy tasks which cause ROBLOX to crash, or when dealing with pesky crashes when they happen.
That was my personal experience summarized, I enjoyed commenting on this post so thank you!