I can’t really find good resources for Lua Learning. I’ve used AI, watched YouTube tutorials, Roblox Documentation, and even played some Roblox scripting games, but I can’t really find anything to aid or teach me to script in Lua. So, what do you guys recommend I do, or how have you learned to script with Lua for Roblox?
Thank you!
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I highly recommend that you watch BrawlDev’s tutorials. He was the one who explained things the best in my opinion. I always tried to learn and always gave up halfway, but with BrawlDev it feels like he taught so well that it actually made me want to keep learning.
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I haven’t personally watched him, but I heard GnomeCode on YouTube is really good. You should check him out.
Also, you can look at this DevForum tutorial, although it is EXTREMELY text heavy.
Additionally, you could check out this course on CodeCademy. You have to sign up, but I think it’s free.
Lastly, although it seems very stupid, you could learn Python. I started my programming journey with Python, and picking up Lua after becoming experienced in Python was extremely easy. As far as syntax goes, Python is just Lua but different. Biggest differences imo are
- Lua has tables. Python has lists, dicts, sets, and tuples
- Lua has metatables, Python has classes
- Python has slicing, Lua you do slicing manually with loops
- Python has pip libraries and importing, Luas library support is more manual and involved.
These days I use Lua when I’m programming for fun/game development and I use Python for work/actually getting stuff done. You can learn Python, which includes a lot of classes, methods, etc. that are similar to Lua, here: Python Tutorial
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I started scripting back when AI wasn’t really a thing.
And I don’t wanna sound like an “oldhead” here, but “You should do it the old way! No AI!”
AI can lead to bad practices, and give you a hard time learning crucial things like “problem solving” or thinking outside the box. Learning through “trial and error” is also easier without AI, because you remember your mistakes better, when they take time to solve on your own (through using forum posts/other people’s forum posts and Roblox’s API).
My best tips would be (that I’ve also given to my friends)
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AlvinBlox video series for beginners. He’s super well-known in the community and pretty fun to listen to, too.
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TheDevKing is also a classic YouTuber who has a great beginner series. However, he can be pretty childish.
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B Ricey Very well spoken, kind of niche YouTuber. In case you want SUPER clear explanations, and a good way to start. Then I’d highly recommend this guy.
Other than that. Learning from your mistakes is something that you’ll always benefit and grow rapidly from. Not only will you become a more independant scripter, with proper problem solving skills. But you’ll also learn the things YOU want to become good at, and that you want to script.
Naturally attempting things you’re interested in, and climbing over personal hurdles, will award you with great scripting abilities overall, and in the things you’re interested in.
IN CASE you decide to follow the independent route. Then do so while extensively reading through the tools you want to use (aka “I want to use learn Tweening!” - read the api for Roblox Tweening)
It’s often you’ll also encounter other beginner scripters that have had the exact same problem that you’ll encounter. So search your exact problem, and you’ll probably find a solution, and learn something new!
Hope this helps!
Speaking from 7+ years of experience, having coached my friends, AND from learning EVERYTHING on my own on the Roblox platform.
Don’t give up! Just think about the amazing games you can make if you just persevere!
Have a good one.
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I found a game on roblox is called Lua Learning is made by BoatBomber.
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Roblox has the most straightforward documentation EVER, I mean it. It’s easy to understand everything.
Start by learning Lua → Lua 5.4 Reference Manual
The, move to Luau, then to Roblox API (Roblox Documentation)
If you learn better from videos, AlvinBlox was and always will be, the superior to all other Roblox Studio channels out there.
Whoever recommends you TheDevKing, immediately refuse, he is a goof, you will spend most of your time watching him giggle at everything rather than learning
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What are you looking for in a learning resource? What did you dislike about the ones you’ve mentioned?
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A lot the resources I had found either were just 100% AI, difficult to understand, or did not really taught you alot of Roblox or Lua, it just showed you how to use their script in roblox (not really teaching you what it does)
I havent heard of BrawlDev, ill make sure to check his tutorials out, thanks!
Ive heard of Lua Learning, ill check it out, thanks!
Ah, I see. I always tended to stay away from Game Engine documentation due to its complexity, but I will most definitely start looking at Roblox’s documentation more often. Thanks!
Lets start with the basics first.
There’s a common misconception that even Roblox engineers cannot get over, and that is calling Luau, Lua. Roblox does not use Lua. It uses it’s own version of it, called Luau.
Luau is a subset of Lua 5.1, which means Luau is backwards compatible with Lua 5.1, but it is not Lua. It has its own set of features and limitations. To name a few, you can mention generalized iteration, and removal of certain libraries and functions to improve sandboxing.
To learn about Luau, you can visit the this page that explains certain fundamentals very well. You can also still look into Lua tutorials, as like I’ve mentioned, Luau is still very much backwards compatible with Lua 5.1. I would advise against looking into higher Lua versions however, as after Lua 5.3, the syntax and features start differing noticeably.
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