We’re constantly working to make ROBLOX Studio the most feature-rich yet user-friendly game-development environment possible. This week, we’ve launched Module Scripts, which essentially allow you to create and save libraries of code, and share them between scripts. The benefits are myriad: your code can be broken into smaller pieces and shared (rather than replicated), your code is better organized, and you save time hunting and fixing bugs, to name a few. We’re hoping the use of Module Scripts becomes a common practice among our scripters — writing organized code is one of the best ways to get a game off the ground and keep it running smoothly.

Be more organized than ever

The chief benefit of Module Scripts is efficiency. If you’re a game developer, you might find yourself replicating functions that apply to multiple parts of your game. If there’s a bug in that code, you end up spreading it, which can turn into a major problem quickly. Module Scripts are similar to the current “BindableFunctions”, though they’re easier and more efficient to use.

Let’s say your game has three types of NPCs (non-player characters), but they all behave the same. A Module Script would allow you to apply a single piece of code to all three types of NPCs. There’s no replication.

Here’s a sample Module Script:

-- Workspace.ModuleScript (a ModuleScript) local MyModule = {} function MyModule.WalkToPlayer() print("Walking to player") -- ... end function MyModule.AttackPlayer() print("Attacking player!") -- ... end return MyModule

Now, here’s an example of a script utilizing the Module Script:

-- Workspace.PetScript (a Script) local fluffinessRating = 34 local helperModule = require(Workspace.ModuleScript) helperModule.WalkToPlayer()

And another example of a script utilizing the Module Script:

-- Workspace.OgreScript (a Script) local smashAndBash = true local helperModule = require(Workspace.ModuleScript) helperModule.WalkToPlayer() helperModule.AttackPlayer()

Here are some general rules about Module Scripts:

ModuleScripts do not execute on their own, unlike other kinds of scripts

ModuleScripts source can be executed by using the new global function “require()”

“Require()” takes one argument — a reference to a ModuleScript Instance

ModuleScripts are like large functions — each ModuleScript should have a return statement as a Lua value returning from the call to Require()

ModuleScripts can be require()ed regardless of where it is in the instance tree. They can also be require()ed even if they’ve never been in the DataModel

ModuleScripts will run at most one time — if two scripts require() the same ModuleScript Instance, that script will run once, and produce the same exact return value to both require()ers

ModuleScripts are allowed to yield, and when they do, any script currently require()ing will yield as well

We hope this features makes developing games a faster and easier experience. Keep an eye on the blog in the coming weeks — there are more exciting ROBLOX Studio features coming soon. To discuss this new feature with other developers, the Scripting Helpers forum is a good place to start.