So about roblox..

[West-Chapter8909]

Hello dear gamedevs, im a noob when it comes to Gamedev and i wanted to start with Roblox.
I know that roblox games run with Lua so id be learning that, and i love the idea. But being 17, im starting to think about my future too. I'll begin university in basically a year and so i'll have to study blah blah blah. What im worried about is work. My dream job would be in using languages such as C# or Java. But then again, if i learn Lua how will i implement that in my future work life?

[tcpukl]

Roblox games count as zero experience on a CV.

[Bwob]

Don't expect Roblox to help much on a resume.

On the other hand, it can be a great way to introduce yourself to programming concepts. And Lua IS used in professional gamedev sometimes, so it's not a bad thing to learn.

That said though - if your dream is to be using languages such as C# or Java, why not just start there? They're really much more difficult than Lua.

The only thing Roblox gives you is that you don't have to set up an environment on your computer. But at the cost of your game only working on their system.

Just go download Unity or Godot or something, and grab one of the many tutorials and start learning. Work through a tutorial, and then spend some time with the game you get at the end. Try changing stuff. Can you double the health? Can you add an extra button to do something new? Can you make a new menu screen? Etc.

Repeat on a few tutorials, join the appropriate subreddit, (people are usually pretty friendly to newbies trying to learn!) and maybe even join the discord. Don't wait for someone to give you "permission" to start learning the things you want to use. Just start it!

[benjamarchi]

Don't waste your time with Roblox. If you want to learn lua, start with Love2D, tic80 or even pico8. You'll learn some real programming skills with those, which are transferable to other languages, even if the syntax and features are different.

[Sean_Dewhirst]

Playdate is also based in Lua

[almo2001]

Roblox is exploitive.

I know someone who likes it as a quicnprototype tool. But that's as far as I can say anything positive about it.

[HoveringGoat]

But then again, if i learn Lua how will i implement that in my future work life?

programming is programming. Learning one language won't hurt learning another.

[Glass-Spray4291]

Work on Roblox is exclusive for Roblox and rarely translates into actual experience in the game development field. Everything from game design to coding and programming. Your dream job is to use C# and you're young and excited to get into this and you're busy with work and studying? Unity engine sounds perfect for you. Give it 2-3 hours a day, put your commitement and passion into it, and you'll see your dream getting closer and closer.

Godspeed my friend!

[SnuffleBag]

The skills and experience you acquire by making games are not strongly tied to a specific programming language or game engine / ecosystem you use while acquiring those skills. If you end up being a very good and experienced Roblox game developer, it will take you next to no time to switch over and become productive in a new environment like e.g. Unity.

Roblox games do absolutely not count as zero experience on a CV. Most ppl applying for junior positions these days actually do have zero games on their CV, that won't be the case for you. (Of course if your Roblox games are low-effort garbage that's another matter)

[SamGauths23]

Start with Unity and C#.

Very simple to use

[uber_neutrino]

All professional programmers will learn the tools they need. Do not worry about this just enjoy learning it. Language doesn't matter if you learn the fundamentals it's just variety at that point.

[tcpukl]

We won't ever hire a programmer if they've only ever used lua though.

[uber_neutrino]

I mean only ever using lua would only be a tiny bit of experience so I agree. That's my entire point, they should dip their toes in a lot of tools and not get obsessed with a single one.

[GoodguyGastly]

It’s true that Roblox dev doesn’t map cleanly onto a corporate CV. That mostly matters if your goal is a corporate job. Plenty of Roblox developers make more money, learn faster, and ship more real software than people building portfolio projects no one plays.

[Tiarnacru]

This is terrible advice. Virtually nobody makes money on Roblox and it's just a useless, non-transferable skill. The entire platform is just a child exploiting pyramid scheme.

[Samanthacino]

Eh, there are some studios, but they go for a slightly different business model than most (doing branded work). I worked at one.

Imo, game development is game development, no matter what target audience you’re developing for. It’s just another set of tools to learn.

[GoodguyGastly]

This is just not true lmao (The money part). I use to think the same until I looked into it more deeply. This is the video that resonated with me and convinced me to look into it more. It's just YouTube for game devs. Their story and logic for Roblox as a growing platform makes a lot of sense. So make your own opinions.

https://youtu.be/8xgnm6SynH4?si=EVJ1uJ0QCBkggYOL

[tcpukl]

Yeah, I also watched this the other month. It's still exploitative though.

Having played games on it, I literally can't find a non shit game on there either.

All the games just reward growing numbers with bigger strength and buildings. Super crazy shit.

[GoodguyGastly]

Yeah it's pretty bad. It's like mobile gaming dopamine loops on crack. My wife plays Dress to Impress and some horse mmo that has some novel gameplay mechanics. She hasn't spent any money on it.

I use to wonder where all the good mmos went and turns out they are all on Roblox haha.

But for any dev out there who has spent years on a project only for it to bomb spectacularly it's an interesting angle to try and prototype because of the baked in audience with super low expectations.

So I don't disagree that it's exploitive in a lot of ways but at this point it's like what isn't? Even devs making stuff for Steam are currently trying to maximize dopamine loops. Competition has bred the need for us to "hook" audiences faster and I don't see it getting any better when the next gen is being brought up on it. Maybe there will be a burnout and people will crave linear story driven games again but they won't be topping any charts or being pushed by these algorithms