1

🎨

Give Each Map a Theme

Colours, sky, material and obstacle mix, one table per theme

Active

🎯

Goal for this step

Three themes, each with its own look and its own favourite obstacles.

We store each theme as a table. A table is a labelled box of values. Here is the shape, with one theme filled in:

Config (ModuleScript)

Config.THEMES = {
    {
        name = "SECTOR::GRID",
        material = Enum.Material.SmoothPlastic,
        palette = { Color3.fromRGB(34,196,236), Color3.fromRGB(153,104,255) },
        weights = { gap = 3, movers = 3, spinner = 2, hazard = 2 },
    },
    -- CRYO (slippery ice) and FORGE (lava rock) look completely different
}
return Config

💡

weights are the odds. A weight of 3 means that obstacle shows up three times as often as one with weight 1. That is how one theme can feel full of spinning bars and another full of moving platforms.

📝

Fill in the Concept

+15 XP

Each entry in Config.THEMES holds a of colours and a table that decides how often each obstacle appears.

🧠

Knowledge Check

+15 XP

What does the weights table control?

AHow heavy the platforms are, so they fall faster

BHow bright the sky is

CHow often each obstacle is chosen

2

🛤️

A Path of Nodes

Generate a list of positions, then connect them with platforms

Locked

🎯

Goal for this step

Turn a random list of positions into a walkable course.

1Make a Random object so we can pick random numbers, and a list called nodes.
2Loop, and each time push the cursor forward a little and sideways a random amount.
3For each node, create a Part platform with Instance.new.

MapGen (ModuleScript)

local mapgen = {}

local function newPart(parent, size, pos, colour)
    local p = Instance.new("Part")
    p.Size = size
    p.Position = pos
    p.Color = colour
    p.Anchored = true
    p.Parent = parent
    return p
end

function mapgen.buildPath(parent, theme, rng)
    local nodes = {}
    local z = 0
    for i = 1, 30 do
        z = z + rng:NextInteger(18, 26)
        local x = rng:NextInteger(-20, 20)
        nodes[i] = Vector3.new(x, 0, z)
    end
    for i, pos in ipairs(nodes) do
        local colour = theme.palette[rng:NextInteger(1, #theme.palette)]
        newPart(parent, Vector3.new(18, 2, 20), pos, colour)
    end
    return nodes
end

return mapgen

🔧

Platforms need to overlap or the gap is impossible to cross. Keep the sideways step small (here 20) compared to the platform width (18 to 26) so each platform touches the next.

⌨️

Code Challenge

+20 XP

Create a new Part and place it at a position:

local p = .new("Part")
p.Position = .new(0, 0, 10)
p.Anchored = true

Hint: the service that makes new objects, and the type that stores an X Y Z position.

🧠

Knowledge Check

+15 XP

What is a "node" in this map system?

AA position the course is built around

BA type of Roblox script

CA player in the game

3

🌀

Layout Archetypes

Five different shapes the path can take, chosen at random

Locked

🎯

Goal for this step

Make the course come out in completely different shapes, not just different colours.

A straight line gets boring. Instead we pick a random archetype and let it decide where the nodes go:

1line, the path drifts gently forward.
2zigzag, the path swings left and right.
3spiral, the path curls outward like a snail shell.
4tower, the platforms climb upward in a helix.
5islands, scattered platforms you jump between.

MapGen (ModuleScript)

local function generateNodes(archetype, rng)
    local nodes, z, y, theta = {}, 0, 0, 0
    for i = 1, 32 do
        local pos
        if archetype == "spiral" then
            theta = theta + 0.45
            local R = 26 + i * 1.4
            pos = Vector3.new(math.cos(theta) * R, 0, math.sin(theta) * R)
        elseif archetype == "tower" then
            theta = theta + 0.45
            y = (i - 1) * 4                        -- climb 4 studs each step
            pos = Vector3.new(math.cos(theta) * 20, y, math.sin(theta) * 20)
        else
            z = z + 20                        -- line and zigzag just move forward
            pos = Vector3.new(rng:NextInteger(-25, 25), 0, z)
        end
        nodes[i] = pos
    end
    return nodes
end

💡

Because we pick the archetype with rng, the same theme can be a spiral one match and an island hop the next. That is the trick that makes every play different.

🔢

Put the build steps in order

+15 XP

Click the steps in the order the generator runs them:

Pick a random theme and archetype

Generate the list of node positions

Build a platform at each node

Scatter obstacles and collectibles

🧠

Knowledge Check

+15 XP

What makes the spiral archetype different from the line?

AIt is always green

BIts nodes curve around a centre instead of going straight

CIt has no platforms at all

4

🌦️

Mood and Obstacles

Jitter the sky and scatter obstacles using the theme weights

Locked

🎯

Goal for this step

Two maps of the same theme should still feel different, because of mood and obstacle density.

1Shuffle the palette order so the colours land differently.
2Nudge the fog and brightness a little each match.
3Pick each node's obstacle with a helper that reads the theme weights.

MapGen (ModuleScript)

-- a weighted pick: higher weight = more likely
local function pickWeighted(weights, rng)
    local total = 0
    for _, w in pairs(weights) do total = total + w end
    local roll = rng:NextNumber() * total
    for kind, w in pairs(weights) do
        roll = roll - w
        if roll <= 0 then return kind end
    end
    return "plain"
end

-- mood: shuffle the palette and jitter the sky
function mapgen.moodify(theme, rng)
    local sky = theme.sky
    sky.FogEnd = sky.FogEnd * (0.7 + rng:NextNumber() * 0.6)
    sky.Brightness = 2 + rng:NextNumber()
    return theme
end

💡

This is the same idea as a dice roll. NextNumber() gives a value between 0 and 1. Multiply it by the total weight, then walk down the list subtracting until you go below zero. Whatever you land on is your obstacle.

🧠

Knowledge Check

+15 XP

What does rng:NextNumber() return?

AA random whole number like 4 or 9

BThe colour of the next platform

CA decimal between 0 and 1

5

♻️

A Fresh Map Every Round

Delete the old course, build a new one from a new random seed

Locked

🎯

Goal for this step

Hook the generator into the match loop so every round gets its own course.

1Put the course inside a single Folder so we can clear it in one go.
2At the start of each round, wipe the folder and build again with a new seed.
3Give each round a random theme, and mix the order so the three themes never repeat in a fixed pattern.

ObbyServer (Script)

local MapGen = require(game.ServerScriptService.MapGen)

local function newCourse(theme)
    for _, child in ipairs(courseFolder:GetChildren()) do
        child:Destroy()                       -- clear the old map
    end
    local seed = os.time() + math.random(1, 1000000)
    local rng = Random.new(seed)
    return MapGen.build(courseFolder, theme, rng)
end

-- inside runRound():
local theme = Config.THEMES[math.random(1, #Config.THEMES)]
newCourse(theme)

🔧

Always Destroy the old map before building the new one, or the world fills up with hundreds of parts and the game slows down.

⌨️

Code Challenge

+20 XP

Clear the old course, then make a seeded random number generator:

for _, child in ipairs(courseFolder:GetChildren()) do
    child:()
end
local rng = .new(os.time())

Hint: the method that removes an object, and the object that makes repeatable random numbers from a seed.

🧠

Knowledge Check

+15 XP

Why do we pass a random seed into Random.new?

ASo each round generates a different course

BSo the map loads faster

CSo players move quicker

6

🎲

Play It Twice

Prove the course changes, and that every archetype is crossable

Locked

🎯

Goal for this step

Run the game a few times and watch a different course appear each round.

1Play the game and note the shape and colours of round one.
2Wait for the next round. It should be a different theme, shape and mood.
3Play a few more rounds. Every one is new, and every one is finishable.

💡

Rule of thumb: a jump in Roblox travels about 12 studs at normal speed. Keep gaps under 11, and keep upward steps to 4 studs, and your generated maps stay fair. The tower archetype climbs 4 studs each step for exactly that reason.

👨‍👧

Try this together: in generateNodes, change the loop count from 32 to 60. The courses get much longer. Then change it back. Small numbers, big changes.

🧠

Knowledge Check

+15 XP

What makes every match look different?

AThe players choose a map before each round

BA new random seed and archetype every round

CThe maps are drawn by hand each time

SIM LOCKDOWN3 Maps, Never the Same

SIM LOCKDOWN
3 Maps, Never the Same