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Trevor Grafton

PROJECT / Games

Steal a Dinosaur

A dinosaur-themed steal-style Roblox game for young players, in development.

In development
  • Luau
  • Rojo

  • Source private: unreleased game

Type
Games
Source
Private
Role
My own project.
Built with
Luau, Rojo

01 / Overview

Overview

  1. Steal an egg

    A steal-an-egg game with dinosaurs.

  2. Server services

    20 server services, such as Economy, Incubator, Lava, Lock, Plot, Rebirth, Steal and Whip.

  3. A big themed map

    A 1600-stud prehistoric map.

02 / Context and problem

Context and problem

A bigger follow-up to my other Roblox projects. It has not launched, so there is nothing to report about players.

03 / My role

My role

My own project.

04 / How it works

How it works

  1. Services start in order

    Server services boot in a fixed order and share one table.

  2. Shared logic stays pure

    Shared game logic has no Roblox globals, is strictly typed, and gets a pure module with a test first.

  3. Saves are versioned

    Save changes use versioned migrations with tests. Carried items stay in the owner's save.

  4. Purchases are safe to repeat

    Robux receipts are handled so a repeat does not grant twice.

05 / Walkthrough

Walkthrough

  1. Isometric render of the full prehistoric map

    Step 01

    The whole map

    A 1600-stud prehistoric island: eight egg pens along a central conveyor, with a lava river, a volcano, a canyon and a coast around them.

  2. Top-down render of the map showing the pens, conveyor, lava river and volcano

    Step 02

    Plan view

    Seen from above, the pens mirror each other either side of the conveyor, so every player's plot reads the same.

  3. Close render of a bridge over the lava river

    Step 03

    Lava and the bridge

    A lava river cuts across the north of the map, crossed by a small stone bridge.

  4. Render of the volcano with lava running down its slopes

    Step 04

    The volcano

    The volcano is the landmark that anchors the map; lava ribbons run down its sides.

  5. Render of canyon cliffs with a waterfall

    Step 05

    Canyon and waterfall

    Cliffs and a waterfall close the east edge of the island.

  6. Render of a dinosaur rib-cage fossil beside a path

    Step 06

    Fossils and swamp

    Details such as a fossil skeleton, tar pits and mushroom swamp give each corner its own look.

06 / 3D map

3D map

07 / Results and numbers

Results and numbers

181

commits

Checked in codePrivate repo history

20

server services

Checked in codePrivate repo, server source folder

43

registered Lune spec suites

Checked in codePrivate repo, test runner

08 / Testing and quality

Testing and quality

  • Checks before merging: the Lune runner, StyLua, Selene, a map test and a Rojo build.

09 / What I learned

What I learned

  • A final review caught eggs that could not be bought from the plaza, which the tests had missed.

10 / What's next

What's next

  • A four-player playtest and a server size of eight.
  • Create products and badges, publish, and run a small ad test.

11 / Next project

Next project

West End VR →