If you want to learn how to make a loading screen in Roblox Studio, you've probably realized that the default Roblox joining screen is a bit, well, plain. We've all seen it a thousand times. While it does the job, it doesn't really give players that "wow" factor when they first jump into your game. A custom loading screen is like the cover of a book; it sets the mood, keeps people from getting bored while the map loads, and makes your project feel like a high-quality experience instead of something thrown together in five minutes.
The good news is that setting this up isn't nearly as scary as it sounds. You don't need to be a coding wizard or a master designer to get something functional and stylish running. We're going to walk through the process step-by-step, from setting up the UI to writing the script that tells Roblox to hide the default screen and show yours instead.
Where Does the Loading Screen Live?
Before we start dragging frames around, we need to talk about ReplicatedFirst. This is a specific folder in your Explorer window that is super important for loading screens.
Most UI stuff goes into StarterGui, but loading screens are different. Since we want the screen to pop up the very second a player starts joining—before the rest of the game has even finished downloading—it has to go in ReplicatedFirst. Anything placed in this folder gets sent to the player's computer before anything else. If you put your loading screen in StarterGui, the player might be stuck looking at a void for ten seconds before your UI finally decides to show up, which totally defeats the purpose.
Setting Up Your UI
Let's get the visual part out of the way first. Head over to your Explorer, right-click ReplicatedFirst, and add a ScreenGui. You can name it "LoadingScreen" to keep things organized.
Inside that ScreenGui, you'll want to add a Frame. This Frame is going to be your background, so make sure you go into the Properties window and set its Size to {1, 0}, {1, 0}. This ensures it covers the entire screen regardless of whether the player is on a giant monitor or a tiny phone. Also, a pro tip: check the box for IgnoreGuiInset. If you don't, you'll have a tiny, annoying gap at the very top of the screen where the Roblox top bar sits.
Now you can get creative. You can change the BackgroundColor3 to something that fits your game's vibe. Maybe add a TextLabel that says "Loading" in a cool font, or add an ImageLabel to show off some concept art or your game's logo.
Adding a Progress Bar (Optional but Recommended)
If you want to be fancy, you can add a loading bar. To do this, just put a Frame inside your main Frame (let's call it "BackgroundBar") and then put another Frame inside that one (call it "ProgressBar").
Make the "ProgressBar" a bright, contrasting color. You'll eventually use a script to change its width from 0 to 1 as the game loads. It gives players something to watch, and for some reason, humans are way more patient when they can see a bar moving.
The Scripting Magic
Now for the part that makes it actually work. We need a LocalScript. Right-click on your "LoadingScreen" ScreenGui (the one inside ReplicatedFirst) and insert a LocalScript.
The first thing we have to do is tell Roblox to get rid of its own loading screen. Without this line, your custom screen and the default one will just fight each other, and it'll look like a glitchy mess.
Here's the basic logic you'll need:
```lua local ReplicatedFirst = game:GetService("ReplicatedFirst") local players = game:GetService("Players")
-- This line is the VIP. It kills the default Roblox loading screen. ReplicatedFirst:RemoveDefaultLoadingScreen()
local playerGui = players.LocalPlayer:WaitForChild("PlayerGui") local gui = script.Parent gui.Parent = playerGui
-- Just a little wait to make sure everything is ready if not game:IsLoaded() then game.Loaded:Wait() end
-- Here you can add a small delay or a fade-out effect task.wait(2) -- Keeping it up for a couple of seconds so they see it
gui:Destroy() ```
Breaking Down the Script
Don't worry, I won't just dump code and leave you hanging. Here's what's happening in those lines:
- RemoveDefaultLoadingScreen(): This is the magic command. It tells the engine, "Hey, I've got this handled, you can take a break."
- Parenting to PlayerGui: Even though the script starts in
ReplicatedFirst, we eventually want the UI to be part of the player's Gui so it displays correctly. - game.Loaded:Wait(): This is a built-in function that waits until the game client has finished downloading the initial assets. It's much better than just using a random
wait(10), because it adapts to how fast the player's internet is. - gui:Destroy(): Once the game is ready, we delete the loading screen so the player can actually play.
Making It Look Smooth with Tweens
If you just use gui:Destroy(), the loading screen will vanish instantly. It's a bit jarring. To make it look "pro," we should use TweenService to fade it out.
Instead of just destroying it, try changing the transparency of the Frame and the text. You can make it slide off the screen or slowly dissolve. It's a small touch, but it's one of those things that separates amateur games from the ones that hit the front page.
To do a simple fade, you'd grab the TweenService and tell the Frame's BackgroundTransparency to go from 0 to 1 over the course of about half a second. Once the tween is finished, then you destroy the GUI.
Using ContentProvider for Real Progress
If you really want to know how to make a loading screen in Roblox Studio that actually reflects how much stuff has loaded, you need to use ContentProvider. This is a bit more advanced, but it's the "real" way to do things.
Roblox has a function called PreloadAsync. You can give it a list of assets (like all the meshes and textures in your workspace), and it will load them one by one. As it finishes each one, you can update the width of that progress bar we mentioned earlier.
It looks something like this: ProgressBar.Size = UDim2.new(assetsLoaded / totalAssets, 0, 1, 0)
This way, if a player has a slow connection, they see the bar moving bit by bit, and they know the game hasn't crashed.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
I've seen a lot of people struggle with this, and usually, it's because of one of three things:
- Forgetting ReplicatedFirst: If you put your script in
StarterPlayerScriptsorStarterGui, it simply won't run fast enough. The default loading screen will stay up for ages, and your custom one might never show up at all. - Not using a LocalScript: Loading screens are a "client-side" thing. The server doesn't care about what's on the player's screen. If you use a regular Script, it just won't work.
- Ignoring Mobile Users: Always, always check your UI using the "Device" emulator in Roblox Studio. A loading screen that looks great on a 27-inch monitor might have the text cut off on an iPhone. Use Scale (the first numbers in UDim2) instead of Offset (the second numbers) to make sure your UI stays proportional.
Final Touches
Once you've got the technical stuff down, think about the "vibe" of your game. If you're making a horror game, maybe your loading screen is dark with some creepy flickering text. If it's a bright simulator, use vibrant colors and a bouncy animation for the loading text.
You can even add "Pro Tips" that cycle through while the player waits. Just create a list (a table in Lua) of strings and have a script change a TextLabel every few seconds. It's a great way to teach players how to play your game before they even step foot in the world.
And that's pretty much it! Now you know how to make a loading screen in Roblox Studio that actually works. It's one of those features that doesn't take a ton of time but significantly boosts the overall feel of your game. Give it a shot, experiment with some animations, and see how much better your game feels the next time you hit that Play button!