Wave Counter
Lesson 16 of 18 in Coddy's Roblox Game: Tower Defense course.
A player needs to see how the game is going: their money, the base's health and the wave. The HUD has a label for each, Money, Base and Wave.
The server already keeps all three where a client can read them: Money in leaderstats, BaseHealth as a workspace attribute, and now the wave number too. The client draws them once and again whenever one changes: an IntValue's Changed, and GetAttributeChangedSignal for an attribute.
workspace:GetAttributeChangedSignal("Wave"):Connect(showStatus)A client can join before the server has set an attribute, so read it with a fallback: workspace:GetAttribute("Wave") or 0.
Challenge
Hard- In
DefenseServer's wave loop, set the workspace attributeWaveto the wave's number before its break. - In
DefenseClient, writeshowStatus():Money: 200,Base: 20andWave 1/5in the three labels. Call it once and connect it to the Money value'sChangedand to theBaseHealthandWaveattributes.
Press Play, then Check.
Try it yourself
local Players = game:GetService("Players")
local ServerStorage = game:GetService("ServerStorage")
local Debris = game:GetService("Debris")
local Settings = require(game.ReplicatedStorage.Settings)
local remotes = game.ReplicatedStorage.Remotes
local enemies = workspace.Enemies
local towers = workspace.Towers
local towerPad = {} -- each tower -> the pad it stands on
print("The base can take " .. Settings.BaseHealth .. " hits")
-- The waypoints, in order (they are named 1, 2, 3...)
local waypoints = workspace.Path.Waypoints:GetChildren()
table.sort(waypoints, function(a, b)
return tonumber(a.Name) < tonumber(b.Name)
end)
-- The base's health, as an attribute of the workspace: every client can read it
workspace:SetAttribute("BaseHealth", Settings.BaseHealth)
-- Every player gets Money on the leaderboard
Players.PlayerAdded:Connect(function(player)
local leaderstats = Instance.new("Folder")
leaderstats.Name = "leaderstats"
leaderstats.Parent = player
local money = Instance.new("IntValue")
money.Name = "Money"
money.Value = Settings.StartMoney
money.Parent = leaderstats
end)
-- An enemy reached the base
local function damageBase(amount)
local health = math.max(0, workspace:GetAttribute("BaseHealth") - amount)
workspace:SetAttribute("BaseHealth", health)
end
-- Walk an enemy along the path. MoveTo gives up after 8 seconds and says so
-- (MoveToFinished with false), so a slow enemy is sent again until it arrives.
local function walkPath(enemy)
local humanoid = enemy.Humanoid
for i = 2, #waypoints do
repeat
humanoid:MoveTo(waypoints[i].Position)
until humanoid.MoveToFinished:Wait() or not enemy.Parent
if not enemy.Parent then
return
end
end
-- it reached the base
damageBase(Settings.Enemies[enemy.Name].Damage)
enemy:Destroy()
end
-- A new enemy at the gate, walking the path
local function spawnEnemy(kind)
local enemy = ServerStorage.Enemies[kind]:Clone()
-- dropped in just above the first waypoint
enemy:PivotTo(waypoints[1].CFrame + Vector3.new(0, 5, 0))
local info = Settings.Enemies[kind]
enemy.Humanoid.MaxHealth = info.Health
enemy.Humanoid.Health = info.Health
enemy.Humanoid.WalkSpeed = info.Speed
enemy.Parent = enemies
-- its health bar follows its health
enemy.Humanoid.HealthChanged:Connect(function(health)
enemy.HealthBar.Back.Fill.Size = UDim2.fromScale(health / enemy.Humanoid.MaxHealth, 1)
end)
enemy.Humanoid.Died:Connect(function()
-- every player earns the reward
for _, player in Players:GetPlayers() do
player.leaderstats.Money.Value += info.Reward
end
enemy:Destroy()
end)
task.spawn(walkPath, enemy)
return enemy
end
-- The nearest living enemy within range of a point, or nil
local function nearestEnemy(position, range)
local best, bestDistance = nil, range
for _, enemy in enemies:GetChildren() do
local root = enemy:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if root and enemy.Humanoid.Health > 0 then
local distance = (root.Position - position).Magnitude
if distance <= bestDistance then
best, bestDistance = enemy, distance
end
end
end
return best
end
-- A flash of light from a tower to its target
local function beam(from, to)
local ray = Instance.new("Part")
ray.Anchored = true
ray.CanCollide = false
ray.CanTouch = false
ray.Material = Enum.Material.Neon
ray.Color = Color3.fromRGB(255, 240, 150)
ray.Size = Vector3.new(0.2, 0.2, (to - from).Magnitude)
ray.CFrame = CFrame.lookAt((from + to) / 2, to)
ray.Parent = workspace
Debris:AddItem(ray, 0.1)
end
-- Frost: an enemy walks at a fraction of its speed for 2 seconds
local function slow(enemy, factor)
if enemy:GetAttribute("Slowed") then
return
end
enemy:SetAttribute("Slowed", true)
local speed = Settings.Enemies[enemy.Name].Speed
enemy.Humanoid.WalkSpeed = speed * factor
task.delay(2, function()
if enemy.Parent then
enemy.Humanoid.WalkSpeed = speed
enemy:SetAttribute("Slowed", nil)
end
end)
end
-- A shot: damage the target (and, from a Cannon, everyone near it)
local function shoot(tower, target, info)
local damage = info.Damage * tower:GetAttribute("Level")
local at = target.HumanoidRootPart.Position
if info.Splash then
for _, enemy in enemies:GetChildren() do
local root = enemy:FindFirstChild("HumanoidRootPart")
if root and (root.Position - at).Magnitude <= info.Splash then
enemy.Humanoid:TakeDamage(damage)
end
end
else
target.Humanoid:TakeDamage(damage)
end
if info.Slow and target.Parent then
slow(target, info.Slow)
end
beam(tower.Head.Position, at)
end
-- A tower's life: aim at the nearest enemy in range, shoot, wait its cooldown
local function runTower(tower)
local info = Settings.Towers[tower.Name]
while tower.Parent do
local target = nearestEnemy(tower.Head.Position, info.Range)
if target then
tower.Head.CFrame = CFrame.lookAt(tower.Head.Position, target.HumanoidRootPart.Position)
shoot(tower, target, info)
task.wait(info.Cooldown)
else
task.wait(0.1)
end
end
end
-- Build a tower on a pad
local function placeTower(pad, kind)
local tower = ServerStorage.Towers[kind]:Clone()
tower:PivotTo(pad.CFrame + Vector3.new(0, pad.Size.Y / 2 + 1, 0))
tower:SetAttribute("Level", 1)
tower.Parent = towers
pad:SetAttribute("Used", true)
towerPad[tower] = pad
task.spawn(runTower, tower)
end
-- The client asks for a tower on a pad. Check everything: a real, free pad,
-- a real tower, and the money to pay for it.
remotes.Place.OnServerEvent:Connect(function(player, pad, kind)
if typeof(pad) ~= "Instance" or pad.Parent ~= workspace.Pads or pad:GetAttribute("Used") then
return
end
local info = typeof(kind) == "string" and Settings.Towers[kind]
if not info then
return
end
local money = player.leaderstats.Money
if money.Value < info.Price then
return
end
money.Value -= info.Price
placeTower(pad, kind)
end)
-- An upgrade: the next level costs more each time, and each level adds the
-- tower's damage again
remotes.Upgrade.OnServerEvent:Connect(function(player, tower)
if typeof(tower) ~= "Instance" or tower.Parent ~= towers then
return
end
local level = tower:GetAttribute("Level")
local cost = math.floor(Settings.Towers[tower.Name].Price * Settings.UpgradeCost * level)
local money = player.leaderstats.Money
if money.Value < cost then
return
end
money.Value -= cost
tower:SetAttribute("Level", level + 1)
end)
-- Selling: half the price back, and the pad is free again
remotes.Sell.OnServerEvent:Connect(function(player, tower)
if typeof(tower) ~= "Instance" or tower.Parent ~= towers then
return
end
player.leaderstats.Money.Value += math.floor(Settings.Towers[tower.Name].Price / 2)
towerPad[tower]:SetAttribute("Used", nil)
towerPad[tower] = nil
tower:Destroy()
end)
-- One wave: its enemies one by one, then wait until they are all gone
local function runWave(list)
for _, kind in list do
spawnEnemy(kind)
task.wait(Settings.SpawnGap)
end
while #enemies:GetChildren() > 0 do
task.wait(0.2)
end
end
-- The waves, each after a break
for i, list in Settings.Waves do
task.wait(Settings.WaveBreak)
runWave(list)
end
This lesson includes a short quiz. Start the lesson to answer it and track your progress.