3.2.5 Creating a main menu

Why Your Game Needs a Main Menu

A main menu is often the first thing players see when they launch your game. It sets the tone, gives players clear choices, and lets them prepare before jumping into gameplay. In Roblox, a main menu is usually built with ScreenGui elements, such as frames, text labels, and buttons, then controlled with LocalScripts on the client. You already know the basics of those pieces, so here you will focus on how to combine them into a complete and functional main menu for your obby or any other game.

A good main menu should answer a few questions right away. What is this game called? How do I start playing? Is there anything important I should know, such as controls or settings? You do not need to add every possible feature at once, but you should design the menu so it is clear and easy to expand later.

Planning the Structure of Your Main Menu

Before you place any UI objects, decide what the main menu needs to include. For a simple beginner game, you usually want at least a game title and a Play button. Many games also include buttons for Settings, Credits, or Help. Each of these options will be its own UI element, and sometimes its own separate screen that appears on top of or instead of the main menu.

When you plan the structure, think of your menu as a set of screens that can be shown or hidden. The main screen might show the title and Play button. A settings screen might appear when you press a Settings button and disappear when you press Back. This show and hide approach is very common in Roblox menus and is controlled through scripts that change properties such as Visible on frames and other UI objects.

It is helpful to sketch your layout on paper or in a simple drawing tool. Decide where the title will sit, where buttons will be placed, and whether you want a background image or color. This planning will save you time when you start laying out the UI in Studio.

Building the Main Menu Layout

To begin building the menu, start with a ScreenGui in StarterGui. Inside that ScreenGui, create a main container, usually a Frame, that will hold all of the main menu elements. This frame represents the main menu screen itself. You can make it cover the entire screen by setting its Size to {1, 0}, {1, 0} in scale, and you can pick a background color or transparency level that fits your game style.

Inside this main frame, add a TextLabel for the game title and one or more TextButton objects for menu options such as Play or Settings. Use the Properties window to change text, fonts, colors, and sizes. A common layout places the title near the top center of the screen, with buttons arranged in a vertical column below it.

To keep your UI working correctly on different screen sizes, use scale instead of offset whenever possible. This applies to Size and Position. Scaling makes your menu more responsive, so it looks acceptable on both small and large devices. You can also use UIAspectRatioConstraint and UIPadding if you want to maintain certain shapes or margins, but a simple use of scale is enough for a basic main menu.

If you want a more polished feel, you can place a background image with an ImageLabel or make the frame slightly transparent so the 3D world is visible behind the menu. The important part is that the Play button and other essential elements remain clear and easy to read.

Controlling the Menu with LocalScripts

The main menu only becomes useful when players can interact with it. Clicks on your buttons must run code that starts the game, opens other panels, or closes the menu. For this you use LocalScripts, because UI input and changes to the user interface belong on the client.

Create a LocalScript inside your main menu Frame or inside the ScreenGui. In that script, obtain references to your key UI elements, such as the main menu frame and the Play button. Then connect functions to button events, like MouseButton1Click. When the event fires, your script can hide the menu by changing the Visible property, or switch to a different screen by hiding one frame and showing another.

A typical pattern for the Play button is to hide the menu and allow the player to control their character. If you had previously disabled controls or locked the camera while the menu was open, you restore them at this point. Even in a simple game where you do not change controls at all, hiding the main menu is often enough to make it feel like the game just started.

A simple example of connecting a Play button to code that hides the menu might look like this.

local player = game.Players.LocalPlayer
local playerGui = player:WaitForChild("PlayerGui")
local screenGui = playerGui:WaitForChild("MainMenuGui")
local mainFrame = screenGui:WaitForChild("MainFrame")
local playButton = mainFrame:WaitForChild("PlayButton")
local function onPlayClicked()
    mainFrame.Visible = false
end
playButton.MouseButton1Click:Connect(onPlayClicked)

In this code, the LocalScript waits for the PlayerGui and the menu ScreenGui, gets references to the main frame and Play button, then connects the button click to a function that hides the menu. You can extend this same pattern for settings and other menu choices.

Showing and Hiding Menu Screens

A main menu is usually not only a single frame that appears once. It often acts as the entry point for other UI screens, such as settings, controls information, or credits. The main technique is to toggle visibility between different frames that represent each screen.

For example, suppose you have two frames: MainFrame for the main menu and SettingsFrame for the settings menu. The main menu frame contains buttons for Play, Settings, and Quit back to Roblox. The settings frame contains options like volume sliders or a Back button. The logic can be as simple as hiding MainFrame and showing SettingsFrame when the Settings button is clicked, and doing the opposite when the Back button is clicked.

In a LocalScript you might write something like the following.

local screenGui = script.Parent
local mainFrame = screenGui:WaitForChild("MainFrame")
local settingsFrame = screenGui:WaitForChild("SettingsFrame")
local settingsButton = mainFrame:WaitForChild("SettingsButton")
local backButton = settingsFrame:WaitForChild("BackButton")
local function openSettings()
    mainFrame.Visible = false
    settingsFrame.Visible = true
end
local function closeSettings()
    settingsFrame.Visible = false
    mainFrame.Visible = true
end
settingsButton.MouseButton1Click:Connect(openSettings)
backButton.MouseButton1Click:Connect(closeSettings)

With this setup, you can add more frames for other sections of your menu and follow the same show and hide pattern. Only one frame is visible at a time, which keeps the player focused and prevents different screens from overlapping and becoming confusing.

Making the Menu Appear at the Right Time

You must decide when players see the main menu and when it disappears. The simplest option is to have the menu visible immediately when the player joins the game. In that case, the main menu frame starts with Visible set to true, and the Play button hides it. This is often enough for an obby and many small projects.

You can also control menu visibility from scripts when certain conditions are met. For example, you could show the main menu again after the player wins the obby, or when they reset. You do this by setting the frame’s Visible property back to true. If you want the menu to show only once when the player first joins, make sure your scripts do not toggle it again later.

In more advanced setups, you might disable player movement or lock the camera while the menu is open. Even if you are not implementing that yet, it is helpful to structure your code so all menu visibility logic is in one place. That way, you can easily add new behavior around menu open and close events later.

Connecting the Main Menu to Your Game Flow

The most important part of a main menu is how it fits into the overall flow of your game. For an obby, the typical flow is simple. The player joins, sees the main menu, presses Play, and the game begins. Later, your win UI might appear when they finish, and you might return them to the main menu if they want to restart or choose another mode.

You can also expand the main menu to support multiple game modes, such as Easy and Hard versions of the obby. In that case, each button might send a different message to the server that controls how the player is spawned or which level they start at. Even if you do not implement those server messages yet, designing the menu with separate buttons and clear labels prepares your game for growth.

For now, focus on a clear sequence. First, the menu is visible. Second, the player chooses Play. Third, the menu hides and the player plays. If you add more steps, such as a settings screen or a confirm dialog, make sure the path to starting the game is still easy to understand.

Polishing the Look and Feel of Your Menu

Once the menu works, you can improve how it feels. Even simple visual changes can make a big difference. Use consistent fonts and colors that match your game theme. Adjust padding and alignment so text is centered and buttons are evenly spaced. Small shadows, borders, or rounded corners can make the UI more readable.

You can also add simple transitions without complex animation systems. For example, when the player presses Play, you can briefly fade the main frame out by changing its BackgroundTransparency in a short loop before setting Visible to false. Similarly, you can fade UI elements in when the player joins, to create a smoother introduction.

If you previously added sounds to your game, you can play a click sound when a button is pressed or a short intro sound when the menu appears. These touches make the menu feel responsive and alive without changing its basic structure.

By combining your existing knowledge of ScreenGui, buttons, text labels, and scripting, you can now build a complete main menu that introduces your game, lets players choose when to begin, and provides a structure for future options like settings and multiple modes.