Hoverboard - Roblox Scripting Tutorial

Storyline / Context

• The video isn’t a traditional “story” game narrative. It’s a Roblox scripting tutorial that walks through building a hoverboard system (physics + control) so players can ride it and steer it with smooth hovering behavior.

Gameplay / System Overview (What the “game” mechanics are)

A hoverboard is created as a model with:

• A VehicleSeat for player mounting.
• A welded physical part that defines mass/density for better physics behavior.

When a character sits on the seat:

• The player is granted network ownership of the hoverboard assembly (so movement/physics feel responsive).
• A client-side local script starts a Heartbeat loop that continuously:
  • Applies upward force to maintain hover height using raycasting.
  • Tilts the hoverboard based on WASD input (steer + throttle floats from the seat).
  • Adds stabilization (anti-bounce) and better prediction by offsetting the raycast using the board’s velocity.
  • Applies turning, drag, and counter-tilt to control drift and speed.

Key Gameplay Highlights (How it “feels”)

• Hovering is physics-driven A downward raycast measures ground distance; force scales with that distance so the board floats.

• Steering by tilt Force direction is affected by tilting the orientation CFrame using SteerFloat and ThrottleFloat.

• Anti-bounce “damping” The raycast target is shifted by the board’s linear velocity so falling vs. rising changes the force magnitude (reducing oscillation).

• Air control and smoother handling A minimum thrust keeps some lift even when the ray misses, preventing “dead” control midair.

• Speed control Uses drag (velocity-dependent opposing force) plus counter tilt (tilts opposite to velocity) to slow down and prevent excessive drifting.

Step-by-Step Build + Scripting Flow (as described)

Project setup

• Create a base plate project and publish/place to Roblox.
• Set gravity to 9.8 in World Settings.

Hoverboard model + physics

In Workspace:

• Create a model.
• Add a VehicleSeat and an additional Part.
• Weld the part to the seat.
• Resize the part and increase mass via custom physical properties:
  • Set density (example value mentioned: 10) to raise mass.
• Resize/move the seat above the part.
• Make the seat invisible and disable collision/query (keep touch enabled).

Network ownership (server)

• Create a server script in ServerScriptService (named like Network owner).
• Include functions/events such as:
  • PlayerAdded
  • CharacterAdded
  • Seated

In Seated:

• Exit early if seat is not actively occupied.
• Restrict logic to hoverboards only (seat name check like "hoverboard").
• Determine the player via seat.Occupant parent chain.
• Set ownership: seat:SetNetworkOwner(player).

Physics + controls (client/local)

• Create a LocalScript in StarterPlayerScripts (named like hoverboard).
• Detect riding:
  • Hook humanoid Seated event and toggle the control loop.

While seated:

• Start a RunService.Heartbeat loop.
• Create:
  • An Attachment
  • A VectorForce (applies lift/tilt force)
  • AlignOrientation (keeps upright orientation logic)
  • Raycast parameters that exclude the board and character
• Add an animation when seated (steals “Dance/animation” asset for the example).
• Each heartbeat:
  • Compute an upright orientation CFrame using look vector + cross with Y axis.
  • Apply tilt orientation based on:
    • ThrottleFloat (forward/back tilt)
    • SteerFloat (left/right tilt)
  • Raycast downward (about 8 studs offset mentioned) to find ground distance.
  • Compute lift:
    • magnitude = distance(from target to ray hit)
    • VectorForce.Force = Vector3.new(magnitude * thrust, ...) (lift is scaled by magnitude)
  • Anti-bounce improvement:
    • Shift the ray target by board velocity scaled by Ray velocity (example 0.2).
  • Turn:
    • Use TurnSpeed (example target: ~5 radii/sec) and rotate using DeltaTime.
  • Drag:
    • Convert velocity to object space and apply opposing force using a drag parameter.
  • Counter-tilt:
    • Compute counter tilt from velocity and clamp using torque values.
    • Counter tilts when moving forward/back or left/right to damp drift and reduce runaway speed.

Finalize

• Remove debugging parts used for ray visualization.
• Keep the completed hoverboard scripts and objects.

Key Parameters / Tuning Tips Mentioned

• gravity: 9.8
• mass/density: increase density so hover physics respond well
• thrust: example value mentioned: 2000
• minimum thrust (for midair control):
  • Example: 600 (more floaty, some control)
  • Larger value (example 3000) gives more floaty feel but more control while airborne
• ray velocity scaling (anti-bounce + forward prediction):
  • Example: Ray velocity = 0.2
• turn speed:
  • Example target: 5 radii per second (using TurnSpeed concept)
• drag:
  • Example small values (e.g., 0.02) and “stronger” values (e.g., 2) were demonstrated
  • Suggested blend end state:
    • drag = 0.008
    • counter = 0.004
• counter variable:
  • Example baseline: 0.004, increased to 0.02 for stronger damping

Gamers / Sources Featured (mentioned at the end)

• No individual gamers are named as contributors.
• The video credits only: “thank you for watching my video” (no specific external source list provided).