Introduction

Rogen is a command-line tool that writes your Rojo project file for you. Rojo still syncs and builds your game. Here is why that helps.

A Typical Roblox Project

This game has an inventory and a shop. Its project file mounts src/server into ServerScriptService, src/client into StarterPlayerScripts and src/shared into a Shared folder in ReplicatedStorage. Inside them, code is sorted by type:

The inventory is spread over six folders, mixed in with the shop. To change or remove it, you hunt through all of them.

Organize by Feature

Sort the same files by feature instead, with a folder per feature on each side:

That's much better. The inventory's files are no longer mixed in with the shop's, and the project file stays the same.

Three Inventory Folders

But the inventory still has three folders, one each in client, server and shared. A single src/Inventory folder would be better. Rojo can do that, but every side of every feature needs its own entry in default.project.json:

{
  "name": "my-game",
  "tree": {
    "$className": "DataModel",
    "ServerScriptService": {
      "Inventory": { "$path": "src/Inventory/Server" },
      "Shop": { "$path": "src/Shop/Server" }
    },
    "StarterPlayer": {
      "StarterPlayerScripts": {
        "Inventory": { "$path": "src/Inventory/Client" },
        "Shop": { "$path": "src/Shop/Client" }
      }
    },
    "ReplicatedStorage": {
      "Shared": {
        "$className": "Folder",
        "Inventory": { "$path": "src/Inventory/Shared" },
        "Shop": { "$path": "src/Shop/Shared" }
      }
    }
  }
}

Every feature you add, rename or remove means editing this file by hand, and a folder you forget never reaches the game.

One Folder per Feature

Rogen writes those entries for you. Put each feature in one folder, with Client, Server and Shared folders inside:

In Studio, the game is the same as when you sorted by feature, so your requires don't change. Everything about the inventory is in src/Inventory, and you remove it by deleting one folder.

How Rogen Does It

You write default.rogen.json, a Rojo project file with routes added. Each route names a folder and where its files go:

{
  "name": "my-game",
  "routes": {
    "Server": "ServerScriptService",
    "Client": "StarterPlayer/StarterPlayerScripts",
    "Shared": "ReplicatedStorage/Shared"
  },
  "tree": { "$className": "DataModel" }
}

rogen serve and rogen build write default.project.json from it, then run rojo serve and rojo build with Rojo's flags. To try it on an existing project, install Rogen and run rogen init.

Next Steps