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What is Init?

Init is a module loader: the thing that starts your game's code.

Without one, every Script runs on its own, in an order you don't control, and each one connects Players.PlayerAdded, RunService.Heartbeat and friends by hand. With Init, your game has exactly two scripts (one for the server, one for the client) and everything else is a ModuleScript in a folder:

ReplicatedStorage
├─ Packages/Init            the loader
├─ Network                  remote events (loaded first)
├─ Services                 code for server AND client   (names end in Service)
├─ Controllers              code for the client only     (names end in Controller)
└─ Binders/Shared, Client   code that runs per tagged instance
ServerScriptService
├─ InitServer               boots the server
├─ Services                 server-only code              (names end in Service)
└─ Binders
StarterPlayer/StarterPlayerScripts
└─ InitClient               boots the client

When the game starts, Init:

  1. Loads every module, folder by folder, in the order the boot script lists them.
  2. Calls Init on each one, one at a time. Modules set up their own data here.
  3. Calls Start on all of them. Now every module is ready, so they can use each other.
  4. Connects their hooks: OnPlayerAdded, OnPlayerRemoving, Step (60 times a second), OnHeartbeat, and on the client OnCharacterAdded, OnDied, OnRenderStepped...

A module only writes the methods it needs:

local CoinService = {}

function CoinService.Init(self)
	self.Coins = {}
end

function CoinService.OnPlayerAdded(self, player: Player)
	self.Coins[player] = 0
end

function CoinService.OnPlayerRemoving(self, player: Player)
	self.Coins[player] = nil
end

return CoinService

Pick how to install​

Next: the lifecycle explains exactly when each method runs.