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Godot — 12-Week Practice Schedule

Godot — 12-Week Practice Schedule¶

20 minutes daily, 5 days a week. Designed to ship a small game by quarter end.

Week 1 — Editor and node basics¶

Day 1: Quickstart
Day 2: 5 different node types (Sprite2D, Label, Timer, Area2D, Button); add to a scene
Day 3: Attach scripts; print "hello" in _ready() for each
Day 4: Project Settings → Input Map; add move_left/right/up/down actions
Day 5: Save a scene, close, reopen; verify nothing's lost

Week 2 — Movement with CharacterBody2D¶

Day 1: New scene rooted in CharacterBody2D + CollisionShape2D + Sprite2D
Day 2: Velocity-based movement in _physics_process
Day 3: Add gravity + jump + ground check (is_on_floor())
Day 4: Use move_and_slide(); tune friction and acceleration
Day 5: Build a small platform level via TileMapLayer; place player; runs

Week 3 — Signals and decoupled communication¶

Day 1: Custom signal signal health_changed(value: int); emit, connect
Day 2: Connect via Editor (Node dock) and via code (signal.connect(callable))
Day 3: Disconnect signals on _exit_tree; avoid double-connections
Day 4: Pickup as Area2D — body_entered triggers collected signal
Day 5: HUD listens to a global signal bus (autoload); update score label

Week 4 — Project: 2D collector¶

Build a top-down 2D collector with player + 5 pickups + score HUD + game-over scene. Ship it.

Week 5 — Autoloads and globals¶

Day 1: Project Settings → Autoload; add globals.gd as G
Day 2: Game state (score, lives, scene to load) on the autoload
Day 3: Scene transitions via get_tree().change_scene_to_file
Day 4: Save/load with FileAccess to user://save.json
Day 5: Refactor week-4 game to use the autoload pattern

Week 6 — Custom Resources¶

Day 1: Read Tutorial Level 4 Custom Resources
Day 2: EnemyData resource subclass with @export fields
Day 3: Create 3 enemies (goblin, orc, troll) as .tres resources
Day 4: An enemy scene that takes @export var data: EnemyData
Day 5: Spawn enemies in your level using their resource data

Week 7 — UI with Control nodes and Containers¶

Day 1: Build a main menu — VBoxContainer with three Buttons
Day 2: Wire Buttons to scene transitions
Day 3: Settings menu — sliders bound to AudioServer bus volumes
Day 4: Theme resource — apply a custom font, color
Day 5: Pause menu (set get_tree().paused = true)

Week 8 — State machines for AI¶

Day 1: Implement the State pattern for an enemy
Day 2: Three states: Idle, Patrol, Chase
Day 3: RayCast2D for line-of-sight; transition to Chase
Day 4: Patrol path via Path2D + PathFollow2D
Day 5: Tune transitions; journal what feels right

Week 9 — Animation¶

Day 1: AnimationPlayer with keyframes for sprite frames
Day 2: Method tracks — call take_damage at a specific frame
Day 3: AnimationTree with state machine; idle/walk/attack
Day 4: AnimatedSprite2D for simple frame animation
Day 5: Tween (create_tween) for property interpolation in code

Week 10 — Shaders and 2D effects¶

Day 1: Read Shader: flag wave
Day 2: Apply ShaderMaterial to a Sprite2D; modify uniforms from script
Day 3: Dissolve effect (discard based on noise threshold)
Day 4: Outline shader for selected enemy
Day 5: CanvasModulate for day/night cycle

Week 11 — Audio and polish¶

Day 1: AudioStreamPlayer for music; AudioStreamPlayer2D for positional SFX
Day 2: Audio buses; volume control in settings
Day 3: Camera shake on damage
Day 4: Particle effects (GPUParticles2D) for hit feedback
Day 5: Screen transitions (fade, wipe) on scene change

Week 12 — Build and ship¶

Day 1: Editor → Manage Export Templates → Download
Day 2: Export → Add Preset → Windows/Mac/Linux Desktop
Day 3: Web export with itch.io COOP/COEP setting
Day 4: Test build on a friend's machine
Day 5: Upload to itch.io; post-mortem in journal

After Week 12¶

3D? Same engine, very similar workflow. Pick a 3D project for next quarter.
Multiplayer? Godot's HighLevelMultiplayer API is very approachable.
Editor plugin? Godot's editor is itself a Godot scene — extend in GDScript.
Cross-reference Mental Models — Godot scenes ↔ Unity prefabs.