Godot — Quickstart (30 minutes)¶

If you have 30 minutes, do exactly these three things.

1. Install + new project (5 min)¶

• Download Godot 4.x from godotengine.org/download. Pick the Standard build (GDScript only) unless you specifically want C#.
• Unzip, run the binary. No installer.
• Click New Project. Renderer: Forward+. Pick a folder. Create.

2. The scene-of-nodes mental model (15 min)¶

Everything is a Node. A Scene is a tree of Nodes saved as a .tscn file.

• Click Add Node (the + at the top of the Scene dock).
• Search "Node2D"; add it as the root. Save scene as main.tscn.
• Right-click the Node2D → Add Child Node → Sprite2D.
• In the Inspector, drag the included icon.svg (in FileSystem) onto the Texture property.
• You see the Godot icon in the viewport.

Now attach a script: - Right-click Sprite2D → Attach Script. Save as mover.gd. Replace contents:

extends Sprite2D

@export var speed: float = 200.0

func _process(delta: float) -> void:
    var input := Vector2(
        Input.get_axis("ui_left", "ui_right"),
        Input.get_axis("ui_up", "ui_down"))
    position += input * speed * delta

• Press F5 to run. Pick main.tscn as the main scene. Arrow keys move the sprite.

What you used: a Node (Sprite2D), a script extending it, @export (Inspector), _process(delta) (per-frame), Input (built-in singleton). These five concepts cover most of GDScript.

3. Signals — the event system (10 min)¶

• Add another node: Timer as a child of the Node2D root.
• In the Inspector: Wait Time = 1.0, Autostart = on.
• Click the Node dock (right side, second tab) — list of signals.
• Double-click timeout. In the dialog, pick the script holding node, method _on_timer_timeout. Connect.
• A new function appears in mover.gd:

func _on_timer_timeout() -> void:
    rotation_degrees += 90

• Run again. The sprite rotates every second.

You just used Godot's signal system — the way nodes talk to each other without tight coupling.

What's next¶

• Tomorrow: read Usage, focusing on "Common nodes you'll use constantly" and "Signals."
• This week: start Tutorial Level 1 and follow the 12-week schedule.
• Anki users: import godot.csv — node types, GDScript syntax, signal API.
• F6 over F5. Run the current scene (F6) instead of the whole game (F5) while iterating.