Overview
When starting game development with Godot Engine, the most important concepts everyone should learn first are "Scenes" and "Nodes." Understanding the relationship between these two is the key to mastering Godot.
What are Nodes? — The Building Blocks of Games
Nodes are the fundamental building blocks of games in Godot—the individual "parts." Think of them like ingredients in cooking or lumber in construction.
Each node has a specific function:
- Sprite2D: A node that displays images
- AudioStreamPlayer: A node that plays sound
- CollisionShape2D: A node that defines collision areas (hitboxes)
- Button: A node that displays clickable buttons in the UI
- Camera2D: A node that controls camera movement in 2D games
While each node has simple functionality on its own, combining them allows you to build complex characters and game systems.
What are Scenes? — Blueprints Built from Parts
Scenes are hierarchical combinations of nodes. Specifically, they're tree structures consisting of one "root node" and multiple "child nodes" connected to it.
This collection of nodes forms a "scene," representing characters, levels, UI screens, and every other element in your game.
Concrete Example: A "Player" Scene in a 2D Game
For example, when creating a "Player" scene, you might combine nodes like this:
- CharacterBody2D (root node): Manages player movement and physics behavior
- Sprite2D (child node): Displays the player's appearance (image)
- CollisionShape2D (child node): Defines the collision shape with other objects
- Camera2D (child node): Functions as a camera that follows the player
This is how multiple nodes (parts) combine to form a "scene." Created scenes are saved as files with the .tscn extension.
Scene Instancing — Nesting Scenes Within Scenes
One of Godot's most powerful features is the ability to reuse created scenes as components (nodes) in other scenes. This is called "scene instancing."
Concrete Example: Placing "Player" in a "Stage" Scene
Let's place the "Player" scene (player.tscn) we created earlier into another scene called "Stage 1."
The "Stage 1" scene might be structured like this:
- Node2D (root node): Reference point for the entire stage
- TileMap (child node): Displays terrain and background tiles
- Player (instanced scene): The player scene we made, placed here
- Enemy (instanced scene): A separately created enemy character scene
Benefits of Instancing
- Reusability: Once created, the "Player" scene can easily be reused in "Stage 1," "Stage 2," "Boss Battle," and various other places
- Easy Management: To change the player's movement speed, just edit the "Player" scene (player.tscn), and the changes are reflected across all stages where that player is placed
- Encapsulation: You can treat scenes as single components without worrying about their internal structure (what nodes they're made of), making organization easier even in large-scale games
Summary
- Nodes: The smallest "parts" that make up games. Each has a specific function
- Scenes: "Blueprints" built by arranging nodes in tree structures. They form concrete game elements like characters and stages
- Instancing: Reusing created scenes as "parts" in other scenes
Game development in Godot follows this flow: combine "Nodes" to create "Scenes," then combine those "Scenes" to build larger "Scenes (the entire game)."