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Is Godot a good game engine to learn? I am looking to make an RTS 2D game on a global map, similar to an old game called Red Storm Rising - https://www.myaband

Is Godot a good game engine to learn? I am looking to make an RTS 2D game on a global map, similar to an old game called Red Storm Rising - https://www.myabandonware.com/media/screenshots/r/red-storm-rising-qz/red-storm-rising_8.gif https://www.myabandonware.com/media/screenshots/r/red-storm-... Any suggestions? I am a Java/C++ dev

iwebdevfromhome 5y ago
They don’t have support to export to consoles afaik but for a pc game it should be enough. I’ve tried some tutorials in the past with success and enjoyment but I’m in the process of learning gamedev myself
- extrememacaroni 5y ago
  I never thought I'd say this but... there's a good course for Godot on Udemy. I have no idea how it ended up there.
  - sprkwd 5y ago
    Which one?
    - matrixcubed 5y ago
      Probably "Discovering Godot". The instructor, Yann Burrett, is fantastic. He runs his own training courseware company now, called Canopy Games.
- Operyl 5y ago
  There've been companies which ported the engine over who are available for contracting/consulting, for what its worth: https://lonewolftechnology.com https://lonewolftechnology.com Also, iirc Xbox support is available via UWP in the main branch.
jvalencia 5y ago
I've found it to be really intuitive with a great community fwiw.
EamonnMR 5y ago
If you want any pointers on RTS networking the gold standard is this paper: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131503/1500_archers_on_a_288_network_.php https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131503/1500_archers_o... I did a toy implementation here: http://github.com/eamonnmr/openlockstep http://github.com/eamonnmr/openlockstep I haven't rebuilt that in Godot yet, but I will eventually. Godot's workflow is well worth using it's bespoke language.
- void_mint 5y ago
  I found Godot + Mono/C# to be a great user experience compared to Unity.
  - toastal 5y ago
    Have you any experience using it with F#?
    - void_mint 5y ago
      Godot? None. I think some people are using it with Unity, but tbh I hated Unity so much I just avoided it as much as I could.
- bavell 5y ago
  Excellent read!
eloisant 5y ago
It's good but not quite as complete as Unity, so unless you care about using an Open Source engine you might check Unity instead.
- spywaregorilla 5y ago
  Given the state of multiplayer in Unity and the needs of an RTS game I would advise otherwise.
  - jay_kyburz 5y ago
    There are solid third party networking solutions for Unity.
MichaelEstes 5y ago
It’s surprisingly solid, I’ve made a couple weekend projects in it, but I see it being to Unity/Unreal what Blender is to Maya/Zbrush. I still wouldn’t use Godot for anything I hope to make money from, or if your looking to gain skills that will land you a job at a studio. If you’re new to game dev as a whole I’d recommend starting with Unity.
- jokethrowaway 5y ago
  I mostly agree with your distinction but there is a large gap between Unity and Unreal: Godot is Gimp Unity is Paint.net Unreal is Photoshop I understand mid/big studios don't want to give away a percentage to Epic (over 1mln) - which translates to "learn unity to land a job" - but for indies unlikely to reach 1 million in revenue, Unreal is basically free technology from the future.
  - vgel 5y ago
    My impression of Unreal is the tech is awesome if you want to make a game with high graphical fidelity — Nanite looks crazy good, etc. But if you aren’t trying to do that, are making a 2d game or something lofi 3D like Minecraft graphics, I don’t see what Unreal buys you over using a different engine. if anything, the massive Unity asset store seems like a huge competitive advantage, and from my understanding Unreal doesn’t really compare on that front.
void_mint 5y ago
If you're a competent C++ dev it might be easier to go with Unreal Engine, but Godot is a much nicer user experience than Unity (IMO) if you're looking to use C#. The price you'll pay is far far less instructional content as Godot's newer/not "enterprise" supported.
- okamiueru 5y ago
  I would like to add to this a caveat that it assumes a windows development platform. I would not recommend UE otherwise. It should also be mentioned that Godot is generally much simpler and easier to get something up and running quickly. If graphic fidelity is important, then godot is quite a ways behind both Unity and UE. A final note is that you can also fairly easily develop games for godot with C++ using gdnative, though you might be better off using gdscript, even though it means learning a new syntax.
  - entelechy0 5y ago
    I'm actually dev-ing a game for Windows, Mac, and Linux entirely in C++ and libsdl and it has been a GREAT experience so far!
gameswithgo 5y ago
Yes it is pretty good for that type of game. People enjoy it, there are no royalties to worry about. You can use C# which will be familiar to you as a Java dev.
chamakits 5y ago
I'd say yes! I'm also a Java dev, and have dabbled in making simple "hello world" types examples for different game engines, and Godot was the first one that just clicked right away. Beyond that, I was able to stick to it, and was able to fully publish a game for the first time! (Puck Fantasy: https://www.lowkeyart.com/puckfantasy https://www.lowkeyart.com/puckfantasy) Setting expectations though, if you are expecting GDScript (the scripting language it uses) to be as full featured as Java (or C++), you'll be left wanting. It took some getting used to, to understand the limitations of the language, and adapt accordingly. After moving forward from that mental block, things have been even smoother. And if you really want it, there is C#/mono support, though I recommend your first project to be with GDScript, since it integrates very well with the editor, and creates a smooth learning experience.
bkanber 5y ago
I absolutely love Godot, and I've used them all. The only reason not to use Godot is if you're already entrenched in one of the other engines' ecosystems, like if you're working in a large team that already has processes around Unity's workflow. Some Unity features are more evolved, but if you're a novice game developer, these things won't matter. And IMO Godot is much much more intuitive to someone who is already a software developer.
jay_kyburz 5y ago
I spent about 3 months full time with Godot and was enjoying it, but ran into some bugs that undermined my trust in the Godot developers to the point where I had to move away. For example: if you hold a reference to object in your script, and the object is removed from the scene, the engine can reuse the address for a new object, but it will result in your script holding a reference to the wrong object. I believe its the object pooling system not talking to the scrips. This bug is a few years old and I believe it wont be fixed till v4. Most people don't seem to encounter it, and I worked around it fine buy just making sure I manually null out any references when they leave the scene. The real WTF which made me finally say this engine is not for me is that they changed the behavior so that it won't happen in Debug, but will still happen in Release. Different behavior for Debug and Release is an even bigger bug! Its such a rare and sneaky bug, and when it starts happening in your release you can't even debug it! Small update: I reported the issue on Github in September 2019. From reading the comments it sounds like the inconstant behavior was only in from 3.2.2 to 3.2.3 version (~6 months) then fixed in 3.3. However a user is reporting that the issue is still happening in 3.3 as recently as May this year.
- runald 5y ago
  Link to the github issue?
  - jay_kyburz 5y ago
    https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/32383 https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/32383
arminiusreturns 5y ago
Yes it is, but I suggest putting up with the pains for 4.0 branch. So many fixes for old bugs in 3 are there, and as of the last few months thanks to the devs giving linux lots more love lately, much more stable.

iwebdevfromhome 5y ago

They don’t have support to export to consoles afaik but for a pc game it should be enough. I’ve tried some tutorials in the past with success and enjoyment but I’m in the process of learning gamedev myself

extrememacaroni 5y ago
I never thought I'd say this but... there's a good course for Godot on Udemy. I have no idea how it ended up there.
- sprkwd 5y ago
  Which one?
  - matrixcubed 5y ago
    Probably "Discovering Godot". The instructor, Yann Burrett, is fantastic. He runs his own training courseware company now, called Canopy Games.
Operyl 5y ago
There've been companies which ported the engine over who are available for contracting/consulting, for what its worth: https://lonewolftechnology.com https://lonewolftechnology.com Also, iirc Xbox support is available via UWP in the main branch.

jvalencia 5y ago

I've found it to be really intuitive with a great community fwiw.

EamonnMR 5y ago

If you want any pointers on RTS networking the gold standard is this paper: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131503/1500_archers_on_a_288_network_.php https://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131503/1500_archers_o... I did a toy implementation here: http://github.com/eamonnmr/openlockstep http://github.com/eamonnmr/openlockstep I haven't rebuilt that in Godot yet, but I will eventually. Godot's workflow is well worth using it's bespoke language.

void_mint 5y ago
I found Godot + Mono/C# to be a great user experience compared to Unity.
- toastal 5y ago
  Have you any experience using it with F#?
  - void_mint 5y ago
    Godot? None. I think some people are using it with Unity, but tbh I hated Unity so much I just avoided it as much as I could.
bavell 5y ago
Excellent read!

eloisant 5y ago

It's good but not quite as complete as Unity, so unless you care about using an Open Source engine you might check Unity instead.

spywaregorilla 5y ago
Given the state of multiplayer in Unity and the needs of an RTS game I would advise otherwise.
- jay_kyburz 5y ago
  There are solid third party networking solutions for Unity.

MichaelEstes 5y ago

It’s surprisingly solid, I’ve made a couple weekend projects in it, but I see it being to Unity/Unreal what Blender is to Maya/Zbrush. I still wouldn’t use Godot for anything I hope to make money from, or if your looking to gain skills that will land you a job at a studio. If you’re new to game dev as a whole I’d recommend starting with Unity.

jokethrowaway 5y ago
I mostly agree with your distinction but there is a large gap between Unity and Unreal: Godot is Gimp Unity is Paint.net Unreal is Photoshop I understand mid/big studios don't want to give away a percentage to Epic (over 1mln) - which translates to "learn unity to land a job" - but for indies unlikely to reach 1 million in revenue, Unreal is basically free technology from the future.
- vgel 5y ago
  My impression of Unreal is the tech is awesome if you want to make a game with high graphical fidelity — Nanite looks crazy good, etc. But if you aren’t trying to do that, are making a 2d game or something lofi 3D like Minecraft graphics, I don’t see what Unreal buys you over using a different engine. if anything, the massive Unity asset store seems like a huge competitive advantage, and from my understanding Unreal doesn’t really compare on that front.

void_mint 5y ago

If you're a competent C++ dev it might be easier to go with Unreal Engine, but Godot is a much nicer user experience than Unity (IMO) if you're looking to use C#. The price you'll pay is far far less instructional content as Godot's newer/not "enterprise" supported.

okamiueru 5y ago
I would like to add to this a caveat that it assumes a windows development platform. I would not recommend UE otherwise. It should also be mentioned that Godot is generally much simpler and easier to get something up and running quickly. If graphic fidelity is important, then godot is quite a ways behind both Unity and UE. A final note is that you can also fairly easily develop games for godot with C++ using gdnative, though you might be better off using gdscript, even though it means learning a new syntax.
- entelechy0 5y ago
  I'm actually dev-ing a game for Windows, Mac, and Linux entirely in C++ and libsdl and it has been a GREAT experience so far!

gameswithgo 5y ago

Yes it is pretty good for that type of game. People enjoy it, there are no royalties to worry about. You can use C# which will be familiar to you as a Java dev.

chamakits 5y ago

I'd say yes! I'm also a Java dev, and have dabbled in making simple "hello world" types examples for different game engines, and Godot was the first one that just clicked right away. Beyond that, I was able to stick to it, and was able to fully publish a game for the first time! (Puck Fantasy: https://www.lowkeyart.com/puckfantasy https://www.lowkeyart.com/puckfantasy) Setting expectations though, if you are expecting GDScript (the scripting language it uses) to be as full featured as Java (or C++), you'll be left wanting. It took some getting used to, to understand the limitations of the language, and adapt accordingly. After moving forward from that mental block, things have been even smoother. And if you really want it, there is C#/mono support, though I recommend your first project to be with GDScript, since it integrates very well with the editor, and creates a smooth learning experience.

bkanber 5y ago

I absolutely love Godot, and I've used them all. The only reason not to use Godot is if you're already entrenched in one of the other engines' ecosystems, like if you're working in a large team that already has processes around Unity's workflow. Some Unity features are more evolved, but if you're a novice game developer, these things won't matter. And IMO Godot is much much more intuitive to someone who is already a software developer.

jay_kyburz 5y ago

I spent about 3 months full time with Godot and was enjoying it, but ran into some bugs that undermined my trust in the Godot developers to the point where I had to move away. For example: if you hold a reference to object in your script, and the object is removed from the scene, the engine can reuse the address for a new object, but it will result in your script holding a reference to the wrong object. I believe its the object pooling system not talking to the scrips. This bug is a few years old and I believe it wont be fixed till v4. Most people don't seem to encounter it, and I worked around it fine buy just making sure I manually null out any references when they leave the scene. The real WTF which made me finally say this engine is not for me is that they changed the behavior so that it won't happen in Debug, but will still happen in Release. Different behavior for Debug and Release is an even bigger bug! Its such a rare and sneaky bug, and when it starts happening in your release you can't even debug it! Small update: I reported the issue on Github in September 2019. From reading the comments it sounds like the inconstant behavior was only in from 3.2.2 to 3.2.3 version (~6 months) then fixed in 3.3. However a user is reporting that the issue is still happening in 3.3 as recently as May this year.

runald 5y ago
Link to the github issue?
- jay_kyburz 5y ago
  https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/32383 https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/32383

arminiusreturns 5y ago

Yes it is, but I suggest putting up with the pains for 4.0 branch. So many fixes for old bugs in 3 are there, and as of the last few months thanks to the devs giving linux lots more love lately, much more stable.