godot

godot Best Practices

This document outlines the definitive best practices for developing with Godot Engine 4.x. Adhere to these guidelines to ensure maintainable, performant, and collaborative projects.

1. Code Organization and Structure

1.1. Scene-First Composition

Always prefer composing scenes over deep inheritance hierarchies. Scenes are Godot's fundamental building blocks, promoting reusability and clear ownership.

❌ BAD: Deep inheritance

# res://entities/base_enemy.gd
class_name BaseEnemy extends CharacterBody2D
# ... common enemy logic ...

# res://entities/goblin.gd
class_name Goblin extends BaseEnemy
# ... goblin specific logic ...

# res://entities/orc.gd
class_name Orc extends BaseEnemy
# ... orc specific logic ...

✅ GOOD: Composition with specialized scenes

# res://components/health_component.gd
class_name HealthComponent extends Node
@export var max_health: int = 100
# ... health logic, signals ...

# res://components/movement_component.gd
class_name MovementComponent extends Node
@export var speed: float = 100.0
# ... movement logic ...

# res://enemies/goblin.tscn (Root: CharacterBody2D)
#   - HealthComponent
#   - MovementComponent
#   - Sprite2D (goblin_sprite.png)
#   - CollisionShape2D
# res://enemies/goblin.gd (attaches to goblin.tscn)
class_name Goblin extends CharacterBody2D
@onready var health_component: HealthComponent = $HealthComponent
@onready var movement_component: MovementComponent = $MovementComponent
# ... goblin specific logic using components ...

1.2. Single Responsibility Principle (SRP)

Each script and scene should have one, and only one, reason to change. This means a script should manage a single aspect of functionality (e.g., movement, health, inventory).

❌ BAD: God object script

# player.gd
extends CharacterBody2D
var health = 100
var speed = 150
func _physics_process(delta):
    # Movement logic
    # Attack logic
    # Inventory management
    # Health updates