name: godot-gdscript-patterns description: Master Godot 4 GDScript patterns including signals, scenes, state machines, and optimization. Use when building Godot games, implementing game systems, or learning GDScript best practices.

Godot GDScript Patterns

Production patterns for Godot 4.x game development with GDScript, covering architecture, signals, scenes, and optimization.

When to Use This Skill

• Building games with Godot 4
• Implementing game systems in GDScript
• Designing scene architecture
• Managing game state
• Optimizing GDScript performance
• Learning Godot best practices

Core Concepts

1. Godot Architecture

Node: Base building block
├── Scene: Reusable node tree (saved as .tscn)
├── Resource: Data container (saved as .tres)
├── Signal: Event communication
└── Group: Node categorization

2. GDScript Basics

class_name Player
extends CharacterBody2D

# Signals
signal health_changed(new_health: int)
signal died

# Exports (Inspector-editable)
@export var speed: float = 200.0
@export var max_health: int = 100
@export_range(0, 1) var damage_reduction: float = 0.0
@export_group("Combat")
@export var attack_damage: int = 10
@export var attack_cooldown: float = 0.5

# Onready (initialized when ready)
@onready var sprite: Sprite2D = $Sprite2D
@onready var animation: AnimationPlayer = $AnimationPlayer
@onready var hitbox: Area2D = $Hitbox

# Private variables (convention: underscore prefix)
var _health: int
var _can_attack: bool = true

func _ready() -> void:
    _health = max_health

func _physics_process(delta: float) -> void:
    var direction := Input.get_vector("left", "right", "up", "down")
    velocity = direction * speed
    move_and_slide()

func take_damage(amount: int) -> void:
    var actual_damage := int(amount * (1.0 - damage_reduction))
    _health = max(_health - actual_damage, 0)
    health_changed.emit(_health)

    if _health <= 0:
        died.emit()

Detailed patterns and worked examples

Detailed pattern documentation lives in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation tier above is insufficient.