Godot 4: From Zero To Full Game

"I bought the book last night and ended up staying up late reading it. It's about the clearest software book I've ever read. It goes into detail, but doesn't waste time on unimportant stuff, and seemingly covers Every. Single. Aspect. of Godot for 3d, which is exactly what I need. Thank you."

- Nick Jainschigg

Are you interested in venturing into game development and creating your very own computer game?

This practical book offers you the opportunity to gain firsthand experience in utilizing Godot 4 and crafting your own code using GDScript, a user-friendly and easy-to-learn language tightly integrated with the Godot Engine.

Why is an ebook more suitable for a programming book than a classic paper book?

An ebook is always up-to-date. I already upgraded all the code snippets to be compatible with Godot 4.2, and I want to keep updating it after every significant release of the Godot Engine.

Once you purchase it, you'll get a lifetime access to all future versions!

What does this book cover?

1. Prepare the workspace: Emphasizes the significance of utilizing a version control system, and assists you in properly setting it up across various platforms. Additionally, it provides instructions on preparing the environment for Godot and Blender, ensuring seamless integration between the two tools.
2. The high-level concept: Provides an overview of the essential logic and workflow of the game, along with detailed, step-by-step guidance on constructing a modular model for the player's ship. It also explains why we prefer creating assets in a 3D environment and then projecting them onto a 2D plane instead of using sprites or pixel art. It discusses the reasons behind this choice and why it works better for the project.
3. Prepare the basic scene: Encompasses the process of constructing the initial scene for our game, including the setup of lights, camera, dynamic background, and fundamental game objects. Moreover, it explores multiple techniques for creating and applying materials to models.
4. Enemies, layers, collisions: Describes a process that involves several steps to create an asteroid model and integrate it into a game. It also includes configuring the collision system, managing object destruction, implementing shooting mechanics, and utilizing particle and shader systems to generate realistic explosions.
5. Improve the player’s ship: Improves the player's ship model and enhances its behavior to make it more advanced and visually appealing. This includes incorporating modular components for breaking up the ship, implementing a shield mechanism, emitting flames from the engines, and adding trails to bullets, among other enhancements.
6. Create the first level: Shows how to develop a versatile level system that can be applied universally. It covers aspects such as enemies shooting different types of projectiles, incorporating power-ups, implementing homing missiles, and creating a formidable boss enemy. Additionally, the chapter offers several tips for optimizing performance throughout the development process.
7. Game workflow: Takes you step by step through the process of managing multiple scenes in a game, including the introduction, menu, and settings screens, and demonstrates how to smoothly transition between them. It explores various aspects such as incorporating music and sound effects, implementing game localization for different languages, setting up customizable key bindings, and integrating a sophisticated animation system.
8. Export and release your game: Outlines the process of preparing a finished game for exporting and sharing with others. It encompasses a range of techniques and suggestions to reduce the file size of the exported game, making it more efficient for distribution.
9. More game ideas: Proposes and illustrates supplementary concepts to enhance the appeal of your game for the audience. Accompanying the suggestions are code snippets or screenshots that emphasize the underlying concepts.

And, as a bonus:

1. Appendix 1: Modeling in Blender
2. Appendix 2: Godot 4 overview
3. Appendix 3: Changes in Godot 4.2 and later

Are you still unsure if this book is for you? Click here to download a free sample.

Sample pages:

I have created and recorded a video course on YouTube to supplement the book. If you're interested in observing the game creation process in action, you can visit the provided URL to watch it for free: https://www.youtube.com/@FencerDevLog

More sample pages:

And the game you will learn to create from the scratch:

Furthermore, this book is always up-to-date. I already upgraded all the code snippets to be compatible with Godot 4.2, and I want to keep updating it after every significant release of the Godot Engine.