110 lines
4.4 KiB
Text
110 lines
4.4 KiB
Text
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.. _doc_introduction_to_godot:
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Introduction to Godot
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=====================
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This article is here to help you figure out whether Godot might be a good fit
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for you. We will introduce some broad features of the engine to give you a feel
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for what you can achieve with it and answer questions such as "what do I need to
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know to get started?".
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This is by no means an exhaustive overview. We will introduce many more features
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in this getting started series.
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What is Godot?
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--------------
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Godot is a general-purpose 2D and 3D game engine designed to support all sorts
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of projects. You can use it to create games or applications you can then release
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on desktop or mobile, as well as on the web.
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You can also create console games with it, although you either need strong
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programming skills or a developer to port the game for you.
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.. note:: The Godot team can't provide an open-source console export due to the
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licensing terms imposed by console manufacturers. Regardless of the
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engine you use, though, releasing games on consoles is always a lot of
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work. You can read more on that here: :ref:`doc_consoles`.
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What can the engine do?
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-----------------------
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Godot was initially developed in-house by an Argentinian game studio. Its
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development started in 2001, and the engine was rewritten and improved
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tremendously since its open-source release in 2014.
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Some examples of games created with Godot include Ex-Zodiac and Helms of Fury.
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.. image:: img/introduction_ex_zodiac.png
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.. image:: img/introduction_helms_of_fury.jpg
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As for applications, the open-source pixel art drawing program Pixelorama is
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powered by Godot, and so is the voxel RPG creator RPG in a box.
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.. image:: img/introduction_rpg_in_a_box.png
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You can find many more examples in the `official showcase videos`_.
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How does it work and look?
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--------------------------
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Godot comes with a fully-fledged game editor with integrated tools to answer the
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most common needs. It includes a code editor, an animation editor, a tilemap
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editor, a shader editor, a debugger, a profiler, and more.
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.. image:: img/introduction_editor.png
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The team strives to offer a feature-rich game editor with a consistent user
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experience. While there is always room for improvement, the user interface keeps
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getting refined.
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Of course, if you prefer, you can work with external programs. We officially
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support importing 3D scenes designed in Blender_ and maintain plugins to code in
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VSCode_ and Emacs_ for GDScript and C#. We also support Visual Studio for C# on
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Windows.
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.. image:: img/introduction_vscode.png
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Programming languages
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---------------------
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Let's talk about the available programming languages.
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You can code your games using :ref:`GDScript <toc-learn-scripting-gdscript>`, a
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Godot-specific and tightly integrated language with a lightweight syntax, or
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:ref:`C# <toc-learn-scripting-C#>`, which is popular in the games industry.
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These are the two main scripting languages we support.
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Godot also supports a node-based visual programming language named
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:ref:`VisualScript <toc-learn-scripting-visual_script>`.
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With the :ref:`GDNative <toc-tutorials-gdnative>` technology, you can also write
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gameplay or high-performance algorithms in C or C++ without recompiling the
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engine. You can use this technology to integrate third-party libraries and other
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Software Development Kits (SDK) in the engine.
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Of course, you can also directly add modules and features to the engine, as it's
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completely free and open-source.
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.. seealso:: These are the five officially supported programming languages. The
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community maintains support for many more. For more information,
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see :ref:`GDNative third-party bindings
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<doc_what_is_gdnative_third_party_bindings>`.
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What do I need to know to use Godot?
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------------------------------------
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Godot is a feature-packed game engine. With its thousands of features, there is
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a lot to learn. To make the most of it, you need good programming foundations.
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While we try to make the engine accessible, you will benefit a lot from knowing
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how to think like a programmer first.
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In the next part, we'll show you a free and open-source app you can use to learn
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the basics of programming with Godot's GDScript programming language.
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.. _Blender: https://www.blender.org/
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.. _VSCode: https://github.com/godotengine/godot-vscode-plugin
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.. _Emacs: https://github.com/godotengine/emacs-gdscript-mode
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.. _official showcase videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeG_dAglpVo6EpaO9A1nkwJZOwrfiLdQ8
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