Learn to Create a 2D Platformer Game Using the Godot Game Engine - Bomberbot (2024)

Are you an aspiring game developer looking to create your own 2D platformer game? The Godot game engine is a fantastic tool for the job. In this in-depth tutorial, we‘ll walk through the process of building a complete 2D platformer from scratch using Godot‘s powerful features and intuitive interface.

Why Choose Godot for 2D Game Development?

Godot is a free and open source game engine that enables you to create both 2D and 3D games. It has gained popularity in recent years for its extensive feature set, excellent documentation, and strong community support. Here are some key benefits of using Godot for 2D game development:

• Cross-platform support: Godot allows you to export your game to multiple platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and web.
• Node and scene system: Godot utilizes a flexible tree of nodes to represent game objects and a scene system to organize levels and UI. This makes it easy to structure and manage your game.
• GDScript programming language: Godot comes with its own Python-like scripting language called GDScript which is easy to learn, fast, and tightly integrated with the engine.
• Built-in editors and tools: Godot provides a complete set of visual editors for creating sprites, tilemaps, animations, shaders, and more. This enables you to build your game‘s assets right inside the engine.
• Extensive documentation and demos: Godot has some of the best documentation and learning resources of any game engine. It ships with many official demo projects to learn from.

Now that you have an idea of why Godot is well-suited for 2D platformer development, let‘s dive into the process of actually creating a game.

2D Platformer Basics

Before we get into the step-by-step Godot tutorial, it‘s important to understand the fundamental concepts and components that make up a typical 2D platformer game:

• Player character: The main avatar that the player controls. Usually able to run, jump, and sometimes attack.
• Platforms: The terrain and structures that the player traverses, often arranged in a sidescrolling level. Created using a tilemap.
• Physics and collisions: Simulating gravity, velocity, and interactions between game objects. Godot provides a robust 2D physics engine.
• Animations: Bringing game characters and objects to life with multi-frame sprite animations for running, jumping, attacking, etc.
• Enemies and hazards: Obstacles and monsters that the player must avoid or defeat to progress through the level.
• Collectibles and rewards: Items scattered throughout the level for the player to collect, often used to keep score or earn power-ups.
• Camera: What the player sees, usually follows the character. Godot offers multiple camera types with built-in smoothing options.
• User interface: Menus, HUD, dialogue boxes, etc. Created using Godot‘s UI nodes and anchored to the screen.

Keeping these core elements in mind, let‘s start putting them together into an actual game using Godot‘s tools and workflow.

Setting Up the Godot Project

The first step is to download and install Godot from the official website (https://godotengine.org). Once you have it up and running, create a new project and choose the 2D option to set up a baseline 2D workspace.

Next, create a folder structure to organize your project‘s files. A typical structure might look like:

• assets/: Folder for all your game‘s visual and audio assets
  — sprites/: Subfolder for character, object, and tile sprites
  — sounds/: Subfolder for sound effects and music files
• scenes/: Folder for your game‘s levels and UI scenes
• scripts/: Folder for your GDScript files
• project.godot: Main Godot project configuration file

Importing Assets

Before we start building the actual game, we need some assets to work with. For this tutorial, we‘ll assume you have a set of sprite images and sound files ready to import.

To import assets into your Godot project:

1. Click the "FileSystem" dock and navigate to the desired folder (e.g. assets/sprites/)
2. Right-click the folder and choose "Import"
3. Browse and select your asset files
4. Set import options if needed (e.g. sprite sheet settings, audio compression)
5. Click "Import" to bring the assets into your project

Godot supports a wide variety of image, audio, and font file formats. It automatically converts and optimizes them for use in the engine.

Creating the Player Character

Now let‘s create the heart of our platformer game – the player character. We‘ll make a simple animated sprite that can run and jump around the level.

1. In the FileSystem dock, right-click the scenes/ folder and choose "New Scene"
2. Click the "2D Scene" button to add a Node2D as the scene root
3. In the Scene dock, click the "+" button and add an AnimatedSprite node as a child of the root
4. In the Inspector dock, assign your imported character sprite sheet to the AnimatedSprite‘s "SpriteFrames" property
5. While the AnimatedSprite is selected, go to the Animation dock and create animations for idle, run, jump, etc. by selecting the appropriate sprite sheet frames
6. Add a CollisionShape2D node as a child of the AnimatedSprite and assign a RectangleShape2D to it sized to fit the character
7. Click the AnimatedSprite and in the Inspector, check the "Playing" box to see the idle animation
8. Save the scene as Player.tscn

We now have a basic player character scene set up with sprite animations and a collision shape. The next step is to add a script to control its behavior.

Scripting the Player

To bring our character to life, we need to write a script that controls how it moves and interacts with the game world. Godot uses its own Python-like language called GDScript for this.

1. In the FileSystem dock, right-click the scripts/ folder and choose "New Script"
2. Select the "GDScript" option and name the script Player.gd
3. Double-click the script to open it in the Script Editor
4. Add the following code:

extends KinematicBody2Dconst SPEED = 200const GRAVITY = 800const JUMPFORCE = 400var velocity = Vector2()func _physics_process(delta): velocity.x = 0 if Input.is_action_pressed("left"): velocity.x -= SPEED $AnimatedSprite.flip_h = true $AnimatedSprite.play("run") elif Input.is_action_pressed("right"): velocity.x += SPEED $AnimatedSprite.flip_h = false $AnimatedSprite.play("run") else: $AnimatedSprite.play("idle") velocity.y += GRAVITY * delta if is_on_floor() and Input.is_action_just_pressed("jump"): velocity.y -= JUMPFORCE $AnimatedSprite.play("jump") velocity = move_and_slide(velocity, Vector2(0, -1))

This script does the following:

• Sets up some constants for horizontal speed, gravity strength, and jump force
• Initializes a Vector2 called velocity to track the player‘s movement
• In the _physics_process function (called every physics frame):
  — Resets horizontal velocity
  — Checks for left/right input and updates velocity and animation accordingly
  — Applies gravity to vertical velocity
  — Checks for jump input and if on floor, applies jump force and plays jump animation
  — Calls move_and_slide to move the character based on velocity

5. Back in the Player scene, click the root node and in the Inspector, set the script property to Player.gd

Our character can now be controlled with the arrow keys to run and jump! The physics engine takes care of collisions and gravity automatically. You can tweak the constant values to adjust the feel of the movement.

Building the Level

With our player character ready to go, it‘s time to create a level for it to explore. For this, we‘ll use Godot‘s tilemap system.

1. In the FileSystem dock, right-click the scenes/ folder and choose "New Scene"
2. Click the "2D Scene" button to add a Node2D as the scene root
3. In the Scene dock, click the "+" button and add a TileMap node as a child of the root
4. In the Inspector dock, assign your imported tileset image to the TileMap‘s "Tile Set" property
5. While the TileMap is selected, go to the Tile Set dock and click "New Tile Set"
6. In the bottom panel, click the "Add Textures" button and select your tileset image
7. Click and drag in the tileset preview to create individual tile regions
8. Switch to the Tile Map dock and paint your level by selecting tiles and brushing them onto the grid
9. Add a Player instance to the level by dragging the Player.tscn from the FileSystem dock into the scene
10. Save the scene as Level1.tscn

We now have a functioning level with platforms to run and jump on! The TileMap‘s collision is automatically generated from the tile shapes. You can create multiple tile layers and paint them independently.

Adding Collectibles

To give the player a goal and sense of progression, let‘s add some collectible items to the level.

1. Create an Area2D scene called Collectible.tscn with the following children:
   — Sprite displaying the collectible‘s image
   — CollisionShape2D with an appropriate shape for picking up
2. Attach a script called Collectible.gd with the following code:

extends Area2Dfunc _on_Collectible_body_entered(body): if body.name == "Player": hide() queue_free() get_tree().get_root().get_node("Level1").score += 1

This script will hide and delete the collectible when the player touches it, and increment the level‘s score variable.

3. In Level1.tscn, add Collectible instances throughout the level
4. Add a score variable and display it using a Label node

Now the player can collect items and earn points!

Game States and Menus

To polish off our platformer, let‘s add some game state logic and UI. We‘ll create a main menu, pause menu, and game over screen.

1. Create a script called Game.gd with the following code:

extends Nodevar score = 0func _ready(): $MainMenu.show()func new_game(): score = 0 $MainMenu.hide() $Level1.show()func game_over(): $Level1.hide() $GameOver.show()func _on_PlayButton_pressed(): new_game()func _on_TryAgainButton_pressed(): new_game()

This script manages the overall game state by showing/hiding the appropriate scenes and nodes. It also keeps track of the score.

2. Create a scene called MainMenu.tscn with a Button node connected to the _on_PlayButton_pressed function
3. Create a scene called GameOver.tscn with a Button node connected to the _on_TryAgainButton_pressed function
4. Add MainMenu and GameOver instances to your Game scene
5. In Level1.gd, add logic to call get_tree().get_root().get_node("Game").game_over() when the player dies
6. In Player.gd, add get_tree().get_root().get_node("Game").score += 1 when collecting an item

Now the game can be started, paused, and restarted from the UI. The score carries over between screens.

Conclusion

Congratulations, you have now built a complete 2D platformer game in Godot! This tutorial covered the essential steps of creating a player character, level, collectibles, and game states. You also learned how to work with sprites, tilemaps, physics, scripting, and scene organization in Godot.

Of course, this is just the beginning. You can expand on these concepts to create more complex levels, abilities, enemies, and effects. Godot provides a wealth of tools and features to bring your vision to life. Don‘t be afraid to experiment, consult the documentation, and seek out additional tutorials.

Remember, game development is an iterative process. Start small, prototype often, and continuously refine your mechanics and designs. With practice and persistence, you‘ll be able to create engaging 2D platformer games in no time!

I hope you found this guide informative and inspiring. Happy game development with Godot!

Additional Resources

• Official Godot documentation: https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/
• Godot step-by-step tutorials: https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/getting_started/step_by_step/index.html
• Godot community demo projects: https://github.com/godotengine/godot-demo-projects
• GDScript basics: https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/getting_started/scripting/gdscript/gdscript_basics.html
• "Godot Engine Game Development Projects" book: https://www.packtpub.com/product/godot-engine-game-development-projects/9781788831505

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