C++ coding support

snwflk

Hello. I want to use mostly C++ to code my games, along with GDScript. I've been reading through the documentation, especially "Developing in C++" and I still don't know where to start. I found creating custom modules too complicated, so I said I'd go with GDNative, as it may be easier. So learning the GDScript stuff in the documentation, maybe there's a way then to directly relate C++ code to GDScript code?

What's the approach? Converting the scripts line by line syntactically as in replacing "extends Panel" with "class P : public Panel"? Or maybe the approaches are totally different for C++ than for GDScript? I mean extra code for C++ that GDScript would automatically handle in backstage. Where can I learn about it?

Ideally I'd code all the scripts in GDScript and subsequently optimizing by converting some of them to C++. But this is what I don't know how to do. Can anyone help?

_807_

Your question is not easy to answer (too generic). Documentation of GDNative (and implementation) seems to be not completed, but GDNative is the way to code in C/C++. Compile Godot with custom modules is not complicated, coding the modules is, but you can start stealing one module in github and learn from the code. This is valid for Godot 2.1 , I don´t know any working Godot 3 module (Creature developer say in his web that Godot3 module is ready but I don´t try to compile yet).

https://github.com/kestrelm/Creature_Godot.

https://github.com/GodotExplorer/spine.

https://github.com/jjay/godot-spine-module.

I can be wrong, but my impression is that the purpose is: GDNative = C++gamecode (or library attach) // MODULE = Component.

Directly changing base code of godot is not recomended because your code will be incompatible with godot quick development. Edit Godot code is only to core dev´s to send pull request to github.

snwflk

I'm after coding the game logic. I'll definitely go with GDNative but I don't know how to "translate" GDScript into C++, given that it's even possible 1 on 1. Or to see a bit of C++ workflow.

NeoD

It sounds simpler to convert the scripts instead to create a library. But in the other hand the gameplay code is intended to be tested and updated very frequently so the GDNative fits this purpose better than the modules. Even if it's not as simple as GDScript. And GDNative is not available in Godot 2.1, which is still the best Godot version in terms of compatibility and performance.

I regret that the developers have not put J.I.T for GDScript as a priority over Visual Scripting. That GDScript idea is great. If the C # extremists give a try to GDScript they will probably not want to mess themselves anymore with "public" "private" and so many overkill expressions. Sorry for the english.

NeoD

@snwflk said: I'm after coding the game logic. I'll definitely go with GDNative but I don't know how to "translate" GDScript into C++, given that it's even possible 1 on 1. Or to see a bit of C++ workflow.

There is an example of such a translation in a bunnymark benchmark.

https://github.com/cart/godot3-bunnymark/blob/master/benchmarks/BunnymarkV2/cpp/BunnymarkV2.cpp

snwflk

Thanks a lot for the link! Not to mention there's actually a language comparison in the form of that benchmark in there. Great stuff. EDIT: I wanted to mention that I don't dig visual scripting either ;P As for GDScript, if it were static typed, it would be perfect, it would rock. Dynamic type, among other things, gets in the way of casting (I found myself in need for casting) but that's off topic...