I need advice on how to make a decent weapon switching system in Godot, any advice?

@cybereality said: So, the first thing I would do is abstract the weapon into a class object. It can have the data needed for the use of the weapon (weapon stats) as well as a reference to the 3D model and the function that can be performed (shooting, reloading, etc.). When you switch to a new weapons, you can hide the current weapon at that point or do nothing if that weapon is equipped (avoiding all the if statements).

func weapon_select():
    if Input.is_action_just_pressed("weapon1"):
        switch_to_weapon(pistol_weapon)
    elif Input.is_action_just_pressed("weapon2"):
        switch_to_weapon(shotgun_weapon)

func switch_to_weapon(next_weapon):
    if next_weapon == current_weapon:
        return
    current_weapon.model.visible = false
    next_weapon.model.visible = true
    anim_player.play(next_weapon.animation)
    next_weapon.shoot()
    current_weapon = next_weapon

I tried this code but, I got an error I don't know to fix:

@cybereality said: That was just pseudo-code. You have to create a Weapon class and give it those properties.

Luckily for me. I got my unedited code backed up.

@cybereality said: Here is an example of what I mean. This would be in its own file, like Weapon.gd

class_name Weapon
    var model : MeshInstance
    var animation : String

    func shoot():
        pass
    
    func reload():
        pass

So basically, does this mean that I should just break up the code for firing and reloading into two seperate functions within the pistol script I already have?

Then in the main class you can create a weapon.

var current_weapon
var pistol_weapon

func _ready():
    pistol_weapon = Weapon.new()
    pistol_weapon.model = get_node("Path/To/Pistol")
    pistol_weapon.animation = "pistol_equip"
    current_weapon = pistol_weapon

I'm a bit confused by this part. I'm going to try to explain what I understand. If my memory serves me right, pistol_weapon.model means get/add model to the script of the pistol_weapon script right? Also, does the get_node do the same thing as the $? I can understand what this pseudo-code is getting at but, I'm still a bit confused. Perhaps it would help if I showed you all the variables I have for the weapon code I use in the main player script.

var weapon = ["pistol", "shotgun", "rifle"]#this is useless(I really don't know why I have this here)

var current_weapon_index = 0

var current_weapon = 1



onready var head = $Head
onready var aimcast = $Head/Camera/AimCast
onready var pistol = $Head/Hand/Pistol
onready var shotgun = $Head/Hand/Shotgun
onready var rifle = $Head/Hand/Rifle
onready var anim_player = $AnimationPlayer

@cybereality said: get_node() is the same as $ ($ is actually just an alias/macro for get_node()). My method is using a class to hold the data, which makes things easier as you can just call functions on the weapon object, rather than having like 3 different if statements with the same code. current_weapon becomes an object (rather than a number) so you can call the function or properties on it. In your case, you can keep the onready variables for getting the node, that you will need either way. But here you can reference the nodes you already saved.

func _ready():
    pistol_weapon = Weapon.new()
    pistol_weapon.model = pistol
    pistol_weapon.animation = "pistol_equip"
    current_weapon = pistol_weapon

The shoot and reload functions were examples. You could also just call that from your main function, but it would require less code if you handled the visual part of the shooting/reloading in the class. You could store another String with the shoot/reload animation and call the animation from within the Weapon class. The actual shooting logic should still be in the main player class (like if you need to shoot a ray and check for collision, the makes sense to keep in the player class).

I tried this could and got another error regarding the "Weapon" identifier. I suspect this error has something to do with the node structure (the code for the shooting and reloading is the pistol script) but, I'm not certain. The Player2 script is just a copy of my original Player script.

@cybereality said: You need a Weapon.gd file. With the code from the post which starts with:

class_name Weapon

That defines a class, then you can use the Weapon class elsewhere.

I'm not sure if this was the right decision but I created an empty spatial node called Weapon, created a script for it called "Weapon.pd", pasted cut and paste all the code from the pistol script into it (as that was the script that originally had theclass_name weapon)and let all the scripts for all the guns inherit from it. So now I have different error:

@cybereality said: The Weapon class is just a text file. You don't need to attach it to anything (and it's better if you don't, it's just for in memory values, not visual objects). At the very least you will need this in the class.

class_name Weapon
var model : MeshInstance
var animation : String

However, I'm not sure what your level of programming experience is, or your familiarity with GDScript. I may be a bit off base with my recommendation. I think this is an okay design, but I can come up with something easier if that makes more sense for you.

Most of everything I know about using GDscript, I learnt from watching Garbaj's Youtube video on the subject. All of his video's are incredibly short and easy to follow in the sense that almost everyone can follow his instructions and get results. You wouldn't mind if I just gave you a copy of my project if it helps, right? I mean, it's just a demo for teaching purposes only. It would give a better indication of what I understand and what I don't understand where GDscript is concerned. I'll attach my original script to the player but, if you want to see what the ended version looks like ,it's named Player2. Anyway, I'm asking for permission before I send it.

The only Garbaj Youtube tutorials I followed were the one's that I mentioned in first post on this thread; I haven't watched all of them. I've watched other GDscript tutorials but, I find myself going back to Garbaj's tutorials the most and that's why it's easier to recall concepts in his video; other concepts I've learnt elsewhere are harder to recall.

Anyway, here is a zip file of what my demo looks like. It doesn't have any proper character models yet (or ever as it's just a demo I'm using to teach myself with).

@cybereality said: The Weapon class is just a text file. You don't need to attach it to anything (and it's better if you don't, it's just for in memory values, not visual objects). At the very least you will need this in the class.

class_name Weapon
var model : MeshInstance
var animation : String

However, I'm not sure what your level of programming experience is, or your familiarity with GDScript. I may be a bit off base with my recommendation. I think this is an okay design, but I can come up with something easier if that makes more sense for you.

Okay, I've used all the var model: MeshInstance var animation: String

Now I get different errors

To me, getting this weapon switching system right is more important than learning anything else in Godot, as there is an abundance of Youtube tutorials on other Godot topics while there is very view tutorials on Youtube that tackle the issue I've raised specifically.

@cybereality said: The Weapon class is just a text file. You don't need to attach it to anything (and it's better if you don't, it's just for in memory values, not visual objects). At the very least you will need this in the class.

class_name Weapon
var model : MeshInstance
var animation : String

However, I'm not sure what your level of programming experience is, or your familiarity with GDScript. I may be a bit off base with my recommendation. I think this is an okay design, but I can come up with something easier if that makes more sense for you.

Do you know of any tutorial or resource that could teach me how to find the solution on my opinion?

@DaveTheCoder said:

@Audiobellum said: Anyway, here is a zip file of what my demo looks like. It doesn't have any proper character models yet (or ever as it's just a demo I'm using to teach myself with).

I downloaded that .rar archive. I was able to view the filenames inside it, but was unable to extract the files. I'm using Linux (Pop!_OS 20.04). Can you provide a .tar.gz or .zip archive?

I used a website to convert the rar to a zip file. Anyway, I've went over to Garbaj's discord to ask for some advice on how to fix the problem I had. The advice I got implied that my solution will involve yield(I don't know what does completely); more specifically someone showed me this pseudo-code(yield($animpath, "animation_finished"). It was also recommened that I used an array modifier. You can try and help me to find a solution but, I'll also be trying to find a solution on my own.

@cybereality said: Not sure about that. I haven't really used many tutorials, I've mostly just been reading the documentation and testing features out myself.

Do you know where I can download a pdf of Godot's documentation?

@Calinou said:

Do you know where I can download a pdf of Godot's documentation?

PDF downloads are no longer offered because the PDF generated by Sphinx was almost unreadable. Instead, you can use the HTML downloads provided here: https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/ (see the section about HTML at the top)

Thanks

@DaveTheCoder said:

weapon_index = (weapon_index + 1) % weapons.size()

That's a common way of cycling through a list. The modulus operator (%) means "remainder upon division by".

I just discovered that I don't know what the "size" in weapons.size() means. Could you explain that to me?

@DaveTheCoder said: It's the number of elements in the weapons array (assuming it's an array). https://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable/classes/class_array.html#class-array-method-size

I just found out about what it does elsewhere in a Youtube tutorial. Thanks.

@DaveTheCoder

Okay, so here is my idea for switching weapons with my scroll wheel. Since arrays have to start at zero and I don't want to make any more changes to my scroll wheel code (yet). I've made my array look like this:

var none = 1

var weapons = [none,pistol, shotgun, rifle]

To switch weapons through my array, I'll use a code like this:

weapons[current_weapon]

However, I'm still having problems finding a simple way to use this code to replace my wall of elif statements:

	if current_weapon == 1:
		pistol.visible = true
		pistol.shoot()
	else:
		pistol.visible = false

	if current_weapon == 2:
		shotgun.visible = true
		shotgun.shoot()
	else:
		shotgun.visible = false

	if current_weapon == 3:
		rifle.visible = true
		rifle.shoot()
	else:
		rifle.visible = false

My plan was to do something like this:

weapons[current_weapon].visible.true pistol.shoot()

However, I'm still running into problems. Any advice?

Thanks for the help everyone. I think I'm just going to go and learn how to code in general before returning back to this subject, wish me the best of luck. I will not quit.

@cybereality said: For Godot, I thought this book was really good. https://www.amazon.com/Godot-Engine-Game-Development-Projects-ebook/dp/B079HZD1S7/

And for general programming, this one is good (it is C++ but the ideas apply everywhere). https://www.amazon.com/Beginning-Through-Game-Programming-Fourth-ebook/dp/B00LZW07P0/

Thanks.

@OpinionatedGamer @cybereality @DaveTheCoder Okay, so I've found some sort of solution to my problems. Basically, functions can be attached to any input in GDscript, so I made a function that would manage all my equip animations. In order to avoid using an array, I just used the match to match my current_weapon number with the required animation in the function responsible for switching weapons. After that, I just integrated that function into my code for switching weapons with the mouse wheel and the results are decent. Of course, I haven't found away to implement the unequip animations into the code probably. I know how to use yeild($anim_player. "animation_finished") but, even though it technically worked for making the transition between equip and unequip animations possible, there was always this awkward pause at the beginning of the unequip animations where I'd see what appears to be the final frame of the animation at the beginning of the animation for a single frame. Needless to say, I'm satisfied with just having the equip animations working when switching weapons with the mouse wheel. Of course my code could be more optimized but, as a beginner trying to make a demo, code optimization isn't my top priority (though I am looking into mentions by which I can get it done still).
As I've alluded to, I'm still having problems using arrays. I do know how to store integers, floats and strings into an array. However, I do have a problem with storing other established variables into an array. However, all of that is an issue for another day in another threat and perhaps I can find the solution to that problem somewhere else.

@DaveTheCoder said: It gets more fun when you start combining arrays and other things. The config file I've set up for saving my game is a Dictionary. One of the dictionary elements is an array of dictionaries. Two of the elements of those dictionaries are also dictionaries. :)

What about putting referred nodes into an array? Let's say that I have a bunch of variables similar to this: var thing = $thing. Whenever I put variables like this in array, I don't get any arrays until I try to use the array back trying to get the index of what's in it. What works for me is if I re-establish the array inside of a function by just copying and pasting to code for the array into the function, while removing the part that says var at the end. However, that has it's obvious limitations.