Godot Background Loader

A small library for background loading in Godot 2/3.

This is a simple library which uses ResourceLoader to load things in the background (no multi-threading).

Installation

Copy the loader.gd script into your project e.g. to res://addons/loader/loader.gd

(You can also just copy this into your code and tweak it however you want)

Add loader.gd as an AutoLoad.

Usage

Overview

General usage of this library involves the following 2 functions:

loader.queue(id, path, push_front=false)

Queue the ".tscn" or ".gd" object for loading and associate it with id. When it has completed loading, the resource_loaded signal will be emitted for id. There is an optional "push_front" parameter if you want to prioritize this resource.

loader.instance(id)

Get a new instance of the resource associated with id. If you call this method while the resource is being loaded or is still in the queue, it will be loaded immediately in a blocking way (using the built-in load() function).

There's also a queue_finished signal which will be emitted when everything in the queue has been loaded. You can yield to this signal if you want to, for instance, display a loading screen and wait for everything to load.

Other methods

loader.clear_queue()

Clear everything in the queue. If something is busy loading it will finish.

loader.clear_resources()

Clear cache of resources that have been loaded already.

loader.get_progress()

Get the progress of the currently loading object as a float between 0 and 1.

Examples

Some common example patterns.

Basic

# Queue a resource for background loading
loader.queue("jimmy", "res://src/characters/jimmy.tscn")

# Later on, whenever you need it, acquire an instance
var jimmy = loader.instance("jimmy")

Signal

func _ready():
    loader.connect("resource_loaded", self, "_resource_loaded")

    # Queue a resource for background loading
    loader.queue("jimmy", "res://src/characters/jimmy.tscn")

# When the resource has finished loading, do something with it
func _resource_loaded(id):
    var instance = loader.instance(id)
    # Do something with it ...

Loading screen

If you want to display a loading screen and wait for all resources to finish loading

# Display a loading screen
# ...

loader.queue("jimmy", "res://src/characters/jimmy.tscn")
loader.queue("bullet", "res://src/bullet.tscn")
loader.queue("car", "res://src/car.tscn")
loader.queue("slime", "res://src/enemies/slime.tscn")

yield(loader, "queue_finished")

# Display the main screen
# ...

License

WTFPL. Do whatever you want.