"Your first 3D game" issues

[andreymal]

There's a bunch of weird things I ran into while trying to follow the "Squash the Creeps" tutorial in Godot 4. I'm not a Godot expert and don't know how to fix some of these things, so I don't want to make a pull request, but I hope this list can help other contributors improve the documentation.

Common

The screenshots are inconsistent:

• some taken in Godot 3, some in Godot 4
• some use names in PascalCase, some in snake_case
• some nodes have the "3D" suffix (Godot 4), some don't (Godot 3), some have the lowercase "3d" suffix (beta1?)
• some screenshots are in PNG format, some are JPG, some are WebP (and I think WebP is worse than PNG), and they vary in quality and UI scale

Perhaps it would be a good idea to recreate all the screenshots after the first release candidate?

Your first 3D game

• index.rst:34 (fixed in #6763)
  This link (https://github.com/GDQuest/godot-3d-dodge-the-creeps) redirects to https://github.com/godotengine/godot-3d-dodge-the-creeps — I think it would be nice to fix this unnecessary redirect.
  I also found this link in three other places:
  • index.rst:45
  • 01.game_setup.rst:12
  • going_further.rst:20

Setting up the game area

• 01.game_setup.rst:42 (fixed in #6763)

  click the Add Node button represented by a "+" icon

  This button is actually "Add Child Node" even when there are no nodes in the scene

• 01.game_setup.rst:43

  Name the node Main.

  It seems this page doesn't explain how to rename nodes. Mentioning RMB>Rename or F2 would be good

• 01.game_setup.rst:48

  Save the scene as Main.tscn

  Godot 4 suggests to name it main.tscn instead. If I understand correctly, Godot 4 uses snake_case by default after Add project setting to change scene file casing godot#52597

  Same with other scenes (MusicPlayer.tscn → music_player.tscn etc.)

  Note that if you decide to rename the scenes in this tutorial, you will have to rewrite all the text and recreate all the screenshots, because these names are visible almost everywhere.

• 01.game_setup.rst:67 (fixed in #6763)

  Create a new Box Shape3D.

  Unnecessary space: Box Shape3D → BoxShape3D

• 01.game_setup.rst:89 (fixed in #6763)

  create a `BoxMesh <class_BoxMesh>` resource

  Broken rst link?

• img/01.game_setup/13.move_gizmo_y_axis.png (fixed in #6763)

  The MeshInstance3D is not rendered on this screenshot, which may confuse some users

• 01.game_setup.rst:131 and 01.game_setup.rst:135 (fixed in #6763)

  add a child node DirectionalLight
  We need to move and rotate the DirectionalLight node.

  Renamed to DirectionalLight3D

By the way: unlike Godot 3, the ground is not white in Godot 4. Can we tweak something to make the lighting identical to Godot 3?

Player scene and input actions

• 02.player_input.rst:65 and related screenshot img/02.player_input/04.sphere_shape.png

  The sphere's wireframe appears below the character.

  It doesn't appear in Godot 4 because it's too small by default and fits completely inside the model. I have to set the radius to 0.75 to see the wireframe

• 02.player_input.rst:70

  Shrink it a bit by dragging the orange dot in the viewport.

  We should now enlarge it instead (from 0.5 to 0.8)

• 02.player_input.rst:106 and related screenshot img/02.player_input/07.input_map_tab.png

  Godot projects come with some predefined actions

  They are no longer visible by default, we need to click Show Built-in Actions to see them

• 02.player_input.rst:130 and related screenshots

  select Manual Selection -> Joypad Axes.

  The Manual Selection tab no longer exists, everything is in one window now

• 02.player_input.rst:151

  Bind the Space key and the gamepad's A button.

  It's not obvious what is "the gamepad's A button", all gamepads are different. Maybe just mention "Joypad Button 0" instead?

Moving the player with code

• 03.player_movement_code.rst:50 (fixed in #6763)

  The velocity is a 3D vector

  It has been renamed to target_velocity to prevent collision with the builtin velocity property (the related code snippets are correct)

• 03.player_movement_code.rst:190

      if not is_on_floor(): # If in the air, fall towards the floor. Literally gravity
              target_velocity.y = target_velocity.y - (fall_acceleration * delta)

  This line is rendered with incorrect indentation because the rst source mixes tabs and spaces

• 03.player_movement_code.rst:235 (fixed in #6763)

  Here is the complete Player.gd code for reference.

  • Inconsistent comment: "while in the air" / "when in the air"
  • Incorrect 5-space indentation, starting from if direction != Vector3.ZERO:

• img/03.player_movement_code/13.camera3d_values.webp

  This screenshot doesn't highlight Projection: Orthogonal for some reason

Designing the mob scene

• 04.mob_scene.rst:116 (fixed in #6763)

  func _physics_process(_delta):
       move_and_slide()

  Incorrect 5-space indentation

• 04.mob_scene.rst:153 (fixed in #6763)

  Below, rand_range() outputs a random value

  Renamed to randf_range()

• 04.mob_scene.rst:251 (fixed in #6763)

  Here is the complete Mob.gd script for reference.

  Again, incorrect 5-space indentation

Spawning monsters

• 05.spawning_mobs.rst:14 (fixed in #6763)

  Our game has a default window size of 1024x600.

  I see 1152x648, I don't know why. Is this the new default value in Godot 4?

• 05.spawning_mobs.rst:97

  We can update all four cylinders at once. Select all the mesh instances in the Scene dock.

  This step is not needed because all cylinders share the same MeshInstance3D. Simply select any mesh instance

• 05.spawning_mobs.rst:161 (fixed in #6811)

  Then, as we're going to spawn the monsters procedurally, we want to randomize numbers every time we play the game. If we don't do that, the monsters will always spawn following the same sequence.

  It seems it's not needed, see Call randomize() automatically godot#43330

Jumping and squashing monsters

• 06.jump_and_squash.rst:239

  With this code, if no collisions occurred on a given frame, the loop won't run.

  Again, incorrect 5-space indentation

• 06.jump_and_squash.rst:291 (fixed in #6763)

  collision.get_collider(index).is_in_group("mob")

  Typo, index is not needed here

Killing the player

• 07.killing_player.rst:109 (fixed in #6763)

  var player_position = $Player.transform.origin

  Renamed to $Player.position, see 05.spawning_mobs.rst:253

• 07.killing_player.rst:272 (fixed in #6763)

  Incorrect 3-space indentation after func squash():

• 07.killing_player.rst:324 (fixed in #6763)

  The extends CharacterBody3D line from Player.gd is not visible in html. I'm not a rst expert, but I guess there is a missing empty line before this line

• 07.killing_player.rst:332 (fixed in #6763)

  Missing comment # Vertical impulse applied to the character upon jumping in meters per second.

• 07.killing_player.rst:346 and related lines

  direction.x = direction.x + 1

  03.player_movement_code.rst:72 suggests to use direction.x += 1 instead (same with z)

• 07.killing_player.rst:359 (fixed in #6763)

  $Pivot.look_at(position + direction,Vector3.UP)

  Missing space before Vector3.UP

• 07.killing_player.rst:366 (fixed in #6763)

  if not is_on_floor(): # If in the air, fall towards the floor

  Missing Literally gravity comment, see 03.player_movement_code.rst:189

• 07.killing_player.rst:401

  func _on_mob_detector_body_entered(body):

  Line 12 (UNUSED_PARAMETER): The parameter 'body' is never used in the function '_on_mob_detector_body_entered'. If this is intended, prefix it with an underscore: '_body'

Score and replay

• 08.score_and_replay.rst:68 and 08.score_and_replay.rst:76 (fixed in #6763)

  There, you will see an empty Font Data field.
  drag the Montserrat-Medium.ttf file we included in the project onto the Font Data.

  Font Data has been renamed to Base Font (the related screenshots are correct)

• 08.score_and_replay.rst:79 (fixed in #6763 and #6807)

  Set the Settings -> Size to 22 pixels

  It has been renamed to Default Font Size (the related screenshot is correct)

• 08.score_and_replay.rst:129 (fixed in #6807)

  Again, incorrect 5-space indentation

• 08.score_and_replay.rst:176

  If you get an error when you squash a mob check your capital letters in the signal "_on_Mob_squashed"

  Is this note still relevant? The only important thing is that Main.gd and ScoreLabel.gd must use the same name. I tried renaming it to _dfg3f85f4fgbdfg and it works just fine.

• 08.score_and_replay.rst:203 and related lines and screenshots (fixed in #6763 and #6807)

  you can use the Layout menu in the toolbar.

  It has been renamed to Anchor preset, the related screenshots need to be updated

• 13.retry_color_picker.png (fixed in #6807)

  This screenshot is outdated, the hex value has been changed from 78000000 (ARGB) to 00000078 (RGBA)

• 08.score_and_replay.rst:270 (fixed in #6763)

  func _on_Player_hit():

  Renamed to _on_player_hit, see 07.killing_player.rst:134

Character animation

• 09.adding_animations.rst:96 and related screenshots

  Move the translation key to 0.2 seconds

  All the related screenshots show 0.3 instead, which is incorrect

• 09.adding_animations.rst:185

  If the creature is a little too close to the floor, you can move the Pivot up to offset it.

  Not really. When I move Pivot up, the player model starts looking at the ground because Pivot is rotated with $Pivot.look_at(position + direction, Vector3.UP). This will be fixed below by changing $Pivot.rotation.x, but at this point in the tutorial, moving Pivot gives strange results.

• 09.adding_animations.rst:208 (fixed in #6763)

  $AnimationPlayer.playback_speed = 4

  It has been renamed to speed_scale recently: Make AnimatedSprite's playback API consistent with AnimationPlayer godot#71907

• 09.adding_animations.rst:261 (Fixed in Several improvements to "First 3D Game" tutorial #8955)

  Next, click on Animation > Copy.

  This menu doesn't exist in Godot 4. It seems we should use Animtion > Manage Animations, but I'm not sure.

• 09.adding_animations.rst:262 (Fixed in Several improvements to "First 3D Game" tutorial #8955)

  That's it; all monsters will now play the float animation.

  We also need to enable autoplay, which is disabled by default

• 09.adding_animations.rst:274 (fixed in #6763)

  $AnimationPlayer.playback_speed = random_speed / min_speed

  Again, renamed to speed_scale

• 09.adding_animations.rst:296 (fixed in #6763)

  Again, the extends CharacterBody3D is not visible in html. In general, all these reference scripts also have the previously mentioned issues

P.S. I didn't test C#

[skyace65]

I'll go over this on Friday and work on a PR for it. And keep in mind, even if you can't fix everything on this list there's nothing wrong with making a PR fixing only what you do know how to fix.

[DigitalBox98]

A comment on the C# part : to make things work, you will need to update some properties with the first letter changed to uppercase like below :
direction.x += 1f; => direction.X += 1f;

[citrusmunch]

09.adding_animations.rst:261

Here I managed to use the Edit button on the top right to Copy Tracks and Paste Tracks. I had to use Animation > New for the Edit button to be available for pasting in the mob animation player.

[citrusmunch]

09.adding_animations.rst:261

Here I managed to use the Edit button on the top right to Copy Tracks and Paste Tracks. I had to use Animation > New for the Edit button to be available for pasting in the mob animation player.

Also noticing it should mention:

• animation length needs to be adjusted to 1.2 seconds
• remember to enable Autoplay on Load and Animation Looping

[Julian-Vos]

Thanks for making this list! I found another problem in "Setting up the game area" today: it says "hold the Ctrl key down to turn on grid snapping (Cmd on macOS)", but it's Ctrl on macOS as well.

[Julian-Vos]

Another one in "Designing the mob scene": "This function destroy the instance it's called on" should say "destroys". (oh and the method name in the code example directly below that is outdated)

[MORGAN-DMG]

Heyo! I actually have a fix/solution for one of the listed issues. I came across this exact issue when completing the tutorial. I apologize if this is completely out of etiquette or missing some kind of formatting. I'm very new to Godot, for reasons we all know I'm sure, and I'm fairly new to Git because again...Source Control features were handled in-engine in my previous experiences. Here's the issue I'm referring to:

====================================================
09.adding_animations.rst:261

Next, click on Animation > Copy.

This menu doesn't exist in Godot 4. It seems we should use Animtion > Manage Animations, but I'm not sure.

====================================================

I digress! Point is, I'm fairly certain that I know how to solve this issue for the Character Animation section of this tutorial. I tried every, other way I could think of for a fix, but this method was the only one I had any success with in Godot 4.1. So, to get the animation to "Copy over," for use in the Mob class I had to:

1. Select Player Scene
2. Select Player Node
3. Select the AnimationPlayer node in the Player node.
4. With the Animation Panel open, Click on the Tool Button for "Animation"
5. Choose Manage Animations
6. Save the unsaved Global Library, which includes the developer created "float," animation within
7. SIDE NOTE: I saved the Global Library as "AnimLib," to be a little more familiar with Unity's old school naming conventions
8. Close the Edit Animation Libraries screen with the "OK" button
9. Select/Open the Mob Scene
10. Select the Mob Node
11. Create a AnimationPlayer Child Node for Mob and Select it
12. In the Animation Panel, again Click on the Tool Button for "Animation"
13. Choose Manage Animations
14. This time, Load Library and choose the "AnimLib," library which should be available along with the dev created "float," animation.
15. The last step of, "make sure that the button with an "A+" icon (Autoplay on Load) and the looping arrows (Animation looping) are also turned on in the animation editor" works perfectly fine as-is.

Again, I apologize if this is the wrong way to suggest a fix, like I say I'm pretty new to both of these communities, but I hope this helps nonetheless!

[seankao31]

Linking a relevant issue for copying animation here for the sake of visibility: godotengine/godot#60848

[seankao31]

Additional issue on character animation:

godot-docs/getting_started/first_3d_game/09.adding_animations.rst

Line 278 in 971c1f7

$AnimationPlayer.speed_scale = random_speed / min_speed

I believe the intention isn't integer division, but instead float division

[ParadoxV5]

Setting up the game area

godotengine/godot-demo-projects#884 for Godot 4 has superceded godotengine/godot-3d-dodge-the-creeps (just opened godotengine/godot-3d-dodge-the-creeps#14 a few minutes ago).
We better also rewrite the tutorial to go off the godotengine/godot-demo-projects entry instead of the outdated and unmaintained repo.

[docrinehart]

09.adding_animations.rst:261

Here I managed to use the Edit button on the top right to Copy Tracks and Paste Tracks. I had to use Animation > New for the Edit button to be available for pasting in the mob animation player.

Also noticing it should mention:

• animation length needs to be adjusted to 1.2 seconds
• remember to enable Autoplay on Load and Animation Looping

Using Godot 4.2.1.stable

I ran into this issue and considered the "Manage Animations" option, but the "Edit -> Copy Tracks" seemed more straightforward and clear to me, noting that you still have to add the AnimationPlayer on the Mob scene, so that's the approach I took to make it through.

That said, I additionally encountered a couple other interesting problems I'm not seeing referenced (just on quick searching through GitLab issues). Both are related to the character animation section:

• While the guide correctly states to get animation keyframes from the Character node, all the subsequent screenshots that show the animation panel have Player showing as the target node. This threw me off for a good 40 minutes until I came across a reddit answer highlighting that the root Player shouldn't be used for keyframes. The issue this causes is that the player character is animated and floating, but no longer moves to player input. -- A more detailed explanation of why this happens might be worth noting in a warning/note callout. I took a few updated screenshots and will push up a PR if I get a chance.

• The player shadow is rendered weird when actually running the game. I've adjusted some settings and it mostly works, but the best thing I did was to make the window size bigger. From searches it looks like Godot 4.x has some LOD rendering issues with shadows, so I'm assuming that this is related, but I'm not well-versed in game engines enough yet to know for sure.

[skyace65]

I've updated the list with the fixes from #8955. I'll be working on a PR to fix the remaining ones. This will take several days.

[artisteacher]

I also noticed that the shortcut for "Duplicate" in the tutorial is just listed as shift+D - but on macOS it's actually CMD+D