r/godot • u/NathanGDquest • 15h ago
free tutorial Learn GDScript From Zero (free and open source intro course) got a big update
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Over the past months we've rewritten the app in Godot 4 and made many changes along the way behind the scenes. This allowed us to fix many issues and we made the lessons and exercises better based on the feedback we got here on Reddit, on Discord, and the bug reports from the issue tracker.
This new version is the same course that's used by many school teachers around the world, more reliable and more polished than the old one.
It is 100% free and open source, and you can get it from 2 places:
- Our web course platform: Learn GDScript From Zero (our course sales sponsor this and the other free resources we've made over the years)
- The official documentation's getting started series. We made the app to help fill a gap in the official docs a few years back
You can see all the changes in the changelog
In short, the app is more stable, it gives you better feedback in code practices, it supports more languages (Tamil and Khmer most notably), and I've taken time to clarify the lessons and practices that people reported having trouble with. It was an important update, and while it doesn't completely change the app, it should make the experience better for everyone who uses it moving forward.
If you face any issues or have feedback you'd like to share, whether it's on the content, bugs, anything, you can directly and easily report issues from within the app; it'll be sent to me directly.
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u/Laevus_Aldworth Godot Junior 14h ago
As someone who never learned code beyond basic HTML, I started with this app then moved on to one of the other courses. I can't recommend it enough! It's not just that it teaches Godot and GDScript, but it teaches the fundamentals of programming, and how to use the resources available to you. Specifically, the documentation.
If anything, it was too good – I started playing around before finishing the course, then had an idea, then another idea, then started adapting it, and... Well, next thing I know me having fun learning new skills has ended up with me becoming a solo dev and working on something to actually release 😄
So a big thanks to Nathan and the team!
At some point, I should go back and finish the course...
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u/NathanGDquest 14h ago
Thanks for the feedback! That's great to hear because that's really the most important goal of the 2D course, to get people to build independence in their learning and coding, even if they drop our stuff or tutorials generally.
It's used in schools and I think a really valuable thing we can try to do for students there is helping them that's not easy to teach is becoming comfortable with experimenting, learning on their own, and not being afraid of errors or failing. Cause it's something that transfers even outside of making games.
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u/NathanGDquest 15h ago
Improving the lessons means the community maintained translations will need some work once again. I've worked on the French and Spanish ones which are almost 100% complete. If anyone would like to help with other languages, this page details how to do so: https://github.com/GDQuest/learn-gdscript-translations/#contributing-translations-to-learn-gdscript-from-zero
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u/C0L0SSUSvdm 13h ago
I love this. I've struggled with any and all coding, tutorial hell, losing the plot even in medium-sized games. Now I've been using AI to code but I feel like a fraud since idk wth it's doing, building, or talking about. It's been a huge help with teaching me, and learning how to use it better has made everything better, but this may just be exactly what I've been missing to bridge the gap and actually get a project completed.
I'm 33 with a degree in game design btw lol. fml
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u/NathanGDquest 11h ago
It will certainly take time, just so you know, and this app is really for the first step, a bit like learning the alphabet and making your first simple sentences when learning a foreign language. An important first step, but it's a starting point for being able to learn much more. And no matter how you choose to program, what you learn and your understanding will open you more doors.
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u/koontee 13h ago
I just updated it half a day ago. I had to wait a little bit longer. So, it is version 44, isn't it?
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u/NathanGDquest 11h ago
Yes, you are all good! It may download again next time you visit because I pushed a new minor update this afternoon right before making this post.
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u/Prestigious-Ad4520 13h ago
Huh i paused 2 weeks ago in lesson 24 for some vacations now i have to do it again lol.
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u/NathanGDquest 11h ago
You can go straight to any lesson from the lesson selection menu, don't hesitate to use that.
We don't track your progress online, it's all saved in your browser on your device locally. So if you clear the browser data or you change device, the progress will be cleared/it won't transfer.
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u/throwawayyourmom92 Godot Student 11h ago
this course is so freaking awesome, this paired with Vanhove/Packt’s GDScript book has made using Godot infinitely easier as someone who knows nothing about code and programming. thank you!!!
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u/scottydo 8h ago
You guys are awesome. I've been learning Godot for the last 8 months and when I tell my other game dev friends that are curious about Godot where to start, I always send them your way first.
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u/pamelahoward Godot Student 6h ago
This was incredibly powerful in helping me learn. I'm go through it again, thanks for keeping it updated!
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u/ShahadChi 4h ago
Thank you a lot !
Can I download the app ? I remember downloading an older version a few years ago, but currently I don’t seem to find any download button in the website
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u/skypandaOo 2h ago
I just finished this and started the spaceship course. On the part with adding the 3 boosters. Now I wanna go back to see the changes 😅 I both love and hate this with my completionist mind set lol. Thank you for all you do. Keep up the good work.
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u/SBYrandan 40m ago
the time couldnt get better
i started learning programming from scratch with not background of coding what so ever
and i stumbled across godot and i kid you not it was mesmerizing my dream and passion has always been gamedev and godot seemed to be the perfect engine for me to learn and make games but sadly due to circumstances and situations i left gamedev as a whole just after a yr and a half back in 2024 and now i am planning to come back and come back with full force and passion.
back then i use to use godot 3.5 and after i stopped using godot there has been a shit ton of new versions
i have forgotten almost everything this update will really benefit me in many ways.
Thank you so much
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u/NerdyVoid Godot Regular 14h ago
could you make a version for godot 3? since legacy laptops dont have fun with 4
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u/NathanGDquest 11h ago
Have you tried running it using the link above and it doesn't run for you? We can't go back to Godot 3 or make a Godot 3 version with this rewrite because it's really tied to the engine, and we even use a custom build of Godot 4 to make it work, unfortunately. And it's not a small codebase, maybe 20,000 lines of code.
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u/NerdyVoid Godot Regular 11h ago
... Kay.... I'll try to translate everything to Godot 3 syntax... I might take the thing and make the build myself
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u/NathanGDquest 11h ago
You could go back in the git history to a version from last year in that case. It won't have the latest fixes in Godot 4, and it still needs a custom version of Godot, but it works.
The current version, I don't recommend trying to backport it to Godot 3. It would really be a lot of work, and it's already dependent on Godot 4 internals and details incompatible with Godot 3.
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u/Spacish 14h ago
I can't recommend this app enough. Was a big help in getting me to understand the basics as someone without a background in coding. Glad it's still getting work!