4.x

Migrating from 3.x

This is an evolving list of the main changes and “gotchas” to look out for if you’re transitioning to 4.0.

New Names

One of the biggest changes in Godot 4 is a whole bunch of renaming - of nodes, functions, and property names. Most of it is done to make things consistent or clear. Here are a few of the biggest ones to watch out for:

  • 2D/3D nodes - In Godot 3.x, 2D nodes had the “2D” suffix, but 3D nodes had none. This has been made consistent - they all now have “2D” or “3D” suffixes. For example: RigidBody2D vs. RigidBody3D.

  • Also in the category of 3D, the Spatial node is renamed to Node3D to match.

  • One of the most popular nodes, KinematicBody, has been renamed to CharacterBody2D/CharacterBody3D. See below for further changes with this node’s API.

  • PackedScene’s instance() function has been renamed to instantiate().

  • The position and global_position properties replace translation and global_translation in 3D, making them consistent with 2D.

Signals and Callables

Working with signals is much more streamlined in 4.0. Signal is a native type now, so you’ll be using fewer strings, meaning you get autocomplete and error checking. This applies to functions as well, which can now be directly referenced rather than using strings.

Here’s an example of defining, connecting, and emitting a signal.

extends Node

signal my_signal

func _ready():
    my_signal.connect(signal_handler)

func _input(event):
    if event.is_action_pressed("ui_select"):
        my_signal.emit()

func signal_handler():
    print("signal received")

Tweens

If you started using SceneTreeTween in Godot 3.5, then you’ll be familiar with Godot 4.0’s Tween usage.

Tween is no longer a node. Instead, you create one-off tween animation objects whenever you need them. Once you get used to it, it’s a lot more powerful and easier to use than the old method.

AnimatedSprite[2D|3D]

The biggest change that catches people who are familiar with the 3.x version of this node is that the playing property is gone. It’s now much more consistent with AnimationPlayer’s usage - to automatically play an animation, you can toggle autoplay in the SpriteFrames panel. In code, use play() and stop() to control playback.

CharacterBody[2D|3D]

The biggest change in this node is in using move_and_slide(). It no longer takes any parameters - they are all now built-in properties. This includes a native velocity property, so you no longer need to declare your own.

For detailed examples of using these nodes, see Platform Character and/or Basic FPS Character.

TileMap

The TileMap node is completely overhauled for 4.0. Just about everything, from how you create TileSets to how you draw and interact with tiles is 100% new.

Our “Using TileMaps” guide is coming soon.

RNG

There are a few changes to GDScript’s built-in random number generator functions:

  • You no longer need to call randomize() - this is automatic. If you do want repeatable “randomness”, use seed() to set it to a preselected value.

  • rand_range() is now replaced with either randf_range() (for floats) or randi_range() (for ints).

Raycasting

When casting rays in code, there’s a new API. PhysicsDirectSpaceState[2D|3D].intersect_ray() now takes a special object as a parameter. This object specifies the ray properties. For example, to cast a ray in 3D:

var space = get_world_3d().direct_space_state
var ray = PhysicsRayQueryParameters3D.create(position, destination)
var collision = space.intersect_ray(ray)
if collision:
    print("ray collided")