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The scene tree

Learn how a scene is organized as a tree in Godot.

A scene is a tree

In Godot every scene is arranged as a tree, and each part of the tree is called a node. In the Scene panel the root node appears at the top and its children are listed under it, nested. By dragging a node under another node you change the hierarchy.

func _ready():
    print("AnaSahne")
    print("  Oyuncu")
    print("    Silah")

This output shows that the Silah node sits under Oyuncu, and Oyuncu sits under AnaSahne.

Node paths

You can also reach every node in the tree by its path; a path joins the node names from the root with /. A node keeps its own name in the name property, and the node right above it comes from the get_parent() call. This way you can compute a node's place in the tree in a single line.

func _ready():
    print(get_parent().name + "/" + name)

If the Oyuncu node sits under AnaSahne, this line prints AnaSahne/Oyuncu.

Practice Build a tree path

Inside _ready, define three variables: kok = "AnaSahne", oyuncu = "Oyuncu" and silah = "Silah". On the first line print the three names joined with / after the label Yol: , and on the second line print the root after the label Kök: .

Starter code

Player.cs
func _ready():
    # 1) kok değişkenini "AnaSahne" olarak tanımla
    # 2) oyuncu değişkenini "Oyuncu" olarak tanımla
    # 3) silah değişkenini "Silah" olarak tanımla
    # 4) "Yol: " etiketiyle kok/oyuncu/silah birleşimini yazdır
    # 5) "Kök: " etiketiyle kok değerini yazdır
    pass

Sample solution

Player.cs
func _ready():
    var kok = "AnaSahne"
    var oyuncu = "Oyuncu"
    var silah = "Silah"
    print("Yol: " + kok + "/" + oyuncu + "/" + silah)
    print("Kök: " + kok)

Expected output

Yol: AnaSahne/Oyuncu/Silah
Kök: AnaSahne

Questions and answers

Review the lesson questions together with their answers. To test yourself, solve the lesson interactively.

1 In Godot, how are the pieces of a scene organized?

  • As a tree; every piece is called a node Correct answer
  • As a grid; every piece sits in a cell
  • As a folder structure; every piece is a separate file
  • As a flat list; every piece gets a number

Explanation: Scenes are trees; there is one root node and the other nodes are ordered under it as children.

2 Calling the parent node

Question 
func _ready():
    print(____).name + "/" + name)
Answer 
func _ready():
    print(get_parent()).name + "/" + name)

Explanation: The node above is obtained with get_parent(); .name gives that node's name. get_child(0) instead goes down to the first child node.

3 Tree terms

Term Meaning
Kök düğüm Topmost node in the tree
Çocuk düğüm Node placed under another node
Düğüm yolu Path from root to target node
Hiyerarşi Parent-child node structure

All lessons in Beginner

1 What is game development?

  1. Intro to game development
  2. Game engines
  3. 2D and 3D games
  4. The game loop
  5. The scene concept
  6. Summary - Game dev fundamentals

2 Unity setup

  1. Installing Unity Hub
  2. Creating your first project
  3. The editor interface
  4. Toolbar and playback
  5. Saving the project
  6. Summary - Unity setup

3 First scene project

  1. Project overview
  2. Camera and light
  3. Your first cube in the scene
  4. Adding a material
  5. Testing in Play mode
  6. Summary - First scene

4 The GameObject concept

  1. What is a GameObject?
  2. Components
  3. The Hierarchy window
  4. Editing with the Inspector
  5. Tags and Layers
  6. Summary - GameObject

5 C# script basics

  1. Your first C# script
  2. using and namespace
  3. Class structure
  4. Variables and types
  5. Output with Debug.Log
  6. Summary - C# basics

6 MonoBehaviour

  1. What is MonoBehaviour?
  2. The Start method
  3. The Update method
  4. Awake vs Start
  5. SerializeField and public
  6. Summary - MonoBehaviour

7 Transform

  1. What is Transform?
  2. Changing position
  3. Moving with Translate
  4. Changing rotation
  5. Local vs world space
  6. Summary - Transform

8 Input

  1. The Input class
  2. Axis input
  3. Mouse input
  4. The new Input System
  5. Movement vector
  6. Summary - Input

9 Physics (Rigidbody/Collider)

  1. What is a Rigidbody?
  2. What is a Collider?
  3. Applying force with AddForce
  4. Collision events
  5. Trigger events
  6. Summary - Physics

10 2D Sprite

  1. What is a Sprite?
  2. SpriteRenderer
  3. Sprite import settings
  4. Sprite sorting
  5. Preparing sprite animation
  6. Summary - 2D Sprite

11 Godot basics

  1. The Godot editor
  2. A new project
  3. The scene tree
  4. The Node concept
  5. Saving the project
  6. Summary - Godot basics

12 GDScript

  1. What is GDScript?
  2. extends and variables
  3. Function definition
  4. Output with print
  5. Type hints
  6. Summary - GDScript

13 Node and Scene

  1. Node2D and Sprite2D
  2. Saving a scene
  3. Scene instance
  4. The _ready method
  5. The _process method
  6. Summary - Node and Scene

14 Beginner final

  1. Challenge 1: Print a score
  2. Challenge 2: Movement vector
  3. Challenge 3: Godot ready
  4. Challenge 4: Collision log
  5. Challenge 5: Final synthesis