So... which version should I pick ?!

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:bust_in_silhouette: Asked By olivier

Probably been asked 2000 times already, but what version should I choose when getting started ? The standard one, or the mono one ?

The download page should either give clear indication on how to choose, or just suggest the most common choice for beginners (leaving the other to an “other downloads” page or something). Being asked seemingly important questions without any clue is just discouraging people from trying the engine…

:bust_in_silhouette: Reply From: kidscancode

Download the standard version. It is the most common choice, which is why it’s listed first and is labeled “standard”.

Do you need C# support? Download the mono version labeled “C# Support”. If you don’t know the answer to that question, then you don’t need C# support.

Well in the mean time I’ve downloaded the c# version as that’s what I used with unity… But still get that frustrating feeling of a 50% chance of making a bad choice at the very first step (kind of confirmed by the startup message telling csharp with Godot is only at alpha state…).

If I’m just getting started, what will I find most resources for? What limitations will I encounter with each version down the road? (From early reading, it seems the alternative to csharp if a pseudo python language, does that mean no external library?) Can I easily switch/migrate later on? Etc…

olivier | 2020-05-30 00:58

Some of these questions are beyond the scope of any download page to answer.

Choice is something you can get advice on, but you’ll find different answers depending whom you ask. If you ask me, using C# in Godot is not the best choice.

C# is not nearly as widely used as GDScript. There are more documents, tutorials, and examples available in GDScript. The exported game files are lighter-weight. The development overhead is much lower.

Start with GDScript and learn the engine. The API and tools are the same whichever scripting language you use. You can mix languages later if you feel like C# is going to bring something to the table that you’re missing.

kidscancode | 2020-05-30 01:20

Plus, GDscript is a great, simple language built just for the purpose of Godot. It takes very little time to learn if you know a programming language like python or C#. You can probably pick it up just by watching a Godot tutorial. :slight_smile:

Millard | 2020-05-30 01:48

debugging is also simple in gdscript

supper_raptor | 2020-05-30 04:15