Roadmap v1.4

Welcome to Defold

Here's a roadmap for learning Defold, made for beginners:

Important

While following this roadmap, your goal is not to write perfect code. Your goal is to understand why things work and why they break.

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Phase 1: Foundations

• Install Defold: Download and install the Defold editor from the official website here.
• Editor Basics:
  • Familiarize yourself with the editor interface: project view, scene editor, properties panel, console, it's very minimal and easy to understand.
• Learn the four core concepts of Defold:

For now, focus on what exists in Defold, don't try to master just yet.

• Learn about the building blocks of Defold, game objects, components and collections.

• Learn about Addressing, Code that controls a running game must be able to reach every object and component to manipulate what the player sees and hears, and Defold’s addressing mechanism makes this possible.

• Learn about message passing, message passing is a mechanism for Defold game objects to communicate with each other.

• Learn about application lifecycle.

• Explore the Defold Manual:

  • skim over the Defold manuals to get a better understanding of the engine and its features.
  • While reading, focus on recognizing names and ideas, not memorizing details.

You can move on from Phase 1 when:

• You know what game objects, components, and collections are
• You understand that objects communicate using messages
• You don’t fully understand everything — and that’s okay 😉

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Phase 2: Scripting and Game Logic

• Lua Scripting Basics:

  • Learn enough Lua to read and slightly modify Defold scripts (not to master Lua): variables, data types, operators, control flow (if statements, loops), functions, there you will be given all the resources you will ever need to learn Lua.

  Beginner habit:

  • Use print() often to see what your code is doing
  • Errors are normal and expected
  • Reading error messages is part of learning

  • Understand how to attach scripts to game objects and use the init(), update(), and on_message() functions.

• Basic Game Mechanics (input → logic → result):

  • Implement movement using keyboard or mouse input.
  • Create simple collision detection between game objects.

• Example Projects: Start with very simple game ideas:

  • "Hello World" with interactive elements (e.g., a button that changes color when clicked).
  • A simple "dodge the falling objects" game or just do a tutorial like snake.

  When following a tutorial:

  • Pause and predict what the code will do before running it
  • Change small things (values, names, speeds) to see what breaks
  • If something breaks, that’s progress

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Common Beginner Traps (Read when you feel stuck)

• “I must understand everything before moving on”

  • You don’t. Recognition comes before understanding.

• “My code is messy, so I’m doing it wrong”

  • Messy code is normal at this stage. Clarity comes later.

• “This tutorial makes sense, but I can’t do it alone”

  • That’s expected. Tutorials teach exposure, not mastery.

• “I should restart from zero”

  • Only restart if you know why. Otherwise, continue.

• “Everyone else gets this faster than me”

  • You’re only seeing results, not confusion.

If you’re stuck for more than 30–60 minutes:

• Take a short break
• Ask a specific question
• Or move on and come back later

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Phase 3: Intermediate Concepts

• Collections and Factories:

  • Learn how to use collections to organize your game objects.
  • Understand how to use factories to create instances of game objects at runtime.

• Animation:

  • Learn how to create and use sprite animations.
  • Implement animation based on game events (e.g., walking animation when moving).

• User Interface (UI):

  • Learn how to create and manage UI elements (buttons, text, images).
  • Implement basic UI interactions.

  Tip: UI (GUI scripts) should usually not control gameplay directly.

• Sound and Music:

  • Learn how to add sound effects and background music to your game.

• More Complex Projects:

  • A simple platformer with basic movement, jumping, and collision, there is an example game already made if you need.
  • A top-down shooter with basic enemy AI.

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Phase 4: Advanced Topics and Polish (Ongoing)

You do not need this phase to make and publish simple games.

• Physics: Dive deeper into the physics engine for more realistic movement and interactions.
• Advanced Scripting: Learn more advanced Lua techniques, such as object-oriented programming.
• Shaders: Explore shaders to create visual effects.
• Networking: If you're interested in multiplayer games, learn about networking concepts and Defold's networking capabilities.
• Optimization: Learn how to optimize your game for performance.
• Publishing: Learn how to build and publish your game to different platforms, it's all in the manual.
• Community and Resources:
  • Engage with the Defold community on the forum and Discord.
  • Explore community-created extensions and libraries.
  • Continue learning through tutorials, documentation, and example projects.

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Tips:

• Start small: Don't try to create a complex game right away. Start with small, manageable projects and gradually increase the complexity.
• Focus on understanding the fundamentals: Make sure you have a solid understanding of the basic concepts before moving on to more advanced topics.
• Don't be afraid to ask for help: The community forum is very helpful and welcoming to beginners, also check the discord server.
• Official examples: Work through the examples, These are a great starting point and cover the basics effectively.

Note

This roadmap is not a checklist. It’s a map you return to as your understanding grows.

You are learning correctly if:

• You feel confused but curious
• You often say “oh, that’s why”
• You break things by experimenting
• You don’t remember everything, but recognize it later

It's okay to use AI for explaining concepts

This Roadmap is being cooked on calm fire, by me and ChatGPT in a controlled, gradual way. I will keep improving weak points every now and then, every line here is been discussed with psychological effect in mind.

A Roadmap is important for the confused newcomers like myself, I aim to :

• Reduce pressure on the learning journey
• Clarify when to move on
• Normalize confusion
• Add enough direction

This is possible thanks to the defold manual and ChatGPT, I'm myself, also a confused newcomer who haven’t found a roadmap, that's why I decided to make it myself with the help of the internet🙂.