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Lesson 315 min read

Installing Godot & Running Your First Script

Download Godot with no installer required, create your first project and scene, attach a script, and run it inside the editor.

Introduction

Godot is unusual among game engines in that "installing" it is almost trivial — there is no installer, no account, and no license agreement to accept. This lesson walks through downloading Godot, creating your first project and scene, and running your very first GDScript script inside the editor.

What You Will Learn
  • How to download and run the Godot editor on your system.
  • How to create a new project and your first scene.
  • How to attach a GDScript script to a node and run it.

Downloading Godot

Godot ships as a single, self-contained executable — download it from the official site and run it directly, with no installation step required.

# Visit godotengine.org/download and download the build for your OS,
# or install via a package manager:


# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install --cask godot


# Windows (winget)
winget install GodotEngine.GodotEngine


# Linux (Flatpak)
flatpak install flathub org.godotengine.Godot

Once downloaded, double-clicking the executable (or launching it from your applications menu) opens the Godot Project Manager — the starting screen for creating or opening projects.

Creating a New Project

From the Project Manager, click "New Project," give it a name and a folder location, and choose a renderer (the default Forward+ renderer is a safe choice for learning). Godot creates the project folder and opens the main editor.

Creating a Scene and a Node

Every Godot project is built from scenes, and every scene is a tree of nodes (fully covered in lesson 5). To create your first one: in the Scene panel, click "Add Child Node," choose the base type Node, and save the scene.

Attaching and Running a Script

Right-click your new node in the Scene panel and choose "Attach Script." Keep the default language (GDScript) and template, then click Create — Godot opens the built-in script editor with a starter script already in place.

extends Node


func _ready() -> void:
    print("Hello from my first Godot script!")

Press F6 (or the "Run Current Scene" button) to run this scene. Godot's Output panel at the bottom of the editor shows whatever your script prints.

Output Panel

Click Run to see what this code prints.

Common Mistakes

Avoid These Mistakes
  • Pressing F5 (Run Project) when you meant F6 (Run Current Scene) — F5 requires a "main scene" to already be set for the project.
  • Forgetting to save a scene (Ctrl+S) before running it — Godot will prompt you, but it's easy to dismiss the prompt accidentally.
  • Mixing a Godot 3.x tutorial's node/script setup steps with a Godot 4.x install — menu layouts and some default node names differ between versions.

Best Practices

  • Keep the Output panel visible while learning — it's where print() statements and runtime errors both show up.
  • Save your scene and script frequently; Godot does not autosave by default.
  • Explore the default project template Godot offers on project creation — it's a fast way to see a working scene structure before building your own from scratch.

Frequently Asked Questions

No — Godot has no account system, license key, or online activation of any kind. Download it and start working immediately.

Forward+ is a solid modern default for most desktop projects; Godot also offers a Mobile renderer tuned for phones and a Compatibility renderer for older hardware.

You can read the lessons and code examples without it, but GDScript is best learned by actually running scripts inside the editor and watching a scene react — installing it is strongly recommended.

Key Takeaways

  • Godot requires no installer or account — download and run a single executable.
  • Every project is built from scenes, which are trees of nodes.
  • Attaching a script to a node and pressing F6 runs that scene immediately.
  • The Output panel shows print() statements and runtime errors.

Summary

You now have a working Godot installation and have run your first GDScript script inside a real scene. Next, you'll dig into GDScript's variables and its dynamically typed, optionally-annotated data types.

Next Lesson →

Variables & Data Types