Question: When should you use resources in Godot?

Answer

In Godot, resources are a way to manage data that can be shared across multiple scenes or script instances. Here are some scenarios where using resources is beneficial:

1. Reusable Assets: Use resources for assets like textures, materials, or sounds that need to be reused across different objects or scenes.
2. Shared Data: If you have data that needs to be shared among different parts of your project (e.g., game settings, player stats), you can create a custom resource to hold this information.
3. Scriptable Objects: Resources can be used to create "scriptable objects," which are like scripts but can hold state in their properties and be saved independently from the scene tree.
4. Preloaded Content: To optimize loading times, you can preload resources at the beginning of the game, ensuring they are ready when needed without delay.
5. Modular Design: Resources allow you to build your game more modularly by separating data from the logic, making it easier to manage and update content.
6. Localization: For projects supporting multiple languages, you can use resources to handle your localization strings and switch between them seamlessly.
7. Save Systems: You can serialize resources to disk to easily save and load game states.

Here's an example of how to define a custom resource in GDScript:

# Define a new resource type
class_name GameSettings
extends Resource
export(String) var game_mode = "normal"
export(int) var difficulty = 1

# Create a new instance of the custom resource
var settings = GameSettings.new()
settings.game_mode = "hardcore"
settings.difficulty = 3

# Save the resource to a file
ResourceSaver.save("res://settings.tres", settings)

And here's how you might load and use it elsewhere in your code:

# Load the resource from a file
var loaded_settings = load("res://settings.tres") as GameSettings

# Use the loaded resource
print(loaded_settings.game_mode)

Using resources wisely can greatly enhance your project's architecture, maintainability, and performance in Godot.