Is it possible to add a varriable to a node?

Bat-boy

Is there a way to add things like export variables to nodes, but they can be created in the editor on any node?

cybereality

Any node that has a script attached can have any variables you want.

Bat-boy

I know but is there a way to add variables without a script attached to that node?

Erich_L

You could keep a map as a global variable, mapping node references to the variables you want to save for them. (Or something like that) But I don't think there's a good way to add variables to a node w/o a script.

fire7side

I don't think it's possible, but if it was, it probably wouldn't be a good idea. You can do things like create arrays that can hold all kinds of information later, and you should know enough about what you are programming to have a variable ready to hold it. The whole idea of a variable is you have a named reference which you can find later.

spacecloud

You can do it with metadata (using the get_meta, set_meta, remove_meta, and has_meta functions), but the first version to support editing it in the inspector is 4.0 alpha 6.

DaveTheCoder

In 4.0, how did they address the issue of a user potentially messing up metadata that the editor uses internally?

cybereality

So I think having a script makes the most sense. But if you just want to store a small amount of data on a lot of objects, then you can use a Dictionary. Have a main game script that holds the references to the nodes (e.g. using get_node()) then use a Dictionary with the node name as the key and store whatever values you want there.

Nerdzmasterz

I'm not sure if this helps, but here it goes.

You could put export var onto a script, and then re-use it on other nodes. Each node with that script can have that variable be changed only for them as well. To ensure that the code only works on the node you want triggered while using the code every other node does, add this to the beginning:

var button_name = self.name

I did this for my zombies so they could each use the same script. When only one of them collides with the player with their area2D, this check is made to ensure only that specified one performs the attack action:

if body.name == "Player" && zombie_name == self.name:

spacecloud

@DaveTheCoder said: In 4.0, how did they address the issue of a user potentially messing up metadata that the editor uses internally?

Any metadata with a name that starts with an underscore will be hidden from the inspector, so any editor metadata is probably hidden using that.

Bat-boy

Thanks for all the great tips!