[Godot 4] Exported game fails to load characters dynamically from folders – Dictionary is empty, but works fine in editor

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,
1

Godot Version

4.6.2stable

What I’m trying to do

I have a character selection screen that generates buttons for each playable character. Originally, I manually maintained a dictionary like this:

gdscript

var characters = {
    "warrior": preload("res://characters/warrior.tscn"),
    "mage": preload("res://characters/mage.tscn")
}

Then I iterated over the dictionary to create the buttons. That worked fine both in the editor and in the exported build.

Now I want to automate the process by scanning a folder (res://scenes/characters/) and filling the dictionary at runtime. My code looks roughly like this:

gdscript

func set_char_dic():
    characters.clear()
    var dir = DirAccess.open("res://scenes/characters/")
    if dir:
        dir.list_dir_begin()
        var file_name = dir.get_next()
        while file_name != "":
            if file_n

PixPin_2026-05-22_17-03-41
PixPin_2026-05-22_17-03-41663×597 71.7 KB

PixPin_2026-05-22_17-09-26
PixPin_2026-05-22_17-09-26900×646 70 KB

ame.ends_with(".tscn"):
                var path = "res://scenes/characters/" + file_name
                var scene = load(path)
                characters[file_name.get_basename()] = scene
            file_name = dir.get_next()
        dir.list_dir_end()

This works flawlessly in the editor. I can see all the characters in the dictionary, and the buttons appear correctly.

The problem

When I export the project (Windows, with embedded PCK), the characters dictionary is completely empty. I added a print(characters) right after scanning, and it outputs {}. No errors, no crashes – just an empty dictionary.

What I’ve checked

  • The .tscn files are definitely inside the characters folder.

  • In the export preset, I tried adding res://scenes/characters/* to the “Filters to export non‑resource files/folders”, but that didn’t help (and I understand .tscn files are resources, not non-resources).

  • I also tried setting the export mode to “Export all resources” – same empty dictionary.

  • Using ResourcePreloader works, but I’d rather not manually list every character.

My suspicion

It seems like DirAccess can’t properly iterate over the res:// path after exporting, even though the files are inside the PCK. Is that expected? I thought Godot 4 supported virtual file system access in exported builds via DirAccess.

Is there a reliable way to dynamically discover and load scene files from a folder in an exported game? Or do I need to resort to a static preload array or a ResourcePreloader node?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

2

Try using ResourceLoader.list_directory, the files are converted on export and won’t be there normally

3

Thank you!But i had solved it.When i export the game.image’suffix will be “.import”.And scene will be “.remap”.I just need to delete the suffix