Multiple/varying constructors?

Help Programming
,
1

Godot Version

v4.5.stable.steam [876b29033]

Question

Is there any way to have multiple constructors with different parameters for a custom class? It’s easy enough to set up one/use the _init function, but with a custom class with a lot of variables that differ based on context of the call, I was hoping for a way to differentiate.

For elaboration:

  • Class has 10+ variables in total
  • Depending on where/why an instance of the class is created, not all of these are relevant and could therefore be loaded to a default, however in other cases most to all of these variables need to be loaded to a specific case-by-case value (ie: a passed parameter).
  • This class is not a Node/scene item, it’s an information-based class mainly pertaining to stats/information on things found within the project.

Is there a way to do this, or would I need something like a second class with various functions that create and return instances of the target class?

2

There is no function overloading in GDScript, constructors included. You can pass in an initializer object instead of multiple arguments. Or make an object factory.

3

Assuming your class is a node of some sort, you can (more or less) do this by making a companion global class that has a global create/init function and default arguments:

# Global/CritterFactory.gd

func make_duck(fly_speed: float) -> Critter:
    var critter = preload("res://critter.tscn").instantiate()
    critter.become_duck(fly_speed)
    return critter

func make_weasel(cunning: float, slipperiness: float) -> Critter:
    var critter = preload("res://critter.tscn").instantiate()
    critter.become_weasel(cunning, slipperiness)
    return critter