godot: Listing directories in exported project returns only `*.import` files

This seems unnecessarily confusing. I’m not sure why this has been a years long battle and yet no documentation under the load function mentions the fact that files will fail to load correctly after export if you don’t jump through a bunch of extra hoops.

I simply can get why this does not works properly. If it works in editor it’s intended to work everywhere, else this is either a huge issue or listing function is completely pointless to have in engine. I don’t believe in workarounds cause they tend to fail everytime you add minor changes to anything :S

You can use ResourceLoader.exists()

What is the proposed way of making sure a specific resource file exists in an exported game? I’m working in godot 4.0.3 on a plugin. The plugin will save a list of files to add at runtime, but as files could always be removed we check first, to show a warning if the file has been moved or removed.

if FileAccess.file_exists(path:String):
    var resource = load(path)
    # other stuff
else:
    printerr("File "+path+" couldn't be accessed.")

This fails during export because file_exists() returns false. Do I manually have to check if .import, .remap have been added? It feels very weird that I can load a file that godot tells me is not there. I understand that FileAccess and DirAccess are supposed to represent the actual file system, but then what can I use use to list/test paths that are actually accessable (even if nonexistant)?

The only general purpose solution I can see is using

func is_valid_file(path:String) -> bool:
    return FileAccess.file_exists(path) or FileAccess.file_exists(path+".remap") or FileAccess.file_exists(path+".import")

Which idk. Seems pretty clunky for such a simple task.

@DaGamingWolf there’s no problem with load(), it works with the original path even if the file is technically not there. The difference is only if you list files in the project since the exported package contents may be different. This is mentioned in both FileAccess and DirAccess documentation pages.

that is only true on the specific condition that convert text resources to binary is set to false in the project settings. if it is set to true, the load() function is incapable of fetching the resource. That should be mentioned in the documentation if that is intended functionality. currently, there are no references to that specific setting in either class, nor its effects on the capability to use the load() function. This would have relieved a massive headache, and i would not have had to rely on the luck of seeing the setting and changing it to see if it affects the way resources are remapped such that the load() method would function.

The fix for this issue would be documenting in get_files() method description that it lists the factual directory content and it will differ on export.

Then we could add a method named get_imported_files() (or similar) that returns the original files based on imports. It should likely also list .gd files based on .gdc, as it’s a similar thing (see #42507).

Another option is to use the whole project folder and put the executable inside.

You won’t be able to load any changed/added files (or any files at all it you do not distribute .import folder as well).

Isn’t it a kind of absurd to distribute to other users access to all the sources of your game.

Export is not much of protection. You can easily decompress PCK, you can convert scenes back to text versions and decompile gdscripts to the state almost identical to source. PCK does not store original files, but you still can restore it from .import folder stuff.

Another option is to use the whole project folder and put the executable inside.

I just stumbled over this when I ran into https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/66014, for now I manually have to remove the .remap suffix to properly pass a path I get from DirectoryAccess to the ResourceLoader, this hardcoding of essentially implementations details seems not really ideal…

Ok, but i don’t want to load any files. I need to do what i need to do i.e. get full list of files i have in my directory. Maybe there is another way, if yes then how?

If only .import files are listed, why not look for .wav.import instead of .wav? Every resource has its equivalent import file, so effectively it’s the same.

Another option is to use the whole project folder and put the executable inside.

Isn’t it a kind of absurd to distribute to other users access to all the sources of your game. Yes, the engine is open-source, but let’s say you have something related to micro-transactions in your game, or your saving data is encrypthed and the key is hidden within your code. You have to think ahead and outside the box of using your game on your machine only.

Would like to say that this solution fixed the issue of importing for me, now I’ve got files which export properly without a *.import, however now I’m getting a “no loader” error when I run the program, and I can’t use any of the files while running in the editor.

Maybe there is another way, if yes then how?

1. Make sure Godot is not running.

2. Create empty .gdignore file in the sub-folder you want to preserve as is

3. Delete all *.import files from this folder if there are any

4. Add file extensions to “export non-resource files” in export options

Resulting PCK content:

Output: [airSpike.png]

Is there an *.ogg/streamplayer equivalent to the code mentioned above?

Something like this:

	var ogg_file = File.new()
	ogg_file.open("res://test.ogg", File.READ)
	var ogg_stream = AudioStreamOGGVorbis.new()
	ogg_stream.data = ogg_file.get_buffer(ogg_file.get_len())
	ogg_file.close()
	$StreamPlayer.stream = ogg_stream

@timCopwell I have the source code of my game on Github, so it doesn’t matter for me.