Make files like music or JSON callable using a text string natively

[QuetzalcoutlDev]

Hello again. I'd like to suggest a feature that I feel is needed, especially since it's been possible to access things like keyboard buttons using a text string for some time now.

It feels very limiting when trying to automate tasks, such as loading different languages ​​into separate files from the dialog tree, because you can't specify the file path using a string.

Is this possible? Or is there something preventing this from being done that way?

I believe GDevelop should natively allow this, to encourage automation, or whatever you want to call it.

Because at least with music it can be done through a community extension, but with the dialog tree and other parts it's impossible.

[4ian]

Right now the reason it's not possible is because these parameters are used as "references" to the resources, which allows the engine to then:

• load only resources, and only those used for a scene,
• ensure these resources are ready for actions. If you launch the action, the resource is guaranteed to be available.
• find used/unused resources (and not remove them from the project in the resources editor)

We could add a version or something that would allow to specify any resource name using a string, but this means that in theory ANY json could then be used. So the scene would have to ensure all the JSON of the resources of the game are available for this scene.

This is probably ok for JSON, but would be risky for images or audio files.. it also means the action would be forced to be asynchronous, because it's very possible (and probable) that the JSON must be loaded when the action is launched.
And so this means that if the loading fails (for example, network error), the action has to be able to communicate that an error happened, and the game logic must be able to react to it.
Finally, it means the "Remove unused resources" in the resource editor will have to be deactivated, or an option like "Never clean this resource" added, because GDevelop won't be able to know which JSONs are used by the game and which are not.

[QuetzalcoutlDev]

I see, well, thanks anyway. Perhaps this should have gone in the discussions section.

I understand that explanation, thank you very much.