Using UserDefaults to save a high score in swift - swift

Question

I"m trying to get a high score to save each time the player exits the app, but I'm struggling to get it to work and I'm confused as to where I'm making a mistake.
var gameSettings = Settings.sharedInstance
let HIGHSCORE = "HIGHSCORE"
if gameSettings.highScore < score{
gameSettings.highScore = score
UserDefaults.standard.set(gameSettings.highScore, forKey: HIGHSCORE)
}
if gameSettings.highScore >= score{
gameSettings.score = score
}
let gameOverHighScore = SKLabelNode()
gameOverHighScore.name = "gameOverHighScore"
gameOverHighScore.fontName = "Helvetica Neue UltraLight"
if let HIGHSCORE = UserDefaults.standard.value(forKey: HIGHSCORE) {
gameOverHighScore.text = "HIGHSCORE : \(HIGHSCORE)M"
}
gameOverHighScore.fontColor = SKColor.white
gameOverHighScore.position = CGPoint(x: 0, y: -175)
gameOverHighScore.fontSize = 70
gameOverHighScore.zPosition = 52
addChild(gameOverHighScore)

Answer 1

In if let HIGHSCORE = UserDefaults.standard.value(forKey: HIGHSCORE) {
gameOverHighScore.text = "HIGHSCORE : \(HIGHSCORE)M"
}
you are try find value in UserDefaults not by key HIGHSCORE, but by new value HIGHSCORE of type ANY. If you want to fix it, you can do like this:
if let HIGHSCORE = UserDefaults.standard.value(forKey: self. self.HIGHSCORE) as! Int {
gameOverHighScore.text = "HIGHSCORE : \(HIGHSCORE)M" }
or you can unwrap value in new value with another name. And don't forget to cast value to appropriate type or use
UserDefaults.standard.integer(forKey: self.HIGHSCORE)

Answer 2

Here is a simple example on how to do it:
let firebaseId = user.uid // Variable we want to save
UserDefaults.standard.set(firebase, forKey: "firebase") // Saving the variable with key "firebase"
And now to retrieve:
if let firebaseId = UserDefaults.standard.string(forKey: "firebase") {
print("Firebase ID: \(firebase)")
}
On your code, you are retrieving to HIGHSCORE, and you should be retrieving to something like gameSettings.highScore (Based on what I can infer from your code)