Godot 4.2

DaveTheCoder

Development is well under way for our next milestone, Godot 4.2. After our dev 2 snapshot, we kept merging new features and important bug fixes, and gathered quite a number of them — so now we’re ready for the third dev snapshot to put those under broader user testing. It’s been around a month since we started this release cycle, with roughly two months to go until 4.2 beta 1, and then another month to reach stable in early November 2023.

Keep in mind that while we try to make sure each dev snapshot is stable enough for general testing, this is by definition a pre-release piece of software. Be sure to make frequent backups, or use a version control system such as Git, to preserve your projects in a case of corruption or data loss.

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 dev 3

DaveTheCoder

We’re making great progress in the development branch for Godot 4.2! The faster paced release cycle we started following after the 4.0 release seems to be working well, with pull requests being opened, reviewed, and merged at a steady rate. This fourth dev snapshot contains nearly 250 PRs merged in a little over 3 weeks since the dev 3 snapshot.

Keep in mind that while we try to make sure each dev snapshot is stable enough for general testing, this is by definition a pre-release piece of software. Be sure to make frequent backups, or use a version control system such as Git, to preserve your projects in a case of corruption or data loss.

Notable updates:

Official export templates are provided in the .NET (“Mono”) build, so you can start exporting your C# projects to Android and give us feedback on what works and what doesn’t.

GDScript got a number of bug fixes, but also new features such as static typing for for loop variables (GH-80247),

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 dev 4

Toxe

Funny enough this feels a bit exciting. I am new to Godot and having a great time so far and this would be my first "engine upgrade", so to speak, even though it's just from 4.1 to 4.2. Still, looking forward to all the new features and fixes.

DaveTheCoder

We are entering the final stretch of the feature development for this dev cycle. There is probably one more Godot 4.2 dev snapshot left before the project enters the feature freeze and all efforts turn towards fixing remaining bugs and stabilizing the release. In the past 2 months contributors have been shaping what Godot 4.2 is going to be, and we will soon pass the mark of 1000 changes.

Keep in mind that while we try to make sure each dev snapshot is stable enough for general testing, this is by definition a pre-release piece of software. Be sure to make frequent backups, or use a version control system such as Git, to preserve your projects in a case of corruption or data loss.

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 dev 5

duane

DaveTheCoder we will soon pass the mark of 1000 changes

If they're not careful, they'll soon pass the mark of 10,000 open issues. 😉

Toxe

multiple problems with renamed and moved files causing crashes and scene corruption have been fixed

Neat!

AdamMac

Hi, as I'm a new user but interested in seeing the progression of mobile exports with dev rc versions, how do I get the proper export templates that let me test exporting to iOS and android with RC builds?

DaveTheCoder

You can download and install the export templates from the Godot Editor: Editor >> Manage Export Templates...

Megalomaniak

DaveTheCoder Or follow build instructions in docs while making sure to build against the correct revision.

Also, the release notes state:

A new version of the Godot Android plugin framework is introduced in this release (GH-80740, GH-81368). Please make sure to test these changes and provide feedback to our Android platform maintainers who want to ensure a smooth migration process. You can refer to this draft documentation PR for more information about the changes and new requirements.

award

duane

DaveTheCoder

This is the final dev snapshot for 4.2, signaling the end of the feature development cycle, and the start of the beta phase. We spent the past couple of weeks wrapping up many of the big feature PRs which had been in development for the past few weeks and months. We still have a handful that the production team is keeping tabs on, but we’ll soon declare the full feature freeze for 4.2 and get ready for the first beta snapshot. But don’t wait for the beta to try what’s new in 4.2 – there are tons of amazing new features in this dev snapshot which require testing and user feedback, so we can iron out the main issues before the stable release.

Keep in mind that while we try to make sure each dev snapshot is stable enough for general testing, this is by definition a pre-release piece of software. Be sure to make frequent backups, or use a version control system such as Git, to preserve your projects in a case of corruption or data loss.

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 dev 6

DaveTheCoder

This means, it’s beta testing time, and you are invited to offer your hand in squashing bugs and identifying usability issues. Help us make sure that in Godot 4.2 there are no crashes or unexpected regressions, and that performance is no worse (but preferably better) than before. Godot is developed by its community, and it’s thanks to people like you we can be sure in the quality of our collective work!

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 beta 1

DaveTheCoder

When I upgraded a project from 4.2-dev6 to 4.2-beta1, I got many warning messages about mesh formats being changed. I restarted the editor after deleting the .godot subfolder, and got messages about the godot-git-plugin, and restarted the editor again. It looks okay now, but I suggest making sure you have backups.

synthnostate

DaveTheCoder When I upgraded a project from 4.2-dev6 to 4.2-beta1, I got many warning messages about mesh formats being changed.

Same. I just updated to beta3 which prompts you to update and resave everything. It's a little glitchy but I got everything converted after a few tries and manually saving a few scenes that had broken dependency warnings (which fixed themselves somehow).

Toxe

I had no issues so far with 4.2 but on the other hand everything I do is 2D and still fairly simple while I am learning the engine.

DaveTheCoder

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 beta 2

DaveTheCoder

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 beta 3

award

For C# users, the .NET 8.0 release is set to be launched this November. Make sure to try the current preview release (8.0.0-rc.2) with Godot to make sure everything works as expected. This Godot beta release includes a fix to support preview releases so give it a try and report any bugs that you find.

Some good news for people looking forward to exporting C# for iOS. Obviously it won't be working right away, but this was the big hurdle.