Godot 4.2

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.

DaveTheCoder

This fourth beta snapshot fixes a number of regressions around rendering and the handling of mesh compression upgrades, compatibility issues with the refactored particles system, and exporting projects to Android.

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. Note that you need to set the DOTNET_ROLL_FORWARD_TO_PRERELEASE environment variable to 1 to be able to use the release candidate version of .NET 8.0.

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 beta 4

Toxe

They have quite a nice release cadence.

DaveTheCoder

This release also includes two compatibility breaking changes. While they are unlikely to affect any existing projects, it’s still worth a mention. A previously unutilized notification, NOTIFICATION_NODE_RECACHE_REQUESTED, was completely removed from the engine (besides being unutilized it also conflicted with some other notifications, causing problems for some GDExtensions). Additionally, AnimationLibrary erroneously had its internal data property exposed, which was corrected.

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 beta 5

DaveTheCoder

When I upgraded a project containing .glb and .blend assets from 4.2-beta4 to 4.2-beta5, I got multiple occurrences of this warning message:

drivers/gles3/rasterizer_scene_gles3.cpp:265 - Attempting to use a shader that requires tangents with a mesh that doesn't contain tangents. Ensure that meshes are imported with the 'ensure_tangents' option. If creating your own meshes, add an ARRAY_TANGENT array (when using ArrayMesh) or call generate_tangents() (when using SurfaceTool). (User)

I tried deleting the .godot folder and all the .import files, and re-importing all the meshes, but I still get the messages. The 'ensure_tangents' option is checked.

There are also warning messages like this:

W 0:00:00:0435 load: res://section_indicator.tscn:3 - ext_resource, invalid UID: uid://d4d3q5ox452ut - using text path instead: res://section_indicator.glb <C++ Source> scene/resources/resource_format_text.cpp:448 @ load()

The project runs correctly, without any errors.

Tomcat

DaveTheCoder When I upgraded a project containing .glb and .blend assets from 4.2-beta4 to 4.2-beta5, I got multiple occurrences of this warning message:

There is such a problem

--- Debug adapter server started ---
  Invalid node name for submenu, the following characters are not allowed:
  . : @ / " %
--- GDScript language server started on port 6005 ---
  drivers/gles3/rasterizer_scene_gles3.cpp:265 - Attempting to use a shader that requires tangents with a mesh that doesn't contain tangents. Ensure that meshes are imported with the 'ensure_tangents' option. If creating your own meshes, add an `ARRAY_TANGENT` array (when using ArrayMesh) or call `generate_tangents()` (when using SurfaceTool). (User)

In Godot_v4.2-beta4 everything opened fine.

Toxe

DaveTheCoder When I upgraded a project containing .glb and .blend assets from 4.2-beta4 to 4.2-beta5, I got multiple occurrences of this warning message:

I get the same warnings with the Compatibility renderer and I don't even have any 3D models. Just a simple 2D test project. The Forward renderer seems to be fine.

DaveTheCoder

DaveTheCoder When I upgraded a project

I found that if I change the renderer from Compatibility to Mobile or Forward+, the first set of warnings (drivers/gles3/rasterizer_scene_gles3.cpp:265) do not occur.

I removed the second set of warnings by manually editing the referenced .tscn files and deleting the referenced uid parameters. The project still runs correctly, and now has no warnings.