Godot (game engine)

The engine supports deployment to multiple platforms and allows specification of texture compression and resolution settings for each platform. The website provides binaries only for the editor platforms, and exporting projects to other platforms is done within the Godot editor.

The Godot editor, used for creating Godot games, supports the following platforms:

• Desktop platforms Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and web distributed on the website, on Steam, and on Itch.[9][12][13] BSD is also supported, but must be compiled manually.[14]
• Web platform HTML5, WebAssembly with the web editor.[15]
• Android phones and tablets (available as of Godot 3.5).[16]

The engine supports exporting projects to many more platforms, including all of the editor platforms. Currently supported platforms as of Godot 4.0 are:[17]

• Mobile platforms Android, iOS
• Desktop platforms Linux, macOS, Microsoft Windows (Universal Windows Platform), BSD (must be compiled manually[14])
• Web platform HTML5, WebAssembly.[18]
• Virtual/extended reality platforms HTC Vive, Valve Index, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, Oculus Quest, all Microsoft MR headsets, Apple's ARKit and many more.[5]

While the Godot engine can be run on consoles, most popular consoles are not officially supported since they do not allow their platform-specific code to be published under an open-source license. However, it is still possible to port games to consoles thanks to services provided by third-party companies.[19][20]

For CPU architectures, Godot officially supports x86 on all desktop platforms (both 32-bit and 64-bit where available) and has official ARM support on macOS, mobile platforms, and standalone Oculus platforms (both 32-bit and 64-bit where available). The web platform uses 32-bit WebAssembly. Support for ARM, RISC-V, and PowerPC Linux is unofficial and experimental.[21][22]

Visual script.

Godot supports a variety of programming languages for making games, including the integrated language GDScript, C++[23] and C#. Additionally, the engine includes GDNative, a facility for creating bindings with other languages. Officially-supported GDNative languages include C and C++.[24] Community-supported languages include Rust, Nim, Haskell, Clojure, Swift, and D.[25] Visual coding is also supported, via the built-in language VisualScript, designed to be a visual equivalent to GDScript.[26] Visual Scripting was removed from the core engine in Godot 4.0.[27] Godot games running in the Browser can interface with the browser's JavaScript code.

The Godot editor includes a text editor with auto indentation, syntax highlighting and code completion. It also features a debugger with the ability to set breakpoints and program stepping.[28]

Screenshot of editing a GDScript file using the built-in script editor of Godot 3.4

Godot has its own built-in scripting language, GDScript,[28] a high-level, dynamically typed programming language which is syntactically similar to Python. Unlike Python, GDScript is optimized for Godot's scene-based architecture and can specify strict typing of variables. Godot's developers have stated that many alternative third-party scripting languages such as Lua, Python, and Squirrel were tested before deciding that using a custom language allowed for superior optimization and editor integration. In version 4.0, a new feature called Typed array[29] was implemented on GDScript. This allows users to easily change a regular array to typed and vice-versa without changing much code.[28]

A simple "Hello world" program can be written like so:

func _ready():
	print("Hello World")

More complex programs, such as this one generating a Fibonacci sequence, are also possible:

func _ready():
	var nterms = 5
	print("Fibonacci sequence:")
	for i in range(nterms):
		print(fibonacci(i))

func fibonacci(n):
	if n <= 1:
		return n
	else:
		return fibonacci(n - 1) + fibonacci(n - 2)

Godot's graphics engine uses OpenGL ES 3.0 for all supported platforms; otherwise, OpenGL ES 2.0 is used. Vulkan is supported starting version 4.0 and also includes the possibility of support for Metal using MoltenVK.[30] The engine supports normal mapping, specularity, dynamic shadows using shadow maps, baked and dynamic global illumination, and full-screen post-processing effects like bloom, depth of field, high-dynamic-range rendering, and gamma correction. A simplified shader language, similar to GLSL, is also incorporated. Shaders can be used for materials and post-processing. Alternatively, they can be created by manipulating nodes in a visual editor.

Godot also includes a separate 2D graphics engine that can operate independently of the 3D engine. The 2D engine supports features such as lights, shadows, shaders, tile sets, parallax scrolling, polygons, animations, physics, and particles. It is also possible to mix 2D and 3D using a 'viewport node'.

Godot contains an animation system with a GUI for skeletal animation, blending, animation trees, morphing, and real-time cutscenes. Almost any variable defined or created on a game entity can be animated.[31] The engine uses Bullet for 3D physics simulation.[32]

Additional features include:

Version 3.0 was released on 29 January 2018, adding a brand new PBR renderer implemented in OpenGL ES 3.0, virtual reality compatibility, and C# support (via Mono)[32] thanks to a $24,000 donation from Microsoft.[42] Version 3.0 also added the Bullet physics engine in addition to the engine's built-in 3D physics back end and was the first version of Godot to be included in Debian.

Godot 3.1 was released on 13 March 2019, with the most notable features being the addition of statically typed § GDScript, a script class system for GDScript, and an OpenGL ES 2.0 renderer for older devices and mobile devices.[43] Godot 3.2 was released on 29 January 2020, with the most notable features being massive documentation improvements, greatly improved C# support, and support for glTF 2.0 files.[44]

The lead developer, Juan Linietsky, spent most of his time working on a separate Vulkan branch that would later be merged into master for 4.0,[45] so work on 3.2 was mostly done by other contributors. Work on 3.2 continued as a long-term support release for a year,[44] including Godot 3.2.2 on 26 June 2020, a large patch release that added features such as OpenGL ES 2.0 batching, and C# support for iOS.[46] On 17 March 2021, the versioning strategy was changed to better reflect semantic versioning, with a 3.3 stable branch and a 3.x branch for backporting features to a future 3.4 release.[47]

Godot 3.3 was released on 21 April 2021, with features such as ARM support on macOS, Android App Bundles support, MP3 support, Autodesk FBX support, WebXR support, and a web editor.[48]

Godot 3.4 was released on 6 November 2021 after 6 months of development, implementing missing features or bug fixes that are critical for publishing 2D and 3D games with Godot 3 and making existing features more optimized and reliable.[49]

Godot is in the process of leaving Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) starting 1 November 2021.[50][51][52]

Godot 4 is a version of the Godot game engine that was released on 1 March 2023. It is a major update that overhauls the rendering system, adds support for Vulkan graphics API, improves GDScript performance and usability, enhances physics and animation systems, and introduces many other features and bug fixes.

• The development of Godot 4 started in 2019 with a rewrite of the renderer to use Vulkan by Juan Linietsky (reduz), the lead developer of Godot.
• In 2020, several contributors joined the development team and worked on various aspects of Godot 4, such as GDScript improvements, physics engine overhaul, animation system rewrite, editor usability enhancements and more.
• In January 2022, the first alpha version of Godot 4 was released for testing by early adopters.[53] It showcased some of the new features such as SDF-based global illumination, GPU-based particles, dynamic soft shadows and more.
• In September 2022, Godot 4 reached beta stage with improved stability and performance.[54] It also added support for WebXR (VR on the web), C# support for Android and iOS, new audio features and more.
• On 1 March 2023,[17] Godot 4 was officially released as a stable version after several beta builds and bug fixes. It marked a new era for Godot with enhanced graphics quality, rendering optimization techniques, accessibility features and more.

For the most current information, refer to the Godot release policy documentation article.

On 22 June 2016, Godot received a $20,000 Mozilla Open Source Support (MOSS) “Mission Partners” award to be used to add WebSockets, WebAssembly and WebGL 2.0 support.[18] Later, with Miguel de Icaza's support in 2017, Godot received a $24,000 donation from Microsoft to implement C# as a scripting language in Godot.[58]

On 3 February 2020, Godot received a $250,000 Epic Games award to improve graphics rendering and the engine's built-in game development language, GDScript.[59] On July 8, 2020, Juan Linietsky mentioned that the Epic Games award will be used to permanently hire himself and George (Marques) for 2 years in order to free donation funds for new purposes.[60] In December 2020, Godot received a grant from Facebook Reality Labs.[61] Later, in December 2021, Godot received another grant from Meta's Reality Labs for XR work.[62][63]

On 10 February 2021, Godot received a $120,000 grant from Russian game studio Kefir.[64][65] On 11 November 2021, Godot received a $100,000 grant from California-based OPGames.[66]

Godot as an international project has an active community around the world. Some community members are an admin of local Godot groups.

The lead developer of Godot, Juan Linietsky, expressed a concern that Godot is allegedly being called a cult by users of commercial software.[69]

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the "Godot Engine Russia" Discord server has been renamed to "Godot Engine Ru" and replaced the icon with an image of a "Godot kitten".[70]