Dev snapshot: Godot 4.2 dev 5
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.
A significant part of this snapshot contains changes aimed at improving the user experience throughout the editor. We are also introducing a new version of the Godot Android plugin API. As always, many bugs and crashes have been squashed and other issues resolved. Here’s a short highlights section, ahead of a more complete list below:
The 3D viewport received a de-cluttering and will now display auxiliary visual information only for selected objects ( GH-75303). At the same time elements like decals and fog volumes now have extra indicators which make them easier to select via the viewport ( GH-81554). Various parts of the inspector and signal docks were enhanced with documentation tooltips and related bugfixes ( GH-81221). Code region support was added to the code editor, allowing you to define parts of the script to fold them and help with navigation within longer scripts ( GH-74843). And if you are working on editor plugins, you can now preview the current editor theme on your GUI elements directly in the 2D viewport ( GH-81130).
Two very important issues related to tilemaps and the tilemap editor were addressed for this release. You can now flip and rotate tiles and entire tile patterns when placing them in the world ( GH-80144). A significant boost to performance, thanks to smart tile grouping and other optimizations, should make larger tilemaps considerably less laggy ( GH-81070).
Godot aims to be as version-control-friendly as possible, and contributors are well aware of several issues related to sporadic resource ID changes. In this snapshot we’re shipping one of the fixes that aims to address the issue ( GH-65011). Related to this, multiple problems with renamed and moved files causing crashes and scene corruption have been fixed ( GH-80503, GH-81657).
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.
Speaking of Android, this release adds Android Stylus pressure and tilt support ( GH-80644). This complements Apple Pencil support added in Godot 4.0.
If you’re relying on
GraphEditin your games and tools, you will be happy to know that this snapshot concludes the main part of the refactoring of the node ( GH-79307, GH-79308, GH-79311). Please make sure to give it a test and see if everything is working as expected. For the time being the comment node feature has been removed — to be reintroduced later as a dedicated node with improved behavior together with other nodes. Until the feature freeze there may still be smaller compatibility breaking changes, so make sure to read future release notes.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.
Jump to the Downloads section, and give it a spin right now, or continue reading to learn more about improvements in this release. You can also try the Web editor or the Android editor for this release. If you are interested in the latter, please request to join our testing group to get access to pre-release builds.
The fifth development snapshot of Godot 4.2 has been released. The Godot Engine is a free, cross-platform game engine that allows you to easily create 2D and 3D games.
