Godot Game Engine gets Jolt
12. December 2024

Godot 4.4 – Jolt Physics as an alternative 3D physics engine integrated

12. December 2024 By admin

https://www.patreon.com/posts/godot-4-4-jolt-117824214?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Yesterday was a big day for all Godot Engine game developers working on 3d games using physics.

Since yesterday the Jolt Physics Engine was added as an alternative 3D Physics Engine to the source code of the coming Godot 4.4 version.

A little bit of background for that:

The stable version of Godot has it’s own 3d physics engine, which is used for all kinds of physics simulation in 3d games. These types of engines are really tricky to maintain, also to make their simulations performant and stable and also give you all the features your need.

(Image credit: Horizon Forbidden West by Guerrilla Games)

Many developers using Godot for 3D with heavy use of physics are working with an external open source physics engine with the name “Jolt”. This engine is written / maintained by Jorrit Rouwe and many other contributors and is battle-proofed, because it is used in “Horizon Forbidden West” by Guerrilla Games. It is suitable for games and VR applications.

The Jolt Physics Engine is a multi core friendly rigid body physics and collision detection library. Written in C++. Suitable for games and VR applications.

You can read more about this engine here:

https://github.com/jrouwe/JoltPhysics

Before yesterday devs wanting to use this engine had to use “Godot Jolt” an Godot extension that integrates the Jolt physics engine. This was a separate extension you had to install.

Now this code was integrated and re-written. Here the statement of Mikael Hermansson, the developer behind the extension:

This new module is a port of the Godot Jolt extension, developed by myself over the past two years, in large part as a personal project, but with the last year (including this port) being sponsored by W4 Games. I’ve also received a significant amount of assistance and contributions from @jrouwe during this development, which I’m very grateful for. In fact, several major features have been added to Jolt largely to cater to the needs of Godot.

Here the full thread of the merge into Godot 4.4:

https://github.com/godotengine/godot/pull/99895

So, I’m looking forward to Godot’s future as a full fleshed and performant 3D Games Engine.

Have fun!

Helge

BTW, if you want to learn Godot from the ground up I offer some German classes in beginning of 2025: http://www.pixeltrain.net/events/

Also I’m planing a pixeltrain Godot Academy in English beginning next year.
If you are interested, please let me know.

Godot Development Snapshot 4.4 dev 6
6. December 2024

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.4 dev 6

6. December 2024 By admin

Today another development snapshot of the coming Godot version 4.4 is out.
👉 https://godotengine.org/article/dev-snapshot-godot-4-4-dev-6/

So for everyone who wants to play with the new version or test some features you can now download this version from the Godot’s website:

👉 https://godotengine.org/

Beside of the many, many small improvements and bugfixes there are also again some new features adding to the others which were added in the dev snapshots for Godot 4.4 before.

If you are interested to follow my thoughts, news, and tutorials about Godot and Blender, you find them also on my (free) Patreon:

👉 https://www.patreon.com/posts/godot-4-4-dev-6-117431569?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Have fun!

Godot Introduction Training by Helge Maus / pixeltrain
11. November 2024

New Godot Trainings Courses with Helge Maus

11. November 2024 By admin

Möchtest Du lernen wie man 2D- oder 3D-Spiele in der freien open-source Godot Game Engine entwickelt? Dann möchte ich Euch heute stolz zwei neue Trainings in Zusammenarbeit mit der Visualisierungs-Akademie Schweiz GmbH vorstellen.

Wir haben nun zwei aufeinander aufbauenende Kurse (live online, in Deutsch) im Programm.
Ich freue mich schon so, mit Euch zu arbeiten:

Godot Einführungskurs – Game-Entwicklung für 2D & 3D
👉 https://visualisierungs-akademie.ch/de/kurs/godot-einfuhrungskurs/110d03e5-680d-414d-9521-7d46567f0712

Godot – Aufbaukurs – 3D Games entwickeln
👉 https://visualisierungs-akademie.ch/de/kurs/godot-vertiefungskurs/7ad00bcc-eb9e-41b6-9981-b7f7d049bf12

Bei Fragen zu diesen Kursen stehe ich jederzeit bereit.

Helge

— english —
Do you want to learn developing 2D- or 3D-Games in the free and open-source Godot Engine? Today I’m proud to present two new online training courses (2 days, live, in German) in our curriculum:

Godot Introduction to 2D & 3D Game Development
👉 https://visualisierungs-akademie.ch/de/kurs/godot-einfuhrungskurs/110d03e5-680d-414d-9521-7d46567f0712

Godot Advanced – 3D Game Development
👉 https://visualisierungs-akademie.ch/de/kurs/godot-vertiefungskurs/7ad00bcc-eb9e-41b6-9981-b7f7d049bf12

As these trainings are in German feel free to contact me if you are looking for the same content in English.

Second Dinner game studio invests in W4 Games and will make Godot games - Patreon article by Helge Maus - pixeltrain
8. August 2024

Second Dinner game studio invests in W4 Games and will make Godot games

8. August 2024 By admin

Great Godot news – W4 Games and Second Dinner studio announced a strategic partnership.
Some thoughts and info here on my (free) Patreon:

👉 https://www.patreon.com/posts/second-dinner-in-109646377?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

I am so thrilled, that the Godot as a free and open-source Game engine gets more and more visibility in the Games Develpment World.
If you are looking for training or coaching in Godot Game Development please reach out to me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pixeltrain/

pixeltrain Patreon by Helge Maus. Blender & Godot tutorials.
7. May 2024

pixeltrain Patreon has received a facelift

7. May 2024 By admin

As many of you probably know, in addition to my normal job as trainer for 3D, VFX and games, I also publish many free video tutorials and articles on industry-relevant topics.

Since I’m lucky enough that some nice folks support me on Patreon, you’ll find everything collected there again in my profile. And, unlike on YouTube, you can enjoy my videos there without any advertising noise and distractions 😉

Screenshot



👉 http://www.patreon.com/pixeltrain3d

Today I’ve created “Collections” for a better overview. I hope this will bring even more order to the many past posts. There is still a lot to do… 😓

P.S. You can also follow my account on Patreon without a paid membership. Most of my posts are free.

26. March 2024

Godot Game Engine – W4 Games and Meta Team Up to Expand Open-Source Godot Ecosystem on Meta QuestGodot Game Engine

26. March 2024 By admin

Shortly before GDC 2024, W4 Games and Meta announced a new collaboration in the area of XR under the title “W4 Games and Meta Team Up to Expand Open-Source Godot Ecosystem on Meta Quest“.

As you probably know, I’m not necessarily a big fan of Meta, but I see this type of collaborations in the area of XR as a big boost for development and value for the development of Godot on these platforms.

The strategic cooperation covers the following areas:

  • Improving functionality, performance and usability of OpenXR features within Godot for the benefit of all VR developers
  • Providing an integration of the Meta Quest SDKs via plugin and exposing more Meta Quest features to end-users
  • Developing an optimized release template specifically for Quest users that leverages Meta Quest technology
  • Creating high-quality samples and documentation to help Godot users develop for Meta Quest

The strategic partnership also contemplates the development of educational materials and joint marketing activities in the coming years. Meta and W4 Games are dedicated to contributing as much of this work as possible to the Godot project as part of our shared commitment to the open-source community.

Here is the entire press release on the W4 website:

https://www.w4games.com/blog/w4-games-news-1/w4-games-and-meta-team-up-to-expand-open-source-godot-ecosystem-on-meta-quest-28

I believe, that Godot is on a good track at the moment to get the same momentum as Blender some years ago.

If you want to learn more about Godot or even need training, please let me know info(at)pixeltrain.net. I would love to help.

Godot Game Engine - Showreel 2023
13. February 2024

Godot Game Engine – Showreel 2023 is out!

13. February 2024 By admin
Godot Game Engine Showreel 2023

Today, the new Godot Game Engine showreel 2023 for Games on desktop, mobile and console was released. It shows that this open-source game engine gets more and more traction and gives developers the opportunity to develop great indie games without being tied to commercial providers and their business models.

As stated before, at the moment I’m working in Unity and Godot at the same time, depending on my vision and project. They are both a great fit for me. But I’m eager to see Godot getting even more features to make this shift for me even easier.

Have a great day,

Helge

Godot Game Engine - Cooperation with Google and The Forge
15. December 2023

Godot Game Engine – Cooperation with Google and The Forge

15. December 2023 By admin

Yesterday a new partnership between Google, The Forge and the Godot Foundation was announced on the Godot Blog. The goal is to optimize and expand Godot’s mobile engine for Vulkan-enabled devices, i.e. Android devices. However, changes and enhancements in this area will also be useful for other mobile devices as the Godot code will be optimized.

From the announcement and the social media posts from Godot Foundation Members you can read that Goole Engineering and the developers at The Forge are optimizing the code base in cooperation with Godot contributors.

I’m very happy about that, because this principle has also worked very well at the development of Blender, for example when you see the collaboration with Apple (Metal Backend), AMD, Intel or NVIDEA.

This commitment makes the open-source product better and more valuable for all users.

So, great news in my opinion 🙂

Helge

More information here:
https://godotengine.org/article/collaboration-with-google-forge-2023/

Link to my (free) Patron article:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/godot-game-with-94709607?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

12. December 2023

Godot 4.2.1 First maintenance update!

12. December 2023 By admin

The first maintenance update to the 4.2 feature branch

Godot 4.2.1 is just released, as the first maintenance update to the 4.2 feature branch.

It fixes a number of platform-specific issues, which should make it easier for everyone to upgrade their Godot 4.1 projects, or start new ones in 4.2. https://godotengine.org/article/maintenance-release-godot-4-2-1/

Have fun!

1. December 2023

Godot 4.2 released!

1. December 2023 By admin

Godot is an open-source general purpose game engine aiming at helping you develop both 2D and 3D games. It’s powerful, fast, light and easy to learn.

The new version Godot 4.2 has been available since yesterday after an active beta phase.

This update is important because the Godot 4.x branch was a very big step towards modernization, performance and feature expansion. Many workflows between Godot 3.x and Godot 4.x were deliberately broken in order to prepare Godot for the future and to further advance it as an alternative to commercial game engines.

With this very large shift, there were of course some problems/bugs to be fixed, but also features to be completed. This path is not yet complete with this update, but game engines never are. That’s why the quick and regular updates of the version 4 branch are so important. The team now has a constant update cycle and quick response to critical bugs.

But be careful, this time too there were some critical and breaking changes between 4.1 and 4.2! Therefore, test existing projects intensively before upgrading them!

I have already done small test projects with Godot 4.2 in the beta phase and I am becoming more and more enthusiastic about Godot.

For me, Godot is now the complete Unity replacement for the things that I like to implement:
Be it 2D micro games, interactive 3D scenes from Blender and perhaps in the future a complete 3D experience of a stylized level. Let’s see.

Here is the official announcement:
https://godotengine.org/article/godot-4-2-arrives-in-style/

Download:
https://godotengine.org/download

If you have any questions or experiences to share, please let me know.

Helge

P.S. If you want to can also follow these articles me on my (free) Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/godot-4-2-93878014?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link