The sixth beta version of Godot 4.5 has been released and marks the conclusion of the beta phase for version 4.5, with release candidates imminent. All subsequent changes will be limited to regression fixes, and the content provided here will primarily represent the 4.5 release.

The recent updates since beta 5 primarily consist of regression fixes, including the renaming of SVGTexture to DPITexture and its designation as "experimental". This feature is designed for a specific use case and will not be expanded beyond that scope. Additional changes encompass reinstating the gradle_build/compress_native_libraries export option, enhancing GDScript autocompletion, introducing the CameraServer feeds_updated signal, transitioning to MSDF from MTSDF for font rendering, implementing methods to ascertain the initial event that triggered the "just pressed/released" state, refining error reporting for overloaded shader functions, updating the documentation for _physics_process and _process to accurately represent implementation, correcting the snapping logic in Range, and resolving the issue of material removal clearing all instances of shared texture arrays. 

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.5 beta 6

It’s been a long journey, but we’re at the tail-end of 4.5’s beta cycle at last; thank you to everyone who contributed during this stage! As such, you can expect this to be our final beta release for 4.5 (probably), with release candidates just around the corner. Should this indeed be our final beta snapshot, all further changes will be strictly regression fixes; the content available here will be largely reflective of the 4.5 release. As always, users are strongly encouraged to test this snapshot to catch the remaining few release blockers.

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, the  XR 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.

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The cover illustration is from Planetary Life, an evolution simulator where you guide custom creations from single-celled organisms to a modern civilization! You can buy the early-access title on Steam, and follow the developer on YouTube or Twitter.HighlightsFor an overview of what’s new overall in Godot 4.5, have a look at the highlights for 4.5 beta 1, which cover a lot of the changes. This blog post only covers the changes between beta 5 and beta 6. This section covers the most relevant changes made since the beta 5 snapshot, which are largely regression fixes:Rename SVGTexture to DPITexture, mark as “experimental”

We generally don’t highlight reversions/renames in these blogposts, but this is a major exception that warrants added context. The original intent of SVGTexture was to handle icons that respect the font oversampling in the editor. That’s literally it.

This is part of the reason we never gave the feature its own dedicated section, beyond a bullet-point in its introductory blog. However, the reception to what should’ve been a fringe feature was far larger than we intended. Many users, understandably, took the feature to mean full-blown support for  Flash-like graphics and realtime rasterization. The name and description ended up overselling our niche utility as a general-purpose solution; one which it was woefully underequipped to handle. Despite the original author,  bruvzg, making excellent strides towards refining and expanding functionality, it was ultimately akin to applying a bandage on a broken leg. Turning this implementation into something general purpose would be beyond the scope of 4.6, let alone 4.5! The rebranding and experimental designation are our ninth-inning resolution.

This feature has a limited use-case, and will not be extended beyond that.

Having said that: this is not us saying “no” to the prospect of realtime support for SVG/rasterized visuals. On the contrary: that’s exactly why we’re making this designation in the first place! The support for this functionality is very obvious, but it needs to be done right. So while that might be out-of-scope for 4.5, it’s not out-of-scope for Godot.

( GH-109811,  GH-109805)

And more!

• Export: Android: Revert the removal of the gradle_build/compress_native_libraries export option ( GH-107681).
• GDScript: Autocompletion: Don’t call const functions ( GH-109297).
• XR: Add CameraServer feeds_updated signal, and document async behavior ( GH-108165).
• GUI: Use MSDF instead of MTSDF for font rendering ( GH-109437).
• Input: Add methods to check which event first triggered “just pressed/released” state ( GH-109540).
• Shaders: Improve shader overloaded function error reporting ( GH-109548).
• Documentation: Update _physics_process and _process docs to reflect implementation ( GH-109320).
• Editor: Fix snapping logic in Range ( GH-109100).
• Documentation: Document Tree.item_collapsed also being emitted when the item is expanded ( GH-109242).
• Rendering: Fix material removal clearing all instances of shared texture arrays ( GH-109644).

Changelog

53 contributors submitted 111 fixes for this release. See our  interactive changelog for the complete list of changes since the previous 4.5-beta5 snapshot.

This release is built from commit  d5ad0556a.

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.5 beta 6 – Godot Engine