Godot 4.5 has been released, focusing on making game development more accessible and feature-rich with various enhancements across rendering, visuals, scripting, and development workflow. Key improvements include advanced visual effects, improved performance, and enhanced user experience through features like screen reader support, custom loggers, and a dedicated 2D navigation server. The update also includes platform-specific enhancements for Android, Linux, macOS, Windows, and Web, as well as significant overhauls of systems such as animation, import, input, navigation, physics, rendering, and XR. 

Godot 4.5 released

The latest iteration of Godot, version 4.5, has been released with a focus on making game development more accessible, enjoyable, and feature-rich. This major update is packed with exciting enhancements across various areas, from rendering and visuals to scripting, development workflow, and more.

Rendering and Visuals: Revolutionizing Graphics

Godot 4.5 brings a plethora of advancements in the realm of rendering and visuals, elevating game graphics to new heights:

• Stencil Buffer: Introduces advanced visual effects, such as peeping through walls, with the help of the stencil buffer.
• Bent Normal Maps: Enhances specular occlusion and indirect lighting using bent normal maps.
• Specular Occlusion from Ambient Light: Improves realism in occluded areas with a toggleable project setting.
• SMAA 1x: Integrates Super Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing for improved image quality.
• Half-Precision Floating-Point Format (F16): Enhances performance, frame pacing, and power efficiency on supported hardware for the Mobile renderer.

Godot 4.5 also introduces support for D3D12 OpenXR backend for XR projects on Microsoft platforms and enables foveated rendering on Vulkan Mobile using the "Fragment Density Map" Vulkan extension for VR headsets. Additionally, it supports OpenXR render models, allowing for controller models to be displayed in VR without developer effort for supported devices.

Accessibility: Empowering Developers with Ease

Godot 4.5 has made significant strides in accessibility, ensuring developers can work more efficiently:

• Screen Reader Support: Adds support for Control nodes via AccessKit and experimental integration for the editor itself.
• Custom Loggers: Allows developers to intercept log messages for bug reporting tools.

Scripting and Development Workflow: Streamlining Productivity

This update brings numerous improvements to scripting, development workflow, and debugging:

• Script Backtracing: Available in "Release" builds for detailed issue reporting.
• Shader Compilation Optimization (Baker): Reduces shader compilation time by up to 20x through pre-compilation.
• Translations Preview: Enables direct preview of translations within the editor viewport.
• Resource Duplication Logic Overhaul: Offers more reliable and predictable deep duplication for Arrays, Dictionaries, and Resources.

Godot 4.5 also includes enhancements such as improved build profiles for engine builds, mute game toggle in the Game view, and ability to pre-load resources by UID. Additionally, it introduces multiple remote node selection at runtime, editor language switching without restarts, and toggleable inspector sections.

GDScript Enhancements: Unlocking New Possibilities

Godot 4.5 introduces several GDScript enhancements:

• Variadic Arguments: Allows functions to accept an arbitrary number of parameters.
• Abstract Classes and Methods: Prevents direct instantiation and enforces method implementation in subclasses.

Physics and Animation: Refining Movement and Interactions

This update includes significant improvements in physics, animation, and asset management:

• 3D Physics Interpolation Move to SceneTree: Fixes issues and improves conceptual clarity without breaking existing APIs.
• BoneConstraint3D and Related Bones: Enables bones to be bound to other bones for more natural movement, particularly useful for VR avatars.

Input and Navigation: Enhancing User Experience

Godot 4.5 has improved input handling and navigation:

• SDL3 Gamepad Input Driver: Defers gamepad handling to the mature SDL library for improved bug fixes and feature delivery.
• Dedicated 2D Navigation Server: Separates 2D and 3D navigation logic, reducing export template size for pure 2D projects.

GUI and Controls: Elevating User Interface

Godot 4.5 includes several GUI-related enhancements:

• FoldableContainer Node: Supports an "accordion" view of detailed content.
• Stacked Label Effects: Enables advanced styling options.

Documentation: Clarifying Requirements

This update improves documentation clarity:

• Required Qualifier for Virtual Methods: Clearly indicates which methods must be overridden in documentation.

Platform-Specific Enhancements: Tailored Solutions

Godot 4.5 includes platform-specific enhancements:

Android

• Editor UI Adaptation: Optimizes editor UI for non-desktop users with a new TouchActionsPanel.
• 16KB Page Support: Enables targeting Android 15 on Google Play from November 2025, requiring .NET 9+.
• Edge-to-Edge Display Support: Provides a more modern UI look.
• Access to Raw Camera Feed: Enhances camera capabilities.

Linux

• Native Wayland Sub-Window Support: Adds support for native sub-windows.

macOS

• Game Embedding Support: Enables game embedding on macOS.
• Export to VisionOS: Supports Apple's XR platform, marking the first natively supported platform since open-sourcing.

Windows

• Metadata Modification: Allows metadata modification without external tools.

Web

• WebAssembly SIMD Support: Enhances performance in web games.

Scripting (.NET): Enabling Cross-Platform Development

Godot 4.5 introduces enhancements for .NET scripting:

• Direct Loading of .NET Assemblies from Android APKs: Resolves issues with extraction and permissions.

Systems: Comprehensive Overhaul

This update includes an extensive overhaul of various systems:

Animation

• Binding Bones to Other Bones: Enables bones to be bound to other bones for more natural movement.

Import

• Batch Editing of Assets: Reintroduced batch editing of assets in the Import dock.

Input

• SDL3 Gamepad Input Driver: Defers gamepad handling to the mature SDL library.

Navigation

• Dedicated 2D Navigation Server: Separates 2D and 3D navigation logic.
• Asynchronous Processing of Navigation Regions: Enhances performance by delegating tasks to a background thread.

Physics

• 3D Physics Interpolation Move to SceneTree: Fixes issues and improves conceptual clarity without breaking existing APIs.

Rendering

• Specular Occlusion from Ambient Light: Improves realism in occluded areas with a toggleable project setting.
• Bent Normal Maps Support: Enhances specular occlusion and indirect lighting.
• SMAA 1x Support: Integrates Super Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing for improved image quality.

XR

• D3D12 OpenXR Backend Support: Supports D3D12 OpenXR backend for XR projects on Microsoft platforms.
• Foveated Rendering on Vulkan Mobile: Enables foveated rendering on Vulkan Mobile using the "Fragment Density Map" Vulkan extension.
• OpenXR Render Models: Allows for controller models to be displayed in VR without developer effort for supported devices.

Godot 4.5 provides an improved development experience, empowering developers to create more engaging and immersive games. For a more detailed change log as well as the download link, visit the page below:

Godot 4.5, making dreams accessible

From mind-blowing effects now made possible by the stencil buffer to accessible descriptions of your GUI elements that opens up the possibility for people with disabilities to play your game — we are proud to present to you Godot 4.5.

Godot 4.5, making dreams accessible – Godot Engine