Upcoming (serious) Web performance boostBy: Adam Scott5 June 2025Progress ReportSometimes, just adding a compiler flag can yield significant performance boosts. And that just happened.For about two years now, all major browsers have supported WASM (WebAssembly) SIMD. SIMD stands for “Single instruction, multiple data” and is a technology that permits CPUs to do some parallel computation, often speeding up the whole program. And that’s exactly why we tried it out recently.We got positive results.The need for performance on the WebThe Web platform is often overlooked as a viable target, because of its less-than-ideal environment and its perceived poor performance. And the perception is somewhat right: the Web environment has a lot of security-related quirks to take into account—the user needs to interact with a game frame before the browser allows it to play any sound1. Also, due to bandwidth and compatibility reasons, you rarely see high-fidelity games being played on a browser. Performance is better achieved when running software natively on the operating system.But don’t underestimate the potential of the Web platform. As I explained in broad terms at the talk I gave at the last GodotCon Boston 2025, the Web has caught up a lot since the days of Flash games. Not only are there more people playing Web games every year, but standards and browsers improve every year in functionality and in performance.And that’s why we are interested in using WASM SIMD.WASM SIMD BenchmarksOur resident benchmark expert Hugo Locurcio (better known as Calinou) ran the numbers for us on a stress test I made. We wanted to compare standard builds to builds with WASM SIMD enabled.Note: You may try to replicate his results, but be aware that he has a beast of a machine. Here are his PC’s specifications:CPU: Intel Core i9-13900KGPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090RAM: 64 GB (2×32 GB DDR5-5800 CL30)SSD: Solidigm P44 Pro 2 TBOS: Linux (Fedora 42)I built a Jolt physics stress test from a scene initially made by passivestar. By spawning more and more barrels into the contraption, we can easily test the performance difference between the WASM SIMD build and the other.Without WASM SIMDWith WASM SIMDImprovement (approx.)Test linksLinkLink-Firefox 138(“+100 barrels” 3 times)2×Firefox 138(“+100 barrels” 6 times)10.17×*Chromium 134(“+100 barrels” 3 times)1.37×Chromium 134(“+100 barrels” 6 times)14.17×**Please note that once the physics engine enters a “spiral of death”, it is common for the framerate to drop to single digits, SIMD or not. These tests don’t prove 10× to 15× CPU computing speed improvements, but rather that games will be more resilient to framerate drops on the same machine in the same circumstances. The 1.5× to 2× numbers are more representative here of the performance gains by WASM SIMD.What it means for your gamesStarting with 4.5 dev 5, you can expect your Web games to run a little bit more smoothly, without having to do anything. Especially when things get chaotic (for your CPU). It isn’t a silver bullet for poorly optimized games, but it will help nonetheless. Also, note that it cannot do anything for GPU rendering bottlenecks.Be aware that the stress tests are meant by nature to only test the worst case scenarios, so you may not see such large improvements in normal circumstances. But it’s nice to see such stark improvements when the worst happens.AvailabilityFrom here on out, the 4.5 release official templates will only support WebAssembly SIMD-compatible browsers in order to keep the template sizes small. We generally aim to maintain compatibility with the oldest devices we can. But in this case, the performance gains are too large to ignore and the chances of users having browsers that are that far out of date is too small relative to the potential benefits.If you need to use non-SIMD templates, don’t fret. You can always build the Godot Editor and the engine templates without WebAssembly SIMD support by using the wasm_simd=no build option.What’s next?As I wrote in my last blog post, we’re currently working very hard to make C#/.NET exports a reality. We do have a promising prototype, we just need to make sure that it’s production-ready.I also mentioned in that article that I wanted to concentrate on improving our asset loading game. Preloading an entire game before even starting it hinders the ability to use Godot for commercial Web games. Once something is implemented to improve that issue, count on me to share the news with you.It’s either that, or we return to the old days of spam-webpages using the “Congratulations, you won!” sound effect when you least expect it. ↩

Godot 4.5 Dev5 Released / News / June 5, 2025 / Godot, Release We have a new Dev release of the open-source Godot Game Engine, Godot 4.5 Dev5. This release is theoretically going to be the last dev release as we move on to a beta schedule and more or less represents the final new features we can expect to see in Godot 4.5. We have covered all the previous new released: Dev1, Dev2, Dev3 and Dev4 if you are looking for other features to expect in the upcoming Godot 4.5 release. There is also a new Godot Engine asset bundle showcased in the video, the Godot StarNova Bundle on Gumroad but be sure to use the code SN40 at checkout to save $40 off! Highlight new features of the Godot 4.5 dev5 release include: Native visionOS Support: Introduces official platform integration for visionOS, enabling users to connect with the Godot XR community. GDScript Abstract Classes: Allows the creation of abstract classes using the abstract keyword. Shader Baker: An optional feature that significantly speeds up shader compilation, particularly for Apple devices and D3D12. WebAssembly SIMD Support: Integrated by default for web builds, enabling parallel processing in single-threaded environments. Inline Color Pickers: Displays the color represented by a variable directly within the script editor. SMAA 1x: Now a full engine feature giving another screen space anti aliasing option. Bent Normal Maps: Improve specular occlusion and indirect lighting over traditional normal maps. Key Links Godot 4.5 Dev5 Interactive Change Log You can learn more about the Godot 4.5 Dev5 release in the video below.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd" The MetaHuman client reel. Epic Games’ framework for generating realistic 3D characters for games is out of early access, and can now be used with any DCC app or game engine. Epic Games has officially launched MetaHuman, its framework for generating realistic 3D characters for games, animation and VFX work, after four years in early access.The core applications, MetaHuman Creator, Mesh to MetaHuman and MetaHuman Animator, are now integrated into Unreal Engine 5.6, the latest version of the game engine. In addition, Epic has updated the licensing for MetaHuman characters, making it possible to use them in any game engine or DCC application, including in commercial projects. There are also two new free plugins, MetaHuman for Maya and MetaHuman for Houdini, intended to streamline the process of editing MetaHumans in Maya and Houdini. A suite of tools for generating and animating realistic real-time 3D characters First launched in early access in 2021, MetaHuman is a framework of tools for generating realistic 3D characters for next-gen games, animation, virtual production and VFX.The first component, MetaHuman Creator, enables users to design realistic digital humans. Users can generate new characters by blending between presets, then adjusting the proportions of the face by hand, and customising readymade hairstyles and clothing. The second component, Mesh to MetaHuman, makes it possible to create MetaHumans matching 3D scans or facial models created in other DCC apps. The final component, MetaHuman Animator, streamlines the process of transferring the facial performance of an actor from video footage to a MetaHuman character. MetaHuman Creator was originally a cloud-based tool, while Mesh to MetaHuman and MetaHuman Animator were available via the old MetaHuman plugin for Unreal Engine. Now integrated directly into Unreal Engine 5.6 That changes with the end of early access, with MetaHuman Creator, Mesh to MetaHuman and MetaHuman Animator all now integrated directly into Unreal Engine itself.Integration – available in Unreal Engine 5.6, the latest version of the engine – is intended to simplify character creation and asset management worklows. Studios also get access to the MetaHuman source code, since Unreal Engine itself comes with full C++ source code access. However, the tools still cannot be run entirely locally: according to Epic, in-editor workflow is “enhanced by cloud services that deliver autorigging and texture synthesis”. https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250604_MetaHumanOfficialLaunch_LicensingChanges_UnifiedClothing.mp4 Users can now adjust MetaHumans’ bodies, with a new unified Outfit Asset making it possible to create 3D clothing that adjusts automatically to bodily proportions. Updates to both MetaHuman Creator and MetaHuman Animator In addition, the official release introduces new features, with MetaHuman Creator’s parametric system for creating faces now extended to body shapes.Users can now adjust proportions like height, chest and waist measurements, and leg length, rather than simply selecting preset body types. Similarly, a new unified Outfit Asset makes it possible to author custom 3D clothing, rather than selecting readymade presets, with garments resizing to characters’ body shapes. MetaHuman Animator – which previously required footage from stereo head-mounted cameras or iPhones – now supports footage from mono cameras like webcams. The toolset can also now generate facial animation – both lip sync and head movement – solely from audio recordings, as well as from video footage. You can find fuller descriptions of the new features in Epic Games’ blog post. Use MetaHumans in Unity or Godot games, or sell them on online marketplaces Equally significantly, Epic has changed the licensing for MetaHumans.The MetaHuman toolset is now covered by the standard Unreal Engine EULA, meaning that it can be used for free by any artist or studio with under $1 million/year in revenue. MetaHuman characters and clothing can also now be sold on online marketplaces, or used in commercial projects created with other DCC apps or game engines. The only exception is for AI: you can use MetaHumans in “workflows that incorporate artificial intelligence technology”, but not to train or enhance the AI models themselves. Studios earning more than $1 million/year from projects that use MetaHuman characters need Unreal Engine seat licenses, with currently cost $1,850/year. However, since MetaHuman characters and animations are classed as ‘non-engine products’, they can be used in games created in other engines, like Unity or Godot, without incurring the 5% cut of the revenue that Epic takes from Unreal Engine games. https://www.cgchannel.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/250604_MetaHumanOfficialLaunch_LicensingChanges_MetaHumanForMaya.mp4 The free MetaHuman for Maya plugin lets you edit MetaHumans with Maya’s native tools. New plugins streamline editing MetaHumans in Maya and Houdini Last but not least, Epic Games has released new free add-ons intended to streamline the process of editing MetaHumans in other DCC software.The MetaHuman for Maya plugin makes it possible to manipulate the MetaHuman mesh directly with Maya’s standard mesh-editing and sculpting tools. Users can also create MetaHuman-compatible hair grooms using Maya’s XGen toolset, and export them in Alembic format. The MetaHuman for Houdini plugin seems to be confined to grooming, with users able to create hairstyles using Houdini’s native tools, and export them in Alembic format. The plugins themselves are supplemented by MetaHuman Groom Starter Kits for Maya and Houdini, which provide readymade sample files for generating grooms. Price, licensing and system requirements MetaHuman Creator and MetaHuman Animator are integrated into Unreal Engine 5.6. The Unreal Editor is compatible with Windows 10+, macOS 14.0+ and RHEL/Rocky Linux 8+.The MetaHuman plugin for Maya is compatible with Maya 2022-2025. The MetaHuman for Houdini plugin is compatible with Houdini 20.5 with SideFX Labs installed. All of the software is free to use, including for commercial projects, if you earn under $1 million/year. You can find more information on licensing in the story above. Read an overview of the changes to the MetaHuman software on Epic Games’ blog Download the free MetaHuman for Maya and Houdini plugins and starter kits Read Epic Games’ FAQs about the changes to licensing for MetaHumans Have your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we don’t post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.

Native visionOS support, shader baker, Wasm SIMD, and more new features are coming.

Replicube A game by Walaber Entertainment LLCDev snapshot: Godot 4.5 dev 5By: Thaddeus Crews2 June 2025Pre-releaseBrrr… Do you feel that? That’s the cold front of the feature freeze just around the corner. It’s not upon us just yet, but this is likely to be our final development snapshot of the 4.5 release cycle. As we enter the home stretch of new features, bugs are naturally going to follow suit, meaning bug reports and feedback will be especially important for a smooth beta timeframe.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 cover illustration is from Replicube, a programming puzzle game where you write code to recreate voxelized objects. It is developed by Walaber Entertainment LLC (Bluesky, Twitter). You can get the game on Steam.HighlightsIn case you missed them, see the 4.5 dev 1, 4.5 dev 2, 4.5 dev 3, and 4.5 dev 4 release notes for an overview of some key features which were already in those snapshots, and are therefore still available for testing in dev 5.Native visionOS supportNormally, our featured highlights in these development blogs come from long-time contributors. This makes sense of course, as it’s generally those users that have the familiarity necessary for major changes or additions that are commonly used for these highlights. That’s why it might surprise you to hear that visionOS support comes to us from Ricardo Sanchez-Saez, whose pull request GH-105628 is his very first contribution to the engine! It might not surprise you to hear that Ricardo is part of the visionOS engineering team at Apple, which certainly helps get his foot in the door, but that still makes visionOS the first officially-supported platform integration in about a decade.For those unfamiliar, visionOS is Apple’s XR environment. We’re no strangers to XR as a concept (see our recent XR blogpost highlighting the latest Godot XR Game Jam), but XR platforms are as distinct from one another as traditional platforms. visionOS users have expressed a strong interest in integrating with our ever-growing XR community, and now we can make that happen. See you all in the next XR Game Jam!GDScript: Abstract classesWhile the Godot Engine utilizes abstract classes—a class that cannot be directly instantiated—frequently, this was only ever supported internally. Thanks to the efforts of Aaron Franke, this paradigm is now available to GDScript users (GH-67777). Now if a user wants to introduce their own abstract class, they merely need to declare it via the new abstract keyword:abstract class_name MyAbstract extends Node The purpose of an abstract class is to create a baseline for other classes to derive from:class_name ExtendsMyAbstract extends MyAbstract Shader bakerFrom the technical gurus behind implementing ubershaders, Darío Samo and Pedro J. Estébanez bring us another miracle of rendering via GH-102552: shader baker exporting. This is an optional feature that can be enabled at export time to speed up shader compilation massively. This feature works with ubershaders automatically without any work from the user. Using shader baking is strongly recommended when targeting Apple devices or D3D12 since it makes the biggest difference there (over 20× decrease in load times in the TPS demo)!Before:After:However, it comes with tradeoffs:Export time will be much longer.Build size will be much larger since the baked shaders can take up a lot of space.We have removed several MoltenVK bug workarounds from the Forward+ shader, therefore we no longer guarantee support for the Forward+ renderer on Intel Macs. If you are targeting Intel Macs, you should use the Mobile or Compatibility renderers.Baking for Vulkan can be done from any device, but baking for D3D12 needs to be done from a Windows device and baking for Apple .metallib requires a Metal compiler (macOS with Xcode / Command Line Tools installed).Web: WebAssembly SIMD supportAs you might recall, Godot 4.0 initially released under the assumption that multi-threaded web support would become the standard, and only supported that format for web builds. This assumption unfortunately proved to be wishful thinking, and was reverted in 4.3 by allowing for single-threaded builds once more. However, this doesn’t mean that these single-threaded environments are inherently incapable of parallel processing; it just requires alternative implementations. One such implementation, SIMD, is a perfect candidate thanks to its support across all major browsers. To that end, web-wiz Adam Scott has taken to integrating this implementation for our web builds by default (GH-106319).Inline color pickersWhile it’s always been possible to see what kind of variable is assigned to an exported color in the inspector, some users have expressed a keen interest in allowing for this functionality within the script editor itself. This is because it would mean seeing what kind of color is represented by a variable without it needing to be exposed, as well as making it more intuitive at a glance as to what color a name or code corresponds to. Koliur Rahman has blessed us with this quality-of-life goodness, which adds an inline color picker GH-105724. Now no matter where the color is declared, users will be able to immediately and intuitively know what is actually represented in a non-intrusive manner.Rendering goodiesThe renderer got a fair amount of love this snapshot; not from any one PR, but rather a multitude of community members bringing some long-awaited features to light. Raymond DiDonato helped SMAA 1x make its transition from addon to fully-fledged engine feature (GH-102330). Capry brings bent normal maps to further enhance specular occlusion and indirect lighting (GH-89988). Our very own Clay John converted our Compatibility backend to use a fragment shader copy instead of a blit copy, working around common sample rate issues on mobile devices (GH-106267). More technical information on these rendering changes can be found in their associated PRs.SMAA comparison:OffOnBent normal map comparison:BeforeAfterAnd more!There are too many exciting changes to list them all here, but here’s a curated selection:Animation: Add alphabetical sorting to Animation Player (GH-103584).Animation: Add animation filtering to animation editor (GH-103130).Audio: Implement seek operation for Theora video files, improve multi-channel audio resampling (GH-102360).Core: Add --scene command line argument (GH-105302).Core: Overhaul resource duplication (GH-100673).Core: Use Grisu2 algorithm in String::num_scientific to fix serializing (GH-98750).Editor: Add “Quick Load” button to EditorResourcePicker (GH-104490).Editor: Add PROPERTY_HINT_INPUT_NAME for use with @export_custom to allow using input actions (GH-96611).Editor: Add named EditorScripts to the command palette (GH-99318).GUI: Add file sort to FileDialog (GH-105723).I18n: Add translation preview in editor (GH-96921).Import: Add Channel Remap settings to ResourceImporterTexture (GH-99676).Physics: Improve performance with non-monitoring areas when using Jolt Physics (GH-106490).Porting: Android: Add export option for custom theme attributes (GH-106724).Porting: Android: Add support for 16 KB page sizes, update to NDK r28b (GH-106358).Porting: Android: Remove the gradle_build/compress_native_libraries export option (GH-106359).Porting: Web: Use actual PThread pool size for get_default_thread_pool_size() (GH-104458).Porting: Windows/macOS/Linux: Use SSE 4.2 as a baseline when compiling Godot (GH-59595).Rendering: Add new StandardMaterial properties to allow users to control FPS-style objects (hands, weapons, tools close to the camera) (GH-93142).Rendering: FTI - Optimize SceneTree traversal (GH-106244).Changelog109 contributors submitted 252 fixes for this release. See our interactive changelog for the complete list of changes since the previous 4.5-dev4 snapshot.This release is built from commit 64b09905c.DownloadsGodot is downloading...Godot exists thanks to donations from people like you. Help us continue our work:Make a DonationStandard build includes support for GDScript and GDExtension..NET build (marked as mono) includes support for C#, as well as GDScript and GDExtension.While engine maintainers try their best to ensure that each preview snapshot and release candidate is stable, 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 case of corruption or data loss.Known issuesWindows executables (both the editor and export templates) have been signed with an expired certificate. You may see warnings from Windows Defender’s SmartScreen when running this version, or outright be prevented from running the executables with a double-click (GH-106373). Running Godot from the command line can circumvent this. We will soon have a renewed certificate which will be used for future builds.With every release, we accept that there are going to be various issues, which have already been reported but haven’t been fixed yet. See the GitHub issue tracker for a complete list of known bugs.Bug reportsAs a tester, we encourage you to open bug reports if you experience issues with this release. Please check the existing issues on GitHub first, using the search function with relevant keywords, to ensure that the bug you experience is not already known.In particular, any change that would cause a regression in your projects is very important to report (e.g. if something that worked fine in previous 4.x releases, but no longer works in this snapshot).SupportGodot is a non-profit, open source game engine developed by hundreds of contributors on their free time, as well as a handful of part and full-time developers hired thanks to generous donations from the Godot community. A big thank you to everyone who has contributed their time or their financial support to the project!If you’d like to support the project financially and help us secure our future hires, you can do so using the Godot Development Fund.Donate now

There is a new Humble Bundle of interest to game developers, the Big Bang Unreal & Unity (and Godot) Asset Humble Bundle. This massive bundle contains a ton of 3D environments, props, SFX and characters for Unreal, Unity and a few for Godot as well. You can also transfer assets from one game engine to another using the guides we provide below. In addition to this new Humble Bundle there are several other game asset bundles for these game engine by Leartes running over on GumRoad: Space Nova Unreal Bundle (Use code SN70) Star Nova Unreal Bundle (Use Code SN40) Unity Space Nova Bundle (Use Code SN70) Unity Star Nova Bundle (Use Code SN40) Godot Star Nova Bundle (Use Code SN40) The Big Bang Unreal & Unity (and Godot) Asset Humble Bundle is organized into the following tiers: 1$ Tier Military Boat SFX CyberpunkZBrush: Beginner to Advanced Course on Three MiniaturesVFX Smoke (Unreal Engine)Water VFX (Unreal Engine)Object Distribution Tool (Unreal Engine)500+ Fantasy IconsCosmos One Month Free SubscriptionCosmos 50% Discount CodeMedian Tier Ultimate Lighting and Camera Tool ( ULCT ) Feudal Japanese CastleStylized Desert BazaarStylized Medieval HouseStylized Magical Haunted VillageThe Gas StationFantasy Mystic VillageMilitary Barriers PackSUV 02 DriveableSFX WinterVFX Dust (Unreal Engine)Substance 3D Painter: A Complete Guide for BeginnersSFX 3 Police Station (SFX)Modeling TutorialPost Apocalyptic Melee Weapons VOL.2Material Assignment Tool (Unreal Engine)Police Character / NPC (Unreal Engine)1950s Mafia Character / NPC / RiggedCyberpunk Holograms / Neon Set ( Set of 33 Holograms )Cyberpunk Street Lights (Unreal Engine)Driveable / Animated Retro Cyberpunk Hover Car 0220$ Tier Miami Club Megapack Ancient Cathedral EnvironmentThe Grand Egyptian TempleThe Carnival EnvironmentUnderwater Sunken ShipHaunted HouseThe Fantastic HillsThe Ancient Library EnvironmentPirate Tavern EnvironmentChinese Alley EnvironmentUltimate Level Art Tool – ULATThe Rally Point EnvironmentJapanese TempleFeudal Japan WarroomStylized House Along RiverModular Stylized Cyberpunk StreetStylized Ice Dragon VillageStylized Perched ChurchStylized Desert MineStylized Sci-Fi Modern CityRetropunk Saloon Environment (Unreal Engine)Cyberpunk Kyiv Street EnvironmentChurch / Cathedral InteriorGothic Street1950s BusinessmanCyberpunk Billboards / Signs Set / 35 Unique Pieces ( Cyberpunk Billboards )Military Exterior PackClassic Sport Car 01Classic Car 02Classic Car 03SUV 03 DriveableFPS 4K Western Guns – VOL.3FPS 4K Custom Modern Handguns – VOL.4SFX Cyberpunk GunsVFX Explosion (Unreal Engine)Creating an Industrial Concept Art in Blender / PhotoshopCreating Abandoned Church 3D Environment in Unreal Engine 5Unreal Engine 5, Blender – Creating a Classroom EnvironmentSFX 1 Warzone (SFX)SFX 2 Soulslike (SFX)VFX 1 Warzone (VFX)Post Apocalyptic Melee Weapons VOL.1FPS 4K Custom Modern Shotguns – VOL.2FPS 4K Western Guns – VOL.2 (Unreal Engine)Stable EnvironmentIf you are looking at using the Unreal or Unity assets in another game engine, be sure to check out the following conversion guides: You can learn more about the Big Bang Unreal & Unity (and Godot) Asset Humble Bundle in the video below. Using links on this page helps support GFS (and thank you very much if you do!)

Cozy Games Free & Open-Source Godot Add-Ons / News, Resources / May 31, 2025 / Add-On, Godot The folks over at Cozy Cube Games have provided a GitHub repository that offers a fantastic collection of tools to enhance your Godot game development workflow. Here’s a look at 14 of the add-ons you can find there, all of which are available under the MIT open-source license and implemented using 100% GDScript. The repository consists of the following free add-ons for the Godot game engine: area_lights: Enhances lighting capabilities within your scenes. control_proxies: doodle_texture:  Create textures directly in Godot by doodling or sketching, perfect for prototyping and “sticky notes”. editor_relays: This add-on allows you to manage the Godot Editor from your application at run-time. gizmo_presets: Gain precise control over the visibility of Gizmos in Godot. Show/hide them all, or create and toggle your own custom presets. light_shafts: Add breathtaking volumetric light scattering effects, often known as “god rays,” to your scenes. lines_and_trails_3d: Easily create and manage dynamic 3D lines and trail effects for projectiles, movement paths, and more. manual_multimesh: Optimize your scenes by gaining more direct control over MultiMeshInstances, perfect for rendering many similar meshes efficiently. nine_patch_mesh: Create scalable 3D nine-patch meshes, ideal for flexible UI elements or environment pieces with repeating borders and centers. parallel_scene_views: Boost your productivity by viewing and interacting with multiple scene views simultaneously within the editor. preview_2d: Seamlessly integrate 2D and 3D workflows by adding a button to preview your 2D viewport directly from a 3D scene. procedural_texture_baker: Generate and bake unique procedural textures directly within Godot, saving time and adding variety. tile_path_3d: Effortlessly instance 3D objects along a spline path. Perfect for creating paths, roads, fences, and other repeating environmental details. transform_clusters: Once again, not really sure the use case on this one Key Links Cozy Cube Games Godot Add-Ons GitHub Repository Cozy Cube Games Homepage You can learn more about the Cozy Cube Games add-ons for the Godot game engine as well as see many of them in action in the video below.

"AI is inevitable."That's a phrase that's rattled around my head for a month. Not willingly mind you. It's taken up lodging in my grey matter after hearing it in meetings, reading it in emails, and seeing it buffeted back and forth across Bluesky, LinkedIn, and Discord.It's not a convincing phrase. If you hear it from AI boosters it's easy to brush off as raw hype, and if you hear it from doomsayers it can lull you into a sense of fatalism. But as the philosopher Natasha Bedingfield told us in 2004, today is where the book begins, the rest is still unwritten. Nothing, for better or worse, is inevitable.But in those various calls another phrase—one you may have heard at your studio—has slipped past more unnoticed: "AI is just a tool. It can be used for good or evil, like any other tool."After all this is a business where we use tools for good or evil, right and wrong, correctly and incorrectly. We debate the effectiveness of Unity, Unreal, or Godot. We agonize over whether to use procedural versus hand-crafted content. We debate and discuss the topic so much that Game Developers Conference has a whole Tools Summit dedicated to craft of making game development software.Viewing generative AI through the neutral lens of tool assessment is natural—and I'll go so far as to say admirable—for our community. It's a method we use to get past hype and bombast, to try and take technology on its own terms and see how it fits our purposes. And as the 2025 GDC State of the Industry report tells us, some developers are adopting generative AI, plenty of them not bought in on the hype but through the act of seeking the right tool for the job.Related:But looking at generative AI as 'just a tool' is a deeply flawed lens. That phrase betrays a quiet cynicism (one we hear often from opponents of firearm regulation in the United Stats). Because nothing—not generative AI, not a firearm, not even a hammer—is "just a tool."The function of tools is influenced by their formConsider two tools found in many American households: the claw hammer and the handgun.Normally Game Developer restricts itself to the craft of making video games but I promise this is relevant. Guns are another tool where neutralizing rhetoric is deployed to downplay a tool's negative effects. I grew up in a gun-owning house in a gun-owning neighborhood in suburban Maryland. There were probably four handguns sitting in lockboxes across two rooms, a few rifles and shotguns in a vault in the basement, and one questionably legal World War I firearm tucked away in a closet. The NRA's mantra of "guns don't kill people, people kill people" was commonplace. A neighbor of mine laughed when I advocated for stronger regulations on gun ownership on the basis of "guns are meant to kill." "Guns aren't meant to kill," I recall him saying. "Cars can kill people. Does that mean cars are meant for killing?"His point boils down to this: The outcome of the tool's use is not worth considering when discussing regulation, only its potential use. A gun is a tool and the user has control over a tool is used.Cars are already tightly regulated and cost thousands of dollars, making his point moot, so we'll break down the construction of the claw hammer instead. We generally refer to hammers as being used to pound nails into wood, but I mainly use mine for hammering anchors into drywall because I'm a theater kid and was taught in crew to trust screws.In either case, the physical shape of the claw hammer dictates its most common purpose. The handle extends into a metal object that is blunt at one end, and clawed on the other. The design follows the swing of the human arm, transferring kinetic energy generated by the bicep, down the elbow, through the wrist, and into the blunt end.We also know that claw hammers are not useful for every form of transferring this energy. Variations on hammer design like the ball-peen hammer show how this basic purpose needs to be altered for different tasks. The shape and the material changes depending on the purpose. To sell more hammers, companies invest in better materials and affordances like rubber grips to make their use more comfortable.Like a firearm, hammers can be used as weapons. That same transference of force can be used to harm another living being. Video games sometimes place hammers in a players' loadout alongside guns, grenades, and weapons of war.Neither the hammer nor the firearm is "just" a tool. They are tools that are optimized for a purpose. We can study that purpose, and cast judgements about a tool's safety, merits, and need to be regulated based on that.But. The shape of the hammer is not an efficient way to inflict harm. This is supported by data from the FBI Crime Statistics survey, which gathers data filed by police departments that participate in assembling data. "Handgun" is the most common weapon used in homicides, and "knife/cutting instrument" ranks higher than "blunt objects." That's because handguns are an incredibly efficient means of wounding living beings.Let's break down the handgun the way we did the hammer. Handguns are assembled from an assortment of components that transfer the squeeze of a trigger into the strike of a hammer against a firing pin, which strikes the primer of a bullet's cartridge and sends it propelling out of the tube. Though some bullets seen in larger firearms are meant to penetrate metal, a handgun's bullet is envisioned and designed to cut through flesh.Image via Adobe Stock.These constraints make handguns efficient at few other tasks. In a pinch you could use the butt of a handgun as a hammer. I can't find any data about them being used for that purpose. I can only wander onto a construction site and count the number of firearms in toolboxes as a general sample size.Neither the hammer nor the firearm is "just" a tool. They are tools that are optimized for a purpose. We can study that purpose, and cast judgements about a tool's safety, merits, and need to be regulated based on that. Firearm advocates oppose this process through neutralizing language because it's difficult to dispute the correlation between the number of guns versus the number of murders and assaults with guns in a geographic area.Generative AI proponents sometimes regurgitate that language when defending this new technology. Because like the gun lobby, they don't want the purpose of generative AI decided by its outcomes, only its potential.What is that purpose? It may be the death of truth itself.Generative AI is broadly used to deceive through mimicryGenerative AI is a tool for deception.That's not what its biggest backers will tell you. It's broadly pitched as a tool for efficiency. But efficiency is hard to measure and easy to game. Deception is loud and obvious. Students are using it to cheat on papers. Scam calls with AI-generated voices are on the rise. The Department Human Health and Services published a study citing secretary Kennedy's unfounded health views that cites nonexistent studies, likely generated through AI. There was that cadre of YouTubers creating AI-generated fake movie trailers to attract clicks and make money off people who don't follow entertainment use. Apple marketed Apple Intelligence with advertisements showing people deceiving their neighbors, family, and coworkers. Activision Blizzard used generative AI to advertise games that don't exist.Now here's the rub: games—and all of entertainment—are also a form of deception. We use the phrase "magic circle" to describe how we attract players into our worlds. We use camera tricks, rendering technology, and even VO barks to simulate digital worlds. People engage with games, film, TV, books, and especially magic shows because on some level they want to be not just deceived, but lied to. AI has also been sold as technology that will let every player make their own perfect experience tailored for them by generating worlds, visual assets, and audio on the fly. But the best pitches I've heard for AI tend to "hide" the presence of the LLM, only mildly asking the player for prompts in order to accomplish behind-the-scenes computing tasks. These lies can make shared realities, not wholly distinct ones.That is the difference between telling lies to make virtual worlds and and telling lies to shape the real one. Lies in virtual worlds create shared realities. Lies in the real world tear them down.How appropriate that one such "shared reality," the Star Wars show Andor, recently warned us about the price we pay with treating AI as "just a tool." "The loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous," said the character Mon Mothma in a climactic speech decrying the whitewashing of a carefully executed genocide."When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest."Game Developers Conference and Game Developer are sibling organizations under Informa.

As long as I can remember, my wife has started each day with 30 minutes of a Candy Crush game. As long as she can remember, I have started each day by telling her it is pointless casual gamer cack. Now I write for the Guardian, I need to find a more eloquent way of putting that, so I thought I would have a go myself. I am begging you: do not do the same. Candy Crush Soda Saga nearly ruined me in a week.I like the game mechanics. As Oscar Wilde said, the man who doesn’t love sliding stuff to form chains of three or more matching shapes does not love life itself. This one is wrapped in a cute candy veneer, all fizzy bottles and gummy bears. And that makes the visuals so alluring. When you slide a Colour Bomb into a Candy Fish all the candies that colour get Candyfished and your eyes are treated to a bazillion of them fizzing around the screen destroying everything, while the firm yet gentle haptic feedback makes it a multisensory burst of pure, effervescent joy.“What’s that clicking noise?” my wife asks.“Don’t you play it with the haptic feedback on?”“Oh, I turned that off because I thought it was hurting my phone.”“In what way?”“I felt it was putting too much … pressure on it.” She says, like her phone is the USS Enterprise and she is Scotty diverting a dangerous amount of power away from the shields.We had many chats about Candy Crush while we both played the game in bed. I’m all for increased interspousal communication, but we used to do this kind of thing with broadsheet newspapers and now we’re matching jelly beans on phones. Luckily, you just need one hand to play, so the other is free to punch yourself repeatedly in the face as you realise how pointless your life has become.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionYou are so hooked by the mechanics you hand over your few quid for some extra virtual bobbins quicker than those kids getting drugs in The WireAnd this game is utterly pointless in the long run. There is no story, no real achievements. It uses a board game path to fake big-time progression, but whether it’s me on level 150 or my wife on level 8,452 (gulp!) the pattern is the same: a few easy levels then a super hard one which, if you haven’t accumulated enough power-ups, is virtually impossible.That’s when the game drops its trousers and flashes its microtransactions. And by that stage you are so hooked by the mechanics and the colour you hand over your few quid for some extra virtual visual bobbins quicker and easier than those crazy kids getting drugs in The Wire. Oh yes! Candy Crush Soda Saga is the game Stringer Bell went to business school to invent. The cigarette was once hailed as the most efficient poison delivery system ever invented. Not now.This game “suggests” moves to you. These are frequently not the best ones. That is no accident. This is a game designed to make you fail. It’s a compulsion loop, sure, but one that encourages you to pay for the pleasure. It’s not gambling per se, because you know what you are buying, but, while gambling company ads now scream about setting limits and walking away, this game screams at you to have one more go.I have been addicted to so many things in my life that I stopped counting. (I became addicted to counting my addictions as well.) But this ranks as one of the worst. It only takes three days until I am dangerously hooked. Last Sunday I played Candy Crush Pop Saga for three solid hours. I nearly missed the Scottish Cup final as a result. Unlike my wife, I was dipping into it during the rest of the day as well, thinking, “Oh it’s been 15 minutes, I may have ended up getting a power-up via the Bake a Cake sub game my Candy Crush team are helping me with.”The self-loathing of the addict envelopes me. I know this is not nurturing me in any way, but I cannot stop. At least cocaine was quick. In terms of time? In one week I wasted what could have been, in Zelda terms, one third of a Breath of the Wild, one half of a Twilight Princess or an entire Majora’s Mask. And at least they tell stories. If the deadline for this article hadn’t made me stop, I would have had to have buried my phone in a lime pit and set it on fire to escape from Candy Crush.The irony is that there’s no real difference between this and the arcade offerings that made me fall in love with gaming as child. Pacman, Frogger, Space Invaders et al were all designed to make you pump another coin in the slot when it winked CONTINUE Y/N at you. They were even more repetitive. So I guess by the definition detailed in this Candy Crush castigation, those games were also a waste of time.But why didn’t they feel like that?Because back then, all I had was time. It wasn’t the dwindling commodity it is in my 50s. Maybe if I played Galaxian now it would feel like playing Candy Crush: a descent into a gaming horror world so uncomfortable it’s like watching that Event Horizon movie on treadmill while wearing Lego pants. A game that offers nothing repeatedly. Waiting for Godot with gummy bears instead of tramps. Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes – it’s awful.

Hi guys! Finally made and published my first Real-Time VFX Course with Godot Engine! It’s beginner to intermediate level but in case you wanna learn the ins and outs of this particular free open-source game engine now you can in an affordable way! It’s available on: Gonna leave a few screenshots of the results: