Godot aims to offer a fully integrated game development environment. It allows developers to create a game from scratch, needing no other tools beyond those used for content creation. The engine's architecture is built around the concept of a tree of nested "scenes". All game resources, including scripts and graphical assets, are saved as part of the computer's file system. This storage solution is intended to facilitate collaboration between game development teams using software version control systems. The engine supports deployment to multiple platforms and allows specification of texture compression and resolution settings for each platform. Currently, supported platforms include Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD, Android, iOS, BlackBerry 10, HTML5, and WebAssembly. There is also Windows Runtime and Universal Windows Platform support.
Scripting
Games using Godot can be created with a variety of programming languages including C++, C#, and any other language with GDNative bindings such as Rust, Nim, and D. Godot also has its own built-in scripting language, GDScript, a high-level, dynamically typedprogramming language very similar to Python. Unlike Python, GDScript features strict typing of variables and is optimized for Godot's scene-based architecture. Godot's developers have stated that many alternative third-party scripting languages such as Lua, Python, and Squirrel were tested before deciding that using a custom language allowed for superior optimization and editor integration. The engine also supports visual coding via its own built-in visual programming language VisualScript. Godot includes a script editor with auto indentation, syntax highlighting and code completion. It also features a debugger with the ability to set breakpoints and program stepping.
Rendering
Godot's graphics engine uses OpenGL ES 3.0 for all supported platforms; otherwise, OpenGL ES 2.0 is used. Future support for Vulkan is being developed. The engine supports normal mapping, specularity, dynamic shadows using shadow maps, baked and dynamic Global Illumination, and full-screen post-processing effects like bloom, DOF, HDR, and gamma correction. A simplified shader language, similar to GLSL, is also incorporated. Shaders can be used for materials and post-processing. Alternatively, they can be created by manipulating nodes in a visual editor. Godot also includes a separate 2D graphics engine that can operate independently of the 3D engine. The 2D engine supports features such as lights, shadows, shaders, tile sets, parallax scrolling, polygons, animations, physics and particles. It is also possible to mix 2D and 3D using a 'viewport node'.
Other features
Godot contains an animation system with a GUI for skeletal animation, blending, animation trees, morphing, and real-time cutscenes. Almost any variable defined or created on a game entity can be animated. The engine uses Bullet for 3D physics simulation. Additional features include:
History
Godot's development was started by Juan 'reduz' Linietsky and Ariel 'punto' Manzur in 2007. Linietsky stated in a presentation that the name "Godot" was chosen due to its relation to Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot, as it represents the never-ending wish of adding new features in the engine, which would get it closer to an exhaustive product, but never will. In February 2014, the source code for Godot was released to the public on GitHub under the MIT License. On 15 December 2014, Godot reached version 1.0, marking the first stable release and the addition of lightmapping, navmesh support, and more shaders. Version 1.1 was released on 21 May 2015, adding improved auto-completion in the code editor, a visual shader editor, a new API to the operating system for managing screens and windows, a rewritten 2D engine, new 2D navigation polygon support, a much improved BlenderCollada exporter, and a new dark theme. The then-new 2D engine included shaders, materials, independent Z ordering per node, lights, shadows with polygonal occluders, normal mapping, and distance-field font support. Godot joined the Software Freedom Conservancy on 4 November 2015. Godot 2.0 was released on 23 February 2016. New features included better scene instancing and inheritance, a new file system browser, multiple scene editing, and an enhanced debugger. This was followed by version 2.1 in August 2016, which introduced an asset database, profiler, and plugin API. On 22 June 2016, Godot received a $20,000 MozillaOpen Source Support “Mission Partners” award to be used to add WebSockets, WebAssembly and WebGL 2.0 support. Later, with Miguel de Icaza's support, Godot received a $24,000 donation from Microsoft to implement C# as a scripting language in Godot. Version 3.0 was released on 29 January 2018, adding a brand new PBR renderer implemented in OpenGL ES 3.0, virtual reality compatibility, and C# support. Version 3.0 also replaced the engine's built-in 3D physics back end with the Bullet physics engine and was the first version of Godot to be included in Debian. On 3 February 2020, Godot received a $250,000 Epic Games award to improve graphics rendering and the engine's built-in game development language, GDScript.
Usage
Many games by OKAM Studio have been made using Godot, including Dog Mendonça & Pizza Boy, which uses the Escoria adventure game extension. Additionally, it has been used in West Virginia's high school curriculum, due to its ease-of-use for non-programmers and what is described as a "wealth of learning materials that already exist for the software".
