Key features of Godot 4.4

Godot 4.4 brings a host of new features designed to enhance the workflow and creativity of CG artists. Whether you’re working on game environments, animations, or interactive visuals, these updates make Godot an even more powerful tool. Let’s look at the top five features that make this release stand out. 

Let’s explore new updates in this latest version with iRender!

One of the most notable improvements in Godot 4.4 is the ability to run and interact with your game directly within the editor. 

This design choice previously prevented embedding the game window into the editor. This is something that users with limited screen space, like on single-monitor setups or laptops, are looking for.

Thanks to some window management tricks, it is now possible to embed the game seamlessly and interact with the rest of the editor, while still keeping the processes separate in the background.

Note that this only works on Linux, Windows, and Android for now. Support for macOS will require a different approach for technical reasons. 

There are also many other nice quality-of-life updates to the Editor, including the option to snap 3D objects to one another while placing them in a level, to preview camera views directly in the Inspector, and a built-in material preview in the visual shader editor.

The updates to LightmapGI improve the quality and performance of rendered shadows, making scenes look more realistic and visually appealing.

The change makes it possible to use static shadows at a distance from the view camera, but dynamic shadows up close, improving performance without sacrificing realism.

LightmapGI also now supports bicubic sampling, resulting in smoother-looking baked shadows at a small performance cost, and supports baking tinted shadows from transparent objects.

This new tone-mapping option provides a cinematic, movie-like look to rendered images, enhancing the overall visual quality.

The Godot implementation resembles theirs closely but is purposely simplified to be more suitable for real-time use cases.

AgX gives a movie-esque quality to renders and can handle very bright scenes better than other available options.

The Jolt physics engine is now integrated directly into Godot, removing the need for an external extension. This streamlines the workflow and provides robust physics simulation capabilities.

While still in an experimental phase, Jolt promises more robust and efficient physics simulations, paving the way for even more realistic interactions in future updates. 

However, the Jolt extension is now in maintenance mode and will be deprecated once the native Jolt physics system reaches feature parity.

For animators, Godot 4.4 introduces several key features to improve character motion and dynamic effects:

• • • LookAtModifier3D: A new constraint system that simplifies look-at mechanics.
    • VRMSpringBone Integration: Provides more natural jiggle physics for hair, clothing, and other soft-body elements.
    • Animation Markers: Artists can now define subregions within animations to enable seamless looping or jumping between segments, offering greater flexibility and control.

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Why choose iRender? 

• • • Full Control: Our service will give you full control over your rented servers. Therefore, you are free to create your working environment. 
    • Go Green: We are committed to using 100% solar renewable energy towards environmental sustainability. 
    • Real-human 24/7 Support: Our professional support agents and technicians guarantee to bring you the best rendering experience.

Let’s watch the video below to understand our workflow more easily. 

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References & image sources:  godotengine.org & cgchannel.com