Culling, Mesh and Shaders - Game Developers Network

Realistic Lighting in Justice with Mesh Shading

Nvidia

MAY 21, 2021

NetEase Thunder Fire Games Uses Mesh Shading To Create Beautiful Game Environments for Justice In December, we interviewed Haiyong Qian, NetEase Game Engine. Recently, NetEase introduced Mesh Shader support to Justice. Q: What are you trying to achieve by adding mesh shading to Justice? Q: How do Mesh Shaders solve this?

Mesh

Mesh Culling Shaders Ray Tracing

Advanced GPU optimization techniques in Unity 6 • Insights from Unite 2024

PreMortem.Games

OCTOBER 14, 2024

Another essential tool, the Shader Graph heatmap, provides a visual estimate of the cost associated with different Shader Graph nodes. Developers can leverage this feedback to make informed decisions when optimizing shader programs. Unity introduced Solid Angle Culling as an optimization to mitigate this overhead.

Ray Tracing

Ray Tracing Culling Pixel Render

Godot for AA/AAA game development - What's missing?

Mircosoft Game Dev

JANUARY 15, 2023

using data oriented algorithms to process the culling of objects and both secondary command buffers and automatic batching to efficiently submit the draw primitives. Mesh streaming : Models are loaded as low detail (few vertices). GPUParticlesMaterial resource (or even an optional dedicated shader). Specialized artist UIs.

AAA

AAA Game Development Game Developer Development

Godot 4.0 optimization progress report

Mircosoft Game Dev

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

Before getting into the GPU side, several optimizations have been done on the CPU side: Culling is now done in a brute-force way which is extremely cache efficient. Everything in the main frame is culled at the same time, objects, light cascades, SDFGI cascades, etc. These test do culling on 10k objects.

Culling

Culling Render Shaders Mesh

Optimize Vegetation Generation

Mnenad

FEBRUARY 26, 2018

Mainly I focused on generating grass that bends in the wind and some fern like plants, but what comes next is usable for all kind of meshes. Batching means to combine mesh objects that share the same material or that are marked as static in the Unity inspector. In my case I had terrible FPS with just some thousand mesh instances.

Mesh

Mesh Shaders FPS Polygon

Best Practices for Using NVIDIA RTX Ray Tracing (Updated)

Nvidia

JULY 25, 2022

It can be directly in the AS build calls or in some related task like the culling of the objects. Cull instances for TLAS. Instead, cull instances depending on the situation. For example, consider culling based on an expanded camera frustum. Moving the CPU work to one or more worker threads is potentially beneficial.

Ray Tracing

Ray Tracing Shaders Culling Render

Practical Use of Render Textures

The Knights of Unity

JUNE 5, 2020

For shaders, I used Amplify Shader Editor to add some visual effects on top of the render texture. I have also set up Culling Mask so that the camera captures only the things with the correct layer. Then I’ve put the recorded render texture to a Standard Shader. Then the texture is plugged into the created shader.

Texture

Texture Render Shaders Alpha

Godot's new renderer, progress report #1

Mircosoft Game Dev

OCTOBER 31, 2016

Our goal is to have a modern, clustered renderer that supports everything mainstream engines support, including PBR, global illumination and flexible shader editing. Write a more flexible, GLES 3 GLSL compatible shader language. Write a more efficient Mesh format, which allows faster loading/saving. For Godot 3.0 (our

Render

Render Shaders Texture Mesh

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 4

Mircosoft Game Dev

AUGUST 19, 2021

Mesh: Implement octahedral map normal/tangent attribute compression ( GH-46800 ). Mesh: Options to clean/simplify convex hull generated from mesh ( GH-50328 ). Rendering: Rooms and portals-based occlusion culling ( GH-46130 ). Rendering: Fixes depth sorting of meshes with transparent textures ( GH-50721 ).

Beta

Beta Dev Mesh Render

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 5

Mircosoft Game Dev

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

GridMap: Implement individual mesh transform for MeshLibrary items ( GH-52298 ). Mesh: Implement octahedral map normal/tangent attribute compression ( GH-46800 ). Mesh: Options to clean/simplify convex hull generated from mesh ( GH-50328 ). Rendering: Rooms and portals-based occlusion culling ( GH-46130 ).

Beta

Beta Dev Mesh Render

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 3

Mircosoft Game Dev

AUGUST 6, 2021

Mesh: Implement octahedral map normal/tangent attribute compression ( GH-46800 ). Mesh: Options to clean/simplify convex hull generated from mesh ( GH-50328 ). Rendering: Rooms and portals-based occlusion culling ( GH-46130 ). Rendering: Fixes depth sorting of meshes with transparent textures ( GH-50721 ).

Beta

Beta Dev Mesh Render

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 6

Mircosoft Game Dev

OCTOBER 6, 2021

GridMap: Implement individual mesh transform for MeshLibrary items ( GH-52298 ). Mesh: Implement octahedral map normal/tangent attribute compression ( GH-46800 ). Mesh: Options to clean/simplify convex hull generated from mesh ( GH-50328 ). Rendering: Rooms and portals-based occlusion culling ( GH-46130 ).

Beta

Beta Dev Mesh Render

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 2

Mircosoft Game Dev

JULY 27, 2021

Mesh: Options to clean/simplify convex hull generated from mesh ( GH-50328 ). Rendering: Rooms and portals-based occlusion culling ( GH-46130 ). Rendering: Fixes depth sorting of meshes with transparent textures ( GH-50721 ). Shaders: Add support for structs and fragment-to-light varyings ( GH-48075 ).

Beta

Beta Dev Mesh Render

Release candidate: Godot 3.4 RC 1

Mircosoft Game Dev

OCTOBER 19, 2021

GridMap: Implement individual mesh transform for MeshLibrary items ( GH-52298 ). Mesh: Implement octahedral map normal/tangent attribute compression ( GH-46800 ). Mesh: Options to clean/simplify convex hull generated from mesh ( GH-50328 ). Rendering: Rooms and portals-based occlusion culling ( GH-46130 ).

Mesh

Mesh Render Shaders Animation

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 beta 11

Mircosoft Game Dev

JANUARY 10, 2023

Import: Fix usages of mesh simplification functions in float=64 builds ( GH-67853 ). Rendering: Use proper indices for lights, decals, and reflection probes in mobile scene shader ( GH-70929 ). Rendering: Visual instance layers are regarded during shadow culling ( GH-70638 ). iOS: Fix contentScaleFactor ( GH-70478 ).

Beta

Beta Dev Render Animation

Release candidate: Godot 3.4 RC 2

Mircosoft Game Dev

OCTOBER 27, 2021

GridMap: Implement individual mesh transform for MeshLibrary items ( GH-52298 ). Mesh: Implement octahedral map normal/tangent attribute compression ( GH-46800 ). Mesh: Options to clean/simplify convex hull generated from mesh ( GH-50328 ). Rendering: Rooms and portals-based occlusion culling ( GH-46130 ).

Mesh

Mesh Render Shaders Animation

Release candidate: Godot 3.4 RC 3

Mircosoft Game Dev

NOVEMBER 2, 2021

GridMap: Implement individual mesh transform for MeshLibrary items ( GH-52298 ). Mesh: Implement octahedral map normal/tangent attribute compression ( GH-46800 ). Mesh: Options to clean/simplify convex hull generated from mesh ( GH-50328 ). Rendering: Rooms and portals-based occlusion culling ( GH-46130 ).

Mesh

Mesh Render Shaders Animation

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.5 beta 2

Mircosoft Game Dev

MARCH 15, 2022

and included in this beta are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. This adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime. Estébanez ( RandomShaper )!

Beta

Beta Dev Shaders Render

Godot 3.5: Can't stop won't stop

Mircosoft Game Dev

AUGUST 5, 2022

The new NavigationServer adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime. For more advanced use cases, you can use TextMesh to generate 3D meshes from font glyphs, so you can add WordArt to your scenes ;). Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader).

Shaders

Shaders Render Feature Mesh

2024 Cherry-picks

Mircosoft Game Dev

JANUARY 28, 2025

Look at these shiny highlights: 2D physics interpolation 2D hierarchical culling Mesh merging Discrete level of detail (LOD) ORM materials Text to speech Arctic Eggs This game about cooking eggs in a cold climate found great reception on the internet. The feature freeze for 3.6

Engineering

Engineering Engine Mechanics Co-op

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.5 beta 3

Mircosoft Game Dev

MARCH 30, 2022

and included in this beta are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. This adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime. Estébanez ( RandomShaper )!

Beta

Beta Dev Shaders Render

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.5 beta 4

Mircosoft Game Dev

APRIL 15, 2022

and included in this beta are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. This adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime. Estébanez ( RandomShaper )!

Beta

Beta Dev Shaders Render

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 3

Mircosoft Game Dev

JUNE 1, 2022

and included in this release candidate are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. The new NavigationServer adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime.

Render

Render Shaders Mesh Console

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 6

Mircosoft Game Dev

JULY 8, 2022

This RC 6 has a few notable changes compared to the previous build: In RC 4, async shader compilation and caching was enabled by default on desktop, but several users reported issues with it on some hardware. You can enable it in the Project Settings ( rendering/gles3/shaders/shader_compilation_mode ). Estébanez ( RandomShaper )!

Render

Render Shaders Mesh Console

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.5 beta 5

Mircosoft Game Dev

MAY 3, 2022

and included in this beta are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. This adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime. Estébanez ( RandomShaper )!

Beta

Beta Dev Shaders Render

Godot 3.4 is released with major features and UX polish

Mircosoft Game Dev

NOVEMBER 6, 2021

Rendering: Portal occlusion culling. Shader language features. Portal occlusion culling. Up till now a significant missing feature in the renderer has been the ability to cull (prevent rendering) objects that are within the camera view, but occluded by another object (for instance a wall). Shader language features.

UX

UX Feature Culling Mesh

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 2

Mircosoft Game Dev

MAY 24, 2022

and included in this release candidate are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. The new NavigationServer adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime.

Render

Render Shaders Mesh Console

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 4

Mircosoft Game Dev

JUNE 17, 2022

and included in this release candidate are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. The new NavigationServer adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime.

Render

Render Shaders Mesh Console

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 5

Mircosoft Game Dev

JUNE 27, 2022

and included in this release candidate are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. The new NavigationServer adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime.

Render

Render Shaders Mesh Console

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 8

Mircosoft Game Dev

JULY 28, 2022

and included in this release candidate are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. The new NavigationServer adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime.

Render

Render Shaders Mesh Console

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 1

Mircosoft Game Dev

MAY 18, 2022

and included in this release candidate are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. This adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime. back in 2020!

Render

Render Shaders Console Culling

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 7

Mircosoft Game Dev

JULY 22, 2022

and included in this release candidate are: Asynchronous shader compilation + caching (ubershader) ( GH-53411 ). A long awaited solution to shader compilation stuttering on OpenGL, courtesy Pedro J. The new NavigationServer adds support for obstacle avoidance using the RVO2 library, and navigation meshes can now be baked at runtime.

Render

Render Shaders Mesh Console

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 beta 11

Mircosoft Game Dev

JANUARY 10, 2023

Import: Fix usages of mesh simplification functions in float=64 builds ( GH-67853 ). Rendering: Use proper indices for lights, decals, and reflection probes in mobile scene shader ( GH-70929 ). Rendering: Visual instance layers are regarded during shadow culling ( GH-70638 ). iOS: Fix contentScaleFactor ( GH-70478 ).

Beta

Beta Dev Render Animation

Godot 3.0 is out and ready for the big leagues

Mircosoft Game Dev

JANUARY 29, 2018

Materials and shaders. Still, this workflow is easy and efficient as 3D objects get a second set of UVs generated on import, and baking works with instantiated meshes, scenes and even GridMaps. Materials and shaders. writing shaders is very easy! Full principled BSDF. Global illumination (GI). Mid- and post-processing.

Render

Render Visual Scripting Shaders Tile

Release candidate: Godot 3.2.2 RC 1

Mircosoft Game Dev

JUNE 12, 2020

2D: Add MODULATE builtin to canvas item shaders ( GH-38432 ). Core: Fixed false positives in the culling system ( GH-37863 ). Import: Respect 'mesh compression' editor import option in Assimp and glTF importers ( GH-39134 ). Shaders: Add shader time scaling ( GH-38995 ). 2D: Implement skew in Node2D ( GH-38394 ).

Beta

Beta Bug Debug Build

Release candidate: Godot 3.2.2 RC 2

Mircosoft Game Dev

JUNE 18, 2020

2D: Add MODULATE builtin to canvas item shaders ( GH-38432 ). Core: Fixed false positives in the culling system ( GH-37863 ). Import: Respect 'mesh compression' editor import option in Assimp and glTF importers ( GH-39134 ). Shaders: Add shader time scaling ( GH-38995 ). 2D: Implement skew in Node2D ( GH-38394 ).

Beta

Beta Debug Bug Build

Release candidate: Godot 3.2.2 RC 3

Mircosoft Game Dev

JUNE 22, 2020

2D: Add MODULATE builtin to canvas item shaders ( GH-38432 ). Core: Fixed false positives in the culling system ( GH-37863 ). Import: Respect 'mesh compression' editor import option in Assimp and glTF importers ( GH-39134 ). Shaders: Add shader time scaling ( GH-38995 ). 2D: Implement skew in Node2D ( GH-38394 ).

Beta

Beta Debug Bug Point and Click

Maintenance release: Godot 3.2.2

Mircosoft Game Dev

JUNE 26, 2020

2D: Add MODULATE builtin to canvas item shaders ( GH-38432 ). Core: Fixed false positives in the culling system ( GH-37863 ). Import: Respect 'mesh compression' editor import option in Assimp and glTF importers ( GH-39134 ). Shaders: Add shader time scaling ( GH-38995 ). Core: Fix dangling Variants ( GH-38119 ).

Debug

Debug Point and Click Bug Render

The next big step: Godot 4.0 reaches Beta

Mircosoft Game Dev

SEPTEMBER 15, 2022

You can even create complex dynamic effects by writing custom shaders that operate on FogVolume nodes. is introducing sky shaders which allow users to create dynamic skies that update in real time (including reflections). For more information see the article introducing sky shaders. For other atmospheric effects, Godot 4.0

Beta

Beta Engineering Engine Feature

Realistic Lighting in Justice with Mesh Shading

Advanced GPU optimization techniques in Unity 6 • Insights from Unite 2024

Trending Sources

Godot for AA/AAA game development - What's missing?

Godot 4.0 optimization progress report

Optimize Vegetation Generation

Best Practices for Using NVIDIA RTX Ray Tracing (Updated)

Practical Use of Render Textures

Godot's new renderer, progress report #1

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 4

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 5

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 3

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 6

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.4 beta 2

Release candidate: Godot 3.4 RC 1

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 beta 11

Release candidate: Godot 3.4 RC 2

Release candidate: Godot 3.4 RC 3

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.5 beta 2

Godot 3.5: Can't stop won't stop

2024 Cherry-picks

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.5 beta 3

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.5 beta 4

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 3

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 6

Dev snapshot: Godot 3.5 beta 5

Godot 3.4 is released with major features and UX polish

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 2

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 4

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 5

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 8

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 1

Release candidate: Godot 3.5 RC 7

Dev snapshot: Godot 4.0 beta 11

Godot 3.0 is out and ready for the big leagues

Release candidate: Godot 3.2.2 RC 1

Release candidate: Godot 3.2.2 RC 2

Release candidate: Godot 3.2.2 RC 3

Maintenance release: Godot 3.2.2

The next big step: Godot 4.0 reaches Beta

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