Documentation pages to add or update for Godot 4.0

[Calinou]

Note: This issue is only for manual pages. For class reference pages, refer to the automatically updated tracker: https://godotengine.github.io/doc-status/

Help for working on these pages is welcome. If you're going to start writing a new page or rewrite an existing one, please leave a comment to state which page you're going to work on 🙂

New pages

Pages to write for features that were not present in Godot 3.x.

• Large world coordinates (double-precision physics) Add a page on large world coordinates (double-precision floats) #6314
• 3D resolution scaling (FSR) Add a page on 3D resolution scaling #6331
• 3D antialiasing Add documentation pages on 2D and 3D antialiasing #6267
  • MSAA, TAA, FXAA, supersampling (resolution scale above 1.0).
• 2D antialiasing Add documentation pages on 2D and 3D antialiasing #6267
  • MSAA – mention what it affects and what it doesn't in 2D.
• Variable rate shading (VRS) Add a page on variable rate shading (VRS) #6402
• 3D particle systems Add 3D Particles Documentation #5535
  • We don't have a page dedicated to 3D particles yet. This page should mention how to set up attractors, collision and trails. Setting up manual emission in a shader should be done in a dedicated page about particle shaders, since it's an advanced feature.
• Volumetric fog Add a page on volumetric fog and FogVolumes #6162
• Mesh LOD Add pages on mesh LOD and visibility ranges #6161
• Visibility ranges Add pages on mesh LOD and visibility ranges #6161
• Occlusion culling Add a page on occlusion culling #6160
  • Using the raster-based approach, different from portals and rooms in 3.x.
• Introduction to global illumination Revamp global illumination documentation #6216
  • Mention faking outdoor GI with a second DirectionalLight as an alternative to Godot's GI methods: Move DirectionalLight3D's shadow mode to a project setting godot-proposals#3353 (comment)
    • Faking indoor GI with OmniLights or SpotLights is also an option. It's still done in many AAA games today, but it involves a lot more manual work. It's still viable for dynamic lights when your GI solution of choice does not support real-time GI of moving lights (such as LightmapGI or SDFGI).
• Signed distance field global illumination Revamp global illumination documentation #6216
  • Tweaking performance figures, avoiding light leaks, etc.
• Decals Add a page on decals #6178
  • See https://youtu.be/CrOI5HUAPCg?t=9760 for inspiration.
• GDExtension Addition of GDExtension docs #6212
  • See https://godotengine.org/article/introducing-gd-extensions for inspiration.
• Upgrading to Godot 4 Add a Godot 3 to Godot 4 upgrade guide #6393
  • See Write a migration guide for Godot 4 #4960.
• Global and per-instance shader uniforms Document global and per-instance uniforms in Shading language #6414
  • Also document how to support specifying textures in per-instance uniforms. For portability reasons, you can't actually use textures in instance uniforms, but you can specify a texture array as a standard uniform and specify the layer to sample from as a instance uniform integer.
• Using compute shaders Adding example code for compute shaders #6159
  • Documentation about writing and running compute shaders using local RenderingDevices. See also Minimal Compute Shader Example #4834.
• Using low-level GLSL shaders Adding example code for compute shaders #6159
  • Documentation about loading custom GLSL shaders (advanced users only).
  • See the end of https://godotengine.org/article/vulkan-progress-report-7 for inspiration.
• Custom performance monitors Add a page on custom performance monitors #6409
  • Documentation about creating and viewing the output of custom performance monitors.
• Animation retargeting Add tutorials for blend animation and retargeting #6322
  • See https://godotengine.org/article/animation-retargeting-in-godot-4-0 for inspiration.
• Physical light units Add a page on physical light units #6390
  • Documentation about enabling, meaning of various units, pitfalls to watch out for.
• Run-time model loading
  • See godot 4 glTF runtime loader #6385.
• CanvasItem clipping (masking) and grouping
  • 2D lights and shadows page should refer to this page in place of the former Mask blend mode.

Pages to rewrite

These pages need rewrites from scratch with new screenshots.

• Engine's compilation guides at https://docs.godotengine.org/en/latest/development/compiling/index.html needs to be updated after the merge of SCons: Unify tools/target build type configuration godot#66242. Document the Unification of tools/target build type configuration #6316 Change build flags in Godot 4 docs to current variants #6375
• Environment and post-processing Update Environment and post-processing documentation for 4.0 #6273
• Using Fonts Update Using Fonts page for 4.0 #6373
  • Mention font fallbacks, variable fonts, OpenType variants, subpixel positioning and LCD subpixel optimization. Also mention that ligatures and emoji are fully supported since 4.0.
• Import process Update resource importing documentation for Godot 4.0 #6782
• Importing images Update resource importing documentation for Godot 4.0 #6782
• Importing audio samples Update resource importing documentation for Godot 4.0 #6782
• Importing 3D scenes Update Importing 3D scenes documentation for Godot 4.0 #6603 + Update Importing 3D scenes documentation for Godot 4.0 #6800
• Size and anchors (UI)
• 2D tilemaps and tilesets Update TileSets and TileMaps documentation for Godot 4.0 #6760
• 2D skeletal animation
  • See Skeleton 2D docs do not match Godot 4 #6388.
• 2D lights and shadows Update the 2D lights and shadows page for Godot 4.0 #6424
  • Mention directional 2D lights, specular mapping and the new shadow smoothing options (different from the ones in 3.x).
• 3D lights and shadows Update 3D lights and shadows documentation for 4.0 #6355
  • Mention the soft shadow properties.
  • Document setting up projectors for both spot and omni lights (omni lights require panorama textures).
  • Mention performance tuning and project settings.
• Kinematic Character (2D)
• 2D particle systems
  • Mention how to set up attractors, collision and trails. Setting up manual emission in a shader should be done in a dedicated page about particle shaders, since it's an advanced feature.
• Voxel GI (replaces the old GI Probes page) Revamp global illumination documentation #6216
• Baked lightmaps (mention the GPU lightmapper and LightmapGI node) Revamp global illumination documentation #6216
• High-level multiplayer Update high level multiplayer manual for Godot 4. #7675
  • See Outdated info godot 4 (multiplater ENet) #6741.
  • See https://godotengine.org/article/multiplayer-changes-godot-4-0-report-2 for inspiration.
• Internationalizing games Update internationalization docs for 4.0 #6418
  • Mention translation contexts and pluralization.

[YuriSizov]

You can add almost every page on the editor as they all need new screenshots and in some cases updated descriptions too.

[Calinou]

You can add almost every page on the editor as they all need new screenshots and in some cases updated descriptions too.

Indeed, although I think tracking screenshot updates on existing pages should be done in a separate tracker issue. I want to focus on significant text changes here.

[skyace65]

I already have a PR in progress for lights and shadows. #4570. I'll add in the extra stuff you've mentioned here, though I still need help with fog fade and transmittance bias.

The said does it make sense to work on stuff for 4.0 now? There's no alpha yet so the UI can still change. This PR you made (godotengine/godot#48561) is still waiting to get merged and I wouldn't be surprised to see more UI changes between now and an alpha.

[and-rad]

@Calinou What do you want us to do if we stumble across outdated manual pages? Mention them here to get them added to the list or open a new issue, possibly tagging them with Godot 4.0? I'm currently running through the latest documentation and am finding a lot of outdated info. I don't want that to go to waste.

[Calinou]

@Calinou What do you want us to do if we stumble across outdated manual pages? Mention them here to get them added to the list or open a new issue, possibly tagging them with Godot 4.0? I'm currently running through the latest documentation and am finding a lot of outdated info. I don't want that to go to waste.

Feel free to mention a list here, although I'm already working on rewriting the global illumination docs right now (including GIProbe and BakedLightmap).

[and-rad]

Dope. Here's the first couple I found:

The Multiple Resolutions page talks about different stretch modes and mentions the three modes Disabled, 2D, and Viewport. In the current master branch, there's canvas_items instead of 2D, which I assume is still the same mode, but under a different name.

The Size and anchors page talks about "margins". This concept seems to have been renamed to "Offset" with the functionality remaining the same as far as I can see.

The screenshots on both of these pages need to be updated too. There was mention of a separate tracker that should be created for that, but it looks like that hasn't happened yet. Should I set up one while I'm at it or wait for someone from the "core" team to do it?

[Calinou]

The screenshots on both of these pages need to be updated too. There was mention of a separate tracker that should be created for that, but it looks like that hasn't happened yet. Should I set up one while I'm at it or wait for someone from the "core" team to do it?

There are some changes planned to the GUI system's containers and margin system, so I would wait until beta stage to make editor screenshots.

Still, pretty much all editor screenshots should be remade, since a new editor theme was designed for Godot 4.0. Feel free to create a separate tracker issue that lists individual image files that need to be remade.

[and-rad]

The Handling quit requests page seems to be completely outdated. It appears that the MainLoop.NOTIFICATION_WM_QUIT_REQUEST event, which the entire article revolves around, has been removed from the engine.

I noticed that most of the pages I mentioned are tutorials and I know there are plans to remove tutorials from the docs. Would it make sense to keep posting them vs. letting the problem solve itself when the tutorials get removed eventually?

[and-rad]

Now that feature warnings have been added to the engine, the Feature Tags page might have to be updated to include relevant information about how the warnings work.

[and-rad]

As far as I can see, the Reset Animation feature is not documented anywhere, either in the class reference or any of the tutorials. There is a single mention of a related property in the API documentation, but nothing that would clear up any questions users might have about the feature.

[and-rad]

@Calinou I'd like to work on the documentation of 3D particle systems. I'm currently getting familiar with the GPU particle system, so I would want to start with that. I'd also provide a translation while I'm at it (German in my case).

[Calinou]

@Calinou I'd like to work on the documentation of 3D particle systems. I'm currently getting familiar with the GPU particle system, so I would want to start with that. I'd also provide a translation while I'm at it (German in my case).

Sure, feel free to start working on a 3D particle systems page 🙂

I would only focus on GPUParticles usage for now. Topics to cover would be:

• Setting up a particle (ProcessMaterial, draw passes, etc)
• Subemitters
• Attractors
• Collision (the various collision nodes, their upsides/downsides, and how to enable collisions in the particle node)
• Trails

Manual emission requires a custom particle shader, which is likely outside the scope of a basic particle tutorial.