Changelog

This is a high-level list of features, changes and fixes that have been made over time.

At the moment, this module doesn't have a distinct release schedule, so this changelog follows Godot's version numbers and binary releases. Almost each version mentionned here should have an associated Git branch (for THIS repo, not Godot's) containing features at the time of the version. Backports aren't done so far.

Semver is not yet in place, so each version can have breaking changes, although it shouldn't happen often across minor versions.

1.2.dev - ongoing development - master

Primarily developped with Godot 4.2.

  • Added ZN_SpotNoise, exposing the same algorithm as the SpotNoise2D and SpotNoise3D nodes of graph generators
  • Saving with save_all_modified_blocks now automatically flushes eventual caches implemented by VoxelStream upon completion
  • Added VoxelStreamMemory, which stores in memory instead of the filesystem. This is mainly for testing purposes.
  • More memory allocations are now tracked by Godot (you might notice OS.get_static_memory_usage() returns slightly more)
  • VoxelBlockyModelMesh: exposed side_vertex_tolerance to tune when geometry is considered on sides of the voxel
  • VoxelBuffer: exposed fill_area_f
  • VoxelEngine: added methods to get the version of the voxel engine
  • VoxelGeneratorGraph: Added GPU support for the Select node
  • VoxelLodTerrain:
    • save_all_modified_blocks now returns a completion tracker similar to VoxelTerrain
    • Added new optional LOD streaming system Clipbox (advanced settings):
      • Uses concentric boxes instead of octree traversal, although some logic remains similar to what an octree does
      • Uses less CPU
      • Supports multiple viewers
      • Supports collision-only viewers
      • Adds secondary LOD distance parameter controlling the extents of LOD1 and beyond, separately from LOD0 (unused in the legacy system)
      • Has its own limitations and pending improvements, may be addressed over time
      • The original system is now referenced as "Legacy Octree".
    • Debug drawing is now exposed as properties. Editor checkboxes were removed from the terrain menu
  • VoxelMesherTransvoxel: textures from air voxels (SDF>0) no longer contribute to the mesh
  • VoxelStream:
    • Added flush method to force writing to the filesystem in case the stream's implementation uses caching
  • VoxelStreamSQLite: Added support for user:// paths (via internal call to ProjectSettings.globalize_path())
  • VoxelTool:
    • Added grow_sphere as alternate way to progressively grow or shrink matter in a spherical region with smooth voxels (thanks to Piratux)
    • do_box with smooth voxels now uses a proper box SDF, to improve quality. Before it was a solid fill, which could cause artifacts
    • Added paste_masked_writable_list, which also determines what is copied based the destination voxels
  • VoxelToolBuffer: edits are now allowed even if the affected area is partially out of bounds of the target buffer. Results will be clipped.

  • VoxelToolLodTerrain:

    • Improved quality of separate_floating_chunks on smooth terrains by expanding cutting-off area to include more gradients

  • Fixes

    • Fixed chunk loading was prioritized incorrectly around the player in specific game start conditions
    • Fixed "plugins_list.has(p_plugin)" is true errors in the editor, at the cost of slight behavior changes. This was caused by existing workarounds to prevent UIs from hiding unexpectedly, which were modified to avoid the error, but are still needed unfortunately.
    • Fixed error Unimplemented _get_import_order in add-on when importing .vox files
    • Fixed some corner cases where quickly leaving and coming back to an edited area would revert edits to their previous state, due to chunks reloading before those edits got saved asynchronously
    • Fixed possible artifacts near terrain borders when using generators that sometimes avoid filling the output buffer, assuming they are initialized to defaults (issue #603)
    • VoxelBlockyModel: Fixed material_override_* properties all acting like the same material
    • VoxelBlockyTypeLibrary: Fixed a crash when saving a library with a null type entry (thanks to ArchLinus)
    • VoxelBoxMover: Fixed performance slowdown when VoxelBlockyLibrary contains a lot of models.
    • VoxelGeneratorGraph:
      • Fixed ambiguous voxel texture indices produced by OutputSingleTexture caused painting to fail in some situations
      • Fixed default input values of output nodes were always 0 when using GPU generation
      • Fixed crash when using 16 weight output nodes (which is the maximum)
      • Fixed error when using more than 12 weight output nodes
      • Fixed using a graph as brush wasn't working with some transforms
      • Fixed wrapping error with the Image node in negative coordinates
      • Fixed wrong behavior and crashes when generating chunks large enough to trigger the "subdivision" feature
    • VoxelInstanceLibraryMultimeshItem: fixed error when using "Update From Scene" and trying to undo/redo it
    • VoxelStreamSQLite: fixed crash when using set_key_cache_enabled(true)
    • VoxelTool: fixed paste wrongly printing an error despite working fine
    • VoxelToolLodTerrain:
      • do_point and set_voxel were not always updating meshes near chunk borders, leaving holes
      • get_voxel would always return 0 in indices and weight channels if the area was never edited, data streaming is on and the generator is a VoxelGeneratorGraph producing single-texture information
      • copy would return incorrect buffers when used on non-edited areas when data streaming is on and a generator is assigned
      • Fixed errors printed when moving away from edited chunks while no stream is assigned
      • Fixed separate_floating_chunks was spawning chunks not exactly at the same place
      • Fixed stamp_sdf was randomly not working correctly

  • Breaking changes

    • VoxelBuffer:
      • get_voxel_f and set_voxel_f now automatically rescale quantized values. They are no longer normalized in -1..1 and may represent signed distances, so no need to scale manually (imprecisions caused by fixed-point encoding still applies).
      • debug_print_sdf_y_slices now returns a typed array instead of untyped array
    • VoxelGeneratorGraph: the fix to Image coordinate wrapping means results will be different than the previous broken version (the broken version was partially offsetting the image in negative coordinates)
    • VoxelGraphFunction: some members of the NodeTypeID enum have changed value. However, this enum's values shouldn't be used raw, and shouldn't be used in saves.
    • VoxelStream: save and load methods for voxels now take a position in blocks instead of a position in voxels
    • VoxelTool: due to the automatic internal SDF rescaling, if you modify sdf_scale, you may have to adjust it (or remove it if you set it to 0.002).
    • VoxelToolMultipassGenerator: changed get_editable_area_max to return an exclusive position instead of inclusive

1.1 - 29/12/2023 - 1.1

Primarily developped with Godot 4.1

  • General

    • Added shadow casting setting to both terrain types
    • Added editor shortcut to re-generate the selected terrain
    • Added support for block generation on the GPU (only available with generators that support both CPU and GPU, for now VoxelGeneratorGraph only).
    • Updated FastNoise2 to 0.10.0-alpha
    • Started an experimental type system for the blocky voxels workflow. However it is not fully functional, its API may change in the future or have parts removed.
    • Added experimental VoxelAStarGrid3D for grid-based pathfinding on blocky voxels
    • Added experimental VoxelGeneratorMultipassCB to implement column-based generation in multiple passes that works across chunks
    • Added render_layers_mask property to VoxelTerrain and VoxelLodTerrain
    • Voxel engine processing no longer stops when the SceneTree is paused
    • VoxelGeneratorGraph:
      • Added Spots2D and Spots3D nodes, optimized for generating "ore patches"
      • Added shader support for FastNoiseGradient2D and FastNoiseGradient3D nodes
      • Added bilinear filter option to the Image node
      • Editor: reworked context menu to add nodes, similar to VisualShader. Now has search bar, tree view and node descriptions.
      • Editor: added copy/paste with Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V shortcuts
    • VoxelGraphFunction:
      • Editor: the graph will now get compiled while editing, which provides some checks
      • Editor: I/Os are setup automatically when the graph is compiled by default. Manual setup might be exposed in the future if necessary.
    • VoxelTerrain:
      • Added VoxelTerrainMultiplayerSynchronizer, which simplifies replication using Godot's high-level multiplayer API
      • Added is_area_meshed as an alternative to VoxelTool.is_area_editable for games using mesh colliders
      • Added do_path to build or carve "worms" of varying radius
      • Editor: added warning when bounds are empty
    • VoxelTool:
      • Added smooth_sphere, which smoothens terrain in a spherical area using box blur. Smooth/SDF terrain only. (Thanks to Piratux for the idea and initial implementation)
      • Separated paste into paste and paste_masked functions. The latter performs masking using a specific channel and value.
    • VoxelToolTerrain:
      • Raycasting a terrain using VoxelMesherBlocky now takes collision boxes into account (thanks to Lry722)
    • VoxelToolLodTerrain:
      • Added support for paste
    • VoxelMesherCubes:
      • Added helper function to convert an image into a 1-voxel thick "sprite mesh"
    • VoxelInstancer:
      • Added get_library_item_id on multimesh instances with physics body nodes, so raycasts hitting them can tell which item they are
    • VoxelInstanceGenerator:
      • Added noise graph property, so instances can also be filtered with a custom VoxelGraphFunction
    • VoxelInstanceLibrary:
      • Added get_all_item_ids() to allow iterating over all items of a library
    • VoxelLibraryMultiMeshItem:
      • Added render_layer property (thanks to m4nu3lf)
      • Added gi_mode property
      • Exposed custom distance ratios for the secondary distance-based LOD system
      • Added option to hide instances when beyond their max distance-based LOD (only relevant for terrains with no LOD, or on the last LOD of VoxelLodTerrain)
      • Node groups on the template scene are now added to instance colliders if present
    • VoxelLodTerrain:
      • Added debug drawing for modifier bounds
      • Added is_area_meshed as an alternative to VoxelTool.is_area_editable for games using mesh colliders
      • Terrain now updates when the material property is assigned in the editor
      • Editor: added warning when bounds are empty
    • VoxelVoxLoader:
      • Added parameter to allow loading data in a custom channel (instead of the color channel)
    • VoxelBlockyModel:
      • Added 3D preview in editor
      • Added ability to rotate the model in editor (not just for preview, actually rotate the baked model)
      • Changed names to be handled with Resource.name, so it also shows them in the list of models in the editor
      • Added culls_neighbors property to control whether the sides of a model can cull sides of other models (thanks to spazzylemons)

  • Fixes

    • Fixed editor not shrinking properly on narrow screens with a terrain selected. Stats appearing in bottom panel will use a scrollbar if the area is too small.
    • VoxelBoxMover: Workaround floating point error with stair climbing, which could cause characters to fall through the step (depends on gameplay code inducing errors when converting the returned motion)
    • VoxelGeneratorGraph:
      • Fixed crash if a graph contains a node with both used and unused outputs, and gets compiled with debug=false
      • Fixed error when adding Constant nodes
      • Fixed graph not always saving when saving the scene
      • Fixed shader generator crash when a node has an unconnected input
      • Fixed cellular noise when used on GPU
      • Fixed Image node issues when sampling at negative coordinates
    • VoxelGraphFunction:
      • Fixed default input values were not properly loaded
      • Fixed unexpected "missing node" error when more than one custom inputs are used
    • VoxelInstancer:
      • Fixed crash when hiding the node in the editor
      • Fixed crash when closing the scene while an instancer node is selected
      • Fixed instances were not cleared when using the "Re-generate" menu in the editor when terrain shape changed
    • VoxelInstanceLibrary:
      • Fixed find_item_by_name was not finding items
      • Fixed newly added items in the editor rendering badly by default when the terrain doesn't have LOD. For now they always default to LOD 0 instead of LOD 2.
    • VoxelTerrain: Fixed crash when the terrain tries to update while it has no mesher assigned
    • VoxelLodTerrain: Fixed error spam when re-generating or destroying the terrain
    • VoxelMesherBlocky: Fixed materials "wrapping around" when more than 256 are used. Raised limit to 65536.
    • VoxelMesherTransvoxel: Removed rare degenerate/microscopic triangles, which caused errors with Jolt Physics. However, doing those checks makes meshing about 15% slower (untextured).
    • VoxelStreamRegionFiles: Fixed block_size_po2 wasn't working correctly
    • VoxelToolTerrain: Fixed terrain was not marked as modified when setting voxel metadata
    • VoxelToolLodTerrain:
      • Fixed stamp_sdf wasn't working due to an error when providing a baked mesh
      • Fixed set_voxel was creating artifacts
      • Fixed separate_floating_chunks was creating artifacts
    • VoxelMeshSDF: fixed saved resource was not loading properly

  • Breaking changes

    • VoxelBlockyLibrary:
      • Changed the list of models to be handled by a typed array instead of individual properties. When opened in the editor, old resources will get converted. Re-save them to make the conversion persist.
    • VoxelBlockyModel:
      • The class was split into several subclasses for each type of geometry. When opened in the editor, old resources will get converted, but only if they are part of a VoxelBlockyLibaray. They won't work if they are individual resource files.
    • VoxelNode:
      • Removed GIMode enum, replaced with GeometryInstance3D.GIMode

1.0 - 12/03/2023 - godot4.0

Godot 4 is required from this version.

  • General

    • Added gi_mode to terrain nodes to choose how they behave with Godot's global illumination
    • Added FastNoise2 for faster SIMD noise
    • Added experimental support functions to help setting up basic multiplayer with VoxelTerrain (might change in the future)
    • Improved support for 64-bit floats
    • Added ZN_ThreadedTask to allow running custom tasks using the thread pool system
    • Added VoxelMeshSDF to bake SDF from meshes, which can be used in voxel sculpting.
    • Mesh resources are now fully built on threads with the Godot Vulkan renderer
    • Editor: terrain bounds are now shown in the inspector as min/max instead of position/size
    • Added do_hemisphere to VoxelToolTerrain and VoxelToolLodTerrain, which can be used as flattening brush
    • VoxelGeneratorGraph:
      • added support for outputting to the TYPE channel, allowing use with VoxelMesherBlocky
      • editor: unconnected inputs show their default value directly on the node
      • editor: allow to change the axes on preview nodes 3D slices
      • editor: replace existing connection if dragging from/to an input port having one already
      • editor: creating noise and curve nodes now auto-create their resource instead of coming up null
      • editor: added pin button to keep the graph editor shown even after deselecting the terrain.
      • editor: added popout button to open the graph editor in a separate window
      • added comment nodes
      • added relay nodes
      • added custom functions with the new VoxelGraphFunction resource (initial implementation, has limitations)
      • added OutputSingleTexture node for outputting a single texture index per voxel, as an alternative to weights. This is specific to smooth voxels.
      • added math expression node
      • added Pow and Powi nodes
      • Clamp now accepts min and max as inputs. For the version with constant parameters, use ClampC (might be faster in the current state of things).
      • Added per-node profiling detail to see which ones take most of the time
      • Added "live update" option, to automatically re-generate the terrain when the graph is modified
      • Some nodes have default input connections, so it's no longer required to connect them manually to (X,Y,Z) inputs
      • Added minor optimization to share branches of nodes doing the same calculations
    • VoxelInstancer:
      • Added support for VoxelTerrain. This means only LOD0 works, but mesh-LODs should work.
      • Editor: added basic UI to see how many instances exist
      • Allow to dump VoxelInstancer as scene for debug inspection
      • Editor: instance chunks are shown when the node is selected
      • Changing mesh block size should no longer make saved instances invalid if they were saved with a different mesh block size
    • VoxelInstanceLibraryMultiMeshItem:
      • Support setting up mesh LODs from a scene with name LODx suffixes
      • Support setting a scene directly, which is converted to multimesh at runtime (fixes a few workflow issues: updates automatically when scene changes, doesn't create mesh and texture copies in the .tres file when using imported scenes)
    • VoxelLodTerrain: exposed debug drawing options for development versions

  • Smooth voxels

    • SDF data is now encoded with inorm8 and inorm16, instead of an arbitrary version of unorm8 and unorm16. Migration code is in place to load old save files, but do a backup before running your project with the new version.
    • VoxelTool: Added set_sdf_strength() to control brush strength when sculpting smooth voxels (previously acted as if it was 1.0)
    • VoxelLodTerrain: added experimental full_load_mode, in which all edited data is loaded at once, allowing any area to be edited anytime. Useful for some fixed-size volumes.
    • VoxelLodTerrain: Added optional calculation of distant normalmaps to improve LOD quality. It can also run on the GPU for faster execution (VoxelGeneratorGraph only).
    • VoxelLodTerrain:
      • Editor: added option to show octree nodes in editor
      • Editor: added option to show octree grid in editor, now off by default
      • Added option to run a major part of the process logic into another thread
      • added debug gizmos to see mesh updates
    • VoxelToolLodTerrain:
      • added experimental do_sphere_async, an alternative version of do_sphere which defers the task on threads to reduce stutter if the affected area is big.
      • added stamp_sdf function to place a baked mesh SDF on the terrain
      • added do_graph to run a custom brush based on VoxelGeneratorGraph in a specific area. An InputSDF node was added in order to support SDF modifications.
    • VoxelMesherTransvoxel:
      • initial support for deep SDF sampling, to affine vertex positions at low levels of details (slow and limited proof of concept for now).
      • Variable LOD: regular and transition meshes are now combined in one single mesh per chunk. A shader is required to render it, but creates far less mesh resources and reduces the amount of draw calls.

  • Blocky voxels

    • VoxelMesherBlocky:
      • materials are now unlimited and specified in each model, either as overrides or directly from mesh (You still need to consider draw calls when using many materials)
      • each model can have up to 2 materials (aka surfaces)
      • mesh collisions: added support for specifying which surfaces have collision
    • VoxelBoxMover: added basic support for stair climbing

  • Fixes

    • VoxelBlockyLibrary: the editor no longer crashes some time after having null model entries.
    • VoxelBlockyModel: properties of the inspector were not refreshed when changing geometry_type
    • VoxelBuffer: frequently creating buffers with always different sizes no longer wastes memory
    • VoxelGeneratorGraph:
      • editor: fix inspector starting to throw errors after deleting a node, as it is still inspecting it
      • editor: fixed crash when connecting an SdfPreview node to an input. However this is not supported yet.
      • editor: fixed wrong position of context menu in some dual monitor configurations
      • editor: fixed an occasional random crash happening when nodes UI layouts are updated
      • fixed Image2D node not accepting image formats L8 and LA8
      • fixed memory leaks when the graph contains resources
      • some specific node graphs were not ordered properly
      • SmoothUnion and SmoothSubtract were causing branches to be incorrectly skipped by runtime optimization, leading to empty blocks
    • VoxelGeneratorFlat: fixed underground SDF values being 0 instead of negative
    • VoxelInstancer:
      • fix instances not refreshing when an item is modified and the mesh block size is 32
      • fix crash when removing an item from the library while an instancer node is using it
      • fix errors when removing scene instances
      • fix position issues when scene instances are saved
      • fix position issues when instances are saved while mesh block size is set to 32
    • VoxelLodTerrain:
      • fix lod_fade_duration property was not accepting decimal numbers
      • Cracks no longer appear at seams when LOD fading is enabled
    • VoxelMesherCubes:
      • editor: color mode is now a proper dropdown
      • fixed raw color mode not working properly
      • wrong alpha check between transparent and solid cubes
    • VoxelMesherTransvoxel:
      • fixed surface not appearing if it lines up exactly at integer coordinates
      • fixed occasional holes and "spikes" in geometry in some specific configurations
    • VoxelStreamScript: fix voxel data not getting retrieved when BLOCK_FOUND is returned
    • VoxelTerrain:
      • fixed Condition "mesh_block == nullptr" is true which could happen in some conditions
      • changing a material now updates existing meshes instead of only new ones
    • VoxelTool: raycast locking up if you send a Vector3 containing NaN
    • VoxelToolLodTerrain: fix inconsistent result with integer do_sphere radius
    • VoxelToolTerrain: run_blocky_random_tick no longer snaps area borders to chunk borders in unintuitive ways

  • Breaking changes

    • Some functions now take Vector3i instead of Vector3. If you used to send Vector3 without floor() or round(), it can have side-effects in negative coordinates.
    • VoxelTerrain: the main way to specify materials is no longer here, but in meshers instead.
    • VoxelLodTerrain: set_process_mode and get_process_mode were renamed set_process_callback and get_process_callback (due to a name conflict)
    • VoxelLodTerrain: has_block was renamed has_data_block
    • VoxelMesherTransvoxel: Shader API: The data in COLOR and UV was moved respectively to CUSTOM0 and CUSTOM1 (old attributes no longer work for this use case)
    • VoxelMesherTransvoxel: Variable LOD: a shader is now required to properly render transitions
    • Voxel was renamed VoxelBlockyModel
    • VoxelLibrary was renamed VoxelBlockyLibrary
    • VoxelVoxImporter was renamed VoxelVoxSceneImporter
    • VoxelInstanceLibraryItem was renamed VoxelInstanceLibraryMultiMeshItem
    • VoxelInstanceLibraryItemBase was renamed VoxelInstanceLibraryItem
    • VoxelServer: renamed VoxelEngine
    • VoxelStream:
      • renamed emerge_block => load_voxel_block
      • renamed immerge_block => save_voxel_block
    • VoxelStreamScript:
      • renamed _emerge_block => _load_voxel_block
      • renamed _immerge_block => _save_voxel_block
    • VoxelGeneratorGraph: the Select node's threshold port is now a parameter instead.
    • FastNoiseLite was renamed ZN_FastNoiseLite, as now Godot 4 comes with its own implementation, with a few differences.
    • Removed VoxelStreamBlockFiles

  • Known issues

    • Some nodes and resources no longer start with predefined properties due to a warning introduced in Godot4 when properties are resources.
    • SDFGI does not work all the time and can only be forced to update by moving away and coming back, pre-generating the terrain, or toggling it off and on. This is a limitation of Godot not supporting well meshes created dynamically.

0.5.x - Legacy Godot 3 branch - godot3.x

This branch is the last supporting Godot 3

  • Smooth voxels

    • VoxelLodTerrain: added experimental full_load_mode, in which all edited data is loaded at once, allowing any area to be edited anytime. Useful for some fixed-size volumes.
    • VoxelToolLodTerrain: added experimental do_sphere_async, an alternative version of do_sphere which defers the task on threads to reduce stutter if the affected area is big.
    • VoxelInstanceLibraryItem: Support setting up mesh LODs from a scene with name LODx suffixes

  • Fixes

    • VoxelBuffer: frequently creating buffers with always different sizes no longer wastes memory
    • Voxel: properties were not refreshed when changing geometry_type
    • VoxelGeneratorGraph:
      • fixed Image2D node not accepting image formats L8 and LA8
      • editor: fixed crash when connecting an SdfPreview node to an input. However this is not supported yet.
      • fixed memory leaks when the graph contains resources
    • VoxelTerrain: fixed Condition "mesh_block == nullptr" is true which could happen in some conditions
    • VoxelTool: raycast locking up if you send a Vector3 containing NaN
    • VoxelToolLodTerrain: fix inconsistent result with integer do_sphere radius
    • VoxelInstancer:
      • fix instances not refreshing when an item is modified and the mesh block size is 32
      • fix crash when removing an item from the library while an instancer node is using it
      • fix errors when removing scene instances
    • VoxelStreamScript: fix voxel data not getting retrieved when BLOCK_FOUND is returned
    • Terrain was not visible if a room/portals system was used. For now it is not culled by rooms.

0.5 - 06/11/2021 - godot3.4

  • General

    • VoxelTerrain: added get_data_block_size()
    • VoxelToolTerrain: added for_each_voxel_metadata_in_area() to quickly find all metadata in a box
    • FastNoiseLiteGradient: exposed missing warp functions
    • Added property to terrain nodes to configure collision margin
    • Thread count is automatically determined from the number of concurrent threads the CPU supports
    • Added project settings to configure thread count
    • Added third-party licenses to the About Window in the editor

  • Blocky voxels

    • Added *.vox importers to import MagicaVoxel files as scenes or meshes

  • Smooth voxels

    • VoxelMesherTransvoxel:
      • Initial support for texturing data in voxels, using 4-bit indices and weights
    • VoxelMesherTransvoxel:
      • optimized hot path, making it about 20% faster
      • added option to simplify meshes using MeshOptimizer
    • VoxelToolLodTerrain:
      • added copy function
      • added get_voxel_f_interpolated function, useful to obtain interpolated SDF
      • added a function to separate floating chunks as rigid-bodies in a specified region
    • VoxelInstanceGenerator: added extra option to emit from faces more precisely, especially when meshes got simplified (slower than the other options)
    • VoxelInstancer:
      • added menu to setup a multimesh item from a scene (similarly to GridMap), which also allows to set up colliders
      • added initial support for instancing regular scenes (slower than multimeshes)
      • added option to turn off random rotation
    • VoxelInstanceLibrary: moved menu to add/remove/update items to the inspector, instead of the 3D editor toolbar

  • Breaking changes

    • VoxelBuffer: channels DATA3 and DATA4 were renamed INDICES and WEIGHTS
    • VoxelInstanceGenerator: EMIT_FROM_FACES got renamed EMIT_FROM_FACES_FAST. EMIT_FROM_FACES still exists but is a different algorithm.
    • VoxelServer: get_stats() format has changed, check documentation
    • VoxelLodTerrain: get_statistics() format has changed: time_process_update_responses and remaining_main_thread_blocks are no longer available
    • VoxelLodTerrain: Maximum LOD count was decreased to 24, which is still largely enough. Higher maximums were likely to cause integer overflows.
    • VoxelTerrain: get_statistics() format has changed: time_process_update_responses and remaining_main_thread_blocks are no longer available
    • VoxelViewer: requires_collisions is now true by default

  • Fixes

    • VoxelGeneratorGraph:
      • changes to node properties are now saved properly
      • fix some per-thread memory not freed on exit
      • debug_analyze_range was crashing when given a negative-size area
    • VoxelBuffer:
      • copy_voxel_metadata_in_area was checking the source box incorrectly
      • multiple calls to create() with different sizes could lead to heap corruption if a channel was not uniform
      • copy_channel_from_area could lead to heap corruption if the source and destination had the same size and were copied entirely
    • VoxelMesherTransvoxel: no longer crashes when the input buffer is not cubic
    • VoxelLodTerrain:
      • fixed errors and crashes when editing voxels near loading borders
      • fixed crash occurring after a few edits when LOD count is set to 1
      • fixed crash when run stream in editor is turned off while the terrain is loading in editor
    • VoxelTool channel no longer defaults to 7 when using get_voxel_tool from a terrain with a stream assigned. Instead it picks first used channel of the mesher (fallback order is mesher, then generator, then stream).
    • VoxelInstancer:
      • fixed error when node visibility changes
      • fixed no instances generated when density is 1 in vertex emission mode
    • VoxelInstanceLibraryItem: fixed collision shapes setup in editor not being saved
    • VoxelInstanceLibrarySceneItem: fixed associated scene not being saved
    • VoxelTerrain: fixed materials shown under the wrong inspector category
    • VoxelStreamRegionFiles: fixed errors caused by meta file being sometimes written with wrong depth values
    • VoxelStreamBlockFiles: fixed warning about channels always shown in the scene tree
    • VoxelStreamSQLite: fixed blocks above LOD0 being saved at wrong locations, causing them to be reloaded often floating in the air
    • Fix some crashes occurring when all PoolVector allocs are in use (Godot 3.x limitation). It will print errors instead, but crashes can still occur inside Godot's code as it's not often checking for this
    • Fix some crashes occurring when negative sizes are sent to AABB function parameters

0.4 - 09/05/2021 - godot3.3

  • General

    • Introduction of VoxelServer, which shares threaded tasks among all voxel nodes
    • Voxel data is no longer copied when sent to processing threads, reducing high memory spikes in some scenarios
    • Added a utility class to load .vox files created with MagicaVoxel (scripts only)
    • Voxel nodes can be moved, scaled and rotated
    • Voxel nodes can be limited to specific bounds, rather than being infinitely paging volumes (multiples of block size).
    • Meshers are now resources so you can choose and configure them per terrain
    • Added FastNoiseLite for a wider variety of noises
    • Generators are no longer limited to a single background thread
    • Added VoxelStreamSQLite, allowing to save volumes as a single SQLite database
    • Implemented copy and paste for VoxelToolTerrain
    • Added ability to double block size used for meshes and instancing, improving rendering speed at the cost of slower modification
    • Added collision layer and mask properties

  • Editor

    • Streaming/LOD can be set to follow the editor camera instead of being centered on world origin. Use with caution, fast big movements and zooms can cause lag
    • The amount of pending background tasks is now indicated when the node is selected
    • Added About window

  • Smooth voxels

    • Shaders now have access to the transform of each block, useful for triplanar mapping on moving volumes
    • Transvoxel runs faster (almost x2 speedup)
    • The SDF channel is now 16-bit by default instead of 8-bit, which reduces terracing in big terrains
    • Optimized VoxelGeneratorGraph by making it detect empty blocks more accurately and process by buffers
    • VoxelGeneratorGraph now exposes performance tuning parameters
    • Added SdfSphereHeightmap and Normalize nodes to voxel graph, which can help making planets
    • Added SdfSmoothUnion and SdfSmoothSubtract nodes to voxel graph
    • Added VoxelInstancer to instantiate items on top of VoxelLodTerrain, aimed at spawning natural elements such as rocks and foliage
    • Implemented VoxelToolLodterrain.raycast()
    • Added experimental API for LOD fading, with some limitations.

  • Blocky voxels

    • Introduced a second blocky mesher dedicated to colored cubes, with greedy meshing and palette support
    • Replaced transparent property with transparency_index for more control on the culling of transparent faces
    • The TYPE channel is now 16-bit by default instead of 8-bit, allowing to store up to 65,536 types (part of this channel might actually be used to store rotation in the future)
    • Added normalmaps support
    • VoxelRaycastResult now also contains hit distance, so it is possible to determine the exact hit position
    • VoxelBoxMover supports scaled/translated terrains and VoxelMesherCubes (limited to non-zero color voxels)
    • VoxelColorPalette colors can be edited in the inspector
    • VoxelToolTerrain.raycast accounts for scale and rotation, and supports VoxelMesherCubes (non-zero values)

  • Breaking changes

    • VoxelViewer now replaces the viewer_path property on VoxelTerrain, and allows multiple loading points
    • Defined COLOR channel in VoxelBuffer, previously known as DATA2
    • VoxelGenerator is no longer the base for script-based generators, use VoxelGeneratorScript instead
    • VoxelGenerator no longer inherits VoxelStream
    • VoxelStream is no longer the base for script-based streams, use VoxelStreamScript instead
    • Generators and streams have been split. Streams are more dedicated to files and use a single background thread. Generators are dedicated to generation and can be used by more than one background thread. Terrains have one property for each.
    • The meshing system no longer "guesses" how voxels will look like. Instead it uses the mesher assigned to the terrain.
    • SDF and TYPE channels have different default depth, so if you relied on 8-bit depth, you may have to explicitely set that format in your generator, to avoid mismatch with existing savegames
    • The block serialization format has changed, and migration is not implemented, so old saves using it cannot be used. See documentation for more information.
    • Terrains no longer auto-save when they are destroyed while having a stream assigned. You have to call save_modified_blocks() explicitely before doing that.
    • VoxelLodTerrain.lod_split_scale has been replaced with lod_distance for clarity. It is the distance from the viewer where the first LOD level may extend.

  • Fixes

    • C# should be able to properly implement generator/stream functions

  • Known issues

    • VoxelLodTerrain does not entirely support VoxelViewer, but a refactoring pass is planned for it.

0.3 - 08/09/2020 - godot3.2.3

  • General

    • Added per-voxel and per-block metadata, which are saved by file streams along with voxel data
    • StringName is now used when possible to call script functions, to reduce overhead
    • Exposed block serializer to allow encoding voxels for network or files from script
    • Added terrain methods to trigger saves explicitely
    • The module only prints debug logs if the engine is in verbose mode
    • VoxelTerrain now emit signals when blocks are loaded and unloaded

  • Editor

    • Terrain nodes now render in the editor, unless scripts are involved (can be changed with an option)

  • Blocky voxels

    • Added collision masks to blocky voxels, which takes effect with VoxelBoxMover and voxel raycasts
    • Added random tick API for blocky terrains
    • Blocky mesh collision shapes now take all surfaces into account

  • Smooth voxels

    • Added a graph-based generator, dedicated to SDF data for now

  • Fixes

    • Fixed crash when VoxelTerrain is used without a stream
    • Fixed Voxel.duplicate() not implemented properly
    • Fixed collision shapes only being generated for the first mesh surface
    • Fixed VoxelTool truncating 64-bit values

0.2 - 27/03/2020 - (no branch) - Tokisan Games binary version

  • General

    • Optimized VoxelBuffer memory allocation with a pool (best when sizes are often the same)
    • Optimized block visibility by removing meshes from the world rather than setting the visible property
    • Added customizable bit depth to VoxelBuffer (8, 16, 32 and 64 bits)
    • Added node configuration warnings in case terrain nodes are wrongly setup
    • Implemented VoxelTool for VoxelBuffers
    • Added VoxelStreamNoise2D
    • Added blur option in VoxelGeneratorImage
    • Generators now all inherit VoxelGenerator

  • Blocky voxels

    • Blocky voxels can be defined with a custom mesh, sides get culled automatically even when not a cube
    • Blocky voxels can have custom collision AABBs for use with VoxelBoxMover
    • The 3D noise generator now works in blocky mode with VoxelTerrain
    • Blocky voxels support 8 bit and 16 bit depths

  • Smooth voxels

    • Implemented Transvoxel mesher, supporting transition meshes for seamless LOD. It now replaces DMC by default.
    • Heightmap generators now have an iso_scale tuning property which helps reducing terracing

  • Fixes

    • Fixed dark normals occasionally appearing on smooth terrains
    • Fixed Transvoxel mesher being offset compared to other meshers
    • Fixed stuttering caused by ShaderMaterial creation, now they are pooled
    • Fixed cases where VoxelLodTerrain was getting stuck when teleporting far away
    • Fixed a few bugs with VoxelStreamBlockFiles and VoxelStreamRegionFiles

  • Breaking changes

    • Removed channel enum from Voxel, it was redundant with VoxelBuffer
    • Renamed VoxelBuffer.CHANNEL_ISOLEVEL => CHANNEL_SDF
    • Removed VoxelIsoSurfaceTool, superseded by VoxelTool
    • Removed VoxelMesherMC, superseded by VoxelMesherTransvoxel
    • Replaced VoxelGeneratorTest by VoxelGeneratorWaves and VoxelGeneratorFlat

0.1 - 03/10/2019 - godot3.1

Initial reference version.

  • Support for blocky, dual marching cubes and simple marching cubes meshers
  • Terrain with constant LOD paging, or variable LOD (smooth voxels only)
  • Voxels editable in game (limited to LOD0)
  • Various simple streams to generate, save and load voxel terrain data
  • Meshers and storage primitives available to use by scripts

...

  • 01/05/2016 - Creation of the module, using Godot 3.0 beta