Hi, I’m Yuri (Chaosus), and I made a number of changes this past 18 months to upgrade the shader language in Godot 4.0 to a better level.

There are changes to the editor usability, to the shader language itself, and to visual shaders.

Editor changes

Shader creation dialog

A new shader creation dialog has been added to easily create a shader and initialize it with basic content:

Shader creation dialog

Pull request: #51356

Warning system

A new warning system for shaders within the editor has been implemented. If you leave a uniform unused or don’t use a declared function, the editor will warn you by default:

Warning system for shaders

Of course, this can be customized via the new section in the Project Settings (don’t forget to toggle on the Advanced switch):

Settings to configure shader warnings

Pull request: #44874

Argument names in code completion tooltips

This is a minor improvement to better reflect what the function does:

Shader completion tooltips

Pull request: #51391

Shader changes

Uniform arrays

This is a long-awaited feature which enables the user to pass an array of some type to the shader via uniforms.

Passing a uniform array from the editor to a shader

Sampler arrays are also supported, but setting them through the inspector is currently not possible. You can pass an array filled with textures to the shader with the set_shader_param() function and it should work.

Pull request: #49485

Structs

Structs (from GLSL) can finally be declared in your shaders!

struct Test {
	vec3 color;
};

struct MyStruct {
  float power;
  vec3 color;
  Test result;
};


Test foo(MyStruct a, MyStruct b) {
    MyStruct k;
    k.result.color = (a.color + b.color) * k.power;
    return k.result;
}

void fragment() {
    MyStruct inst = MyStruct(0.0, vec3(0.0), Test(vec3(1.0)));
    Test result = foo(inst, MyStruct(1.0, vec3(0, 1, 0), Test(vec3(0.0))));
}

With this feature, many GLSL shaders can easily be ported from web platforms like Shadertoy with minimal changes. For example:

Godot port of the Planetary gears shader by AntoineC

The above GIF is a Godot port of the “Planetary gears” shader by AntoineC on Shadertoy: https://www.shadertoy.com/view/MsGczV

Godot shader code: https://github.com/godotengine/godot/pull/35249#issuecomment-584740706

Pull request: #35249

This change was also ported to Godot 3.4 by @lyuma via #48075.

Array size before identifier

Like in GLSL, you can now pass an array’s size before the declaration of the array identifier. This further eases porting existing shaders to Godot’s shader language:

int[2] array; // instead of `int array[2]`;

Pull request: #53527

Array constructor after initialization

Array constructors can now be called anytime after array initialization like this:

int array[3];

array = {1, 2, 3};

Pull request: #44705

Array passing to functions

You can finally pass an array of any supported type (including structs) to functions:

shader_type spatial;

void test(out vec3 v[2]) {
	v = {vec3(1, 0, 0), vec3(0, 1, 0)};
}

void fragment() {
	vec3 v[2];
	test(v);
	ALBEDO = v[1]; // green color
}

Furthermore, you can now return an array from functions:

shader_type spatial;

vec3[2] test(in vec3 v[2]) {
	v[0] = vec3(1, 0, 0);
	return v;
}

void fragment() {
	vec3 v[2];
	v = test(v);
	ALBEDO = v[0]; // red color
}

Other than that, you can index a function call (if it returns an array) like:

vec3 v = test(v)[0];

Also, using an array in a ternary operator expression is now possible:

vec3 a[2] = {vec3(1, 0, 0), vec3(0)};
vec3 b[2] = {vec3(0, 1, 0), vec3(0)};

bool t = true;
vec3 c[2] = t ? a : b; // Red color if `t` is true, otherwise green.

Pull request: #48933

varying changes

varyings can now be passed not only in the way they were usually passed (Vertex -> Fragment/Light), but from Fragment -> Light as well. In order to use them, you should always initialize them first in the needed function and use them in other functions afterwards.

shader_type spatial;

varying vec3 vertex_to_frag_or_light_varying;
varying vec3 frag_to_light_varying;

void vertex() {
	vertex_to_frag_or_light_varying = vec3(1, 0, 0);
}

void fragment() {
	frag_to_light_varying = vec3(0, 1, 0) + vertex_to_frag_or_light_varying;
}

void light() {
	DIFFUSE_LIGHT = frag_to_light_varying + vertex_to_frag_or_light_varying;
}

New fma() built-in function

Added new built-in called fma which means “fused multiply-add”. This acts as a shortcut to: (a * b + c). The a, b and c can be any of : float, vec2, vec3, or vec4 types. Thanks to the GPU hardware being optimized for such operations, this is faster by about 10% compared to doing it manually.

vec3 v = fma(vec3(0, 1, 0), vec3(2, 2, 2), vec3(0, 0, 1)); // v = vec3(0, 2, 1)

In visual shaders, this operation is provided by the new MultiplyAdd node.

New MultiplyAdd node in Visual Shaders

Pull request: #36225

Other new built-in functions

Besides fma(), there are several new built-ins that are supported by GLES3 and Vulkan. However, these weren’t been exposed before:

  • textureGather()
  • packHalf2x16()
  • packUnorm2x16()
  • packSnorm2x16()
  • packUnorm4x8()
  • packSnorm4x8()
  • unpackHalf2x16()
  • unpackUnorm2x16()
  • unpackSnorm2x16()
  • unpackUnorm4x8()
  • unpackSnorm4x8()
  • bitfieldExtract()
  • bitfieldInsert()
  • bitfieldReverse()
  • bitCount()
  • findLSB()
  • findMSB()
  • uaddCarry()
  • usubBorrow()
  • imulExtended()
  • umulExtended()
  • ldexp()
  • frexp()

These built-in functions can be used to manually optimize performance by performing low-level operations such as bit packing.

There are too specific to be exposed for VisualShaders (at least for now), but they can be accessed via the expressions or plugins there.

Those functions are the same as in GLSL, so you can refer to the GLSL API reference for details on what they do and how to use them.

Pull request: #53066

The TIME built-in is now global

Previously, the TIME built-in was only available in main functions: vertex(), fragment(), and light(). You also had to pass it as a function argument to use TIME in sub-functions:

vec3 test(in float time) {
    return vec3(sin(time), cos(time), 0);
}

void fragment() {
    test(TIME);
}

In Godot 3.4 and 4.0, this is no longer the case. TIME can now be used anywhere without having to pass it as a function argument:

void test() {
    return vec3(sin(TIME), cos(TIME), 0);
}

void fragment() {
    test();
}

Pull request: #37166

Ported to 3.4 via #49509

Global constants

Aside from TIME, it’s now possible to use 3 common constants: PI, TAU, and E in your shaders without writing additional code.

float pi = PI; // 3.14159
float tau = TAU; // 6.28318
float e = E; // 2.71828

Pull request: #48837

Visual shader changes

Graph optimization

Visual shaders get a performance boost which is significant on large graphs or slow computers. Now, operations such as creating a new node or changing a node parameter or connection no longer recreate the whole graph. Instead, only the changed nodes will be recreated (and in some cases, just their content).

Context menu

A new context menu is called via right-click if nodes are selected. It provides some standard functionality like Copy, Paste or Duplicate:

Context menu for selected nodes

There is some extended functionality for some nodes provided by that menu. For example, constants can be converted to uniforms (and vice-versa):

Context menu to convert constants to uniforms and back

Note: If no nodes are selected, the standard node selection dialog is popped up instead of the context menu.

Pull request: #36594

Separated preview window

The generated shader code preview is now a standalone window instead of embedded in the shader graph. It can therefore be freely resized or moved to another other monitor.

Generated shader code preview window

Pull request: #45069


Extended settings for uniforms

You can now set up Qualifier, Hint, and DefaultValue configuration data for the uniform nodes:

Pull requests: #35950, #38475

Extended configuration options for uniform nodes

Integer nodes

It is now possible to declare an integer node (IntConstant, IntUniform, IntFunc, IntOp) which corresponds to the int type in the shader.

Integer nodes

Note: The old Scalar node prefixes were renamed to Float to prevent confusion.

Pull request: #36536

UniformRef node

This node enables the user to access a uniform placed in another shader function graph.

UniformRef node

Pull request: #40785

Ported to 3.3 via #41185

Texture3D nodes

3D textures now have their representatives nodes in visual shaders:

Texture3D nodes

CurveTexture node

You can now create a special node to sample the value from a CurveTexture. This node provides a preview of this texture and allows you to change it within a graph:

CurveTexture sampling node

You can drag & drop an existing CurveTexture from the FileSystem dock:

Drag and drop of CurveTexture to the shader graph

Pull request: #42558

Comment node

A Comment node was added for better readability and documentation in your visual shaders. After placing it, you can resize it and use the context menu to modify the header and the description label like:

Comment node with title and description

Pull request: #46273

Billboard node

The Billboard node (named as GetBillboardMatrix in the member dialog) provides a way to modify the model view matrix of a 3D object to always look towards the camera.

Billboard node

It provides support for multiple billboard types referred to as standard Godot types in StandardMaterial3D (see docs on Billboard modes).

It only makes sense for 3D objects and should be connected to the new Model View Matrix port in the vertex shader. Therefore, this node is available only for Node3D/Vertex mode of the visual shader.

Note: These modes has been taken from StandardMaterial3D (formerly SpatialMaterial in Godot 3.x).

Pull request: #49157

Predefined floating-point constants

Floating-point constants (ScalarFloat) can now be picked from predefined visual shader constants in place using a new context menu:

Selecting pre-defined float constants

Pull requests: #42452, #50114

UVFunc node

UVFunc is a new node designed to perform some operations such as scaling or panning with texture coordinates:

UVFunc node

Pull request: #49337

SDF nodes

Added several SDF (Signed Distance Field) nodes for the CanvasItem/Fragment and CanvasItem/Light modes of the visual shader.

They correspond to new functions which were added in #43886.

  • VisualShaderNodeScreenUVToSDF (vec2 screen_uv_to_sdf(vec2 screen_uv))
  • VisualShaderNodeSDFToScreenUV (vec2 sdf_to_screen_uv(vec2 sdf_pos))
  • VisualShaderNodeTextureSDF (float texture_sdf(vec2 sdf_pos))
  • VisualShaderNodeTextureSDFNormal (vec2 texture_sdf_normal(vec2 sdf_pos))
  • VisualShaderNodeSDFRaymarch - raymatching algorithm (see #43886)

SDF nodes

Pull request: #43906

Sky shader mode

To correspond to the implementation of sky shaders, I’ve also provided the interface for them in visual shaders.

Sky shader mode

Pull request: #37287

Fog shader mode

To reflect the latest changes which introduced fog shaders, the visual shader graph also has support for them.

Fog shader mode

Note: In the future, more advanced tools may be introduced for fog and sky shaders. Currently, it’s just a basic implementation.

Pull requests: #53353, #54382

New particles nodes

The particles mode (both in shaders and visual shaders) was significantly changed. Here is a quick overview of the new nodes and modes in that group.

Random generation node

Godot’s particles system already had features for random number generation. Bringing this to the visual shader system was only a matter of time. Generation of random floating-point scalars and vectors is very useful for particle systems in general. By using the ParticleRandomness node, you can achieve that.

Random generation node

Note: To modify the colors of the particles, you must enable Vertex Color > Use As Albedo in the material override property of the GPUParticles3D node.

Start mode

The start mode defines the void start() function of a shader and allows the user to define initial velocity, position, rotation, and scale parameters of the particles. The corresponding visual node is StartOutput.

Velocity

A velocity vector must be assigned in order to move the particles. You can assign any vector you want or use a random vector from ParticleRandomness. The engine also provides a ConeVelocity node to create a velocity in a form of a cone, defined by a normalized direction vector and the spread amount. Since it produces a normalized vector you should multiply the result by the required speed of the particle.

Velocity vector using the ConeVelocity node

Emitters

Emitters define a shape where each particle could be randomly placed. They should be connected to the Position port in the StartOutput. Currently, there are three possible shapes: box, ring, and sphere. This is a demonstration of the ring emitter:

Ring emitter

Note: If the position vector is not assigned it will be emitted from the center of the emitter’s volume.

Process mode

The process mode is defined in the void process() function of a shader and allows the user to modify each particle parameter over time. The corresponding visual node is ProcessOutput. The provided node to modify the velocity over time is ParticleAccelerator.

Using ParticleAccelerator node for the process mode

As you can see this node has three modes: Linear, Radial, and Tangential. Linear scales the node velocity uniformly, Radial scales relatively to the volume center, and Tangential modifies the velocity by swirling around the volume center. An amount of scaling is defined in the first port of this node. The axis port is used only by the Tangential mode to define the axis of swirl and gravity (it’s initialized with Earth’s gravity by default).

Custom mode

The start and process modes can be switched to a custom mode:

Custom mode for Start output

Here, you can pass custom data and modify the transform of each particle directly. The processing of this mode is placed after the main code of the start() or process() functions. To access the custom data in other modes, use an Input node.

Collide mode

The collide mode’s code is placed in the process() function and processed only when a particle has a collision with one of the GPUParticlesCollision nodes.

Collide mode with GPUParticlesCollision

This is just a quick overview and you should try it yourself to understand how it works. This system is pretty new and may not contain all the nodes required by the majority of the users. Feedback is welcome on the Godot proposals repository :)

Pull request: #42248


That’s all for now! I hope Godot 4.0 and future versions will elevate your creativity and possibilities to the next level. Thanks for reading!