Release notes version 0.44
UPBGE 0.44 integrates Blender's experimental Vulkan backend, introduced in Blender 4.1 and enhanced in 4.4.
This backend offers:
- Up to 5× faster cold startup times and 2× faster warm startups compared to OpenGL.
- Support for older GPUs, including NVIDIA GTX 900 and AMD Radeon 400 series.
Note: Vulkan remains experimental and lacks support for features like OpenXR and OpenSubdiv.
Blender has introduced an Metal backend for macOS, complementing the Vulkan backend on other platforms.
In UPBGE 0.44, this backend can be enabled on Apple Silicon or Intel-based Macs.
Key benefits:
- Improved performance and smoother viewport interaction.
- Better memory management and integration with macOS graphics APIs.
Current limitations:
- Some features may be unsupported or unstable.
EEVEE has undergone a significant overhaul in Blender 4.2, now referred to as EEVEE Next. Key improvements include:
- Screen-space global illumination.
- Enhanced motion blur and depth of field.
- Stable shadows with support for unlimited lights.
- Volumetric rendering with dithering.
These enhancements bring real-time rendering closer to path-traced quality, benefiting game visuals.
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Dynamic Label Fixes: Resolved issues with dynamic labels in Logic Nodes to ensure accurate and real-time updates during gameplay and development.
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Version Compatibility: Adjusted internals to maintain full compatibility with Blender 4.5, preserving functionality across recent UPBGE builds.
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Raycast Node Update: Added a
casterinput to the Raycast node, allowing precise control over which object performs the raycast, improving accuracy in interaction and detection systems. -
Group Instances Fix: Fixed bugs related to the
groupInstancesproperty in collections, ensuring that object instancing behaves consistently within grouped assets.
- Action Frame Range Restart: Implemented logic to restart actions when setting a new frame range. This change ensures that animations behave consistently even when dynamically modified.
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Video Playback Fix: Solved an issue where videos would stop playing if no audio track was present, ensuring uninterrupted playback in all cases.
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Buffer Management Optimization: Removed unnecessary buffer freeing in video playback code, reducing the risk of lags or visual artifacts during runtime.
Blender 4.4 introduces "Slotted Actions," allowing a single Action data-block to store multiple animation types (e.g., object transforms, materials, shape keys). This facilitates:
- Consolidation of complex animations.
- Merging animations from multiple objects.
- Splitting slots into separate Actions for reuse.
This system enhances animation management within UPBGE.
The Pose Library now supports exporting poses as external libraries, promoting reuse across projects and streamlining character animation workflows.
Introduced in Blender 3.6, Simulation Nodes expand Geometry Nodes to support simulations. Features include:
- Simulation Zones with input/output nodes.
- Per-frame accumulation of changes (e.g., rotations).
- Caching and baking of simulation results.
This enables procedural animations and effects within the game engine.
Blender 4.0 adds "Node Tools," allowing users to create custom tools using Geometry Nodes without scripting. These tools can be accessed directly from the 3D viewport, facilitating rapid prototyping and tool development.
The new GPU accelerated compositor introduced in Blender 3.5 and is currently used for viewport compositing. This compositor is currently more limited and not all Compositor Nodes are supported, such nodes are marked with the CPU Compositor Only label along with notes about other limitations. Moreover, MacOS is not supported due to missing support for modern OpenGL.
Moreover, Blender 4.4 features a rewritten CPU compositor, resulting in:
- 2–10× performance improvements in nodes like blur, filter, and mask.
- A revamped Glare node with enhanced controls for glow and lens flare effects.
These improvements allow for more complex real-time post-processing effects in UPBGE.
