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Skillet

2024 Round-Up And 2025 Roadmap

After a rather quiet October and November, it is time to wrap-up the rest of 2024 and mention the plans for GodotSteam in 2025! Before the year is out, we'll finally get updates to every single branch and the server repo. These updates include Steamworks SDK 1.61, additions for Angle and DirectX 12 (?), and a little prep for Godot 4.4. Even a quick patch for Linux GDNative to fix a random achievement bug.

Fun and Funding

Funding open-source is hard, if not impossible sometimes. My personal situation changed and I can no longer self-fund GodotSteam's development. Until I find a new job, things will be a bit slower than normal. That being said, I will have to spread out what I can work on. The studio that was our largest funding source also had situation changes, so we will lose the vast bulk of funding by the end of the year. Much love to the rest of our sponsors who will keep the project moving along; every bit helps immensely! I will try to figure out some more perks for you folks.

That being said, if you the community want the project to continue on at a better clip, please consider donating on Github Sponsors! I know that is a big ask these days. Those of you with skills are also encouraged to help with pull-requests. You can find some to-do lists here.

1-on-1 Support

Earlier I had to cut out direct support to focus on building more resources out but the community is far larger and faster than I am with this. Tons of smart and active folks lending a hand to answer questions.

I quietly rolled out some 1-on-1, pair-programming support for more advanced issues on Github Sponsors and am now officially announcing it to help fund the main project. To set up a session, please contact me at [email protected] with what you need help with; we will set up a time / schedule and you can pay it through Github Sponsors. I ask you do not use this for very basic things that you can find in our tutorials as it is just a waste of your hard-earned money!

GodotSteamKit

Our sponsors were informed about this already, but now is a good time to mention GodotSteamKit officially. You may have heard me talk about this somewhere and previously it had been called GodotSteam Components. I am releasing this in 2025 in hopes of bolstering funds for the main project.

You can consider it something akin to GodotSteam 2.0; the editor code has been completely re-written to fix some issues with GodotSteam that I couldn't fix without majorly breaking things for everyone. Some of these changes will possibly become public once Godot 5 comes out and breaking changes are less problematic.

GodotSteamKit also has a host of built-in editor tools for things like Inventory, UGC / Workshop, uploading to Steam, VDF creation. This also includes a bunch of custom nodes I have been tinkering with to ease the use of some Steamworks classes: avatars, chat, etc. It will also be bundled with a bunch of "starter kit" scenes for things like Lobbies and Networking. These can be modified to suit your needs but will speed up implementing things. Some of these may later be released publicly.

This suite is aimed at more professional or serious developers and will be free to all sponsors over a set value of donations. Non-sponsors can purchase it for a one-time fee; the amount of which is still being considered.

GodotSteamKit will not be open-source like GodotSteam was. It will be a closed-source editor built off Godot Engine and will not feature a GDExtension at first but that will come shortly after a stable release is created. Obviously, the licensing will not be MIT but I'm not entirely sure what license will be used.

Skillet

To reduce the workload of the overall project, Skillet's release has been bumped back sometime into 2025. I have no idea when as it is the second lowest priority currently. Sometime in early 2025, I will open the game up to some contributors to help speed that along so we can get it out in a slightly reduced state where features can be added at a later time.

All that being said, Skillet's Steam store page will go live next week so we can start posting things there for you all to follow.

Learning Resources

The website update is still coming, albeit slowly. I really want to push it more as a learning resource so means more tutorials! Last month I rolled out the first video tutorial on MakerTube and plan to release a new one each month covering everything as in-depth as possible. Stats and Achievements are up next! That should be out a bit before the holidays.

Onward!

Let's recap with a (hopeful) roadmap:

2024

  • Patches for SDK 1.61, Angle, DirectX
  • Stats and Achievements video tutorials
  • Premium support offering
  • Skillet Steam store page launch

2025

  • New website updates
  • GodotSteamKit
  • Skillet
  • Monthly video tutorials
  • New text tutorials

Keep making those cool games!

❤ Love, Gramps

Keep On Truckin'

GodotSteam 4.11 / 3.27

Hey, gang! Finally got those shiny patches ready... so here is GodotSteam 4.11 and GodotSteam 3.27! The biggest changes are accessible properties like Steam ID (of the local user), app ID, leaderboards, a wealth of handles, etc. Many of which are set by calling the normal functions you do already. Everything GodotSteam held onto internally, you can now access with set/gets. There are now more editor warnings/errors for things using Godot macros. Some very minor breaks depending on if you used some rather obsecure features like the Steam error callback. The full list is available on each branch's readme or respective change-log page in the docs.

The biggest difference is in the updates to MultiplayerPeer and now, finally, documentation as well as in-editor docs. Mostly the code was reformatted, some things taken out, and everything kind of streamlined. It also allowed me to get an idea of what was going on since I was on the outside of the whole process until now. In the near future, we will be adding in Steam Sockets to MultiplayerPeer so you can choose which networking system to use with it.

Direct12 is still not added to anything but will be in the next patch. Server updates are also coming early next week, they are the least used and clearly last to get updated. They are still two versions back as is. Also GDNative is delayed due to compiling issues that were too last minute but I expect that to be resolved next week. Sorry Godot 3.x plug-in folks!

What's next?

Well, almost nine years later, the SDK is completely integrated, tutorials created with more coming starting in October, example projects built with a big one coming, and such. There are lots of plans and things to do but I figured now is a good time to rebalance this relationship a bit.

First, thank you to the group of sponsors who have been carrying this project the last few years; you truly made a difference and kept this thing going. And now I am asking rest of the community if they want to see this continue.

This project was never predicated on funding: I started it for me and shared it with the community. Then I kept it up to keep supporting all the cool games and folks using it. It has been an unexpected adventure, grew way bigger than I thought it would, and I am glad you all went with me on it. I love I was able to help so many people tackle Steamworks.

However, I have accomplished my original goals plus a lot more (and still have more to do), but, alas, this is the real-world and these things cost. If you are interested in seeing this continue, please consider support the project on Github Sponsors. I re-opened donations on Patreon for folks who prefer that method; though they take a big cut where Github Sponsors takes none. I will use the next three months to evaluate this and see what you all think.

TL:DR; If we can get a reasonable funding level, I will continue on with GodotSteam and keep building it out. If we cannot, at the end of December, the project will shift to purely community driven, I will find new maintainers, and move on to other things like GodotSteamKit and more games.

GodotSteamKit

While I am not 100% ready to roll this out, GodotSteam Components is being rebranded as GodotSteamKit and will feature all the extra tools I have been working on in the shadows and occasionally mentioning. This also includes a full re-write of GodotSteam itself and will be available in two flavors: pre-compiled editor suite and GDExtension. There will be no Godot 3 support unfortunately. I except to roll this all out in November and it will have a cost associated that has not been determined yet. Sponsors will be eligible to receive it as thanks for their donations though.

More on this in November.

Skillet

Still on track to release in December but it will be skipping NextFest to focus on public repo release which is happening in October. I will start rolling out code as I work on it so you can start helping or snipping out examples. Once finished, Skillet will replace all GodotSteam example projects as it is one big example project covering all of GodotSteam's features.

More on that in October.

Website

Big updates are out next week with a total revamp, new tutorials, more streamlined interface, and more details.

So go grab some updates and build cool games!

❤ Love, Gramps

GodotSteam 4.10, Skillet, And You

First, GodotSteam 4.10 And You

Godot 4.3 is out so now GodotSteam is updating to 4.10! You can download pre-compiled versions of the standard build, GDExtensions, or MultiplayerPeer from all the normal places. Big thing is the new GodotSteam is using the Flat API so, in theory, we can now use MinGW to compile. I have not tested this yet but will be doing some test builds soon.

Now for the GDExtension part. There are two versions of the GDExtension currently available on the Github repo: godotsteam-gdextension-plugin41_43.zip and godotsteam-gdextension-plugin43.zip which are built with different Godot-cpp versions. The 4.1 branch that is cherry-picked fixes for maximum compatibility, as I understand it, and 4.3 which is the newest; these plug-ins are using their respective versions. The 41_43 version should work fine in all Godot versions 4.1. If you notice any issues, please let us know and change over to the 43 version instead.

For now, the GodotSteam Asset Library version will contain the 41_43 variant.

Wait, where do you come in? Test, build, export, report!

What's In The Skillet?

If you don't know, Skillet's asset branch is live on the Skillet repo. It has achievement, Inventory, and UGC images already, icons, Steam store assets, and more. Also some templates if you want to add skins to the game yourself. Most importantly, it has the VDF files so you can see how these items are set up in the Steamworks backend.

Currently, none of the assets are allowed to be used in commercial projects and are under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Contributed assets may be under different licenses so check their assets folders first!

Skillet Workshop Editor

Not just yet but soon we are releasing the Skillet Workshop Editor for easily adding items to Steam Workshop. It will be available as a download in the Skillet repo, source code so you can make changes or skin it for your own projects, and it will be available on Steam once Skillet releases.

More on that next week.

First Post Is The Best Post

OK, here we go... the first news post for GodotSteam. A good place to keep all the updates and such for the project.

Steamworks SDK 1.60

There is a new SDK with functions for the Game Recording beta features Valve just rolled out. It also has some updates to UGC and other little bits. These changes are now live in GodotSteam 4.9 (Godot 4.x / GDExtension / MultiplayerPeer) as well as GodotSteam 3.26 (Godot 3.x / GDNative).

The docs haven't been fully updated for it yet though; nor have the in-editor docs for pre-compiled module versions. That should be coming in another, smaller patch soon.

GodotSteam Components

Finally, our first update about GodotSteam Components. The first round of tools will be:

  • SteamAchievementIcon node
  • Inventory Item Editor
  • Steamworks VDF Editor
  • SteamLobby node
  • SteamChat node

You can check out the Projects page for it to find more details about what will be available and what all is planned. Github Sponsors will get access to it in September and public roll-out will happen sometime in the following months.

Skillet Updates

Skillet is coming along nicely and the public repo should be available sometime in October. The store page should be live in August, with the game finally releasing in early December of this year!

Skillet

Development sessions happen each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on our Discord channel. Starts around noon CST and runs for about three hours; when it is not canceled.

Hopefully soon there will be something interesting enough to show.