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Galacean Engine v1.4 Released

johanzhu

January 24, 20257 min read

After four months of development, Galacean Engine 1.4 is officially released 🎉!

To expand its application scenarios, we have added mini-game export capabilities and initially completed GUI functionality, marking the first step toward mini-game development! To meet the editing needs of various roles in interactive projects, we have optimized the editing experience at different stages. For example, the new Shader UIScript allows artists to easily adjust material parameters, and the enhanced preview function enables developers to preview script runtime effects in real time. We continue to focus on advancing rendering, animation, and physics systems to meet user demands for high-quality visual effects and complex interactive capabilities.

We invite you to experience the Galacean Engine 1.4 version, unleash your creativity, and explore more possibilities! Below are some key features.

Editor Feature Upgrades

Add Mini-Game Export Functionality

Users can now select "WeChat Mini-Game" in the new project export panel and download the project to their local system. It can then be imported into the WeChat Developer Tool for preview and debugging. Below is a demonstration of the "Pixel Bird" game being exported to a WeChat mini-game. Support for other mini-games and mini-programs will be added in future updates, so stay tuned!

Preview Function Optimization

We have made significant upgrades to the preview mode of the scene editor window. The previous issues, such as the inability to execute scripts, have been resolved, and the loading speed has been greatly improved. This allows you to quickly preview project runtime effects and make real-time adjustments. Additionally, we have introduced an observation mode that lets you view the scene from a free perspective, enhancing flexibility. The new preview mode also supports opening in a new window, and regardless of the method chosen, you can view real-time changes in the editor.

We now support logging into the editor platform using WeChat and Alipay accounts. Registered users can link their existing email accounts to these platforms via the sidebar avatar in account settings.

Rendering System

PBR Material Enhancements

In this version, PBR materials have been upgraded with added support for Sheen, Transmission, and Refraction effects. The glTF plugin is also fully compatible with these features, enabling seamless restoration of effects when importing models without additional conversions.

Sheen: Creates subtle luster effects for materials such as velvet or silk, showcasing soft surface reflections and unique textures, ideal for advanced fabric or plush toy rendering needs.
Transmission: Simulates light passing through transparent or semi-transparent objects, displaying realistic light scattering and transparency, suitable for materials like thin paper, plastic, or ice.
Refraction: Simulates light bending when passing through different media, recreating the optical properties of transparent or semi-transparent materials. This allows for stunning effects for objects like glass, crystal, diamonds, or liquid surfaces. Additionally, we have integrated Thin Film Iridescence into PBR materials, letting you easily create rainbow-like effects for more realistic visuals.

Add Shader UIScript Functionality

The UIScript feature supports custom callbacks for material UI property changes, significantly reducing redundant properties and macros in complex custom shaders. When creating new custom shaders in the editor, a shader file with a pre-attached UI script is automatically generated, enabling personalized UI customization.

Additional shader usability and debugging optimizations:

Multiple Render Targets (MRT):：Now supports MRT, allowing multiple textures to be rendered in a single draw call, greatly reducing draw call counts. Both GLSL100 and GLSL300 declaration styles are supported.
Upgraded Compilation Error Logs：ShaderLab now provides more detailed and user-friendly error logs, enabling faster and more precise debugging. As of version 1.4, these logs are accessible via the browser console, with plans to integrate an editor console in future releases for easier access.
Built-in Shader Code Viewing：The editor now supports viewing built-in shader code segments from the asset directory, improving the efficiency of custom shader development.
Custom Shader Support in Project URL Mode：Exporting in Project URL mode now supports custom shaders.

Post-Processing Capability Upgrades

The newly added local post-processing feature allows for custom post-processing effects in specific areas of a scene. It also supports blending multiple post-processing components. The system automatically blends effects based on weight and priority. For example, when multiple local post-processing effects exist in a scene, the camera will smoothly transition between these effects during movement.

Additionally, the open post-processing pipeline now supports customizing various post-processing effects, such as black-and-white film grain filters.

Physics System

Added Contact Point Information

Collision callbacks now support obtaining contact point information, such as position and normal vectors. This allows you to create more realistic effects like explosions, sparks, or bullet marks at the contact points.

Added Joint Components

HingeJoint: Fixes a collider along a single axis, enabling effects such as rotating doors or wheels.
SpringJoint：Connects a collider to a point or another collider using a spring, allowing for effects such as springs or ropes.
FixedJoint: Combines two colliders into one entity, such as attaching a wooden stick and an iron block to form a hammer.

Added Physical Materials

You can now set different friction and elasticity values for different colliders, enhancing the realism of physical interactions.

Other updates to the physics system include:

Dynamic colliders now support toggling gravity, allowing individual objects to ignore gravity effects.
Dynamic colliders have added automatic calculation of the center of mass and moment of inertia. For a collider with multiple shapes, the engine now calculates these automatically, eliminating the need for manual adjustments.

Animation System

The animation state machine has been enhanced with three practical features:

HasExitTime Configuration When enabled, animations require playback up to the specified ExitTime and meeting transition conditions before triggering. This is suitable for scenarios such as skill releases, where specific durations need to play out before transitioning to the next animation. Without this enabled, transitions occur immediately upon meeting conditions, which is ideal for reactive animations like being attacked.
Trigger Parameter Support：Parameters automatically reset to false after triggering a transition. This is particularly useful for one-time events like attacks or jumps.
FixedDuration Configuration：Allows transition times to be set as either a fixed duration or a proportion of the animation duration.

2D System

Add GUI Functionality

The GUI system now supports editing in both world space and screen space modes. It introduces components like text, images, and buttons, along with event bubbling for UI interactions. You can quickly add UI elements in the editor and adjust their properties. The new RectTool simplifies editing, making adjustments more intuitive.

Spine Feature Enhancements

The engine now supports uploading Spine Atlas files independently, enabling separate loading. Using the loaded TextureAtlas assets, runtime skin swapping is possible. A demo of this functionality is included in the new editor templates.

Additionally, several improvements and optimizations have been made to Spine:

Added Premultiplied Alpha Mode，with a PremultipliedAlpha toggle。Enabling it ensures correct rendering of textures exported with the "Premultiplied" option checked in Spine Editor.
Introduced the instantiate API in SpineResource, allowing for quick creation of Spine instances.
Multiple Spine Skeletons can now share a single Spine Atlas asset, reducing texture count and optimizing performance.
Removed the scale configuration; animation scaling effects can now be directly adjusted using the Entity's scale parameter.
Eliminated certain redundant APIs.

Sound System

Galacean Engine 1.4 introduces a brand-new sound component. Users can upload sound assets and add an AudioComponent to an entity.

Audio Asset Support：The AudioAsset feature allows users to upload and select audio files via the asset selector. It supports common audio formats such as MP3 and WAV. Uploaded files are displayed in the asset library for future use, with options for audio preview and playback control.
Audio Component Management: The AudioComponent enables entities to play audio and supports volume adjustment, muting, and playback timing configurations.