Godot 4.0's One Major Issue: Web Exports
Channel: Brett Makes Games
Date: 2023-04-02

I've been loving learning Godot. It's handled everything I've thrown at it, and it's a real joy to make games in it. But there's one major issue I've come across that's a potential showstopper: web exports boot really slowly on Firefox and Chrome on macOS (10x+ slower than Godot 3.5) and don't run at all on Safari.

This is a serious problem for game developers making games that target the web because it's an inconsistent and frustrating experience. In this video I walk through the issue, talk about the potential solutions, and share my thoughts on the path forward.

I don't make this video to denigrate Godot 4.0 and its developers. But I do want people to know about this issue, as it might not be apparent for developers who don't have Apple hardware to test on.

The takeaway: stick with Godot 3.5  for now if you really care about your game running on the web on all browsers and operating systems and booting quickly.

Check out my boot tests:
Godot 4.0: https://brettchalupa.itch.io/godot-size-test?secret=f4TyJMOav4Ow1WoOsDI6dywXFI
Godot 3.5: https://brettchalupa.itch.io/godot-35-size-test?secret=iil0n4ZU8G86E75tfFFhHsjOlc

Mastodon thread with more details: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@brettmakesgames/110126616786832165

Referenced GitHub issues:
https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/70691
https://github.com/godotengine/godot/issues/74512

Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
01:23 - Slow Boot Demo
02:55 - Issue Deep Dive
06:37 - Why Web Exports Matter
09:29 - Paths Forward
13:43 - Outro

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