Should I start now or wait?
Castagne is in development, so depending on your use case, you might want to start or wait. I recommend you download and try it out at least! But here's my recommendations based on your situation:
- I want to make a serious/paid project! - While I do believe Castagne has the tools you need for most of it, the fact is that it's still in development and might throw a few wrenches in your planning. You will have to compute the risk yourself based on your timeline and constraints, but I think you might be better off once we hit v0.56 at the very least. v0.8 should start to be stable enough so that the risk of breaking compatibility will be pretty low. If you need more info, ask on the Discord!
- I'm comfortable with reading docs! - Download it now! Or wait for v0.54 if you want a better base to mess around with.
- I'm not good at programming... - Depending on your exact level and personality, this is hard to check. v0.54 will be the stable release with custom editors and tutorials, which should give you a leg up already. More features for that are still in the design phase, but tutorials will be a lot better in v0.59. You can always start drawing / modelling in the meantime!
- I want to make something other than 2D Fighters! - v0.56! This is where the global genre support will be fleshed out.
- I need to play online from the get go! - Technically rollback netcode is in, but nowhere near where you'll want it to be since it hasn't been dusted off since v0.2/v0.3. The version you'll be looking for is v0.8, but I recommend you start earlier so that you have something to play. By design, the network errors should be few.
- I want to make a single-player focused title! - Support for that will be starting at v0.56, with more features at v0.58. You'll probably need to handle a bit of custom code depending on your project.
- I need the very best tools! - I think Castagne has a fairly efficient workflow already, but the bigger tools will be towards v0.9. In the meantime, I think v0.57 is a good compromise.
Next Version
Castagne v0.5 already can make the core gameplay, v0.6 is going to focus on making full games. This will be a longer way, and require going over all the modules to make them close to final. Intermediate versions are still going to be useful fast: the roadmap is made with being operational quickly while also following how the tech is most efficiently made. As such, the best version to start for most people is Castagne v0.54.
The roadmap may evolve depending on development insights and suggestions, and should be taken more as a declaration of intent rather than exact promise.
Castagne v0.54
After v0.53 focused on the core, flow, inputs, and editor, v0.54 will rebuild the functionality that has been damaged, in a cleaner way. This will allow for making 2D / 2.5D fighting games easily.
More detail on the version on the Roadmap page!
- Castagne v0.6: Support for full games.
- Castagne v0.7: Update to Godot 4 and rewrite of core, compiler, and some modules in C++ or Rust. Code quality improvements (tests).
- Castagne v0.8: Rollback netcode and general online implementation
- Castagne v0.9: Editor upgrade with better tools and UX
- Castagne v1.0: Stability and QoL updates
You can see all the roadmaps in more detail here!
