Custom build of windows editor and web templates with OpenGL 2D anti aliasing

renevanderark · July 28, 2026, 2:54pm

OpenGL 2D anti aliasing in godot 4.7.1-stable

Download the windows editor and web templates here:

(*.minimal* web releases drop all 3D support to reduce build size)

What can I do with this?

With it you can build 2D games that have OpenGL multi sample antialiasing support.

In short, it’s Godot for windows, but with this pull request merged in:

github.com/godotengine/godot

Add 2D MSAA to GLES3 backend (#111531)

master ← Joonnas:msaa_2d_opengl

opened 10:33PM - 11 Oct 25 UTC

Joonnas

+169 -10

This PR implements the 2D MSAA in the OpenGL3 backend. It is based on the discus…sions in #83976 and the already existing code from #84688 Current base commit: 6d6e822 (4.7 Beta 1) # New version (v2) I overhauled the previous implementation to address the amount of blitting used in my first approach. You can find the implementation details of the older version below. Images are provided after. I will squash the commits if this approach is approved. For now I'd keep both to have the comparison to the first version available. ### Technical details We create a multisampled framebuffer when turning 2D MSAA on and delete it again when turned off again. I introduced two new functions in the TextureStorage class: - `render_target_prepare_canvas_msaa` in which we copy the scene that is rendered up to this point onto the MSAA framebuffer using the CopyEffects class. - `render_target_finalize_canvas_msaa` in which we simply call `render_target_do_msaa_resolve` which in itself blits the final 2D render onto the normal framebuffer. These functions are only implemented in the OpenGL backend since these operations are already implied in the other backends. `render_target_prepare_canvas_msaa` is called after a potential 3D scene is rendered, before we render the 2D scene. `render_target_finalize_canvas_msaa` is called after the 2D scene is done rendering. Since Godot supports the rendering of the 3D scene in between the 2D scene which in turn relies on the non-multisampled framebuffer, we need to resolve our MSAA framebuffer before rendering the 3D scene. This means that in this case we need two full resolves in one render cycle. Furthermore, if the backbuffer is used we might need to copy parts of the frontbuffer onto the backbuffer. For this I introduced a partial resolve in `TextureStorage::render_target_copy_to_back_buffer`. For Mobile devices we can still use the `GL_EXT_multisampled_render_to_texture` extension so we don't need the resolve steps. ### Discussion For this approach I decided to not support MSAA on the backbuffer, apart from the mentioned partial resolve when copying from the frontbuffer to the backbuffer. 1. Because the other backends don't support it as well 2. Because otherwise we would have way too many blitting and copying operations which is counterproductive, especially for the compatibility backend. I also decided that the partial resolve is a tradeoff worth making, since otherwise we would need to turn off MSAA completely when encountering a copy from the frontbuffer to the backbuffer. # Old version (v1) ### Technical details ~~We create a multisampled framebuffer when turning 2D MSAA on, as well as a multisampled backbuffer if it is needed.~~ ~~When rendering without the backbuffer we simply have to blit the already rendered 3D scene (if available) to the multisampled framebuffer, render the complete scene and finally resolve the MSAA buffer into the normal framebuffer. I put the final resolve now into the end of `RasterizerCanvasGLES3::canvas_render_items`, since everything should be already rendererd at this point (but please correct if I am wrong).~~ ~~When using the backbuffer we have to consider the following things:~~ - ~~We need to resolve the backbuffer everytime we render onto it, since we sample from it later on~~ - ~~When copying parts of or the complete render_target we first need to resolve the frontbuffer, so we can sample from it, and after copying we need to blit the backbuffer back to the multisampled backbuffer~~ - ~~When clearing the backbuffer we need to clear the normal backbuffer as well as the multisampled backbuffer~~ ~~For Mobile devices we want to use the `GL_EXT_multisampled_render_to_texture` extension so we don't need the resolve step.~~ ### Discussion ~~While this approach works, we introduce quite a lot of blitting operations when using the backbuffer. If this is not wanted, another approach could be to copy or adjust the relevant shaders (like the copy shader or the default_clip_children_shader) to support multisampled textures.~~ ~~While making the images below, I noticed that the vulkan backend does not include MSAA on the backbuffer. That would of course also be an option for the OpenGL backend.~~ ### Images <figure> <img width="1150" height="646" alt="OpenGL_2D_NoMSAA" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9b7b916a-9edd-4a28-bf7b-cefbf238891a" /> <figcaption>No Antialiasing; Scene with lines, meshes, Sprites, screenreading shader, canvasgroup and groups with a clipped child</figcaption> </figure> <figure> <img width="1149" height="647" alt="OpenGL_2D_8xMSAA" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c210b3c3-9ceb-43e8-b7c7-62909cf20cd5" /> <figcaption>MSAA 8x in OpenGL</figcaption> </figure> <figure> <img width="1152" height="647" alt="VK_2D_8xMSAA" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9e11cda6-fc51-4765-9761-a041fe5bbe9f" /> <figcaption>MSAA 8x in Vulkan</figcaption> </figure> <figure> <img width="1152" height="648" alt="OpenGL_2D_NoMSAA_over_3D_8xMSAA" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/64b88a53-4d58-4d7e-95fa-c5e5cd0f0108" /> <figcaption>MSAA 8x 3D scene with not antialised 2D scene on top in OpenGL</figcaption> </figure> <figure> <img width="1150" height="647" alt="OpenGL_2D_8xMSAA_over_3D_8xMSAA" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/aa007dd0-cb09-464f-9000-faeafd43d8da" /> <figcaption>MSAA 8x 3D scene with MSAA 8x 2D scene on top in OpenGL</figcaption> </figure> <figure> <img width="1151" height="646" alt="OpenGL_3D_8xMSAA_inBetween_2D_8xMSAA" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c4b3a0f2-21fe-415d-9d84-34abb9e31350" /> <figcaption>MSAA 8x 3D scene in between MSAA 8x 2D scene in OpenGL</figcaption> </figure> closes #69462 and #84688

Be sure to give that pull request a thumbs up or a heart!

See it in action

For this web game I used the minimal release template. As you can see, crisp anti-aliased edges:

Want the full Shockwave Flash experience?

Try this plugin Scalable Vector Shapes 2D - Godot Asset Store

Custom build of windows editor and web templates with OpenGL 2D anti aliasing

OpenGL 2D anti aliasing in godot 4.7.1-stable

What can I do with this?

More context is in this video:

See it in action

Want the full Shockwave Flash experience?