u/niko_death

I’ve noticed that a lot of developers are still using older versions of Godot, especially Godot 3.x, even though Godot 4.x has been out for a while and is actively developed.

From what I’ve seen in documentation, changelogs, and migration discussions, Godot 4 brings a lot of improvements: better rendering, modern APIs, improved 3D pipeline, and long-term support. The official docs even highlight that while migration can be painful, the newer versions fix many issues that simply cannot be addressed in 3.x due to engine limitations.

At the same time, I keep seeing people sticking to older versions for real projects, not just nostalgia or habit.

So I’m genuinely curious:

What exactly is stopping you from moving to the latest Godot version?

Is it:

project migration cost and breaking changes?

missing or changed features compared to Godot 3?

performance or hardware compatibility concerns?

lack of stable tutorials and community examples for 4.x?

plugins/addons not being updated yet?

something else entirely?

From what I’ve read and experienced, the biggest friction points seem to be:

Godot 3 to 4 is not a seamless upgrade, many scripts and scenes require manual fixes

some systems like tilemaps, rendering changes, or physics differences can require redesign

older projects can break in non-obvious ways after conversion

some developers prefer stability and known behavior over new features, especially mid-project

At the same time, newer discussions suggest that Godot 4.x is now much more stable than at launch, and the gap between 3.x and 4.x keeps growing in terms of features and long-term support.

So I’m trying to understand the real-world reasons people still choose older versions

I recently came across a meme that someone made about a year ago. The joke was basically that in other engine communities you ask for a solution and people reply, "Here's an asset—it's only $15." But in the Godot community, someone says, "I made a plugin," and uploads it to GitHub for free with the full source code available.

That meme made me realize that this is honestly how the Godot community feels to me.

In many other engine communities, useful assets, plugins, or tools are often sold. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that—people invest their time and deserve to be paid for their work.

But with Godot, I keep seeing something different.

Someone creates an amazing plugin and simply uploads it to GitHub for free. The entire source code is open. Then someone else fixes bugs, another person adds features, and someone else improves the documentation. People contribute not because they have to, but because they genuinely want to help each other.

Because of that, the community doesn't just feel like a group of people using the same engine. It feels like a big family. There's a real sense of collaboration, openness, and wanting everyone to succeed.

I'm not saying other engine communities don't have generous people—they absolutely do.

But Godot is where I truly got to experience the real spirit of open source. People share their code not because they have to, but because they genuinely want to create something useful for others. Here, open source feels like much more than just a license—it's a culture.

So thank you to everyone who shares their time, knowledge, and code. You're a huge part of what makes this community so special.

It got me curious — how did everyone else start out?

If you’re using Godot, please show:

your very first project (screenshots or even a short video)

when you made it / how long you had been learning at that point

and your latest project or something you’re proud of now

No judgment at all — even the most “broken” first attempts are really interesting to look at. It’s cool to see how people grow over time.