3D Tiles for Godot

A Godot 4 extension that integrates Cesium 3D Tiles capabilities into Godot Engine through GDExtension.

3D Tiles and the 3D Geospatial Ecosystem

3D Tiles for Godot streams real-world 3D content such as high-resolution photogrammetry, terrain, imagery, and 3D buildings from Cesium Ion and other sources available as optional commercial subscriptions. The plugin includes Cesium Ion integration for instant access to global high-resolution 3D content ready for runtime streaming. Cesium ion users can also leverage cloud-based 3D tiling pipelines to create end-to-end workflows to transform massive heterogenous content into semantically-rich 3D Tiles, ready for streaming to the Godot Engine.

3D Tiles for Godot supports cloud and private network content and services based on open standards and APIs. You are free to use any combination of supported content sources, standards, APIs with 3D Tiles for Godot.

Godot Engine Integration

3D Tiles for Godot is tightly integrated with the Godot Engine making it possible to visualize and interact with real-world content in editor and at runtime. The plugin also has support for Godot physics, collisions, and character interaction.

Leverage decades worth of cutting-edge advancements from the 3D Tiles standard to create cohesive, interactive, and realistic simulations and applications.

Prerequisites

• C++ 20
• CMake 3.1+ and less than 4.0 due to compatibility issues
• Python 3.8+ (with pip)
• SCons (pip install scons)
• Visual Studio 2022 with C++ desktop development workload (If you plan on contributing or developing)
• Git
• Godot 4.1+ (with GDExtension support)
• Windows 10/11 (64-bit)

Installation (as GDExtension)

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Battle-Road/3D-Tiles-For-Godot.git
cd 3D-Tiles-For-Godot

If you would like to build the binaries and you don't plan on modifying the underlying C++ code with any editor use the following command

scons platform=windows arch=x64 compileTarget=extension target=template_release production=yes

Otherwise, to get a compile_commands.json file to use with an IDE or Text Editor, run

scons platform=windows compiledb=true arch=x64 compileTarget=extension debug_symbols=true

Build Flags Explained:

• platform=windows: Build for Windows (currently only supported platform)

• compiledb=true: Generate IDE-friendly compilation database (optional)

• arch=x64: 64-bit architecture, will be used as build architecture for all subsequent libraries

• compileTarget=extension: Build as GDExtension

• debug_symbols=yes: Include debug information (use no for release)

The build binaries will be at godot3dtiles/bin/Godot3DTiles.windows.template_debug.x86_64.dll

Double precision builds

The plugin supports double precision mode for more accurate true origin navigation.

Steps to build with doubles

• Add precision=double to the build flags on the plugin
• Download Godot's source code on github
• Build Godot with scons platform=windows arch=x64 precision=double
• Modify the Godot3DTiles.gdextension file to point to your double precision dll

Setting Up a Project

Create New Godot Project

• Use Godot 4.1 or newer

• Choose "Forward+" renderer in project settings

Copy Plugin Files

• From the repository:

  • Copy godot3dtiles/bin/ folder to your project root

  • Copy godot3dtiles/addons/ folder to your project root

Your project structure should look like:

my_project/
├── addons/
│   └── cesium_godot/
│       ├── panels/
│       ├── scripts/
│       └── visuals/
├── bin/
└── project.godot

Alternatively, you can choose to create a new project using the godot3dtiles/ folder as the project's root

Enable the plugin

• Open your project in Godot

• Go to Project → Project Settings → Plugins

• Enable "cesium_godot"

Getting Started

Using the Cesium Ion Panel

The Cesium Ion Panel provides essential tools for managing geospatial content and configuring plugin integration with Cesium services.

Connect to Cesium ION

• Select Connect to Cesium ION to connect the plugin to your Cesium account.

• Requires valid Cesium ION credentials

• Grants access to your private assets and token-protected resources

• Maintains session security through OAuth2 authorization flow.

Setting up your first scene

Create a new 3D scene

Add a new tileset
You can choose between the different pre-defined tilesets provided to you on the Cesium Ion Panel, or create a new blank tileset to customize it with your desired asset id and data source URL.

You should now see multiple nodes were added to your scene, depending on the option you picked.

Example with pre-defined tileset Cesium World Terrain + Bing Maps Aerial Imagery

Add a dynamic camera

Back to the Cesium Panel, you should now be able to click on the dynamic camera button and see it get added to your scene.

You should also see the tilesets and CesiumGeoreference have been added automatically to the camera's properties in the inspector.

Hit the Play button
Tiles should start loading in now!

Note: This plugin is currently Windows-only. Linux/MacOS support is planned for future releases.