Open World Database (OWDB) for Godot

A Godot addon that enables efficient streaming and persistence of large 3D open worlds through automatic chunk-based loading and hierarchical scene management.

Overview

Creating large open worlds in Godot can quickly become a performance nightmare. With hundreds or thousands of nodes scattered across your map - NPCs, buildings, props, AI entities - your scene can grind to a halt as memory usage explodes and the engine struggles to process everything simultaneously.

Open World Database solves this by automatically managing your world content through intelligent chunking and streaming. Simply drop your scene nodes under the main OWDB node, and the system handles the rest - no complex setup, no workflow changes, just seamless integration with Godot's existing editor structure.

Key Features

• Automatic Chunk Management: Dynamically loads/unloads content based on camera position
• Size-Based Optimization: Different chunk sizes for different object categories (small props use fine-grained chunks, large buildings use bigger chunks)
• Seamless Editor Integration: Works directly with Godot's scene system - just parent nodes to the OWDB node
• Persistent World State: Automatically saves world data to .owdb files alongside your scenes
• Hierarchical Preservation: Maintains parent-child relationships across chunk boundaries
• Custom Property Support: Preserves all node properties and metadata during streaming
• Memory Efficient: Only keeps nearby content in memory, dramatically reducing resource usage

Installation

1. Download or clone this repository
2. Copy the addons/open_world_database folder to your project's addons/ directory
3. Enable the plugin in Project Settings > Plugins

Quick Start

1. Add an OpenWorldDatabase node to your scene
2. Parent all your world content (NPCs, buildings, props, etc.) under this node
3. The system automatically assigns unique IDs and begins tracking your content
4. Save your scene - the addon creates a .owdb file with all world data
5. During gameplay, content streams in and out based on camera position

# Optional: Set a custom camera for chunk loading
$OpenWorldDatabase.camera = $Player/Camera3D

# Optional: Adjust chunk loading range
$OpenWorldDatabase.chunk_load_range = 5  # Load 5 chunks in each direction

How It Works

The addon monitors all nodes with scene files under the OWDB node, categorizing them by size:

• Small (≤0.5 units): Fine-grained 8x8 unit chunks
• Medium (≤2.0 units): 16x16 unit chunks
• Large (≤8.0 units): 64x64 unit chunks
• Huge (>8.0 units): No chunking (always loaded)

As your camera moves through the world, the system automatically:

1. Unloads chunks that are too far away
2. Loads new chunks coming into range
3. Maintains proper hierarchical relationships
4. Preserves all node properties and transformations

Configuration

The OpenWorldDatabase node exposes several configuration options:

• size_thresholds: Boundaries for object size categories
• chunk_sizes: Chunk dimensions for each size category
• chunk_load_range: How many chunks to load around the camera
• debug_enabled: Enable debug output
• camera: Custom camera node (auto-detected if not set)

Roadmap

• Child OWDB Support: Nested OWDB nodes for complex scenes (e.g., furniture within buildings that can be independently chunked)
• Async Loading: Background loading to eliminate hitches
• Compression: Optional compression for .owdb files
• Streaming Optimization: Predictive loading based on movement direction
• Multi-threading: Parallel chunk processing for better performance

Performance Benefits

Before OWDB:

• 10,000 nodes = 10,000 nodes in memory always
• Frame rate drops with scene complexity
• Memory usage grows linearly with world size

After OWDB:

• 10,000 nodes = ~100-500 nodes in memory (depending on chunk range)
• Consistent frame rates regardless of world size
• Memory usage stays constant based on loaded area

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests, report bugs, or suggest features.

Support

If you encounter issues or have questions, please open an issue on the GitHub repository.