Export & Builds

Expert guidance for building and distributing Godot games across platforms.

NEVER Do (Expert Export Rules)

NEVER export to production without a 'Smoke Test' — "It runs in editor" is NOT enough. Web, Mobile, and Console have unique memory/shader constraints.
NEVER skip macOS Notarization — Apple's Gatekeeper will block unsigned apps. Use notarytool OR distribute exclusively via Steam/App Store.
NEVER use ad-hoc file paths — res:// is read-only in builds. Use user:// for saves and logs, or paths will fail on locked file systems.

NEVER use 'Debug' templates for release — Debug binaries are bloated and slow. Always use --export-release to strip profiling overhead.
NEVER include raw resources in builds — Check your export filters. If you include .md, .txt, or .psd files, you're wasting player bandwidth and disk space.
NEVER ignore VRAM compression — Large textures in Web/Mobile builds will crash the GPU driver. Enable ASTC/ETC2 compression in Import settings.