Cupertino, USA – May 12, 2025 – Create Worlds today announced the release of Wonderland Engine version 1.4.0, a significant update to its high-performance 3D engine for the web. This release introduces cutting-edge rendering features, including Sparse Global Illumination (GI) Probe Volumes and Reverse-Z depth buffering, alongside developer-focused improvements like new complex property types, further empowering developers to build visually stunning and highly performant web games, WebXR experiences, and 3D web applications.
The highlight of version 1.4.0 is the introduction of Sparse Global Illumination Probe Volumes. This advanced technique provides high-quality indirect lighting by strategically placing spherical harmonic diffuse light probes near surfaces within the scene. Baked directly in the editor, this implementation is designed for efficiency, minimizing GPU load and download times by concentrating data where needed. The resulting realistic lighting affects even dynamic and skinned objects, bringing new levels of visual fidelity to web-based experiences.
Addressing a common challenge in 3D graphics, Wonderland Engine 1.4.0 now supports Reverse-Z depth buffering. By optimizing the usage of 32-bit floating-point precision in Normalized Device Coordinate (NDC) space, Reverse-Z significantly mitigates z-fighting artifacts, enabling clear rendering of scenes with both very near and extremely distant objects.
“Ever since I wrote the first lines of code for Wonderland Engine,” said Jonathan Hale, CEO of Create Worlds. “I’ve been dreaming of unlocking high-end features like baked global illumination probe volumes to web 3D developers, previously only seen in the biggest native engines. Developers using Wonderland Engine can now create even more immersive and visually stunning 3D web experiences. This release directly supports Create Worlds’ mission to unlock the web as the next major platform for gaming and interactive applications.”
This release also includes numerous refinements across the editor, engine, runtime, and APIs, such as improved image compression controls, mesh optimization updates, bugfixes, and expanded plugin capabilities. As Wonderland Engine celebrates over two years since its 1.0.0 release, support for project migrations from pre-1.0.0 versions has been streamlined, encouraging users with very old projects to update using an intermediate version if necessary.
A detailed breakdown of all features and fixes in version 1.4.0 is available in the official changelog (https://wonderlandengine.com/news/release-1.4.0/).
Wonderland Engine is developed by Create Worlds and available at wonderlandengine.com.
About Create Worlds:
Create Worlds is at the forefront of the web gaming and 3D web revolution, offering cutting-edge 2D (Story Machine) and 3D (Wonderland Engine) development tools. Formed from the merger of Robot Invader and Wonderland GmbH, the company combines deep game development expertise with pioneering web engine technology to unlock the web as the next major platform for games, enterprise applications, and the metaverse. Learn more at createworlds.com.
Contact:
Jonathan Hale, CEO
Create Worlds