Add blog post about the current C# platform support in 4.2

[raulsntos]

A quick progress update on platform support for C# projects. The intention of the article is to answer these frequent questions regarding C# support:

• What platforms does Godot currently support?
• Why did mobile/web platform support disappear in the move from 3.x to 4.0?
• Why is mobile support considered experimental?
• Why is the web platform still unsupported?
• What are the next steps? Or what is missing to get full mobile/web support?

I didn't want the article to get too technical, but if you think these questions aren't sufficiently answered please let me know.

[YuriSizov]

@raulsntos Is there anything you want to add here aside from the cover and the date and the table styling? You mentioned web exports being up in the air, so I guess that needs to be adjusted to follow the current status?

[raulsntos]

I looked into implementing web exports but it didn't pan out, so the current status remains. Web exports are currently unimplemented and likely depend on upstream improvements.

I mainly left this as a draft in case I was able to get something working but since that didn't happen I'll mark it ready for review.

[MurderVeggie]

I just read through the article and really like it, easy to understand language despite tech-heavy topic, well done!

I do have two questions however:

• the Web part lost me half way through; not supported yet but somehow it is? maybe some additional explanation on what you can/cannot do with GDextension as temporary solution would be helpful; a prognosis for when official support is inbound or describing the current blockers could be beneficial too
• hate to say it, but the first question we are going to get is "What about console platforms?" so maybe that warrants at least one sentence

[raulsntos]

Thank you so much for the review.

the Web part lost me half way through; not supported yet but somehow it is? maybe some additional explanation on what you can/cannot do with GDextension as temporary solution would be helpful; a prognosis for when official support is inbound or describing the current blockers could be beneficial too

I think I was trying too hard to be optimistic about the progress since I know a lot people ask about Web support. I only mentioned GDExtension because it's somewhat related but it doesn't really affect C# support directly so maybe it's better to avoid the mention.

The take-away should be that the Web platform is still unsupported and that, despite some progress being made, it may still take a while (which may require waiting for upstream).

In the last paragraph I also try to explain that .NET can build WASM but not in a way that can be used by Godot. I added this explanation because some people may be confused as to why the Web platform is still unsupported since they may be aware that .NET can build WASM (e.g.: Blazor). But maybe this paragraph only made things more confusing.

So to try and answer your questions:

• You can't really use GDExtension as a workaround, C# is still not using GDExtension in any way. It's just that they way they are both implemented is somewhat similar, so it's fair to assume that improvements to one could be applied to the other.
• I'd rather avoid giving any specific deadlines, but I do mention at the end that .NET 9 may include what we need and that's November 2024 at the earliest.
• Current blockers would be, as mentioned in the last paragraph, that .NET doesn't allow building WASM as side-modules that can be loaded by Godot (there's also a link to the issue in the .NET repository so people can keep track of it).

What about console platforms?

That's not an area I'm familiar with and not something that I've been working on. I believe this would be the responsability of W4 Games, I can ask around and see if anybody could add something.

[raulsntos]

@MurderVeggie I've tried to improve the web section a bit. Let me know if you still think it's confusing. Here's a bit of a changelog:

• Tried to clarify that when referring to Godot supporting the Web platform I mean for non-C# projects. And that when referring to "building C# projects for the Web" I mean non-Godot C# projects.
• Removed the reference to progress being made in the GDExtension Web support since it's irrelevant for C# projects and may add confusion. Although I still try to explain why GDExtension can support the Web platform while Godot C# projects cannot because I think it's a question users will have.
• Added a small mention of future upstream improvements, even though that's mentioned in more detailed in the What's next? section.

[MurderVeggie]

Yes, I think it reads a lot clearer now, really well done!

[shana]

What about console platforms?

Putting on my W4 consoles lead 👒: C# support is a core part of our console ports roadmap.

[coppolaemilio]

Thank you everyone!