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What exactly was problem you ran into trying it? approach using vertex color should have worked fine in 4.4 (unfortunately I made asset off of main branch or otherwise I’d attach it here for you to try).
No announced release date for 4.5 yet, it’ll typically be two to three weeks after we branch for release, although I’d suspect we’ll do another preview release shortly after branching as we did with 4.4. It worked out really well there and I think helped make 4.4 final release a more polished product.
RE: Default fancy materials / 2D starter stuff. I’d like to keep amount of core engine content to a minimum, but it seems like a good idea for a demo in content examples or in a marketplace pack if anyone is interested in making one (hint hint).
Cheers,