New, easier-to-understand version numbering.

[namida]

From the next update to NeoLemmix - whether it's minor or major - I'm going to be implementing a new system of version numbering. This will make it easier to tell which updates are critical, which are important, and which are just nice to have but not essential.

A version number will take the format of three numbers, possibly with a letter on the end. For example:

10.15.20-B

The first number indicates the version of file formats that are used. An increase to this number means the content is neither forwards nor backwards compatible. The version of the player you are using, and the version of the player a pack was designed for, must generally match exactly.

The second number indicates the "core" version; a change in this would imply that either (a) gameplay physics have changed, or (b) something new on the designer side has been supported (as an example, the introduction of object rotation would've caused an increase in this number, even if isolated from all other changes). It is preferable that the version of the player and the version a pack was designed for match exactly, but use of content designed for an older core version on a player with a newer core version should still be possible - in other words, a change here is probably backwards-compatible, but probably not forwards-compatible.

The third number indicates the "feature" version. A higher number may mean more neat features such as improvements to skill shadows, volume sliders, etc (using past examples here). However, a mismatch - whether higher or lower - will not affect compatibility of content. A lower version simply means you don't have the latest neat features.

The letter indicates hotfixes. If, say, version 10.16.30's initial release is found to have a major bug that causes NeoLemmix to crash on all Pillar levels, for example, chances are a 10.16.30-A hotfix update won't be far behind. These are usually important to update if you have the exact same version number minus the letter; but chances are they are not important if you have a different version altogether.

The Format and Core versions will be consistent across same "generation" versions of each component of NeoLemmix, whereas the Feature and Hotfix versions are seperate for each tool.


Since restarting at 0.0.0 (or 1.1.1) seems a bit weird given all that's gone into NeoLemmix so far, I'm going to arbitrarily declare the first version released under this system to be version 10.10.10. It'll most likely be equivalent to what V1.48-C would be under the old numbering system.

I hope this helps reduce the confusion about when is or isn't important to update, and allows me to maintain the rapid update schedule (perhaps even increase it) without relying on experimentals or annoying users too much, since it will now be clear what updates are not essential to download.


This version numbering will apply to all related tools as well.

[Minim]

Since restarting at 0.0.0 (or 1.1.1) seems a bit weird given all that's gone into NeoLemmix so far, I'm going to arbitrarily declare the first version released under this system to be version 10.10.10. It'll most likely be equivalent to what V1.48-C would be under the old numbering system.

I hope this helps reduce the confusion about when is or isn't important to update, and allows me to maintain the rapid update schedule (perhaps even increase it) without relying on experimentals or annoying users too much, since it will now be clear what updates are not essential to download.

I don't mind the 'three numbers explaining different versions' concept - that makes perfect sense. I'm strongly against the fact that you're impulsively declaring that you're doing three digits for each number without discussing with the community. To be frank, I find that very misleading, whether there's too many 0's or just makes comparing versions too much of a chore. Like other games, if I was updating NL I would just stick with the one-digit system.

[namida]

Removing the leading zeroes would be an extremely trivial change. If people generally prefer it without the leading zeros, I'll get rid of them.

EDIT: I put up a poll regarding this.