I am an educator by trade, so I am going to write this post as an educator and not condemn those that don't know how the absolute first 3 minutes about software development.
Software versioning (Numbering) has two major parts, the major version, and the minor revision.
- Major versions of software contain new logic, whole new amounts of content, major rewrites, etc.
- Minor versions of software contain minor fixes to logic, spelling, security updates, etc. to the major version.
- Most software use a versioning methodology of Major.Minor (10.0, 10.1, etc.) for indicating their release.
Software is deployed in typically 3 stages. Alpha, Beta, and final release
- An Alpha release is an initial release of major release. Typically these releases are 90% complete, have most of the content, and have a majority of the major structure there for the release. This release is given to people to test, find errors in logic, etc.
- A Beta release is a completed release, that should have all the functions, content, etc. in the release, and is given to the broader community to have. This should be "close" to the finished software release, but may still have minor bugs, spelling errors, etc.
- A Final release is just that, a final release of that major version. It takes the Beta release, and fixes all known bugs, spelling errors, etc. The final release is the last release of that major code revision and the devs typically have already started work on the major release by this point. Final releases are typically a "thank you" to all the people who have purchased the software (Patreons) as it fixes all the known issues, even though there is no new content.
Now lets put this all together for this (and other Devs).
- Version 10 initial (or alpha) was the first release of the application, I believe was leaked here, and had a majority of the content, and some other parts were missing.
- Version 10.0 beta was the release that had all the content updates, was mostly polished (I had no errors), and had a broader release.
- Version 10.1 (final release), notice the x.1 is a minor release, which contains most of the known software fixes and bugs.
- If the dev releases 10.2 - it will exclusively be no content, and just bug fixes as they are now working on the next major release (11).
This does not work exclusively for this Dev:
- Microsoft Windows releases. Windows 10.2004 (April (04 month), 2020 release date), Windows 10.2010 (October (10 month), 2020 release date), Windows 10.2104 (April (04 month), 2021).
- macOS releases. macOS 11.00 (base release), macOS 11.1 (update to main OS 11 update).
Almost every dev on this site follows this software release naming. If they don't people get a little perturbed as they don't know exactly how to read the software versioning. There have been some devs that have changed their naming due to the backlash from people who don't know how to tell the release date.
The only major exception to this dev numbering scheme, is a date release. A dev might do a release which includes a date.
- XXXXX.20210420 Might be a release of XXXX game that was released on 2021, April 20 (if using ISO standard month/date timing). Since this does not follow the major/minor release methodology, users have a right to ask for a full changelog for that release.
Now that I have educated you on how to tell software versioning, I am going to rant a little. Enjoy your weekend.
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If you are going to play games, that by there very definition, are not finished, work-in-progress, continually developed, etc. You should learn to read the previous posts, you should learn to understand the very basics of software development, and understand what you are asking. This is why people get frustrated and don't respond to every damn query as it was asked (and answered) five posts before yours. The point of a forum (any forum, not just F95) is to ask a question, and be available for search for responses of EXISTING QUERIES. Please learn the basics of software development and how to use a forum before you post the same damn question a dozen times.
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