Rigs-of-rods: Switch from semver to rolling releases

[AnotherFoxGuy]

Currently, we use the semver release format (0.38, 0.4)
I think it would be better to switch to date based, so we can release a new version when we think that it is stable enough
The reason I think it would be better is that the last "official" stable release was back in 2016 and that we now use the release candidates a stable releases

Example of the new release format:

Old | New
---|---
0.37.126 | 2010-12
0.38.64 | 2011-10
0.4.5.0 | 2015-08
0.4.7.0 | 2016-11
0.4.8 RC5 | 2019-07

Thoughts?

[only-a-ptr]

I like it - it's a honest and straightforward match for the development style of RoR, where plans and schedules keep changing due to availability/fitness of (volunteer) participants and new/discovered bugs.

Also, it's not clear what 'RoR v1.0' should be like, so the numbers don't really mean anything. And I dislike when a feature-rich and pretty stable project still carries immature 'v0.x' version.

Also, all @AnotherFoxGuy's points above.

👍

[tritonas00]

Sounds good!

[only-a-ptr]

I figured we'll need to reflect this change in our 'home directory' on MS Windows, currently "MyDocuments\Rigs of Rods 0.4". The minimum we can do is to remove the '0.4' part.

However, we may also further re-think our data management for improved portability, see SDL_filesystem.h: SDL_GetPrefPath()

[AnotherFoxGuy]

The minimum we can do is to remove the '0.4' part.

Removing the 0.4 will break older versions (0.38, 0.37, 0.36)

Maybe move the folder to My Games/Rigs of Rods?

[only-a-ptr]

Removing the 0.4 will break older versions (0.38, 0.37, 0.36)

Unless I'm mistaken RoR 0.3x used MyDocuments\Rigs of Rods 0.38

Maybe move the folder to My Games/Rigs of Rods?

Windows has system directory User\Myself\Saved Games, is that what you mean? There's also MyDocuments\My Games, which I understand to be created by Steam, and thus we shouldn't mess with it.

[AnotherFoxGuy]

MyDocuments\My Games, which I understand to be created by Steam, and thus we shouldn't mess with it.

The My Games isn't generated by steam, it is a common directory used to save games to

[only-a-ptr]

@AnotherFoxGuy What's your source of information? Where is the screenshot from? I only found scattered mentions that "My Games" is some unspoken de-facto standard, but there is crazy confusion about it, some believe it's Windows builtin, others claim it's Steam.

I'm fine with using it, tho, I see no better alternative. I'm just disappointed how badly it's communicated by the game dev community (to my knowledge, anyway).

[AnotherFoxGuy]

Where is the screenshot from?

The screenshot is from the My Games folder on my PC

[CuriousMike56]

I'm fine with My Games/Rigs of Rods as long the old folder can still be used for backwards compatibility with existing installs.

[only-a-ptr]

@CuriousMike56 How about RoR detecting if MyDocuments\Rigs of Rods 0.4 is present, and if not, creating and using MyGames\Rigs of Rods?

@AnotherFoxGuy Can you code it in please?

[CuriousMike56]

@only-a-ptr That'll work. Might be a good idea to display a notice about the directory change on startup.

[AnotherFoxGuy]

Personally, I find it a bad idea because we have changed a lot of things(Moved everything to mods, the config folder needs to be renamed)
I think it is better to notify the user in the installer about the change

[CuriousMike56]

After some more thought, I agree. We've used Documents\Rigs of Rods 0.4 for nearly 7 years now, I think it's time for a change. The hacky workarounds we have (renaming the config folder) doesn't work sometimes and just results in confusion.

[only-a-ptr]

Good! I also prefer to have only the MyGames\Rigs of Rods location from now on.

@AnotherFoxGuy (Moved everything to mods,

I missed the moment it hapenned, but I like it. Modcache scans it recursively, so I can create whatever more dirs under it.

@AnotherFoxGuy the config folder needs to be renamed)

This one? Absolutely! I'm thinking "profile" or "user" ... ideas?

Also, final question: merge now or release 0.4.8 first?

[AnotherFoxGuy]

the config folder needs to be renamed

What I meant by this is that the 0.4.7 config folder isn't compatible with 0.4.8, so the 4.8 RC installers renamed the config folder to config.old

merge now or release 0.4.8 first?

I would say merge now