What version is Unity currently on? Seems there are 4 current versions to download !!!

Unity Engine
1

Can someone please explain to me what is up with this numbering system and what is the current version of Unity ACTUALLY at the moment?

As I understand it the LTS versions will remain for two years so we will have 2017 until 2019…
Currently there is 2017.4.0F and 2017.4.1F, both available on the same page. If one is newer than the other then why present both and say “Pick one”? Is “F” the new “patch” ?

I thought they were “doing away with the p### numbering system” due to the new “weekly stable releases”. If it’s a stable release (i.e. a F version) then why list both stable versions and say “Download the old or new stable version here or else follow the link to download older versions” ???

To make matters more confusing, I am waiting for 2018 to get to an F version but my mate is telling me that 2017.4 IS the 2018.0 release but if that is the case then we are going to have 2017 until 2019 and 2018 will only arrive in 2019… Huh???

So I check on the state of the beta and see that 2018.0 is nowhere to be found but 2018.1 is currently at b13 and now we also have the option of downloading 2018.2b1… Where is the 2018 F version? Is 2018 F going to be released before early to mid 2019 or not?

If they are working on 2018.2 beta then are they working on 2018.1 beta ALONGSIDE 2018.2 or does this mean that 2018.1b13 IS 2018.1F1 and if not then why do they give us two different versions of betas to choose from? Is 2017.4 really 2018.0 or is 2017.4 actually 2018.1 ?

Is there simply 4 different versions of Unity to pick from if you want the “current” version (with the old versions under a separate link) or what version of Unity is currently the latest stable version?

According to the 2017 address Joachim Ante said we will see 2018.1 in early 2018 and yet it is nearing the middle of 2018 and all I am seeing is another 2017 version and multiple copies of 2018 betas…

What the heck is up with this numbering system? Is 2017.4 actually 2018 or will we have 3 or 4 or 8 different beta versions of 2018 to download before it gets released in 2019 or is there a 2018 F release hidden behind some obscure link that I just can’t find or when / where the heck is 2018 F ?

Having 2 current F releases AND 2 simultaneous beta versions separate from the 2 F releases just confuses the living daylights out of me.

I am perfectly happy with my 2017.3.0f release to publish to the store with but for my game projects I want to work with a stable 2018 instead. I am currently on 2018.1b13 but only downloaded the bare minimal of components (WebGL only, to be exact) because I am waiting for the F release…

Some guidance will be most appreciated. Thanks

1 Like
2

Did you find this blog post already?
https://blogs.unity3d.com/2018/04/09/new-plans-for-unity-releases-introducing-the-tech-and-long-term-support-lts-streams/

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Thx for the quick reply. Please note that I quoted from that very link in my original post…

That link does not explain why there are 2 current F versions and 2 current betas and whether or not 2017.4 is actually 2018.0 or not. In fact, according to the graphics is seems that there will always be 2 different versions being released at the same time every year. Notice how 2017.3 becomes 2017 LTS and how 2018.1 appears at the same time as 2017 LTS? Notice how 2018 LTS and 2019 appear at the same time?

That blog post is confusing as heck! … which is why I asked here for a clear and concise answer.

4

The only way that that graph makes any sense to me is like this:
Throughout 2018 you will have only 2018 betas and must use the 2017 LTS.
In 2019 you will finally receive a stable 2018 and can then use 2019 betas throughout 2019
In 2020 you will finally have a stable 2019… etc.

If that is the case then it means 2018 F won’t be ready until around March 2019. Do I have that right?

EDIT: Reading that post 2 more times after writing the above it is starting to make more sense and reduces the number of questions I have…

They say that they are moving from “patches” to “updates” so to my mind that means that each version they release is in fact a stable release… just with an update, rather than buggy patches that they used to recommend we only install if absolutely necessary. If that is the case then I don’t get the whole “beta” thing…

Doesn’t that mean that “LTS versions are stable versions that get no new features, only updates” and “####.x versions contain new features but is stable” ? Why then still label them beta? Do I still not understand the numbering system correctly?

And again, this still prompts me to believe that 2018 F will only be released in 2019. Why? Because .1 becomes .2 which becomes .3 which becomes LTS… nowhere do they say anything about patches or betas… they only speak of stable releases with regular updates. 2018.1 has already become 2018.2 so we are only 2018.3 away before it becomes LTS and yet we still don’t have a single stable version that gets updated, we only have betas…

So will all TECH releases be released as “betas with updates, not patches” and only LTS versions will be released as stable F versions or IS the current betas the stable versions or is that still coming?

1,2,3,LTS. We have gone from 1 to 2 and still no stable. All I want to know is if we are getting a stable 2018 before 2019 or are stable releases always called LTS releases and only released the year after their respective year numbers?

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In the blog-post they write: “The first LTS release will be 2017.4, which is simply the latest 2017.3 updated release.”

They wrote: “When a new TECH stream goes live (for example version 2019.1), the previous version (in this example, 2018.3) will become an LTS with a new version number, 2018.4.”

Every year they release three versions, such as 2018.1, .2 and .3. Each of these versions has a closed alpha cycle (‘a’ suffix), an open beta cycle (‘b’ suffix) and then get released as final version with a ‘f’ suffix. Once the year is over, they take the latest .3 build and maintain it for two years as the 2018.4 long term support release.

In that sense, you most likely get the most robust version of 2018 at the beginning of 2019.

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Cool, thanks. Basically exactly what I (eventually) figured apart from one thing. You say each version will go from a to b to f? So .4 will be the most robust but .1 will actually get an F release? If that is so then that is all I wanted to know. I am perfectly happy to use 2018.1f until 2019.1f, just not sure if that was ever going to be a thing…

Looked like beta,beta,beta,LTS. As long as that is not the case then I can happily sit back and just ignore the multiple
“current stable versions” to pick from and just stick to my XXXX.1F for a year.

Thx
I’m assuming that 2018.b means 2018.1f must be close. Just a little more patience :slight_smile:

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From past experience, .1f versions tend to contain so many issues, that often make them unusable. It’s advertised as “f” aka “final”, but it’s not - just remember the 2017.3.1f0 fiasco.

That’s probably one reason why UT started the LTS release plan, to actually provide stable versions that have been battle-tested for one year already.

If you’re looking for a stable version, you’re most likely better off to use the .4 release instead. Meaning you’re one year behind, but don’t have to deal with so many engine issues.

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It’s basically “features, features, features, long term patching”. If you don’t care about the latest and greatest features you definitely could just stick to the LTS releases. Or if you do care about them you could start a new project with a features release and migrate to newer releases until development is ready for a freeze and then stick to the next available LTS.

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We’re currently putting out releases on six branches.

Firstly, there are releases for older versions, that are intended only for people who are still on that version and finishing up a project but need some critical fix before they can release. These are:

  • 5.6: We have one final release of 5.6 planned (5.6.6). We were actually hoping to release it last week, but had to delay it due to some infrastructure problems. We’re now expecting it around the beginning of May.
  • 2017.1: We’re doing patch releases for 2017.1 until July (1 year after it was originally released).
  • 2017.2: We’re doing patch releases for 2017.2 until October (1 year after it was originally released).

The whole LTS thing doesn’t change those - when we released them, we committed to 1 year of support for each release, and we’re not going back on that just because future releases are going to be different. After October 2018, all three of these lines will be dead.

Now, the releases that are more interesting are:

  • 2017.4: This is the ‘LTS’ line for Unity 2017. So far we have released 2017.4.0 (the first LTS release in the line) and 2017.4.1 (the second one in the line). We’re expecting to have 2017.4.2 around the end of the month, then 2017.4.3 in early May, and so on. Note that there are no patch releases for 2017.3 at this point - if you are using 2017.3 then we expect you to upgrade to 2017.4.
  • 2018.1: Currently in beta, but we are on the verge of entering the Release Candidate phase for it. A final official release should happen very soon.
  • 2018.2: Just starting beta. As with 2018.1, it will run through months of beta test process, before eventually entering the Release Candidate phase and having an official release. Once it does, there will be no more updates for 2018.1.

So, today, if you want our most recent ‘officially stable’ release, that’s 2017.4.1. There is not yet an ‘officially’ stable 2018.1 release, but we’re very close (and as such, the latest betas are pretty stable). There won’t be an ‘officially’ stable 2018.2 release for a few months.

Does that clear things up a bit?

10 Likes
10

Yeah, thanks a lot.

1 Like
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Moved to general.

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Really don’t understand the logic behind LTS releases… why don’t you just put out 2017.4 as the latest release in the 2017 schedule? You have to dig through pages to find the 2017.4 release, and of course you have to KNOW about it ahead of time in order to find it, since 2017.3 is what’s listed as the latest release. This is severely over-complicated.

1 Like
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It’ll be a lot less complicated when Hub comes out of beta.

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Let’s hope so because the HUB was one big pile of mess for me…

I already had 2018 beta installed once then removed it. When I went to download it again I was offered the choice to use the download manager or the hub. I figured “Let’s see what the hub is all about”.

First thing’s first, I had to log in before I could download.
Next it was complaining that my license was not valid and I had to reauthorise my license before I could download
So I said “Okay”, select Unity Personal when asked what version I have, clicked on continue… only to be told licensing failed
So then it recommended I save out a license request and email it to Unity (offline licensing)

So I said “Bugger this” and I downloaded and installed 2018 via the download manager.
Opened the hub and it told me “Welcome. We could not detect Unity on your system. would you like to download Unity now?”
I had installed Unity into the default location it suggested and had 3 other versions installed also so I said no and used the option to find Unity manually.

After I had all my versions of Unity listed in the HUB I looked at it and went “Now what? So what does the hub do?”
Still don’t have a clue…

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We’re going to. The patch release team already tried to but the website didn’t update for some reason, and the team responsible for the website haven’t fixed it yet.

2 Likes
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I have been waiting for a stable 2018.1 version to come out for months, as I have learned in the past to stay clear of betas, since they constantly make break changes (and it’s good and it’s ok, but I just can’t deal with that).

In the front page there was a big “Unity 2018.1 in April”
Now that we are in the last week of April, the message says “Unity 2018.1 Coming Soon”
And by your answer here, I suppose it will need some release candidates versions before a stable one is out.
At this pace, you will have to rename Unity 2018 to Unity 2019…

I understand this kind of things are complicated and releases get delayed (I’m the first one the be overly optimistic on my release assumptions… :stuck_out_tongue: )
But it would be cool to know what are the problems that are keeping 2018.1 from going out of beta.
Specially given that you have started 2018.2 beta already.

I have checked the blog but there is no mention of it.
Thanks.

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From what I know, they need to merge a lot of features together to become stable 2018.1. Currently there are several different builds for different feature. That is why it takes a lot of time.

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Unlikely that 2018.1 is being released in April, unless they skip the Release Candidates cycle. However, after the 2017.3 disaster, I believe they aim to provide more robust releases.

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What is 2017.3 disaster? Didn’t hear before.

1 Like
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I just checked a calendar. There are actually eight months after April! I doubt fixing the showstoppers will take that long.