Question about 1.91 / 1.94 compatibility

[geoschmo]

I have run several tests and have seen posts by others that versions 1.91 and 1.94 seem to be completely compatible as far as savegame files and host turn processing. From what I can tell the only differences are in the music and intro screen, which only applies on the users pc, and a couple range check errors which would only occur during turn processing.

It seems to me that I could update the PBW server and change version 1.91 to 1.94 and everybody would be fine whether they are running version 1.91 or 1.94 on their own PC's. I have tested this with stock and with a couple mods as well, although to be sure I haven't checked every mod.

Can anyone point to anything concrete they have seen in their tests that would contradict this? I mean other than a general unease about using different different versions or the fact that we've never been able to do this before with any patches. It would save myself and the admin team a tremendous amount of work if we could simply update the version on PBW once and not have to worry about running paraellel sets with all the various mods and handling dozens of game version change requests.

If anybody can falsify this hypothesis it would be appreciated.

Geoschmo

[Captain Kwok]

Some have posted on not being able to load their save games into 1.94 from 1.91, but I think in all cases it was related to mods and/or path.txt being reset.

I also think a number of players have yet to upgrade to 1.94 from 1.91 due to the size of the patch. However, if the 1.94 can execute turns with invalidating data files it should be ok.

[Renegade 13]

Probably most users on dialup haven't upgraded yet (myself included).

[PvK]

I haven't updated yet because (I've got plenty of other things to do and) it sounds like it wouldn't improve anything, and might have a less appealing splash screen to boot.

PvK

[geoschmo]

If what I believe is true it won't matter for those that haven't upgraded to 1.94 yet. You could stay on 1.91 and the server could process turns using 1.94.

[Combat Wombat]

Upgrade the server to 1.94 I have been using 1.94 for Invasion! and carrier battles and then having PBW process under 1.91 and its all worked without a hitch so I see no reason not to upgrade the PBW server completely to 1.94

[Will]

Combat Wombat said:
Upgrade the server to 1.94 I have been using 1.94 for Invasion! and carrier battles and then having PBW process under 1.91 and its all worked without a hitch so I see no reason not to upgrade the PBW server completely to 1.94

I don't think that's quite the issue. All that proves is you can run 1.91 savegames on 1.94. What we all need to figure out is if you can run 1.94 savegames on 1.91, without hitch. As Renegade said, not everyone on dialup has the patch. Probably a lot of people who don't check message boards or MM's site that are oblivious to the existence of a patch.

But, since 1.94 Deluxe versions seem to play well with 1.91 Gold produced savegames, I would say the best route would be to keep PBW as-is for a while, until there can be a little more testing. Or, you could try archiving everything in the current Gold directory in one gigantic zip file (or RAR, to keep the Vorlon happy about 'superior compression technology') and apply the patch. If something breaks, it's as simple as extracting out the archive to get the backup.

[Suicide Junkie]

Note that keeping PBW as is means no Antimissile missile mods, among other things.