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[Funburns]

I tried searching for some permutations of "works with new releases", but wasn't able to find a thread on this topic, so...

Are there ways to guess which features of a fortress from an old release will remain unchanged if the save is moved up to the new version? Similarly, how about features of a new version which will not affect old saves? I have almost always abandoned my previous fort to create a new one with every save since they're mostly disposable, but recently I got a real beauty of an embark and I want to keep it around.

There are a few ways I can guess at these things. Changes that modify raw files tend to not work unless the player goes in and alters them in the save's raws, of course, but I remember reading that occasionally a change to the raws might create major bugs if the player goes and fixes them in a moved save. Added creatures and creature parts are something of a gray area for my knowledge here.

I also know that many non-raws game mechanics changes are brought to the old save when it's moved to the new release's folder, but not all of them. This is the primary reason for this post. I'm guessing my .22 fort, which did not yet have a hospital, will probably have all the functions of a .25 fort's healthcare system when I move it up. However, many things can affect dwarves and their jobs, which are saved in a different format from raw files.

I don't know if these changes might build up and create bugs later on; one of my forts between 31.14 and 31.16 may have had some issues in this regard, and it simply didn't gain many of the functionalities of the newer version. I haven't tried moving any forts forward across versions since. Are compatibility problems between releases generally not noticeable, or does it become unimportant with some copying of the raws? Any observations about this would be good to know.

If nothing else, is it possible to generate identical worlds in .22 and .25, or do new releases always mess with the generator somehow? Other threads I read weren't clear about that.

[Naryar]

Nah, it's fine. I moved a save from v0.31.21 to 0.31.24 without any problem.

[psychologicalshock]

I believe .31 fortresses are mostly all compatible

[Dwarfoloid]

Changes to .exe will apply to existing games, and unless something major changed old saves should work even with the new .exe. Updates to raws don't apply (taking the .25 as example, the tweak to Cave Dragon doesn't apply). You could try to update the raws in your old directory with the new ones, but that can be unstable.

Many raw changes need re-gen anyway.

[Funburns]

Changes to .exe will apply to existing games, and unless something major changed old saves should work even with the new .exe. Updates to raws don't apply (taking the .25 as example, the tweak to Cave Dragon doesn't apply). You could try to update the raws in your old directory with the new ones, but that can be unstable.

Many raw changes need re-gen anyway.

The changes to the .exe probably won't break my older fort then. Is there a good way to guess what features constitute a raws change that might be problematic? Crutches were less useful than stone toys until just recently... pots were modified as well. Probably not changes that require changing my raws, I guess.

Thanks for the replies. Will be testing my fort to see if any notable changes are missing, and I'm going to overwrite the raws to see if it makes any problems. Can't have clawless cave dragons running about.

... unless unmet cave dragons are one of those things the game considers "made" and no longer needs to reference the raws for...

[wuphonsreach]

Nah, it's fine. I moved a save from v0.31.21 to 0.31.24 without any problem.

Wait, 31.24?  And now 31.25 already?
/blink

[Urist Imiknorris]

Yup. Machine-gun bugfixes.

[bombcar]

Usually moving a fortress forward will get you the benefit of all the crash related bugs and most of the procedural ones.

The only thing it won't get you is RAW fixes, but those are usually like "teeth for raccoon men" and other non-mandatory things. I move the fortress forward if it feels like I've been doing something with it. Otherwise, it is gone.

[GotIt_00]

I didn't realize this could be done. Very cool.

[bombcar]

Yeah, just copy in the "save" folder - worst case it crashes.