When should I update unity?

Unity Courses Talk
1

Hey there, I am starting to code with C# and there’s one problem that I can’t find a clear answer for: when should I update unity. I get a notification like twice a week of unity saying there’s a new version available. I’ve looked up wether or not I should update it and got a lot of varying answers like: don’t update mid-project. Always update to the latest version, see what version is best for you… I don’t even know how to see what version is best. Please give a clear explanation why and I’ll be happy to read it

thank you for your time

2

Hi Josse,

Welcome to our community! :slight_smile:

There is a famous saying. Maybe you’ve already heard of it.

Never change a running system.

Nobody knows which version is the best, and there is no definite answer when to update. It depends on the case.

I would use the latest stable version when I start a new project, and I would update only if there was a new feature that I really need for my project, or if there is a bug in Unity which prevents me from continuing working with my project or if my Unity version is about to be heavily outdated.

Generally, it is advisable to make a backup on a regular basis, especially if you want to update. This way, if something breaks due to the update, you could easily retrieve your working project.

3

Thank you very much! Your reply helped me a lot! I only have one more question about what you said though:

What is the latest stable version? How do I know which one it is?

4

I usually take a look at the Unity download archive.

The latest version is Unity 2021.1.1. I haven’t tested any of the 2021 versions. The latest Unity 2020 version is Unity 2020.3.2.

If I was a student, I would probably follow this course with Unity 2021. If there are any relevant differences, I’ll either find solutions on the internet, or I would ask for advice here.

5

Just today they released Unity 2020.3.3f1… But as Nina already suggested it’s probably best to ignore it (at least during one section of the course, starting the next project with the latest version of Unity likely wouldn’t be an issue).

Which is not as bad as that my system listed new dotnet-5.0 packages among its updates.
And I updated them as well, from dotnet 5.0.4 to 5.0.5… Big mistake. It took me quite a while and a complete downgrade of all dotnet packages, purging VS-Code and its settings and then fiddling some more with it, until Omnisharp was working again.
I poked at so many things of the setup that I can’t tell exactly what part eventually fixed it. If I had a clue it might even be possible to update dotnet again.
In order to not break it again, I ran “apt-mark hold” on all packages:

~$ apt-mark showhold
aspnetcore-runtime-5.0
dotnet-apphost-pack-5.0
dotnet-host
dotnet-hostfxr-5.0
dotnet-runtime-5.0
dotnet-runtime-deps-5.0
dotnet-sdk-5.0

The packages are still listed as being upgradable, but that “hold” should prevent it…

~$ apt list --upgradable 
Listing... Done
aspnetcore-runtime-5.0/focal 5.0.5-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 5.0.4-1]
dotnet-apphost-pack-5.0/focal 5.0.5-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 5.0.4-1]
dotnet-host/focal 5.0.5-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 5.0.4-1]
dotnet-hostfxr-5.0/focal 5.0.5-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 5.0.4-1]
dotnet-runtime-5.0/focal 5.0.5-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 5.0.4-1]
dotnet-runtime-deps-5.0/focal 5.0.5-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 5.0.4-1]
dotnet-sdk-5.0/focal 5.0.202-1 amd64 [upgradable from: 5.0.104-1]

(This on Ubuntu 20.04)

6

This topic was automatically closed 20 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.