STEP:Versioning

Step Versioning Scheme

Scheme used for official Step Game Guides

by: Step Modifications  | Forum Topic

Implemented as of Step SkyrimLE Guide v2.10.0

Major.Minor.NexusUpdate

• Major - introduce new functionality, mod groups, guide section, tools, or methods. (e.g., fundamental changes to tools or methodology, adding a new mod group, etc.)
• Minor - changes to guide mod list or tool instructions. (e.g., adding/removing/repositioning mods, significant changes to settings or methods, etc.)
• NexusUpdate - changes/fixes that impact the Nexus files and require immediate remedial action. (e.g., Patch updates, asset changes, etc.) NOTE: The third slot is no longer used in the versioning on this website as of Jan, 2023. This slot is ONLY used on Nexus to indicate a hotfix to an existing file for the Step guide with matching major/minor versioning. Past Step guides will retain the third slot in the versioning scheme.

Additionally ...

• New Step guides will always begin at 1.0 (1.0.0 on Nexus).
• A vewrsion increment to NexusUpdate will always be indicated in the Post-Release Changes section at top of the changelog of the guide with major/minor version matching the Nexus page.

No Man's Sky Exception

Since No Man's Sky is not a Bethesda game it has slightly different rules regarding incrementing Minor versions. The following will cause a minor-version increment:

• changes to guide mod list or tool instructions (e.g., adding/removing mods, switching a mod from MO installation to AMUMSS, etc.)
• changes to the game's version name (e.g., NMS:Frontiers becomes NMS:Expeditions, NMS:Sentinel becomes NMS:Outlaws, etc.)
  • Expedition updates do not trigger Minor version updates
  • Game updates without a version name change (e.g., NMS:Sentinel v3.83 to NMS:Sentinel v3.84) are updated in-place and do not increment any version numbers.
    This is due to HelloGames patch release conduct, which are quick and multiple patch releases following any major update (version name changes). It's common for these updates to happen twice a week or more, therefore these minor patch updates are handled without implementing a new guide version.

Examples

Hypothetical Step-guide version example: 6.2.(0)

• Increment of the major version from 5 to 6 brought changes to lighting, added post processing, and introduced methodological changes to the LODGen process.
• Increment of the minor version from 1 to 2 brought changes to the mod lineup, some BethINI settings, and DynDOLOD settings.
• Increment of the NexusUpdate version from 0 to 1 was due to a hotfix of select Step patches.

Nexus File/Version Maintenance

File Nomenclature

Rule: File naming & organization conventions are IDENTICAL across Game guides.

Plugin File Names

• Required Conflict Resolution (CR) Patch: Step Patch - Conflict Resolution.esx
• Optional CR patches: Step Patch - ABBR.esx
• Optional Lighting & Weather (LW) Patch: Step Patch - Lighting and Weather.esx
• Optional Post-Processing (PP) Patch: Step Patch - Post Processing.esx

NOTE: Archive name formats are identical to plugin name formats but for the extension (*.esx vs *.7z).

Nexus File Labels

• Required Conflict Resolution (CR) Patch: Step Patch - Conflict Resolution
• Optional CR patches: Step Patch - ABBR
• Optional Lighting & Weather (LW) Patch: Step Patch - Lighting and Weather
• Optional Post-Processing (PP) Patch: Step Patch - Post Processing
• Miscellaneous files: Step WhateverThisFileIs

Rule: Nexus mod 'global' version, Nexus Main File version, and Step wiki Guide version remain in sync for any particular Guide iteration. Files downloaded from Nexus are named using the file label appended with -modID-fileVersion-Timestamp.

Examples (SSE)

The following is a hypothetical example for Step SkyrimSE Guide version 1.2. Files were downloaded on Thursday, January 19, 2023 2:52:42 AM. 1674096762

Key:     NexusFileLabel | NexusArchiveName.7z | DownloadedArchiveName.7z | {GuideVersionString}[.{ABBR[.Version]}]

Main Files

Step Patch - Conflict Resolution    |    Step Patch - Conflict Resolution.7z    |    Step Patch - Conflict Resolution-31054-1-2-1674096762.7z    |    1.2

Update Files

Step Patch - Conflict Resolution    |   Step Patch - Conflict Resolution.7z    |    2.2.1

Optional Files

Optional Files versions increment independent of the global version, so these are tracked by MO. Always tick the box for "This is a new version of an existing file (optional)" when updating Optional Files. This will archive the previous version without having to manually clean it up.

Step Patch - CACO   |    Step Patch - CACO.7z   |    2.2.0.CACO
Step Patch - CCOR   |    Step Patch - CCOR.7z   |    2.2.0.CCOR
Step Patch - TCIY   |    Step Patch - TCIY.7z   |    2.2.0.TCIY
Step Patch - Lighting and Weather   |    Step Patch - Lighting and Weather.7z   |    2.2.0.LW
Step Patch - Post Processing        |    Step Patch - Post Processing.7z        |    2.2.0.PP

Miscellaneous Files

Miscellaneous Files versions increment independent of the global version, so these are tracked by MO. Always tick the box for "This is a new version of an existing file (optional)" when updating Miscellaneous Files. This will archive the previous version without having to manually clean it up. Arguably, GRASS could also be under Optional Files.

Step ENB - Heavy          |    Step ENB - Heavy.7z          |    2.2.0.ENB.HV.0.4.0
Step ENB - Light          |    Step ENB - Light.7z          |    2.2.0.ENB.LT.0.4.0
Step ENB - Milk Drinker   |    Step ENB - Milk Drinker.7z   |    2.2.0.ENB.MD.0.4.0
Step Grass          |    Step Grass.7z                |    2.2.0.GRASS