Confused about why old 1.1.2 versions ship with 2018.1

I dont understand why older versions of scriptable render pipelines and post-processing are being shipped with 2018.1f2 and are utilised when creating templates.

Specifically I am talking about 1.1.2 versions of the SRP packages, and 2.0.3 of post-processing, which 2018.1 comes with. Even though 1.1.5 and for post-procesing 2.0.5 are available to download for this Unity version using the Package Manager UI.

The issue came up in the following post but unfortunately since the 2018.1 beta forum was locked very shortly thereafter, I didnt get a chance to make my point more explicitly there:

#8

I quite understand the point made there that certain versions of pipelines wont be compatible with certain versions of Unity and so versions of pipelines etc may lag behind in certain unity version templates, but I dont really understand if 1.1.2 has shipped with 2018.1 for a good reason of compatibility or not? To an outsider it just seems like there is no good reason these were not updated to 1.1.5 inside the 2018.1 release & templates that just shipped?

Just to be completely clear: I am talking about the compressed versions of these packages that come with each version of the unity editor and are used by templates when creating new projects.

Whilst I am on this topic, I may as well mention that I find the changelog files and tags on github a tiny bit confusing of late too, because for example the HD changelog mentions [2018.1.0f2] which is nice and obvious in terms of Unity version but how do I match such info up the HD package version numbers like 1.1.5 that we have been used to? Or to put it a different way, if I look at github releases/tags, there was a 2018.1.0f2 version and then 1.1.5-preview a few days later, but the release notes dont talk about 1.1.5 and 2018.1.0f2 version of unity didnt actually come with 2018.1.0f2 pipeline release!?!?!

 

And when I say 'come with the editor', I can see the old packages that are clearly being used by templates inside the editor application package on my mac, eg Unity.app/Contents/Resources/PackageManager/Editor. I forget the path on Windows but its just the same story. I assume these compressed packages are then expanded into the central package manager cache location if those versions of packages dont already exist there, and there is at least one other file which tells templates which versions of packages to use, and both of these things are now using versions that are quite a bit out of date!

 

OK thanks for the info. I understand the point about template QA, and I'm a huge fan of the modular approach in general even though it will obviously have its own caveats at times.

I still cant help but think its not a great situation to be in though, where if I start with a template I get a version of the pipelines that is older than if I start with a blank project and add them through the package manager, both using the exact same Unity version. Its just another thing to trip people up in a time of much change.

I know that at some stages various things will be clearer on related fronts, eg specific versions of packages being tagged as the verified version of a package for a particular unity editor version. And I know all the package versions I've been going on are still only at the preview stage. So I dont have many long-term concerns about the package stuff and versions in general. But template package versions being out of sync with what you get if you start an empty project and are offered newer versions via Package manager UI, just seems weird. You could at least explicitly state which versions of packages a particular template uses and make point about newer versions clear, especially as it relates to changelog for pipelines & versions mentioned in that file. Otherwise isnt it reasonable that users might assume that things listed in the changelog under 2018.1f2 will be included when they start a new project using the HD pipeline template in 2018.1f2?

 

Also on the info front, what is there currently to warn a user who might create a new project from template and then happen to see a new preview release in the package manager UI, that updating to that version might not work well with the template? After all, both 1.1.2 and 1.1.5 are labelled as preview releases.

 

Sorry for going on about it so much by the way. I was just rather excited about 2018.1 release milestones. I've had the luxury of watching this stuff develop for a while and get reasonably familiar with it myself. But I was trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who may not have dabbled with the pipelines before, or templates and packages, assumptions that might be made, information that might be missing.

Teething problems more than understandable at this stage, but I suppose if I have one request going forwards its that template QA should be at least synced with the same pipeline version that is the recommended one for a particular editor release. And when this cant be done, make it clear in some cunning way.

 

I mean its never been easier to get up to date as a newbie, open package manager and download all you want. I do get where your coming from but there is no denying it is vastly simpler today than it was a few months ago for a new person to get unity and its functionality. I used to hate having to navigate to the store for every unity acquisition package. Now they come in a seperate modular UI and I never leave the editor.

 

Like I keep saying, I'm a massive fan of the package manager and I'm also generally very happy with the way things are going. I'm also a big fan of the template stuff, and just dont like anything that may reduce their utility or lead to any confusion. I only thought it was a point worth making now because I assumed that the templates will be quite a few peoples first forays into trying one of the scriptable render pipelines, and it is at least worth making people aware that templates use older versions of pipelines than package manager UI offers.