How do you keep up to date with Unity?

I feel like I'm struggling to keep up with all the updates Unity are pushing out recently.
There's a lot of scattered information around the forums these days. Especially in the experimental section.
Hard to know what the state of anything is.

Before using any tech Unity puts out, I usually dig around giant forum threads, 5+ pages long to try and decipher what might be an issue. It's quite mentally draining.

Is there a better way?
How do you guys keep up to date?

 

My secret is that I don't. I chose 2-3 things which I'm trying to keep up with (since I'm a software engineer), DOTS, HDRP and Audio.
Since I have very limited idea about Physics or Vfx, I do not really keep up with those (occasionally read into it, but I don't spend much time with them). I also don't really know too much about shaders, so I don't really deep learn shader-graph as well, although on the surface it does not seem too intimidating.
I generally like to read through everything so I know what's happening broadly, but I don't sink in, only the chosen ones, so I can keep up with them.
Obviously for you maybe different things the most appealing, so you can choose different ones. Everything else can wait until they release the stuff and you actually have to start to use or get to know a little bit.

 

I don't, they have sped up the development too fast at this point to even stay on the cutting edge

 

You don't have to keep up, additional features are optional. Just read the release notes/blogs and see if there's something you need or want, if there isn't anything worth updating for then you don't have any reason to update.

However, when you start a project it's a good idea to either decide how often you're going to update, if at all. Often it may be a good idea to version lock at the version you start the project on, but then if you decide to update in the future it'll be a bigger mess. If you update more often you'll get access to updates and it will be easier to update between versions but you'll risk things breaking and probably have to refactor code and editor-based systems periodically.

It's all a matter of your requirements.

 

Yeah, talking broadly here.
Knowing what might be possible/changed is important to me.
I'm in a position where other people ask "how can I do this thing", or "is there a better way to do this thing since 2017?"
Generally I can answer. But with new features, like 2D stuff, it's a little difficult. So much happening in that area right now (it seems)

 

I try to get the highlights of what the next version will include, and only dig in when the change interests me. Generally it would be either because the change could impact a problem I'm already having, but sometimes it is a change to something that is working great as is that I don't want changed. But I generally have a plan by the middle of the project on what version of Unity I'm going to finish on.

 

Generally I just read the blog. Also just talking with friends/peers. When starting a new game, I'll get more serious about reading what is going on, but usually just through osmosis.

 

Yep, same kinda deal for me. There's a potential new project on the horizon for me, so I need to get back up to speed.
Maybe I'm just super paranoid, but it always feels like there's some really important thread I'm probably missing out on discussing some cool new feature.

Maybe I'll stick to blog posts, much easier on the eyes

 

I just check if there's a new version in the hub. If there is, I look for patch notes. If the patch notes will fix something I have issue with, I update.

 

I always look into new features that can be relevant for our project. I find it easiest to use the release notes to find relevant new features.

If there are new features, like when they fixed single pass instanced I create a feature branch and test it out