Hi.
I have this dialog in front of me
I want to know the difference between Release and, for instance, 4.13 or 4.12
I read that the Release branch is stable and reliable. And what are 4.13 and 4.12 for then?
Hi ,
The Release branch contains the source code for the latest released version of the Engine, including any Hot Fixes for that version. It is essentially the same as what you would get if you installed the latest version of the Engine through the Launcher.
The 4.13, 4.12, 4.11, etc. branches are where work for that specific version of the Engine takes place. For example, the 4.12 branch was created when we began finalizing the Engine in preparation for the release of version 4.12. Once 4.12 was released, fixes continued going into that branch to prepare for the Hot Fixes that were added to 4.12. Once the last 4.12 Hot Fix was released, work in that branch stopped and focus was shifted to the 4.13 branch.
We recommend using the Release branch for actual development work on your game projects, as that branch is indeed the most reliable. However, if you want to try the latest internal version of 4.13, you can use the 4.13 branch to do so. We do not recommend using this branch for development though, as it receives only minimal testing and could potentially be very unstable.
So if I download the Release right now, I will get the 4.13 engine version which is the latest…right?
How do I know which version does the Release branch refer to?
That is correct. The Release branch always contains the latest version, with all currently available Hot Fixes for that version included.
I do not believe the repo provides a way to immediately know what the specific version number is for the Release branch. However, when you are in the Release branch you can go to Engine\Build\Build.version. There you will find the values for Major Version (currently 4), Minor Version (currently 13), and Patch Version (currently 0). This information will be updated whenever a new Version or Hot Fix is released.