The latest (unofficial) version of Dwarf Therapist only supports Dwarf Fortress versions lower than or equal to v0.43.03, while I'm playing v0.43.05, so I tried to downgrade my DF. However, after copying the whole data/save/ directory from df_43_05_osx/ to df_43_03_osx/, I didn't see the Continue Playing option, which means save files for v0.43.05 aren't even compatible with v0.43.03!
Sometimes Dwarf Fortress updates very frequently, at a pace of several releases a month, making the compatibility issue more painful. I want to know is there any guideline which I can follow to resolve the compatibility problems? For example:
- Are there versions which are guaranteed to be compatible with each other?
- Should I always play the latest released version?
- If two versions are incompatible, can I somehow "update" the save files?
PS: I would also appreciate it if somebody can tell me how to "update" Dwarf Therapist to match it with the latest version of DF. This answer seems to have provided a solution, but I don't know how to do with that code.
This isn't a duplicate of Can I keep my world between Dwarf Fortress versions?, which is about a specific version of DF.
Best Answer
The method that seems to work well for me is to download new versions of DF by getting the most current 'Lazy Newb pack' (LNP). This pack include Dwarf Fortress, Dwarf Therapist, and many other mods such as DFHack. By installing a LNP you know that DF and the included mods are the correct versions for each other. Whenever you want to play a specific version of DF, just install that version of LNP.
Although you can download varying versions of DF and mods separately, as you have already discovered it takes more effort to determine and locate the appropriate versions that are compatible with each other. The downside of using LNP is that it takes a while after the newest DF version has been released before a LNP is built using that version, so you can't immediately play the newest DF version.