Forum:Village pump

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== How should we cover development versions? And how does this affect how we cover update histories? ==

So, when I started this wiki, I made the executive decision to use the term "update history" instead of "version history" because "version history" implies things that I consider unnecessary. For example, there's no reason to make pages for the launch versions of games, because it's hard to define what is an "addition" if it came in the base game. Technically ''everything'' pertaining to the game at launch is an "addition". Every sound effect, texture, item, menu, glitch, line of text, etc could be considered an addition, and I think it's an exercise in frustration to try to narrow down what is worth counting and what isn't. Even if you did narrow it down to just interactive elements (items, levels, etc), I don't see the value of having a page that just lists what was in the game at launch. It makes sense for the Minecraft Wiki to use the term "version history" because most of that game's entire development cycle was released publicly, so they can document everything that was added to the game bit by bit since the game's inception as Cave Game, but for most Bloons games, this just isn't the case.

So, when I started this wiki, I made the executive decision to use the term "update history" instead of "version history" because "version history" implies things that I consider unnecessary. For example, there's no reason to make pages for the launch versions of games, because it's hard to define what is an "addition" if it came in the base game. Technically ''everything'' pertaining to the game at launch is an "addition". Every sound effect, texture, item, menu, glitch, line of text, etc could be considered an addition, and I think it's an exercise in frustration to try to narrow down what is worth counting and what isn't. Even if you did narrow it down to just interactive elements (items, levels, etc), I don't see the value of having a page that just lists what was in the game at launch. Also, having "version history" sections on pages would necessitate listing the version when the subject was added to the game, which I think is unnecessary. It makes sense for the Minecraft Wiki to use the term "version history" because most of that game's entire development cycle was released publicly, so they can document everything that was added to the game bit by bit since the game's inception as Cave Game, but for most Bloons games, this just isn't the case.

However, there are now more than a few Bloons games that have development versions that made their way onto the internet. Some are publicly released beta tests ([[Bloons Monkey City Flash]], [[Bloons Card Storm]], and now [[Bloons Blitz]]), some are pre-release builds that weren't meant to be publicly released (development builds of the original [[Bloons (Flash)|Bloons]] saved by the Wayback Machine, [[Bloons TD 5 Mobile]] builds found on TestFlight CDNs, a near-final build of BCS, and version 0.5 of Bloons Blitz), and some are development builds of content updates (asset bundles from builds of [[Bloons TD 6]] updates, closed beta tests of BCS updates on Steam, and I think there was a TestFlight build of a BTD5 update, but I'm not sure). For Bloons and BCS, we have builds close to the game's inception, kind of like Minecraft.

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 == How should we cover development versions? And how does this affect how we cover update histories? ==
-So, when I started this wiki, I made the executive decision to use the term "update history" instead of "version history" because "version history" implies things that I consider unnecessary. For example, there's no reason to make pages for the launch versions of games, because it's hard to define what is an "addition" if it came in the base game. Technically ''everything'' pertaining to the game at launch is an "addition". Every sound effect, texture, item, menu, glitch, line of text, etc could be considered an addition, and I think it's an exercise in frustration to try to narrow down what is worth counting and what isn't. Even if you did narrow it down to just interactive elements (items, levels, etc), I don't see the value of having a page that just lists what was in the game at launch. It makes sense for the Minecraft Wiki to use the term "version history" because most of that game's entire development cycle was released publicly, so they can document everything that was added to the game bit by bit since the game's inception as Cave Game, but for most Bloons games, this just isn't the case.
+So, when I started this wiki, I made the executive decision to use the term "update history" instead of "version history" because "version history" implies things that I consider unnecessary. For example, there's no reason to make pages for the launch versions of games, because it's hard to define what is an "addition" if it came in the base game. Technically ''everything'' pertaining to the game at launch is an "addition". Every sound effect, texture, item, menu, glitch, line of text, etc could be considered an addition, and I think it's an exercise in frustration to try to narrow down what is worth counting and what isn't. Even if you did narrow it down to just interactive elements (items, levels, etc), I don't see the value of having a page that just lists what was in the game at launch. Also, having "version history" sections on pages would necessitate listing the version when the subject was added to the game, which I think is unnecessary. It makes sense for the Minecraft Wiki to use the term "version history" because most of that game's entire development cycle was released publicly, so they can document everything that was added to the game bit by bit since the game's inception as Cave Game, but for most Bloons games, this just isn't the case.
 However, there are now more than a few Bloons games that have development versions that made their way onto the internet. Some are publicly released beta tests ([[Bloons Monkey City Flash]], [[Bloons Card Storm]], and now [[Bloons Blitz]]), some are pre-release builds that weren't meant to be publicly released (development builds of the original [[Bloons (Flash)|Bloons]] saved by the Wayback Machine, [[Bloons TD 5 Mobile]] builds found on TestFlight CDNs, a near-final build of BCS, and version 0.5 of Bloons Blitz), and some are development builds of content updates (asset bundles from builds of [[Bloons TD 6]] updates, closed beta tests of BCS updates on Steam, and I think there was a TestFlight build of a BTD5 update, but I'm not sure). For Bloons and BCS, we have builds close to the game's inception, kind of like Minecraft.

Forum:Village pump: Difference between revisions