This page explains how to upgrade a Solarus quest to the latest Solarus version.

Since Solarus 1.0.0, versions of Solarus are numbered as follows: x.y.z, where

• x is the major version,
• y is the minor version,
• z is the patch version.

The latest release is Solarus 1.5.3.

Patch versions only contain bug fixes. They never introduce incompatibilities, so when only the patch version changes, your quest continues to work.

Therefore, when we talk about compatibility, only the major and minor numbers are considered. In your quest properties file quest.dat, the value solarus_version indicates the format of your quest, with only the major and minor numbers. For example, if solarus_version is 1.5, your quest is compatible with Solarus 1.5.*.

To make your quest compatible with the latest version of Solarus, there are two steps:

• Upgrading data files: when your quest is obsolete, the editor shows a dialog that lets you automatically convert it to the latest version.
• Upgrading scripts: Lua scripts are programs, so there is no way to convert them automatically when something changes in the Solarus Lua API. The goal of this migration guide is to help you doing the upgrade.

Important improvements were made in Solarus 1.1. Some of them introduce incompatibilities that require manual changes of your Lua scripts. In particular, there is no built-in dialog box anymore and no built-in game-over menu anymore.

• Upgrade from 1.0 to 1.1

Solarus 1.2 introduces a lot of changes, including the port to SDL 2. Some changes introduce slight incompatibilities that require manual changes of your Lua scripts.

• Upgrade from 1.1 to 1.2

The main improvement of Solarus 1.3 is the addition of a graphical sprite editor in the quest editor. There is also slight changes in data files, but no incompatibility in Lua scripts. Therefore, no manual change is required.

• Upgrade from 1.2 to 1.3

Solarus 1.4 introduces a brand new quest editor. There are also slight changes in data files, and an incompatibility in Lua scripts due to the new way fonts are handled. Simple but manual changes of your Lua scripts are needed.

• Upgrade from 1.3 to 1.4

Solarus 1.5 introduces a new launcher GUI, better performance and a lot of new features like the camera as entity and maps with more than 3 layers. Some changes introduce slight incompatibilities that require manual changes of your Lua scripts. Additionally, for the launcher GUI it is best to provide an logo and an icon representing your quest.

• Upgrade from 1.4 to 1.5